Trip Report, Coral Princess SB 07/21 and land tour on our own

[Lisa Waverley]

Part 1

Land tour

We just returned from our cruise SB on Coral Princess (07/21) and visit to Alaska and Vancouver. As I received so much information on the boards, I want to “pay back”. If this report gets lengthy, (I am not known for my brevity) I apologize. Hopefully, some of my information will help others.

 

My teenage sons and I were away for about 2 and ½ weeks and my husband and our neighbors joined us for the cruise portion. We did the land touring on our own and were so glad we did. It was really easy to get around and we enjoy being able to go where and when we want to.

 

We had used frequent flyer miles and booked our own air. We flew from Philly to Denver and then to Anchorage. I had no idea how far it was to Alaska and how vast the place is. It was a 5 and a half hour flight from Denver. We were glad that we had eaten at Wolfgang Puck’s Express Restaurant at Denver Airport because the food on United was inedible.

We arrived in Anchorage at about 9pm which was 1 am EDT. Of course, it was still light for many hours after that and we had to go to bed every night in broad daylight. We stayed at the Hawthorne Suites and rented a full size car though Thrifty.

 

The hotel, while not overly luxurious, was comfortable and clean. A full breakfast, which was included in the cost, was provided. My kids loved the “make your own” Belgian waffles. We did not do any sightseeing in Anchorage but left early the next morning for our drive up to Talkeetna which is a small village used as a base for climbers of Mt McKinley. The scenery was really beautiful along the way and little did we know that it was a very slight taste of the magnificent scenery we were to encounter on this entire trip. The road, while undergoing repairs on various sections, was very good. There was very little traffic and we could drive at a good speed on many stretches. (But you did not hear that from me) It took 2 hours to get to Talkeetna where I had made reservations for a flight over Mt McKinley with Talkeetna aero tours. I used the Toursaver book for this.

 

 

There were 2 others and the pilot on our 9 seater plane and my son got to fly co-pilot. Because we flew over the peak of Denali which is over 20 300 feet we had to have supplemental oxygen. We could see the tracks made by the climbers as well as their camp before the final ascent. We circled Denali a few times and got our first glimpse of the glaciers and their typical bright blue color. The perspective was deceptive as the glacier was over a mile wide and we felt as though we could touch the sides.

 

We ate lunch in Talkeetna which is a small village with one road. We ate at the Mile High Pizza place and while the food was good, the service was positively horrendous.

After walking around the town and briefly looking at some of the gift shops which had the typical tourist offerings that we were to encounter through Alaska, we decided to move on to our hotel, the Mt McKinley Princess Lodge, about 45 mins. further up the road. This was a great choice. A friend had recommended it and while it is far away from anything. I really enjoyed the remoteness of it and the beauty of the surroundings. We had wonderful weather and amazing views of Denali from the expansive deck for the entire time we were there. This is not always the case and often the mountain is not visible for days at a time.

 

We took it pretty easy and played board games on the deck or went for walks. The rooms were comfortable and they had the typical double bed set up. We were sorry there was no pool as it was hot enough to swim. There are about 20 or more rooms to a lodge and over 20 buildings spread out over the property which was in a pretty setting. We enjoyed the tranquility of the setting and it gave us a feel for Alaska. I think Princess does an excellent job and while the lodge caters mainly to their tours which are brought in on buses, everything was great for us too. We had got 2 nights for the price of one through the Alaskan toursaver book so it was a good deal for us.

 

We ate all our meals at the Lodge and I thought the food was pretty good. I walked around the grounds a lot but did not do any of the Ranger walks as the times did not suit me. We went on the Susitna River Rafting which was enjoyable. It was one of the Princess excursions offered by the Lodge and it left from the River near the Lodge so it was convenient and did not involve further transfers to Talkeetna. It finishes upriver and then one has a 25 minute ride back. This is approximately 4 hours and all the rowing was done by our guide, Evan, who was a friendly, informative student from Connecticut. There were about 20 people on 3 rafts. We saw eagles on the trip but otherwise saw no wildlife. I personally felt that I would have been just as happy with 2 hours on the raft but my teens did not mind the extended time on the raft.

 

We had chosen not to continue further north to Denali National Park because I did not want to sit on a bus for 8 hours. We have been spoilt by our many safari trips in Africa where we go game viewing off road in landrovers. So we really did not see any animals. The area is so vast and densely forested that the possibility that an animal should wander near the road is slight. After 2 nights we drove back down to Anchorage where we picked up some of the luggage we had left in storage at the Hawthorne Suites. We also returned the car to Thrifty and picked up another one from Avis. Avis is the only car rental which has an office in Whittier. As they charge a drop off charge as well as a higher rate per day for one way rentals it did not pay us to use an Avis car for the entire time.

 

We continued onto Seward and stopped a few times along the way either for lunch, or for ice creams or to sightsee. We thought the stop at the wildlife animal refuge near Girdwood was worthwhile and spent some time feeding the deer grass stalks or watching the moose, bear, bison, porcupine, eagles and owls they have there. We also stopped at the Portage Glacier and enjoyed the information and they movie they have there. We did not do the 1 hr boat trip out to the Glacier as we knew we would be seeing many glaciers on the cruise. We did enjoy our first sighting of an ice berg right by the Visitor Center and were amazed to learn that the water there is 300 foot deep.

 

The weather on the drive down to Seward, turned rainy and cold and this was to continue for our 3 days in Seward. We were glad that we had packed the right clothing and away went our sleeveless tops and shorts and out came the fleeces and raingear. We still did everything that we had planned but it was cold and miserable and we could only imagine the the beautiful scenery.

 

We stayed 3 nights at the 6 mile bed and breakfast and I was happy with our choice. It was clean, very spacious and had 3 extremely comfortable beds and a sleep sofa. The room was part of a private home and was upstairs over the garage. It was about the size of a 4 car garage and had a large bathroom with shower, a small refrigerator, microwave and a coffee maker. There was a small balcony and a number of skylights with blinds. The balcony doors did not have room darkening blinds but we used some of the many towels. One does need a car as it is (as the name states), 6 miles from Seward. It was very reasonable and it cost $125 a night for 3 of us. When my husband joined us for the 3rd night, we paidd $140.

http://www.alaskaone.com/6mile/

 

We ate at the Apollo Restaurant and liked the food so much that we went back there twice more, once for lunch and again for dinner.

We ate also at the Exit Glacier Salmon Bake and it was a decent meal but the salmon was a little undercooked,

 

We went on the Seavey Iditarod sled ride (in the rain) and while the ride was a little short, we enjoyed playing with the puppies and learning about the mushing. Our driver was one of the Seavey boys and it was interesting to question him aobut his life.We went to Exit Glacier but did not feel like hiking in the pouring rain.

A highlight of our visit to Seward is the Alaska Sea life institute and it is well worth a visit especially to see the glass walled tanks. http://www.alaskasealife.org/

 

On our final day, it stopped raining although it was overcast and we went on a Kenai Fjord boat trip with Kenai Fjords tours and we were very impressed with their service. http://www.kenaifjords.com The captain narrated almost constantly for 6 hours and was very knowledgeable and informative. It did get a bit rough and one hapless woman threw up all over herself. We were impressed with the efficient way the crew cleaned up. They provided a light lunch of halibut (or chicken tenders), chips, lemonade and fresh baked cookies. Coffee and tea were free and sodas were 50 cents with the exception of ginger ale which was a dollar.

 

As Budget Queen advised, the times of the tour ties in with the arrival and departure of the train from Anchorage and we sat with a family who bought the tour in conjunction with their train tickets.

 

We left early on Saturday morning and drove to Whittier. We had checked the schedule for the tunnel opening and timed it well so that we did not have to wait too long for the opening.

[kkorman]

And... love the Coral, just want to see if you did!

[CRB#33]

Thank you so much for this report! It's wonderful in it's detail and a great help as I start to plan the same type of thing!

 

Sounds like you're off to a fine vacation! Looking forward to part 2!

[Lisa Waverley]

Here is the next section of my report. As I am trying to get things done, I will be posting shorter sections.If I Know I have to sit down and type the whole thing,I will never get it done.

Thanks to those who have read and commented. Although I like reading detailed reports by others, I never know if I am boring everyone to tears.

 

Part 2

The ship

 

This was our 4th cruise and our first on Princess. We have cruised twice on Celebrity Millenium class ships in Europe and once on Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas in the Caribbean. We found ourselves drawing comparisons and much of what I am writing about will be comparing the different lines and ships, so bear with me. Overall we were impressed and would go on Princess again.

 

We arrived before 11 in Whittier. It will be interesting to see how the move of Princess operations to Whittier affects the town of Whittier. As many of you know, Whittier has a full time population of around 300 and most of them live in one building. We did not go to this area but stayed around the dock area until it was time to board. The one street leading into Whittier needs to be repaved (or actually paved, as the case might be.) There are a few small business operations alongside the docks, but not much else to do .The surrounding scenery is beautiful and the principal attraction seems to be the small boats offering glacier cruises and fishing trips. The one interesting sight was a woman walking her two pet reindeer on leashes!

 

The terminal facilities are brand new. We dropped off our luggage at covered tents but could not board until 12:30. We returned our Avis car to a store where we saw a sign stating that cars could be returned there. If anyone is contemplating using Avis, just remember to keep your contract in hand. I find usually one doesn’t need it, but we needed it here as there is not an established office and it was a scramble to find it.

 

We were the first people in line and the staff were all very pleasant and friendly. It was the quickest, least painful embarkation we have experienced and when we boarded we could go straight to our room.

 

Although, we were first in, our luggage did not arrive until after 8 pm that night, which is the longest we have had to wait. We did not meet our cabin steward until much later when I happened to find him and it is the first time that the steward has not come to introduce himself. He was pretty much useless and as he did not seem to understand or speak much English, communication was near impossible. I kept telling myself that it was because we had just come off a Royal Caribbean cruise with the most outstanding steward and anyone would suffer by comparison. The few requests that I made (like asking for a mattress pad) would either not be done or have to be patiently made 3 times before he got it right. One day, he even forgot to do our room in spite of us being out early and my putting the “Please Make Up our Room” sign on the door. Of course, this was very inconsequential and we would try to help him out whenever we could. I know they have a very hard job and as our room was cleaned most days, it was not important,

 

We had a minisuite on the starboard side on C deck and it was the largest room we have had on a ship. It was a pleasure to have so much space to move around in and a large bathroom. There were 4 of us in the room. One kid slept on the sofabed and one on a bunk that folded out from the ceiling. The sofa bed was extremely hard and short and my son said that his feet hung out over the side (and he is not particularly tall.) There were 2 TV sets although only one remote. We found the closet space to be adequate and we liked the shampoos and lotion provided by Princess.

 

We went to explore the ship. Although the ship is beautiful, we did not care too much for the layout of this ship in comparison to the others. It was very user unfriendly. We felt like we were in a real life game of “Chutes and Ladders”. You could not access all the floors from any particular set of elevators or stairs so we were always going down, across, up etc. With the dining rooms in the middle of the ship, you could also not walk straight cross the ship on some of the decks.

[Lorabelle]

Looking forward to part 3!

 

We'll be on the Coral in a few weeks. We also have a Caribe deck Mini Suite. Our cabin is 229. I'm hoping we don't end up with the same room steward that you had. It doesn't sound like you got the treatment that we've become accustomed to in a room steward.

 

We're doing a Northbound cruise, and we are renting a car from Avis to get to Anchorage. What kind of store is the Avis rental in? Is it close to the dock?

 

Thanks for taking the time to post your report.

 

Lori

[kkorman]

Looking forward to part 3!

 

We'll be on the Coral in a few weeks. We also have a Caribe deck Mini Suite. Our cabin is 229. I'm hoping we don't end up with the same room steward that you had. It doesn't sound like you got the treatment that we've become accustomed to in a room steward.

 

We're doing a Northbound cruise, and we are renting a car from Avis to get to Anchorage. What kind of store is the Avis rental in? Is it close to the dock?

 

Thanks for taking the time to post your report.

 

Lori

 

If you are getting it in Whittier, it can't be too far. Whittier is tiny.

[Lisa Waverley]

Lorabelle, actually I think I made a mistake. We were in C 216 and it was port side, not the starboard side, so I don't think you will have the same steward.

 

While our steward was completely hopeless, I still feel bad writing it, as I hate criticizing people.

 

KKorman, I just found your review of the Coral Princess and wish I would have seen it before we went. You had amazing photos. I think we missed a lot in college fjord as the weather was bad, we woke up late and thought we could see a lot from the Horizon cafe but we did not get a window seat.

 

At least now I get to see what I missed.

[kkorman]

Lorabelle, actually I think I made a mistake. We were in C 216 and it was port side, not the starboard side, so I don't think you will have the same steward.

 

While our steward was completely hopeless, I still feel bad writing it, as I hate criticizing people.

 

KKorman, I just found your review of the Coral Princess and wish I would have seen it before we went. You had amazing photos. I think we missed a lot in college fjord as the weather was bad, we woke up late and thought we could see a lot from the Horizon cafe but we did not get a window seat.

 

At least now I get to see what I missed.

 

 

I liked college fjord as much as Glacier Bay. THere was a lot more calving at GB, but CF was beautiful as well. I was fortunate with weather that week. Having just an overcast day is the best viewing weather for glaciers as you get the glacier blue color to shine though.

[Budget Queen]

In Whittier, Avis is located at the Harbor Store.

[Lisa Waverley]

The ship:

We found the ship to be elegant and appealing. There were many lounges but we mostly found ourselves mostly in the Horizon Café, where we could get coffee and tea. Having spent a fair bit of time there I have some observations to make about it. The layout of the Horizon Café could be better. This was the first ship we have been on, that we have found the casual dining area to be crowded and many times had difficulty finding a table. Many of the tables are larger so when a couple sat at the table, other chairs sat empty. There were many partitions so when you spotted a table, which may have been only a few yards from where you were standing, by the time you had wended your way through the maze, and reached the table, it was occupied. The furnishings were in the style of wrought iron garden furniture and not sophisticated like on the other ships. There were only 2 stations (one on each side) so the serving area was far more crowded than the other ships. By comparison, Voyager of the Seas, with almost double the amount of people on board, coped much better with its larger amount of diners. Because of health concerns, requests were posted to take new silver ware and plates if going back for additional food or dessert. One could only get more silver ware by going back to the beginning of the line so if one was seated at the back of the dining area, one had to go through the buffet area for extra silverware. Lastly, fruit juices were available only at breakfast while only coffee, tea, water and iced tea were available at all times. There were only 2 stations on each side so again, you had to go through the buffet area for refills.

 

Before it seems that I had only complaints, let me state that we thought the food at the Horizon café was really good. I like any food that I don’t have to cook. We found there was a great variety with different choices every day. We thought the quality of the food was great and liked that the Horizon café was open round the clock , so if one missed breakfast, one could get an early lunch. I had also read that the coffee on Princess was not good, but we thought it was great. I have never drunk so much coffee.

 

We also thought that the food in the dining room where we ate dinner every night was excellent. We had traditional early seating and lucked out at a table by the window so we did not miss any of the scenery. Our waitress, Karolina , from Poland and our assistant waiter who had the charming name, Pipatpong, were absolutely outstanding. Our head waiter, Cris, from Romania, was equally outstanding and came by every night to chat about our day, the food, what was on the menu the following evening and what we could expect at each port. We found everyone we encountered (with the obvious exception of our poor room steward ) to be excellent in every way. We did not eat at the alternative dining venues so I can’t comment on those. There was lots of great seafood and fish and they were very generous on “lobster night,” coming around with seconds without being asked. There is no grand midnight buffet but there was an Alaskan seafood buffet at lunch on the last sea day.

 

We only ordered room service once and the sandwiches we ordered after returning from one of our port stops, came quickly.

 

We were joined on the cruise by our neighbors: a father and his two daughters ages 23 and 21. I was really glad to have them as this was the first cruise that had nobody else from Cruise Critic on board. Usually we have “met” others on this board so I have many others to chat with or meet up with. This cruise had generally an older demographic and there were a number of groups on board, specifically alumni groups from some colleges. Most of them seemed to be in their 60’s or older. There were enough teens for my younger son to hang out but my older son and the 2 girls hung out together or with us, which we really enjoyed.

 

With regards to entertainment, we found that the activities during the day were good. We went to some of the lectures and the cooking demonstrations and enjoyed the galley tour. I thought the head chef who gave the demonstration was highly entertaining as well as educational. After a while though, we stopped going to the daytime activities as we did not want to miss the scenery. My husband went to Bingo and won $250. We also enjoyed the Blackjack tournaments and loved the décor of the Casino which was very English.

 

The caliber of the Princess dancers and singers was really weak and we thought the night time entertainment on VOS was much better. There was a ventriloquist who was outstanding and a singer/comedian who was also good. I wish I could remember their names. There were a few things like the Newly Wed Game but they were excruciatingly bad. We had just seen a really good example of the Newly Wed Game on Voyager of the Seas but this was boring and poorly done.

 

If there is anything else you would like to know about the ship, please ask. When I have the time, I will write about the Port stops.

[familytrippers]

Lisa, thanks so much for the wonderfully thorough descriptions. We leave on the Coral Saturday and are very excited! My boys are very curious about the pools ---are the outdoor ones heated? Was it possible to swim, or just too cold? Also, can kids swim in the indoor/covered Lotus pool?

Also, wondering...did you notice if there was there a grocery/general store anywhere near the dock in Whittier? We are hoping to buy/bring a case of water on board with us as we have an infant and need to make bottles. Thanks! Mary Ann/FamilyTrippers

[Lisa Waverley]

Hi Maryann, I will try to get the rest of the report done before then.You will have a great cruise.

 

As we had rain/cloud/s etc, from Sunday through Wednesday, there were not many people swimming in the outdoor pool. There were more that were using the jacuzzis.My husband was the only one that I saw swimming on Saturday which was nice and on Sunday (which wasn't) He said it must have been somewhat heated as it wasn't freezing. On our last sea day as we approached Vancouver,the weather was beautfiful and there were a lot of people in the pool nd many more sunbathing.

 

The indoor pool seemed to be well used. While there is a sign posted saying that kids aren't allowed, I did see kids there from time to time. One day when I was sitting by the outdoor pool (wrapped in blankets, I may add) a group of kids came to sit next to me and said that they had been kicked out of the indoor pool. I think that maybe they had been playing a game and had gotten noisy.There was a jacuzzi at the back of the ship near the kids clubs which may have been for the use of kids only.

 

While I personally prefer the quiet of a pool without kids, I think it is very unfair on an Alaskan itinerary when it is cold and rainy, not to have a pool for the kids. especially on sea days.

 

With regards to a general store, there did not seem to be anything like that near the cruise terminal. One might have to go further into Whittier ( the town building) to find that.

[familytrippers]

Thanks again Lisa...really appreciate all the helpful info...guess we'll see if they let the kids take a quick dip or not! Anyway, can't wait...just 4 more days! Mary Ann