First timers' reaction to cruising and touring Alaska

We went last summer. I used these boards A LOT when planning and verifying information gathered elsewhere. Thanks so much to everyone that answered my questions and posted to others that I was watching.

Rather than a review I am including a link to our PanRaven book. It was the one big purchase on the ship and it is about worn out by friends already.

Thanks again, and enjoy!! We definitely did:D

http://www.panraven.com/storyviewer/StoryViewer.html?storyId=170730&key=MjE0NDU5NTU0OV8xMjgwNTQwNDgyOTQ1XzM5MDM3MjA3Mg11

(If you click full screen, it gives you a good wow factor)

Beautiful photos! We are going for the first time in August so I especially enjoyed them!

WOW -loved the pictures-and the way you put them together!

thanks for sharing

WOW! What a beautiful book. Thanks for sharing it with us. We are heading back to Alaska for our 5th cruise and can hardly wait. Our 1st was on the Diamond.

We went last summer. I used these boards A LOT when planning and verifying information gathered elsewhere. Thanks so much to everyone that answered my questions and posted to others that I was watching.

 

Rather than a review I am including a link to our PanRaven book. It was the one big purchase on the ship and it is about worn out by friends already.

 

Thanks again, and enjoy!! We definitely did:D

http://www.panraven.com/storyviewer/StoryViewer.html?storyId=170730&key=MjE0NDU5NTU0OV8xMjgwNTQwNDgyOTQ1XzM5MDM3MjA3Mg11

 

(If you click full screen, it gives you a good wow factor)

Loved your book...thanks for sharing.

NHsnowpup - Thank you so much for sharing. I enjoyed looking at all your wonderful pictures. We will be going this June for 2 weeks. It will be our first time to Alaska and we can't wait. Thanks again:)

If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to respond about vendors we used, service, etc.

We set up our own pre-cruise trip, picking what we wanted to do most based on reccommendations here and interests. Felt very comfortable going it independent even as first timers.

If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to respond about vendors we used, service, etc.

 

We set up our own pre-cruise trip, picking what we wanted to do most based on reccommendations here and interests. Felt very comfortable going it independent even as first timers.

did you order the book from the ship? or put it together yourself?

great job!

did you order the book from the ship? or put it together yourself?

great job!

Thank you, it was fun and forced me to review all my photos with a critical eye.

It's totally our book, but we ordered it on the ship. Princess had a small display table down in the photo display area, with some samples.

The deal they had included up to a 100 pg. book. One photo pose was included in the price. Any other photos we bought onboard were uploaded to the website, too. I was given a code and was e-mailed a link and instructions on how to get started. There was already about 60 pages pretty much done with itinerary, photos, and information about ports. Other photos were in a file that you could use. Though it was a good starting point, it felt like a 60 page advertisement for Princess, so I pretty much ditched the whole thing.

I used their map, with some cropping since it showed us sailing from Anchorage not Whittier, oops. I uploaded my own pics, started with some of the pages and formats plugging in my shots, rather than total blanks. Then I added more pages, and played with the layouts til I was happy.

All photos were ours, either ship poses, my shots, a scanned wedding shot from way back, or the camera handed over to someone. Info was gathered from my research, reading and our experience. It was the second ever photo book I'd done. I did a smaller trial run one on Shutterfly.

Loved your book!Thanks so muchh for sharing. We are first time cruisers going to Alaska in May and like you, I have spent hours on these boards researching all the different aspects of the trip. I hope ours comes out as great as yours!!!

Loved your book!Thanks so muchh for sharing. We are first time cruisers going to Alaska in May and like you, I have spent hours on these boards researching all the different aspects of the trip. I hope ours comes out as great as yours!!!

Thank you for your response. Are you doing cruise only or land, too? We enjoyed getting into Alaska and seeing more than just the coastal areas.

Sometimes I think we overplanned, even to the point that I had laminated daily itinerary cards for the hubby with our times, where, who, and highlights. But he relaxed, didn't rely on me for keeping track of what was next, and felt more involved since he had the info.

Our TA that booked the cruise was sweet, but had never known anyone to plan their own land tour. I plan on taking my book in for her sometime soon.

Thanks and enjoy your trip!!

NHsnowpup - I am one of those over planners also. I printed out pictures of airplanes and trains and every place we are going to and made like a book that gives pictures and a detailed itiniary of what we are doing. If I don't plan things right down to the minute my DH will say let's just go to the room for a minute then it'll be hours before I get him out again. So this pre-planning and pre-paying is great, he can't say he doesn't want to do something.

Thank You for sharing a fantastic collection. We will be on our first cruise 29th May on the Celebrity Century to Alaska. This is part of a self planned and organised 3 week trip your post has certainly got me even more excited and given me some ideas on how we can store our memories and photos. Many Thanks

Great pics there - thanks for sharing! DH and I are thinking of taking a cruise to Alaska this year though not sure whether to go may/june or Sept ??

Thanks for sharing! I have thousands of photos from travel the past few years. Maybe I should do this eh?!?

Did you rent a car in Juneau or just took the bus?

Thanks for sharing! I have thousands of photos from travel the past few years. Maybe I should do this eh?!?

 

Did you rent a car in Juneau or just took the bus?

You're very welcome. I relied on Yukon's and a few others' shots and shares to get me psyched when we were planning.

We bought the RT Blue bus shuttle tickets so we could rubber neck to our hearts' content. Town driving and parking is not our forte'. The parking lot director was superb for moving people/buses and making sure you got on the bus you had a ticket for, with no sitting around. The driver was a hoot and a half. Running commentary, highlights, and one-liners. Then when we got back we just walked up and around town to check out many of the recc. sights. Found the best little pizza place in our wanderings for a quick bite and a breather.

NHsnowpup - I am one of those over planners also. I printed out pictures of airplanes and trains and every place we are going to and made like a book that gives pictures and a detailed itiniary of what we are doing. If I don't plan things right down to the minute my DH will say let's just go to the room for a minute then it'll be hours before I get him out again. So this pre-planning and pre-paying is great, he can't say he doesn't want to do something.

When hubby was sharing our trip book, he put one of the laminated itineraries in the back. Someone commented that we even had the best bathroom stops listed. They thought it was funny?? I did have a roll of TP and wipes in my backpack, but preferred to not have to use it.;)

Just beautiful, thanks for sharing!!!

My question is - what type of camera did you use, the shots are all just fabulous! I have a nice point and shoot, but I'm considering a beginner SLR because there is just so much to see and photograph in Alaska.

NHsnowpup...gorgeous photos. May I ask what type of camera you were using? (MPs, zoom..the whole shebang)

Thanks!

Little Miss S

Just beautiful, thanks for sharing!!!

 

My question is - what type of camera did you use, the shots are all just fabulous! I have a nice point and shoot, but I'm considering a beginner SLR because there is just so much to see and photograph in Alaska.

You are most welcome!

My camera is a Nikon D80, which Nikon replaced with a newer model. It was a graduation gift from the hubby when I completed the coursework to get certified as a school librarian. I had it for a year to practice, knowing our trip was in the wings. Two lenses came with the special deal an 18-135 and 70-300mm.

Thanks so much for sharing your photobook and answering everyone's questions. I have made 4 books on shutterfly from past vacations but it is nice to know that some of the ships now have that option with the photographer's photos uploaded and everything. We are doing a southbound Alaska cruise on the Island Princess in July and are really looking forward to it!

One thing I was wondering, is how did you get from Seward to Whittier, and how long did it take? Did you go on the morning of your cruise?

We can't take too much time before the cruise and are only arriving in Anchorage 2 days before. We are trying to decide if we should just stay around there both nights and then go straight to Whittier on cruise day (missing out on Seward), or try to get to Seward for the second night but risk feeling rushed.

Any advice is much appreciated! Thanks again!

Thanks so much for sharing your photobook and answering everyone's questions. I have made 4 books on shutterfly from past vacations but it is nice to know that some of the ships now have that option with the photographer's photos uploaded and everything. We are doing a southbound Alaska cruise on the Island Princess in July and are really looking forward to it!

 

One thing I was wondering, is how did you get from Seward to Whittier, and how long did it take? Did you go on the morning of your cruise?

 

We can't take too much time before the cruise and are only arriving in Anchorage 2 days before. We are trying to decide if we should just stay around there both nights and then go straight to Whittier on cruise day (missing out on Seward), or try to get to Seward for the second night but risk feeling rushed.

 

Any advice is much appreciated! Thanks again!

This leg of our trip was the toughest set of choices we had. Originally we thought we would be on HAL, so I researched and chose a lot of things to do in Seward. Then we ended up on Princess, which left from Whittier. Didn't want to give up the Exit Glacier, horsebackriding and most of all the train ride down. Didn't want to return to Anchorage and turn around to go back to Whittier taking up almost a wole day. Hardest 90 miles to get settled, but it turned out to be one of our favorite segments.

There is one shuttle at least that I found that leaves first thing in the morning from Seward that goes to Whittier, but we wanted to spend most of the day in Seward as we had arrived at noon the day before. We chose PJ's taxi finally after much research. She provided our run out for horsebackriding with Bardy's, and met us at the train dropoff because they had changed from typical stop. She charges one price and provides personalized service. Renee is a wealth of information and has character. Stops, narrates, gives highlights, even took us down through the town of Seward that we hadn't gotten to the day before. We left around mid afternoon, stopped along the way at eagle nests, views, the Animal Conservation Center, and timed it perfectly to get through the tunnel with no wasted time, but with a backup buffer of the next hour available. For two it was more than the basic shuttle, but it was worth it in what we got out of it and for the better use of the time we had. We weren't doing a PWS cruise before boarding and had no reason to get to Whittier earlier in the day. We arrived at the Diamond, no lines, walked right on. Smooth.

We are going to Alaska for the first time in July and I really enjoyed your pictures. We will be on a Royal Caribbean cruise but of course we will be seeing much of the same things. I am impressed that you did your own land tour. Did you drive or just take buses? I did notice that you used the trains but not sure how you made all your connections. How much would you say you saved by not using the ships land tour? I am curious because my husband hates driving long distances, especially in strange places, we always seem to get lost. If it's possible to do such a trip without renting a car and still see all the same things as a tour, but on our terms, that would be great. I notice you did the Kantisha (sp) tour in Denali, did it seem as long as it sounds or was it really worth it? We are currently booked through our land tour to do the tundra Wilderness tour, which only goes about half way in. Are you really glad you did the full length one? The full length one is not an option on our tour, another reason to do your own thing. Thanks for your posting, really nice pictures....loved the "nugget Falls" pic of the 5 story waterfall, and the Hubbard glacier where the moutain seems to be floating on a cloud!

We are going to Alaska for the first time in July and I really enjoyed your pictures. We will be on a Royal Caribbean cruise but of course we will be seeing much of the same things. I am impressed that you did your own land tour. Did you drive or just take buses? I did notice that you used the trains but not sure how you made all your connections. How much would you say you saved by not using the ships land tour? I am curious because my husband hates driving long distances, especially in strange places, we always seem to get lost. If it's possible to do such a trip without renting a car and still see all the same things as a tour, but on our terms, that would be great. I notice you did the Kantisha (sp) tour in Denali, did it seem as long as it sounds or was it really worth it? We are currently booked through our land tour to do the tundra Wilderness tour, which only goes about half way in. Are you really glad you did the full length one? The full length one is not an option on our tour, another reason to do your own thing. Thanks for your posting, really nice pictures....loved the "nugget Falls" pic of the 5 story waterfall, and the Hubbard glacier where the moutain seems to be floating on a cloud!

The tours wouldn't make any changes for the things that were the most important to us, like wanted Kantishna, but not the Gold Dredge and Riverboat, etc. so I looked for other options. We used Alaska Tour and Travel to organize all the bits, so we knew the times would work. Their website has tours, but you can change or build your own and they will give you the total. Really nice people to deal with. Everything had a voucher and no one looked at us like we were aliens.

We did not rent, hubby said driving was not his idea of a vacation. We used the railroad, hotel shuttles, tours, taxi shuttle, a local transportation service, and Park Connection bus. Every place we stayed had a pickup/drop off to airport and/or train station included. We did the Historic Fairbanks tour that picked up from our place and returned us, Then we arranged a pickup by a local van that took us around town to buy one thing we forgot at home, lunch and revisit the spots we wanted to spend more time at. So, it went kinda like that. Talking to local shuttle drivers gave us another view of the state, too. Hubby is a big chat and question guy.

Not sure if we saved money,but pretty close considering Kantishna for two nights was included. We got to do exactly what we wanted and were able to stay two nights at each spot, but Seward so we weren't always packing and moving. It worked for us.

Oh, yea staying AT Kantishna was worth it, peace and quiet, dog kennel, hiking Blueberry hill in the AM, and not having to go all the way back in one day. It didn't seem long but I'm not sure about in and out all on the same day.

Thank you for your kind appraisal of my shots. Photography is my sanity time.

Thanks for your reply so quickly. I am going to check out your options to see if we can save any money off the one we have booked. It is VERY pricey, but my husband is the same way, he wants to enjoy his vacation and would prefer the complete package if we can swing it. The other nice thing about the tour is that they even haul all the luggage around so that is nice too. But considering the cost, we could probably do more and on our own terms if we book our own trips the way we want to do them. I will have to check that out before our balance is due on what we have booked. Thanks again for your reply and I enjoyed reading your story. Would you say the last part of the trip into Denali was worth seeing? I believe we are only scheduled to go as far as mile 53 or something like that. :)