Grand Princess Alaska Family Trip Review - June 2022

[PhotoGal07]

We recently returned from our cruise on the Grand Princess, so I wanted to do a detailed review for everyone, since I know how helpful reading the reviews were when I was initially planning!  

 

Summary: 

Our family of 4 originally planned on heading out for an Alaskan cruise in June of 2020.  Obviously that was a no go.  We cancelled, and hoped to try for June of 2021, or September of 2021.  Since neither of them materialized, we once again tried for June of 2022, and held our breathe.  Luckily we managed to make it!  Trip was myself, my husband, and our two kiddos ages 9 and 11.  We also planned a short land tour for a few days pre-cruise in Anchorage and Seward (no Denaili this trip).  This was our first venture out with Princess, and I will say that despite a lot of the complaints I've been seeing, we did have a very nice time.  It definitely helped that we did not have to put up with the itinerary changes occurring on the Crown.

Packing:

This seems to spark a lot of conversation specifically for Alaska.  After going, I can see why it is so confusing, as the weather tends to fluctuate wildly, it can feel like low 80s to low 60s just based on if you are standing in the sun or shade.  There were times in the sun when we stripped down to t-shirts, and then the moment a cloud came over and us, it went back to feeling chilly, and we were putting our fleece jackets back on.  

 

In order to figure out what to pack for myself and the kids (H packs for himself), I made a rough guess of what we would be wearing each day, and made sure that everything mixed and matched well.  We may not wear the exact outfit on the day planned, but at least we have a relative idea of what is available.  We also planned on having laundry done once while on the ship, which helped a bit. 

For my daughter that looked like this:

For my son, that looked like this:

And for myself that looked like this:

I also made myself a packing list since I was packing for both myself and the kids, and it becomes easy to forget things:  

 

Packing list for us ended up like this:
Kids:

Adults:

 

Extras:

  

Notes about Packing and What I Included: 

I packed a bit differently for each person.  For my daughter who is ALWAYS cold and will happily wear a sweatshirt and pants in 90 degree weather, I packed her winter coat, and more sweaters/sweatshirts.  For my son who runs warmer, we skewed a bit more towards t-shirts.  For both of them I purchased waterproof sneakers (we really like the Merrel Moab sneakers), and one extra pair of shoes that could work for running around the ship if their sneakers got all wet or muddy.  Neither of my children pay attention to things like puddles, and will walk right into them unaware, so it made sense for them to have them.  My husband only packed his regular sneakers (we didn't even bother with the waterproofing spray), and was just fine.  For myself, I packed hiking boots, primarily for our glacier hike on Matanuska Glacier, as I tend to roll my ankle if I'm not careful.  If I had not had hiking excursions, I would have been just fine with sneakers, though I would have probably wanted something waterproof so I could step where I wanted to get certain shots with my camera.

 

Layers:

As anyone who reads up on what to pack for Alaska knows, layers are key, and we definitely benefited from adhering to that advise.  Our base layers  got quite a bit of use, as did our fleeces.  We lucked out and rarely needed our rain jackets, but did use them one of the days when it was raining on and off.  For all of us, I preferred to have zip fleeces vs. pullovers because it's generally easier to put on and take off.  A lot of days we'd end up looking outside, and then deciding if we wanted a t-shirt, or a sweater, or a base layer and sweater.  Fleece's were almost always brought with us when going on excursions, and rain jackets were added to the backpack when the weather was overcast. 

 

Formal Night Wear:

We did not worry overly much about dressing for dinners.  Most of what I had read regarding Alaska cruises indicated that the dining room was very casual, and that held true for us.  Often times we went directly to dinner wearing what we had worn on the excursion that day.  If we were a bit dirty, then it was back to the room for  showers, and we'd all throw on something like a nice sweater and some pants for dinner.  For "dress to impress" night or whatever they're calling it nowadays we kept it pretty simple, my daughter wore a long sleeve dress, some leggings, and sequined high top sneakers.  My son had a button down, a blazer, and then his regular khaki pants (not dress slacks), and some grey sneakers.  I had a simple cocktail length dress that you can basically ball up and not have to worry about it wrinkling and some flats, and my husband brought a button down shirt, dress slacks, and dress shoes.  We saw a mix of people glamming it up in dark suits and sparkley formal dresses, and saw a few people in jeans in the main dining room.  We were pretty comfortable being in the middle as far as formality goes.  

Packed But Did Not Use: 

I feel like we were largely right on the mark as far as what we packed.  I didn't feel like any of us had too many clothes or too few options.  We wore just about everything.  However there were a few items we packed that we never bothered using.  One was the HDMI cable, since we never bothered to hook our computer up to the tv to watch a movie.  We were generally too tired in the evening, and there was plenty of stuff on demand.  The second was hand warmers and extra ponchos.  We were plenty warm with our base layer, sweater, fleece, and jacket, and gloves/hats, and all our rain jackets were perfectly suitable for keeping us dry when it did rain.  We also lucked out and never needed the meds/supplies we packed in case we got covid.  Though I should note that our two kiddos (vaccinated and boosted) did manage to test positive two days after coming home (we're calling it a souvenir).  I would definitely advise packing the meds anyway, as it's no fun to be sick away from home, and there was A TON of coughing and hacking from fellow passengers.  
 

For Camera Equipment:

For the kids, they each had a a little off brand go-pro style action camera and then my youngest had a Nikon Coolpix100 camera, and my oldest had a hand me down beginner Canon Rebel DSLR.  

For myself my camera equipment and lenses took up my entire carry-on.  I use a Canon R6, and then packed a 16-35, a 70-200, and the BIG 100-500 lens.  I also used my phone for a lot of the quick snapshots around the ship and so on.  I honestly could have easily gotten away with out my 70-200, and just grabbed a nifty fifty to toss in, or even done without.  I think I pulled out the 70-200 maybe twice during the whole trip.  I was either wanting pictures of landscapes, or far off wildlife.  I could have also happily had an additional 1.4 teleconverter to the kit.  Looking back if I was packing all over, I would have done, the 16-35, the 100-500, and the teleconverter.  A fun addition I also packed was a 360 camera.  I'm hoping I got some fun video with that, but I still have to cull through everything.  

I'll try to come back over the coming days and keep updating this thread with details about the rest of the trip!

Edited June 26, 2022 by PhotoGal07

[PacnGoNow]

36 minutes ago, PhotoGal07 said:

We recently returned from our cruise on the Grand Princess, so I wanted to do a detailed review for everyone, since I know how helpful reading the reviews were when I was initially planning!  

 

Summary: 

Our family of 4 originally planned on heading out for an Alaskan cruise in June of 2020.  Obviously that was a no go.  We cancelled, and hoped to try for June of 2021, or September of 2021.  Since neither of them materialized, we once again tried for June of 2022, and held our breathe.  Luckily we managed to make it!  Trip was myself, my husband, and our two kiddos ages 9 and 11.  We also planned a short land tour for a few days pre-cruise in Anchorage and Seward (no Denaili this trip).  This was our first venture out with Princess, and I will say that despite a lot of the complaints I've been seeing, we did have a very nice time.  It definitely helped that we did not have to put up with the itinerary changes occurring on the Crown.

Packing:

This seems to spark a lot of conversation specifically for Alaska.  After going, I can see why it is so confusing, as the weather tends to fluctuate wildly, it can feel like low 80s to low 60s just based on if you are standing in the sun or shade.  There were times in the sun when we stripped down to t-shirts, and then the moment a cloud came over and us, it went back to feeling chilly, and we were putting our fleece jackets back on.  

 

In order to figure out what to pack for myself and the kids (H packs for himself), I made a rough guess of what we would be wearing each day, and made sure that everything mixed and matched well.  We may not wear the exact outfit on the day planned, but at least we have a relative idea of what is available.  We also planned on having laundry done once while on the ship, which helped a bit. 

For my daughter that looked like this:

For my son, that looked like this:

And for myself that looked like this:

I also made myself a packing list since I was packing for both myself and the kids, and it becomes easy to forget things:  

 

Packing list for us ended up like this:
Kids:

Adults:

 

Extras:

  

Notes about Packing and What I Included: 

I packed a bit differently for each person.  For my daughter who is ALWAYS cold and will happily wear a sweatshirt and pants in 90 degree weather, I packed her winter coat, and more sweaters/sweatshirts.  For my son who runs warmer, we skewed a bit more towards t-shirts.  For both of them I purchased waterproof sneakers (we really like the Merrel Moab sneakers), and one extra pair of shoes that could work for running around the ship if their sneakers got all wet or muddy.  Neither of my children pay attention to things like puddles, and will walk right into them unaware, so it made sense for them to have them.  My husband only packed his regular sneakers (we didn't even bother with the waterproofing spray), and was just fine.  For myself, I packed hiking boots, primarily for our glacier hike on Matanuska Glacier, as I tend to roll my ankle if I'm not careful.  If I had not had hiking excursions, I would have been just fine with sneakers, though I would have probably wanted something waterproof so I could step where I wanted to get certain shots with my camera.

 

Layers:

As anyone who reads up on what to pack for Alaska knows, layers are key, and we definitely benefited from adhering to that advise.  Our base layers  got quite a bit of use, as did our fleeces.  We lucked out and rarely needed our rain jackets, but did use them one of the days when it was raining on and off.  For all of us, I preferred to have zip fleeces vs. pullovers because it's generally easier to put on and take off.  A lot of days we'd end up looking outside, and then deciding if we wanted a t-shirt, or a sweater, or a base layer and sweater.  Fleece's were almost always brought with us when going on excursions, and rain jackets were added to the backpack when the weather was overcast. 

 

Formal Night Wear:

We did not worry overly much about dressing for dinners.  Most of what I had read regarding Alaska cruises indicated that the dining room was very casual, and that held true for us.  Often times we went directly to dinner wearing what we had worn on the excursion that day.  If we were a bit dirty, then it was back to the room for  showers, and we'd all throw on something like a nice sweater and some pants for dinner.  For "dress to impress" night or whatever they're calling it nowadays we kept it pretty simple, my daughter wore a long sleeve dress, some leggings, and sequined high top sneakers.  My son had a button down, a blazer, and then his regular khaki pants (not dress slacks), and some grey sneakers.  I had a simple cocktail length dress that you can basically ball up and not have to worry about it wrinkling and some flats, and my husband brought a button down shirt, dress slacks, and dress shoes.  We saw a mix of people glamming it up in dark suits and sparkley formal dresses, and saw a few people in jeans in the main dining room.  We were pretty comfortable being in the middle as far as formality goes.  

Packed But Did Not Use: 

I feel like we were largely right on the mark as far as what we packed.  I didn't feel like any of us had too many clothes or too few options.  We wore just about everything.  However there were a few items we packed that we never bothered using.  One was the HDMI cable, since we never bothered to hook our computer up to the tv to watch a movie.  We were generally too tired in the evening, and there was plenty of stuff on demand.  The second was hand warmers and extra ponchos.  We were plenty warm with our base layer, sweater, fleece, and jacket, and gloves/hats, and all our rain jackets were perfectly suitable for keeping us dry when it did rain.  We also lucked out and never needed the meds/supplies we packed in case we got covid.  Though I should note that our two kiddos (vaccinated and boosted) did manage to test positive two days after coming home (we're calling it a souvenir).  I would definitely advise packing the meds anyway, as it's no fun to be sick away from home, and there was A TON of coughing and hacking from fellow passengers.  
 

For Camera Equipment:

For the kids, they each had a a little off brand go-pro style action camera and then my youngest had a Nikon Coolpix100 camera, and my oldest had a hand me down beginner Canon Rebel DSLR.  

For myself my camera equipment and lenses took up my entire carry-on.  I use a Canon R6, and then packed a 16-35, a 70-200, and the BIG 100-500 lens.  I also used my phone for a lot of the quick snapshots around the ship and so on.  I honestly could have easily gotten away with out my 70-200, and just grabbed a nifty fifty to toss in, or even done without.  I think I pulled out the 70-200 maybe twice during the whole trip.  I was either wanting pictures of landscapes, or far off wildlife.  I could have also happily had an additional 1.4 teleconverter to the kit.  Looking back if I was packing all over, I would have done, the 16-35, the 100-500, and the teleconverter.  A fun addition I also packed was a 360 camera.  I'm hoping I got some fun video with that, but I still have to cull through everything.  

I'll try to come back over the coming days and keep updating this thread with details about the rest of the trip!

That is the most comprehensive packing list I have ever witnessed on CC.  I bet many of the new cruisers to AK will love it.

Very nice of you to take the time to do this.

 

Edited June 26, 2022 by PacnGoNow

[Waynetor]

Thanks for the first part of your review.  We will be on from July 6 to 20.

 

I wondering how many passengers were on the Grand for your voyage.

[PhotoGal07]

28 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

That is the most comprehensive packing list I have ever witnessed on CC.  I bet many of the new cruisers to AK will love it.

Very nice of you to take the time to do this.

 

I was planning this trip for 4.5 years thanks to covid.  I was nothing if not thorough!  

[PhotoGal07]

18 minutes ago, Waynetor said:

Thanks for the first part of your review.  We will be on from July 6 to 20.

 

I wondering how many passengers were on the Grand for your voyage.

About 1500 on our sailing.  Ship felt VERY empty, but I would assume it will pick up at least a small bit for July sailings.

Edited June 26, 2022 by PhotoGal07

[PhotoGal07]

Trip Planning and Research (I'll Get to the Actual Trip Eventually I Promise!):

When I first starting looking into planning this trip, it was pretty overwhelming.  Alaska is a rather big place, and there's obviously a lot to see.  I also have a tendency to want to see and do EVERYTHING while I am on vacation (and this trip is no exception).  If it's just me, I will set a grueling pace if it means I get to see more.  I often have to stop and remember that I'm dragging a husband and two children to these places, and they are not "get up at sunrise, out all day, then collapse into bed at night" sort of people.  They are more the "get up, have a relaxing morning, slowly make their way to breakfast, head out for a bit, then come back for a nap, then do a bit more in the evening (maybe)" people.  So it's always a little tricky to find a nice pace that let's me get my fill of sightseeing, while making sure I don't have a mutiny on my hands.  I value my position as supreme evil overlord (evil overlady?) of the family, and the last thing I want is to be overthrown. 

Planning rest days are key.
 

Alaska With Kids- What Age?

If you don't have kids feel free to ignore this section and roll around with all that extra disposable income.  Seriously.  Enjoy it.

 

However, we do have kids, and since we do kind of like them, they are usually a large part of the travel decisions we make.  

 

When they were little we usually stuck with beach vacations.  Plunk a toddler in the sand with a shovel and a pail and they'll play happily for hours.  But we've known that we wanted to do a family trip to Alaska for awhile now.  The scenery, the wildlife, the glaciers, all sounded (and were!) fantastic.  We also knew that we wanted to take the kids, because at least with many of the glaciers, their grandeur is rather time sensitive.  So the first thing to figure out was how long to wait before the kids were old enough to enjoy AND appreciate/remember the experience.  

 

Most of the more outdoorsy excursions I was looking at required a minimum age of 8, so that was the age I picked for the youngest to be.  Obviously then covid hit, and he's now 9 pushing 10.  Having done the trip now, I think 8 would have been fine, but the little extra maturity was certainly helpful. 

 

 

I was a little nervous about longer excursions that involved hiking/kayaking.  Neither of our two are outdoorsy or athletic (we have the cool nerdy/artsy types). But I will say that they were all paced exceptionally well, and even our two were fine with the length.  There was only a tiny bit of whining about feet hurting at the very end our hike when we were already in full sight of the parking lot with our van, and had maybe 3-4 more minutes to walk.  

 

The only real issue we're still dealing with is that both kids are exceptionally picky eaters.  So that is still on the forefront of all vacation plans, finding a nice balance between more adult friendly meals, meals that will encourage them to try new things, and kid friendly meals that will keep whining to a minimum.  Luckily cruises in general cater to this, so that particular hurdle was not much of an issue.

When To Go:  

I found this chart from UnCruise that I think gives a fairly good picture of how your timing affects both the weather and wildlife you will see.  We decided to focus on whales, and decent weather, which meant early June.

What To See:
Ok we figured out the when.  The next thing is to figure out where exactly we are going to go, and what we're going to see when we get there!  Like others, I started brainstorming my Alaska bucket list, and then prioritized what we would likely enjoy the most.  

Glaciers were priority number 1 for us.  As I mentioned in the section about kids, I know that glaciers are largely only going to get smaller from here on out.  We also knew that we wanted to do one of the train rides with the glass dome roofs, and definitely wanted to see some whales.  I also wanted to make sure the kids had time to do some more outdoorsy activities, maybe tidepooling or kayaking.  Basically something that doesn't involve them being attached to a screen.  

Seeing the husky puppies would also have to be high on the list of things to see and do.  It's one of those activities that our kids would love, even if it ended up being a bit cheesy and touristy.  

Bear viewing would be fantastic, but it makes me a little nervous with the kids.  With my luck, I would turn around to find my 9 year old who knows no fear trying to "make friends" with a bear.  Dedicated bear-sightseeing would likely need to wait.  

Round-trip vs One-Way

While I was very much interested in doing both land and sea, I did want to at least look at the options for one-way cruises.  Roundtrip cruises primarily seemed to be out of Seattle or Vancouver.  I won't lie, doing a roundtrip out of Seattle sounded REALLY nice.  We've never visited Seattle, we could see the Needle, Pike Place Market, maybe do a whale watching tour to see some Orcas.  The airfare would be cheaper and much simpler.  It would also mean a shorter trip. 

 

Roundtrip out of Vancouver didn't hold quite the same appeal, though I'm sure we could have found plenty of pre-cruise activities if I had looked into it.  But ultimately the call of doing some time extra time on land IN Alaska made me decide go for the one-way trip.  It would be a pain as far as air travel goes, but it would give us more time with the real Alaska.  

Northbound vs. Southbound.
The main difference here seems to be, do you want to do your land activities before or after your cruise.  For us the answer was definitely land first, cruise second.  Cruising tends to be the more relaxing part of our vacations, so having it be at the end works well for us.  

A few other poster have noted that if you go Northbound the scenery gets better and better as you get toward the end of your trip.  So really there's something to be said for either.  Southbound won out for us, but if you're going to Alaska on vacation, I imagine you'll be fine either way.  

One thing I did see during my research is that if you are going Southbound, and are getting a balcony, you should try to get one on the left (port) side of the ship, and if you are going Northbound, you should try to get a balcony on the right (starboard) side of the ship to maximize your view of the coast as it sails by.  We cheated and ended up with an port-side aft balcony, so we great views of both left and right sides, and were thrilled with the aft balcony decision.

 

(view from our balcony)

Land Plans and Denali(?)

Ohh... Denali.  When I first started looking over all the land and sea tours provided by Princess, HAL, and Crystal (remember I started planning for 2020), it seemed clear that Denali was THE land destination.  But man, it seemed like it would take forever to get there, and the best nature viewing would be through the park buses, and the park tours would last ALL day. 

We would have a maximum of about 10-12 days for the trip.  This would mean flying into Anchorage from the East Coast (long flight), staying overnight, then taking a long bus or train ride to Denali, FOLLOWED by a long bus ride within Denali, followed by long bus or train ride back to do the cruise.  

 

My two kids are good travelers, but a large part of that is because we give due consideration to how much we can reasonably expect for them.  4 days of sitting back to back sounded like a recipe for disaster, even if you can get on and off the Denali tour bus.  Not a great start to a vacation.  Ultimately we decided to stick a pin in Denali and save that for a later trip.  Given the trouble that many of the lodges have been having getting up and running after covid, it seems like we may have lucked out with that particular decision.

Instead we decided to take the Alaska Railroad down to Seward, and stay overnight there.  Heading to Seward would enable us to do the train ride with the glass dome cars, and we'd be able to do the Kenai Fjords boat tours and see some Alaskan wildlife.  

Books & Websites 
I did a lot of reading while waiting for this particular trip.  I like to start thinking about and planning vacations early, so I started researching this trip in the beginning of 2018, figuring we'd go in 2020.  Then of course that didn't happen, so I sort of just kept right on reading as the wait lengthened.  

Books I found helpful included:  
Moon Anchorage, Denali, and the Kenai Peninsula, Don Pitcher. 

Alaska by Cruiseship the Complete Guide to Cruising Alaska - Anne Vipond

The Alaska Cruise Companion - Joe Upton

and Alaska:  A History- Naske and Slotnick (this is basically just a textbook on the History of Alaska, it's a bit dry, but interesting if you enjoy history).  

Websites:
Cruisecritic (of course)

Tripadvisor

 (a great source of menus)

  (the new Alaska 2022 menus!)

Adventures by Disney (helpful to see Alaska itineraries built for families)
National Geographic/Lindblad Expeditions (again, helpful to look at their itineraries)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 27, 2022 by PhotoGal07

[DUCHESSRN]

Thank you for a wonderful start , we sail to Alaska in September .

[Blondilu]

Thanks for all the info.  Can't wait for the rest of the report, I bet you had a blast.

[CalLuvsCrusingToo]

WOW detailed and comprehensive is right!

You should win a What to pack award. 😆

[cr8tiv1]

@PhotoGal07Absolutely enthralled with your style.  You definitely have the energy with plenty to spare.  Thank you so much for your attention to detail, your images, your descriptions.  Glad you had a enjoyable cruise.  The Grand is one of my favorite ships.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

@PhotoGal07. Thank you for such a comprehensive and well written review. 

[nini]

I am so glad that you and your family were able to finally go on this adventure together! Thanks for sharing.

We will be on the Grand in September; our fifth time to Alaska, with 3 new ports and a new glacier for us.

Edited June 27, 2022 by nini

[Ricbr]

Absolutely love your post. The level of detail is great.  Very excited to see where this goes.  

[palolake]

Wow, thanks for all the info!

[Dar & Bob]

@PhotoGal07 What are the temps like on the inside of the ship, MDR, buffet, theater etc.  I am bringing base layers and sweaters, but I am one of those who is always cold and it's gotten worse now living in Florida !!

I had read earlier that the buffet was freezing but didn't hear much about the rest of the ship

[nini]

@PhotoGal07 I do not want to waste your precious family time... if you become aware of smoking area on the aft Promenade deck, please let me know.

[PhotoGal07]

On 6/28/2022 at 2:13 PM, Dar & Bob said:

@PhotoGal07 What are the temps like on the inside of the ship, MDR, buffet, theater etc.  I am bringing base layers and sweaters, but I am one of those who is always cold and it's gotten worse now living in Florida !!

I had read earlier that the buffet was freezing but didn't hear much about the rest of the ship

Buffet was a little chilly sometimes, but for the most part we were fine in just a long sleeve t-shirt and pants.  It was most noticeably cold on the decks where they had the doors open for passengers to head on/off the ship.  Often times we were bouncing between inside and outside, and so we usually had a fleece or light jacket to throw on.  My daughter is often cold was usually happy in her sweatshirt/sweater and pants.   

[PhotoGal07]

On 6/28/2022 at 2:18 PM, nini said:

@PhotoGal07 I do not want to waste your precious family time... if you become aware of smoking area on the aft Promenade deck, please let me know.

The smoking area was unfortunately a couple decks below our port-side aft cabin (deck 5 maybe?) and the smell was definitely noticeable.  It was one of the bigger annoyances, since both my H and I abhor the smell, and it wafted RIGHT up.  It didn't completely ruin the aft balcony or anything, we were still out enjoying the views.  But there were plenty times when we were also wrinkling our noses.   

[PhotoGal07]

Day 1:  Flight from the East Coast and a Stay at the Anchorage Embassy Suites

Despite my reading and worrying about the potential for a last-minute flight cancellations our flights heading to Alaska went smoothly (unlike our flights home!).  We live just outside of DC, so we flew out of Dulles Airport in VA via American Airlines, with a two hour layover in Dallas, then on to Anchorage.  Unfortunately our first flight was at 7am.  Luckily we have TSA pre-check (a godsend if you fly even semi-regularly) and we live 20 minutes from the airport.  So we only had to leave the house by 5:15am.

The flight to Dallas was uneventful, nothing of note to import.  We had a two hour layer, so once we hopped off the plane and got our bearings we found our way to our terminal we stopped at Smash Burger for a quick bite.  During these days of long travel and multiple time zones, the timing of meals tends to lose all meaning.  We were up at 5am, and the kids had already had breakfast, so we can call it lunch if you like, but local time was 10:30am.  Regardless the burgers and fries filled everyone up.

 

We spent some time in one of the waiting areas that had lots of charging stations, and we were all able to charge up our devices while we waited for our flight to be called.  A quick stop at one of the airport convenience stores for candy bars/chips/etc for the long plane ride, and we were ready to board our flight.  The flight to Anchorage was long (6.5 hours), but the kids handled it well.  Thank goodness for the invention of the Ipad.  

 

We arrived in Anchorage at 3pm (which felt like 7pm our time). We had no trouble getting a cab for the 4 of us and our 3 suitcases (1 large, 1 medium, 1 carry-on), and heading to our hotel the Embassy Suites in Anchorage.  

 

I really like Embassy Suites for family vacations.  They are spacious enough that we are not stepping all over each other, and the included breakfast and evening reception are helpful on busy days.

Overall the stay was fine.  Beds were comfortable, and like most Embassy Suite rooms the separated living area with a pull out couch worked well as a place for the kids to sleep. The blackout curtains kept the room nice and dark, and we were all able to get a solid nights sleep. The lobby is cute and looks the part of a rugged Alaska lodge, and the kids loved the fountain.

Check-in was easy, and we were offered two complimentary bottles of water which was a nice touch.  We were all pretty exhausted by this point, so we hung out in the room for a bit until the restaurant downstairs opened so that we could grab a quick dinner.

The hotel restaurant and bar service staff were very sweet and helpful, and were probably the biggest standout during our stay. We stopped there for a late (for us) dinner right when they opened at 5:30pm. There was a limited menu, but plenty to choose from, and the staff went above and beyond to engage the kids and make sure they were happy with what was brought to them.  

We all had dinner, and then we went back up to the room, trying to keep our eyes open and stay up as long as we could before crashing around 7/7:30pm.  Clearly adjusting to the time change was not going to happen tonight.

 

Day 2:  Covid Tests and Glacier Hike!
We all woke up around 4:30/5am the next morning, and started working on getting our Binax E-med covid tests done since we were now officially within the window for antigen testing.  It was a bit annoying to get through all the registration pages, and navigating to the video call where the health care worker watched you open and take the test, but we managed to get all four of us tested.  All negative!  Check.  

Our plan for the day was a trip to Matanuska Glacier for a hike, and this hike was truly one of the highlights of our trip. 

 

 

Our guides for the excursion were due to pick us up at 8am, so while we were running the tests, we also went down in shifts to grab breakfast and fuel up for the long day.  The continental breakfast was exactly what you would expect, fruit, scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, sausage, biscuits, muffins/bagels etc.  None of it spectacular, but it did its job.  

We booked our hike with Greatland Adventures, and they were wonderful!  Van pickup at our hotel was right on time. The excursion ended up being our family, and one other couple for a total of 6 people, plus the two guides. Our guides introduced themselves and got us on the road for our 2 hour drive out to Matanuska Glacier.

 

We had a quick stop at a little convenience store/rest area in Palmer to use the restrooms and grab snacks/drinks. 
Once we arrived, we got our tickets, and drove over to the start of the glacier trail. We got our helmets on and hiked a bit of a ways over some of the rock, and even before we got to the ice part the views were amazing. After a quick 10 minute walk we were nearing the actual ice, and that was when the "crampons" or cleats came out for us to wear.

 

The cleats gave a couple of some of us a bit of trouble, and we had to stop and readjust them a few times along the way, eventually resorting to zip-tying one of them to get a better fit, but our guides were prepared for it all and handled it with aplomb. Each time stopping, offering their backpack for us to sit on while they helped adjust, and reassuring us that we could take as much time as we needed to make sure things were put to rights. We always felt safe, and they did a great job of making sure we were comfortable, even when the terrain was steep or troublesome.

 

I was a bit worried about our kiddos keeping up on the hike (they are NOT hikers at home!), but it was paced perfectly, with the only whining about being tired and feet hurting occurring at the very end when we were already in sight of the van. So if you have kids around the same age, and are concerned, I will say that you will likely be ok even if they are not super outdoorsy types.

 

 

The highlight for the kids was of course finding a small stream of glacial melt, and filling up our water bottle to drink glacier water (something they are still talking about). For us adults, I think it was the amazing views, and the thrill of actually getting to walk on a glacier. Overall, it was a fantastic experience.

 

On our way back we stopped off at a small restaurant with an overlook of the glacier that was very charming. The restaurant had burgers, fries, a pasta dish (which could be made with just butter for picky eaters), and all the food was very good. Lunch is included with the excursion, with the exception of alcoholic beverages which you can purchase separately. We took our time with lunch, and were encouraged to order whatever we wanted, then hopped back in the van for the ride home.
 

The van ride home was pretty quiet, as most of us were pretty exhausted from the day.  We stumbled back into our hotel room, and we were all still pretty full from our large lunch, which to us, almost functioned more as dinner.  We managed to stay up for a bit longer before crashing once again.  

Tomorrow... a glass domed train ride to Seward, and a boat tour of the Kenai Fjords!

Edited June 30, 2022 by PhotoGal07

[Glopop11]

Oh thank you for this! We have a glacier hike booked for our stop in Juneau  and I was worried about the “strenuous” label. I think it will be similar to this and very doable!

[tundra1]

Thanks for this amazing trip report!  I can't wait to read about the rest.  We are traveling with our 9 year old grandson in August, so I am taking notes!  ✍️

[vmontell26]

Hi. Thanks for this report and your amazing packing list and photos. I’m headed to Alaska in August. I love what appears to be your green rain coat. Would you care to share where you acquired it? TIA

[caribill]

6 hours ago, PhotoGal07 said:

We had no trouble getting a cab for the 4 of us and our 3 suitcases (1 large, 1 medium, 1 carry-on), and heading to our hotel the Embassy Suites in Anchorage. 

 

I am impressed that you fit all your belongings in just three suitcases and only one was a large one!

 

Thanks for a very informative, educational and interesting report. All that pre=planning was no doubt worth the effort.

[PhotoGal07]

Day 3:  Train to Seward, Marine Tour of the Kenai Fjords, and a VERY Bright Night

 

We woke up bright and early at 5am (luckily we were all still very much on East Coast time) , and made our way to the train station in Anchorage to board our early morning train to Seward.  

We were particularly excited about this train ride, as it's supposed to be one of the most scenic train trips in the US.  We stood in the line to get our tickets, and grabbed coffee and hot chocolates from the little coffee stand in the station while we waited for the train to start boarding.  

We booked the gold star service, and were assigned seats for the first car on the train.  I was a bit worried that the kids would be bored, but between getting up to get breakfast, the unlimited hot chocolates, going to the observation deck, and the gorgeous scenery and regular wildlife and waterfalls that we passed, the kids were quite content.  

 

Breakfast was good and filling.  The kids and DH all had the scrambled eggs, and I had the biscuits and gravy.  Everyone enjoyed getting up to go to the dining car, and the whole restaurant on a train experience.  The bar service in the gold class was also wonderful, which meant I got to enjoy a mimosa or two during our travels.

Along the way we managed to spot a couple moose, many mountain goats and eagles, and more stunning scenery than one could possibly believe.  It felt like we were all constantly amazed at whatever new vista was around the corner.  I truly expected us to start getting bored of seeing mountains and waterfalls, but we never did.

 

 

 

I do wish that we had been in the second car rather than the first.  Often times the kids narrating the train ride would point out an animal or other notable point along the route just as we were passing it.  If we had been in the second car, we likely would have had a couple extra seconds to spot whatever animal or landmark, which can make all the difference.  I believe there is a spot on the Alaska Railroad ticketing website to make a request, and if we ever do this again, I'll be trying to request the second car.  

Upon arrival in Seward I had expected that I would gather the luggage with the kids and send my husband to walk over to Hertz to pick up our car and meet us.  I was overjoyed when I saw the shuttle van waiting at the train station, and realized they had specifically come just to pick us up!  Great service!  We got our rental car, and immediately headed over to Hotel 360 to park and board our boat tour through Major Marines.

 

 
I had seen many reports talking about how amazing the 6 hour tour was, but with the train ride, I figured everyone would be too tired to do the longer boat tour and remain in good spirits.  The shorter tour seemed to be the right call, as it was towards the end of the ride as we were approaching the dock that the kids started getting antsy.  I was also a bit nervous about the potential for seasickness, and the 4 hour tour is notable for having calmer waters.  I was a little bit sad to miss the extra hours that go further into Kenai Fjords National Park, but if the 4 hour tour was good enough for Obama when he visited, it would likely suffice for our family too!

The boat trip was wonderful, and we saw a TON of wildlife along the way.  We spotted sea otters hanging out in the water within minutes of leaving the dock, along with eagles, puffins, sea lions, and whales.  

 

 

 

 

My advice if you are coming from the train is to grab a sandwich to take with you on board.  We were a little anxious about time/finding parking so we didn't do that, and while there were snacks on board, it would have been nice to have a more full lunch to keep us fueled during our long day.  Luckily we had a bigger breakfast on the train so we were able to make do with a few things like granola bars and fruit snacks to tide us over till dinner.

For the boat ride we found having our base layer underneath our pants, a sweater, and our fleece and jackets (along with hats and gloves) to be sufficient.  It was cool and overcast, and rained a small bit during our outing.  We did have a few swells, that started to turn our daughter a bit green around the edges, but between the dramamine she took before the boat left, and going outside immediately once her stomach started to bother her, we managed to avoid the motion sickness.  

After that it was over to our cottage rental through Salted Roots.  The cottage at Salted Roots was very pretty, clearly geared for the instagram crowd, though slightly less practical for our family of four.  However despite that fact, the scenery around Miller's landing Lowell Point where the cottage was was spectacular.  We made a homemade pizza in the little kitchen for dinner, and enjoyed the amazing views the cabin had to offer before turning in.  Tomorrow is a helicopter ride and we finally board the Grand Princess!

 

Edited July 5, 2022 by PhotoGal07

[notatubaplayer]

PhotoGal07 appears to be a complete rockstar in the world of cruise reviews.  Appreciate the effort!