1153rsmith

We are on the same Alaska cruisetour as you are. I checked and Island Princes does NOT have an International Cafe. Island will have one, when it goes to drydock for refurbishing. Real bummer. See ya soon.

That stinks about the International Café. We are really excited about the trip. It is getting here quickly.

No charge, soup, pastry's and sandwiches.

Thanks

We always bring good crackers since Princess provides great cheeses in the IC and the Elite lounge. Princess usually only provides saltine crackers.

What sort of food is available in the IC and is there a charge for any of it?

We are bringing some snacks but they are mainly for the land portion of our trip which does not include meals and is first. I would love to bring some drinks on the ship but since we will be arriving at the ship via the Princess train, I can't quite figure out how to pull that off yet.

In general though, other than maybe some hard candy or something like that, our snacks on a cruise consist of what the ship offers.

We are also going to bring packs of hot chocolate because it appears Princess charges for hot chocolate and what they do offer is not that great.

That is a matter of taste and can vary greatly by person, so only you can judge for yourself.

 

The coffee in the dining rooms, the buffet and from room service is made from a syrup and is not fresh brewed. Being made from a syrup is not bad in itself; many restaurants on shore do the same. However, the syrup comes in various grades of quality and speculation is that Princess does not purchase the highest quality syrup.

 

The coffee card gets you coffee at the IC bar (or other bar on ships without an IC) that is fresh brewed, not made from syrup.

 

Some people like the Princess coffee from syrup, but many do not. Many like the Princess fresh brewed, but some do not.

 

Some people say that the coffee tastes different from the buffet vs. the dining room vs. room service. Others say there is no difference.

 

Some people do not care which caffeine delivery system is used.

It may be that the other cruise lines I have been on have served coffee from syrup and I just didn't know it. I have always liked the coffee that I have had thus far, but then again, I'm not one of these folks who has to have Starbucks or I can't make it. As long as you can't see through the coffee, I'm usually pretty ok with it.

I will just be glad to be away from work and on the ship. :D

They haven't had the packets of instant hot chocolate at the Horizon Court in years and years. Only teas and sweeteners, and the liquid beverages pretending to be coffee and iced tea. The water is genuine water.

 

Jackie

So is the coffee not good without a coffee card as well? What about room service coffee, is it any better? MDR coffee?

On all the ships we have been on, there was always a self service drink area where you could get tea, water, coffee, hot tea, and something like lemonaid. Is there a similar place on princess or do you have to get drinks between meals from the bars?

That is the madening thing... you don't know who is correct. One would think that the folks on the phone at Princess would always be able to give you accurate information. I guess we will pack some packs Swiss Miss and if we don't need it, that will be great.

I guess I will never understand how cruise lines decide what to charge separately for and what to include for the price of the cruise. I have been on 3 other cruise lines so far, and none of them charged for hot chocolate, it was just always available for consumption.

I called the 800 number for Princess this morning about some things and while I was on the phone with the lady I told her I thought it was odd that Princess charged for hot chocolate when every other cruise line I had been on, had it complimentary just like coffee and hot tea.

She then said that hot chocolate is complimentary on the Alaskan itineraries.

Can any of you who have been on Princess in Alaska recently confirm this? (I know you can get different information from different employees.)

Just trying to decide if we will be packing chocolate packs or not.

I know you can't carry on a Ulu knife onto a plane, but what about getting it on the ship? We had a WOODEN machetti taken from us at St. Marteen one year and it had a wooden blade on it. My travel agent said Princess allows knives only up to 7 cm. I know that knife is larger than that.

Anyone had issues?

The last shuttle bus departs Talkeetna for the lodge at 9pm. For something to do consider the Hurricane Turn Train. It’s a flag stop that drops off and picks up folks along the track who wave the train down. Many have remote cabins and use the train to get into town for supplies. Runs from Talkeetna and stops on the Hurricane Gulch Bridge and then returns.

 

http://www.alaskarailroad.com/travel/OurTrains/HurricaneTurn/tabid/102/Default.aspx

The train looks like fun, but I think it will depart before we arrive. I still think it might be nice to walk around a little while, shop a little, and grab a bite to eat. I'd love to wet a hook for a little bit if the salmon were running.

The PrincessLodge web site only indicates the shuttle fare, $10, but no info on times. (at Denali it's hourly but it's only going 2 miles)

http://www.princesslodges.com/mckinley-lodge.cfm

 

The lodge is isolated but the grounds are lovely. There are trails around the property. Talkeetna is a quirky little town , very photogenic on a nice day. Flightseeing to Denali is the main activity. Look at the town web site for info on the museums, shops, etc.

http://www.talkeetnachamber.org/

 

Look thru the trip reports that say cruisetour and you'll find photos of talkeetna as well as the lodge and grounds. (2 bears as well in 2013) Perhaps you'll find info on the shuttle as well.

Thanks for the info on the cost. My TA sort of lead me to believe it was a free shuttle back and forth. It looks like it is a neat little town. I'd love to go down and have a chance to see some wildlife also.

Does anyone know how late in the day the shuttles run?

We are going to have an afternoon free at the Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge and are interested in going into Talkeetna. I saw somewhere that it was about an hour away.... is that correct? Does anyone know how often the shuttle buses run? Also, I was told there was a fenced in area in Talkeetna that has some reindeer in it. Is that correct?

Is Talkeetna worth the trip or are their enough things to do around the lodge to keep you busy for the afternoon?

If you go to my review of our recent Alaska cruise and land tour, (www.thepreismans.com) you will find the menu from the train. I also have a photo of the outdoor observation area. This is what it looks like.

 

I have a question on the rail portion. My travel agent made it sound like we would have to rotate between the domed area and the deck below. If the deck below is the dining car, that doesn't make sense to me. She had said there was casual food served up stairs and finer dining down below.

Will we be able to stay in the domed area all day if we wish? We will getting on at Denali and going all the way to Whittier.

If you go to my review of our recent Alaska cruise and land tour, (www.thepreismans.com) you will find the menu from the train. I also have a photo of the outdoor observation area. This is what it looks like.

 

Thank you so much for posting. I have a brother and sister in law, Mike & Carol.

Our trip is going to be on the Island Princess as well, but Southbound. I want to take time and read all of your review.

Have a great day.

Does anyone know menu items and prices on the Princess Railroad trip from Denali to Whittier?

Also, how big is the outdoor observation area?

Café Selects Coffee Card: When you pre-order the price is $31 and the card will be in your cabin. You have 15 punches for espresso-based hot or cold specialty (lattte or cappuccino) coffee drinks along with complimentary brewed coffee, hot coco and premium tea for the duration of your cruise. On the cruise you pre-order/buy your coffee card they don't punch for regular coffee. When you take that same card for the next cruise they will punch for both regular/specialty coffee.

Can you explain this a little more? is the brewed coffee, hot cocoa and premium tea not part of the 15 punches? And, if you don't use it all, the card is good on the next cruise as well?

We are sailing the Island Princess on 9/3/14 and were curious as to what movies might be showing.

Can someone who has recently been on any of the Alaskan ships please tell me what movies were shown on your cruise?

They ought to show John Wayne's North To Alaska and the Call of the Wild on every cruise. :D

I am thinking I read somewhere that because these are not official passport stamps, the US State Department frowns on folks stamping their actual passports with these stamps. Is that correct?

I plan on getting the stamps, but am going to just do it on a small piece of paper that I will slip in my passport.

Great pictures. It is nice to see a review from a fellow Tarheel. We are planning on going to Emerald Lake while in Skagway. We aren't doing the horseback ride but are their pull offs from the highway to view the lake? We are thinking that Emerald will be our turn around point.

We are sailing Southbound so Skagway will be our first port. A couple questions for you if I can.

1] How far from the ship docks to the Avis rental place?

2] Are their any places in town (grocery or Walmart type stores) to grab some snacks for the drive up?

I am certainly hoping we have as much luck with whales as you guys have. You have some amazing shots.

I think it is crazy they charge for it to begin with. We have cruised with 3 other cruise lines and it has ALWAYS been out with the self service coffee for free.

We are going to pack the packets and just ask for/get hot water and make our own. Now if they made the real stuff with milk, that might be different.

I would love to see the colorful starfish in Ketchikan, but I've only seen them mentioned up at Totem Park. Can you see them anywhere else from land?

 

If not, and we took the bus up to the park could we get a cab back? I'm told the buses don't pass very often and with 4 ships in port I'm worried about being stranded there. We'll have a group of 6 and only in port 7am-1pm.

 

Also, is the park always open? I can't find any hours posted online.

 

Thanks!!!

We are planning on taking the bus to Totem Bright Park as well, but now you have me a little concerned as we are a party of 8. I don't know how many ships are in town that day for us. Do you know how often the buses run? We are going to be in Ketchikan on September 8th from 10-6.

We just got off the Golden RT Seattle and had King Crab legs as an appetizer one night. I has nice size legs, 1 claw and some knuckles. Our server offered to bring me as many plates as I wanted.

I sure hope they have them on the southbound Island Princess. That is something I always wanted to try.

Even though I am the one posting the review, I am learning something new on this thread!

 

I didn't realize there was a difference in "write speed" in different cards. All I have ever paid attention to was the amount of memory. What or where should I be looking to determine what the write speed is?

 

Also...what does the "class" of the memory card refer to? I just bought a "Class 10" 8 GB Verbatim card for $4.88 on sale which I thought was a great deal.

 

Thanks for jumping in with advice! It is good to hear from someone who "knows" what they are doing! I just point and shoot and hope for the best!

:)

 

I don't fully understand the class either, but from what I have seen, Class 10 is recommended for digital cameras. I am looking at one of my Sony 32 gb cards and on the face of the card it says 40 MB/S. The 40 MB/S is how fast it reads and it writes slighly slower, but they go hand in hand. I have some that say 30, some say 40, and I have one that says 45. The quicker it can save the image, the quicker your camera will be ready to take the next picture.

I just did a quick swagbucks search and I think the consensus is to stick with Class 10 for digital cameras and that will take care of most of the circumstances. Personally, going forward, I am trying to buy cards that are at least 30 mb/s just to help give me the added edge when I am photographing my kids basketball games, and hopefully, when whales are breaching.:D

Thank you for an amazing review & sharing your awesome photo's with us. I am now worried that my camera will be inadequate & I won't have enough memory cards (I have 2 8gb). I can only hope to capture some of these amazing shots to share with my family from my cruise next month.

The amount of memory cards you will need will be determined by size of the pictures you take and the megapixels of the camera. I am going to use a Nikon D7100 and I put in on the setting where it takes a normal quality JPG file + a RAW format picture at the same time. So basically, everytime I take a picture, it saves 2 separate files. I can get a little over 500 pictures on a 32 gig card.

That same card in a point and shoot will be well over 1,000 pictures. I plan on having the capacity to take 3,000-5,000 pictures during our 12 day trip. I will either have to get some more cards or will have to carry my laptop so I can transfer my pictures and reuse the memory cards.

Just remember, you can get memory cards here much cheaper than you can on the ship, or in a tourist port, so my one piece of advice is get them now.

Also, look at the write speed of the card. At least for SD cards, that is an issue. The cheaper cards are usually a slower speed and it will take longer for your camera to save the picture and be ready to take another shot. Most of the packaging now will give you recommendations for digital cameras.

Now, off to look for a sale on SD cards.:)