Stevepcb64

We just got back a few weeks ago and I can not recomend Glacier Wind whale watching enough. Smaller boats so a more personalized experience. They pick you up behind the cannery for a short trip to the Hoonah docks. We saw both Orca's and Humpback Whales in abundance. We also saw a Moma bear with 3 cubs on the beach, sea lions, otters and bald eagles. The was by far the best excursion we did on our trip. You need to book as early as you can with them because they stay booked up. I had to get on a waiting list and got real lucky that someone ship itenerary got changed and the y had to cancel opening a spot up. 

We just got back a few weeks ago and pretty much every restaurant has Halibut and almost all of it was really good. I ate it almost everyday. Annabelle's was packed with a line down the street when we were getting off the ship so we skipped it. On the way back there was no wait so bingo, it was good and I had the Halibut there. If you are a Deadliest Catch fan as I am you know that all of the crab is caught and processed/frozen in the Bering Sea. So you won't really find that kind of crab fresh. You can find fresh Dungeness crab and it is excellent, That being said we went to Tracey's and it is pricey but it was excellent and a fun place that was well worth it to me.

Just a follow up to this post. We ended up doing the Gray Line one and did not have a great experience. I don't mind waititng 10-20 minutes at a stop on a busy day but the wait times were much longer. At Stanley park we had been waiting a long time and I spoke to someone else waiting and they had been there over an hour. They called the company and were told it would be another 20-30 min before a bus got there. I ended up getting an Uber which totaly defeats the purpose. By the way we used Uber several more times and they picked us up within 3min everytime, twice in a Tesla. 😲 I thought the rates were also very fair. In hindsight I should have just passed on the HOHO and used Uber. Probably been cheaper also.

On 5/27/2024 at 5:47 PM, larry_s_taco said:

We are just starting to investigate visiting Vancouver. We have a cruise ending in Vancouver in May. We plan to stay several days to see the city. Is there an area in the city that is better to stay in if we want to spend most of our time walking to see the city? Are there any hotels that you could recommend that would allow our walking tours? 

Thanks

We just got back and I can tell you where not to stay and that is anywhere near the Quality Inn on Granville if it is the weekend. They close part of the street down and have a street party until the wee hours of the morning. If I had it to do again I would pay the extra money and stay in the Coal Harbour area for sure as recommended above.

We just got back and unfortunately most of them are school bus type buses. I'm 6' and close to 300lbs. It was not very comfortable but also wasn't packed on ours so you had that option to spread out. Another trick i did figure out was in general the buses block off the front seats for handicapped passengers (charter type buses). I would ask the driver if I could sit there unless someone more handicapped than me needed the seat and I would gladly move. All of them said yes. That way I could at least stretch my legs out in the front area from the isle seat. Bonus was you could also take pictures out the big front windows.

We just got back on the Royal Princess. Very few people dressed up for formal night. i took semi-formal clothes for those nights and wish I hadn't. Took up a lot of valuable luggage space. We are from Florida and wore shorts and t-shirts on the ship most of the time unless we were going to be outside for very long. This was in late May so I imagine Aug will be much warmer.

We just went a couple of weeks ago in Tennis shoes. No problem at all. Most of it is paved and then packed sand/gravel.

3 hours ago, hmcrn said:

 

Good to know that we could hand in Talkeetna a bit.  Thanks!

What were the things that you did on your own on the land portion?  

Trying to figure out what to do during the "on your own" time.  

Thanks again!

  Heidi

In Fairbanks we rented a car for the day. We did Gold Dredge 8, drove to North Pole, AK just to check in on FB, take some pics and check out the Santa Claus House, spent a little time at Pioneer Park and had a great dinner at Pump House Resturant.

In Denali the first afternoon we just explored the lodge and did some shopping across the street from the lodge. On the 2nd day we did the included Nature Tour followed by the Fat Truck Excursion through Princess. We were concerned about the time frame so we booked through Princess to make sure we made it in time after the 1st tour.

Talkeetna covered above.

Anchorage, had a great lunch at Humpy's. Then did an Anchrage City Tour that included a couple of food tasting store type stops. Then had dinner at Glacier Brewhouse. It was excellent but make a reservation as it was very busy.

IMHO TA's are for people that either don't have time or just don't want to do the research. There is a ton of good info out there between this website and other "trip" related ones as well as the actual cruise websites. They may or may not be able to save you a few bucks but it won't be a lot over what you could do if you put in a little time. Remember there ultimate goal is to make money no neccasarily save you money. You really need to start watching prices as soon as you decide to go and once you book keep watching them. I was able to knock $600 off my original booked price by keeping an eye on it. Good luck and sorry I couldn't help you with your actual question.

On 6/9/2024 at 11:26 AM, hmcrn said:

 

Hi there @Stevepcb64!  We are doing a similar cruisetour in 2025.  Can you tell me if you spent any time in Talkeetna?  Did Princess give you plenty of options to fill your "own" time or did you feel like you needed to book things in advance?  

Thanks in advance for any and all info!

We did spend a few hours in Talkeetna. On our tour we took the train from Denali to Talkeetna. We arrived in Talkeetna around 2pm. We had the option to take the shuttle bus to Mt. McKinnly or stay in Talkeetna and take a later shuttle. We chose to stay in town and just do a little shopping and grab a bite to eat. It's a pretty small village town with some cute shops but it only took us an hour or two to see everything. Had a realy great meal at Homestead Kitchen and then caught the shuttle to the lodge. There are plenty of excursions that can be purchased from Princess. We did a couple but we like to do our own thing sometimes just exploring or private booked excursions.

We just got back from a land and see with Princess. It sounds like we had most of the same wishes as you. We did the JB5 cruise tour. We flew from FL to Seattle and stayed there 2 days to get acclimated and explore Seattle. We then flew to Fairbanks to start out cruise tour. It included overnight stays in Fairbanks, Denali, Mt McKinley/Talkeetna and Anchorage. They then bused us to Whittier with a stop at the Alaska Wildlife Refuge to get on the Cruise. Cruise stops included Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, Juneau, Icy Straight Point, Ketchikan and ended in Vancouver. We also stayed 2 days in Vancouver to explore there as well. We then flew home from Vancouver. It was an amazing trip. I did a ton of research and a lot of people said to do the land part first so we did and it worked great for us. The first 2 cruise days are basically sea/Glacier days so it gave us a chance to relax and recharge before the port days. I'd be happy to share additional details and answer any questions.

I can't be a ton of help but we just got back and we saw the Kayak tours in Icy Straight from the docks and it looked like large groups went out and just paddled around in the bay for a while and came back in. Really didn't look that impressive to me. We did a whale watch excursion with Glacier Winds and it was the best excursion we did on the entire trip. It was the only place we saw Orca Whales along with Humpbacks, sea lions, otters, eagles and a momma bear with 3 cubs on the beach.

We were just there a couple of days ago on Princess. It is right at the dock, easy access. I was also hesitant about the line but someone told me it moves fast and they were right. We thought it was very good. Yes it is expensive but it pretty much was everywhere else as well. Yes the King & snow crab is frozen, just like everywhere else. It comes from the Bering Sea in North Alaska in the winter. The Dungeness can be caught in local waters fresh but I don't know for sure if there's is fresh or not. I had the King crab and it was delicious.

We just got back from our cruise yesterday, We did the combo whale watch and Mendehall Glacier tour. To be honest the whale watching in Icy Straight was better partially because they have Orca's and Humpbacks and we saw plenty of both plus Bears on the beach, sea lions, eagles, otters. We only saw a couple of Humpbacks in Juneau but I think we just had a bad luck day there. For me we saw other Glaciers (Hubbard & Glacier Bay) that where more impresive than Mendenhall Glacier but, when you add in Nugget Falls it really made it worth going to see if you have time.

10 hours ago, Silverspringcruiser said:

Good to know. The website said you had to download an app, and headphones weren't provided.

There are two different companies so you may need them depending on which company you choose?

11 hours ago, 2012_Alaska_bound said:

Ate a great lunch at Tap and Barrel at Canada Place today (Tuesday at noon) and got right in to a beautiful outside table.

 

Thanks for the suggestions!

Good to hear. We have Tap & Barrel on our list and Mouse's Down Under sounds very interesting as well.

We plan on doing the Hop on Hop off bus in a couple of weeks post cruise on Sunday. We will certainly get off at Stanley Park and Granville Island to explore those areas as well as a quick stop at Gastown for the Clock. Looking for suggestions of must do's at any of the other stops to fill out our day.

We will be exploring downtown Vancouver via one of the HOHO buses the 1st Sunday in June. Looking for Brunch, lunch and dinner restaurants that would be along the routes that these buses take. What we like: Not really looking for fancy restaurants as we will be dressed casual for exploring. We love favorite local type places, mom & pops, diners and such. Not really looking for chain places that we can eat at anywhere. Places with a great atmosphere, water front or great views are a bonus. Not opposed to grabbing an Uber for dinner after the buses stop running either.

Thanks for all of the great suggestions!!!! We are not really interesed in renting a car and dealing with parking and such for this trip. I realy liked the e-bike idea but I am a pretty big guy and I checked with one of the rental companies and I exceed the weight limit for the e-bikes, so I guess that is out also. I like the route the horse drawn carriage takes but it looks like it only makes one stop at the totums. So I think we are just going to try and basically walk that same route so we can go at our own pace and take pictures ect. It looks like it goes by several of the main attractios. Any reason that you experts can think of that would be an issue with this or any other suggestion?

We will be staying in Vancouver for 2 nights post cruise. We are looking at maybe doing the HOHO Bus on Sunday. Stanley park looks huge and looks like you could spend an entire day or so there. Realistically, I would think we may want to spend maybe a couple of hours to be able to see more of Vancouver that day also. Any recomendations on what the must do's are in Stanley Park and an itenerary of what and how to do it? TIA

Anyone have experience with this company and/or this tour specifically? Seems to be a pretty good deal for both experiences.

39 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

My verbiage in my post #15 gave me some "wiggle room" regarding the pair (Riverboat and GD).  I felt I really shouldn't claim that the pair were "always" sold together to the cruise lines, but this is the first time I have heard of a Princess land package which didn't include both.  We spend about 90 days a year on a cruise ship doing lengthy fall and spring trips.  When fellow passengers find out that we are from Alaska we hear about their Alaska cruise.  When their trip to Alaska is on a cruise line sponsored package and they were in Fairbanks either pre- or post cruise I don't think that I have heard of someone only doing one (and not both).  The Binkley family, which owns both, makes it so easy to sell both attractions to the cruise lines as they even have facilities for lunch on their properties.

 

If @Stevepcb64 has a description of their day in Fairbanks which includes anything about trying to pan for gold, then they are going to the Gold Dredge #8.

I think we are getting hosed. lol

1 hour ago, Paula_MacFan said:

What does your Travel Summary document say?  Mine says this:  

 

 

This is what ours says. I wish it was included but it doesn't look like it is on ours.

32 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

Just a few comments from someone who lives in Fairbanks -- The Westmark is indeed downtown.  

 

For those who are doing a cruise line sponsored land trip two Fairbanks attractions generally include (if not always included) Gold Dredge #8 and the Riverboat Discovery.  Gold Dredge #8 is located very close to the pipeline viewing site closest to Fairbanks (about ten miles north of Fairbanks on the Steese Highway); this viewing site includes interpretative signs.  Before you purchase tickets to GD #8 make sure that it isn't included in your land package.  And remember that folks don't see the pipeline on the drive to Denali; I've had folks tell me that somehow they thought they would see it on the drive to DNP.

 

I would also suggest eliminating a visit to Santa Claus House at North Pole.  Santa Clause House is basically the "emporium of bad taste" in my opinion.  Almost nothing unique.  Basically junk made overseas.

 

Cookie Jar is not a great place for lunch.  When it was included that Food Network show (Dives, Dinners and whatever -- obviously I don't recall the name) there was surprise at the time that it was featured.

 

I don't know what you are planning to do along the waterfront area, but I would suggest a stop at the Morris Thompson Cultural Center.  If the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum is of interest (check their website -- this museum is worth a visit) it is a quick drive from the MTCC. Depending on what day of the week you are visiting, if the Tanana Valley Farmer's Market is operating (prior years they have opened on Wednesdays and Saturdays) then plan a stop there.

 

Pump House is a decent choice for dinner.  But if you like Thai the Lemon Grass is excellent.  Jazz Bistro is within walking distance of your hotel.

 

And I am not sure that the Westmark is going to offer a hotel shuttle from the airport after dropping off the rental car.  

So awesome to have a local pitching in with tips and suggestions. THANK YOU!!!

Best I can tell the Gold Dredge is not included in our tour, only the Riverboat. We are in Fairbanks on a Monday and we leave right after the Riverboat tour to go to Denali the next morning, Tuesday.

Thanks for the tip on Cookie Jar, I did see it was on DDD and that was exactly why we were looking at it. Any other local lunch suggestions? or dinner for that matter. I will look into Jazz Bistro.

Waterfront area just to check out the river,  and seems like saw something about an Antler Arch? And yes, the visitor/cultural center is in that same area. 

9 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

This review of North Pole AK describes my feelings about the place better than I can.  The TripAdvisor reviewer gave it 2 of 5 stars.  I would give it 1 of 5 and only because you can't give it zero stars.

 

"I read reviews on Trip Advisor prior to heading over to North Pole from Fairbanks. The reviews seemed promising, and our waiter at breakfast talked it up. We we were really disappointed. The store has a good amount of Christmas ornaments, and they have free pictures with Santa. I was able to see the entire store in about 10 minutes, and I didn't find anything unique worth buying. There are also reindeer at the other end of the parking lot, which you can pay to go into the enclosure and feed. Not sure how much that costs, as I didn't not go for the experience. Overall, a disappointment. I have seen better Christmas shops pop up in the malls around the holidays."

 

DON

My expectations for North Pole are pretty low based on reading probably the same reviews. But, wife thinks it would be cool to check in on Facebook from the North Pole...lol. If we run short on time this will certainly be on the short list for getting cut out. Thanks for the input.