fireflymd

WalleyeLJ, I just saw Discovery Channel's Great Bear Stakeout, and felt like jumping up and down because it looked like they were in the same place you were! I'm sure the area is huge, but I read they did film in Katmai National Park. They were even in an area where there were two huge logs on the ground and I thought perhaps this may have been where you guys were sitting. Have you seen this show yet?

I can't get over how many shows about Alaska are on cable now!

Hi Don!

 

Thanks for your comment. I have had such incredible feedback from these tips. One lady told me she thought it brought her good luck, as she got pregnant after I gave her one and she had been trying for a long time. (This was not on a ship, but in a local restaurant)

 

Another told others workers and they came to my room asking if we had more. So I must be just meeting the right people..so sorry if you are not. :)

What a great reply! You made me smile and I aspire to respond in the future to rudeness/presumption, etc. with the same grace and positive attitude you have.

It was a pleasure reading your response. It was a lesson in class! :)

I purchased both the Zen Ray Vista 8X42 and 10X42. The 8X42 is much more stable to hold and I'm going to get another one because these binoculars are waterproof, inexpensive, and far better than the cheap ones we have at home.

I bought them on Wayfair where they are priced at $139. If you enter your e-mail address, you will receive a coupon code for 10% off. The shipping was free and there was no tax.

I think these are fabulous, inexpensive binoculars and I'm thrilled to have discovered them on these forums. Thanks to all those who recommended them.

Our latest itinerary. Princess southbound cruise tour--land tour first, then cruise:

Day 1 Very late arrival to Anchorage

Day 2 Anchorage

Rent bicycles at Pablo's and take the Tony Knowles' Coastal Trail in Anchorage

Day 3 Princess Motorcoach ride from Anchorage to Talkeetna

Glacier Landing Explorer (fixed wing plane landing on Ruth Glacier)

Shuttle to Princess McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge

Day 4 McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge

Ultimate Denali Hike & Flight in Denali National Park

Day 5 Princess Motorcoach to Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge

Nenana Whitewater Rafting

.

Day 6 Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge

Tundra Wilderness Tour

Day 7 Princess Rail: Denali to Whittier

Embark ship

Day 8 Hubbard Glacier

Day 9 Glacier National Park

Day 10 Skagway

White Pass Scenic Railway w/Chilkoot Charters (bus up, rail back)

Dog Sledding on Glacier (helicopter tour to glacier)

Day 11 Juneau

Whales, Bears & Glaciers tour (whalewatching tour, van to search

for brown bears in Tongass National Park, flightseeing over glaciers

Day 12 Ketchikan

Neets Bay Bear Watch & Flight (floatplane to Neets Bay to watch black bears)

Day 13 at sea

Day 14 disembark Vancouver, flight home

In Juneau we will miss hiking in Mendenall Glacier park to Nugget Falls, but we have hiked to falls in the past, and I really don't want to miss out on the possibility of seeing grizzly bears!

I may have scheduled too many flights! But everything I wanted to do involved flight as a form of transportation.:D

Thanks, yes the bike rental Pablo's, not Pedro's as I put in my itinerary, appears to be right across the street from the hotel.

 

His bike rental has been mentioned previously in threads on this site.

Thanks for the information--I just used Google Earth to check it out. I just love Google Earth! I didn't realize Pablo's was basically just a little stand!

That sounds like a great option for us--renting bikes and tooling around the next day, unless everyone is too tired, then we'll just walk around.

Appreciate the suggestion!

So, I spent all of yesterday looking for lodging, cars, tours, etc. and it certainly is feasible to do in July. I emailed my travel agent before booking anything and am waiting back to see what the cancelation policy would be on the cruisetour. Someone on another board mentioned that if you cancel the land part of the tour, then quite possibly the entire cruisetour gets canceled and you have to rebook the room on the ship at the going room rate on the ship. If that' the case, could be very costly to do. I don't know if that is the case - am hoping not. I'll keep you posted. Thanks to all for your suggestions. Kicking myself right now. Could have avoided a lot of aggravation if I had checked these boards before booking anything.

exbbmom, I feel your pain! I didn't shop around for travel agents (chose the large well known one we had used before) and our TA tried to book us on a Celebrity cruisetour (Celebrity must offer a great commission) and although I stuck with my first choice of Princess he managed to screw up our booking in other ways.

I thought I had researched enough before booking but not enough. He gave us so much misinformation I should never have completed the booking with him. It truly is a live and learn experience!

I hope everything works out well for you. I think you will still enjoy your trip to Alaska and hope what you are going through now does not mar your experience in any way.

Best of luck!

First, it has been extremely helpful to review all of the ideas and info on this site over the last several days after booking our cruisetour on the Coral Princess starting on May 25th. This site is an outstanding resource. This is our first trip to Alaska and my wife, daughter and I are looking forward to the itinerary below.

 

Day 1- LAX to Anchorage. Arrive mid afternoon, transfer to Captain Cooks and then weather permitting rent bikes at Pedro's(about 1 block away) and take the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. Dinner that night will probably be at Simon and Seafort where we hope to have Copper River Salmon.

 

Day 2- board motor coach to Mt. McKinley Wilderness Lodge and that afternoon take the shuttle to Talkeetna and do a flightseeing and glacier landing with Talkeetna Air Taxi. Hopefully the weather allows this tour, it looks to be spectacular. We are doing the Grand Denali Glacier tour.

 

Day 3- take the train to the Princess Denali lodge. Explore the lodge and possibly take a tour, undecided at this point.

 

Day 4- All day in Denali with the Tundra Wilderness tour.

 

Day 5- Motorcoach to Whittier, board the Coral Princess, get settled in our balcony mini suite.

 

Day 6- Hubbard Glacier

 

Day 7- Glacier bay

 

Day 8- Skagway, using Packer Expeditions, take the train and then a 4 hour hike through the rainforest on the Denver Valley Wilderness Hike and White Pass Railway adventure. By the way, one of the benefits for our Wednesday departure is there are only two ships in port this day in Skagway.

 

Day 9- Juneau, Harv and Marv Whale Watch bright and early, drop us off at Mendenhall, tour glacier, shuttle back to enjoy Tracy's King Crab.

 

Day 10- Ketchikan. Get off the boat early and tour the Totem Heritage and hopefully Saxman Native Village. Then off to Southeast Sea Kayaks for the Orcas Cove Trip around noon.

 

Day 11- at sea, and recuperating before arriving in Vancouver on...

 

Day 12- fly back to LAX and travel to our home in Laguna Hills.

Your itinerary sounds great!

We will be arriving into Anchorage airport at 12:30 in the morning--we have nothing planned for the next day (I'm assuming we will be sleeping in), but we are also staying at Hotel Captain Cook. If the bike rentals are close by, that sounds like a great option instead of just walking around Anchorage near the hotel.

Enjoy your trip!

Wow! Your review was awesome! You had me laughing so many times, I had to tie down DH to listen to some of what you had written.

Thank you so much for posting this review as well as your videos.

You are a rip! I spent the better part of this evening going through this thread and it was well worth it.:)

Hello Fireflymd

 

Could you please tell us who you are doing the following tour with please

 

Day 11 Juneau

Whales, Bears & Glaciers tour (whalewatching tour, van to search

for bears in Tongass National Park, flightseeing over glaciers

 

 

Many thanks

We have booked the tour through Princess, although I googled it and was able to find that it is organized by Alaska Galore. www.alaskagalore.com

The smoking lounge, complete with Pool Table stuck to the ceiling. There is a full bar in here in the evening. I usually had it to myself in the morning except for sharing it occasionally with Dan, the wacky Assistant Cruise Director.

 



 



 

There are some good black and white photographs of Winston Churchill in this room. One of my heroes, especially for his great writing style- a page-turner!

His "Second World War" is the best book I have ever read -but it helps if you are British and the son of someone who fought in it (at sea) when he was 18.

Oh, he is one of my heroes, too! And I am not British, (American), but my father also fought when he was 19. He turned 89 in December and he is also one of my heroes.:)

We have booked a Princess Cruisetour in Alaska--landtour before the cruise, then cruise southbound.

Day 1: Very late arrival to Anchorage

Day 2: Likely sleep in, walk around streets surrounding Hotel Captain Cook

Day 3: Princess Motorcoach ride from Anchorage to Talkeetna

Glacier Landing Explorer (fixed wing plane landing on Ruth Glacier)

Shuttle to Princess McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge

Day 4: Ultimate Denali Hike & Flight in Denali National Park

McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge

Day 5: Princess Motorcoach to Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge

Nenana Whitewater Rafting

Day 6: Tundra Wilderness Tour

Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge

Day 7: Princess Rail: Denali to Whittier

Embark ship

Day 8: Hubbard Glacier

Day 9: Glacier National Park

Day 10: Skagway

White Pass Scenic Railway w/Chilkoot Charters (bus up, rail back)

Dog Sledding on Glacier

Day 11 Juneau

Whales, Bears & Glaciers tour (whalewatching tour, van to search

for bears in Tongass National Park, flightseeing over glaciers

Day 12 Ketchikan

No plans yet! Not thrilled with any excursions offered by Princess

Day 13 at sea

Day 14 disembark Vancouver, flight home

The only thing I feel I'm missing is hiking in Mendenall Glacier park. I really don't want to miss out on seeing the bears, otherwise we would do a whale watch and then go to the park for hiking.

Wonderful! Thanks everyone!

Well thanks to you I have plenty of photo reviews to look through! Our trip is still several months away but thank you so much for giving me more to pore over!:)

My wife and I have used Anytime Dining on all of our Princess cruises, and I have to say that our experience on the Coral Princess wasn't very good. There is only one Anytime Dining Room on the Coral, the Bordeaux. Problem is, half the Dining Room is occupied with Early Traditional diners until 7:30pm. It made for long lines and very upset passengers. One night we arrived at 5:20pm, 10 minutes before the Dining Room even opened at 5:30pm. The line was already long, and we got the last available Anytime table. Another night we tried a little later. It was even worse. We got there at 6:45pm, were given a pager, and waited in the Atrium for an hour and 15 minutes. People were sitting on the Atrium stairs with pagers. It was a mess. My wife and I really enjoy Anytime Dining, but we had nothing but trouble with it on the Coral Princess, due to the fact that only half the Dining Room is available to Anytime Diners until 7:30pm.

That's good to know--we'll likely shoot for 8 pm then to avoid the crush.

What a FANTASTIC trip!!!

 

First off, I have to apologize to those who started following my attempted "live from" thread I started at the beginning of our trip. I figured I would have the time, energy and internet access to make a decent attempt, but between our schedule, internet connection speed and once on the ship - cost - it just didn't work out after my first few entries. So, for those who started there and decided to check out our post trip, there will be a bit of duplication in the beginning, but I'll put some additional detail and a bunch more photos into this review.

 

Now...on to the review!

 

*A quick outline before I dive into the details. My wife Beverly & I spent a week on the Kenai Peninsula, staying in Anchorage on arrival night, then heading to Homer for three days, a day trip to Soldotna on the way to Seward, three days in Seward, then departing on Radiance of the Seas southbound to Vancouver. If you have any questions along the way, please let me know and I'll do my best to answer them!

 

Ok, here we go!!!

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Day 1 Friday 7/6/12 – headed to Anchorage! No photos worth posting on Day 1. I promise there will be a few later on;) We flew US Airways from Charlotte to Phoenix, then Phoenix to Anchorage. Last year when I started setting this trip up, I thought that would be a good thing. We had $1300 in credit vouchers from a flight bump on last year's cruise out of San Juan (that was STILL a good thing). In addition, last summer US Air had 5 flights a day to Anchorage to choose from, including a couple non-stops from Philadelphia. I figured we'd be able to book a short hop to Philly, then fly straight to Anchorage.

 

Not this year!

 

For whatever reason, US Air only has a single flight to Anchorage each day this year.

 

One flight...

 

Through Phoenix...

 

Leaving at 8:05pm...

 

Arriving in Anchorage at 12:33am...

 

Sigh:rolleyes:

 

So, we didn't leave Charlotte for Alaska until 4:35pm - which just seemed like a weird plan:eek:. On the other hand, we got two tickets from Charlotte to Anchorage, and Seattle to Charlotte for a total of $217, so it was a no brainer:D. Before we left, the departure from Phoenix was moved up to 7:50pm - so things were already improving! We were also able to use miles to upgrade the first leg of our trip from Charlotte to Phoenix to first class, so it was a nice way to start the trip. We even had dinner on the flight - Bev had cheese ravioli and I had teriyaki beef. When it came out, it didn't look super appealing - like just short of making me rethink my dislike of the mushrooms in Bev's dish, but it actually turned out pretty tasty. We had a little less than a two hour layover, and then off to Anchorage. Both flights went well, each arriving early (whaoo!) which we needed. Our flight arrived in Anchorage at 11:58pm, so while it was ahead of schedule, it was also 3:58am in North Carolina, so we were a bit weary!

 

By the time we got bags (quick off the plane), rental car (Avis at the airport - quick and easy), check in to the Embassy Suites in Anchorage (yea free night thanks to points!) and got to bed, it was 2am/6am. The hotel and the room was excellent. A little more earthy/outdoorsy than your average Embassy Suites. Unfortunately we couldn't elect to sleep in late to try and get our feet under us or enjoy the hotel fully as we had to be in Homer mid-afternoon to check in for our first big adventure of the trip. NOT the best way to start a trip to Alaska. At least it's almost time for breakfast!

 

L.J.

This is how our flight will be as well!!! Believe me, I would not have chosen this particular flight (we are also coming from the east coast), but that's a long story. Nice to see you survived that first day!:) We are actually going to arrive the night before originally planned, at quite an expense to change these flights, but we'll be able to rest the next day.

Thank you so much for posting your experience!

Wonderful review and pictures, thank you so much for posting this. You have really helped me get a better idea of what my vacation will be like (although we are doing a different landtour).

So I guess I won't try eating anything I find in the forest!;)

I love to take pictures as well, and was just curious as to how many memory cards (and how many gigabytes each) you brought on vacation.

Thank you so much, for sharing your trip with us.

I thought I'd start out by quickly answering some FAQ that I was also wondering about before the trip:

 

How cold is it? and what should I pack?

The answer to this question REALLY depends on where you're from. Before we left, I saw that people on these boards were saying that July isn't so cold, and not to pack a lot of what we packed. Now, that's true if you're from Michigan or Boston, where you're used to that kind of weather, but if you're from Orlando or Israel, it's going to be cold! My point is, don't rely on what other people are packing or what other people think about the weather. You know yourself, you know what you're used to. Go online and check out the the average tempratures and pack accordingly. I can tell you we were freezing our butts off, while other people were talking about how comfortable the weather was, in there light jackets and 3/4 length pants!

 

PACKING LIST

Here's what we packed. We used everything we brought.

- long underwear tops and bottoms

- T-shirts

- light weigt fantastic fleece

- 2 in 1 waterproof jacket with a light weight fleece that could be taken apart and worn seperately.

- jeans

- water proof hiking boots (made all the difference in the world)

- wool socks

- fleece hats that could cover the ears too

- gloves

- scarf

- $15 waterproof nylon pants (didn't take up much space, worth it!)

- 2 pairs of water proof binoculars (Bushnel 8x25 H2O LOVE them!! great binoculars, compact and easy. Bought them for a great price on Amazon)

 

We wore all of these things everyday once we left Fairbanks (except for the waterproof pants). But we were also the warmest dressed people we saw other people had much less on, and weren't nearly as cold as we were. The only other people we met who were cold were from Florida and Texas. So, in short, it depends what you're used to. And remember - layers, layers, layers!

 

Will I get sea sick? Rough seas??

I'm prone to sea sickness, so I read every thread there was on this subject. Don't be fooled by the people who have been on one or 2 cruises to Alaska and had water as smooth as glass. That's great for them, but it doesn't mean that's what you'll get. Since Budget Queen repeated over and over that you can definitly get rough seas on an Alaskan cruise, I knew that we should be prepared. We had a rocky voyage! The night we left Hubbard Glacier the ship was rocking and rolling. I heard a bunch of people at dinner get food for their spouses who were in their room sea sick. And the worst was actually in the inside passage, making our way from ISP to Ketchikan. Oh my gosh! People were actually leaving the show because it was so bad (the rocking, not the entertainment :) ), and walking back to our room was funny, with the ship swaying back and forth, really rocking! Lior also got sea sick on those 2 nights. But me? I had on the magic wrist bands, LOL, I felt great.

 

As for whale watches, we did 2 of them, one in Juneau and one in ISP. In both the boat was bobbing up an down, not calm at all. In juneau the boat was actually moving so much that I was hesitant to get on it, since I normaly get sick on smaller boats. But the amgic wrist band saved me :)

 

If you suffer from sea sickness, come prepared! Maybe you'll be lucky, and you won't won't feel the motion of the ocean at all. Or you might get a more exciting cruise experience, and know that you're on the water all the time! lol.

What are your options?

Non drowsey Bonine - they say to take this the night before you get on the ship, so that it's in you system already. Lior took it the night before, and it completely zonked him out the next day. He was not himslef, falling asleep all over the place, feeling out of it...drowsey. Last time I was on a cruise, I took non drowsey Bonine, and it had the same effect on me, which is why I didn't take it again. So we decided we wouldn't take that again. I know that it's weird that something that's called NON DROWSEY has that effect on us, but what can I tell you...it did. But you should bring it with you, because probably most people don't react that way, and just know that if you do - you're not alone :)

Ginger pills - we took ginger pills everyday. You're also supposed to start taking it before you leave port. I don't remember how often you're supposed to take it...sorry about that. I think it helped.

Sea Bands - these were a life saver for me!!!!!! After dinner, on the way to the Welcome Aboard show, I felt terrible. You could really feel the ship moving, and I was so dizzy and nauseous, thinking "what was I THINKING getting on a ship??". We stopped at the general store onboard on the way to the theater and bought Sea Bands for $16, got in line behind another woman looking green purchasing the exact same thing. The friendly cashier told me not to worry and that I'd be feeling better in no time. I'm telling you, 10 minutes after putting on the sea bands - I was a new person! And even on the 2 night when lot of people were sea sick - I felt great!! I'm sure just like anything else, these may work for me and not for eveyone, but they're definitly worth a shot. I swear by them now. They really saved me and our vacation.

Ginger Ale - it helps, or at least it helped us :)

 

How do I pick which cruise to go on?

Itinerary is key! Being the huge Disney freaks that we are (I've been to every Disney park in the entire world, and to WDW 25 times...Disney freak all the way) we originaly planned on taking DCL to Alaska (I've been on 2 Disney cruises before, and they're, well, magical! lol). But then when we really looked into it, we noticed the DCL is twice the price of the other cruiselines, and their itinerary isn't so great...they just don't spend as much time in each port as other cruislines. So we started shopping around (with a heavy heart, since I felt like I was cheating on the mouse).

The best itinerary for you depends on what you're looking for - more glaciars? more scenic cruising? more ports? more time in ports?

For us, the southbound Radiance itinerary was the best one out there - 4 ports instead of the standard 3, and the most hours spent in each port. We wanted to have as much time to explore places on land as we could, and that's what we got! I can tell you that we fell in love with RCCL, and will definitly cruise with them in the future. Everyone on board was so nice, the food was great, our room was great, the ship was beautiful, there were sooo many activities, it was like being at summer camp! it was perfect! We are now loyal to Royal when it comes to cruising. ok...Royal and Disney...lol

 

Will I see wildlife from the ship?

maybe, maybe not. If wildlife is a priority for you, you should book an activity that revolves around that (whale watch or bear expedition). On 2 seperat occasions, we were sitting in a public area next to the huge windows, and the people next to us were looking at a whale. We couldn't see it!!!! They're going "wow! amazing!" and we just can't see it! So maybe you'll see wildlife, but even if you do, it won't be close up like on a whale watch. We didn't see any wildlife from the cruiseship, other people did. other people right next to us, lol.

 

That's it! Next post I'll start the review. Here we are on our 32 hour journey from Tel Aviv to Fairbanks!!

Really appreciate your review. I like the looks of your hiking boots--what brand did you buy?

Yes, I'm sure the shakes can be made without the malt powder.

 

The lovely ice cream lady on the Caribbean scooped it up into the blender right in front of us and would certainly have left out the malted powder upon request.

 

Enjoy!

Thanks! That is reassuring.

Ice Creams can also contain gluten, so you need to check on that as well.

The only ice creams that contain gluten are those with things like cookie pieces or brownies or graham cracker crumbs in them. For years certain groups perpetuated misinformation on ingredients in ice cream. Luckily, these have been debunked. Great information can be found on the glutenfreeliving website (of which I have no affiliation). But I appreciate the heads up!

Mocktails were $4/each, I think, last week on the Caribbean.

 

D loved his UKP and would buy it again. After the first one ordered was way too sweet for his taste, he would ask for them to be made with club soda instead of Sprite, and little or no sugar/syrup. All bartenders were happy to customize and offered interesting combinations to try.

 

Often he would get cranberry juice with club soda, maybe a splash of pineapple. And I will admit to sneaking a taste of a no-jito and then downing the whole thing myself.

 

He had a couple of milkshakes from the ice cream bar and they were classic: just ice cream, milk, and malted powder. Thick and rich.

 

The way L uses the coffee card is to have a latte first thing, an iced coffee or two in the afternoon, and brewed coffee after dinner. Tried the specialty teas and found I loved the camomile citrus one at bedtime.

 

The two cards plus one bottle of wine at Crown Grill, finished the next night at MUTS, summed up our beverages for the week. Generally with meals we just had iced tea or water. We would normally have had more alcoholic drinks but really didn't miss them. And it was great to enjoy sunrises with clear heads.

Do you happen to know if they can make the milkshakes without the malted powder (or is it a pre-mix)? Malted powder contains malt, which contains gluten, and a member of my travelling party cannot have gluten.

Thanks, everyone! It's nice to have this information before hand.

How does this work? We are signed up for anytime dining as we do not wish to be restricted to set dining times with traditional dining.

Is there a separate dining room for Anytime Dining?