gagenie

I've done this trip 5-6 times with Adventure Bound and hope to do it again this year. Tell them which ship you arriving on and they will tell you if it is possible. I'm usually on a Northbound Princess cruise which arrives at 8am. I get in line to get off the ship by 7:30, just watch for where in the atrium they are setting up the security scanners. I've hustled down to their dock, had them come scanning the dockside walkway for me and as Coral mentioned last time they actually moved the Adventure Bound closer to the Princess dock and were waiting for me at the pier between the ship and the Mt Roberts Tram.

 

In every case as soon as I boarded they took off. Just be sure and work with them to avoid any delays.

 

I haven't tried to contact them yet this year, as Coral says they are a small operation and I believe they do head down to the Seattle area for the winter. It is mainly Capt Steve and a deckhand or two on the boat and his wife Winona and maybe an assistant in the office. I'd send an email or try leaving a message by phone but it wouldn't surprise me that you don't get a quick response. They are not aiming at the cruise ship passenger as most schedules don't match up. I don't plan on contacting until about March

 

That said I repeat this tour every chance I get. It is a long boat ride but I love watching the scenery. You may see whales (not the priority but if spotted Cat Steve will detour) last couple of times we have spotted bears along the shoreline and gotten within 20-30 feet. The glaciers are spectacular close up from a small boat, IMHO the South Sawyer is the bluest I've seen and usually by far the most active as far as calving.

 

Personally this is among my favorite tours anywhere in the world.

Thank you Doug!!

I will definitely keep trying to contact them cause this is one tour I want to do this trip, we did Glacier Bay last time. Too bad Princess doesn't offer this tour from the cruise ship. Holland America does have a cruise where you board the smaller boat direct from the ship. But I would like to go with Princess Coral if I can get this tour worked out, if not I will go with Holland America :)

Take the cruise of Tracy Arm from the ship. You will then have lots of time to do Juneau.

Their not offering it on Princess Northbound or I would.

You can try calling. A lot of these Mom and Pop organizations work 14 hours a day May through September and then take vacations during the coldest Alaska months. This company really is husband and wife with a few extra people who work in the summer with them.

 

When we first scheduled this trip years ago (before they were mentioned on this website), we booked it through a 3rd party as we couldn't get a hold of the company. It turned out they spent that winter working in Seattle and the week we were trying to book (April) they were on their boat taking it from Seattle to Juneau and with out internet. This was many years ago.

 

I will have a friend reply to this who has gone more than I have and can corroborate what I have said. He does Princess only in Alaska so he has done this route many times with the same time frame as you are dealing with.

 

Not that I expect any problems, but many times you can book with Princess (and many travel agents) and there is not cancellation penalties before final payment. There are some promos out where there is a cancellation fee of the deposit.

I hadn't thought about them maybe being on vacation them self:)

Thank you again for all your help!!

Thank you Coral!!

 

I am going to contact them and see what they say, doesn't hurt to ask them! I'll let you know what they tell me.

well, I have emailed them twice and no response to either :confused:

should I try to call them? I need to know before so I can book my cruise

Our cruise we flew into Seattle the day before the cruise. We stayed at the Hotel 5 downtown, they arranged for a car to pick us up at the airport which was a SUV and the same SUV came the next day and took us to the terminal. We arrived early morning at 9:15 and they let us go ahead and check in and I was glad since we had a long flight from Atlanta. Loved the hotel and walked everywhere we wanted to go!

I have been with Princess before and have worked with this company and they have picked me up at the pier and driven me to their pier. Another time, they held their ship for us as they knew we were coming.

 

I have a friend who they brought their ship to the Princess pier so he could board near his ship.

 

Again - if you let them know you are on a Princess cruise, they will work with you. They are very friendly people and have been very accommodating to those on Princess northbound ships. I have not read any reports on this board to indicate otherwise and plenty of reports of those who do Princess NB and do this excursion.

 

I have done many B2Bs on Princess in Alaska. There is no problems getting off the ship at 8 am. There maybe a line of 10 people but the ship is on time in Juneau with out any problems on the North bound itineraries. There are more issues if the ship tenders but the Northbound ships do not tender. It is going to be the ship that sales out of SFO that may tender.

Thank you Coral!!

I am going to contact them and see what they say, doesn't hurt to ask them! I'll let you know what they tell me.

What ship are you going to be on? If your ship arrives at 8am don't figure on getting off until around 8:15 - 8:30am. The last Adventure Bound boat leaves at 7:45 and doesn't come back into until 6pm. We have always enjoyed the Tracy Arm small boat tour.

I was looking at the Coral Princess, June 10 Northbound. That's why I asked before I booked with Princess cause we want to do Tracy Arm this time so I might have to go with Holland America then

Thank you so much!!

I was trying to determine where to do a cruise Princess or round trip with Holland America, but we knew we wanted to Tracy Arms.

Hi,

We are looking to do small boat from Juneau, our time in port would 8:00 am to 9:00 pm, would we have enough time to do the tour from Juneau?

Also, what company would you recommend?

Thanks!

Here you go

http://www.katmailand.com/

You can also go to explore.org and watch the bear cams there lots of people flying to & from Katmai National Park just ask in the chat below the cams

Loved your trip report!! Me & my son took our 1st cruise in 2014 and went to Alaska also and we loved it!!! Let me warn you about your next cruise, I was sorta let down by our cruise we took in 2015 (not to Alaska) cause everything was just so exciting there. The ship we took was great but the scenery was different. My brother told me you started with the best cruise & that was to Alaska now every other cruise will not live up to the first and he was right!

Thank you for your trip report!!Brought back a lot of memories for me!

Got another upsell offer for $99 per person to a oceanview cabin on the main level DD688. I declined the offer. It didn't seem worth it to me to go from HH399 on the lower prom to this room for a extra $200

Thank you!! I board the Maasdam on Saturday Aug 29 :D

A taxi is fine.

 

I wouldn't fly in the day of the cruise though. Too many things can go wrong.

 

Keith

I'd rather not fly in the day of the cruise but we have no choice cause my son can't get off work

You're welcome, and enjoy your cruise. I did provide some additional commentary to my post above, and hopefully you saw it.

Yes, I did see your additional comments and I appreciate it so much, I booked the upsale for cabin 399. This is my first time sailing with Holland America so I am really looking forward to checking them out!!

If I had been offered this cabin, I would take it. It's a quiet and smooth ride back there, with no engine vibrations, and you're underneath the main dining room, so no noise. It's easy to get to the prom deck from there. The cabin dimensions won't be any larger, but you'll have a bath tub and a window.

Thank you so much! I think we are going to take it!! Can't wait!:D

Which cabin?

cabin 399 ?

We booked a guarantee inside room N and received a upsell offer to a HH on lower promenade on the Maasdam for $49 per person.....should I take it?

After our experience in May, a transfer may well be the way to go. It took us one hour to get through the lineup for the taxi! We had plenty of time as we were staying in Montreal so time wasn't an issue. One factor in our case was that we requested late disembarkation, around 9 am but there were many people behind us. We were the only ship in port (first one of the season) and only 1200 pax.

 

But for anyone who needs to get to the airport, or anywhere else, in a timely manner, either request early disembarkation, allow time for the taxi lineup or book a ship transfer.

 

Hopefully, it's improved since then!!

glad I got the transfer :) Thank you Alberta Quilter!

Thank you both!! A taxi it is then!

Take a taxi. Fare should be in the $30 range for the cab, not per person. Black Falcon Terminal is across the harbor from the airport through the Ted Williams Tunnel - no more than 10-15 min on a Saturday. You might be able to see the ship when you land.

 

If you can manage your luggage, you can take the Silver Line bus for free to Black Falcon with one accessible transfer at the World Trade Center indoor station. This takes about 30 min and we can provide details if you're interested.

Thank you 138east!! I think we are going to go with a taxi. Never flew into Logan before, is it easy to get a taxi there?

What's the price? We have the same trip a few weeks later and had planned a taxi, but the transfer might be an option if at a reasonable price.

well the transfer is $34.00 per person. I was just afraid we couldn't get a taxi so we decided on the transfer

Thank you Jolie!! I think just to be on the safe side. I am going to book the ships transfer!!

To give you the best answer, more info. is needed.

I see you are docking on the 29th of August, around what time? What time is your flight? How many of you are travelling together?

We dock at 7:00 AM on Sept 5 and they will be 2 of us traveling together. Our flight leave at 12:53 pm

Thank you!

Should I take to the HAL transfer to the Cruise ship or get a Taxi? It's $30 per person to take the HAL transfer we are landing at 11:17 and our Cruise starts at 4:00 pm on Aug 29.

If it is taxi do we just wait until we land a get a taxi then?