tamsocal

I nor my children liked liarsville but that was years ago- it actually might have been long enough ago that it was only one child - so child would have been about 5.

love the train so any combination that includes the train would make me happy RT or one way. we liked the tour that went to carcross if that happens to be an option

another vote for walk/hike to cemetery. Jewells garden is in the back of town fairly close to the cemetery too. If salmon are running nice to watch them in the streams between cruise ship and town. agree with ranger led hike.

lots of options. we have gone from $0 to $1000's and always have a great time in port

I asked just a few weeks ago and was told fairly similar- $40+. we have had to wait 30-45 minutes for taxi once before there. We have taken the city bus once too ;-)

We have rented a car the past 3-4 times in Juneau.

Process was a breeze. Salmon hatchery, Mendenhall Glacies, Glacier Gardens, Auke Bay Harbor, Gold Creek Salmon Bake then back to Downtown.

I agree. There is no value in making her feel bad about her choice. My honeymoon wasn't one others would choose either - but it was mine and we loved it. That's all the matters.

 

We are going on a cruise tour in September and we can't wait!!

 

 

 

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not sure I agree. This is cruise critic. you post on a board and your going to get opinion.

Although the comments are frequently geared a certain way- doesn't mean that it was with Mal intent. I like the honesty- OP doesn't have to feel bad, she can just ignore the feedback or comments if they don't suit her needs. DO we want our best friends to lie to us ?

I personally would not choose a cruise tour for a honeymoon unless the itinerary matched up my goals. I just returned from a cruise tour and it was wonderful but it would not match up my vision of what I would want as a honeymoon. luggage packed and out of the room 6:30am; next stop tagged and out of the room at 0645. Stand in line for the restaurant that opens at 0700 with the other 70 people on the two buses that just put their luggage out at 0645.

Again it was great but just not MY vision of honeymoon bliss. We were on the Amazing Race :) this cruise tour with the cray departure times over and over and our busy excursions. I have only been on 6 Alaska cruise tours but I have never had a honeymoon couple on our tour so can't say any couple voiced happiness or unhappiness.

What I would I see more fun for honeymoon w/ Alaska cruise? Seward stay over at a lodge, then hop on the train to anchorage and then on to Denali as a couple, stay a few nights in a lodge or B & B.

ITs a year away and certainly worth throwing the idea out there for are you sure you know what you are getting into- especially since it is well within cancellation or change period. If OP has no interest great but as much as the posts accuse one person of being a little harsh its also a little harsh with the reply to the post.

I also just got back from DWPL and had to listen sadness, anger, etc of why do they even offer the NHT- as the visitors were so very disappointed that they did not know any better or mad that a travel agent didn't guide them better. but I am sure there are people who have been quite happy with NHT.

My comments before were not meant to make OP feel bad, I can't attest to what others intent were- but who on this board wakes up in the morning thinking- how many times can I respond to make someone feel bad or crappy or guilty for their crazy plans or are we coming to the board with intent of helping fellow travelers that share the same passion for travel and cruising that we have.

OP- we just got back and loved our Denali raft adventure- they are associated with Aramark and raft takes off right on the McKinley chalet property- we had a great trip and they are in the toursaver book- Buy one get one free. Alex is one of the managers and was great. Have you looked at all the shuttle bus times to make sure a shuttle bus can't get you further in the park?

does your cruise tour transfer by bus or train?

I would appreciate an explanation to this link? Are these YouTube videos created by the delinquent?

 

I sure hope to hear that Princess has done something to discourage others from being so stupid.

the you tube account owner is the same person who created the pool incident you tube. not sure if they considered deleting the entire account.

Thanks for the post! I was hoping they did something like DCL's fish extenders but I'll settle for whatever :) I created a roll call for my cruise but no one has joined it yet. I didn't know if there was a link on FB that would have a roll call too?

definitely nothing similar to the fish extenders on DCL. (I still have some of the FE in my closet that we made for our cruises). Agree with other posts- the only times we have participated with Gift exchange was over holiday cruise. my last few PCL roll calls have been very quiet

we have done both ca coastal and Mexico . we always have a great time on any cruise but I would go with the coastal especially since you have not done before.

Astoria- we loved our stops 2-3 times there and we are 100% for port stop not being cancelled. once we rented a car and drove at least to the tillamook factory because I remember having yummy ice cream HAHA.

Good morning!

 

My fiance and I are spending our honeymoon on a cruise-land tour through Princess next June. Looking at our itinerary, it seems like we have a lot of time at the Denali Princess Lodge, but there doesn't seem to be much of a plan.

 

Is there anything interesting around the Lodge, or walking distance nearby?

 

I found a company that does an evening hike (Denali Backcountry Guide). Does anyone have any experience with them? Is it worth it or should we just relax and wait for the Natural History Tour the next morning (I know, I know... Most people recommend the Turnda Wilderness Tour, but unless we find separate transportation from there to Fairbanks, we won't be able to do that).

 

Thanks in advance!!

what tour are you on? the letters and numbers or how many nights and where- there are about 5 you could potentially be on

Good morning!

 

My fiance and I are spending our honeymoon on a cruise-land tour through Princess next June. Looking at our itinerary, it seems like we have a lot of time at the Denali Princess Lodge, but there doesn't seem to be much of a plan.

 

Is there anything interesting around the Lodge, or walking distance nearby?

 

I found a company that does an evening hike (Denali Backcountry Guide). Does anyone have any experience with them? Is it worth it or should we just relax and wait for the Natural History Tour the next morning (I know, I know... Most people recommend the Turnda Wilderness Tour, but unless we find separate transportation from there to Fairbanks, we won't be able to do that).

 

Thanks in advance!!

you state that you have a lot of free time but no time to do more than that NHT.

maybe give a little more detail re what free time you have and more help can be provided.

The Denali visitor center is great to explore, the free dog sledding demo at the park is available.

I personally would change your cruise tour- it sounds like you are on a 1 night Denali which is not optimal.

we just returned from cruise tour- Denali from 4p Sunday to 4p tues and that was barely adequate for me.- Sunday evening would have preferred to go white water rafting or ATV tour but we decided to just go to sleep after walking around the shops for 30min across from DPWL. Shuttle bus to Wonderlake- 6:15-5:45p. Hike to Horseshoe lake after bus ride- watch for beavers and Moose. returned to hotel 7:30p

Tues am- white water rafting, visitors center, sled dog demo- we had no extra minutes and kind of rushed thru the visitors center- caught the 4p train to Fairbanks

Us too on the 18th- Denali was fully out and visible so early on the bus ride. The caribou takedown site at Tolkat- we missed the grey wolves in the morning but saw the carcass in the afternoon. Many bears close by the shuttle bus.

Hike Horseshoe lake moose were out daily the 3 days we were there. 4 beavers too.

we experienced same- NHT guests in the WAC and hotel also voiced sadness with not seeing much.

We did see moose, snowshoe hare, pika ,arctic ground squirrel, golden eagle, bald eagle, black & brown bears & cubs, trumpeter sawns, ptarmigans. No wolf - we got up an hour to early LOL! seemed like all the buses for 3-4 hours that am were able to see the wolves

in the river bed

wonderful day on the shuttle bus to wonder lake

just returned from cruise tour and this is such a challenging question to answer.

Me and my kids wore shorts, short sleeves and sandals, flip flops. Glacier bay & College Fjord- we put on lightweight jackets and gloves and light weight pants.

Everyones comfortable temp is so different. We had people next to us with winter coats, scarves, heavy gloves. Indoors we saw people with light weight jackets, pants, etc

best to take layers. Land tour was mostly warm- shorts daily. 60-80's

we just did southeast glacier ATV tour in July 2017. It was a rainy day with poor visibility. Much of this tour is for the amazing views and scenery so it was a bit of a let down for the significant cost. Visibility significantly diminished at the end of our tour- they run the tour rain or shine and if I would have been on the subsequent tour group I would have been even more disappointed. Tour guides were excellent. Service great. Box lunch was nice wrap, chips, cookies, water

Thank you for your reply.

 

So it is reasonable for me to let Princess take my bag with clothing & toiletries to my next destination and keep with me only essentials like meds, phone, binos, money, passport, maybe a snack bar, etc), basically things that I can carry in a purse. Doing so will not delay or inconvenience other members in my traveling party, correct? Thanks again!

It makes no difference to others in your party. you should take what you want/need. we just completed a connoisseur cruisetour with 37 people. bags ranged from all sizes. the issue is you may not get your other bags for several hours.

I had 3 large back packs for our family of 3. Other people had 21 inch carry on bags that they stored below the bus and as well the train placed with luggage on the train. we always had our bags at our feet or overhead in bus- my largest back pack was 21 x8x14. we had excursions planned within 30min to 2 hrs after arrival for 3 of our 4 stops so I needed snacks & rain gear, cameras with me and not in my meet me at next place tags.

we had one lost bag- still has not been found..... one damaged bag and a second lost bag that was later returned to us in Fairbanks. it had been delivered to an incorrect guest room and the guest was nice enough to bring us our bag since our room number was on the tag.

Take what you want and enjoy your land tour. DOnt worry about what your friends are doing.

agreed it was a quick walk. few shops along the way if you have time and nice scenery

We rented a car from Juneau car rental and Island princess docked at Franklin dock. If your cruise ship docks at AJ dock Juneau car rental is adjacent to dock in parking lot. Any other cruise ship dock the Avis on Mill St is actually a little closer walk. By car/taxi it is probably a negligible difference. Avis provides shuttle service though. For our trip Juneau car rental was half the price and served our needs. The cars are older though so if this is important to you- go with Avis. Service was great & efficient.

Star Princess- South America - Antarctica in 2010

Excellent weather, fabulous shore excursions. Falkland Islands, Antarctica, Ushuaia- all of it was simply wonderful

Took my 7 yr old son and left my 2 yr old twins home with my spouse- it was a great trip for just the 2 of us to spend time after 2 years of twins craziness at home :-)

trip would not have been what it was without cruise critic and the roll call. we booked at about 5 weeks out and the roll call was so kind and caring to catch me up on their years of planning.

only regret is that I didn't have a month off to go- would have loved to have gone to Iguazu falls

we are looking into an Alaskan cruise next year. There is a 12 day Princess Connoisseur tour. What is the benefits of taking a Connoisseur tour? It is $700-$800 more than the Non Connoisseur tour and I want to fully understand what value you get for the extra $.

Our other option is a Greek cruise out of Rome. Any comments are welcomed. Thank you.

you get 2-3 meals a day for the land portion and drinks and service charge are included. may have some tours included

Our cruise line is offering the following excursion for $110 per child and $180 per adult. Can you tell me if it's worth it? We really wanted to do the Raptor Center and Fortress of the Bear, and this is the only excursion that goes to both places. However, I won't book the excursion if it's possible to get to both places on our own. We'll be in port from 9-5.

 

Here is the excursion write up:

I can't recall what year it was and we have only been to fortress of the bears once- but I would have to rank it as probably my #1 WORST!!! of 50+ excursions in Alaska. It was muddy, smelly, the bears were in concrete pens and looked miserable. The rescue stories seemed ridiculous from the standpoint of looking at them in the pen thinking- this is what you call being rescued- not sure that they are better off.... maybe things have changed there but I was disappointed that we chose that over so many other options. raptor center and walk thru national park was nice- but sounds like that isn't an option. We also went fishing and out somewhere to see the puffins- it was a wonderful day on the water!

we have done many combinations-

train only

train and exit train at glacier station and hike to Laughton glacier

train and bus combo- caribou crossing twice

drive only

all have been fun days but my favorites have been Laughton glacier hike and train/bus combo.

Agree with above post- I would not want to miss the train ride for either Skagway or Seward to Anchorage- both are amazing and completely different scenery- so one train ride does not = another.

No matter what you choose - you will likely have a wonderful trip

I called Celebrity today. I should arrive by Rail to Talkeetna around 11am. So I called Talkeetna air taxi and booked a flightseeing trip.

I also found out that I can just forego my NHT in Denali and book a Denali tour independently if I want.

 

I know I want to go all the way into the park, just not sure who is best. My sister wants a narrated tour, not just a ride in. She doesn't want to miss out on the history of denali.

 

Charlie

all I can say is I have done both and I would book the shuttle bus. the bus drivers on my shuttle bus experiences have been great with narration.

if your sister will be concerned and is adamant just book the tour but I would not be ok with TWT- sounds like they aren't going far enough into the park for my preference- we wanted wonder lake minimum. If she wants narration at the expense of depth into the park I think thats not an optimal choice and unfortunate but we all just have to do what makes each of us happy :)

Cluffsb - I don't have exact times either. That is why i'm asking questions and trying to figure out how everyone else can seem to book independently and get the good times.

i'm just trying to get to do all the things i want and not miss out.

 

tamsocal - thank you. I am curious if i can just skip day 4 on the cruisetour and do my own thing and book the bus or tour I want into Denali?

 

I want to do the flightseeing on day 2. I'm going to call and see if I can do that independently as well before I leave.

Feeling rushed as my trip starts 7/23.

 

Charlie

do you know if you are traveling via rail the first segment? anchorage to talkeetna

Cluffsb - I don't have exact times either. That is why i'm asking questions and trying to figure out how everyone else can seem to book independently and get the good times.

i'm just trying to get to do all the things i want and not miss out.

 

tamsocal - thank you. I am curious if i can just skip day 4 on the cruisetour and do my own thing and book the bus or tour I want into Denali?

 

I want to do the flightseeing on day 2. I'm going to call and see if I can do that independently as well before I leave.

Feeling rushed as my trip starts 7/23.

 

Charlie

yes you can skip NHT on day 4 - won't effect anything negatively for you- just tell your tour guide in advance so they aren't looking for you or waiting.

I would book soon- the tours and buses look limited

feeling rushed.... I am on a 7 day count down LOL

we made ours in the photo department as well- in fact still have it hanging up in the house. :)

Really depends on your tolerance for cold temps. Mine is low.

 

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exactly!

we were in shorts and short sleeve shirts while cruising in South America/Antarctica :)

my cabin can never typically be too cold