ToUtahNow

My favorite tip has to be writing whatever you want on the door hanger for breakfast and no questions asked. Our cabin breakfasts were incredible.

Mark

Hello! Has anyone taken both the regular 2.75 hour helicopter & dog sledding tour (on the glacier) and their "newer" 4.25 extended adventure?

https://www.eraflightseeing.com/content/e1485/e2138/e2139/index_eng.html

 

It sounds amazing, but do you really get that much extra time on the sleds? The regular version says that you ride the sled for about 25 minutes, but does not mention distance. The extended version says you ride the sled for over 4 miles, but doesn't give a time estimate. For all i know, it's the same time/distance for both tours!

 

Does anybody who has taken either tour know how the dog sledding times and/or miles compare? If it's the same for both tours, i might as well book the helicopter/dog sledding in Girdwood and free up my Juneau time for whale watching! :D

Just as an FYI, you are using Era Helicopters LLC, not to be confused with Era Alaska of the Discovery Channels "Flying Wild Alaska". My middle son has flown for Era Helicopters LLC in Deadhorse, Alaska and in Cameron, Louisiana. They are real big in the oil industry. Their pilots are the best there is and are required 3,000 commercial hours before they are hired. Many tours used rookie commercial pilots that are under-paid while they try to build there hours.

Mark

D740 hands down.

Mark

Our kids bought us excursions, balcony meals, OBC and photo sittings. We didn't know anything about it until we got to our cabin. Each item included a nice card which the kids personalized. It was all done over the phone with Princess.

Mark

In September it was the International Dining room but always check the patter. It was a very nice lunch and the place was almost empty.

Mark

My ex-business partner was from Jamaica. He told me as a child the security bars were installed on the bedroom doors rather than the exterior doors. The idea was not to upset the burglars by locking them out but protecting yourself while you slept. He had a couple of investments in Jamaica but he refused to let his wife or kids go to Jamaica as it was too dangerous. That was enough reason for me to never go.

Mark

Cab fare will probably be around $35 each way. I would think Avis Rental cars and Juneau Rental cars (Both Downtown) would both be less expensive, and will offer more opportunities than the cabs.

We used Juneau and the car was kind of sketchy but it was only $50 for the day with all fees included. We left when the ship docked and returned just in time to leave. We saw so much and avoided all of the crowds and schedules. We were also able to stop by Costco and Wal-Mart for a case of water and other essential. As a matter of fact, the car rental almost paid for itself just in savings over buying bottled water on the ship.

Mark

Think rental car!

Mark

Once I catch up with life I will write review.

Everything from room service was perfect. Then again the distance from our cabin to the kitchen would be about the same as from the kitchen to a table in the dining room.

Mark

My wife and I just completed our first of what I hope will be many more cruise. We were on what we were told, will be the Sapphire's last Alaskan cruise.

Luggage Tags - We purchased the CC luggage tag which were fast, easy and durable.

Embarkation Day Lunch - We stopped by our room to look at the daily platter. We found the International Dining room was serving lunch and headed straight there. We found an almost empty dining room and were seated with 3-other couples who had all learned this trick from CC.

Room Service Breakfast - The first two mornings we had breakfast at the International Dining Room, then day three we had the Ultimate Balcony Breakfast. After that I took the door hanger and wrote in my own choices. Every morning from there on included Eggs Benedict, hash browns and a fresh melon plate. My wife had eggs over easy, link sausage, pancakes, milk and a variety of juices.

Rental Cars - We rented a car in all three ports and maximized our sightseeing.

Cabin D740 - After reading several negative and positive reviews related to this cabin and a trash smell, we loved this cabin and it's giant balcony. this is a great cabin.

I'm sure there is more to share but that's all I can think of for now.

Mark

IMHO, yes. If you're going to go all the way to Alaska, I think it's definitely worth adding the cruise tour. To go back and do it would be very expensive and take you a day to get there and a day to return. At minimum.

 

The distances are huge. I felt that I'd rather not drive for hours and hours (and the driver loses out because they're watching the road.) I would have missed the guide who spotted eagles in a tree and stopped the bus so we could all see. The guide also told us the history and geography of what we were seeing, things we'd miss if we were doing the driving. I never felt we were "herded" since the trains and buses were comfortable. We could pick excursions once we arrived at a lodge. One of the best was a 4x4 trek into the foothills of Mt. McKinley. We drove our own vehicle and had a hoot.

The "herded" comment was not meant to offend anyone. I was merely pointing out there are options to moving groups of people from one location to another. Because the OP mention her husband wanted to go salmon fishing my example would be, one night while staying in North Pole I read there was a place 40-miles south where the salmon were supposed to be thick around two in the morning. I got down there and found cars parked everywhere. A quick 15-minute hike and I found the river. It was an experience I will never forget. There were probably 100-people out in the middle of nowhere catching salmon right and left. Many were young families with toddlers on up sitting on blankets.

As for guides, I agree they can be very helpful. Spotting wildlife has more to do with spotting inconsistencies in colors and shapes rather than anything else. The one guided trip we took was to Mount McKinley as private vehicles are not allowed. However, I was the one spotting the wildlife for the guide. There was even one large Grizzly on a hill above us which he said was not a bear. A couple of minutes later the bear got up and started walking down the hill towards us giving some great photo ops.

I do not believe there is a right way or a wrong way to do Alaska. I feel you get the most out of Alaska when you are doing what you want. That of course is different for everyone.

Mark

For quite some time my husband and I have dreamed of cruising to Alaska. We went on an eastern Caribbean cruise a couple years ago with Princess and loved it. We have envisioned taking the cruise/land tour. Recently I have started having second thoughts and wonder if we would be better off to just take the 7 day cruise and go back later with another tour company for the inland experience. My reservations are as follows: #1 Our biggest interest is the Kenai peninsula and it appears we would have to take the LONG cruise tour to include that area, which brings up the cost. It may make the difference between taking the cruise in the fairly near future or having to put it off quite a while. #2 Seeing wildlife is a big thing for us and I have seen several reviews in which people have said they really didn't see that much on the land portion. #3 I've begun to wonder if we would be doing anything we couldn't just do on shore excursions? My husband's biggest thing is he wants to go salmon fishing and he is dead set on holding out for the cruise and land tour. Does anyone have experience with this? Can you tell me what you would suggest and if the extra cost for the land portion too is worth the money?

I sent every extended vacation I had in a 12-year period hunting, fishing and exploring Alaska. Some years we had a floatplane drop one of my sons and I off in the Mulchatna drainage with a raft and pick us up down river in 10-days. Some years the wife and I did self guided land tours out of a rental car. If you feel comfortable on your own it is a great way to go. If you feel you need to be herded from location to location take the land tour. Either way it is a beautiful State with plenty to see.

Mark

This is not my picture but you should be able to see D735 from here.

Mark