Review - Princess Cruisetour LB7 - July, 2015 LONG!!!

[DentoAlaska]

Our Princess Cruise Tour was July 12th through the 28th (16 days). What a trip! This was our first cruise and first trip to Alaska. We are in our early 60’s and trying to do the more expensive vacations before we retire. When we decided to go to Alaska we started talking to friends/family that had gone and began the researching, budgeting and planning for our trip. Being quickly and completely overwhelmed with all of the options we decided that a cruise tour was the best choice for us. We knew that we were never going to be able to see and do everything we wanted but had to make a choice. We are not the type to spend 5 digits on vacations every year so this trip was real splurge for us. We booked our trip in April, 2014 for July, 2015. The OCD kicked in big time!!! I read everything I could on the ports, excursions, lodge reviews, trip reports, absolutely everything I could to prepare for our “Trip of a Lifetime”. I became obsessed with CC and checked it multiple times a day so I wouldn’t miss anything.

 

After much contemplation we decided to book the Princess Off the Beaten Path tour LB7. With the southbound cruise being on the Pacific Princess. This tour seemed like the perfect choice because we would get to see more of the inland portion with this option. My biggest disappointment was not being able to get to Kenai but we just couldn’t possibly do it all.

 

This cruise tour ended up being the perfect choice for us. We never had to worry about getting from point A to point B, never had to handle our baggage or worry that we had enough gas to get to the next town.

 

Day 1 – Arrived in Anchorage at 3 in the afternoon. The Princess reps were easy to find and pointed us in the right direction to get our luggage. With luggage retrieved, we returned to the Princess booth and where our luggage was tagged and off we went to the Hotel Captain Cook. At the hotel the Princess desk was easy to find. We were given our room key, packet with itinerary for the first day of our tour, and tags for our luggage. One bag (very large) was tagged “MEET ME ON THE SHIP”, the others we tagged with “MEET ME TONIGHT” along with the tags for the Copper Center lodge. We were off to explore for the evening by 5 pm.

 

Day 2 – Our “Day at Leisure” was spent going to the Native Heritage Center, Ulu Factory, visitor center and exploring downtown Anchorage.

 

Day 3 – Off to Copper Center. Our guide/driver was named Christina and she was wonderful! She has lived in the Anchorage area all of her life and was very knowledgeable about everything Alaska. We left Anchorage at 8 am and arrived at Copper Center at 3pm. We stopped in Palmer for lunch, photo points and glacier views along the way. When we arrived at Copper Center, the hotel manager got on the bus, welcomed everyone and handed you a packet with your room key, excursion information (if booked prior to arrival), itinerary and luggage tags for the next stop. The weather was amazing!!! So, after a short walk around the grounds we had dinner and cocktails on the huge patio enjoying the beautiful view of the Wrangell Mountain range.

 

Day 4 – Flightseeing!!! We were driven to the airstrip (which was about an hour from the lodge) and boarded a six passenger plane. It was amazing! The views were spectacular and our pilot was great! Once off of the plane we rode in a van to McCarthy. We spent some time there walking around the small town, talking to the residents and exploring the historic buildings. Next stop was Kennicott. There we had lunch, went to the visitor center and toured the Kennicott copper mill. Back to the airstrip for the return flight. What an amazing day!

 

Day 5 – There is only one word that describes this day…BRUTAL!!!! This was the worst day of the entire trip! Copper Center to the Fairbanks is a grueling 8 hour ride! Luckily when we arrived at Fairbanks the weather was gorgeous so we spent the evening on the huge deck that overlooked the river. We had dinner and cocktails there. Finally, off to bed!

 

Day 6 – Riverboat and Gold Dredge day. I expected the Riverboat ride to be hokie and staged and it was. The highlight was the stop in a recreated native village. The guides were knowledgeable and friendly and I found it all very interesting. Next was a short bus ride to Gold Dredge 8. This was very interesting and informative.

 

Day 7 – On the bus heading for Denali. We left Fairbanks at 10am and arrived at Denali about 1pm. We canceled the History Tour (which was included in our tour) and booked the extended Tundra Wilderness Tour (thank you Budget Queen for this!). Denali was cold, windy and rainy. Our first day and really only bad day of weather. Our tour left at 2pm, we went in the park to mile 63 and were returned to the lodge around 7pm. I think it was quicker because with the weather nobody wanted to be off of the bus for very long.

 

Day 8 – Mt. McKinley Lodge – Only stayed one night. Luckily the mountain was out in all of it’s glory. I couldn’t believe that I was totally content just sitting and looking at that mountain for as long as I did. The huge deck at the lodge was packed with people just in awe of the beauty of the area and that majestic mountain!

 

Day 9 – Train to Whittier to board the ship. This was a very long, slow trip. The scenery (for the most part) was beautiful. While on the train they checked you in for the ship, gave you your room keys so once on the ship you went straight to your cabin.

 

Day 10 – Scenic cruising – Hubbard Glacier. By this time of the trip we had probably seen 50 glaciers so this didn’t excite me. Just being truthful!

 

Day 11 – Scenic cruising – Glacier Bay. Beautiful but…Woo Hoo! more glaciers. For me it wasn’t really exciting and exactly what I feared. I was pretty tired of oohing and awing and the scenery. I spent time in the cabin watching re-runs of the Love Boat (hahaha! Not really). Seriously though, I did spend time inside reading.

 

Day 12 – Skagway (7am to 8pm) – White Pass Railway/Suspension Bridge (SGY-240). Beautiful day and sights. Spent the remainder of the day exploring the town.

 

Day 13 – Juneau (6:30am to 4pm) – We had scheduled a helicopter landing on Mendenhall with dogsledding. The dogsledding was canceled due to weather so we did the landing and a walk around on the glacier. Beautiful and exciting trip! The rest of the day was spent walking around Juneau and visiting the Red Dog Saloon!

 

Day 14 – Ketchikan (10am to 5pm) – I had to see Totem Bight State Park so that took most of our day. We took the city bus for $1/person each way (the cheapest excursion of the whole trip HAHA!). It was a long bus ride but we see ALL of Ketchikan! The park was beautiful! Finished up our gift shopping and boarded the ship.

 

Day 15 – At Sea. GET ME OFF OF THIS SHIP PLEASE!!!!!

 

Day 16 – Disembarking was smooth, fast and easy. Added a day in Vancouver to visit family and friends.

 

Day 17 – HOMEWARD BOUND!!!

 

Land Tour Parting thoughts: This trip was everything I hoped and in some cases expected. We absolutely loved the land portion of our trip. So much to see and do and a no fuss no muss way to go. We liked some lodges better than others but were ok with all of them. We never felt trapped or herded.

 

Cruise Parting Thoughts: I have now confirmed that I am not a cruise person. It just wasn’t my cup of tea. I was glad we tried it and thoroughly enjoyed the things we did in the ports. I have NEVER in my life seen so many jewelry shops! Do that many people really buy jewelry on their vacations?

 

General Advice: Be prepared for any kind of weather. We were lucky and had beautiful weather for all but Denali. Layer, layer, layer your clothing! It was cool in the mornings, warm afternoons and cool again in the evenings. Take comfortable, durable shoes! Lots of walking.

 

We are so glad that we took this trip. It was amazing and overall an absolutely wonderful experience. Will we return to Alaska? No. Will we take another cruise? No. I wish you all a spectacular visit to Alaska and hope that you enjoy it as much as we did. This was truly our “Trip of a Lifetime”.

[shredie]

I don't think you meant the jewelry stores ruined your cruise, but was there nothing on the ship you liked? I guess if glaciers aren't your thing, then seeing a lot of them might be "boring." Good luck on your next adventure, and I hope you find a mode of travel you like.

[DentoAlaska]

I don't think you meant the jewelry stores ruined your cruise, but was there nothing on the ship you liked? I guess if glaciers aren't your thing, then seeing a lot of them might be "boring." Good luck on your next adventure, and I hope you find a mode of travel you like.

 

NO!!! I never meant to imply that the jewelry stores ruined my cruise. :eek: I was just making a general comment about the port experience.

[joydisney]

Thank you for taking the time to write you review. Enjoyed reading.

[ar1950]

.......Will we take another cruise? No......... .

 

Wow, that's almost sacrilege on these boards.....:D

 

Glad the trip was great and you enjoyed it, well most of it, so much. Thanks for the post and review.

Edited August 18, 2015 by ar1950

[Working 2 Cruise]

Thank you for your review. Cruising is just not for everyone! What in particular did you not like about the cruise?

[emmak8]

Thanks for posting. Sorry you learned cruising is not for you.

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. I would also like to know what about the cruise you didn't like that made you decide cruising wasn't for you.

 

Bob

[dchip]

I enjoyed reading your review. Hopefully, you will take several more trips of a lifetime. :D.

 

Cruising absolutely is not for everyone. One of my best friends disliked every minute of her Alaskan cruise. Her first and last. Another of my friends shakes at the thought of cruising.

 

Us, we can't cruise enough. We have a 48 day cruise booked for our 50 anniversary in 2016. And three more booked before that one!! :eek:

 

Cheers, Denise