Review: Vancouver, Island Princess Landtour, Denali & Fairbanks

[wannasail4ever]

Jennie - You may not want all of this information, but I've found it very helpful reading other people's posts of what their trips include, so I'm giving it to you. We have sailed on the Ryndam, Veendam, Statendam, (Old) Niew Amsterdam, Zuiderdam (2) and now the Volendam. I just love those dam ships. We had a suite on the Statendam and it was tremendous. Don't remember what category it was, but it was very spacious. One of the reasons that I prefer HAL is petty. They have bathtubs and when you are tall it gives you so much more room. It's tough to shave long legs in a cruiseship shower. Ha. Also, we just prefer the ambience of their ships. The antiques and flowers are a nice touch. And the service has always been so good. Plus, they have the friendliest staff. (My opinion.)

 

I knew that I wanted to cruise Southbound because Vancouver is a whole lot closer to Alabama than Fairbanks. When you're flying there you're more excited and don't care how many hrs. it takes to get there. Coming home is always a different story. Cruisetour #18 spends 2 nights in Fairbanks.To me that's enough as the first night is just going to be a spot to lay my weary head! They have us scheduled (all included) to go on the Discovery Riverboat with the bushpilot demo, native village stop and the sleddog camp. Also they have us going to Gold Dredge 8. We're thinking that we might have time to rent a car and drive over to Cheena Hot Springs and the Ice Carving Museum that evening as it really doesn't get very dark this time of the year. Only twilight. Next morning, we're scheduled to go by train down to Denali. We will arrive at 11:45 a.m., so that will give us that afternoon to do the Whitewater Canyon Run rafting trip. I got that through Denali Outdoor Center for $131.40 (for both of us). If you paid in full, they gave you a 10% discount. They will pick us up at McKinley Chalets and return us after the trip. That evening is open for dinner or more hiking, etc. The next moring we do the Tundra Wilderness Tour and should be back around 3:30 p.m. Haven't made plans for the afternoon yet, but we'll probably go to the Park Ranger Sleddog Camp there as everyone says it's a really good demonstration. My friends may do a helicopter glacier/hike here. Not sure. Then we'll have the next morning before the train leaves to do something. Must not leave until around noon, because we've been told that we arrive in Anchorage at 8:00 p.m. One night there. I think we'll just go to the Moose's Tooth for dinner and over to Ship Creek. I would not really care if I missed Anchorage at all. The next morning we have a few hrs. before the Motor Coach to Seward. HAL did not offer a train upgrade. In Seward, I think we'll have time to go to the AL Sealife Center or to Exit Glacier. Both are good things to do. There is also Seavey's Sleddog Camp where you can ride a cart pulled by a dogteam down a trail. (No snow). The next morning we are scheduled to do a Kenai Fjords National Park Boat Tour. This is included and helped me to choose this particular tour. It's a must see for AK. We then board the ship and sail at 8:00 pm.

 

Our cruise stops are Hubbard Glacier, Icy Strait Point, Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan, Inside Passage and then ending at Vancouver.

 

For you, Vancouver would be an excellent ending spot as there is so much to do there. Maybe spend at least one extra day or maybe 2 before flying home. We are flying down to Seattle and spend an extra day before flying home to Bama.

 

Again, as far as which cruise line.......we just wanted a smaller cozy ship for AK. Tour??? It had to have lots of time in Denali and the Kenai Fjords Boat Tour.

 

You should be able to go on all of the cruiseline websites and look at all of their tours.

 

Also, look at http://www.tripadvisordotcom. There is a wealth of information there under the Alaska forums.

 

If I can help you further, let me know. But my very best advice is to read everything on this board and ask lots of questions.

 

Good luck. :D

 

Macy

[irisheileen]

Eileen,

 

I have just finished reading your wonderful 21 page diary and I do have a few questions to ask.

 

First of all, could you give me the email address for Misty Fiords Floatplane in Ketchikan and what sort of price we would be expected to pay.

 

Secondly, the email address for Whalewatching with Captain Larry and also the price and

 

Thirdly, the email address for the helicoptor ride and dog sledding in Juneau. Again what is the cost for this excurison.

 

This will be our one and only time to Alaska and as it is such a long journey from home, we want to see as much as possible. Can you or anyone tell me how does one choose which Land cruise tour to do having decided on the port of embarkation and the ship we want to cruise on.

 

We are not limited to time but do not want to feel as though we are wasting days doing nothing if we decide to take one of the longer tours eg. 8 days.

I would appreciate any input into this decision as we are complete novices in this area of the world.

 

Jennie

Jennie,

You will love Alaska, the long trip will be worth it! Stay as long as possible.

Fully escorted will probably be VERY expensive?!? Your money will go further if you go independent or just a regular cruise tour. My daughter, a Travel Agent, also says that HAL and Princess does the best, in her opinion. Not to say the other ships aren't fine. She hooked us up with the landtour that was at least two days at the Denali so that we wouldn't be stuck with the Natural History Tour. I'm SO GLAD that we listened to her. She went with Princess and we also chose them.

I HIGHLY recommend Michelle at Islandwings.com for the Misty Fiords Excursion. She actually lands on the water and LETS YOU OFF ONTO THE SMALL BEACH. That is better, I think than just landing on the water and standing on the pontoon. (not that I would turn my nose up if that's all I could book! The trip was MAGNIFICENT! AWESOME!

email: michelle@islandwings.com 1.888.854.2444

 

lisa@coastalhelicopters.com

We were very happy with the entire operation of Coastal Helicopters. It was $ well spent. How often will you get the chance to ride w/ dog sleds?

[irisheileen]

I knew that I wanted to cruise Southbound because Vancouver is a whole lot closer to Alabama than Fairbanks. When you're flying there you're more excited and don't care how many hrs. it takes to get there. Coming home is always a different story. Next morning, we're scheduled to go by train down to Denali. We will arrive at 11:45 a.m., so that will give us that afternoon to do the Whitewater Canyon Run rafting trip. I got that through Denali Outdoor Center for $131.40 (for both of us). If you paid in full, they gave you a 10% discount. They will pick us up at McKinley Chalets and return us after the trip. That evening is open for dinner or more hiking, etc. The next moring we do the Tundra Wilderness Tour and should be back around 3:30 p.m. Haven't made plans for the afternoon yet, but we'll probably go to the Park Ranger Sleddog Camp there as everyone says it's a really good demonstration.

 

For you, Vancouver would be an excellent ending spot as there is so much to do there. Maybe spend at least one extra day or maybe 2 before flying home. We are flying down to Seattle and spend an extra day before flying home to Bama.

 

 

Really try for the free, yes, free Park Ranger dog sled demo, it was great. I'll take anything free on a trip! Even without the demo, the kennels were alot of fun!

Yes, I agree, Vancouver is a great city, we loved it. Next time, we'll go SB like you are.

Eileen

[Aussie Gal]

Macy and irisheileen,

 

My heartfelt thanks to you both. It really is a very involved trip which I honestly didn't know about. I thought that when going to Alaska you just decided on what cruise and took a tour. How wrong I was! I have learnt so much in the past 5 days since reading this Board.

 

We will be travelling with another couple and I am doing all the research so that I can more or less give them what I have found and let them decide on which tour they want. I am going to narrow it down to a couple of tours of Princess and a couple of HAL's. I would prefer HAL's smaller ships but the Coral and Island Princess would give us the advantage of having a mini suite whereas on HAL we would take a normal verandah.

 

I do have one question and that is regarding escorted and non escorted tours. We have done a couple of tours in Europe and there was always a guide besides the driver. I didn't realize that some tours do not have any guides, so how do you arrange to get on the train, bus etc at the correct time and when to know when to get off etc? Probably a very silly question but I would appreciate knowing the difference in the Cruise tours. Also I gather that when on any of these so called "tours", no meals are provided and you have to organize all your excursions. Am I correct in this assumption?

 

Macy,

 

We were in Vancouver last September and loved the city. We are looking forward to returning and spending some time on Victoria Island. Also we are going to do the train ride etc to Calgary, Banff and Lake Louise this time. We will be away at least 4 weeks, I am allowing nearly 2 weeks for our Alaska trip and then the rest will be spent in Canada.

 

Thanks again.

 

Jennie

[irisheileen]

Macy and irisheileen,

 

My heartfelt thanks to you both. It really is a very involved trip which I honestly didn't know about. I thought that when going to Alaska you just decided on what cruise and took a tour. How wrong I was! I have learnt so much in the past 5 days since reading this Board.

 

We will be travelling with another couple and I am doing all the research so that I can more or less give them what I have found and let them decide on which tour they want. I am going to narrow it down to a couple of tours of Princess and a couple of HAL's. I would prefer HAL's smaller ships but the Coral and Island Princess would give us the advantage of having a mini suite whereas on HAL we would take a normal verandah.

 

I do have one question and that is regarding escorted and non escorted tours. We have done a couple of tours in Europe and there was always a guide besides the driver. I didn't realize that some tours do not have any guides, so how do you arrange to get on the train, bus etc at the correct time and when to know when to get off etc? Probably a very silly question but I would appreciate knowing the difference in the Cruise tours. Also I gather that when on any of these so called "tours", no meals are provided and you have to organize all your excursions. Am I correct in this assumption?

 

Macy,

 

We were in Vancouver last September and loved the city. We are looking forward to returning and spending some time on Victoria Island. Also we are going to do the train ride etc to Calgary, Banff and Lake Louise this time. We will be away at least 4 weeks, I am allowing nearly 2 weeks for our Alaska trip and then the rest will be spent in Canada.

 

Thanks again.

 

Jennie

 

You don't need an escorted tour. On a regular tour, you'll have information given to you along the way at the lodges, etc. You'll have no worries.

Meals in between the official excursions ARE on your own. If you want to do additional tours, make your plans in between the official tours. choose a cruisetour that allows some spare time!

Eileen

[Aussie Gal]

Eileen,

 

Thanks for replying so promptly. Thanks for all your valuable information. I have printed everything out and have quite a large file now.

 

In between all this, we are off to Tahiti in 5 weeks time, Ireland and Italy in September this year and a huge cruise in April/May next year.

 

What month does everything become available for booking? We are looking at doing the Southbound cruise at the end of August early September next year. I presume that the earlier you book the better the price.

 

Jennie

[Perl47]

I'm so grateful to all of you for posting your impressions, opinions and ideas. What a great bunch of people! We leave in 27 days for our land/cruisetour and are even more excited after reading all of this.

[wannasail4ever]

Jennie - Eileen is right. Alot of people say that it's much cheaper to just go independent or at least without a guide. By the time you've done all of this research, you won't need one anyway. In our case, on our land tour, only a few of the meals are included and those are in Fairbanks, on the TWT in Denali (not a good meal) and on the Kenai Nat'l Park Boat tour. I am doing research on CC and tripadvisordotcom to locate all of the restaurants that I want to go to. I got alot of information on trip advisor about the restaurants to eat nearby the McKinley Chalets in Denali. I have also been told that HAL offers a meal plan. We did not do this, so I don't really know what it includes. Princess might too.

 

As for excursions, some of the companies like John Hall include alot of the excursions. HAL included many of ours on the tour portion. However, there is also plenty of time to do extra excursions. We always go through independent excursion contractors that we get off of cruise critic reviews. People on this board will always let you know if they had a good experience or not. I can honestly say that I've never been steered wrong with this board's advice. We do this because of the smaller crowds and also because it's more personal.

 

If you go to the HAL Roll Call Board and read all of the May and June Volendam threads, you'll get alot of information about the cruisetours possible. A few people from different tours are posting on the June 15 (says 16th by mistake) thread by Crabbie1.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Macy

[Aussie Gal]

Macy,

 

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of Trip Advisor and the Roll Call Board. I usually look at Trip Advisor for Hotel info, didn't think about restaurants etc.

 

I usually look at the Roll Call Board too but as this particular trip was so far into the future I hadn't got around to it. I will do that today.

 

We too mostly use private tour guides when we are on a cruise except if we happen to be in an unusual or way off port and often then it is better to use the ship's excursions.

 

Jennie

[wannasail4ever]

Jennie - on Trip Advisor just go to the Forums and you can type in what you're looking for. And of course you can post questions. There are several AK natives on there that will answer any question that you have. It was very helpful to me since we will not have access to a car in Denali. It also helped because I couldn't seem to get the answers on CC about the tour portions of the trip. I guess there just aren't as many posters that have done this. I also just found another one called travelpoddotcom.

 

You're really smart to start doing all of this research early. Alaska seems to require more than most trips.

 

Macy

[irisheileen]

May 28, 2008...

 

After "stopping back in" to the wonderful Alaska Cruisecritic board to see what's up with everyone, I thought that my 2006 Island Princess Review might be of some help to this years cruisers.:)

 

So, I'm bumping this up! Hope it's helpful!

 

Eileen

[Putterdude]

A bit like reading yesterday's newspaper.

[irisheileen]

A bit like reading yesterday's newspaper.

 

Thank goodness the tone of the the rest of the Alaska board isn't like yours.

 

When I was planning my Alaska trip, I soaked up every bit of info I could get for a year prior. It didn't matter to me the time frame. Last I noticed, Alaska and the ships configuration etc. hasn't changed, while a newspaper does.

 

I noticed your two lovely reviews of your recent cruises-very well done:) -I just hope that they don't get too old for other people to read and become annoyed with.

[grandmajens]

Hi Irisheileen,

I have to say I REALLY enjoyed your reviews! I don't care if it IS one or two years old. :) I just read through a lot of it and got LOTS of great ideas on excursions and stuff about the ship. And I will have you know that I've read a LOT of cruise critic and am still learning stuff from your "old" review! I think a lot of people feel the same way as I do and thanks for bumping it back up...Sounds like you had a great trip. I am going with hubby and 5 other couples in August and am planning most of our excursions and I hope we had as much fun as you guys did! Thanks, sincerely, Robin Olson

[Putterdude]

Thank goodness the tone of the the rest of the Alaska board isn't like yours.

 

When I was planning my Alaska trip, I soaked up every bit of info I could get for a year prior. It didn't matter to me the time frame. Last I noticed, Alaska and the ships configuration etc. hasn't changed, while a newspaper does.

 

I noticed your two lovely reviews of your recent cruises-very well done:) -I just hope that they don't get too old for other people to read and become annoyed with.

 

Thank you for your kind comments. I place my reviews in the review section where people can read them if they wish and I would hope that that I would not have the false pride of authorship that would cause me to keep bringing them to peoples attention by bumping something that is 2 years old....but each to their own.

[irisheileen]

Hi Irisheileen,

I have to say I REALLY enjoyed your reviews! I don't care if it IS one or two years old. :) I just read through a lot of it and got LOTS of great ideas on excursions and stuff about the ship. And I will have you know that I've read a LOT of cruise critic and am still learning stuff from your "old" review! I think a lot of people feel the same way as I do and thanks for bumping it back up...Sounds like you had a great trip. I am going with hubby and 5 other couples in August and am planning most of our excursions and I hope we had as much fun as you guys did! Thanks, sincerely, Robin Olson

 

Robin, you will LOVE Alaska! It's fun to be going with other people (can I come with you:D ?!). What ship are you sailing on? We loved the Island Princess and had compiled so much information during our research that I wanted "give back" again like SO MANY others had to me.

 

I'm glad that you also think that Alaska is timeless. What a blessing it was for us to have visited there...if only we could go again this year! That's why I'm back on the Alaska boards. We'd love to go to Kenai-I've seen some very enticing prices and I have pulled up some TWO year old research on it that I had bookmarked, BUT we need a new heater and windows- DRATS!:mad:

 

Have fun!

[irisheileen]

Thank you for your kind comments. I place my reviews in the review section where people can read them if they wish and I would hope that that I would not have the false pride of authorship that would cause me to keep bringing them to peoples attention by bumping something that is 2 years old....but each to their own.

 

The nice thing about message boards is that everyone can pick and choose which thread they wish to open as well. Someone going on the Island Princess would probably appreciate any information about the ship, and open up this thread. Others will bypass it. As you say, each to their own.

 

My Mother used to say that usually when people accuse someone of false intentions (such as false pride of authorship), it's because they themselves think that way and believe everyone else would be that way. It seems that my Mom was right on-I notice that you have over 2,000 posts over the last 8 months. Could it be that you like to see your own opinions alot?

 

I would imagine that you like to share, just like I do. Can we not both do that each in our own way? Let's get back to talking about our favorite subject---CRUISING!

[desperate4vacation]

I have really enjoyed your review! I bought the Panasonic fz18 optic zoom recently for Alaska and am practising taking pictures of hawks right now, getting ready for bald eagles and other moving wildlife. When you in sport mode when you were using burst to catch your pictures of the moose, etc? I want to get this down now so as less likely to miss a great shot. Thanks for your help.

[stired]

A bit like reading yesterday's newspaper.

 

This is just about the rudest post I have ever read on CC. You need to practice the old saying "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

[shootingstar07]

Hi Eileen,

oops... looks like I am into reading old newspapers. I am getting ready to leave for Alaska for a June 9 sailing S.B. on the Island!! I was looking for things to do in Fairbanks and up popped your thread when I did my search.

 

I have had a ball reading parts of your diary - all 2 years old. I am quickly printing the info I might need to take along with me. I can't imagine that much has changed. So my thanks for bumping it back up.

 

I have all my tours booked for the cruise portion. Some similar to yours - Coastal Helicopter, Island Wings to Misty Fjords, Carcross rail with Chilkoot, Harv & Marv whale watching.

 

And so far, Princess has us on the standard land portion excursions. I was just trying to fill my "free time" that I keep reading about. Any suggestions from anyone is most appreciated.

 

This will be my second cruise to Alaska, but my DH's first. I am looking forward to seeing it again with him. Hopefully, I can have a cruise review half as good as yours. Thanks again.

Kathleen

[sunvalley cruisers]

Eileen,

 

I've just had the best hour reading through this "old" thread. We leave for our SB Island cruise in 22 days. I wish everyone could write up as an informative review as you. Thanks so much for your attention to detail!

 

I hope your Alaska return happens soon for you.

[irisheileen]

I have really enjoyed your review! I bought the Panasonic fz18 optic zoom recently for Alaska and am practising taking pictures of hawks right now, getting ready for bald eagles and other moving wildlife. When you in sport mode when you were using burst to catch your pictures of the moose, etc? I want to get this down now so as less likely to miss a great shot. Thanks for your help.

 

 

I had to go back to my review to remember exactly what I did!.....Here is my copy/paste of that post:

 

"I'm no expert, but I got nice pictures by using the "SPORTS" mode and #2 mode Image Stabilizer and "BURST MODE" for all my wildlife photos, especially Whales. The 12X Zoom got me unbelievable shots that others on shore excursions couldn't believe!! For example, I'm very excited about my Tundra Wilderness Tour wildlife shots. The wildlife is often very far away and only a powerful zoom w/ IS will get you any decent pictures. Then with the 12X and digital Zoom I captured the shot."

 

The image stabilizer really helps. I remember during the Whale watching trip that I pushed the button down half way to "pre focus" the shot where the whale was in the water. Then, I waited (camera keeps settings in memory) and when the whale came out of the water or did something wonderful, I fully compressed the button to take the exposure. I would have it in busrt mode and got FABULOUS action shots as the whale went in and out of the water! This saved a couple seconds for the camera to focus, which CAN make a difference for an action shot/shots. I did this also with eagles in trees to be ready when they flew off.

[fatcattravel]

Would love to know how your trip on Island princess is I will be going in July!

[fatcattravel]

Would love to know how your trip on Island princess is I will be going in July!

[irisheileen]

Would love to know how your trip on Island princess is I will be going in July!

 

We loved the Island Princess! I suggest that you jot down notes on index cards with tips that you want to remember when you are on board. Finding out from other posters about the layout ot the ship PRIOR to embarking was SO helpful to us. I can't say enough about being UP FRONT on Carribe deck for whale watching. As soon as you board ship-purchase the Princess book on cruising Alaska from there onboard shop because they sell out quick. The map was awesome to follow along with!!!