Alaska Photojournal – Coral Princess + DIY Land Tour May 28 – June 9, 2014

[Cheryl H]

Thank you so much for such a great review and great pictures! I do have a question. You had a cute white jacket that looked like it had a fleece collar. Where did you find it?

 

Thanks again!

 

Cheryl

[mapleleaves]

Will you be posting about Kent and Laurel's trip to Denali ??

[tlcoke]

Thank you for the great trip report. I leave in 22 days for my adventure.

[AryMay]

Will you be posting about Kent and Laurel's trip to Denali ??

 

I am hoping that Laurel will be able to continue this report with their days in Denali, but it might take awhile because of family commitments. I will let her know that you ask! :)

[AryMay]

Thank you so much for such a great review and great pictures! I do have a question. You had a cute white jacket that looked like it had a fleece collar. Where did you find it?

 

Thanks again!

 

Cheryl

 

Was this the jacket you were referring to? (This is my friend, Laurel, not me.)

 

I believe it was a Columbia brand jacket, but I will ask and find out for sure.

 

[EMED2010]

Thanks for your wonderful review! We are going next year and you had a lot of great information. We are planning on doing Harv & Marv's and also rent a car to drive into the Yukon so I enjoyed reading about that. You did a great job with your pictures too! I took all of our Med cruise pictures with a point shoot Sony and they came out good. I recently got a DSLR camera and am still learning how to use it properly. Hopefully I will be better by our cruise!

[Cheryl H]

Was this the jacket you were referring to? (This is my friend, Laurel, not me.)

 

I believe it was a Columbia brand jacket, but I will ask and find out for sure.

 

 

Yes, that's the one! It's really cute. Thanks for asking.

[2batongirl]

I am hoping that Laurel will be able to continue this report with their days in Denali, but it might take awhile because of family commitments. I will let her know that you ask! :)

 

 

Yes, I will try to continue the report on our 3 days in Denali & our Matanuska Glacier trek. It will have to wait just a bit, though, due to a family emergency that we had to leave town for. Thanks for asking. Arymay will help me figure out how to post some of our pics as well.

[2batongirl]

Yes, that's the one! It's really cute. Thanks for asking.

 

It is a Columbia jacket with a silver thermal dotted inner lining that was super light weight, comfortable, and warm. I could stuff it into my backpack if needed. I also wore a Columbia white, windproof/waterproof jacket over it when it was raining. I bought them at a Gander Mountain, but they can be ordered on line. My husband's Columbia "compass blue" one was the exact same kind for guys. When I get home I can check the exact style name on the jacket.

[Cheryl H]

It is a Columbia jacket with a silver thermal dotted inner lining that was super light weight, comfortable, and warm. I could stuff it into my backpack if needed. I also wore a Columbia white, windproof/waterproof jacket over it when it was raining. I bought them at a Gander Mountain, but they can be ordered on line. My husband's Columbia "compass blue" one was the exact same kind for guys. When I get home I can check the exact style name on the jacket.

 

Thanks so much!

[dgh203]

My son gave my husband, daughter and myself a cruise to Alaska next year as a gift for Mother Day, Father's Day, birthdays & Christmas. Reading your report has really peaked our excitement. You have given us so many great ideas. Thank you for all of your time and effort that you put into your review. Excellent!!

[AryMay]

Thanks for your wonderful review! We are going next year and you had a lot of great information. We are planning on doing Harv & Marv's and also rent a car to drive into the Yukon so I enjoyed reading about that. You did a great job with your pictures too! I took all of our Med cruise pictures with a point shoot Sony and they came out good. I recently got a DSLR camera and am still learning how to use it properly. Hopefully I will be better by our cruise!

 

Thanks for your comments! I read so many reviews in the months before our cruise...I was able to get lots of tips and ideas...plus it helped fill the time until it was our turn!

 

I think you will enjoy Harv & Marv's. If you go back and look at post #97 you can see the advantage to booking with them. In one photo you will see my husband all by himself looking through binoculars on the back of the boat. In another photo you will see a different tour group packed into a boat like sardines! With the rainy weather I really appreciated being able to just jump out the door of the boat to take a photo and then step back inside where it was dry...and not fight the crowds to do so.

[AryMay]

My son gave my husband, daughter and myself a cruise to Alaska next year as a gift for Mother Day, Father's Day, birthdays & Christmas. Reading your report has really peaked our excitement. You have given us so many great ideas. Thank you for all of your time and effort that you put into your review. Excellent!!

 

Wow...what a generous son you have!! We have taken our grown kids & spouses on a couple of Caribbean cruises and had such a great time that I really wish we could take them to Alaska. Unfortunately the cost of such a trip is WAY more than what we spent on the past trips AND we now have grandbabies in the family. Maybe some day... :rolleyes:

[Ontario cruise duo]

AryMay,

Just wanted to post and thank you for your cruise review. DH and I also cruised to Alaska June 1 through June 8 on the Norwegian Pearl and saw your ship following us throughout the week. We flew into Vancouver 2 1/2 days early so we could explore Vancouver (visiting Capilano Suspension Bridge, Grouse Mountain, renting bikes and riding through Stanley Park, touring Gas Town, Canada Place and Granville Marketplace) before taking the Amtrak Cascade train to Seattle to catch our ship. We stayed in Seattle the night before our cruise left and also an extra night after the return from our cruise exploring Pike Market Place and catching the Seattle Mariners playing the Detroit Tigers, visited the Space Needle, doing the Underground Walking Tour, riding the Ferris wheel at the water front and taking in the sights. We saw or were in port at the same time in Juneau, where we also did the Harv and Marv Whale watching excursion; we rented a car in Skagway also from Avis (and I am almost certain that we were the next in line to pass through the doorway of their office to pick up our car in your picture posted on line); and went on a floatplane tour in Ketchikan. Our ships passed each other in/out of Glacier Bay on the 5th of May)! While we took approximately 1,100 pictures (I thought my DH takes a lot of pictures), I guess you beat him on that one! Anyway, Cruise Critic has certainly been a wealth of information in the planning of our cruise and I just found it exciting to relive our cruise through your post. I must say while we have previously cruised the Caribbean exclusively, our Alaskan cruise was very memorable and one that we have to experience again in our lifetime. Oh, by the way, my DH just retired from his job after 30 years. Thanks again for taking us on another Alaskan cruise through your posting. Excellent review. Great minds think alike!!!

[AryMay]

AryMay,

Just wanted to post and thank you for your cruise review. DH and I also cruised to Alaska June 1 through June 8 on the Norwegian Pearl and saw your ship following us throughout the week. We flew into Vancouver 2 1/2 days early so we could explore Vancouver (visiting Capilano Suspension Bridge, Grouse Mountain, renting bikes and riding through Stanley Park, touring Gas Town, Canada Place and Granville Marketplace) before taking the Amtrak Cascade train to Seattle to catch our ship. We stayed in Seattle the night before our cruise left and also an extra night after the return from our cruise exploring Pike Market Place and catching the Seattle Mariners playing the Detroit Tigers, visited the Space Needle, doing the Underground Walking Tour, riding the Ferris wheel at the water front and taking in the sights. We saw or were in port at the same time in Juneau, where we also did the Harv and Marv Whale watching excursion; we rented a car in Skagway also from Avis (and I am almost certain that we were the next in line to pass through the doorway of their office to pick up our car in your picture posted on line); and went on a floatplane tour in Ketchikan. Our ships passed each other in/out of Glacier Bay on the 5th of May)! While we took approximately 1,100 pictures (I thought my DH takes a lot of pictures), I guess you beat him on that one! Anyway, Cruise Critic has certainly been a wealth of information in the planning of our cruise and I just found it exciting to relive our cruise through your post. I must say while we have previously cruised the Caribbean exclusively, our Alaskan cruise was very memorable and one that we have to experience again in our lifetime. Oh, by the way, my DH just retired from his job after 30 years. Thanks again for taking us on another Alaskan cruise through your posting. Excellent review. Great minds think alike!!!

 

Isn't that something!! We were on different ships but yet our experiences were almost identical. I thought it was funny that you did the "pre-cruise" backwards from what we did as well.

 

Did any of your tours vary much from what we did? What time was your whale watching tour with Harv & Marv? I was just wondering if we might have been in the same van on the way to the marina! In fact I wonder if we might have seen each other at any other port...or even in Vancouver!

 

You actually might have seen my husband and Kent in the Avis office. I took that photo while Laurel & I were waiting on the guys to go back to the office to figure out why our rental car wasn't in the lot like it was supposed to be. I was getting pretty impatient by that time, but the mix-up worked in our favor when we got the SUV instead of a Corolla!

 

Laurel and I were talking today and I told her I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back to Alaska. This trip was the most amazing vacation we have ever done and I'm afraid it would be hard to get a second trip to live up to my expectations. :) Other than a little rain on a couple of days, everything was perfect and I wouldn't have changed a thing.

 

Thought you might like to see one more photo of the Pearl in Glacier Bay. Did you happen to get any photos of the Coral that day...or in any other ports? I would love if you could post them!

 

 

[SeahawkSiren]

AryMay, thank you for the fabulous review! I was not on the Pearl the same week as you were on the Coral, but I was on the Pearl 2 weeks prior to your cruise. Here are a few photos I have of the Coral during my week:

 

 

I love this photo of the Coral about to disappear into the rain and fog after leaving Juneau - May 20, 2014 (Coral left Juneau an hour before Pearl)

 

 

 

 

Coral in Skagway - May 21, 2014 (Pearl left Skagway 15 minutes before Coral)

 

 

 

Coral behind Pearl after Skagway - Where did that HAL ship come from? It was not in Skagway, but it ended up between our ships, Tailgater :eek: ;)

 

 

 

Coral in Glacier Bay - May 22, 2014

 

[Ontario cruise duo]

AryMay,

I do have a picture but am having a difficult time uploading it to the page.

Any help you can provide would be great and maybe then I can post it. It is a nice picture, but not as nice as the one you posted of our ship.

We were in Juneau from 2:00 until 10:00 p.m. Our whale watching excursion was at 2:30 or so. Was your ship in port in the morning? We were taken to Harv N' Marv's on a bus. Our caption for our excursion was Liz and she was very good at her job and very passionate about Whales and Orcas. After our excursion we were then taken on a bus to Mendenhall Glacier for a short time. By the time we got back into town the stores were closing. Would like to have had more time in Juneau. I took a look at our Avis bill and we were exiting the building at 8:01 a.m. so we missed each other. (I have incorrectly said May 4th... but you know I meant June 4th - - - our daughter's 29th birthday.... we called her from a pay phone just outside of Carcross to wish her a happy b-day. She thought for sure she would not hear from us this year on her actual birth day!!! Surprised her, that's for sure!!) Your husband may very well have been in line waiting for your vehicle. We had a green Subaru Outback for the day.

We arrived in Vancouver on the 28th and stayed at The Metropolitan Hotel and boarded the Amtrak Cascade train on the 31st at 6:15 in the a.m. Our trips were so similar in some respects, its a little crazy. Would like to have done a land portion as you did, but that was not in the cards this time. Hence the extension of visiting Vancouver before and spending two nights in Seattle.

I wanted to definitely cruise Glacier Bay and that is why we left out of Seattle as opposed to Vancouver. I believe NCL's ship leaving out of Vancouver (a loop cruise) did not go to Glacier Bay. DH and I will definitely head back to Vancouver sometime to spend a week there some day!

Edited July 15, 2014 by Ontario cruise duo

[AryMay]

AryMay,

I do have a picture but am having a difficult time uploading it to the page.

Any help you can provide would be great and maybe then I can post it. It is a nice picture, but not as nice as the one you posted of our ship.

We were in Juneau from 2:00 until 10:00 p.m. Our whale watching excursion was at 2:30 or so. Was your ship in port in the morning? We were taken to Harv N' Marv's on a bus. Our caption for our excursion was Liz and she was very good at her job and very passionate about Whales and Orcas. After our excursion we were then taken on a bus to Mendenhall Glacier for a short time. By the time we got back into town the stores were closing. Would like to have had more time in Juneau. I took a look at our Avis bill and we were exiting the building at 8:01 a.m. so we missed each other. (I have incorrectly said May 4th... but you know I meant June 4th - - - our daughter's 29th birthday.... we called her from a pay phone just outside of Carcross to wish her a happy b-day. She thought for sure she would not hear from us this year on her actual birth day!!! Surprised her, that's for sure!!) Your husband may very well have been in line waiting for your vehicle. We had a green Subaru Outback for the day.

We arrived in Vancouver on the 28th and stayed at The Metropolitan Hotel and boarded the Amtrak Cascade train on the 31st at 6:15 in the a.m. Our trips were so similar in some respects, its a little crazy. Would like to have done a land portion as you did, but that was not in the cards this time. Hence the extension of visiting Vancouver before and spending two nights in Seattle.

I wanted to definitely cruise Glacier Bay and that is why we left out of Seattle as opposed to Vancouver. I believe NCL's ship leaving out of Vancouver (a loop cruise) did not go to Glacier Bay. DH and I will definitely head back to Vancouver sometime to spend a week there some day!

 

Posting a photo is not hard...providing you have it saved somewhere on an online site. I use Picasa to edit my photos and then it is pretty easy to just upload them to Google+ from there. I know others upload their photos to Shutterfly, Flickr, or even Facebook before posting on Cruise Critic. If you don't already have your photos on an online site, then I don't expect you to go to all that trouble. Let me know if you want further instructions! :)

 

I didn't realize your ship was only in Juneau later in the day. We had Liz as our boat captain for whale watching that morning too! I agree...she was very good. Ketchikan was our short port day...we docked early in the morning, but had to be back onboard by 1:30 pm...just not enough time to see everything I wanted!

[AryMay]

AryMay, thank you for the fabulous review! I was not on the Pearl the same week as you were on the Coral, but I was on the Pearl 2 weeks prior to your cruise. Here are a few photos I have of the Coral during my week.

 

Thanks for the photos! You must enjoy photographing other cruise ships as much as I do! I loved the one of the Coral in the fog...that must have been eery to see in person.

 

I was surprised at how many ships we saw during our week (although it was mostly the same ones over and over I think!) At times I felt like we were in a cruise ship parade! :)

[fishin' musician]

Laurel and I were talking today and I told her I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back to Alaska. This trip was the most amazing vacation we have ever done and I'm afraid it would be hard to get a second trip to live up to my expectations. :) Other than a little rain on a couple of days, everything was perfect and I wouldn't have changed a thing.

 

Trust me, you'll go back. Thanks for taking us along on your trip! On our first Alaska cruise DW thought it was just the two of us but about went into shock when the kids woke her up just before the muster drill! ... see it in this youtube compilation:

 

[AryMay]

Trust me' date=' you'll go back. Thanks for taking us along on your trip! On our first Alaska cruise DW thought it was just the two of us but about went into shock when the kids woke her up just before the muster drill! ... see it in this youtube compilation:

 

 

Oh my oh my...that is a great video! I was in tears when your wife woke up to find the kids on the cruise! What a great surprise!!

 

All throughout our cruise we kept saying...boy I'll bet our kids would love this. We have taken our kids on a couple Caribbean cruises...the Carnival Legend review in my signature shows what a great time we had. Now that we have three very young grandkids, cruising vacations will have to wait. But...Lord willing...maybe someday!! :)

Edited July 17, 2014 by AryMay

[MTCanuk]

Have followed your trip with great enthusiasm. We leave on our Alaska cruise next weekend! And, oh yes, you will return. There is something about Alaska that has you returning. This will be my third cruise to AK. My first was when I turned 50 with 3 of my nursing school mates. My second was to celebrate our 25 th wedding anniversary. Now we are celebrating anniversary #30 and my husband's recent retirement. alaska has a way of luring you back. Thanks for the journey! I am excited for next weekend!

[cruisee<3]

AryMay,

Just wanted to post and thank you for your cruise review. DH and I also cruised to Alaska June 1 through June 8 on the Norwegian Pearl and saw your ship following us throughout the week. We flew into Vancouver 2 1/2 days early so we could explore Vancouver (visiting Capilano Suspension Bridge, Grouse Mountain, renting bikes and riding through Stanley Park, touring Gas Town, Canada Place and Granville Marketplace) before taking the Amtrak Cascade train to Seattle to catch our ship. We stayed in Seattle the night before our cruise left and also an extra night after the return from our cruise exploring Pike Market Place and catching the Seattle Mariners playing the Detroit Tigers, visited the Space Needle, doing the Underground Walking Tour, riding the Ferris wheel at the water front and taking in the sights. We saw or were in port at the same time in Juneau, where we also did the Harv and Marv Whale watching excursion; we rented a car in Skagway also from Avis (and I am almost certain that we were the next in line to pass through the doorway of their office to pick up our car in your picture posted on line); and went on a floatplane tour in Ketchikan. Our ships passed each other in/out of Glacier Bay on the 5th of May)! While we took approximately 1,100 pictures (I thought my DH takes a lot of pictures), I guess you beat him on that one! Anyway, Cruise Critic has certainly been a wealth of information in the planning of our cruise and I just found it exciting to relive our cruise through your post. I must say while we have previously cruised the Caribbean exclusively, our Alaskan cruise was very memorable and one that we have to experience again in our lifetime. Oh, by the way, my DH just retired from his job after 30 years. Thanks again for taking us on another Alaskan cruise through your posting. Excellent review. Great minds think alike!!!

 

 

Oh my goodness! Everything you just listed is what I'm looking into doing .. and on the same boat!

 

I'm still waiting for Harv & Marv to let me know about availability .. but did you have time to go to mendenhall glacier and do the harv & marv tour when you arrived at 2P in Juneau? Did you pre reserve your vehicle at Avis? From what OP is saying .. it sounds like a good idea .. and what company did you book floatplane with and how much was it? Teheh I know I have a lot of questions, but your itinerary is everything I have planned for myself .. although I'm a little scared to drive in Skagway for my first Alaska trip so we will see :)

 

Thanks in advance!!

[cruisee<3]

Thanks so much for posting all those wonderful pictures .. it's making me SO excited for my cruise .. and also wishing I was on the cruise with you since you saw all those WONDERFUL animals!

 

how difficult would you say the drive is for a FIRST TIME Alaska visitor? :P It seems very scary to me to drive 8 hours straight in an unknown area .. trying to navigate and going to viewpoints without getting lost .. on a timeline .. O.O you guys are so impressive

[AryMay]

Oh my goodness! Everything you just listed is what I'm looking into doing .. and on the same boat!

 

I'm still waiting for Harv & Marv to let me know about availability .. but did you have time to go to mendenhall glacier and do the harv & marv tour when you arrived at 2P in Juneau? Did you pre reserve your vehicle at Avis? From what OP is saying .. it sounds like a good idea .. and what company did you book floatplane with and how much was it? Teheh I know I have a lot of questions' date=' but your itinerary is everything I have planned for myself .. although I'm a little scared to drive in Skagway for my first Alaska trip so we will see :)

 

Thanks in advance!![/quote']

 

I know these questions were not for me (the OP), but just thought I would chime in with my 2 cents anyway! :rolleyes:

 

I would definitely reserve the car in Skagway...and do it NOW. Depending on how many ships are in port at the same time may make a difference in the number of cars rented, but why take a chance. Most likely the cost will only go up the as you get closer to your cruise anyway. The reservation can always be cancelled if you change your mind.

how difficult would you say the drive is for a FIRST TIME Alaska visitor? :P It seems very scary to me to drive 8 hours straight in an unknown area .. trying to navigate and going to viewpoints without getting lost .. on a timeline

 

There is really only one road heading out of Skagway so it would be hard to get lost! There was a section of the highway that was gravel when we were there, but it may be paved by the time you go. For the most part the highway was in excellent shape.

 

I would try and get your car first thing in the morning (again...make a reservation ahead!) and get started. Download Murray's Guide...the full version is $5 or you can get a shorter version for free. Just Google "Murray's Guide". Instead of printing the guide, I just downloaded it onto my iPad. Have one person be the "reader" as you travel (or are you traveling solo?)

 

Here is a recommendation from Murray's Guide website:

 

I recommend that a minimum of 5 hours be allowed for the trip from Skagway to Emerald Lake and back. For cruise ship passengers, I recommend Emerald Lake as the turn-around point so that they have time to see Skagway, and because the scenery north of Emerald Lake is nowhere near as dramatic as what has been seen to that point.

 

Your trip will probably be more enjoyable if you avoid the tour bus rush – that means heading north as soon as you get your car, and avoiding Caribou Crossing in particular between about 11:30 and 1:30.

 

Although 5 hours is suggested, we spent much longer on the drive because we stopped so often. If you are worried about time, just wait until you are on your way back to make any stops...that way you can better judge how much time you should take.

Edited July 21, 2014 by AryMay