Several Alasksa Princess excursion questions

[OCFuzzy]

#1 Has anyone done the Midnight Sun Dinner and Float excursion in Fairbanks? We have it booked but cant find reviews on it.

 

 

#2 Has anyone done the Covered Wagon/Back Country Dining excursion in Denali?

 

 

#3 Has anyone done the Black Bear ATV (the 6 person one) in McKinley? If so, who drives this? We don't want to drive! And is this fun/worthwhile?

 

 

#4 We have 2 hour horseback riding booked on the morning we will then take the coach to Talkneeta and then the train to Whittier. Will this be too much on that day? We have the Wilderness Jet Boat Adventure booked at McKinley on the previous day, and could horseback ride in the morning before that instead. Would you recommend doing that instead?

 

#5 on our last day of the land portion we are at McKinley Princess lodge. It is scheduled for us to leave via coach at 1:30pm to Talkeetna (1.25 hours) then train to Whittier ( 5 hours). My math then puts us in Whittier at 8:00pm. Supposely our ship, the Star Princess is leaving at 8:30pm. How crazy is this? I don't see where we have a choice, but not sure how it works getting off train and onto ship and then muster drill and dinner that first night? If it helps we have Anytime Dining....so I guess can eat in that dining room until 10pm correct?

 

Sorry for so many questions in my first post!

[txwriter]

Thanks for posting the question about excursions. I too am booked on a cruisetour, but we do not depart until next year. I'm interested to see the answers to your specific questions, but I'd love to hear from anyone who has done the cruisetour and had specific excursions they enjoyed or would avoid.

[caribill]

Thanks for posting the question about excursions. I too am booked on a cruisetour, but we do not depart until next year. I'm interested to see the answers to your specific questions, but I'd love to hear from anyone who has done the cruisetour and had specific excursions they enjoyed or would avoid.

 

For what excursions we enjoyed on the land portion of an Alaska cruisetour, see my report at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1727858

[caribill]

[quote name=OCFuzzy;50259999

#5 on our last day of the land portion we are at McKinley Princess lodge. It is scheduled for us to leave via coach at 1:30pm to Talkeetna (1.25 hours) then train to Whittier ( 5 hours). My math then puts us in Whittier at 8:00pm. Supposely our ship' date=' the Star Princess is leaving at 8:30pm. How crazy is this? I don't see where we have a choice, but not sure how it works getting off train and onto ship and then muster drill and dinner that first night? If it helps we have Anytime Dining....so I guess can eat in that dining room until 10pm correct?

 

[/quote]

 

You will be able to go to dinner right after the muster drill.

[sutherlinsusanm]

We just returned from our Alaskan Princess Cruise last week. Our favorite excursion was in Juneau when we took the sea plane over to Taku Lodge where we enjoyed a BBQ of very fresh salmon and other homemade goodies. I think there were only about fifteen of us there at one time, and about eight of us flew on each plane.

 

The most exciting part of this trip was that we were joined by three black bears. Apparently they smell the BBQ of salmon and come out of the heavy bush. The help at the lodge stood around with large sticks so that the bears would keep their distance, but they were as close as twenty feet, and at one point in a tree right above our head as we took a short hike. Even stranger to us was when we went inside to enjoy our meal, the bears came into the BBQ area and sat RIGHT ON the hot grill to lick off the oils and catch and fish dropped into the coals. Highly recommend this excursion.

 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, avoid the High Tea at The Gatsby House in Victoria.

 

All of these items are being written about on our blog at http://www.susansutherlindesigns.com. We are featuring different aspects of our trip for the next two weeks.

 

Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Best of luck building new travel memories.

[wishfulone]

#1 Has anyone done the Midnight Sun Dinner and Float excursion in Fairbanks? We have it booked but cant find reviews on it.

 

#2 Has anyone done the Covered Wagon/Back Country Dining excursion in Denali?

 

 

#3 Has anyone done the Black Bear ATV (the 6 person one) in McKinley? If so, who drives this? We don't want to drive! And is this fun/worthwhile?

 

 

#4 We have 2 hour horseback riding booked on the morning we will then take the coach to Talkneeta and then the train to Whittier. Will this be too much on that day? We have the Wilderness Jet Boat Adventure booked at McKinley on the previous day, and could horseback ride in the morning before that instead. Would you recommend doing that instead?

 

#5 on our last day of the land portion we are at McKinley Princess lodge. It is scheduled for us to leave via coach at 1:30pm to Talkeetna (1.25 hours) then train to Whittier ( 5 hours). My math then puts us in Whittier at 8:00pm. Supposely our ship, the Star Princess is leaving at 8:30pm. How crazy is this? I don't see where we have a choice, but not sure how it works getting off train and onto ship and then muster drill and dinner that first night? If it helps we have Anytime Dining....so I guess can eat in that dining room until 10pm correct?

 

Sorry for so many questions in my first post!

Are you actually booked on a Princess Cruise Tour or are you doing this yourself? The congestion of your itinerary makes me think you're trying to plan your own excursions within the confines of a cruise tour.

 

But, any Midnight Sun excursion from Fairbanks can be dicey depending on the weather. Are you in Fairbanks at the right time of year? Have a look on tripadvisor for reviews of your specific choice.

 

If you are on a cruise tour I'd suggest you'd be more interested in Denali National Park than a back country wagon ride.

[AF-1]

I thought on day one you are required to be onboard one hour prior to check in.

Edited June 16, 2016 by AF-1

[Potstech]

Having just come off a Northbound cruise tour you seem to have a very heavy load of excursions for each place planned. When do you sit back and enjoy the area and its majesty? I do hope you take into consideration the possibility of problems happening in your plans.

 

The time from Arrival Whittier to embarking on the ship will probably be about 15 minutes.

[Kybabe]

#1 Has anyone done the Midnight Sun Dinner and Float excursion in Fairbanks? We have it booked but cant find reviews on it.

 

 

#2 Has anyone done the Covered Wagon/Back Country Dining excursion in Denali?

 

DH and I did the dinner/float excursion in Fairbanks 3 yrs ago. We booked it thru Princess before we left for the cruise and it turns out that we were the only ones who went and it was very nice. Our own private excursion!

 

We also did the Covered wagon/Back country dining and enjoyed that as well. We saw a mother moose and baby on the side of the road coming home.

 

I can't speak to the rest of your questions but would recommend these two excursions.

[OCFuzzy]

Hi! Thanks for all of the responses. We are doing a land/sea on Princess. 3 nights in Fairbanks, 2 nights in Denali, then 2 in McKinley. The the southbound cruise Voyage of Glaciers and then a night in Vancouver.

 

We have a ton of excursions booked. Yes we figure this is how we will see the beauty and wildlife as much as possible. Plan on relaxing at night (we aren't nightlife people) and once we get on the cruise.

[OCFuzzy]

For what excursions we enjoyed on the land portion of an Alaska cruisetour, see my report at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1727858

 

Thanks for this!!

[OCFuzzy]

Are you actually booked on a Princess Cruise Tour or are you doing this yourself? The congestion of your itinerary makes me think you're trying to plan your own excursions within the confines of a cruise tour.

 

But, any Midnight Sun excursion from Fairbanks can be dicey depending on the weather. Are you in Fairbanks at the right time of year? Have a look on tripadvisor for reviews of your specific choice.

 

If you are on a cruise tour I'd suggest you'd be more interested in Denali National Park than a back country wagon ride.

 

Hi we are arriving in Fairbanks July 2nd this year. The Midnight Sun dinner and float excursion is basically dinner and a raft ride down the Chena river per the description. We are doing a bus ride into Denali that is something like 7 hours. So hopefully we will get to see all of the glory! The covered wagon thing is another dinner thing and campfire with a covered wagon ride. We figure we have to eat, why not do it with an excursion! But then until the responses here haven't seen any reviews .

[OCFuzzy]

#1 Has anyone done the Midnight Sun Dinner and Float excursion in Fairbanks? We have it booked but cant find reviews on it.

 

 

#2 Has anyone done the Covered Wagon/Back Country Dining excursion in Denali?

 

DH and I did the dinner/float excursion in Fairbanks 3 yrs ago. We booked it thru Princess before we left for the cruise and it turns out that we were the only ones who went and it was very nice. Our own private excursion!

 

We also did the Covered wagon/Back country dining and enjoyed that as well. We saw a mother moose and baby on the side of the road coming home.

 

I can't speak to the rest of your questions but would recommend these two excursions.

 

Oh I'm so glad you liked them both!

[OCFuzzy]

We just returned from our Alaskan Princess Cruise last week. Our favorite excursion was in Juneau when we took the sea plane over to Taku Lodge where we enjoyed a BBQ of very fresh salmon and other homemade goodies. I think there were only about fifteen of us there at one time, and about eight of us flew on each plane.

 

The most exciting part of this trip was that we were joined by three black bears. Apparently they smell the BBQ of salmon and come out of the heavy bush. The help at the lodge stood around with large sticks so that the bears would keep their distance, but they were as close as twenty feet, and at one point in a tree right above our head as we took a short hike. Even stranger to us was when we went inside to enjoy our meal, the bears came into the BBQ area and sat RIGHT ON the hot grill to lick off the oils and catch and fish dropped into the coals. Highly recommend this excursion.

 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, avoid the High Tea at The Gatsby House in Victoria.

 

All of these items are being written about on our blog at http://www.susansutherlindesigns.com. We are featuring different aspects of our trip for the next two weeks.

 

Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Best of luck building new travel memories.

 

Oh wow what a cool experience with the Bears!!!

[OCFuzzy]

Having just come off a Northbound cruise tour you seem to have a very heavy load of excursions for each place planned. When do you sit back and enjoy the area and its majesty? I do hope you take into consideration the possibility of problems happening in your plans.

 

The time from Arrival Whittier to embarking on the ship will probably be about 15 minutes.

 

Thanks! We are crazed pre-planners but once vacation arrives we are fine if things get cancelled or times change or it rains etc.

[meredemer]

A couple of years ago, DD and I did the covered wagon excursion in Denali and really enjoyed it. It is a dinner/BBQ..where you ride in the wagon to a little cabin building for the meal. Tons of food and very good. Staff was knowledgable, friendly and fun. We too spotted wildlife, including fox sitting on the trail. We really enjoyed the evening and would do it again!

[Nanaoften]

We did the black bear Atv and it was awesome! They teach you to drive... I had never driven one before... It was so much fun! Then we each drove our own .. At first we stayed on level ground but then he took us through the woods! The guides were very knowledgable about the river, area and plants and wild life... We did it the second time we went to Ak because it was so much fun the first time!!

Edited June 17, 2016 by Nanaoften

[2003Soccer17]

We have been enjoying really warm temps and sunny skies in Fairbanks for the past few weeks. I'm not sure when your cruise tour arrives in Fairbanks, but if it's anytime soon, then you should be able to enjoy the weather. Last July was warm as well and August had several uncharacteristic rainy days. We had snow toward the end of August. Since you are having a midnight sun tour, I'll assume your arriving sooner than August though. Let me know if you have other Fairbanks questions.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[RockAHula Baby]

#1 Has anyone done the Midnight Sun Dinner and Float excursion in Fairbanks? We have it booked but cant find reviews on it.

 

 

#2 Has anyone done the Covered Wagon/Back Country Dining excursion in Denali?

 

 

#3 Has anyone done the Black Bear ATV (the 6 person one) in McKinley? If so, who drives this? We don't want to drive! And is this fun/worthwhile?

 

 

#4 We have 2 hour horseback riding booked on the morning we will then take the coach to Talkneeta and then the train to Whittier. Will this be too much on that day? We have the Wilderness Jet Boat Adventure booked at McKinley on the previous day, and could horseback ride in the morning before that instead. Would you recommend doing that instead?

 

#5 on our last day of the land portion we are at McKinley Princess lodge. It is scheduled for us to leave via coach at 1:30pm to Talkeetna (1.25 hours) then train to Whittier ( 5 hours). My math then puts us in Whittier at 8:00pm. Supposely our ship, the Star Princess is leaving at 8:30pm. How crazy is this? I don't see where we have a choice, but not sure how it works getting off train and onto ship and then muster drill and dinner that first night? If it helps we have Anytime Dining....so I guess can eat in that dining room until 10pm correct?

 

Sorry for so many questions in my first post!

Re: Dinner on the first night. I was on the Coral last year out of Whittier. When we were boarding the ship (which didn't take long at all) we were handed a slip of paper with dining time. For the first night only they were doing two seatings for dinner, even if you were on anytime dining. FWIW, our coach got to the ship about 5:00 pm and still we received the later seating (8:45 if I remember right?) We just ate in the buffet that night though. Also there is a "late arriving passengers" muster drill that is held after the regular one, so I'm guessing that must be for the people on the train to Whittier. We also jam packed excursions into every day- usually two each day both on land tour and cruise and loved it. Used the first two sea days to recharge. We were in Alaska for 15 days and had 4 days of rain. Had no excursions cancelled although at Talkeetna, most flight seeing excursions were cancelled due to weather. Enjoy your trip!

[caribill]

When we were boarding the ship (which didn't take long at all) we were handed a slip of paper with dining time. For the first night only they were doing two seatings for dinner, even if you were on anytime dining. FWIW, our coach got to the ship about 5:00 pm and still we received the later seating (8:45 if I remember right?)

 

By the time you had arrived, all the slips for the first seating had already been handed out.