Alaskan Cruisetour

[geoherb]

Delta broke the wheels on one of my luggage pieces two years ago. Fortunately it was during our return flight home. The baggage claims rep told me that they would not reimburse for damage to wheels. I wrote a letter anyway after having the broken wheel replaced, and they sent me a prepaid credit card for the cost of the repair ($21.32) along with a $100 voucher for another flight (which I did not use).

[WisCruiser2]

We had a great meal in Fairbanks 12 years ago at The Pump House - the only thing was that it cost about $30 to take a taxi there & back across the river!

[BigWI]

Thank you so much for posting - we are booked on the Coral for Alaska in June 2015 with a short cruise tour prior - so I will be following your trip avidly!

How expensive are the meals? Can you give me an idea of how much we should budget to cover breakfast, lunch and dinner?

 

Breakfast Buffet $15.99, Other options $10-12, Dinner Entree's in the neighborhood of $25-$40

 

Hamburger I had today was $12.50

 

Look up princess Lodges and the resorts have their menus posted.

[BigWI]

Delta broke the wheels on one of my luggage pieces two years ago. Fortunately it was during our return flight home. The baggage claims rep told me that they would not reimburse for damage to wheels. I wrote a letter anyway after having the broken wheel replaced, and they sent me a prepaid credit card for the cost of the repair ($21.32) along with a $100 voucher for another flight (which I did not use).

 

Thanks, will look into it.

[BigWI]

Today will be short, battery dying and only have internet access i9n the McKinley Lodge.

 

Did the Denali History tour today, Lots of scenery, not a lot of wildlife (as loonbeam predicted. Saw 2 Moose and 2 caribou.

 

Then Drove down to McKinley Princess, had a terrific view of Mt. McKinley (AKA Denali). 72 and sunny so we got a really good view.

 

The view from the deck at McKinley Lodge is worth the trip by its self. Words cannot do it justice. Would post a picture but my Camera was in RAW mode and I don't have the software with me to convert it.

 

Go to the ship tomorrow, so my posts will be sporadic as I am too cheap to pay for a lot of internet time. But I will try to post at least every other day.

[hockeygal54]

I'm thoroughly enjoying your brief battery dying posts! Brings back fond memories of our trip summer before last. Assume you're taking the train down to Whittier? Hope you get nice booth companions. We sat with a nice couple from OH I believe but the husband was deaf as a post and therefore hard to have a conversation with. He was much more social than the wife tho who was prob ten yrs younger. He had to be mid 80's and was a retired physician.

 

You're from WI correct? A friend we met on PC cruise in March is from Chicago and says they have SNOW in downtown!!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[hllwdcruiser]

I pulled up my 2009 numbers for reference:

 

Fairbanks - about $30 per person for dinner, $20 for breakfast. One of our tours included dinner.

Denali - $12 pp breakfast at Subway across the street, $45 pp dinner in the nice restaurant, $15pp pizza place

McKinley - $50pp dinner, $20pp breakfast.

Train - $20pp lunch (Get the venison chili)

 

These are based on nice entrees, no alcohol, soft drinks and usually appetizer or dessert.

 

-

Thank-you! We normally don't drink alcohol with meals either so this gives me a realistic idea of what to expect. I'm thinking we should be okay budgeting $200 a day. Knowing what to expect makes the experience a lot less painful!:eek:

 

Breakfast Buffet $15.99, Other options $10-12, Dinner Entree's in the neighborhood of $25-$40

 

Hamburger I had today was $12.50

 

Look up princess Lodges and the resorts have their menus posted.

 

Thank-you - it seems in line with what Loonbeam quoted from 2009. I didn't know we can see their menus online - great tip.

 

We are pretty much doing the same cruise tour as you except we start out in Anchorage and miss Fairbanks. How wonderful that you have had such a positive experience at both lodges. I look forward to the rest of your posts - sporadic as they may be :)

[RNGALNG]

I'm thoroughly enjoying your brief battery dying posts! Brings back fond memories of our trip summer before last. Assume you're taking the train down to Whittier? Hope you get nice booth companions. We sat with a nice couple from OH I believe but the husband was deaf as a post and therefore hard to have a conversation with. He was much more social than the wife tho who was prob ten yrs younger. He had to be mid 80's and was a retired physician.

 

You're from WI correct? A friend we met on PC cruise in March is from Chicago and says they have SNOW in downtown!!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

I'm from Ohio! There are many nice people from here!! But sadly, we were not your companions. We traveled with another very nice couple from Ohio (See, I told you there were many nice folks!) throughout Alaska. :)

 

Thank you to the OP for the posts. We will be going again this summer as well and am enjoying remembering and planning as well.

[Ginger Pepper]

keep posting....I think you are doing the same tour as us but we are doing the next one, we leave next monday, we also get in a day early.....please post what you do in fairbanks....looking forward to reading your posts

 

Regarding what to do in Fairbanks - we're on a Princess Cruisetour in August but have done some research in advance. We're arriving two days early in Fairbanks and plan to visit the new Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitor Center in downtown Fairbanks, with exhibits, free brochures, handicraft presentations and shop; the other day we plan to drive (about one hour from Fairbanks) to Chena Hot Springs and Ice Museum - entrance $15. We understand that there is beautiful scenery on the way too. In any case - enjoy your trip!

[Eileen G]

Thanks for posting about your cruise. I leave next Saturday on the Coral from Whittier. In Juneau and Ketchikan there is free wifi at the libraries in town. The library in Juneau is right at the water front near the cruise ship pier. I'm not sure where the library is in Ketchikan. There are also free computers to use but they have a long wait time. I don't know if Skagway has a library. When we were on an RV trip from Anchorage to Fairbanks to Valdez we used the free wifi in all the small town libraries we passed by.

[BigWI]

Got up this morning at 4:15 to take a picture of Denali at Sunrise, Will see if I can post it.

 

We're going into town then catching the train to Whittier and board the ship.

 

Anyone considering the 10 day cruise tour I recommend NOT doing it. Try to fid a way to take a couple extra days on land. I wish I could have taken the longer tour of Denali, but time wouldn't permit.

 

My opinion only.

[BigWI]

 

You're from WI correct? A friend we met on PC cruise in March is from Chicago and says they have SNOW in downtown!!

 

 

Yes, from Milwaukee. I heard that they were talking snow. Here in Alaska it has been 70 and sunny!

[ntvsdgrl]

Got up this morning at 4:15 to take a picture of Denali at Sunrise, Will see if I can post it.

 

We're going into town then catching the train to Whittier and board the ship.

 

Anyone considering the 10 day cruise tour I recommend NOT doing it. Try to fid a way to take a couple extra days on land. I wish I could have taken the longer tour of Denali, but time wouldn't permit.

 

My opinion only.

 

BigWI your opinion is valid. I did that cruisetour last year but North bound. I did manage to get my Denali tour changed to the TWT but I went in late August.

 

Next year I'm doing a longer tour as you mentioned but southbound. We start off in Anchorage then two nights at McKinley Lodge and 2 nights at Denali Lodge then cruise. We're also going in late June. I wasn't fortunate enough to see McKinley last year as it rained the whole time.

 

I agree with you about the Princess Lodges and their organization. It was impressive.

 

I wasn't impressed with Fairbanks and made sure next years tour didn't include it. I will say that on the riverboat tour, I loved the beautiful houses we saw along the way and of course the plane in all the backyards. :p

 

Enjoy your trip!

[Northender]

Really enjoy reading your posts. Looking ahead to more in the days to come. Have a fabulous trip.:)

[Whimsy]

Enjoying your report. We are wanting to do an Alaskan cruise tour so this is very helpful.

[diane.in.ny]

I pulled up my 2009 numbers for reference:

 

Fairbanks - about $30 per person for dinner, $20 for breakfast. One of our tours included dinner.

Denali - $12 pp breakfast at Subway across the street, $45 pp dinner in the nice restaurant, $15pp pizza place

McKinley - $50pp dinner, $20pp breakfast.

Train - $20pp lunch (Get the venison chili)

 

These are based on nice entrees, no alcohol, soft drinks and usually appetizer or dessert.

 

-

 

Thanks for posting this. Very helpful. Trying to decide in Connoisseur Escorted Tour is worth the extra $$ over the Off The Beaten Path tour

[diane.in.ny]

the other day we plan to drive (about one hour from Fairbanks) to Chena Hot Springs and Ice Museum - entrance $15. We understand that there is beautiful scenery on the way too. In any case - enjoy your trip!

 

Thanks for info on the hot springs resort. Might we a great way to start our vacation with a couple of nights there

[BigWI]

On board ship now so these will be short as we are now paying for Internet time.

 

We were told that 30% of the people who come to Denali see ANY PART of Denali (AKA Mt. McKinley)

 

WE were fortunate enough to have 2 beautiful days where we saw ALL of Denali.

 

Yester went into Talkeetna while waiting to catch the train. Absolutely NOTHING to do or see there. I wish we would have stayed at Mt. McKinley enjoying the breath taking view.

 

Got on the train to the ship and getting really excited now. 5 hour train trip through some very beautiful country, Saw a Red fox carrying his (her) lunch.

Had some very interesting, but nice table mates (Enough said there).

 

Again amazed at the organization of Princess. In anchorage representatives of Princess came on board and Processed out passports & Check-in. When we got to Whittier &around 7:30 pm), all we needed to do is get off the ship, spend 5 minutes in line to go through Security, get our picture taken and go to our cabins.

 

Had dinner after Muster Drill, but then it was 10:30, when to the Casino won $3 playing Black Jack. Went to bed.

 

Woke up this morning and am typing this in the Horizon Court looking out the windows at the Fog.

 

See you tomorrow.

 

Din

Edited May 18, 2014 by BigWI

[Skip2MySue]

On board ship now so these will be short as we are now paying for Internet time.

 

We were told that 30% of the people who come to Denali see ANY PART of Denali (AKA Mt. McKinley)

 

WE were fortunate enough to have 2 beautiful days where we saw ALL of Denali.

 

Yester went into Talkeetna while waiting to catch the train. Absolutely NOTHING to do or see there. I wish we would have stayed at Mt. McKinley enjoying the breath taking view.

 

Got on the train to the ship and getting really excited now. 5 hour train trip through some very beautiful country, Saw a Red fox carrying his (her) lunch.

Had some very interesting, but nice table mates (Enough said there).

 

Again amazed at the organization of Princess. In anchorage representatives of Princess came on board and Processed out passports & Check-in. When we got to Whittier &around 7:30 pm), all we needed to do is get off the ship, spend 5 minutes in line to go through Security, get our picture taken and go to our cabins.

 

Had dinner after Muster Drill, but then it was 10:30, when to the Casino won $3 playing Black Jack. Went to bed.

 

Woke up this morning and am typing this in the Horizon Court looking out the windows at the Fog.

 

See you tomorrow.

 

Din

 

We certainly appreciate you taking the time to post your results as there are 6 of us doing the Southbound on the Crown with land tour beginning May 26th. Any and all info is very helpful plus entertaining.:)

Skip

[BigWI]

Yesterday was spent relaxing at sea.

 

Around 2:30 we began looking for whales as we entered the area where they might be seen. No luck. Crew told us they saw about 100 on the way north, maybe we will see some later in the week.

 

Around 3:30 we arrive at the Hubbard glacier, nothing I can say can adequately describe it, so all I will say is impressive. We stayed about 1 ½ hours and the captain rotated the ship so everyone could get a view. I watched from my balcony and went in to warm up every now and then.

Got to see (and Hear) some calving

 

Last night was formal night, didn’t feel like changing into dress clothes so we went to the buffet. Maybe next formal night….

 

We did take in a show last night, a musical, I forget the name destination something. Nicely done but I was surprised as to how short it was, about 45 minutes. Of course with all the energy they expended, I wouldn’t have lasted that long.

[Northender]

Alaska is one of the best cruises we took. You will see so much more in the days to come. I found that by going down to the Promenade Deck was the best place when near the glaciers. Also, depending what type of sea life is around, you can run between port and starboard when they announce where the whales, orcas, etc are swimming.:)

 

Have a great day today.

[BigWI]

Thanks Northender

 

Glacier Bay & Skagway

 

Couldn’t post this morning because the mountains blocked the satellite signal.

 

Cold and rainy all day yesterday, so we did most of our watching from our balconies. We entered Glacier Bay, made our way up to Margerie Glacier and back out again. Entered Glacier Bay around 8:00 say a few whales. A little hard to get pictures because they would blow their blow hole and dive right away (Yes I know there is probably a technical term but you get the picture).

 

Got to Margerie Glacier around 1:00, and stayed about an hour. Not quite as impressive as Hubbard but impressive none the less. Going in and coming out we saw about 5-6 other smaller glaciers.

 

Today we docked in Skagway (along with 4 other cruise ships) we took the Yukon Expedition and White Pass rail. Took a bus up to Carcross in the Yukon Territory then took the White Pass rail back to Skagway. Spectacular view both ways, rained most of the way up to Carcross, snowed a bit. But on the way back the sun was shining.

 

Tomorrow we dock in Juneau and take the Mendenhall Glacier, tramway and Rainforest garden excursion.

[hmtsai]

Today we docked in Skagway (along with 4 other cruise ships) we took the Yukon Expedition and White Pass rail. Took a bus up to Carcross in the Yukon Territory then took the White Pass rail back to Skagway. Spectacular view both ways, rained most of the way up to Carcross, snowed a bit. But on the way back the sun was shining.

 

Tomorrow we dock in Juneau and take the Mendenhall Glacier, tramway and Rainforest garden excursion.

 

Enjoy your post everyday.

 

My cruisetour is coming this August, and I'm very interested in the excursions you are taking: Yukon Expedition and White Pass Rail in Skagway and Mendanhall Glacier, tramway and Rainforest Garden in Juneau. Look forward your detailed report after your cruise is over. :)

Edited May 21, 2014 by hmtsai

[Northender]

We loved the Yukon & White Pass excursion. We did it through Chilcoot (sp?) and it was fantastic. Did you have the bbq luch? That was very good also.:D:)

 

The Mendenhall Glacier is a nice trip. It is kind of sad to see how much of it has receded over the years. Makes you think.

 

Looking forward to your next update.

[BigWI]

Juneau

Day 4 we docked in Juneau, the state capitol.

 

We went to the Mendenhall Glacier, Nugget Falls and Glacial rain garden. The scenery was beautiful at the Glacier & Nugget Falls, but we found ourselves getting a little complacent. We have been surrounded but glaciers and beautiful scenery for the last 4 days so at a places that should have been really impressive we found ourselves almost to the point of saying oh well, there’s another one.

 

Touched a piece of ice in the visitors center and the ranger asked us how old we thought it was, we guessed 5-10 years. It was over 200 years old. It takes that long for a piece of ice to be pushed from the back of the glacier to the front were it drops into a lake.

 

I would not recommend the rain garden unless you are really into gardens. It is a man made garden, with a trail about 1000 feet long. We were there about ½ hour, 15 minutes for the trail and 20 minutes drinking tea and eating a homemade muffin. It might have been more impressive later in the season when the plants were in full bloom.

 

We have anytime dining, but we found ourselves eating at the same time and requesting the same table every night (no reservations, just asking then we get to the door). After a 4 nights of this, the wait staff is really loosening up around us, making diner a more fun experience. I think next time (if there is one) we will go to traditional dining for that reason.