Prince William Sound Tour and Princess Ultimate Balcony Dining conflict?

[Travel_Maven]

My husband and I would like to do a PWS tour the day we board our Princess Cruise. We have to be on the ship by 7:00pm and the PWS Cruise doesn't end until 5:00pm. We also want to sign up for the Ultimate Balcony Dining on the ship and it is first come - first serve and we are worried we won't get the night and time we want due to the late check-in. Princess did allow me to book a reservation but would not confirm any day or time. They just said there would be a card in our room when we board to tell us to call and reserve our our time. Any comments or suggestions on this?? Thanks!

[PennyAgain]

Ultimate Dining on your balcony in Alaska may be cold and windy. When are you cruising?

[ellbon]

since when did one have to sign up for that. i thought only the chef's table you pre signed up..

[Travel_Maven]

We are traveling the end of June. If the weather isn't great, we can eat inside.

[Chenega]

Well, I wouldn't pass up a chance to tour Prince William Sound. Just my opinion.

[luvlake]

Well, I wouldn't pass up a chance to tour Prince William Sound. Just my opinion.

 

I agree, it was a wonderful tour!:)

[CruisingGoddess]

My husband and I would like to do a PWS tour the day we board our Princess Cruise. We have to be on the ship by 7:00pm and the PWS Cruise doesn't end until 5:00pm. We also want to sign up for the Ultimate Balcony Dining on the ship and it is first come - first serve and we are worried we won't get the night and time we want due to the late check-in. Princess did allow me to book a reservation but would not confirm any day or time. They just said there would be a card in our room when we board to tell us to call and reserve our our time. Any comments or suggestions on this?? Thanks!

 

I want to do both too but I'm not going to miss the PWS cruise to have Ultimate Balcony Dining. The best thing to do is have a backup date/time if the one you want is full or just don't do it.

 

As PennyAgain said, it might be too cold for UBD. You'll have a better idea once you get there.

[CALMOM]

The Ultimate Balcony Dining is available to anyone and everyone. If I remember correctly, Princess offered a special in Glacier & Hubbard Glacier days for the Ultimate Balcony Dining but it will be a little windy and nippy regardless of when your sailing. The food is incredible and so much food, well worth the price.

[Travel_Maven]

I agree with most of you. I don't want to miss a PWS cruise or UBD(even if inside(we have a mini-suite). We will be on a Kenai Cruise the day before but don't know when we will be back in Alaska...so want to take advantage of all opportunities to see as much as we can. We have reserved an UBD experience and will just take our chances on selecting a day and time when we board. Hopefully this will be a win-win situation! I've posted another thread about how to best get to Whittier in time for a cruise. Thanks everyone! :)

[kennicott]

Interesting, this post. As we just did balcony dining on Star Princess one week and one day ago. South America, Antarctica, Buenos Aires. We really enjoyed it. Lobster. Tried to talk my wife into doing this every night. She didn’t buy it.

 

Anyway, you anguish over the end of June, in Port Wells, (College Fiord is in Port Wells), not to worry. I know that area, I was born and raised there, in Cordova, flew bush commercial aircraft for a living on the Sound for years, even commercial fished red salmon (drift net) in Port Wells.

 

So I chuckle when I see comments here, re. wind, rain, cold, etc. Usually at, the time of year, that portion of Prince William Sound is very nice and sunny. Don’t get me into an argument over the rainfall in Whittier here, as Whittier is not Port Wells. Any rate, growing up in Cordova, when the kids came back across the Sound from Port Wells after a Red season, they were usually tanned. I can remember flying for the boats fishing there when the children were diving into the water off masts. It is like the south seas of Prince William Sound.

 

When I fished there, families who were smart, had BBQs on their decks and lawn chairs.

 

So, go for it. The trick is to get reservations for the balcony dinners though.

 

We waited too long and the night we wanted was booked out. Fortunately, we got the next night and as it turned out the weather was really nice, and much better than the night we originally preferred, the day before it had been foggy with thunderstorms and rain. Our waiters told us a lot of folks had cancelled out the night before.

 

That would not have been a big deal for us though, since we were on the Caribe Deck with a regular cabin patio, except, on that deck, the patios were twice as large as those on the rest of the decks, having half their area under an overhang.

 

Anyway, no question about it, book now. Enjoy

[Travel_Maven]

Interesting, this post. As we just did balcony dining on Star Princess one week and one day ago. South America, Antarctica, Buenos Aires. We really enjoyed it. Lobster. Tried to talk my wife into doing this every night. She didn’t buy it.

 

Anyway, you anguish over the end of June, in Port Wells, (College Fiord is in Port Wells), not to worry. I know that area, I was born and raised there, in Cordova, flew bush commercial aircraft for a living on the Sound for years, even commercial fished red salmon (drift net) in Port Wells.

 

So I chuckle when I see comments here, re. wind, rain, cold, etc. Usually at, the time of year, that portion of Prince William Sound is very nice and sunny. Don’t get me into an argument over the rainfall in Whittier here, as Whittier is not Port Wells. Any rate, growing up in Cordova, when the kids came back across the Sound from Port Wells after a Red season, they were usually tanned. I can remember flying for the boats fishing there when the children were diving into the water off masts. It is like the south seas of Prince William Sound.

 

When I fished there, families who were smart, had BBQs on their decks and lawn chairs.

 

So, go for it. The trick is to get reservations for the balcony dinners though.

 

We waited too long and the night we wanted was booked out. Fortunately, we got the next night and as it turned out the weather was really nice, and much better than the night we originally preferred, the day before it had been foggy with thunderstorms and rain. Our waiters told us a lot of folks had cancelled out the night before.

 

That would not have been a big deal for us though, since we were on the Caribe Deck with a regular cabin patio, except, on that deck, the patios were twice as large as those on the rest of the decks, having half their area under an overhang.

 

Anyway, no question about it, book now. Enjoy

 

 

Thanks a bunch Kennicott! It's nice to hear from a local! :)

 

I think we have just about gotten it figured out...Cancel our Princess Transfer and take train from Anchorage and do PWS. I finally got confirmation from RR yesterday that train (actually Princess truck will pick up the luggage at the depot) will take luggage to ship and we can do PWS tour. Then we will just take our chances on scheduling our UBD day and time since I have pre-reserved one. I think we have a couple of opportunities to do UBD during the cruise. Hope the weather is great but will take whatever comes...after all, we will be in ALASKA!

[EnglandHolidayGirl]

Ok, so what is Ultimate Balcony Dining? and how does it differ from just getting your meal deliverd room service and eating on the balcony? :)

[Travel_Maven]

Ok, so what is Ultimate Balcony Dining? and how does it differ from just getting your meal deliverd room service and eating on the balcony? :)

 

 

It is a special "white glove" service that is delivered to your cabin with special wait service, flowers, champagne, etc. It is an extra $100 per couple and gets rave reviews on CC. As far as I know it is usually a surf & turf menu. I was able to pre-reserve one (pre-pay) but nobody can schedule it until you board the ship. If I'm incorrect I'm sure others will post and let you know. :)

[Travel_Maven]

It is a special "white glove" service that is delivered to your cabin with special wait service, flowers, champagne, etc. It is an extra $100 per couple and gets rave reviews on CC. As far as I know it is usually a surf & turf menu. I was able to pre-reserve one (pre-pay) but nobody can schedule it until you board the ship. If I'm incorrect I'm sure others will post and let you know. :)

 

Meant to also say that this is on Princess Cruises. Not sure what line you are sailing.

[HEINER]

Can someone please give me the E-mail to book the Prince William Sound Tour? This sounds like a great tour.

 

Thanks for any information you can give me.

 

Betty:)

[CruisingGoddess]

Can someone please give me the E-mail to book the Prince William Sound Tour? This sounds like a great tour.

 

Thanks for any information you can give me.

 

Betty:)

 

It's offered by 4 different companies:

 

http://www.princewilliamsound.com

http://www.26glaciers.com

http://www.majormarine.com

http://www.soundecoadventure.com

 

There are also discount coupons for some of these cruises in Northern Lights and TourSaver.

[HEINER]

Rebecca,

Thank's for the information. You have done a great job organizing your cruise I see you on so many different threads with really good information. What tour Co. did you decide to use?

 

Have a great cruise:)

 

Betty

[ellbon]

It's offered by 4 different companies:

 

http://www.princewilliamsound.com

http://www.26glaciers.com

http://www.majormarine.com

http://www.soundecoadventure.com

 

There are also discount coupons for some of these cruises in Northern Lights and TourSaver.

 

I heard of 26 Glaciers and major marine. never heard of the other one..

 

Since I am sailing out of Seward went with another company.

 

I really do not think you can go wrong with any of them.. just look at the times they go and come back.. also see what you are getting for lunch.. I notice major marine was less than my cruise but lunch is extra on their cruise.

[luvlake]

26 Glaciers furnished lunch that was quite tasty. You had choice of fish or chicken. Hot chocolate chip cookies were quite tasty.:)

[Mrs007]

My husband and I would like to do a PWS tour the day we board our Princess Cruise. We have to be on the ship by 7:00pm and the PWS Cruise doesn't end until 5:00pm. We also want to sign up for the Ultimate Balcony Dining on the ship and it is first come - first serve and we are worried we won't get the night and time we want due to the late check-in. Princess did allow me to book a reservation but would not confirm any day or time. They just said there would be a card in our room when we board to tell us to call and reserve our our time. Any comments or suggestions on this?? Thanks!

 

Another option to consider (if Princess still offers it) is the Ultimate Balcony Breakfast. We did this on our glacier sailing day. A lazy morning and a wonderful breakfast. We had smoked salmon/bagels/cream cheese, half a melon filled with berries, danishes, eggs benedict with split king crab legs on them and champagne and orange juice. A wonderful way to start the day watching the scenery float by.;) (plus it was cheaper than the dinner):p

[CruisingGoddess]

Rebecca,

 

Thank's for the information. You have done a great job organizing your cruise I see you on so many different threads with really good information. What tour Co. did you decide to use?

 

Have a great cruise:)

 

Betty

 

I agree that you can't go wrong with any of them but as you will find, everyone will usually recommend the one they went on and it's hard to find someone who has been on more than one them. So it that case, I default to "Frommer's Alaska". :D

 

http://www.princewilliamsound.com

They offer 2 cruises: the 6-hour Wilderness Explorer and 4-hour Glacier Adventure. The Wilderness Explorer starts at 11 am so I would not make it in time, if I took the train to Whittier. The Glacier Adventure is not offered on Mondays, which is the day Island Princess (my ship) embarks.

 

http://www.soundecoadventure.com

Also not offered on my embarkation day.

 

http://www.26glaciers.com

http://www.majormarine.com/alaska-day-cruises/prince-william-sound-glacier-cruise/

So it came down to 26 Glaicers and Major Marine. Major Marine costs $104.60 (with book online discount & the buffet) and 26 Glaciers cost $139 so Major Marine is already cheaper. Also, they got this review from Frommer's:

 

"This company operates a smaller, 149-passenger vessel at a slower pace than Phillips (26 Glaciers cruise) -- they hit a mere 10 glaciers but spend more time waiting for them to calve. Another important feature: The tour is narrated by a Chugach National Forest ranger, not the company. The route goes up Blackstone Bay. The boat is comfortable, with reserved table seating. They put emphasis on their food: the salmon and prime rib buffet. It's quite good."

 

So Major Marine's cruise is not as rushed, narrated by a forest ranger, and the food is supposed to be better...AND it's cheaper. So I went with them. If you get the Northern Lights book, there is also a coupon to make it even cheaper ($72.50/person with the buffet).

 

Hope that helps!