karen_g

I will be taking the "small boat tour" up Tracy Arm Fjord (straight from the cruise ship) at the end of June. Are whales usually spotted in this area or No? Just wondering...

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Excellent review, Barb! Thanks for all the details. I have enjoyed "traveling along" with you and am now counting down to my own adventure (just over a month)!

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Thanks for letting me know.

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I'm lovIng this review too! I am on the June 26th cruise and can't wait. A question about "Puppies in the Piazza": what time of day was this event held and how long did it last?

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They brought them in for about an hour...2 of them 8 weeks old. People lining up to hold for pictures. I was not thrilled to watch the pusppies handled by everybody for over an hour. They got exhausted.

This makes me a little nervous. I'm a huge animal lover, so would be excited to pet happy little puppies, but I don't want to see them stressed out. I'll have to think about whether or not I want to participate. Out of curiosity, what time of day were they aboard? Thanks for your info.

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If they have "Puppies in the Piazza" on your cruise, the dogs will come to you!

What are Puppies in the Piazza??? More details please!!! Will I be able to pet them?

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Thanks. [emoji3]

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I would also recommend using Chilkoot for their early bus up train down....that gave us the rest of the afternoon.

Any advantage to doing the bus portion first? Or does it matter? Just curious.

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Thanks everyone for your opinions. I am now thinking I will do a train & bus combo. Seems like that is a good way to see as much as possible in the half-day that I have available.

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When we stop in Skagway this June, I would like to take a half-day excursion involving a ride on the WP & YR railroad. I want to do another excursion for the other half-day (helicopter), so I am interested in the the White Pass Summit excursion.

I am torn between doing the whole round-trip on the train, or else riding the train up and then coming back by bus.

Any thoughts on which is better?

Yes, I think so. I'll look at areas other than excursions to trim costs. Thanks to everyone for giving me good ideas.

Excellent tips. Thank you!

Thanks everyone for your comments. Maybe I'll try to figure out some way to be able to do all 3 since this is likely a one-time-only Alaska trip. Also, I appreciate your advice about having back-up plans for flight/helicopter excursions in case of bad weather. And I haven't even started thinking about hotels yet - ack!! Better get on that!

Everything I want to do on my June Alaska cruise is expensive (no surprise there). In an effort to trim costs, I would like to rule out one of the following 3 excursions. For those who have done all 3, perhaps you can give me advice on which of these 3 was your least favorite (I know they are all good!).

A) Misty Fjords Flightseeing with Island Wings out of Ketchikan

B) Helicopter Flightseeing & glacier landing from Juneau

C) Tracy Arm small boat excursion

Any thoughts/opinions?

Cool, thanks.

So, I booked an Alaska cruise a couple of weeks ago for June 2016. For the first time ever, I decided to use a travel agent that I found online. Do I just call the travel agent on Dec 10th and ask her about this sale? Since I've never used a travel agent before, I'm not sure how to proceed...

Ok, thanks for the info!

Can specialty restaurants be booked before embarkation? If so, how far in advance can they be booked? My cruise is not till June of 2016, but I can't see anything on the Princess website or on the "cruise personalizer" about this topic. Thanks for any info.

I know, I know, it's been asked a million times. But please indulge me...

We just had to change the week of our 2016 Alaska sailing, so it's time to re-select a cabin. We like the fully-covered mini-suites on Emerald deck at the aft of the ship. Our choices: Cabin E731 - the furthest aft cabin on the starboard side (with an extra-long balcony), *or* Cabin E728 - a few cabins from the end on the port side (with a regular-size balcony).

Since this itinerary is 7 days roundtrip Seattle, it is my understanding that the ship goes outside of Vancouver Island on its way north (not much to see from either side). But on the return we will be stopping at Victoria. As we approach Victoria, will we have a much better view from the port side?

Also, this itinerary goes to Tracy Arm, not Glacier Bay (so I don't think side of ship matters for that either).

Anything else to consider? Thanks again for your always knowledgeable replies!

Karen :)

I like hearing about the time to walk around in Bennett and the better lunch. Hmmmm,. Decisions, decisions! I'm actually leaning towards Bennett now. Thanks for your opinions!

Tony, your videos are amazing! Thank you so much for sharing.

And BudgetQueen, thanks for the excellent about getting in line early and sitting in the front of the car for more legroom!

Karen

I am having a very hard time deciding upon 2 different bus & rail combo journeys in Skagway (through Chilkoot Charters).

Option 1) Yukon Bus & Rail Excursion: 7.5 hours total time, train goes as far as Frasier, lunch at Caribou Crossing. Approx 1 3/4 hours by train, return by bus, stopping at Emerald lake along the way.

OR

Option 2) Bennett Scenic Journey: 8 hours total time, lunch at Lake Bennett. Train goes as far as Carcross. Approx 4 hours by train. Return by bus, stopping at Emerald Lake on the way.

We are most interested in viewing scenery, and maybe the opportunity to walk around in said scenery for a little bit. Am also tempted by the opportunity to pet husky puppies at Caribou Crossing on the Yukon trip! (Don't care about the cart ride tho).

Price difference is not an issue and 30 minute difference in tour lengths is not an issue. What MIGHT be an issue is that my husband is 6'5" tall and I am wondering about the relative comfort of more train time vs more bus time.

Ok, you now have all the info. Please help me decide! Thanks so much. : )

Thanks so much. That's what I really wanted to know. Didn't want to forgo doing it in Juneau if it were vastly superior to Skagway.

And Newbie_mke, thanks for the tip about Alaskan Icefield Expeditions and making a booking for early in the day.

Would you say that the glacier viewing and landing experience is about the same in both Juneau and Skagway?

When we go on our Alaska cruise, my husband and I would definitely like to do a helicopter glacier-viewing excursion with a landing: No dog sledding, just a glacier landing and short look-around.

The "pilot's choice" tour with 2 glacier landings in Juneau sounds really excellent! Problem is, there are so many other things we'd like to do in Juneau that I'm wondering if there is another ** equally-good ** port for our helicopter glacier viewing. Our other ports are: Ketchikan and Skagway.

If anyone is familiar with helicopter glacier tours in several ports, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks.