My detailed Alaska trip report

[mapleleaves]

Hello Cruisinggoddess,

 

Thanks for your excellent blog, it's very helpful. My daughter and I will be on Coral in July and doing Denali on our own for a couple of nights. We're also planning to take the park bus to Eilson visitor center. We'll be staying at the Mc Kinley Chalet Resort (I believe it's near the Denali Prncess). Regarding choices for buying lunch, do you remember if there were other choices in addition to Subway? Do you know/ remember if the McKinley Chalet is walking distance to Denali Princess Lodge?

Thanks for any addtl info.

 

There are boxed lunches, etc at the Wilderness Activity Center (where you catch the bus). http://www.reservedenali.com/entrance-facilities/wilderness-access-center.aspx

[CruisingGoddess]

There are boxed lunches, etc at the Wilderness Activity Center (where you catch the bus). http://www.reservedenali.com/entrance-facilities/wilderness-access-center.aspx

 

The Coffee Shop at the WAC is very small. It's more like a stand than a shop. The options there were very limited. I think maybe 2 choices of sandwiches. They do have some packaged snacks and granola/energy bars. Subway would definitely have more options than the WAC.

 

Hi Rebeccca, loved reading your blog about your trip and seeing the pictures. I do have a question about the White Pass Train excursion in Skagway. My husband and I want to do this but can't decide between the 7.5 hour trip or the 9 hour trip. When you were at Lake Bennett, were you able to walk around the town a little? And since it is a long day, after lunch on the bus, are there restroom stops on the way back to Skagway :o

 

No, we didn't have a chance to walk around the town near Lake Bennett. The only place you really have time to walk around is Caribou Crossing and that felt very rushed if you plan to do the dog cart ride.

 

There are definitely bathroom breaks on the way back to Skagway. I am infamous for needing to use the restroom often and I never felt like I had to hold it. :)

[AuntieEm]

Thanks! Happy about having the restrooms along the way :D You've already been a lot of help with the planning of our trip. I've bookmarked your blog so I can refer back to it. Once again great pictures, I especially like the video with the bear catching the salmon, which is another excursion we plan on doing.

[mapleleaves]

The Coffee Shop at the WAC is very small. It's more like a stand than a shop. The options there were very limited. I think maybe 2 choices of sandwiches. They do have some packaged snacks and granola/energy bars. Subway would definitely have more options than the WAC.

 

yes, it's a small stand but they prepare a full boxed lunch for people. Perhaps you didn't see that option. Definitely Subway has a greater selection tho.

BTW, on your blog I thought I read a question from you about a place to stay within a couple of hours of Seattle. I didn't see the specifics of what you were looking for, but for a 'different' experience you might try the Point No Point Lighthouse. http://www.stayatalighthouse.com/

[CruisingGoddess]

yes, it's a small stand but they prepare a full boxed lunch for people. Perhaps you didn't see that option. Definitely Subway has a greater selection tho.

BTW, on your blog I thought I read a question from you about a place to stay within a couple of hours of Seattle. I didn't see the specifics of what you were looking for, but for a 'different' experience you might try the Point No Point Lighthouse. http://www.stayatalighthouse.com/

 

Thanks for the info about the lighthouse! I'm not sure I could stay in one though. I've seen too many "Ghost Hunter" episodes where lighthouses were MAJORLY haunted. :eek: LOL! But the idea is really neat.

 

We winded up booking Salish Lodge, which sits on top of a waterfall!!

 

http://www.salishlodge.com

 

It's pricey (~$300/night over 4th of July weekend) but the atmosphere seems wonderful!

[mapleleaves]

yes, it's a very nice place. I live about 20 minutes from there so I always take guests to Snoqualmie Falls. The falls are really huge this year because we've had so much snow in the mountains. It's in the Cascade foothills so drive another 15 miles and you'll be at Snoqualmie Pass. Enjoy !

[CruisingGoddess]

yes, it's a very nice place. I live about 20 minutes from there so I always take guests to Snoqualmie Falls. The falls are really huge this year because we've had so much snow in the mountains. It's in the Cascade foothills so drive another 15 miles and you'll be at Snoqualmie Pass. Enjoy !

 

Oh! That's so good to hear! Do you have any recommendations on what we should do around the hotel or places to eat at?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Cafabi]

Help me Cruising Goddess--you're my only hope. You may have seen the laundry lockout thread about laundries being closed while in Alaska waters due to environmental concerns. We're sailing on the Island (northbound) in June and I was wondering if you did laundry while on board and/or if you know which, if any, areas prohibit the self service laundries from operating. This is important to my parents' packing. It's their first cruise so I'm trying to head off any surprises. I know that something could have changed since last year, but I was just wondering what your experience was on the Island. Thanks!

[CruisingGoddess]

I wasn't aware they were locking people out of laundry rooms at certain ports. If this happened last year during our cruise, I wasn't aware of it. We did not use the self-service laundry to wash our clothes. Instead, we used the $25 "bag it" special where you pay $25 for them to launder anything that fits into this bag they provide. We like the service because we didn't want to spend our time washing clothes. There is only 3 sea days and 2 of them are scenic cruising. The last sea day would have been too rushed to try to wash our clothes than pack. Plus, the machines are usually very busy on sea days like that.

 

My recommendation is to pack like you won't be able to wash your clothes because you don't want to be stuck not having any clothes if you can't wash them due to laundry lockout, busy machines, or just lack of time.

[Cafabi]

I wasn't aware they were locking people out of laundry rooms at certain ports. If this happened last year during our cruise, I wasn't aware of it. We did not use the self-service laundry to wash our clothes. Instead, we used the $25 "bag it" special where you pay $25 for them to launder anything that fits into this bag they provide. We like the service because we didn't want to spend our time washing clothes. There is only 3 sea days and 2 of them are scenic cruising. The last sea day would have been too rushed to try to wash our clothes than pack. Plus, the machines are usually very busy on sea days like that.

 

My recommendation is to pack like you won't be able to wash your clothes because you don't want to be stuck not having any clothes if you can't wash them due to laundry lockout, busy machines, or just lack of time.

 

Thanks! I will pass the info on to them.

[cruiseluv]

There are boxed lunches, etc at the Wilderness Activity Center (where you catch the bus). http://www.reservedenali.com/entrance-facilities/wilderness-access-center.aspx

 

Thank you mapleleaves!

[CruisingGoddess]

I've been getting a good number of e-mails about pricing on the excursions we did so I've added that info into my review now!

 

http://moonprincess.com/travel/category/cruises/alaska-2010/

 

Feel free to let me know if anyone has more questions!

[Cash123]

I've been getting a good number of e-mails about pricing on the excursions we did so I've added that info into my review now!

 

http://moonprincess.com/travel/category/cruises/alaska-2010/

 

Feel free to let me know if anyone has more questions!

 

Hi ya,

 

Im a little confused so hopefully you can help me, Im looking at doing the land tour via princesstours.com as you did, looking at the rail times coming back from Denali it arrives Anchorage at 8.00pm but looking at the sailing time it shows 8.30pm which doesnt give much time for booking in at the terminal, have I got this right ?.

 

I do have the Princess Cruises broucher and it does show that if you book the cruise tour then you leave Denali and board the Wilderness rail for the journey to Whittier to embark the ship.

regards

[CruisingGoddess]

You cannot board the same night you get back from Denali. You have to spend the night in Anchorage and then either drive, take a shuttle, or take the train to Whittier. The drive from Anchorage to Whittier is 1.5 and the train a little over 2 hours.

 

The cruisetour leaves directly from Denali to Whittier but non-cruisetour passengers cannot go that route. You could look into getting a shuttle from Denali to Whittier but I'm not sure how the timing would work out in order for you to board the same day.

[tennisqueen]

Wow, Cruising Goddess, I am in awe of your organizational skills to put together such a comprehensive, fun to read, summary of all things ALASKAN CRUISE! I am going on the Sapphire Princess in mid-August and was totally overwhelmed with all the details of things to know, places to go, things to bring, but you helped make this information quite manageable.

 

A question regarding excursions: I will be in Juneau from 2:00-10:00 p.m. Is there enough time to do whale watching, Mendenhall Glacier and dog-sledding? Is dog-sledding/helicopter/glacier available in Skagway? If so, do I do that or the Yukon Rail Pass? We are in Skagway from 6:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. How would you suggest best to fit in all the highlights?

[Cash123]

You cannot board the same night you get back from Denali. You have to spend the night in Anchorage and then either drive, take a shuttle, or take the train to Whittier. The drive from Anchorage to Whittier is 1.5 and the train a little over 2 hours.

 

The cruisetour leaves directly from Denali to Whittier but non-cruisetour passengers cannot go that route. You could look into getting a shuttle from Denali to Whittier but I'm not sure how the timing would work out in order for you to board the same day.

 

I did think this was the case but if you read the Princess broucher for the denali Cruisetour is shows that on day 4 you spend in Denali with natural history tour before spending a second night at the Princess Wildnerness Lodge and then day 5 board direct to the Wilderness rail for your journey to Whittier to embark your Princess ship, I did speak to Princess and said that the train arrives back at 8.00pm and the ship leaves at 8.30pm, she said dont worry as there will be hundreds on the train getting the ship and it wont go without you.

 

Hope you can see why Im a little confused.

[CruisingGoddess]

Wow, Cruising Goddess, I am in awe of your organizational skills to put together such a comprehensive, fun to read, summary of all things ALASKAN CRUISE! I am going on the Sapphire Princess in mid-August and was totally overwhelmed with all the details of things to know, places to go, things to bring, but you helped make this information quite manageable.

 

A question regarding excursions: I will be in Juneau from 2:00-10:00 p.m. Is there enough time to do whale watching, Mendenhall Glacier and dog-sledding? Is dog-sledding/helicopter/glacier available in Skagway? If so, do I do that or the Yukon Rail Pass? We are in Skagway from 6:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. How would you suggest best to fit in all the highlights?

 

Glad you found it helpful and fun to read!!! I think that is a lot to try to fit into Juneau. It'll really depend on what time you're able to schedule whale watching and dog sledding because they only have certain times available. You should look into what times they offer those excursions. Personally, our pickup time for dog sledding was 8:15 am and we were done around 11 am. After grabbing lunch on the ship, we didn't think we had enough time to go to Mendenhall Glacier and be back on the ship by 3:30 pm. The shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier runs every 30 min. It's a 20 min ride and you'll need about an hour at the glacier. I would try to cram less into one day and instead pick one and enjoy walking around Juneau.

 

Dog sledding is available out of Skagway also. If you have to chose between dog sledding and the train, I'd choose dog sledding for sure. But I personally really wanted to dog sled on Mendenhall Glacier so we did it out of Juneau.

 

I did think this was the case but if you read the Princess broucher for the denali Cruisetour is shows that on day 4 you spend in Denali with natural history tour before spending a second night at the Princess Wildnerness Lodge and then day 5 board direct to the Wilderness rail for your journey to Whittier to embark your Princess ship, I did speak to Princess and said that the train arrives back at 8.00pm and the ship leaves at 8.30pm, she said dont worry as there will be hundreds on the train getting the ship and it wont go without you.

 

Hope you can see why Im a little confused.

 

Unfortunately, when I researched this last year, there is no way for non-cruisetour passengers to get from Denali to Whittier directly by train. We took the train from Anchorage to Whittier on the morning of embarkation. It arrived around 12:30 pm and we took Major Marine's Glacier Cruise, then checked into Island Princess. Worked out really well but you do have to stay in Anchorage the night before heading out to Whittier.

[Traveller20074]

Oh! That's so good to hear! Do you have any recommendations on what we should do around the hotel or places to eat at?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Downtown Snoqualmie (and Snoqualmie Ridge) have places to eat (used to live there, but it's changed, I'm sure)

 

There is LaFogata Mexican in downtown Snoqualmie, which is really good.

The trains are fun to look at...when you come into the town of Snoqualmie (up the hill from the Falls) they are on the right. There is also a train station museum that's fun :)

 

There is also a Casino if you're interested in that :)

 

The North Bend Bar and Grill (not a bar atmosphere at all, it's a pretty nice place to eat) in North Bend is very good. The main street of Snoqualmie is 202....you head east on 202 about 6 miles into North Bend. Railroad Avenue (highway 202) turns into Snoqualmie-North Bend Road.

[mapleleaves]

Maybe you'll find some useful info on the town's web site. I never go beyond the falls, except to hike around the bottom of the falls. When I have extra time I prefer the water over the mountains so I don't go to Snoqualmie very often.

There is great hiking in the area, a casino, outlet mall at NorthBend. The exit sign says 'historic downtown Snoqualmie" so I guess the town itself is interesting. BTW, Salish Lodge was just voted the Most Romantic Getaway in the King 5 TV's "Best of " poll. Trip Advisor would be a good place to ask for information.

http://www.ci.snoqualmie.wa.us/Default.aspx?tabid=66

[Traveller20074]

Oh! That's so good to hear! Do you have any recommendations on what we should do around the hotel or places to eat at?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Passed my time to edit, so a new post :o

 

 

here's the picture of Mt Si :)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Mt_si_and_meadowbrook_cows.jpg

[CruisingGoddess]

Downtown Snoqualmie (and Snoqualmie Ridge) have places to eat (used to live there, but it's changed, I'm sure)

 

There is LaFogata Mexican in downtown Snoqualmie, which is really good.

The trains are fun to look at...when you come into the town of Snoqualmie (up the hill from the Falls) they are on the right. There is also a train station museum that's fun :)

 

There is also a Casino if you're interested in that :)

 

The North Bend Bar and Grill (not a bar atmosphere at all, it's a pretty nice place to eat) in North Bend is very good. The main street of Snoqualmie is 202....you head east on 202 about 6 miles into North Bend. Railroad Avenue (highway 202) turns into Snoqualmie-North Bend Road.

 

Maybe you'll find some useful info on the town's web site. I never go beyond the falls, except to hike around the bottom of the falls. When I have extra time I prefer the water over the mountains so I don't go to Snoqualmie very often.

There is great hiking in the area, a casino, outlet mall at NorthBend. The exit sign says 'historic downtown Snoqualmie" so I guess the town itself is interesting. BTW, Salish Lodge was just voted the Most Romantic Getaway in the King 5 TV's "Best of " poll. Trip Advisor would be a good place to ask for information.

http://www.ci.snoqualmie.wa.us/Default.aspx?tabid=66

 

Thanks for the info, both of you!! Very excited about our trip there!

[mapleleaves]

bump ...

[Becoming]

Rebecca,

 

Glad to see your review is still "alive & well"!

 

Lots of good info for folks!

 

Patti

[paddingtonbear]

Rebecca,

Thank you so much for this detailed review.

 

I have been struggling to find a good way to get around and your info is invaluable. I didn't want to do a cruisetour and your way seems like a good alternative.

 

Excellent. :):):)

[Dawn1004]

Love your blog, so many photos, good info, very detailed experiences, even love the layout of your blog.

 

We're off to Alaska from Australia on the 13th May (following stays in Hollywood, Anaheim, Vegas and Seattle. just can't wait, have been going through the Alaska posts on this site and spent 3 evenings working through yours.

 

The photos are beautiful.