Alaska land tour/ cruise suitcases

[BETSY DOLL]

Going on 4 day land first then 7 day cruise after in September 2022. 
can you send cruise suitcase ahead of time, or have to keep all together while going from land hotels to other land hotels? I need to downsize my packing but not sure if we can have 2 suitcases located here and there? 
also, any suggestions for lady wear in main dining? Would love to be nice jeans

and not dressy. In the past, I’ve been known to take over 12 pairs of shoes which is now a big NO!! Lol.

thanks to all!!

[geoherb]

We packed our two large pieces of luggage knowing that we'd be sending one ahead to the ship. We were careful not to pack anything we might need on the land portion in that bag. But if you need both bags to accompany you on the land portion, you can do that as well. It makes extra work for the people who transport the bags from lodge to lodge and for you to put them out each morning when you're leaving one for another.

[caribill]

My report on a Princess Alaska CruiseTour descrives how luggage is handled.

 

 

[John99]

11 hours ago, BETSY DOLL said:

Going on 4 day land first then 7 day cruise after in September 2022. 
can you send cruise suitcase ahead of time, or have to keep all together while going from land hotels to other land hotels? I need to downsize my packing but not sure if we can have 2 suitcases located here and there? 
 

 

Greetings,

Besty Doll you can obtain valuable info from your “Travel Summary”.  This could answer many of your questions.  We have an upcoming cruise/tour in July of 2022 on the Royal and printed the Travels Summary for future reference.

 

Log in to Princess.

Click on “My Account”.

Click on “Up coming Cruises”.

Click on “Manage This Booking”.

Make sure up pick the correct cruise if you have several coming up in the future.

Top of screen click on “Luggage & Travel Summary”.

Go to “Travel Summary”.

Select “Print my Summary”.

Top right of screen select “Print Travel Summary”.

The Travel Summary is approximately 7/8 pages.  You will find info on your itinerary, luggage info, travel documents, hotel info, timing of travel from location to location, etc.

There is a good amount of info presented which I highly recommend you print out for future reference.   Hope this helps in your planning.     John

[anjiedupree]

I agree with the above. We did the reverse cruise/land tour in Sept 2019. The travel summary very helpful. Most important is the size requirement for the small carryon for the train. The trains were comfy, but if you want to indulge in the dining car, the path is narrow and the staircase was spiral. Our train meals were very good. I don’t know if the dining car is the same due to COVID, but I hope so. Enjoy!

[adstz]

We have done cruise tours twice to Alaska.  Which train car you get can make a difference.

The first time we packed a hanging case with our "formal" clothes that went ahead to the ship. We each had a suitcase (large) and a backpack. This worked well. On the train it was hard to find a place for even a backpack. The tables were small and with 4 adults it was very crowded. We kept our backpacks on the floor between our feet but that meant you couldn't move your feet as there was no room left.

The second time we didn't bother with the hanging case. We were in a different train car that had regular forward facing seats. A little more room to maneuver there. 

For what it is worth I saw people with lots of big cases on the train and Princess didn't stop them. It's more about where you are going to put things.

[nini]

@BETSY DOLL We typically wear comfortable clothes (nice jeans, nice tops and sweaters) in the dining rooms on NON- FORMAL nights. On Formal nights, the guys wear nice slacks and a nice buttoned shirt with maybe a nice pullover sweater. The gals wear nice pants and dressy tops. You will see all kinds of dressing on formal nights. We have seem people turned away when wearing shorts, flip flops, and tank tops. For the non- formal nights, we have seen almost everything.

 

I really do not know why you would need 12 pair of shoes. But if that is your thing, then that is your thing, along with the extra suitcase that it would require. Remember, you will encounter all kinds of weather in Alaska and want to be able to bring layers and comfortable shoes, especially for walking and enjoying the rain, snow, slush, and sun.

[John99]

Great info from @adstz,   @nini  10 pair of shoes – no way.  The size of the carryon is very important when on the train.  Space is limited.  After 2 cruise tours to Alaska the size of the carryon (small) and backpack are very important and worked well for us.  Again, very space is limited under your seat.

 

Relative to the train itself -- it would be nice to know weather you have to share table with another couple.  Princess assigns which car you will be on with no input from passengers.   Some trains have forward looking seats for you and your wife (which good) while other rail cars have a table to share with another couple (space is limited). 

 

Princess introduced the Ultra Dome Series I cars (4) in 1988 and the Ultra Dome Series II cars (2) in 1993. Series III cars (2) were added in 1997 and Series IV cars (2) in 1999.  Total of 10 cars.   All the rail cars are named after mountain peaks.  Series II and II cars are designed to complement Series I cars. Although similar in design and interior appointments they are not the same.  How can you tell the difference?  The rail cars with lifts leading to the second floor are labeled in bold on the side of the car – “A”, “C” and “D” cars all have lifts to the first floor. However, only “C” cars have lifts going into the dome.  “B” cars have an upstairs door that leads into the upstairs of a “C” car.  Again, the cars are similar in design but not the same.  OK clear as mud right?  Again, Princess assigns which car you will be on with no input from passengers.  Just hope you are assigned a newer car.  John

[nini]

For me, it would be two pair of flip flops (wearing one pair), tennis/ walking shoes, short boots for running around town and to dinner. So, three pair would need to be packed.

[kamelia]

Based on our experience, I can tell you that the bag you have with you during the transit days only needs to contain things you'll want to have with you for the day, either from a security standpoint (purse/wallet, cellphone, passports, jewelry, laptop) or to use en route, such as cameras and binoculars.  If you have a land tour planned when you arrive at the destination - for example an evening horseback ride from Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge - you might want to have your jacket, hat and mittens with you just in case your "checked" bag doesn't get delivered to your room before you leave for your tour, but other than that, your land tour bag(s) should be accessible by the time you're ready to retire.  We have found that a backpack for each of us fits our needs, large enough to put everything we want with us but small enough to stash in bus overhead racks, squish under the train seat or worst case, stow beneath our feet.  Hope this helps!

[Willwils]

• So if i get this correct, if my wife and I can manage to fit all our stuff for both the land and cruise in 2 large suitcases(1 per person) plus 1 small underseat carry-on per person, then we don't need to separate the land from the cruise. That would have ALL our suitcases on the land then follow us on the truck to the ship.. if allowed.  Instead of their rule of sharing 1 suitcase on land only. Then share additional suitcases for ship. Correct?

[nini]

5 hours ago, Willwils said:

• So if i get this correct, if my wife and I can manage to fit all our stuff for both the land and cruise in 2 large suitcases(1 per person) plus 1 small underseat carry-on per person, then we don't need to separate the land from the cruise. That would have ALL our suitcases on the land then follow us on the truck to the ship.. if allowed.  Instead of their rule of sharing 1 suitcase on land only. Then share additional suitcases for ship. Correct?

That is a lot of stuff.

[nini]

We do laundry half way through.

[leck57]

12 hours ago, Willwils said:

• So if i get this correct, if my wife and I can manage to fit all our stuff for both the land and cruise in 2 large suitcases(1 per person) plus 1 small underseat carry-on per person, then we don't need to separate the land from the cruise. That would have ALL our suitcases on the land then follow us on the truck to the ship.. if allowed.  Instead of their rule of sharing 1 suitcase on land only. Then share additional suitcases for ship. Correct?

 

Correct. We never had separate bags. One suitcase each and a small backpack which followed us on land. Nothing separate for the ship. My observations were that just about everyone on our land tour was exactly the same.

[kamelia]

13 hours ago, Willwils said:

• So if i get this correct, if my wife and I can manage to fit all our stuff for both the land and cruise in 2 large suitcases(1 per person) plus 1 small underseat carry-on per person, then we don't need to separate the land from the cruise. That would have ALL our suitcases on the land then follow us on the truck to the ship.. if allowed.  Instead of their rule of sharing 1 suitcase on land only. Then share additional suitcases for ship. Correct?

On our first Alaska cruisetour, separate suitcases - one tagged “join me at the lodge” and one tagged “join me on the ship” - was a handy way to deal with formalwear and other ship-specific items that we didn’t need access to during the land portion of our tour.  We took advantage of that the first time, but over time we are packing more efficiently and haven’t needed to separate land vs. sea bags.  Now, we each have a bag that follows us on the truck as well as a carry-on for transit between lodges. HTH!