prudhoe Bay cruisetour

[Pellegrino]

We are considering this cruisetour for early July 2011. If anyone has taken this Princess tour would you recommend it and if so what side trips should we book? Thanks for any information.

[greatam]

We are considering this cruisetour for early July 2011. If anyone has taken this Princess tour would you recommend it and if so what side trips should we book? Thanks for any information.

 

Take a PRIVATE tour IF you are inclined to take a "package" tour. Princess uses LARGE buses and cannot stop in a lot of places the smaller vehicles can go. You will miss a lot.

 

Northern Alaska Tours runs a far SUPERIOR tour to Princess. I was just in Prudhoe 10 days ago (September 7-9th). I drove myself down from Prudhoe to Anchorage but you won't likely have the same opportunity. Almost side by side with the Northern Alaska Tour drive (we checked in the same time in Coldfoot). I listened to all the women (most on the Princess cruise tour) b***, b***, b*** about the accommodations and lack of what to do on the Cruise Tour in Deadhorse. Do a private tour. Won't cost you any more and a more intimate, private experence. http://www.northernalaska.com/arctic-ocean.htm

[Budget Queen]

You need to be well prepared for cruisetour. I have only gotten as far as Wiseman, but also have seen the unloading of cruisetour people at Coldfoot. And a few not happy, complaining about the time in the bus (hadn't gotten into the Coldfoot lodging yet. )

[LaurieCM]

My husband and I did the Princess 15 day cruisetour in August 2008 and loved it. We had never been on a bus tour before and heard all the stuff that Budget Queen puts out against them, but we wanted to go all the way to Prudhoe Bay and didn't want to go by ourselves. We were well treated at all times and had done the research, so we were well aware of the rustic nature of the accomodations north of Fairbanks. For us it was part of the charm of the north and at Prudhoe Bay we liked eating in the common area with the oilworkers- they want to talk to ladies- I think we remind them of their wives and mothers. If you go on this cruisetour I think you should tour 1st and cruise 2nd- have the living out of a suitcase 1st and get to unpack for the 2nd week. We loved Denali, but the Brooks Range was amazing and the wild herds of muskox were something we will always remember. My review is still listed in there somewhere. Have a great time.;)

[Momj47]

My daughter, son-in-law and I did the Prudhoe Bay cruisetour in 2005 and LOVED it. It was the best part of the whole trip. Princess does a great job with everything. This was a tour we all really wanted to take, which probably makes a difference. My SIL had just finished his PhD and this was what we all decided would be our "trip of a lifetime." Getting to the top of North America was our goal. We still talk about that trip, 5 years later, and would love to do it again. Since my SIL is now in Iraq where it's 115° most days, he enjoys talking about northern Alaska and his "dip" in the Arctic Ocean.

 

I agree, take the tour before the cruise.

 

The bus was comfortable, the driver was terrific. He lives in Alaska with his family, he was funny and he had wonderful anecdotes and he was very knowledgeable about wildlife, natural history, local history, and pretty much anything else we asked. He stopped at all interesting spots, scheduled or not, and let us get out and walk around if appropriate. The accommodations were great fun. We'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

This is a trip not to be missed.