Eileen G

Our first port was Ketchikan and we arrived at 6AM. We took our time at breakfast since our excursion wasn’t until 11:30. We did some shopping at the Tongas store which has some great prices. If you need a lined raincoat they have a really nice on for $24.95 with a coupon in a booklet at the door entrance for $19.99. We took our purchases back to the ship then set out to explore the town.

We booked a private excursion to the George Inlet Crab Feast which we did 5 years ago. This one was just the crab feast so it was much cheaper than going through the ship with the add ons. We met the driver at the statue by the visitors center at 11:30 and took the 20 minute drive to the lodge. Our driver told about the area and herself. The crab feast was better than we remembered. Although it ruined eating king crab and lobster on the ship because they weren’t near as good. The van driver dropped us at the ship when we were done. We sailed out at 3 and enjoyed the scenery leaving Ketchikan.

We went to the front door Of the Pan Pacific Hotel and asked the doorman where we could board the ship. We were directed to conference room C and after a long walk down a hallway we found where we were to check in. The room was almost empty so check in was a breeze. Then down stairs to immigration. There were two lines. One was for US citizens and was pretty short. The other was for everyone else and much longer. I really thought most people missed the US line. They had the automated machines again so immigration was pretty easy.

We were on board by 1 and dropped off our luggage and had lunch. Our life boat drill was in the Universe Lounge so we had a comfortable place to sit. We spent sail out on the forward deck on the Carib deck. There is a forward deck on the Baja deck too. This is a great place to out the front of the ship. It was a beautiful sail away. The evening show was just a comedian that wasn’t very good.

The next day was a sea day and the weather wasn’t great but there were plenty of on board activities. We had our M&G at 10 in Crooners lounge. There weren’t many of us and that worked fine. There was a port at the same time but we all choose to miss it. Our naturalist had a talk at 11 and there was a lumberjack who had a very nice presentation at 1 that was real good. This was formal night and most people were dressed nice. I had my little black dress and DH had a long sleeve dress shirt. This was the first production show The Secret Silk.

We drove up to the Clevaland Dam and fish hatchery. It was a beautiful day so we took some really nice pictures. We also took a nice short loop hike near the fish hatchery. We stopped at our hotel to collect our luggage and stopped at Stanley park on the way to the port. We dropped our luggage off at the ship then returned our rental car a few blocks away. It was an easy walk back to the ship.

We just returned from a wonderful cruise from Vancouver to Whittier with 5 days post cruise. DH and I are in our 60's and this is my 5th Alaska cruise. Our last Alaska cruise was on the Coral southbound in 2015. We have also rented an RV in Anchorage twice, exploring The Kenai peninsula and driving the loop up to Fairbanks.

Left Orlando flying United from Orlando to Chicago to Vancouver and arrived at 12:30. Immigration wasn’t too bad they have automated machines that you swipe your passport and answer a few questions. We rented a car from Avis with return downtown. We stopped at Queen Elizabeth Gardens and saw lots of tulips and rhododendron.  It was raining a little but we just put on our rain jackets and walked through the gardens. We couldn’t see the view of town or the mountains. We also drove through Stanley Park on the way to our motel.

We stayed in North Vancouver so we wouldn’t have a problem parking the car and have to deal with a lot of traffic. We had dinner at C Lovers fish and chips which was right down the road from our motel. In the morning we were up early so we had breakfast and stopped at a waterfront park to see the Coral. To our surprise she was just arriving and we got to see her dock at 7AM. The Volendam followed right after her.

We just spent the day in Fairbanks and here is what we did. We rented a car and drove out the Chena Hot Springs road to hike to Angel Rocks. After the hike we continued to the end of the road to the hot springs just to look around. Since it was Memorial Day weekend it was really crowded. When we returned to Fairbanks we stopped at the Morris Thompson cultural and visitors center. This place was a great place to learn about the history and people of Fairbanks. It had some really neat exhibits and tons of maps and brochures. There were some informational movies too. We really enjoyed it and wished we had stopped by earlier. 

Yes that is correct. Juneau night had a great menu and it was not formal night. Glacier Bay is formal night with beef wellington and lobster. However after going to the dungeness crab feast in Ketchikan the king crab legs were a disappointment. 

5 hours ago, 1emerald1 said:

How long was the bus ride to Anchorage?

The ride is 1 and a half hours but the buses can't leave until on the hour to go through the tunnel. So even thought we had to meet at 7:10 in the Explorers Lounge our bus didn't go through the tunnel until 8. We arrived at the airport at 9:30.  

2 hours ago, XBGuy said:

 

It's entirely possible that the lint filter clogged.  I've had to clean some pretty thoroughly clogged filters before hitting the "Go" button on the dryer.

That is very likely. When we did laundry last week on the Coral the dryer dried the close fine with one cycle. The load with jeans and other heavy clothes was slightly damp but only a few things needed to put spread out in the cabin.

Here are the debarkation groups and times. 

We were on the Coral last week north bound and the Crab Shack was on the Skagway night. Here are the menus. They are in order starting with the first night.

If there was a Chris Stone item it was always at the very bottom of the menu. I didn't even see them the first few nights.

5 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I set my phone alarm to five minutes before the expected finish time so usually get back to the laundry just before, or as, the machine finishes.

This is the perfect solution. If everyone hung out in the laundry room it will get mighty crowded. I have found that the Plaza deck is often empty as there are not a lot of rooms on that deck. We usually put our laundry in on the way to breakfast on a day we don't need to get off early.

Are you talking about the George Inlet crab feast in Ketchikan. We were there last week and they had chicken as an alternative. 

We just had a great day in Skagway using the Smart buses. It is $2 a ride or $5 for all day. We did two ranger led walks in the morning then road the Smart Bus back to the ship for lunch. We returned to town and took the Smart Bus to the Cemetery and Ried Falls. We recognized some of the names in the cemetery because we learned about them during the ranger talks. We also saw the huge boulder that was painted gold and claimed to be the world's largest gold nugget next to the grave of the man who painted it. The buses to the edge of town run every 30 minutes and the buses to the ships at the railroad dock run about every 10 minutes.

It is very easy to get off the ship. there is no immigration or customs to worry about. Just go to the service desk and ask for a color that matches the time  for independent travelers around 8 to be safe. Most of the luggage is put on trucks and sent to the airport and placed in a secure holding room if you are on a Princess shuttle so there is very little luggage to look through. We were told the night before that we would be in Whittier at 12:30AM but we didn't get to the dock until 6 AM. 

Just got off the Coral Princess this morning and thought I'd share our experience. We decided to do the Princess transfer since we had a lot of OBC. It is $54 pp and buses leave all morning depending on what time flights are or where you are going. We had red 3 because we were going to the airport to rent a car. Our meeting time was 7:05 in the explorers lounge and they left right on time. There is no immigration or customs so you just walk out as a group. The luggage is sent to the airport by truck so you don't need to find it and get it on the bus. The buses need to go through the tunnel on the top of the hour. Since we had a lot of time our driver gave us a tour of Whittier. He was great and talked the whole way to Anchorage. It was like an additional excursion.

The luggage is put in a secure room at the airport and you don't need to pick it up until 7PM if you have a late flight. We rented a car for the day as our flight was at 8PM. We were able to leave our larger suitcases at the airport and not worry about having them in a rental car all day. You need your cruise card and picture ID to pick up your luggage. I was very pleased with the transfer as it was worry free. When you get off the ship in Whittier you do need some kind of prearranged transportation to Anchorage as there are no taxis.

I am on the Coral north bound and will post them when I get home.

12 minutes ago, cycruise2day said:

Thanks for the input! I think we'll scrap the Seward option; what you both say makes sense on that point. I'm looking into the other suggestions. We might do a flightseeing in Talkeetna, or one of the other options.

 

I love hiking, but my dad is less able there, and sisters slightly less than me. But as you say, Dad could relax while we do a short hike somewhere of a few miles. Dad likes history a lot. I'm a geology major, so I like science and the outdoors. We're all flexible. 

If your dad is a history buff you should go to the Independence Mine. The views from up there are stunning and the mining town is really neat.

It probably has to do with the times of the tides. Most of that inner passage is done in the middle of the night. By the time you get up in the morning you are in Queen Charlotte Sound with land in the distance. It will be a beautiful ride around Victoria. The important part is the return to Vancouver when you spend the last sea day going between Vancouver Island and the main land. 

Wow that's great to see an orca right off the bat. Anxious to hear about embarkation and sail away as we will be leaving on Wednesday on the Coral Princess. 

We were planning to go to Stanley Park after we arrived around 2 on our way to our motel but maybe we will stop at Queen Elizabeth garden instead since we have never been there.  We will have our luggage in the car trunk so I think it would be safer to pay to park in the lot. I see it is $3.50 an hour do we need CDA money to pay? I also read that it is free near the tennis courts and we wouldn't need to watch the clock to be sure our time didn't run out but is that worth the extra walk? 

We have been to Stanley Park a few times but always love to go back. We can always go Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning since it is right near our motel.

Thank for the info. We will change our plans a little. We will just leave our luggage at the hotel and go back and get it. Check out time is 11 so we can just head to Canada Place. Since we will still be on EST we will be up early and should have time for a little hiking.

We will be spending one night pre-cruise in North Vancouver and will have a rental car. We have been to Vancouver several times so we have done a lot of the tourist stuff. We will be sailing out on 5/15 on the Coral Princess. In the morning we will go to Cleveland Dam and hike around a bit. We might also hike to Quarry rock. From North Vancouver which would be the easier way to get to Canada Place, route 1 then Hastings from the east or through Stanley park. We plan on dropping the luggage at the ship then returning the car to Avis and walk from there.

When we took the shuttle 5 years ago the buses left on the hour, 12-4, so they would be in time for the tunnel. So if you plan on the one oclock bus make sure you are there a little early as they leave right on time.

2 minutes ago, masterdrago said:

If I were a gambling man, DW will be totally underwhelmed by the Bore Tide and will give me a hard time for eating up gas and time😟

Yes she probably will. You should really consider spending the first night in Wasilla and the second day exploring the area around Palmer, Matanuska Glacier and Independence Mine. There are just so many wonderful places to see and the Bore tide is just OK if you happen to be in the area at the right time. You are spending too much time backtracking. I don't think you have a good grasp on how long it takes to get between places.

Just want to be clear on a few things. On day one you arrive in Anchorage and stay at Lakefront. Are you going to drive all the way to Wasilla just for dinner and then back to Anchorage? Also on day two you are going to Bird Point to see the boar tide which is in the opposite direction from the rest of the day. I've seen a bore tide and it's not worth that much backtracking especially when you will be driving right past Bird point when you go to Alyeska. Bird point is definitely worth a stop though.