Anchorage Downtown Marriott - what to do?

[milford_cruiser]

Hi all - looking for some suggestions about what to do near the downtown Marriott location in Anchorage.

We will be on Royal Caribbean's cruisetour #1 which states "depart by motorcoach for the cosmopolitan city of Anchorage. In the afternoon, you're free to explore the city on your own, or you may want to participate in an optional activity, such as flightseeing or bear viewing. In the evening, independently enjoy one of the many excellent restaurants near your downtown hotel. Overnight in Anchorage."

The way I figure it, that translates to "we'll drive you from Denali to Anchorage, then you're on your own for the night." I know that's about a 6.5 hour bus ride, and my invoice shows we're booked into the Marriott in Anchorage (I'm assuming downtown).

So we'll be pretty road-weary by the time we arrive, and will want/need to spend some time doing laundry at the hotel before we depart on the early morning train to Seward to visit the SeaLife center and board the Radiance for the cruise segment of our trip.

My question - what is near the hotel for activities / sightseeing / restaurants for a low-key afternoon/evening? There are 7 of us all together, so I wouldn't want to think about coordinating cabs or anything major.

[Budget Queen]

www.anchorage.net

[PennyAgain]

Spending your limited time in Anchorage doing laundry is a real waste of valuable time, but you don't have time for the hotel to do it. Send your laundry out to be done on your ship. After all you've paid for this trip, it is a minor expense. Just about everything downtown is handy to the Marriott. I don't expect that you will be road weary.

Depending on the date of your arrival, you may have plenty of daylight. Use it!

[kennicott]

“Cosmopolitan” (knowledgeable and refined: showing a breadth of knowledge and refinement from having traveled widely.) I love it. Don’t think I ever heard that one used in connection with Anchorage before. Maybe I better not use it around my bush friends though. Might get shot. The Anchorage logo goes something like this: “Big Wild Life”. But many of us are trying to figure out if it is a reference to two or four legged creatures.

I agree with Penny: "Spending your limited time in Anchorage doing laundry is a real waste of valuable time."

With respect to your specific question: I would do this: visit the Anchorage Museum, eat dinner at Orso’s. All within a few blocks. Sure hope you enjoy your visit here.

[AkSusan]

Lots of great restaurants within an easy stroll from the Marriott. Orso's, Glacier Brewhouse, Humpy's, Simon & Seafort's, Sack's. If you're considering Orso's, Glacier Brewhouse, Simon & Seafort's you may want to consider reservations. Summer here the restaurants downtown without reservations can be an hour, hour and a half wait.

The Anchorage Museum downtown has just gone through a major expansion and I really enjoy the Alaska Gallery.

Susan in Anchorage

[milford_cruiser]

Originally Posted by kennicott

I agree with Penny: "Spending your limited time in Anchorage doing laundry is a real waste of valuable time."

Yeah - it might seem so, but it's really only a couple of hours of down-time and I added up the cost of having it done on the ship - a week's worth of laundry for 7 people comes out to close to $300! And I'm FAR more of a cheap Yankee than that! I have to consider how many drinks of the day that adds up to. Besides, it will be July, and there's plenty of daylight for sightseeing.

The other consideration - this is a GREAT job to put my mother and mother-in-law up to (yes, BOTH are coming on this trip) while I work on $300 of drinks with my dad and DW!

Originally Posted by AkSusan

Lots of great restaurants within an easy stroll from the Marriott. Orso's, Glacier Brewhouse, Humpy's, Simon & Seafort's, Sack's. If you're considering Orso's, Glacier Brewhouse, Simon & Seafort's you may want to consider reservations. Summer here the restaurants downtown without reservations can be an hour, hour and a half wait.

The Anchorage Museum downtown has just gone through a major expansion and I really enjoy the Alaska Gallery.

Thanks for the good advice from you locals! I'll have to look into all of those. Reservations for the Brewhouse? Must be a great place!

[kennicott]

[quote=milford_cruiser;22039044] I have to consider how many drinks of the day that adds up to.

Heck with the laundry. So what if you smell like whiskey and sweat. Fit right in up here in most places.

Have a great time, and a great cruise. Kenny

[milford_cruiser]

Originally Posted by kennicott

Heck with the laundry. So what if you smell like whiskey and sweat. Fit right in up here in most places.

Now THAT's funny!

Might be a moot point anyway - a little more research on our visiting options this evening turned up a couple of reviews of the Marriott that shed some doubt on the presence of a laundry facility.

A quick call to the front desk cleared it up: No guest laundry at the Marriott, so we may be out of luck and have to spend big bucks on the ship, or go with Kenny's suggestion!

We DID find some great menus for some of those restaurants. Going to be hard to decide!

[PennyAgain]

That being the case, I would advise each person to do their own hand washing along the way and then sent out the heavy stuff when you arrive on your ship.

Send your women to a local coin op laundry and they will certainly meet some 'local color' as well as using washers and dryers that likely had just done a load of wash from the Bush.

That is not a good thing!

[milford_cruiser]

Originally Posted by PennyAgain

That being the case, I would advise each person to do their own hand washing along the way and then sent out the heavy stuff when you arrive on your ship.

Thanks, Penny - that's the current plan as of last night.

Send your women to a local coin op laundry and they will certainly meet some 'local color' as well as using washers and dryers that likely had just done a load of wash from the Bush.

Meeting new people:
Local color:
Bush country laundry:
"Send your women":

[Budget Queen]

Originally Posted by PennyAgain

That being the case, I would advise each person to do their own hand washing along the way and then sent out the heavy stuff when you arrive on your ship.

Send your women to a local coin op laundry and they will certainly meet some 'local color' as well as using washers and dryers that likely had just done a load of wash from the Bush.

That is not a good thing!

Boy do I agree with this!!! I never travel without my Zote soap, and I've had some great experiences hanging out at laundry mats.

[PennyAgain]

It is made in Mexico and is a huge bar of detergent. I slice my off into about 2" cubes and put a couple into a Zip-Loc bag for travel. Smells good but is not flowery. Really great for doing hand laundry. As it is a solid, no issue with the TSA if you are doing carry on only.

I dry the cubes off between washes and rebag them. Easy!

I get mine at Big Lots. Cheap.

[milford_cruiser]

Zote Soap. Something else I'll have to look for.

What I really find interesting is how this thread - which I intended to use to research some low-key activities in Anchorage - has morphed into a "how to do laundry on the road" thread! Kind of funny, really...

[gertz]

Sure glad I don't have to worry about laundry.

You will love the train and the magnificent scenery in route. You will also get to Seward in time to find a laundromat if that is what you wanted to do.

[milford_cruiser]

Originally Posted by gertz

Sure glad I don't have to worry about laundry.

Darn Princess cruisers...

You will love the train and the magnificent scenery in route. You will also get to Seward in time to find a laundromat if that is what you wanted to do.

This train segment is one of the parts (among many) that I'm really looking forward to on the trip. The wicked early morning, not so much, but the ride should be excellent!

As for the laundromat - geez - I was really only looking for stuff to do in Anchorage... turns out airing my laundry was one of them!!!

[gertz]

Responded once and it kicked me out, try again.

Originally Posted by milford_cruiser

Darn Princess cruisers...

We have saved lots of $ with this perk.


This train segment is one of the parts (among many) that I'm really looking forward to on the trip. The wicked early morning, not so much, but the ride should be excellent!

This might be of interest. AAA Motor Club had an article in their magazine couple months ago on the very best scenic train rides. The Anc to Seward or reverse was rated in the top 10 in the WORLD. And I agree. Stay awake.

Ask the desk people at Marriott where a laundromat is, if your really interested.

As for the laundromat - geez - I was really only looking for stuff to do in Anchorage... turns out airing my laundry was one of them!!!

Have fun. Next for us R/T Hawaii Golden Princess April 11. They just made a daring rescue two people and two dogs fishing boat 400 miles from Honolulu.

[pspercy]

I liked Club Paris http://www.clubparisrestaurant.com/
No view but has atmosphere, great steaks. Haven't been in a few years but it's probably not changed much. Hope to check it out again in 2010.