Cruisetour, Captain Cook, Luggage - Two Questions

[jean-lynd]

17 minutes ago, Sea Hag said:

Good information, thanks. I'm quite possibly the clumsiest person on Earth. So, walking a plank with one end on the beach and the other end on the floatplane float that's probably moving up and down with the water. Hmmm. What could possibly go wrong? 😂🤣

I found the floatplane stairs a little more awkward than the "plank". There will be some very nice strong young men to hold your hand! If I can do it you can do it!

[jean-lynd]

Now that we have completed our trip I want to fill you in. As soon as you get to the Captain Cook go to the Princess desk and ask for your "packet". It has all of the instructions for the trip to Katmai and the transfer to the airport along with luggage tags. We didn't get our packert until we got back from Katmai and went to the desk to ask questions. We really liked the Captain Cook and the process for checking out, luggage storage and airport transfer were great. We did get to the Snow City Cafe for breakfast on Monday. We were able to join their waitlist while we were at the hotel and then walk there when it was time. Really enjoyed our breakfast there! I got the crabby omlete and hubby got the blueberry stuffed french toast!

[Sea Hag]

12 minutes ago, jean-lynd said:

Now that we have completed our trip I want to fill you in. As soon as you get to the Captain Cook go to the Princess desk and ask for your "packet". It has all of the instructions for the trip to Katmai and the transfer to the airport along with luggage tags. We didn't get our packert until we got back from Katmai and went to the desk to ask questions. We really liked the Captain Cook and the process for checking out, luggage storage and airport transfer were great. We did get to the Snow City Cafe for breakfast on Monday. We were able to join their waitlist while we were at the hotel and then walk there when it was time. Really enjoyed our breakfast there! I got the crabby omlete and hubby got the blueberry stuffed french toast!

Very nice looking breakfast! And thanks for the good advice on asking for the packet when we arrive at the Captain Cook. 

[CruisingSandgroper]

@jean-lynddid you not have to go to the Princess Desk to check in to the hotel? When we picked up our bags from the Hospitality Center after wandering around Anchorage we took the coach the couple of blocks to the Captain Cook. Before getting off the coach we were instructed to go to the Princess Desk where we collected our room keys and packet.

[jean-lynd]

51 minutes ago, CruisingSandgroper said:

@jean-lynddid you not have to go to the Princess Desk to check in to the hotel? When we picked up our bags from the Hospitality Center after wandering around Anchorage we took the coach the couple of blocks to the Captain Cook. Before getting off the coach we were instructed to go to the Princess Desk where we collected our room keys and packet.

No - we just walked to the hotel instead of waiting for the shuttle. We went to the hotel desk and were able to check in early. We did stop at the Princess desk to ask what time we needed to catch the bus for our excursion in the morning but noone said anything about a packet. The Princess desk was a little crazy that day because they were trying to coordinate getting people transfered to Whittier because the road was closed for 5 hours because of an accident.

[kamelia]

I have some additional comments after having taken this tour this past Sunday, July 28th.  

 

First, another big thank you to @CruisingSandgroper for the excellent review (comment #39 on the previous page)!  That contains far more helpful information that we received from Princess!

 

@Sea Hag, do not worry about walking the plank!  As CruisingSandgroper noted, the float planes are dragged up onto the beach, and I was able to hop off directly from the pontoon onto wet sand, no standing water.  The plank was only added after another passenger stepped on cables on the pontoon that we'd been asked to step over, so it was more to protect the plane than our feet.  

 

When we went to the "Trading Post" to "choose anexclusive (sic) souvenir desinged (sic) just for Princess guests" as specified in the document provided in our Welcome Packet at Captain Cook, the gal there had no idea what we were talking about.  We were offered our choice of a free cap or t-shirt, though.

 

With regards to the Falls Platform waiting list, we too found that we waited longer than what we had been told to expect when we signed up for our time slot.  Once our viewing time was done, we went back to the Lodge for our buffet lunch, then stayed there until it was time to board the float plane.  However, three other members of our group went back to the viewing platforms after eating and learned that by then there was no longer a wait list and they were able to spend more time on the Falls Platform.  I can't tell you that it's like that every day, but it might be worth walking back to what's known as the Treehouse where the sign-ups take place if you've got that extra time after you eat.  Worst case, you can still go out to the Riffles Platform.

 

Hope this helps!

[Sea Hag]

10 minutes ago, kamelia said:

I have some additional comments after having taken this tour this past Sunday, July 28th.  

 

First, another big thank you to @CruisingSandgroper for the excellent review (comment #39 on the previous page)!  That contains far more helpful information that we received from Princess!

 

@Sea Hag, do not worry about walking the plank!  As CruisingSandgroper noted, the float planes are dragged up onto the beach, and I was able to hop off directly from the pontoon onto wet sand, no standing water.  The plank was only added after another passenger stepped on cables on the pontoon that we'd been asked to step over, so it was more to protect the plane than our feet.  

 

When we went to the "Trading Post" to "choose anexclusive (sic) souvenir desinged (sic) just for Princess guests" as specified in the document provided in our Welcome Packet at Captain Cook, the gal there had no idea what we were talking about.  We were offered our choice of a free cap or t-shirt, though.

 

With regards to the Falls Platform waiting list, we too found that we waited longer than what we had been told to expect when we signed up for our time slot.  Once our viewing time was done, we went back to the Lodge for our buffet lunch, then stayed there until it was time to board the float plane.  However, three other members of our group went back to the viewing platforms after eating and learned that by then there was no longer a wait list and they were able to spend more time on the Falls Platform.  I can't tell you that it's like that every day, but it might be worth walking back to what's known as the Treehouse where the sign-ups take place if you've got that extra time after you eat.  Worst case, you can still go out to the Riffles Platform.

 

Hope this helps!

It does! It helps a lot. Good information and thank you very much. 

[CruisingSandgroper]

23 minutes ago, kamelia said:

When we went to the "Trading Post" to "choose anexclusive (sic) souvenir desinged (sic) just for Princess guests" as specified in the document provided in our Welcome Packet at Captain Cook, the gal there had no idea what we were talking about.  We were offered our choice of a free cap or t-shirt, though.

 

 

We remembered about the exclusive souvenir once we had returned to Anchorage. The lady at Katmai Air knew nothing about it and as everyone else had already left for the day she said she'd check on it and get back to us the next day. True to her word she called the next day and said they were going to get T-Shirts flown in from the Katmai that day. We had stayed a couple of extra nights in AK so picked up the T-Shirts on our way to the airport. 

[kamelia]

1 hour ago, CruisingSandgroper said:

 

We remembered about the exclusive souvenir once we had returned to Anchorage. The lady at Katmai Air knew nothing about it and as everyone else had already left for the day she said she'd check on it and get back to us the next day. True to her word she called the next day and said they were going to get T-Shirts flown in from the Katmai that day. We had stayed a couple of extra nights in AK so picked up the T-Shirts on our way to the airport. 

As if we weren’t already impressed by and pleased with the service we received from Katmai Air! 👏🏻