bluewater1298

Has Avis moved their office in Skagway? Their website shows it at Sgt. Preston's Lodge on 6th St, not the location everyone has mentioned on CC.

Just did a google search and it looks like they change to the 3rd street location for the cruise season. They have two different addresses - one for winter and one for summer. http://www.avisalaska.com/locations/skagway/ There was nothing on my email conformation that stated that. It has the 6th street location. Glad I'm double checking everything.

I just noticed that Avis in Skagway opens at 7:00 am now instead of 8:00. I made a change to our reservation. This works out perfect for us! Glad our ship arrives early!

Thanks again Budget Queen! I'm not sure I would have noticed the change without your comment.

Thanks DougH! That is what we are hoping for. Beat the crowds and hopefully see some wildlife along the roadside.

Budget Queen - Thanks for the directions and the hotel name. I made our reservations last summer. I have Goldbelt Hotel on our reservation. I went to the Avis website and saw it is Rivergold Hotel now. Thanks for letting me know.

Our reservation location in Skagway is Sgt. Prestons Lodge, AK8 on 370 6th Street. I checked their website and it's still showing that location. Do you think this is right? Thanks for your help.

We have reserved a rental car in Skagway for pick-up at 8:00 am when they open. We are on the Coral and it docks at 5:30 am. We will be docking at the Railroad Forward dock. There are three other ships that arrive at 7:00 am. What time should we be in line at the Avis office to get our car? How long is the walk to their office?

We also have a car reserved in Juneau with Avis at the Goldbelt Hotel for an 8:00 am pick-up. We arrive at 6:30 am at the A.J. Dock. What time should we be there and how much time will it take us to walk there?

Thanks for any advice. We want to get our car in both places and be on our way before the crowds arrive.

Thanks for the replies. I didn't know about the crime rate. I actually reserved the car 9 months ago ($50 total and then sharing with another couple). At that time our flight left the next morning. Original plan was to get rental, take luggage to hotel and then go sightseeing. Airline changed our flight times so much that we had to change to leave on Sat. We thought even for the few hours we had, it was cheaper to keep the rental and we would have more flexibility.

Thanks! You have given us more to think about. We will arrive May 28th. Rental is not paid for so we can cancel anytime.

Thanks! You're right. There probably will be a big traffic jam around the terminal.

Just curious if anyone has rented from Avis. I read that the cars are located in a hotel parking garage below. I wondered if we could get the keys to the vehicle, put our luggage in it and then walk around town for awhile. I would definitely ask before doing so, but just wondered if it was possible.

We are arriving on a Saturday and I read that all public parking garages in downtown are $10 for the day on the weekends. There are a few close by that we could go to if we can't leave it where it is. It's no big deal about moving it, just curious if it could be left for an hour or so.

We haven't made definite plans yet. We talked about going to Stanley Park as well. Our plane leaves at 5:00 PM.

Thanks so much for the replies! I didn't know they had a shuttle. We can send one person ahead and the other three can wait on the shuttle or if it's a nice day wait outside the terminal. I did look at the rental agencies at the cruise terminal but the price was a lot more for an airport drop-off. Glad to know Avis has a shuttle. Thanks again!

We have a rental car reserved with Avis on Hornby St after our cruise. On the map it looks like a .05 mile walk. Would this be difficult with luggage? There are four of us, so we could send one for the car while the others wait with our luggage. Is there a good place to wait? Depending on how long it takes at Avis, it could be awhile before they return with the car.

Anyone done this before? Just curious which is the best way.

E736 was what I was hoping for and more. The views were beyond amazing. We would often rush outside when we were in the cabin and would hear the naturalist mention wildlife on the port side - we were able to see all the way aft until they disappeared from view. Binoculars and a long zoom camera are a must!

I would love to see pictures of this cabin. And also would like to know how big the balcony is. It looks like it may be smaller than others. If you have any pictures, my email is chanderj @ bellsouth. net

Have you thought of renting a car? We will be arriving from our cruise on a Sat and have a 6:00 am flight on Sun. I booked a car with Avis. We will pick up in downtown and drop off at the airport. It was $50 CAD total for a mid-size. This way we are on our own schedule and can explore wherever we want. We have a hotel room booked close to the airport. You may not want to drive, but we enjoy the freedom of having a vehicle.

Thank you for reading along. I had hoped to have my final review up and posted by now but like so often, life intervened.

 

E736 was what I was hoping for and more. The views were beyond amazing. We would often rush outside when we were in the cabin and would hear the naturalist mention wildlife on the port side - we were able to see all the way aft until they disappeared from view. Binoculars and a long zoom camera are a must!

 

There were very few people who went out on the rear viewing deck, but yes, we often would walk out and find folks standing right at the corner of our balcony. It was not an issue for us - we are naturally outgoing people and soon made friends with the regulars. We took a cue from another couple and took our balcony chairs out to the back deck on some of the sea days. The sun was shining on us and the experience was magnificent!

 

There were mild vibrations at times but it never woke us up or ever really disturbed us. We never heard anything from the Universe Lounge below.

 

I have lots of photos (of the cabin as well) and will be posting a full review. We are on the road traveling right now so it won't be until the next week or two. I am hoping that uploading photos is more intuitive than in the past. I have tried before and failed so I may have to do some more research on these boards!

Would love to see pictures of your cabin if you have time to post them

Enjoyed reading your post. I was wondering if you liked your cabin. Any noise or vibrations? We are booked in E736 on the Coral southbound next May. Would love to hear about your cruise! And any pictures of your cabin. Thanks!

There are also trip reports posted under TOP Questions in the Alaska forum of tripadvisor. Several years worth. Also under Top Questions is a RESOURCE THREAD with useful web sites for people planning land trips.

Thanks again! I really enjoyed JozieRhodes report. We are thinking about getting an RV. I will begin looking more in that area when I can actually make reservations.

Yes, thanks for reminding me. I love tripadvisor forums. I use them for all our trips. Not sure why I haven't thought of looking on their site before now. I guess because I'm more interested in the cruise part right now (since it's the only thing I can book) and Cruise Critic is the best site for planning a cruise.

Thank you for all the time you take to answer questions and help people with their vacations. It is very much appreciated!

My $0.02: Stop worrying about whether you're taking the perfect trip; that's pretty much a guarantee you'll be dissatisfied no matter what you're doing.

 

Alaska has wonders no matter how you do it.

I’m an obsessive planner and can’t help it. This will be our only Alaska trip and there are too many choices. But once I do make a decision I will forget about the other choices and never look back. I know it will be a great trip. I’m always like this when it comes to planning. Even though I struggle with decisions, I always enjoy our trips.

You're going to be fine! Enjoy your cruise!:)

Thank you for your thoughts. I know I will enjoy it. I need to read more about the land part. Sounds crazy but I love to plan a trip as much as I love going on one. Thank you again.

Have you looked at trip reports from last summer ... in a STICKY near the top of the page? Just as many people rave about NB cruises, primarily because the scenery continues to get more beautiful as you head north, and the daylight hours increase.

 

Are you planning a cruisetour or DIY for the land? If it's a cruisetour, be sure you have enough time at Denali to get INTO the park. Those short cruisetours only allow enough time for the Natural History Tour which goes to mile 17 of the 100 available miles of park road.

The land tour will be DIY (at least 7 days). Thanks for pointing out the Sticky. I have spent the last couple of days reading them. I really appreciate your help.

What is the reason for your "second thoughts"? EVERY Alaska trip is a compromise. Depends what compromises you want select?

 

Without giving any indication "why", =based totally on the itinerary- getting INTO Denali Park is significant, with my minimum being Eielson. It is that good to get at least that far.

 

I find it the "value" of an Alaska trip. Denali Park is a large investment in time, just to get there, so, I feel the balance of time with the transit and activities is important. Reason, why I will label some itineraries, as "poor planning" and pretty worthless, since the round trip Anchorage time is at least 10 hours. :)

 

I have cruised both directions repeatedly.

Thank you for your thoughts on Denali. I have read a lot of your post and I value your opinion. You should write a book on an Alaska Cruise. Do you have trip reports posted?

You are right about compromise. Reason for the second thoughts - seeing Hubbard and all the changes to the Coral (losing some of the viewing decks).

To give you more insight - I have never been on anything like an Alaska cruise, so I guess that is why I am so focused on the cruise part. I have seen a lot of beautiful mountain ranges in America and Europe, which I loved every minute of. Never seen Alaska. Not sure how it will compare to the Canadian Rockies and the Swiss Alps, but I know I will love it for it's own beauty and uniqueness. I just feel like the cruise part will be more fascinating to me, but maybe not.

We are currently booked on NorthBound Coral Princess May 28, 2016. Now I’m not sure about our decision. After reading all the great reviews about SouthBound cruises, I have thought about changing to Star Princess SB May 28, 2016. We can’t change the dates because it works best with everyone going. I’m the researcher of the group, so no one really has an opinion about which one.

Here is the dilemma - If we decide to do the SB, we would go to Denali before June 1 and not be able to do the Eielson Visitor Center shuttle. We could only do the Toklat River shuttle. Also, NB goes to College Fjords and SB goes to Hubbard Glacier. All other ports are the same and times don’t effect shore excursions. Since this is our first Alaska cruise, I'm not sure which I would rather do.

So please, I need opinions from experienced Alaska cruisers -

Would you do the SB over going further into Denali?

College Fjords vs Hubbard Glacier?

Coral Princess(after changes) vs Star Princess? Or possibly another cruise line?

Any thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated. I know everyone will have different opinions, but it will help to compare. Thanks for your help!

What a great thread!

We are sailing June 2016 on the Coral - first Alaska cruise.

May 28 Vancouver 4:30PM

May 29 At Sea

May 30 Ketchikan 6:30AM - 2:00PM

May 31 Juneau 8:00AM - 9:00PM

Jun 01 Skagway 7:00AM - 8:30PM

Jun 02 Glacier Bay 6:00AM - 3:00PM

Jun 03 College Fjord 6:00PM - 8:30PM

Jun 04 Whittier 12:30AM

Budget Queen,

We have basically the same itinerary as OP. Thanks for all your information. I want to be out seeing as much wildlife and scenery as possible. I will probably spend the next year researching everything. Your information is great! I like the idea of the lower deck. We have a balcony on the emerald deck and plan to use the aft and promenade deck a lot.

I have no problem being up early. I'm an early riser. My concern is the late evenings. When do you sleep? With so much daylight, is there any down time?

Thanks again for all the replies. I'm still undecided about which cabin. And now I'm not sure about the Coral because of all the changes. I thought about the Star Princess or one of the Holland America ships.

The reason I started looking at the Star was because of a video posted of an aft balcony. I think I would like to have an aft. Not sure about the Coral aft since it will be new next year. The reason for not liking the Star is for the chopped up top deck. But then someone posted the Coral was about the same.

Any opinions about Princess's top decks?

I know I need to quit waffling and make up my mind. Thanks again for all the information everyone has provided!:)

Just went back to the Princess website and the sold out rooms are now available. Must be a glitch in their system.

Thank you for all the replies! I have been on the Princess site and I'm blown away by how fast rooms are being booked. It doesn't make since that a whole section can get booked in less than an hour. (the time I have been looking)

We decided on Coral Princess (balcony) for June 11, 2016. I can't decide on forward or aft. Also can't decide between the lower decks (Emerald or Promenade aft) or middle (dolphin or caribe). While I was looking at all the different options - the dolphin or caribe forward cabins completely sold out.:confused:

It looks like the promenade aft balcony cabins will be a new addition. They were completely sold out when I first began looking and now there are some available. Anyone think this would be a good spot?

A question about Coral Princess - Is the top deck all one level? It looks like it is from their deck plan, but I'm not sure if it goes straight across. Our only experience with Princess was with CB and we didn't care much for the way the top deck was chopped up (going up and down stairs to get from one end to the other).

One more question - I had a Princess representative call me today to ask if he could assist me with booking a cruise. He gave me a direct number to call him. Any advantage to having a Princess Rep booking it vs booking online?

Sorry for so many questions. Thank you again for all your info!!! It is really appreciated!

Before my questions, I just have to thank this forum for all the wonderful information you are so willing to give. We took our first Princess cruise back in December and this forum helped so much in our planning. Although I never posted a question about Princess, I learned so much from just searching my questions and reading the different posts on this site.

Sorry to say, I don't have as much time to research right now, so here are my questions:

1. Which is the best Princess ship for viewing Alaska?

(We are not too concerned with the interior of the ship - just good viewing decks)

2. Which is the best cabin to get?

(Balcony or mini-suite and best location)

3. Is June a good time of the year to go?

(Best time for us, but we could go in Aug if it's a better cruise for viewing)

4. This would be for 2016. If we book now and the price drops, can we get the lower price? Does it get lower than the just released prices?

I would appreciate any opinions, comments and advice of past Alaska cruisers.:)

While I won't be able to have my pictures or review up before you leave (we just returned today a few hours ago and I have over 3500 pictures downloading at the moment)...just know THIS PLACE IS BEAUTIFUL AND WELL WORTH THE TRIP!!!!!!!!!!!! It was one of our best days and I'm so happy that we chose to go here.

 

 

ALSO....TAKE NOTE...it is FREE to go here and use the beach. Just eat (great food) and drink and they will be happy!! Wifi is free too.

 

They only charge the day pass if you want to include canoes, bikes and stuff like that.

 

110% satisfied with this place and the water and the beach was so beautiful and amazing there. I couldn't believe it was actually on the malecon and such a different experience and feeling from our trip before to Nohoch Kay and the shallow-seaweed water.

 

Have a wonderful time if you go!!!! :)

Glad to hear you had a great time. I have read all of your reviews for Costa Maya and had decided on Almaplena because we wanted a place with clear blue water. How does Blue Kay compare? Is it crowded? Can you snorkel off the beach? We sail in three weeks and I have already gave a deposit for Almaplena. Just curious how it compares. Thanks for any opinions.

Also, want to thank you for all of your detailed reviews. It has helped so much in learning more about the different ports.