tamsocal

Thank you, both. We are open to a car rental if it is within reasonable walking distance for a 10 year old and doesn't take too much time out of our limited day.

 

Latest whale watch I seem to be able to find for Sunday is 3-330.

 

Don't know what a salmon ladder is, but now more intrigued to see it.

 

Any other details I can provide? Let me know. Thanks again.

I found an evening whale watch online for 5p. on 8/27

my twins are almost 10- it was me and the two of them. we walked from Franklin dock to Juneau car rental and it was fine but you don't even have to walk more than just across a parking to :)

my kids love fish -- we could have easily been at the hatchery for 1.5-2 hrs but 1 hour is enough-- the tour may be boring for some kids but since they are obsessed with fish they listened attentively

Looks like you will be at A dock so makes you very lucky to conveniently get to Juneau car rental- its in the parking lot of your dock. I would call them ASAP to see if they have cars available and make a reservation- you can aways cancel later depending on final decision.

*I would get rental car- then go straight to salmon hatchery. 13min(5mile) for about an hour or so-

*then go to Mendenhall 17min- (9 miles) - Visitors center for about an hour- you won't have much more time to do anything else. depending on how much time you have based on time at hatchery--- nugget falls hike is about 45-60min for most people. 2 miles Round trip- visitors guide says 1 hour- we probably walked it in 35-40 but stayed out there for 30-45 min

*Auke bay is about 10min (5mile).

if you do the 3p whales- I would go back to Mendenhall to do whatever you didn't do earlier- either nugget falls or steep creek trail or both depending on your interest. our kids did the Junior ranger program- but that is typically between 10-4p outside- but don't quote me on those times- I just know wasn't available when we first went out last trip but after whale watch they were available. still might have been available in the visitors center though--Im just not sure.

Auke bay to A dock is 25min (13 miles)

mendenhall FAQ

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3835583.pdf

If you can get evening whale watch that will make hatchery and glacier visit less time constrained but might make for a rush back to the ship- where I maybe would consider the ships evening whale tour vs independent if the time is super tight.

Have you definitely exhausted all whale watch vendor options with independents and 3p is only one and is that 3p at AUke Bay or at A dock?

if you do drive yourself- Auke bay parking lot can be a bit crazy at times and you might have a bit of a walk -- make sure you allow enough time to park- pay for parking and then to designated meet up space.

I personally would prefer a whale watch at the beginning or end of port time but you can definitely make 3p work and have a great day. everything is relatively close even if you end up driving to Mendenhall twice like we did

Their port time is a noon arrival. Big difference.

 

Respectfully disagree .

Yes different times but I was just posting the timeframe for a general sense- hard to give a recommendation without all the whale watch times

They have 9 hours and we did what they were looking for in 9 hours and possibly a little more hiking than they might be interested. the start time differs, but one can move the puzzle pieces around.

The OP mentioned they wanted to do some learning at the hatchery- my kids enjoyed the tour. Not sure what the OP goals are but possibly a little shy of an hour would possibly be more optimal- we were there about an hour- looking at the ladders, tour, mini museum, touch pool inside, etc. they could have easily stayed inside for longer looking at the fish

OP- you need to find out all your options for whale watch times-depending on where they fall- if things are tight you may be better off shuttle and taxi vs rental car.- we had a cushion for rental car being easy.

Visitor center is 8-730 and salmon hatchery as you are aware if 5p close

there is a evening whale watch at 5p that can have you back to ship by 9p- you could easily go to hatchery- then to Mendenhall then auke bay.

Does anyone have recent experience with using UBER in places like Fairbanks, Haines, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan? Mainly interested in if they are readily available and reasonably priced? Thanks..

once in Fairbanks- reasonable, and prompt

We are a bit confused about how the luggage works during the land portion. Is there a restriction on the luggage size? What about the "backpack/hand carry" luggage for throughout the day? The listed dimensions for that seem extremely small; how strict are they? Or does it just need to be something that can fit under your seat? Thanks in advance.

what they would prefer vs what you can do are two different topics.

You can bring whatever luggage you want on land portion- there are no restrictions to number of pieces. if your "carryon" bag is too large for overhead on bus or under seat on train then it will be placed under bus or train. many times when we traveled from one stop to the next- I had a land excursion immediately after we arrived. I could not depend on the "checked" luggage being in our room to get out the items I needed/wanted for the excursion- so we would bring all the possibilities with us on the bus or train- snacks/rain gear/ warmer clothes, cameras, etc.- we had 3 backpacks and one was a very large hiking backpack ~ 35L. they fit above on bus or below seat on train and we never had an issue. I did notice that some people tried bringing the traditional airline carryon 21 " bags and they just left at door of bus and driver put under bus- but honestly I think there is a chance that they would have fit in the overhead- but who knows- space just seemed pretty big.

if you don't need all your checked luggage to go with you on land- it is somewhat easier to just have fewer bags in your hotel room but you can do whatever you want.

this past cruise I was only given one tag per person for join me tonight- I asked for more tags and was told you are only supposed to have one per person and I said I am sorry I have more thus I need more tags and they gave me two more.that was it.

I would highly suggest not waiting for the instructions upon arrival to your hotel it will waste your time if you have to significantly repack-

pack accordingly before you leave your house-

if all that you need for cruise and land is in one bag- that makes it easy- that will be a join me tonight bag- if you have 2 bags- try to pack one for send to ship and one for join me tonight.

if you are undecided and going to spend hours pondering will I need this or not-- don't bother-just send everything for join me tonight- its not worth the stress.

our issue was we had all small bags so we would not have to pay air checked bag fees- so we didn't have giant suitcases- so we could not fit all our join me tonight sadly in 3 bags and needed more.

we sent 2 bags to end point so didn't schlep everything on land tour

on ruby I would want port side for glacier bay and would not be indifferent as per post above.

we had port side on the Island- forward in order to use the front viewing decks and would go up to open viewing as well- worked out fantastic

Wondering if someone has had experience transporting CPAP during land/bus/train portions of the cruise tour.

If so, did you keep the machine with you? Or did you send it on each morning with your touring luggage? Were the hotels in Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage set up to handle electricity for it each night (did you need to furnish extension cord)?

I sent mine with my luggage. Hotels were all fine for power outlets next to beds. keno, copper river, Denali, Fairbanks. they provided distilled water every location ship and land. no extension cord needed.

LOL though they did lose one piece of my luggage after departed ship and damaged one bag-- not the one with CPAP though.

if it is a absolute life saving necessity I suppose I would not have checked it with my luggage.

just did this--

8a off ship off to rental car- we walked

9a- Mendenhall glacier- hiked to nugget falls then back to car

1045 arrived auke bay for whale watch-

11-1330 whale watch- outstanding, bubble net feeding, great weather

1345-1600 back to Mendenhall glacier- hiked other trails around Mendenhall and visitors center, movie

~1615. 1 hour at salmon hatchery

~1715-1830 1.5 hours at glacier gardens

returned rental car and back to ship

it was a fun day but I posted elsewhere as well that I wish we would have done the ice caves tour/hike at Mendenhall vs whales-- but probably because we have went whale watching many times in many places. our day was fun above but the ice caves are more limited

agree with others- buy before you go

princess jackets looked ok- but I want a lightweight- compact, water proof jacket and princess jacket was bulky

I just did this tour-

loved it

I would highly recommend flying both direction from CHitina or at minimum fly out and ride the shuttle home

http://www.wrangellmountainair.com

http://www.kennicottshuttle.com/wrangell.html

here is the shuttle that Princes uses if you book direct thru them.

I ended up paying for RT shuttle and had the shuttle pick me up at the airport in Chitina since we planned last minute.

http://raftthewrangells.com

we went to the copper mine buildings in kennicott and as well did the SUP/kayak tour- we opted for kayak- it was fantastic.

flying both ways gives you more time in the park assuming flights are on time.

shuttle also has risk of road closures and flat tires too.

we had a great day! amazing views from plane. drive was nice as well- saw moose & beavers

On the Crown last March/April, shakes were not included on the Unlimited Soda & More Package

we had shakes on the Island Princess last month

the post I made earlier came straight from guest services email response

Thanks for your input, everyone. We ended up booking the kayaking trip in Mendenhall Lake. My advice to others in our spot, if you want to pay $100 more per person and do the ice caves/trekking onto the glacier in addition to the kayaking (which seems REALLY cool, and has amazing reviews online), is to BOOK EARLY! We don't have anyone to blame but ourselves since we are booking last minute, but we just spent the afternoon trying to get a spot on a tour like this and literally missed the chance by a few minutes (I called to get the info and there were spots, then hung up to relay the info to my husband, then called back and they were booked up). Apparently, they only allow so many permits for this type of excursion, so there is a hard stop on how many people can go (they won't open up new excursions for it). And there are apparently only two tour operators that do this - Liquid Alaska and Above & Beyond Alaska. It sounds like everyone else booking this tour is selling for these two tour operators. I was able to reach customer service at Liquid Alaska and they said that in 12 months, they've only had two cancellations for this tour (in terms of spots opening up once the tour is fully booked), so once it's full it's full. Learn from our mistakes and book this one early!!

we have cruised Alaska over 10 times and multiple land tours.

my present only somewhat regret is not doing the Mendenhall ice cave tour- should have done that vs whale watching this past trip.

we have seen beavers at Mendenhall.

we have seen bears on the boardwalk near parking lot but never hiking to nugget falls or the other trails we have gone on around the visitor center

That would sound about right, since we have a lot of spoiled and unruly kids here in the Bay Area. [emoji33]

thats where his Facebook videos have footage from

agreed- I have been on both multiple times. we had a good cruise last month on Island but I only booked because I had no other option for what I was trying to achieve.

for Panama Canal- I would want the public areas that were removed. You risk having over crowding because more passengers are likely to be on the Island vs Coral.

If you choose Island- I would only go with traditional dining- the increase of passengers places potential for DR waits- they did not add DR space

Any chance the kid who jumped in the pool is the same kid who was "the star" on another social media prank?

 

http://abc7.com/entertainment/socal-social-media-prankster-is-subject-of-investigation/2271208/

pool kid seems to be form Oakland, Walnut Creek area- Northern California

I have sailed on coral and island probably 8 times all pre Island renovation. Just sailed Island connisseur tour Alaska and we had a great time. mini suite-no issues. booked forward cabin intentionally to be near forward viewing decks. definitely noticed the remodeled areas and public areas that shrunk- casino, etc.

Disappointed that the kids club was moved interior on aloha- the kids definitely spent SIGNIFICANTLY less time outside on this cruise than any other and we had great weather.

IC was missed. back pool was missed. I didn't really care that the promenade does not let you walk full deck.

more of an issue for me is I do not like that the island spa is interior and the waiting room.

we had traditional dining. No issues with dinner and I never saw signifiant lines for daytime diners- yes there were waits at times but nothing sever like others had posted.

I would choose another shift if I had other options but if it has the itinerary I want and no other options- I would sail again.

Nothing specific' date=' loved all the others we've done, just wanted to know about Island.

 

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I just did this past July. I have done before on other ships. As others posted it was no different. it was a fun evening. Great food.

Gift bag was usual bathrobe, picture frame, few pictures, cookbook

I can send the menu if you want

we have used the wristbands multiple times and in various places. South America Rain forests, Alaska, California- coastal sierras, US east coast, Puerto Rico/Caribean, etc

Mosquitoes love me. I typically try just using the bands and sometimes they seem to work or I simply just am not bitten and other times the bugs seem to me more prevalent or don't care about the bands. So I usually just start wearing the bands and then if I get a bite or 2 use the Bens wipes or spray DEET 40. we usually only take 100 DEET deep in rain forest areas or sierras in summer.

July august trip that just passed- bands seemed to work well- I didn't wear them 100% of the time. on a few occasions in copper river area used spray

this is a hard question to answer too because 3 people could be standing next to me and never get bit but I will- so it kind of depends on individual re how well the bands will work

at 11 months we used infant backpack sometimes more than stroller- depends what shore excursions you have planned.

we used a bathtub similar to this one but ours was significantly smaller- we placed either in the bathroom in area of shower when no bathtub or inside bathtub or outside on balcony

https://www.amazon.com/Kel-Gar-Snug-Tub-Elephant-Supersize-32/dp/B000056JB8/ref=sr_1_15_s_it?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1501737506&sr=1-15&refinements=p_n_location_browse-bin%3A2695269011&th=1

we have brought stroller. we didn't use so much on board the ship but definitely used on shore excursions and pre & post cruise.

I have brought snacks for that age for my twins when they were that age but singleton we didn't bring much for food since he was eating quite a bit of table food and not a picky eater.

our 3 kids were all walking by 10 months- are your eleven month olds walking. that will make a difference on what I might bring for a couple of toys to keep little one occupied.

We began cruising with our kids as infants. they are 3 star mariners on HAL and platinum on princess and now 9 & 14 yr olds. They love cruising and were easy to cruise with as infants.

Some ships we brought our own pack n play for sleeping. Some ships had a crib that didn't fold down and when we were in smaller cabins it made it a challenge and super squishy. so was nice to have our own pack n play that we unfolded daily. Other cruise lines use pack n plays.

once the kids were a little older ~ 18m-5yrs we used regalo travel bed

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Regalo-My-Cot-Deluxe-Portable-Folding-Travel-Bed-with-Sleeping-Bag/21672532?action=product_interest&action_type=title&beacon_version=1.0.2&bucket_id=irsbucketdefault&client_guid=1a15feea-c692-443f-86b6-2d52ee77d95d&config_id=106&customer_id_enc&findingMethod=p13n&guid=1a15feea-c692-443f-86b6-2d52ee77d95d&item_id=21672532&parent_anchor_item_id=4433186&parent_item_id=4433186&placement_id=irs-106-t1&reporter=recommendations&source=new_site&strategy=PWVUB&visitor_id=cIm1wTDpW3hJUKi2Fagjno

hope you have a great time

If you upgrade an excursion, you just pay the difference. I have also read that if you cancel an excursion that is part of the cruisetour, they will refund the money for that part.

I refunded the TWT and received about $600 back from Princess and paid $57 for Wonderlake shuttle bus. my kids were free with shuttle bus so all I had to pay was for me

yes UBER just started this summer in Alaska

info not requested- so just stop reading if you don't want to continue on:D : I think you may be on the G12 tour-- I would pick H12 or I 12.

Sorry to be honest but talkeetna and Denali are tough one night stay places.

but honestly again- I would skip talkeetna. Denali for 2-3 nights is fabulous. McKinley princess lodge is out in middle of nowhere. We have gone once and likely never will go back. nice view of mountain but that didn't make it worth it for me. then we had to schlep back to talkeetna for excursions for 1 hr bus ride each way after we had just got of the train and took a bus to the hotel a few hours earlier....

you could consider E11 and then add a night in Fairbanks if this was of interest to you

ok He. :);p

• Flightseeing
  
• Helicopter/hike- this one is actually in Alaska toursaver book for buy one get one free too just like the river rafting.
  
• ATV ride I have never done but friends that have said the trip was fun but no wildlife and just the same tundra and scenery we had already seen on our bus & train trips.
  
• near princess lodge nothing within walking distance really as an excursion.
  
• the WAC I have walked to from princess lodge- its probably about 2 miles because from the main road its still a good walk to WAC or visitors center.
  
• Horseshoe lake hike took us an hour if you get off the princess shuttle at the tracks after WAC drop off and worked perfect for pick up about 1hr 10 min later.
  
• lots of other moderate hikes near the Visitors center too
  

Visitors center is nice for a few hours if you aren't necessarily looking for outdoors.

We had a great river rafting in dry suits as I noted above

We just did northbound cruise and tour post- and that was fantastic- I know you will or have already read about people being negative about that. I have done both and they both have pluses and minuses. Life is what you make of it. I would not have wanted it any different for this past cruise. one of my most favorite days of the cruise is north bound evening to noon the next sea day going thru the narrows- watch for whales VERY early the first sea day. orcas typically and lots of wildlife.

You can ignore this one: LOL ......you can still do DIY without driving . Just use the train the entire time and taxis. Gold class on the train traveling just as a couple would be fantastic-ALaska toursaver coupon book has BYGOF for the railroad too and the princess lodges as well

I think Alaska is fabulous for a honeymoon!

Kids and I added up our totals--- about 30-35 miles hiking and 15-20 miles biking for this past Alaska Cruisetour.

we had a couple in our cruise tour train car that only came up to Denali for one overnight- came in on the train and left with us the next day on the Fairbanks 4p train and they were able to get to Eilsen. Reminder you don't need a tour. look at the shuttle bus schedules too as an option--