just back, indep land and diamond princess

[kimcht]

Just got back from our vacation and it was wonderful. since all the detailed info on this board was so helpful in planning I may get in to too much detail here, so skip this if thats not what you want, but for me in planning it was SO helpful. first of all thanks to all who convinced me to do the land oortion on my own. We talked to many on the cruise who did it through princess and did enjoy it, but for us comparing what they did and what we saw I was very glad we did it on our own and it was really easy to do if you give yourself enought time.

 

we are a 50 year old couple, 3rd time to cruise. I have a few medical issues that make it necessary to build some break time into our schedule. I had visions of taking that break on decks and patios a our stops with a good book, but the rain kind of changed that! we started in anchorage at the days in the day we flew from cleveland to anchorage. the days in gets many bad reviews on trip advisor, but it was fine for us. it has a free shuttle from the airport that picked us up in a timely manner and the driver suggested several restaurants and circled them on a map he gave us. it was clean and in walking distance to many things including the avis rental place we rented the car at the next day. we walked to the visitors center, took a shuttle to the ulu factory (wouldnt bother) and there was also a shuttle available to the native heritage museum. there was a small museum across the visitor center that showed a short film about the 1964 earthquake that was made up of home movies we found interesting. the next morning we rented bikes from the Dowtown bicycle shop (highly recommended) and did the tony knowles coastal trail. we saw no moose but the views were beautiful, even in the rain. by noon we rented a car from avis and drove to the alaska wildlife conservation center, which was a nice place to see the native wildlife in case I wasnt going to see them on the rest of the trip. for those who have it there is a coupon in the northern lights book. we then backtracked and stayed the night in girdwood at the Mt Alyeska resort. there is a great trail there called the winner creek trail (about 5 mile round trip) which leads to a hand tram over a gorge. would of course have been better if it hadnt been pouring, but who can control that! much of the trail is protected from the rain or boardwalked, but the last bit was pretty muddy but still worth it. the town of girdwood itself has very little in it. we did drive to the crow creek mine wihich is a little simulated gold mine town, $5 to get in and walk around, $15 to get a little dirt and pan to pan gold. then they gave you a bucket, shoevel, etc. to walk to the river so you could pan for gold as long as you want. since it was still raining and cold, that wasnt very long for me although there were some real serious gold panners, but it was interesting. wasnt too sure it was worth the money, but then came across a mama bear and cub raiding a dumpster on the drive back, which did make it worth it!

 

the drive from anchorage to seward was beautiful so we took many picture stops, then stayed for 2 nights at the saltwater lodgge and one at the alsaska basecamp yurt next door. we saw the sealife center (another coupon and very nice!) we were happy with the saltwater lodge, although if I would have knwon about the yurt I would have booked all 3 nights there! breakfast at the lodge was the same every day, toast, english muffins, oatmeal, fruit, juice, but it was just fine for us. we took their Kenai fjords tour, or tried, but there were gale force winds that day so we couldnt get out of the bay. even so we saw humpbacks, puffins, otters, sealions, and they are supposed to be refunding part of our money since we could only do 1/2 the tour. It was cold and pouring the whole time and even a bit rough in the bay making my stomach uncomfortable even with the patch. several people chose not to go at all due to the weather and they were given full refunds. we also went to hike to exit glecier which we liked very much. there is no place within walking distance of the saltwater to eat, so I would not stay there without a rental car. there are bald eagles all around the area who put on a show for us every night.

the last full day in seward we drove to cooper landings and took a float tour with the alaska wilderness adventure group. it was a 2 hour float(coupon) and very nice. it only sprinkled a little on the float trip for once, and when we were done we did a 4 mile round trip hike to the russian falls. unfortunately the trail head was in a campground that charged $11.00 to park, so we almost reconsidered but went ahead anyways and we are very glad we did. it was a great trail and at the end there is a viewing platform over the falls. not too impressive of a falls until you see the salmon fighting there way up the river. while we were trying to get a picture of jumping salmon (not an easy thing) a big brown bear came down and did his own fishing. we felt like we were in an episode of national geographic!

 

the last morning the sun came out for the first time just as we had to leave! and we drove to whittier and did the PWS tour (coupon) before we got on the boat. it was a nice view of the glaciers, closer than we would get on the ship. they kept our luggage for us and even tranferred it to the ship for us while we were on the boat trip, so that by the time we got to our room our luggage was already there.

 

general recommendations for the land tour, bring layers and rain gear, and go on with your plans rain or shine. we were on land for 5 days and it only stopped raining for part of the last day. we did not feel the 3 days in seward was too much as was suggested when I was planning, partly because of the day spent in cooper landing. print out the info at alaska.org on the highway drives and it gives you mile by mile info on different stops and hikes. I also printed out a guide to various hikes on line which was very helpful. I know many people said they never needed or used rain pants, but we were very glad we had ours and wore them almost every day on this portion of our trip. will follow up with impressions of our cruise and port excursions later today, but details of the boat were recently outlined by Kerry and LouAnn.

[I Teach]

:) Thanks for your review!!

Can you tell me more about why you liked the Alaska Basecamp over the Saltwater Lodge? We are planning our trip for next June and will be spending two nights in Seward.

Thanks!

[PennyAgain]

thanks for the excellent write up including information on clothing. People really need that information right now with the crazy weather.

[ddeprez]

Thanks for the great review so far! Since you were just on the Diamond (and we will be on 1 month from now!), can you comment on the clothing that was worn for dinner, particularily on formal nights? I know this has been discussed before, but your first hand impressions of the same ship we'll be on would really help with our packing decisions!

thanks!!

[Shawnesville]

did you happen to save your daily patters? :)

[kimcht]

to answer the above questions. we had originally booked the saltwater for 3 days. they called and asked us a few weeks before we left if we would move to the yurt next door for our last day, technically called the alaska basecamp. i guess they rent it from their neighbor when they get full as overflow. it has a full kitchen, so we could have saved some bucks, although breakfast would not have been included, but it has its own deck right on the bay with its own grill. its so cute! and although there were only 2 of us would comfortable fit at least 4 people.

 

as far as dinner on the diamond, on non formal nights we dressed nicely, nice slacks and top, but many were wearing blue jeans and sweatshirts and nothing was said. on formal nights, ladies were dressed up nicely, most men in suits, a few tuxes and a few more casual. due to lugggage issues my husband just wore dress pants and a dress shirt and tie, no jacket and there was no problem, although there were a few men that did not go to the dining room if they had no jacket. your choice, that kind of thing doesnt bother my husand and there was no problem.

 

as far as the patters I do have them but do not have a scanner, perhaps I could answer a specific question? not alot of activities wth the exception of first and last sea day, and if you check kerry and Luann's post from yesterday she did a great job of running down the entertainment.

[kimcht]

ok, here goes. we got on the ship in whittier about 6:30 after the PWS tour, some lines but no problems and our luggage was allready in our rooms. there was a welcome aboard show that I hear was very good but we didnt go. I know when we were planning I wanted to know about activities and entertainment too, and was told its just different in alaska, and now I understand. we were up early every day for excursions or to see wildlife and too pooped to do any of the 10 pm or later activities. and two of our sea days there was actually SUN!!! so I could not bring myself to move off my deck chair to go line dancing!

 

we had a balcony on the port side and if you can afford it I would say go for it. any balcony below baja people above you can see into your balcony.we used it alot, especially on glacier bay day when it was rainy and cold. the naturalist described everything on the port side first, event though the boat did turn to give everybody a look, so that was great. on the portions of the trip we were told that we were more likely to see wildlife we did go on deck as we didnt know which side they would be on.

 

the ship itself was clean and beautiful, the food in the dining rooms was good, the buffet a bit of a problem that is mentioned over again in the reviews. there is no flow that makes any sense and never enough seats.

we did anytime dining. i found it interesting to read in someone elses review that there was a special in each anytime dining room, as we were only told about the one in the santa fe. so ask about the special, its the same every night depending on the dining room. on the first day we got a little concerned as everyone we chatted with that had anyime dining had made reservations! I refused to do so becuase doesnt that defeat the purpose? we tend to eat before 6:30 and never had to wait, although there was a wait 2 nights that we noticed about 7 pm. one of the nights however there was a 45 minute wait at the santa fe and no wait in the savoy, so unless you have your heart set on the fajitas in the santa fe if there is a wait, check the other dining rooms. service was ok in all but the pacific rim, almost walked out, and a few others had the same problem. my husband bought the coke card and wants me to tell you that if you go to the bar by the outside pool on deck 14 they will actualy give you a large glass instead of the little glasses everyone else gives you. also the burgers were good from the grill, really didnt like the pizza. did a continental breakfast on 2 of the port days in our room which worked out fine except the girl always came 10 minutes early.

 

Skagway, we rented a car from avis and did murrays drive. we had rented months in advance, but there was a guy behind us that hadnt reserved and was able to get a car, he had allready been to the other rental in town and they were sold out. Many tell you its about a 5 hour round trip and I am sure it could be because it took us 1 1/2 hours to get back, but we actually took 7 hours to do! we had all day and stopped for pictures, stopped and hiked in the cemetary to the falls, walked along the stone beach, chatted with people at the stops (many cruise critic people on the drive) , stopped very quickly at caribou crossing (not worth the time in my opinion) and walked around carcross. not much to eat along the way. there was a restaurant/gas station outside carcross but I wouldnt eat there (you'll know why if you stop) the cinamon bakery was open but we didnt stop (see we didnt stop everywhere!) and we did have an ice cream stop in carcross. plenty to eat in skagway when you get back if you want to explore the town before getting back on the ship. emerald lake was beautiful as was the whole drive, the sun actually decided to show itself and by the end of the day we were in our t shirts!!!!

 

Junea: harv and marv are as recommended on his board, wonderful and knowledgeable about the area. there were only 6 of us on the boat and we saw lots and lots of whales, although he said we were unusually lucky. the shuttle driver (Marvs dad) dropped us off at mendenhall where we hiked the trail and saw our 4th bear, a little guy trying to catch salmon. we then took the shuttle to town for $7.00 which would either take you back to the ship or into town to shop (jewelry stores and gift shops galore in every port).

 

last but not least ketchikan. we saw the lumberjack show, which was fun and then walked to creek street. we then did our only princess booked excursion the rainforest wildlife sanctuary hike. we were expecting a nice walk with info about the plant life in the rainforest which we got, as well as lots of eagles and salmon. and of course since they seemed to be following us around, we saw a small black cub in the tree, then mama bear, then another cub. luckily they were always close enough for good pictures, but not too close. they also told us a bit about carving totems.

 

feel free to ask questions, we are working on those 1300 pictures!

[ddeprez]

Sounds like a great trip overall! What deck were you on? You mentioned that balconies below baja weren't covered- are the ones on the decks above? Did you use the pools/hot tubs at all, or see may other people using them? Does your hubby remeber how much they charged for the soda card?

Thanks for your help once again!

[TMS9539]

Which trail did you hike at Mendenhall? We are thinking of doing the East Glacier loop and I'm wondering how it is. Juneau is our hiking day and I want to make sure we pick a good (ie scenic) trail.

[kimcht]

we were on baja deck, and yes the decks above were covered and stacked on top of each other so you cant see directly into them. the hot tubs were in frequent use as was the indoor pool, a few brave souls were in the out door pool. the soda card was $ 38.00.

 

we just did the short creek trail at mendenhall, did our long hikes early in the trip. there is a 3$ charge to get in the visitor center, but you can go in to the gift shop/rest rooms without paying.

[TwinMomplus]

We just got back from the same trip. good to meet you Kim in line at Avis in Skagway! And I'll echo her in thanks to all of you great people out there. We did Harv and Marv as well - how awesome. Can't say enough good things about them. Did the island wings Misty Fjord flight tour with Michelle in ketchican and that was truly awesome. The sun came out and everything so it was just indescribable, but would have been great in any weather. We had a balcony on Aloha, starboard side- it was covered and you couldn't see into it. Dress was not as formal as other cruises we have been on. There was a wide range on formal night as Kim has said, and other nights- jeans and sneakers were pretty common. I'll post more later. But it as a fabulous trip. a few issues with the teen program. But otherwise - we were all happy.

[Kerry&LuAnn]

Thanks for the great review so far! Since you were just on the Diamond (and we will be on 1 month from now!), can you comment on the clothing that was worn for dinner, particularily on formal nights? I know this has been discussed before, but your first hand impressions of the same ship we'll be on would really help with our packing decisions! thanks!!

 

We were on the Diamond Princess (July 19-26) and saw a much more "relaxed" formal night than we had experienced on Caribbean cruises. We saw a few tuxes and suits, but a lot of just nice shirts and ties.

[kimcht]

it was nice to meet you too. kept looking for you guys on the skagway drive, but I suspect we stopped more than you did. glad you had a good trip too!

[betmust]

Thank you for the review. We will be on the Diamond Saturday. My luggage is packed to the limit for 3 of us (overpacked really). I was glad to hear formal nights were not so formal. If we go, we will wear nice pants and top-nothing glitzy and no ties. It doesn't sound like we will be the only ones.

 

Bette

[kimcht]

finally got some of the pictures organized!

Check out kimcht's photos and profile! http://community.webshots.com/user/kimcht

[ddeprez]

what awesome photos- thanks for sharing!! Where did you see the Orcas??

[Budget Queen]

Which trail did you hike at Mendenhall? We are thinking of doing the East Glacier loop and I'm wondering how it is. Juneau is our hiking day and I want to make sure we pick a good (ie scenic) trail.

 

This is NOT "scenic", (very little viewing of the glacier), but a wooded walk. The first trailhead is what I recommend you take, this is the switchback up, then you have the stairs down. If you want more "scenery, then add in the Nugget trail.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review of your land and cruise in Alaska.

 

Wonderful.

[ohio beach girl]

Amazing photos! Great job, especially all those tail flips!

I was in Hawaii in Jan. Couldn't get one tail flip. I saw lots of whales and tail flips but couldn't time it right to get a pic.

Thanks for sharing.:)

[kimcht]

the orcas were swimming right next to the cruise ship! saw humpbacks everywhere else.

 

as far as mendenal, we just did the little loop right off the parking lot along the creek, although there are other hikes.