jezz086

Hooray! Thank you so very much! Have been waiting to see some of these for a while! Thanks again :)

Me too, in particular, southbound. If anyone has any, they would be greatly appreciated :)

I recently posted a similar question and didn't get much response. I've included the link, however, as there were a couple of helpful replies. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2215447

Good luck choosing, I'm still undecided!

We will be visiting Ketchikan, Alaska and ship departs at 6pm. How much earlier than this are you required to be back on the ship? I am wanting to book an independent tour, and need to check we will be back in enough time. Thanks in advance

We are in Ketchikan on Star Princess in July and are looking at kayaking tours. There are 3 that have really stood out for me and I am having trouble deciding because they all have great reviews. Has anyone been on one or more of these tours? How do they compare in terms of scenery, wildlife, areas they visit, value for money etc.? Any recommendations will be appreciated, thanks.

Southeast Exposure - Tatoosh Islands Sea Kayaking 4.5hrs $125

Southeast Sea Kayaks - Orcas Cove 4hrs $159

Ketchikan Kayak Company - Eco tour in Clover Pass 4hrs $129

I'm going to vote taxi as the fastest way to get there...

• door to door service for $35 car load
  
• luggage friendly, no need to mix with rush hour subway commuters
  
• no need to try and understand those cryptic fare machines
  
  • one zone? two zones? three zones? add fare?
    
  • when is a child considered an adult?
    

  [*]no need to drag luggage three blocks to ride elevator to trains? Remember that first subway entrance takes you to the East suburbs away from the airport.

  [*]YVR vs Brighouse? No need to worry about boarding wrong train

If you find the taxi queue long and find yourself walking to the subway station. Look to the right at the Pan Pacific and Fairmont Hotels. If you see the lines shorter.... go there for the taxi to the airport! Waiting cruise terminal taxis are happy to pick you up a these alternate hotel locations.

Thanks xlxo, you made lots of good points!

If you are used to buying tickets at vending machines - with fairly intuitive, Plain English descriptions - then Skytrain is the way to go but with a couple of caveats:

 

Do not enter at the obvious access point just outside Canada Place - while this does lead into the right station, it goes to the wrong platform. You'll have to walk along it then up the escalator then back down onto the correct platform. Easier to instead continue past the entrance on Howe, turn left on Cordova, enter the station through the original entrance (look up at the pretty pictures around the top of the walls, it's actually quite an attractive station), buy tickets, then follow signs to CANADA LINE.

 

Second - only every second train goes to the airport. Both the train itself and the live boards ("next train in X minutes") indicate which trains go to YVR and which go to Richmond Brighouse. Announcements on the train also confirm destination - worst case you can get off, wait on platform for next train, reboard.

 

Third, Zones - if it's a weekend you need just 1 Zone tickets ($2.75pp). Weekdays you'll need 2 Zone tickets ($4pp) as YVR is outside Vancouver proper. Major credit cards are accepted, as is Canadian currency.

 

If you are organized, can wheel your luggage, and don't go in the wrong door you can be at YVR in 30mins from the pier. Even assuming you just miss a train and have to wait 6 mins it's probably a wash compared to waiting in line to get in a cab - but if the taxi queue is minimal you will get to YVR faster using a cab (mornings it's against rush hour traffic so usually under 30mins drive).

 

If you self-disembark you can get off when you choose, probably at 7am or very shortly thereafter. Otherwise unless you've booked air travel through the cruise line or have high status with them, you probably won't get the earliest disembarkation slots as they are in high demand.

Thanks martincath for your detailed response :)

If you're docking at Canada Place, the train station is a couple of minutes away. It's very easy to get to the airport by train. If you don't want to deal with public transit, you can get a taxi. I would absolutely NOT get a Princess transfer if you're on a tight timetable, they won't leave until the bus is full.

Thanks for the info on the Princess transfer. I also just checked the port schedule and noticed that 2 other ships will also be docked at Canada Place that day so train sounds much easier than a cab. Thanks!

We dock at 7.30am and have a domestic flight at 11am. What is the quickest and easiest way to get to Vancouver airport? Is it better to get our transfers through Princess or would we be better off catching a taxi? Can we choose to disembark at 7.30am or are we assigned a time? Thanks

I too, am cruising in July, and cannot wait for some trip reports!

Hi all,

Found this thread very useful. I can't find where my itinerary has been represented so any tips on wildlife viewing would be much appreciated. Also, approx what time would we go through Snow Pass?

Star Princess southbound July 4

July 4 depart Whittier 8.30pm

July 5 Hubbard Glacier 3pm - 8pm

July 6 Glacier Bay 9.15am - 7.30pm

July 7 Skagway 7am - 8.30pm

July 8 Juneau 6.30am - 4pm

July 9 Ketchikan 10am - 6pm

July 10 at sea

July 11 Vancouver arrive 7.30am

I have done both, multiple times, now at over 30. With your "bored" question- that may be very telling, frankly? Just never would enter my "questions" about this tour.

 

Time equals seeing more, if that's of interest, then the Northwestern Fjords tour may be a great choice.

 

I'm delighted, that last year both vendors now offer the Northwestern Fjords tour, and have my preference of vendor, but both are very long standing and do an excellent job.

 

I don't care about costs, I do the tours I want, always going out multiple trips per visit. I did 3 regular "park" Kenai Fjords tours and 1 Northwestern Fjords tour last year. :) These were done 4 days in a row, with vastly different wildlife, behavior sightings each trip. (except for the sea lions- lazy things :) :) :) )

As someone that has never done a tour like this at all, I was merely asking if anyone had felt they had seen enough on the shorter tour as opposed to spending the extra three hours. I also should have mentioned that we are going on a Princess southbound cruise and have read reviews where people have said they saw 'more of the same' on their cruise as they did on their Kenai tour. I can't imagine I would get 'bored' seeing the beautiful surrounds, but as we are very active I thought perhaps if we took the shorter tour, we could spend the day doing something else to make the most of our time in Seward. Am also now considering a kayaking day trip and wondering how the scenery/wildlife compares to the boat tour. Do you get more up close with a kayaking trip?

Thank you for your opinions.

Question four - can you bring your own snacks aboard?

Definitely want to do a Kenai tour while we are in Seward, just tossing up between the 6hr and 9hr. Yes, our main purpose is to see wildlife and the amazing scenery. I have read the rave reviews about the longer tour and know it comes highly recommended but many people have also seen a lot of wildlife on the 6 hr trip.

My first question is has anyone found the 9 hour Northwestern Fjords tour too long? We are an active couple in our late 20s and am just a little concerned we may lose interest/become restless after that long on the boat. Or is there enough different scenery the whole time?

Second question: do you pass waterfalls on both tours?

Third question: Has anyone done both Kenai Fjords and Major Marines Northwestern tour? How do they compare? Both get positive reviews, main difference I have seen is the price, with Kenai Fjords Tours cheaper than MM.

Any advice and recommendations will be appreciated. Thanks

We will be returning our rental car to Anchorage airport and need a transfer anytime after noon to Whittier for our Princess cruise. We would prefer a direct transfer rather than the tour option. What are some reliable options and costs?

Thanks everyone for your tips.

For those interested....

Blue Horizon Hotel will provide 1pm checkout free of charge and half the nightly rate for stays until 4pm.

Best Western Plus Downtown Vancouver will charge half the nightly rate for stays until 3pm.

Amazing review and pictures! Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into it. We are Aussies doing a southbound cruise in July this year, spending time in Seward pre-cruise, so your review has been very helpful. Am even more excited now, thanks again :)

We will be staying in Vancouver at the conclusion of our cruise. Our flight back to Australia doesn't leave til late, so we don't want to check out of our hotel until about 6pm, to make the most of our day. Does anyone know of any hotels that will allow this if you pay for a late checkout fee? Or will we need to book and pay for the whole night?

I need to book domestic flights between Vancouver and Calgary on the day we disembark from the ship. Disembarkation time is 7.30am, so what is the earliest I could book a flight? I couldn't find any info on the Princess site on how long disembarking takes. I want to leave as early as possible to make the most of our day in Calgary, however, I obviously don't want to risk missing the flight.

I am wondering the difference between these two tours, which both do dog sledding on Punchbowl Glacier: Seavey's Ididaride Glacier Dog Sled tour and Alpine Air Alaska Glacier Dog Sledding. They both have exact same departure times and Seavey's website says they depart from Alpine Air Alaska's hangar at Girdwood airport. Are they both run by the same people? The reason I ask is they both sound identical, yet Seavey's cost $479, while Alpine Air Alaska costs $519. Does anyone know the reason for this, or whether there are any major differences, or which is better?

 

Jezz086.......there are two listings but from 2013 for the Golden and Island Princess that took the Southbound cruise out of Whittier.

 

Mike

Thanks. Just letting you know the Golden Princess southbound link doesn't work

Thanks everyone. That's helpful to know that luggage can be dropped off early. So if boarding begins around noon, does that mean the ship offers lunch that day?

We are booked on Voyage of the Glaciers southbound next July. The Star Princess leaves Whittier at 8.30pm, so what is the earliest they will usually start boarding? We are just trying to organise our day in Whittier. Thanks

What a fantastic resource, thank you! Am looking for a current (2014) patter on Voyage of the Glaciers southbound. Would be much appreciated, thanks!

Thanks everyone, very helpful. Thank you very much sknight, for your detailed answer, you answered my next question, which was going to be about making a reservation for ATD. That's good to know.