Star Princes 6/13-6/25 12 day Alaska/Denali northbound review- TONS of pics...

[saxgirl84]

Loved your review and pictures. We had a great time following along with you. We leave for a round trip San Francisco, Alaska, on the Golden, 8/10/15. This will be our third cruise to Alaska and hope we have more to come. After reading your review I'm sure we will.

 

Kauai Kid.

 

 

Thanks for following along! Hope you have a great time in a few weeks!

 

 

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[saxgirl84]

Wow, that was awesome. Fantastic review and photos to follow along. My first cruise was to Alaska and that brought back a ton of memories. Thank you for taking us along!

 

 

I had fun doing it!!! Thanks for the comments! I'm sure I'll be back in a couple of years to re-read this review and relive the entire amazing experience!

 

 

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[saxgirl84]

Thank you for your wonderful review. I thought your idea of the maps on your cabin wall was wonderful. I have bought a couple of maps of South America to take with us. We are kind of doing a B2B in December but in two different ships and two different cruise lines. We are travelling from Fort Lauderdale. It will be nice to map out our route as we go.

 

 

You're welcome! I have to admit, I saw that tip about the maps on someone else's review while I was doing research. It came in very handy at Glacier Bay, since most of the pictures "look the same" since I took a picture of which glacier we were at, I know which pictures belong with which glacier!

 

South America sounds amazing and I definitely have it on my bucket list of cruises! Enjoy your "b2b", I'm truly jealous! :-)

 

 

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[saxgirl84]

Another Michigander here! Thanks for the fabulous review. Your pictures are awesome! We did a 7-day cruise on the Star in 2013 and are planning a trip back next year with a land portion added on. I was thinking it would be more relaxing to do the cruise last but you said the opposite. So the land portion is more relaxing than the cruise? I will have our travel partners read your review, they haven't been to Alaska and when they read this they will want to book it right away! They are also big wildlife buffs so that will be an added bonus!

 

 

Personally I think the land after the cruise was way more relaxing. For some reason, after 7 days onboard a cruise ship, when I have to go back to the "real world" I need a few days to recover... The land portion was very laid back, and offered just the right amount of relaxation. The 5 day tour was not rushed at all, no early mornings, no super late nights, and you get 2 nights in each lodge, so you have plenty of time to explore!

Enjoy your trip next year! Wish I was going along! :-)

 

 

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[MJSailors]

I'm sorry I didn't reply to your comment/questions sooner... I wanted to reply from my computer instead of my phone, because I figured I would be typing quite a bit...

 

We chose the 5 day land tour, and I think this would be the least ammount of time I would want to spend on the land tour. there were some people we met on the ship who were on a 3 day (I believe) tour and they started at the McKinley lodge for one night, then the Denali Lodge the 2nd night, and Fairbanks their 3rd night. I pitied them because they really didn't get nearly enough time at either lodge, as they couldn't have gotten there early enough in the day to have any excursions planned, and they had to leave rather early the next day, in order to make it to their next destination. I would highly recommend a 5 night,or longer land tour for maximum "relaxation". the pace really was not hurried at all.

 

The bags had to be out the morning you left from each lodge. I believe we left the Denali Princess around 10am, and the bags were to be out by 8am. We left the McKinley lodge around 10:30am and bags had to be out by 9am. Much nicer than on the ship, because you don't have to keep your overnight things with you in your carryon, and you can use your bathroom things in the morning, and still pack them away in your suitcase.

 

Since our flight left later in the day, we left our luggage in our room at the hotel in Anchorage, and they picked it up around noon and had it waiting for us when we got on the bus to the airport. the only times we ever touched our bags was at the airport, or in our rooms.

 

Everything was very well organized, and I really enjoyed "letting someone else do the driving" as I've seen a lot of people recommend doing a driving tour "on your own". As it seemed VERY easy to find your way around Alaska- (there are only a few roads, so difficult to get lost) I would think that whoever was driving would miss out on the beautiful scenery!

 

I would say Go! do the land tour (we had a lot of people in our group 60+ who are not typically "active" people, and they really enjoyed themselves!) and enjoy your trip![/quote

Thank you,saxgirl84 ,for your kind reply.

I understand your point about a 5 day land tour.

A 3day one seems too rushed for us.

We are thinking about the Alaska trip,but there is also an interesting Princess Cruise tour through the Canadian Rockies followed by a cruise that includes Glacier Bay and College Fiords.

Also,a British Isles cruise is getting our interest.

So,many choices !

Wish we could do them all,but we are minding our pocketbooks!

I hope that you continue to travel.

There are so many beautiful and interesting places to visit in the World.

I also think that travel can make us better people , giving us an awareness of other people and cultures.

Good luck to you on your job search.

Happy travels to you!

[dickinson]

Another Michigander here! Thanks for the fabulous review. Your pictures are awesome! We did a 7-day cruise on the Star in 2013 and are planning a trip back next year with a land portion added on. I was thinking it would be more relaxing to do the cruise last but you said the opposite. So the land portion is more relaxing than the cruise? I will have our travel partners read your review, they haven't been to Alaska and when they read this they will want to book it right away! They are also big wildlife buffs so that will be an added bonus!

 

Do a search here on CC (probably under the Alaska board). I think most people like doing the land first and then the cruise as they think that way is more relaxing. I guess personal preference. I think I have also read that flying home is easier and shorter from Vancouver or if you take a train or whatever from Seattle than to fly home from Anchorage. I have not done this (did a RT from Seattle so no land portion) but I do remember reading these things.

[NewSalt]

We have a 14-day cruise tour scheduled three weeks from today, and after reading your review, I told my DH we can cancel it.

 

I feel like I've already gone! ;)

 

Thanks for a great review c

[flip side of fifty]

Wonderful Review.

Still out of work? Maybe write a book.:)

[Kybabe]

Had my DH read your review. He was glad to see that you think the cruise first, then land tour is best way to go!

[Sharonlee912]

What an awesome review and pictures! We just got back and did the land tour first, then cruised. We also put a map up with magnets to keep up with all of the beautiful places we saw!

[kenrod]

Thank you for your Alaskan review saxgirl84.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed both the cruise and land parts of your pictorial.

 

I feel compelled to book a cruisetour to Alaska now.

[lab1956]

Saxgirl84,

I am so excited to see your posts and pictures from Alaska. I am a new CC member and your post is the first I've viewed. We have over a year before our cruise, but I'm as excited as if we were going tomorrow! hahaha. I even found our room on your picture showing the aft end of the ship.

Since you recently were on this same cruise, do you know about their picture packages? Someone said you can buy a package and get all the pictures they take? I realize you take a lot of pictures (like I do) but I also like to get the ones their photographers take.

Thank you.

lab1956

[saxgirl84]

Saxgirl84,

 

I am so excited to see your posts and pictures from Alaska. I am a new CC member and your post is the first I've viewed. We have over a year before our cruise, but I'm as excited as if we were going tomorrow! hahaha. I even found our room on your picture showing the aft end of the ship.

 

Since you recently were on this same cruise, do you know about their picture packages? Someone said you can buy a package and get all the pictures they take? I realize you take a lot of pictures (like I do) but I also like to get the ones their photographers take.

 

Thank you.

 

lab1956

 

 

To be honest, I only had one picture taken the entire cruise by the photographer on board, and that was at the first formal night, so I didn't even stop to look at any of the picture packages. Sorry! Maybe someone else can chime in if they know the answer...

 

Enjoy your cruise next year, you have a lot of reading reviews to do before then! (That's how I spent last winter...)

 

 

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