Alaska land tour

[Gabrielle R.]

We are on the Coral in June. We will do the Land tour first, then do the cruise. WHERE on the Princess web site is the information that tells you HOW the luggage works for a land/cruise tour? I've looked and I just don't know WHERE to go. I did go to the crusie tour part, and Alaska... but it doesn't explain What happens with the luggage. I figure some of you know this better than I. So figured I'd ask.

 

What I understand is that we have a carry on with us, BUT when we take the Train to Denali do we have a large suitcase with us and one suitcase that goes to the ship? (In otherwords a land suit case and a ship suit case.?) We packe pretty light so we cna make dow with 1 suit case with us and one for the ship.

 

Thanks for any help- since It seems that I'm just having problems finding just what I want on the princess web site.

Gabrielle

[Off2China]

Look under Luggage on this page:

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/cruisetours/cruisetours_alaska.jsp

 

BTW, Princess does an excellent job with the luggage. It just magically appears when you need it :)

[Pennyscandy]

We are on the Coral in June. We will do the Land tour first, then do the cruise. WHERE on the Princess web site is the information that tells you HOW the luggage works for a land/cruise tour? I've looked and I just don't know WHERE to go. I did go to the crusie tour part, and Alaska... but it doesn't explain What happens with the luggage. I figure some of you know this better than I. So figured I'd ask.

 

What I understand is that we have a carry on with us, BUT when we take the Train to Denali do we have a large suitcase with us and one suitcase that goes to the ship? (In otherwords a land suit case and a ship suit case.?) We packe pretty light so we cna make dow with 1 suit case with us and one for the ship.

 

Thanks for any help- since It seems that I'm just having problems finding just what I want on the princess web site.

Gabrielle

 

We did the Tour first then cruise in 08

You will need two sets of luggage.

One is for the lodge stays and you will bring this on the train with you. And it must be able to fit under the seat on the train. Make sure you have everything you need in this case, because your big suitcase will be taken from you and delivered to the ship and you will not have access to it until you get on the ship. On the train the Princess reps will be onboard to answer questions. Before the train arrives at the stops, the reps will give you a packet with a "key" to you room at the lodge and info. The lodges did have a laundry room.

Princess does a wonderful job and there were reps at the the airport to help us when our luggage didn't make the flight. They gave us a voucher for a taxi instead of having us wait for the next bus, when we missed the first one. Can't say enough about how organized Princess is, and all their reps were so friendly.

All the info was from 2 yrs ago and things do change, but that's how they managed the land part of the trip.

Linda

[Gabrielle R.]

Linda, & Off 2 China, THANK YOU!!!! That is exactly what I needed to find out! The site was what I needed to see.

Linda, Letting me know how your experience went was great to hear too! I've crusied A LOT, but we've never done a land tour with Princess (Or anyone for that matter), so this was nice to hear too.

Thank you!

Gabrielle

[Pennyscandy]

Linda, & Off 2 China, THANK YOU!!!! That is exactly what I needed to find out! The site was what I needed to see.

Linda, Letting me know how your experience went was great to hear too! I've cruised A LOT, but we've never done a land tour with Princess (Or anyone for that matter), so this was nice to hear too.

Thank you!

Gabrielle

 

Glad I could help. We live in VA and choose to fly a day early. Glad we did the trip was very tiring. Princess Reps were everywhere and no need to worry about being at the wrong place. We stayed at the Bear Lodge and loved it. The grounds are beautiful. And the restaurant was reasonable and good. At the hotel, be boarded a bus to the train. Once on the train, we had assigned seating at tables. Two at the table ride backwards, so if that bothers you see if you can switch. There were a number of empty seats in our car. Pickup snacks in the hotel gift shop for the train ride to avoid high priced ones they sell on the train. The first day on the train all we saw were lots and lots of trees. So 4 in our group played cards. The ride was narrated.

The ride was at least 4 hours. At our destination, we boarded another bus for the ride to the lodge. We did a dinner show, and it was not worth the money. Corny and the food was not very good. The first lodge had a large gift shop and small snack bar. We at breakfast there, yogurt and muffins and it was expensive. They had offered a pancake breakfast for about the same money. At the gift shop you can have your purchases mailed home, which we did. Within walking distance is a road with all kinds of places to eat and shop. Much better food than at the lodge. We got subs. The lodge had a tram to the entrance, then you walked across the street. A volunteer in our group went for subs that night. Room was small, but nice. Rocking chairs on the porch and great views from the restaurant of the mountains.

Next morning back on the train to a lodge nearer Denali. This one was cabins with bigger rooms. One restaurant was closed when we got there so we ate at the more expensive place. Food was good. Next morning we ate breakfast at the other restaurant, it was good. The Lodge is wonderful and places to look at the mountains and relax. A park ranger did a talk in the room downstair. It was very interesting. We did a wagon tour and roasted marshmallows and some paned for gold (water was too cold and dirty for me). There is a small gift shop and it was always packed. Found a coffee place and it sold yogurt and muffins plus great coffee. It was cloudy most of the time so we did not see Denali. Take some of the tours offered, we didn't and regret it. There is a bus that takes you closer to the mountains, but the bus ride was too long for some in our group and we wanted to sick together. The train ride to Seaward was the best part. This rain was not as nice as the others, thought and move bouncy. I get motion sick, but the patch saved me. You will be offered lunch, a sandwich etc for a nominal fee. Or you could take something with you from the snack bar at the lodge. The scenery was the best yet. Also, the people on the trains expect a small tip. We tipped the woman narrating and the bartender. i would try and sit on the left side of the train, if you can. They will want you to get back in your assigned seat before the train reaches the ship they do ticketing or something. Seeing the ship in the distance is a thrill. We all so saw Eagles nesting. We were on the Sapphire and she is a beautiful ship.

If you have any questions i did not answer, e-mail me.

lindasquest@gmail.com

Linda

[scranger]

What I understand is that we have a carry on with us, BUT when we take the Train to Denali do we have a large suitcase with us and one suitcase that goes to the ship? (In otherwords a land suit case and a ship suit case.?) We packe pretty light so we cna make dow with 1 suit case with us and one for the ship.

 

We were on the Coral last summer and did the land tour first. Although the pre-cruise information indicated that we would be limited as to the luggage we could carry with us on the land portion, and the rest would be forwarded to the ship, that policy was not enforced. We kept all of our bags with us throughout the entire cruisetour.

[Gabrielle R.]

We will be on the Coral too! We will doing exactly what you did Pam & Fred. Thanks for that bit of knowledge.

 

Linda, THANK YOU for the Train advice! That is really good to know! I knew that they would do a lot of our check in on board the train- that was good to know too. I'm jsut excited to try all modes of transportation. I think we will hit almost every type on this trip!, Planes, Trains, Bus, Ship, boat, Trolley, Paddle Wheeler. I don;'t think I'l mush a dog though.....

THANK YOU so much for the information and the tips- I so appreciate it!

Gabrielle