Review - Coral Princess and Alaska land tour

[lmt1022]

And they said it couldn't be done... lol

 

We crammed quite a few things into our land trip, but it was well worth it.

 

Day 1 - Landed in Anchorage at 6:30 pm, rented a car from Hertz(they upgraded us to a large SUV) and drove down to Seward. Beautiful drive. Checked into Holiday Inn. Basic hotel, but clean. Nice folks at check-in.

 

Below is picture of Harbor from the Holiday Inn deck.

 

 

SEWARD Day 2 - Nice complimentary breakfast at the Holiday Inn. We walked to the SeaLife Center. They didn't open until 9 so we stopped at a small diner and had coffee to wait until it opened. We then walked around the corner to check out the large waterfall and then headed into the Sea Life Center. Spent just an hour - it was nice to see the Puffins up close. We then picked up the shuttle that comes every 30 minutes and were dropped off at the Kenai Fjords Tour site.

Went on park tour... was a beautiful day. Saw some otters, whale, great calving of glaciers. They served a good chicken wrap and chocolate chip cookies. When we got back, we were pretty tired, so we ate next door at the Smoke Shack (and it is a "shack") but the Pork was great!

 

 

 

Day 3

Went to bed fairly early, and then woke up early. Had another nice breakfast and checked out of room. We drove to Exit Glacier and then did one of the shorter hikes. We then started our drive up to Denali Park. We made some stops along the way, but it was a drizzly day so didn't stay long anywhere. We drove over to Talkeetna - walked around a bit and then ate at the West Rib. Had a nice meal - Salmon sandwich and beer was great and had good service. We got back on the road and drove on to Denali. Stopped in at the Visitors Center and got our tickets for the early morning shuttle. We then check in to the Grand Denali Lodge.

Nice hotel... Beautiful views in lobby, but just a basic, clean room.

 

[Lovincruisin1321]

Thanks for the review. Love the pics!

[lmt1022]

Day 4

Woke up early and went to center for our 6:30 am Eilsen shuttle. We got there at about 6 and were first in line. We sat right up front on left - which was a good spot other than the "hump" right on the left side at your feet. Our bus driver, Mary Hester, was AWESOME. She gave narration the whole way and was super good at spotting wildife. It was a drizzly day; but we saw bears, wolves with 6 puppies, Ptgarmin (sp?), sheep, caribou, hares, and a lynx. When we got to Eilsen there was so much fog we couldn't even see a few feet past the windows so that was a bit disapppointing. We did get to see just a tiny glimpse of snow from McKinley (we think?) lol.

 

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I drove back to Savage River with my car later that evening and was able to sit and watch 2 moose by the side of the road for about 10-15 minutes. Loved it!!

 

 

That night I just ate at Subway - easy, good and cheap. Had to get gas, too. Not too cheap near Denali... $4.00 gallong :eek:

 

Day 5

I checked out from the lodge and met up with the folks from Husky Homestead and they drove to their home. Great tour. Well worth the cost. However, Jeff King - the Iditarod champ, does not really spend a lot of time with you. (At least he didn't for our tour?) His daughter and wife do the bulk of the tour. Jeff was there to welcome us and then he came at the end to answer any questions. I did have him sign my book (that he wrote). They hand you puppies as soon as you get off the shuttle bus. They were adorable! Very well maintained facility and very organized (unlike in Carcross - more on that later).

 

 

I then headed to Palmer to visit the Musk Ox farm and the Reindeer farm. The Ox farm was well run and informative. The staff was very informative - they have tours every hour (I think). It was a gorgeous day, so it was just nice to be outside, too. The reindeer farm was a bit different. You basically pay your money, the lady gives you some reindeer food and some information, and you are off on your own to feed and pet the reindeer.

 

I then headed to my hotel in Anchorage... the Embassy Suites. Beautiful hotel and room. Very nice staff. Would definately recommend.

 

I drove to the Glacier Brewhouse and had the best meal from the whole trip - BBQ salmon. Tried a few of their beers, too - the chocolate and the rasberry were great, and I am not much of a beer drinker.

[lmt1022]

Day 6

I drove to the Alaska Wildlife Center - the drive is spectactular. Stopped along the way and read the information at the stops. The center itself is nice. Saw the bear, wolf, caribou, bison, eagle, etc. Well run and had a nice gift shop there.

 

 

I then drove to Girdwood and stopped at the Bake Shop. Nice folks here. Had a wonderful cinnamon bun and some coffee then drove to Alyeska resort and took the tram up to the top. It was a beautiful day, so I enjoyed a short visit there.

I then drove back to Anchorage to drop off the rental car and pick up my Mom and daughter. Their flight arrived at 6:30 and we called the Embassy Suites shuttle to pick us up and were back at the hotel soon after. We had dinner that night in the hotel at Pi. We were the only people there, so the service was great and so was the meal!

 

Day 7

We took the shuttle to the train station, dropped our luggage off at the Princess tent next door and boarded the train to Whittier. Nice trip with beautiful views. When we arrived in Whittier, the bus for the Prince William Sound Tour was waiting so we headed right to their dock. We had about an hour or so wait and then we were off on our tour. It was a nice day, we saw some whales, otters and a few glaciers. I think the Kenai tour was a bit nicer, but I would still recommend this one. They had a nice meal of Crabcakes (really all you could eat - when we were done with our allotted 2, they made an announcement that there were more available and everytime I walked by the galley there was a large plate of crabcakes sitting there?)... they also served warm chocolate chip cookies.

 

It was also a bit cold by the glaciers, so be prepared... my Mom froze (we are from Florida, though :o)

 

 

 

We then walked over to the port where the Coral Princess was waiting. Easy as can be boarding. No one in line at all (it was probably about 5:30 though). Went right to our room... very nice but smaller than I expected. Had plenty of storage for the 3 of us. Only complaint - the bed.

We asked for eggcrates and the steward brought them right away. My mom's bed was great - about an 8, mine was a 2, though :(. It was like putting an eggcrate on the cement floor. I couldn't complain, though, since my daughter's bed, he pullout couch. was about a -2. She had no problems sleeping on it, though, as she can sleep anywhere! Our steward, Ronillo, was great. He always seemed to know when we were gone (even if for a very short time) and when we came back, the room was made up. Perfect!

 

Day 9

We were in Hubbard Glacier. This was beautiful. It was a misty day, so we enjoyed just watching either on the balcony or the other decks.

 

 

 

Day 10

We were in Glacier Bay... had another nice relaxing viewing day.

[lmt1022]

Day 11

Skagway - We got in about 7 am and walked to Avis. They did not open until 8, and although there was someone inside, we had to wait until exactly 8 before we could get the car. It was a dreary day in Skagway and the initial portion of our drive to Emerald Lake was foggy and you really could not see much of the mountains at all. However, as soon as we got further up the road, it was gorgeous.

We used Murrays Guide and loved it (Thanks Yukon). My daughter read the mileage posts as I drove so we know what to look for.

We spotted some sheep, but other than that, so no other wildife. We went to Carcross and stopped at the Wildife museum where they have the puppies. We paid for the visit and then headed straight to where the puppies were kept. We were totally alone. There was a lady working with some of the older dogs, but we were just in the dog yard by ourselves and not quite sure what we could do? We could see the smaller puppies in a fenced area and tried to pet them through the fence for a while. Eventually another girl came up and said we could go into the fenced area and then we were left alone again. We didn't even know if we could pick them up, but since noone was there.... we did :D. They were so cuddly and sweet. This was my daughters favorite thing. We were very fortunate that no other people were there as she would not have wanted to share the pups. As we were leaving there were 2 big busses pulling in and 4 or 5 RV's, so we timed it just right.

 

 

We then drove on up to Emerald Lake - which was very nice. We then stopped at the Spirit Lake resort and had a GREAT sandwich and homemade pie... hit the spot.

 

On the way back to Skagway we hit more fog right near the bottom... it was a little scary as you could not see more than 10 feet or so in front of you, but again, as soon as we passed through the fog, it was OK.

 

 

We headed to the where you walk across the foot bridge to walk to Yakutan (sp) Point. It was a nice hike, but had some rocky areas. My Mom is 78 and very fit, so she did OK, but I would guess for some folks it might a tad difficult? We went to the Fudge shop and got some great fudge and then refueled the car, dropped my Mom at the ship, and returned the car. Had a nice walk back to the

[lmt1022]

Day 12

We were in Juneau today. Harv and Marv picked us up at the base of the Tram and we headed to our boat. We had Jay - who seems to be a GREAT guy and obviously enjoys what he does. His boat is pristine and comfortable. We had a gorgeous day and saw lots of whales, seals, and eagles. We also spent some time going by his house (but, did not get any chocolate chip cookies lol) He did have lots of snacks and drinks on the boat for us. I will say that when I went with Orca last year it seemed we were a bit closer and had better opportunites to take pictures of the whales? I realize this may just be related to where we were positioned and no one can control where the whales will appear, but I noticed that the other boats were closer and were always in a better spot than us...? I did manage to get a few good shots, though and we had a very enjoyable day.

 

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We were then dropped off at Mendenhall Glacier (the bus driver, Jay's brother, was great. He gave lots of information during both drives).

 

We walked around a bit and went on the trail that's not open yet... the Nugget Falls (I think). It was a nice walk... and it was a gorgeous day there. It did seem a little long and by the time we got there we had our jackets off. I miscalculated our time and thought we only had 20 minutes to make the shuttle bus back, so we walked super fast to get back and it took us 18 minutes. Ended up that my cellphone had not changed times, so we had more time than we thought... ooops. Anyway, it did give us time to eat at the Paradise Cafe - had chicken pannini's - which were excellent!

 

 

 

[lmt1022]

Day 13

Today was the day I was waiting for ... Ketchikan - to see the bears. We booked with Michelle from Island Wings. We had gone with her last year to Misty Fjords and enjoyed it so I was looking forward to the flight to Anan. She did not disappoint! What a day - we were so lucky. It could not have been a better day. Our guide, Dan (GREAT), picked us up at the Rain Gauge and we headed over to the plane... were board soon after and headed for the 45 min. flight to Anan. It was so pretty... Dan and Michelle talked about the area on the way there and we had a perfect flight and landing. When we arrived the park ranger gave us some information, Dan strapped on his 50 calibur gun :eek: and we were off. I loved the walk there. Dan would call out "Hey bear" every few minutes or so and my Mom would get nervous... lol. He talked to us the whole way about the various trees, nature, and even had us try the different berries he found along the way. The trail itself was alot of up and down, with steps, so I would say this would not be easy if you had any type of physical limitiations?

 

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As soon as we arrrived at the area for viewing we signed up for the Photo Blind and then we started looking at the bears. There were several so close... and tons of eagles. The time FLEW by here... This was by far my favorite excursion and was well worth the cost.

 

 

 

 

The trip back was just as beautiful. We went to Annabelles for a late lunch.... had a great meal here - Halibut wrap for me, chicken wrap for my daughter and halibut fish and chips for my Mom. They were all wonderful! I then ran off to the Fudge shop and grabbed some more fudge... excellent.

[lmt1022]

Almost done... sorry for the long review

 

Day 14

Sea day ...cruise almost over :(

 

I had mentioned the Ultimate Ship Tour to my daughter and she wanted to go ... why, I don't know. I thought it would BORING, but, she said it would be fun - and we had to practically bribe my Mom, but in the end we all went and loved it. lol

 

We spent time backstage, in the galley (the executive chef spent alot of time with us - he gave us chocolate covered cherries and ice cream), with the food manager (he was great), with the head purser in the laundry room (very interesting) and the print and photo shop, and on the bridge. The captain was also very intersting and I was surprised of how much time he spent with us...probably about 30 or 45 minutes? We even went into his conference room and sat down with snacks and drinks and he answered any questions we had. The whole tour was 3 1/2 hours and well worth the cost. Later, they sent us the chef's jacket, Princess robe, and the pictures that the photographer had taken with us (at the stage, in the machine room, and with the captain on the bridge.)

 

That night we finished packing and put our larger items outside the room and they were gone in minutes...

 

 

Day 15

I woke up early to watch as we approached Lions Gate Bridge. It was so nice outside - it was definately worth losing a little sleep!

 

 

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Disembarkation process was a little disorganized, but we were off the ship and had all our luggage fairly quickly. We took the luggage over to the CDS storage area and gave them all our bags so we could tour Vancouver. We walked over to the waterfront station and caught the SeaBus and then another bus to Grouse Mountain. It was another beautiful day and we enjoyed our time there... however the bus to get there was awful. We were packed like sardines - had to stand the whole way and it was uncomfortably hot. The trip back was much better as there was only a few folks on the bus.

 

 

We then walked back to get our luggage and took a taxi to the train station. We had a bit of a wait here, but then got on the train and were on our way to Seattle. The train ride was nice... we had a sandwich and brownies, watched the movie and were in Seattle by 10:30 and grabbed a taxi. Unfortunately, there was a game just finishing and we were stuck in traffic for a very long time. Our taxi ride cost $50. We stayed at the Doubletree Suites right by the airport. Nice hotel... they have the BEST cookies they give you when you check out. (Can you tell I am all about desserts?! lol)

 

Anyway, we had an uneventful flight home the next morning. Now, I am left to start planning my next trip.:p

 

If anyone has any questions, please ask... everyone was such a huge help on these boards - I could not have done this trip without you all. Thank you!!

[lmt1022]

Just reread my posts and see that I made a few spelling and grammar errors... sorry :rolleyes:

[vbmom87]

Well done review. Thanks for sharing. Reviews always make me long to be back in Alaska. Some day I hope!!!

[PennyAgain]

Excellent review and photos! You are a wonderful photographer!

[jeniferlyn]

Wonderful review!! Thanks for taking time and sharing your beautiful pictures! I want to go back!!

[lmt1022]

Thanks everyone.

 

Below is the link to the rest of my pictures if anyone is interested. I took almost 1000... but, don't worry I only have 120 or so on the site :)

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/LTen1022/Alaska2010#

[Yukon]

Excellent review! What date was your sailing?

[Coral]

Awesome review!

[amberruka]

thanks so much!! was going to take the princess shuttle instead of the train, is there a major price difference? (my travel partner is leaving from Vancouver but I don't leave until the next day from Seattle). And I'm staying at the doubletree SEATAC as well...go kayak.com!!!

[lmt1022]

Hi Yukon, thanks again for the guide! Our sailing was July 3rd - so, unfortunately, you were not our guide. We had Dr. Mark Rich.

 

Amberruka - The bus was just under $40 and I think the train was $50 and then we upgraded to business (for just $13). We had lots of room on the train and could walk around (to the dining car). I think the time for travel was nearly the same, too. But it was an enjoyable trip, so I was happy with our decision to go with the train.

[Bowlersbus]

lmt - great review I LOVE your pics on Picasso.

 

Seeing you are from FL and went in July, I am looking at the first week of Sept sailing. How was weather for your trip?

 

My daughter is working for Holland right now on the Denali Express so we are doing Vancouver to Anchorage. And spending time in Anchorage.

 

Did u have port or starboard side?

 

Thanks

Michelle

[NorbertsNiece]

Great review. Love the pics. Thanks for going to the trouble to upload and post.

[lmt1022]

Thanks!

 

Bowlersbus - we had very good weather. There were a few days in the week before the cruise that were a bit drizzly, and our day in Hubbard Glacier was a little dreary, but otherwise, it was nice.

Skagway was good once we drove out of the fog cloud and got closer to Emerald Lake, Juneau was warm and partly cloudy, Ketckikan was sunny and warm (beautiful), and so was Vancouver. We had no rain in the 3 ports.

 

We were Southbound - and we had port side. Which was perfect during Glacier Bay.

[Sanpan]

Great review. Thanks for taking the time to share. What type of camera did you use??????:)

[lmt1022]

Thank you...

I used a Canon Powershot SX10is... I love it. Has all the manual settings (and auto mode of course) and 20x zoom with stabilization.

Very easy to use.

[BroncoLvrs]

Great review! I can't wait!!! Do you happen to have the excursion brochure available? We are going next year and I'm looking for prices...I'm sure they'll go up, but I want to get an idea.

 

Thanks!

 

Janice

[InternetAgeTraveler]

great review, very informational. When we do our land/sea tour will definitely use this as a guide.

[lmt1022]

Thanks everyone.

Broncolvrs - sorry, I don't have any brochures...