cruzzers

We are doing a 7-day Island Princess cruise and 6-day land tour,(Tour KA-6) followed by a 2-day/one-night rail/bus tour of Mt. McKinley.(Tour M5B)

Aug 3-10: Fly into Seattle and transfer to Vancouver to meet the Island Princess for our 7-day cruise.

Aug 10: Disembark Island Princess in Whittier and travel by Catamaran in Prince William Sound to Valdez, where we will board a motor coach to Copper River Princess Lodge for 2 nights.

Aug 11: We will visit the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Aug 12: Motor coach to the Deanli Princess Lodge along the Denali Highway and spend 2 nights here.

Aug 13: Take a morning Tundra Wilderness Tour in the Denali National Park.

Aug 14: Board Princess Rail to Fairbanks for 2 nights.

Aug 15: Cruise on a sternwheeler riverboat and visit the El Dorado Gold Mine and pan for gold.

Aug 16: Depart Fairbanks Princess Lodge and begin next tour, *(M5B) by rail to Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge for a one night/2 day tour.

Aug 17: Take an evening motor coach to Anchorage, where we will go to the airport and fly home late in the evening. Phew! We will be sooo tired!

Note: We decided to add the extra tour at the end of our cruise tour due to the fact that our flight home was much more reasonable from Anchorage than Fairbanks and we wanted to see the McKinley area.

*The additional rail and coach tours can be arranged online at: aklodges@princesstours.com

We had L104 on the Caribbean Princess and loved it. Those rooms are at the very front of the ship so there is very little foot traffic, with the exception of the spa on the Crown and Emerald now. WE booked the same room for our upcoming cruise on the Emerald. The only downfall on those room is the fact that they are directly under the gym and you can hear/feel the the treadmill machines early in the morning sometimes. This is not a problem unless you spend the day in your room and are bothered by the sound or vibrations from that. The view from the picture window is great, even though it is a little obstructed. You can walk right out your door and onto the top of the bridge for a great and uncrowded view off the front of the ship. The doors are locked at night so you don't have to worry about people walking by and the windows are tinted enough that people can't see in during the day. It is a bit bumpy up there if you are prone to sea sickness but you are so nice an close to everything on the LIDO deck.

You can see pictures we took of our room by clicking on my cruise picture link below and going to the Caribbean Princess album.

We flew into MCO last Nov, rented a car and drove to port Canaveral. It is an easy drive and the car rental place, (Budget) dropped us off at the port. This was much less expensive than any shuttles we could find and we could go on our own schedule and do a little site seeing on the way. We did the same thing on the return trip, with Budget picking us up at the port. We spent some time that day at Kennedy Space Center and then a night in Orlando before leaving the next day.

Thanks to all of you for your great information. I booked a suite at Sailport for one night precruise in Dec. They will take care of all the transportation with a cruise package for a total of $119 total for 2 adults., or you can just get the suite for $86 with no transportation. Of course I will keep looking, but this seems like a pretty good deal not having to worry about a taxi or car rental.

CrackerKen....We are looking for an inexpensive one night stay pre-cruise for our son and his Girlfriend. I have narrowed it down to Chase Suites or Sailport, Rocky Point. Since you are our travel director here, which would you choose based on your expertise and how far do you estimate them to be from the cruise port for Carnival? I understand they both offer free shuttle from the airport but will have to pay for transportation to the port and back to the airport upon return.

Thanking you in advance for all the good information you are providing us here on this thread!