Princess "Heart of Alaska" Cruisetour

[Boca_Raton]

Well, I took the plunge! This cruise virgin will be a virgin no more! We booked the 12 day/11 night cruise tour on Princess starting in Fairbanks on July 17 2007! We cruise from Whittier on the Sapphire July 21st.

 

I've looked at the "Heart of Alaska" information in the Princess 2007 brochure (tour # 6S) but it's very very sketchy. Has anyone who has already taken this cruise tour help me out by pointing me toward a more detailed itinerary?

 

Day 1 arrive in Fairbanks. Well okay. But then what? just check in?

Day 2 Ride the rails to Denali. Do they show you around Fairbanks first? Do we go on the paddle wheeler? I need to know so I can figure out if I should arrive in Fairbanks on Sunday or Monday (Day 1 is officially Tuesday beginning at 7.30am)

 

Thanks!

[NancyIL]

The important question is - which tour do they do at Denali: Natural History Tour or Tundra Wilderness Tour?

 

If the riverboat and/or gold mine tour is included, it usually says so specifically.

 

**Just checked my 2006 Princess brochure, so assuming that 6S is the same in 2007. No touring in Fairbanks, and you get the much shorter Natural History Tour at Denali, and only 1 night there.

[ARRTrain]

The train leaves at 8:15am, doubt you'll get to see much of Fairbanks.

[Boca_Raton]

If Fairbanks isn't included, we might as well take the 3 night r/t land tour from Anchorage, don't you think?

[joeyddog]

We doing a cruisetour 3B starting Fairbanks the same day and arriving on the Sapphire on the 21st. It sounds like the 17th is just an arrival day w. nothing scheduled(We are arriving on the 16th cuz we are arriving so late around 12MN). The 18th are the "City of Gold" and "Riverboat" tours. We then take a railway toDenali for 2 days and have the Tundra Wilderness Tour. Are the cruisetours so different? Have they promised you the Princess Wilderness Lodge? My TA has said we have no controll over which lodge they put you in.

[Budget Queen]

You need to do your homework and understand fully what you have purchased. Overall, you are best to avoid short cruisetours and go for as long as you can afford, like 7 days. Distances are vast in Alaska with short tours having all the time in transit.

 

Research- decide WHY and what you want to see- then match it with a cruisetour. Denali park is VERY important. The Natural History tour for anyone who has traveled farther into Denali park is a complete waste of time. Determine is you are willing to settle for such a poor tour choice?? (essentially like seeing Disneyland from the parking lot). Fairbanks is a very worthwhile area to see, add at least a day on cruisetours, since they see very little of the area. There is far more than a boat ride and gold dredge tour. A car rental is necessary, it's very difficult to get around with out one.

 

Cruisetours, also waste a portion of time, you will be waiting in lines, loading/unloading and have "rest stops" that eat up more. All the more reason to go on the longer tours.

 

For clairfication, Princess just about always puts up their cruisetour traveler's in the Denali Princess- a so so property at best. I have not known them to use other properties in this location. I assume you are referring to your Fairbanks hotel??? There aren't any that are bad in Fairbanks, so no worries here.

 

No, I think you are also making a mistake on a 3 day tour out of Anchorage, 2 days on the train. 8 hours each way. This eats up so much time of scenery that parellels the Parks Highway for most of the trip. If it includes the Tundra Wilderness tour- that is a big plus. (which is another time consuming trip of about 8 hours).

[Genessa]

Well, I took the plunge! This cruise virgin will be a virgin no more! We booked the 12 day/11 night cruise tour on Princess starting in Fairbanks on July 17 2007! We cruise from Whittier on the Sapphire July 21st.

 

I've looked at the "Heart of Alaska" information in the Princess 2007 brochure (tour # 6S) but it's very very sketchy. Has anyone who has already taken this cruise tour help me out by pointing me toward a more detailed itinerary?

 

Day 1 arrive in Fairbanks. Well okay. But then what? just check in?

Day 2 Ride the rails to Denali. Do they show you around Fairbanks first? Do we go on the paddle wheeler? I need to know so I can figure out if I should arrive in Fairbanks on Sunday or Monday (Day 1 is officially Tuesday beginning at 7.30am)

 

if it doesn't specifically mention the paddle wheeler or gold mine then they are not included. We did a cruise tour in 03 and added on a night in Fairbanks. So, we spent all of our first day flying to Fairbanks, arrived around 8:30-9PM and got up the next morniing and had a day on our own. Then the following day we did the riverboat and gold mine and pipeline. The 4th day we got on the train at 8 am and rode to Denali. So, if your tour doesn't mention the excursions, you're basically just sleeping in Fairbanks.

 

If we didn't add on the day in Fairbanks, my day 1 would have been arriving in Fairbanks at 9PM at night and day 2 would have been touring Fairbanks.

Tours unfortunately count your travelling day as a day... it's not just Princess. For example, tours going from NY to Europe that are listed as 8 nights generally are only 6 days - you leave NY in the evening(day 1), arrive in London, or Berlin, or wherever the next day (day 2), etc...

 

What is written in your itinerary is what is included. Nothing else.

[joeyddog]

Genessa

We will have an extra day in Fairbanks before the paddlewheeler and gold mine tours. Do you have any suggestions for that extra day? We will also be doing the train to Denali- did that take a whoile day or was there time once in Denali to do some exploring?

[Budget Queen]

Genessa

We will have an extra day in Fairbanks before the paddlewheeler and gold mine tours. Do you have any suggestions for that extra day? We will also be doing the train to Denali- did that take a whoile day or was there time once in Denali to do some exploring?

 

 

There is plenty to see and do in Fairbanks, but you need a car, have you one rented??? It is very difficult to get around without one, also eats up valuable time. http://www.explorefairbanks.com request their visitor guide.

 

From Fairbanks, you will leave at 8am and get into Denali Park at noon, so plenty of time- consider some of the park activities, especially the ranger lead Savage River walks, or sled dog demo, evening programs, etc. Check the schedules, http://www.nps.gov/dena

 

If on the train from Denali Park, you leave around noon and arrive Anchorage 8pm, too late for most everything. If you are on the special train to Whittier- it takes 10 hours. If you are overnighing at the McKinley Princess, it arrives about 4:30pm then you have a 50 mile bus trip. Consider staying in town for dinner and taking a later shuttle.

[Genessa]

Genessa

We will have an extra day in Fairbanks before the paddlewheeler and gold mine tours. Do you have any suggestions for that extra day? We will also be doing the train to Denali- did that take a whoile day or was there time once in Denali to do some exploring?

 

we didn't rent a car, although I had read of the suggestion previously.

We had 6 in our party and didn't know if we all wanted to do the same things, simultaneously. We did want to see Fairbanks, and not drive to Chena Springs, though.

 

Princess had a shuttle and we began our day using it, but found it wasn't running when or where we wanted it and we took a local "car service" from that point on. We requested the first driver we had on our second "leg" and he gave us a local's viewpoint.

 

We wanted to explore a little and had planned on seeing "downtown" Fairbanks, Pioneerpark(Alaskaland - I keep forgetting which is the current name), and the museum at the University of Fairbanks.

One couple with us were still tired from the long flights from NY and went back to the lodge to relax after spending the morning at Pioneerpark and walking around Fairbanks.

 

My friend and husband liked Pioneerpark best. Dh especially liked the flight museum in the park - he even spent time speaking to the docents and ended up joining the museum.

My friend's husband and I liked the museum best. It reminded me of an intimate "Museum of Natural History" in NY. There were a number of exhibits, divided according by the geophysical(?) terrain, with the cultures of the native peoples who lived in the different areas represented. I found the differences between the tools and clothing, etc., fascinating and spent a lot of time pulling open the drawers below the exhibit. The museum really gave us an overview of the lands and peoples of Alaska and made the fiverboat cruise the next day more interesting, too. They also had a couple of films, and art work on display.

 

As for the train, as Budget Queen wrote, you get to Denali around noon. We had signed up for the Tundra Wilderness Tour, so after dropping our carry-on luggage at our room (our other luggage was already in the room by the time we got to it from the short bus ride from the train) we had lunch and then went on the tour and got back to the lodge around 10PM.

It was still day light and thanks to the extra day in Fairbanks, most of us were still feeling energetic. We went for dinner, then the women hit the hot tub until after midnight!

 

We only had one night in Denali and the train left Denali around noon. In the morning, three of us went horseback riding - not an excursion I'd recommend if you really like riding (we never left a walk), but there were a couple of other excursions available if you were interested.

 

On the train to Talkeetna, we ate lunch and it was one of the best lunches, ever - reindeer chili in a bread bowl. My mouth still waters thinking of it. So, if you are on the afternoon train, try it.