Coral Princess 7/7/18 review land&sea

We have been back over a month and I debated if I should write a review or not...but, here we go because I wanted to share some things I learned along the way that I didn’t read in all my research before we went.

We booked with a travel agent because this was a family cruise with 2 other siblings/spouses and we live in 3 different states. Hubby and I booked using Princess Air because it was the best price for us. We arrived in Fairbanks at midnight (4a.m our time) and SURPRISE it was still light outside....that was a strange feeling but invigorating at the same time. The bus takes you to the hotel and you have already been issued your room key so that makes it easy.

We had the Denali Explorer Tour FB4

July 8- Riverboat tour....free coffee and blueberry donut was awesome...loved the sled dog presentation, the float plane demo and native village also interesting. We were operating on very little sleep so it really is a blur that day. After the boat you grab lunch and get on the bus to Denali Princess Lodge.

July 9- our tour was the Natural History Tour...6 hours spent mostly on a bus. A few stops along the way but we didn’t see much wildlife except 2 miles from hotel on way back...a momma moose and baby.

This was my favorite hotel of the 3...room was cozy and very campy feeling..the stores had great prices and food was good wherever we ate. The hamburger place across the road was yummy!!

July 10-Mt McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge.

This hotel seemed the most crowded...the restaurant didn’t seem to with it and seemed to lack enough staff.

We were not lucky enough to be in the 30% club and see Mt McKinley[emoji22]...we missed it by a few hours.

Exhaustion set in for me here and I really spent the day relaxing or sleeping...the cruise was fast approaching and I wanted to be ready[emoji1380][emoji1380][emoji1380]

July 11- train ride to the cruise ship...they bus you to this parking lot and you stand outside and wait for the train..I thought this would be enjoyable but it ended up being the worst part of the trip for me...our train car was loud and full of obnoxious people...I ended up putting on headphones and watching a movie to find some peace.

Before I continue I would like to tell you something I learned on the trip that my research never told me.

1-Princess has the land portion down to a science..they come onto your bus/train and give you your room/cabin key and #...you never have to wait at guest services.

2-the food prices were comparable to any other tourist location (Mt McKinley was our most expensive meal)

3-use the local weather report as a guild because it will be different from what you plan ahead for.

4-rain DID NOT ruin any part of our trip...one day it was annoying but it didn’t stop us.

5-The Hanger on the Wharf had the BEST halibut sandwich I ever had...service was horrible but it didn’t even matter because the food was so good.

Our cruise excursions were:

Skagway-White Pass Scenic Railway (loved it)

Juneau-Mendenhall Glacier & Mt Roberts Tramway (loved the glacier part...tram was ok)

Ketchikan-Town & Harbor Duck Tour (wellllll, it was something to do...but not sure if was worth the $50 pp and I wouldn’t ever do it again) A lot of excursions were cancelled because of the weather so at least we got to do something.

A few quick cruise things.

Food was good...never went hungry that is for sure.

Specialty restaurant Sabatini’s was a big disappointment and I was glad it was paid for by the travel agent because it was not worth it IMO. (Pistachio dessert was amazing though)

It was hard to find a table for breakfast a few mornings..especially since everyone is up and ready to see things or get off the ship.

4 ships in Ketchikan makes the town crazy busy and we went back to ship to eat lunch since everything in town had lines and long waits.

Dressing in layer really is important...my best advice is have a comfortable backpack for this purpose.

Caribe deck has an aft balcony with lounge chairs that is a great place to sit and enjoy Glacier Bay. (My favorite day of the cruise)

Please remember if you are doing laundry that someone’s room is across from it....wow people can be rudely loud.

July 18-Disembark....we did walk off with our own luggage because we had an early tour...very easy.

In Vancouver our flight was not until 10:30 p.m...so for the first time I booked a non cruise excursion....BEST decision I made..LandSea Tours was a 7 hour excursion for less than $100 pp, kept our luggage with us on the bus, dropped us at airport.

We stopped at 4 places and just enjoyed the entire day. The only down side was at airport she dropped us and another family at the international end of airport because we were both flying back into USA...but since our flight was Vancouver to Toronto to Charlotte we needed domestic and that was at the other end of airport...and by the time we got there a couple of buses just unloaded passengers and this made getting checked in a NIGHTMARE...

Here is another couple of tips I forgot that is important...DO NOT turn in your custom forms if your are walking off your luggage...you need it in hand and they make you stop and fill out another one....and they had no pen!!!!!

And in Vancouver airport we had to show our passports 4 times total...including boarding the airplane (guess I haven’t traveled by air out of country in awhile)

I will close by saying the best purchase I made for this trip was a flannel blanket scarf...I used it a lot on this trip...and a close second was noise canceling headphones[emoji2]..oh and travel binoculars!!

I hope this helps anyone researching their Alaska trip...we thought it would be “once in a lifetime” trip and we already say we will return again.

Just when I think I will end my review I remember something else. If you are looking for a new jacket they sell a nice one for $30... MANY people will be wearing them..which I hadn’t packed one because I bought one.

And remember [emoji876]....it was bright a few days.

I will end with this...we came home July 19 and the next day a stray/feral cat showed up on our deck...after 3 weeks she has never left the deck and wants to be part of our family...so we welcomed Juneau to the family❤️

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Thanks for your review! We did a cruisetour at the end of May, with Coral for the cruise portion. Loved the ship! Sorry you did not enjoy the train, I liked it better than the bus in that we could move around.

We did a 4-night cruisetour in 2002 and kept saying we would love to go back to Alaska, so we finally did! And splurged for a 7-night land portion :)

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Thanks very much for you review and your great tips! We'll be doing this cruise next week.

Enjoy your new kitty. :):):)

Thank you for your review!

I have two quick questions for you:

Did you eat in the Bayou Cafe? (If you did, was it good?)

Did you notice if Alfredos pizza was served in Sabatini's? (I've heard they sometimes do this, and was hoping to hear if this is still a "thing".)

 

I will end with this...we came home July 19 and the next day a stray/feral cat showed up on our deck...after 3 weeks she has never left the deck and wants to be part of our family...so we welcomed Juneau to the family❤️

 

 

 

Great review!! Loved the ending. I also welcomed an ice encrusted stray after a storm this winter. He has settled in for a lifetime, and he is a very sweet cat, very worthy of love!

Thanks for your review. Coral Princess is one of our favorites!

Thank you for your review!

 

I have two quick questions for you:

 

Did you eat in the Bayou Cafe? (If you did, was it good?)

Did you notice if Alfredos pizza was served in Sabatini's? (I've heard they sometimes do this, and was hoping to hear if this is still a "thing".)

We were on the Coral in March and the Bayou Cafe was excellent, both food and service. Alfredo’s was in Sabatinis for lunch, not sure if every day, definitely sea days. It was good..just wish they offered salads to go with the pizza.

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Alaska is addictive!

Thanks for the great review!

Thanks for the review.

Great review! Coral has been one of my consistent favorites in the past.

Wifey and I would love to see a photo of Juneau the Cat if you would be so kind. Thank you for giving an unfortunate cat a loving home.

Thanks for posting! I always enjoy reading about visitors to Alaska.

Really enjoyed your review. We, too, thought our trip to Alaska was “once in a lifetime”. I can’t wait to return!

(Loved the ending!)

Thank you for the review. We are doing the same trip on June 2019.

 

 

 

I will end with this...we came home July 19 and the next day a stray/feral cat showed up on our deck...after 3 weeks she has never left the deck and wants to be part of our family...so we welcomed Juneau to the family❤️

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great review!! Loved the ending. I also welcomed an ice encrusted stray after a storm this winter. He has settled in for a lifetime, and he is a very sweet cat, very worthy of love!

 

 

 

From what we learned she was a “catch/neuter/release cat because the top of her ear is notched....well she is the most docile feral cat ever if that is the case. I am sure your kitty was glad to find you too.

 

 

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Great review! Coral has been one of my consistent favorites in the past.

 

Wifey and I would love to see a photo of Juneau the Cat if you would be so kind. Thank you for giving an unfortunate cat a loving home.

.

I have never posted pics on here before so not sure if I did it correctly🤷🏻*♀️

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Thank you for the review. We are doing the same trip on June 2019.

I hope you love it as much as we did.

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Thanks for your review! We did a cruisetour at the end of May, with Coral for the cruise portion. Loved the ship! Sorry you did not enjoy the train, I liked it better than the bus in that we could move around.

We did a 4-night cruisetour in 2002 and kept saying we would love to go back to Alaska, so we finally did! And splurged for a 7-night land portion :)

 

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I think when we return someday we will spend more time on land....it felt rushed and not a lot of time to just enjoy what’s around you.

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Juneau the cat is beautiful Great respect to you for taking her in and giving her a forever home!

And thanks for your review - we did the same trip a few years ago when there were wildfires and the train to the ship took us 12 hours instead of 8. We were extremely antsy to get off and couldn't wait to board the Coral. We, too, want to go back one day to explore more of that beautiful State.

Great cat pix and review. We were on the Grand round-trip from SF during the same time and Alaska was great. Our first timer relatives were wowed by both the cruise and itinerary. Had a lovely family trip. --The little ones were waiting to have knapkins for their laps for the at home dinners.

Great cat pix and review. We were on the Grand round-trip from SF during the same time and Alaska was great. Our first timer relatives were wowed by both the cruise and itinerary. Had a lovely family trip. --The little ones were waiting to have knapkins for their laps for the at home dinners.

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I hope you enjoyed sailing on Coral as much as I did. I like large ships like Royal and Oasis, but Coral was perfect. Everything was a short walk, and the crew was great.

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I hope you enjoyed sailing on Coral as much as I did. I like large ships like Royal and Oasis, but Coral was perfect. Everything was a short walk, and the crew was great.

 

 

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I did like the Coral...I would sail on it again. I loved Navigator OTS...and doing Oasis OTS this month.

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