Alaska Cruisetour

[cowtec]

Thanks Genessa!!! DH is tremendously relieved to hear that his tummy won't be announcing him everywhere we go!! We are so excited about our first trip to Alaska and love hearing other people's experiences!

 

msett, we booked our cruisetour last July for this August. That's just us, but I have noticed that the Alaska cruises on all the lines are filling up pretty quickly. As far as the cost, I think that depends on the TA. There is an early booking discount, but a good TA can beat that for you. We paid the brochure amount with the EBD on our Panama cruise because I didn't check around for a knowledgeable travel agent. Through this board, I learned my lesson and found a great lady who gave us a super deal on Alaska! Best advice is to do your homework! :D

 

Sue

[Budget Queen]

You will love wherever you go in Alaska especially if it's your first time! If you are on a land/sea tour you won't have time to spend in either Whittier or Seward so the port really doesn't make a difference. The bus will either pick you up from the ship or drop you off to the ship.

 

Regarding the Tundra Tour it will depend on which itinerary you are on as to if you have time to go. Keep in mind it is a very long tour and sometimes the sightings can be few. A natural history tour may be better for those already tired of sitting in a car, riding a bus or train or just wanting not to have to "see it all" the first time out.

 

Most people don't have the luxury of more than 7 days on land if they are going 7 days on sea as well due to the 2 week vacation thing. For those who have travelled long distances in Europe over a 2 week period you know it really isn't that bad especially for the first time to a particular area. See the land, experience the scenery, relax and don't worry about what you may be missing! Some of the most beautiful sites were from the car or train or yes even bus while driving along the road. Don't feel you have to see every little thing or you'll drive yourself crazy. Yes doing it "all" on your own may be (would be) less money however as many have said if you are in a group you'll have to worry about who'll drive, where is the other car and where are we going to stop.

 

The Princess cruise tours are fabulous! Princess has been in Alaska more than any other tour or cruise company including HAL. We like a little more active crowd while on board so choose Princess over HAL. HAL may have a better port to sail from however usually after a whole day of tours and travel on the road to get to the port we just want to get on board and relax a bit.

 

Zebby

 

 

Sorry but I firmly disagree on the Natural History tour, there isn't a poster on these boards- I would bet would ever state the Natural History tour was a good option IF THEY HAVE GONE FURTHER on another trip. There is NO scenery on this portion and rarely wildlife. Why else would you ever consider a trip to Denali Park- if only to spend 8 hours on a train, OR 6 hours on a bus to GET there and then- only to get 16 miles into the park on a worthless tour??? There is a BIG portion of Alaska cruisetour travelers who have no idea of the options into the park- so it is important to be well informed HOWEVER you get there. Purchase and choose what is best for your priorities.

[zzmaxwell]

Goodmorning everyone!

 

Sorry I couldn't get back with you sooner. Internet problems yesterday. Thanks so much for giving me some insight into this cruise. We always book our cruises a year out so we're trying to get the most info. we can before May. I haven't purchased any books on Alaska yet and thought I'd try here first. I'm glad to know that July and August are O.K. to go in. We did know about the layering of clothes and such but hadn't realized about not wearing jeans much. That was a great tip.

 

We haven't really looked into the excursions and such yet, only trying to decide where we want to go first. Is there any place we shouldn't miss when we're looking at trips? We are pretty easy to please but want to see beautiful scenery. We do like to explore on our own and have done some pretty exciting things just happening upon them.

 

When you do the cruise part, does that primarily run like the Caribbean cruises we have gone on? You get off at port and can look around or book an excursion or are you sailing a lot and have a very short time in port?

 

We have an excellent travel agent and she has never steered us wrong but just want to make sure that paying to go on Princess is worth it. We have only used RCCL and Celebrity and have always had a wonderful time. Our agent truly believes we should use Princess. She loves HAL, also, but thinks the age of people on Princesses cruise would be more in line with our ages. Any info. would be great.

 

Anyway, "Thanks" again, so much for giving me some insite to this cruise and I'll thank anyone in advance for any further info. you can give us. This is my gift to my husband for our 25th and I just want to make it as memorable as possible!

 

Have a fabulous weekend!

Robin

[Zebby90210]

Sorry but I firmly disagree on the Natural History tour, there isn't a poster on these boards- I would bet would ever state the Natural History tour was a good option IF THEY HAVE GONE FURTHER on another trip. There is NO scenery on this portion and rarely wildlife. Why else would you ever consider a trip to Denali Park- if only to spend 8 hours on a train, OR 6 hours on a bus to GET there and then- only to get 16 miles into the park on a worthless tour??? There is a BIG portion of Alaska cruisetour travelers who have no idea of the options into the park- so it is important to be well informed HOWEVER you get there. Purchase and choose what is best for your priorities.

 

Budget Queen..as you stated "If they have gone further on another trip" however it makes people FRANTIC to worry for months that they are not going to get to mile 63. People book tours with the cruise company for many reasons and they are taken to Denali as part of the tour. 126 miles on a bus with stops can be a bit much for many no matter how much wildlife they "may or may not" get to see. I did that trek several years ago and it is taxing even at the younger age that I was at the time.

People if you can't arrange a Tundra Tour don't panic but enjoy what you will see.

[JoriT]

Yes, we did. We checked out our room, finessed our bags (made sure we had fresh film, batteries, etc) and then went "up the road" a little to a sandwish shop. (Where they sold Pepsi products - only place in Alaska we found Diet Pepsi!).

 

Our friends, who were also on the tour with us, went into Princess restaurant and had lunch, but were a little stressed over time - turns out they had plenty.

 

 

When we got back, we went to the pizzeria Lynx (I think) and ordered a pie. Actually quite good.

What was the name of the sandwich shop and where was it? My husband is addicted to and is somewhat of a Diet Pepsi snob! He would be thrilled to have some "elixer of the gods" to get him through the 6-8 hour TW trip. Hopefully it's somewhere close by. If you want you can email the info to me or respond here. Thanks, Jori

Pelepink@aol.com

[Genessa]

What was the name of the sandwich shop and where was it? My husband is addicted to and is somewhat of a Diet Pepsi snob! He would be thrilled to have some "elixer of the gods" to get him through the 6-8 hour TW trip. Hopefully it's somewhere close by. If you want you can email the info to me or respond here. Thanks, Jori

Pelepink@aol.com

 

 

the name of the sandwich shop is something like "Bub's Subs". If you are staying at the Princess property when you go out the main entrance it is a short walk to the right on the same side of the street - big crowd usually in front of the place, but the line moves fairly quickly.

 

We weren't that thrilled with the subs (heroes) but we didn't go for the ones most of the people were raving about (thinly sliced hot beef with some sort of gravy), we went for cold cuts. Being from NY, I think we're spoiled with cold cuts (hams,cheeses, etc.).

 

It was great to get Diet Pepsi's though. Only place we found them in all of Alaska. Coke really has Alaska (and Princess) locked up.