Princess Alaska Cruisetour Secrets

[LouisianaMamma]

I really enjoyed the thread "Princess Secrets they Don't Tell You," but I would like to know more about the Princess Alaska Cruisetours.

 

I've been on several cruises and am familiar with booking shore excursions etc., but I don't know anything about a Cruisetour.

 

:confused:What is different/unique about a Cruisetour? How can we get the most out of our week-long land package in July?

[Denali2003]

Do you have a link to the "Secrets" thread? I would love to read it!!

[NHsnowpup]

I really enjoyed the thread "Princess Secrets they Don't Tell You," but I would like to know more about the Princess Alaska Cruisetours.

 

I've been on several cruises and am familiar with booking shore excursions etc., but I don't know anything about a Cruisetour.

 

:confused:What is different/unique about a Cruisetour? How can we get the most out of our week-long land package in July?

 

Many of the cruisetours have you stay at places that make it difficult to book extra excursions except those by Princess because of location or time.

 

Many of the Alaska cruisetours only have the Natural History Tour at Denali, which doesn't take you into Denali Park any further than you can take a free shuttle. There are many better options if you want to see wildlife and scenery in Denali, but the cruisetour schedule may or may not allow you to make changes or additions.

 

I looked at all the cruisetours offered by Princess and Holland, then planned our own 7 days land tour that included only what we really wanted to do. Hubby didn't want to drive any, so I made sure where we stayed offered shuttles to and from the transportation we were using, and had tours and or were accessible for what we wanted to do.

[LouisianaMamma]

Do you have a link to the "Secrets" thread? I would love to read it!!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1260835

[Budget Queen]

I will start as I am a frequent poster who trys to "fix" wrong cruisetour choices that people have made.

 

First point- go for as long as you can afford. Avoid short cruisetours, anything less than 5 days. These short cruises have way too much time in transit.

 

Get a map, distances are vast. IF you opt for the "Direct to Denali" feature- you are 10 hours on a train, with only the two hours between Anchorage and Whittier, the highlight. Rest can be boring for some, but is still a lot of trees and more trees. :)

 

Never consider any cruisetour without 2 days at Denali Princess. This is a cruisetour highlight and the most important feature of the regular cruisetours. 2 nights is necessary to just get a "basic" look. The McKinley Princess is 100 miles away. Out in the middle of nowhere. No activites at the lodge. Key features are flightseeing, and so so rafting tours, fishing in season. These all require a 2 hour round trip shuttle, same if using the Alaska RR for your transportation. The nearest town is Talkeetna.

 

In Denali park, if you are going there for your highlight- then you HAVE to have at least the Tundra Wilderness tour, the Natural History tour is a waste of time, likely NO wildlife and certainly no scenery of Denali Park. Explained further- the NHT only goes on the 16 mile public road, in fact the park service runs a FREE shuttle bus to Savage River and does ranger programs. The NHT is $50++. The TWT goes to mile 53, sometimes further, this is significant to see Polychrome Pass, the beauty of Denali. The Park Road is 90+ miles, so you see, even with the TWT, you aren't getting all that far into the park. Bottom line- farther- ALWAYS = more- more scenery, more wildlife. Alternative- there is a park shuttle bus that does go to the end of the road.

 

Budget 50% more for meals than you would at home.

 

Princess trains are assigned table seating of 4, so two ride backward the entire trip.

 

Anchorage/Denali is 8 hours by train, 6 hours by bus. Denali/Fairbanks is 4 hours by train 2 1/4 by bus.

 

An easy transfer to the ship, with an Anchorage arrival is booking yourself on the Alaska RR. This then hooks up nicely with a Prince William Sound boat tour- which is excellent and scenic. FAR superior to anything seen from your cruiseship and a great use of time. Don't be in any rush to get on a ship, works out great for a northbound as well, taking the train to Anchorage in the evening.

 

If on a Fairbanks cruisetour, I strongly recommend adding a couple days, you see very little of Fairbanks with cruisetours and this area has many excellent touring options. You will need a car rental, to make the most of your time.

 

Do your homework, be certain, you understand- fully, every aspect of the cruisetour you are looking at. Over many years- the common thread is the mistakes people make in their choices, not knowing the details. It ALL sounds good in the descriptions, but once you understand what you are really looking at, it may not be what you want.

 

It is far better to make the right choice to begin with, as it can be impossible to fix later.

 

Best of Alaska travel!!!!!!!!!!!

[Laurie7]

Excellent information Budget Queen! We are planning to cruise AK in 2012. We are thinking about the Denali Explorer from Fairbanks to Whittier, all by train. Trying to avoid bus if at all possible. No dates yet for 2012, so I am reading all the information I can ahead of time. Appreciate your time posting. Thanks again!

[cruisinalong001]

I really enjoyed the thread "Princess Secrets they Don't Tell You," but I would like to know more about the Princess Alaska Cruisetours.

 

I've been on several cruises and am familiar with booking shore excursions etc., but I don't know anything about a Cruisetour.

 

:confused:What is different/unique about a Cruisetour? How can we get the most out of our week-long land package in July?

 

Which cruisetour are you taking? Budget Queen's post is full of good information for you.

 

We have customized our cruisetour so that we have a total of 5 nights in Denali. Princess charges a customization fee for this in addition to the extra expense of staying longer in Denali and less time in Fairbanks and taking the train to Fairbanks (which leaves in the afternoon rather than the bus which leaves in the morning). This leaves us 1 3/4 days to do whatever we want and 3 days to do only one organized activity per day. No need to rush through everything this way.

 

I should preface this by stating that this will be our third trip to Alaska...one landtour which concentrated on the Anchorage to Seward area (Seward and the drive to Seward from Anchorage is wonderful) and one roundtrip inside passage cruise. We wanted to concentrate on Denali this time and have Princess do all the transportation and luggage schlepping on this trip even though it cost more. After years of independent travel, we decided to press the "easy" button and try a modified cruisetour.

 

You can book your land excursions through Princess or book independent activities in Denali.

[LouisianaMamma]

Thank you BudgetQueen, cruisinalong001, and others who posted.

 

My parents (age 72 & 73) are taking me (age 45) and my son (age 10) on this trip to Alaska, and I am very excited.

 

We will cruise for 7 nights from Vancouver to Whittier and then take a 7 night cruisetour called the "Off the Beaten Path Tour." We will be 2 nights at Kenai Princess, 1 night at McKinley Princess, 2 nights at Denali Princess, 2 nights at Fairbanks Princess.

 

One of my big concerns is how much time is spent in a bus on the cruisetour. It will be fine for the adults, but I've got to plan ways to make it OK for my little boy. I also want to make sure the activities we select are good for him.

 

Suggestions?

[cruisinalong001]

I do know that Princess offers family cruisetours which are geared towards families with children and has some age appropriate activities. Maybe that tour would be a better choice and could be enjoyed by all ages.. Here's a link to an article about family cruisetours. The child might also find other children to keep him company.

 

http://www.princess.com/news/article.jsp?newsArticleId=na1121

[Budget Queen]

Thank you BudgetQueen, cruisinalong001, and others who posted.

 

My parents (age 72 & 73) are taking me (age 45) and my son (age 10) on this trip to Alaska, and I am very excited.

 

We will cruise for 7 nights from Vancouver to Whittier and then take a 7 night cruisetour called the "Off the Beaten Path Tour." We will be 2 nights at Kenai Princess, 1 night at McKinley Princess, 2 nights at Denali Princess, 2 nights at Fairbanks Princess.

 

One of my big concerns is how much time is spent in a bus on the cruisetour. It will be fine for the adults, but I've got to plan ways to make it OK for my little boy. I also want to make sure the activities we select are good for him.

 

Suggestions?

 

This is all by bus??? Both the Kenai Princess and McKinley Princess are in the middle of no where and will require a 2 hour round trip bus transfer for your activities. There is little at these lodges. Kenai Princess does have fishing charters, IF you are in season. Fairbanks, is far better with a car, everything is spread out, and you will be very limited in what you can see and do without one.

 

By road- Anchorage/Kenai Princess about 2 hours. Anchorage Talkeetna 2 1/4 hours, Talkeetna/Denali Park 3 1/2 hours. Denali Park/Fairbanks 2 1/4 hours PLUS you have a considerable amount of time in "waits" and line up times.

[roundpond]

Budget Queen, the Tundra wilderness tour is the 13 tour, correct? Didn't I read that tour is by a school bus? We were not planning to do that tour because of the type of bus - sounds pretty excruciating. I would appreciate your further wisdom. Thank you! (First time Princess, first time Alaska, Sept. 2011 Island Princess 10 day landcruise tour)

[RBTraveler]

Don't worry about the 'school bus'. Yes, it looks like a school bus but it has high back padded seats inside and is quite comfortable. We did the Tundra wilderness tour in 2003 and enjoyed it so much that we are going again in June of this year. Wonderful opportunities to see wildlife.

[gertz]

The #3 post by Budget Queen should be required reading by all new and seasoned Alaska visitors. We have read extensively on traveling Alaska and we have found no one with her knowledge, and I don't always agree with her on some things but would never question her on Alaska. JMO.

[katisdale]

We did an Alaska Cruise tour with our two grandchildren who were 8 and 11 at the time. Ours was a combination of bus and train travel. We had a full day bus drive from Denali to Copper River and neither child was bored. There was so much wildlife (we went in September) and they were in competition to see who could find the most bears, elk, tundra swans etc. Also the Tundra wildlife tour was great even though it was done on a school type bus. Again there was so much wildlife to see and we were lucky enough to see Denali. Finally there are plenty of free activities such as hikes and even a sled dog demonstration at the national park. Both kids earned junior ranger badges at Denali. I think it depends on the child as to what they find interesting. We helped build their excitement before the trip by talking about bears, eagles and whales and they were so excited to see them. When we left Copper River we took a bus to Valdez and then a boat to Whittier to board the ship. More wildlife!

[Budget Queen]

Budget Queen, the Tundra wilderness tour is the 13 tour, correct? Didn't I read that tour is by a school bus? We were not planning to do that tour because of the type of bus - sounds pretty excruciating. I would appreciate your further wisdom. Thank you! (First time Princess, first time Alaska, Sept. 2011 Island Princess 10 day landcruise tour)

 

No, it's 6- 8 hours. The buses have bucket seats with high backs. I question WHY anyone would pay for a costly cruisetour, when Denali Park is the the BIG feature of the entire thing??? There isn't much else frankly on the cruisetours, using the McKinley/Denali lodges and Fairbanks only.

 

The Copper River Princess, needs people to consider their time there. This isn't a place to go to either, unless, you like riding on a bus and not too concerned about making the most of your trip. Highlights are getting to McCarthy/Kennicott. A negative of these cruisetours is also they most always take the fast ferry Whittier/Valdez the regular one is FAR superior and most completely bypass Valdez- again, my opinion only, why bother. :)

 

Same with the Kenai Princess, you are FAR better off staying in Seward, rather than a 2 hour round trip away. There is so much to do in Seward that it is a big negative not to stay there.

[cruisinalong001]

If you wish to do a cruisetour only, the family cruisetour FUN goes by bus from Whittier to McKinley Princess with a stop at the Alaska Wildlife Center and the Iditarod Center (it breaks up the trip some and should be interesting) and then has a campfire experience in the evening. Then you go by train to Denali the next day for 2 nights and they have activities scheduled there. You can upgrade the national geographic tour to the Tundra Wilderness tour for a fee. The next couple of days are Fairbanks. You can talk to princess about spending more time in Denali and maybe less in Fairbanks, but be aware it will cost more money. Anyway, If I were taking kids on a cruisetour, I would look at this one and add at least an extra day in Denali if I could.

 

We were lucky enough to take ours on a land trip, flying into Anchorage, renting a car, and spending our time between Anchorage and Seward. That area is wonderful.

[NHsnowpup]

Thank you BudgetQueen, cruisinalong001, and others who posted.

 

My parents (age 72 & 73) are taking me (age 45) and my son (age 10) on this trip to Alaska, and I am very excited.

 

One of my big concerns is how much time is spent in a bus on the cruisetour. It will be fine for the adults, but I've got to plan ways to make it OK for my little boy. I also want to make sure the activities we select are good for him.

 

Suggestions?

 

You should be excited. It is a great land and will look totally a different world than Louisiana. Since it seems the tour is booked and changing isn't really an option you've got some homework mama. Just remember, you have received a great gift of both the trip and time spent with the elders. Get busy finding out whatever you can about the areas you are going to.

 

On the bus DO NOT SIT RIGHT BEHIND THE DRIVER when you are touring. I found some drivers to have NOOOOO patience for kids that are not deaf and dumb. If you get a snapper, it could really dampen enthusiasm. Sit farther back and then the wiggles or questions/conversations you are having with your buddy will not tick off those who never had kids or forgot what life is like. It can be amazing and enthralling for kids or boring as ...

 

Check all the available choices from your Princess website. Try to find out the times you are at each place. Then search the local areas online for available activities that are similar or more your idea of interesting that could fit your timelines.

I found a lot of info, about local animals, plants, etc online. This included checklists and descriptions you could download. National Parks website is a good spot to start. Alaska Geographic has books you won't find in a bookstore or library probably. On a website there are often links for teachers, they're really good, like for Exit Glacier in Seward.

 

Compare What was happening in Alaska at the places you visit to what Gram and Gramps were up to at those times. Old photos of your area, same time period. Scavenger hunt and collections from each area.

 

Get your guy his own cheap, but decent digital camera to chronicle your trip. Lots of memory cards and rechargeable batteries. Have his own survival backpack with the most needed items(snack food) Take a goofy very small stuffed animal and try to get different angle shots of it in all the places you visit. I took a monkey and got a shot of him driving our tour bus into Denali, sitting in the antler arch in Fairbanks, etc.

 

It will be what you make it. Enjoy the blessing you have received.

[roundpond]

No, it's 6- 8 hours. The buses have bucket seats with high backs. I question WHY anyone would pay for a costly cruisetour, when Denali Park is the the BIG feature of the entire thing??? There isn't much else frankly on the cruisetours, using the McKinley/Denali lodges and Fairbanks only.

 

The Copper River Princess, needs people to consider their time there. This isn't a place to go to either, unless, you like riding on a bus and not too concerned about making the most of your trip. Highlights are getting to McCarthy/Kennicott. A negative of these cruisetours is also they most always take the fast ferry Whittier/Valdez the regular one is FAR superior and most completely bypass Valdez- again, my opinion only, why bother. :)

 

Same with the Kenai Princess, you are FAR better off staying in Seward, rather than a 2 hour round trip away. There is so much to do in Seward that it is a big negative not to stay there.

Budget Queen, we're already booked with Princess for this cruisetour. Is it possible to cancel the land part, and do on our own as you seem to suggest? From what I have just been looking at on the personalizer, I would prefer the 2 days/ nights in Denali then the 2 at McKinley Lodge.... We booked the cruisetour so that Princess could do it all for us, but it appears that we won't be seeing much on their land tour.

[Loonbeam]

That's an incorrect assumption. We saw Plenty on the land portion of the tour. Yes, there are some valid points about being able to stop or detour in a car versus the train, but between the upgrade to the TWT in denali and some luck at McKinley we saw plenty, with the tradeoff being I didn't have to DRIVE and could walk around on the train and stretch :) As a side note, on legs where bus is the option, the driver WILL pull over for a bit for something notable. I didn't have my camera out, but on the shuttle from the train to McKinley she spotted an active beaver dam and pulled the whole convoy over for 5 mins.

 

 

See below for some photos, all of the first few pages were from the land portion..

 

http://loonbeam.smugmug.com/Travel/Alaska-2009/13372271_S5ZH3#972434108_jJsJd

 

I stand by my post in an earlier thread, cruisetour for first timers, then consider on your own for repeat trips (which everyone seems to make)

 

 

 

Budget Queen, we're already booked with Princess for this cruisetour. Is it possible to cancel the land part, and do on our own as you seem to suggest? From what I have just been looking at on the personalizer, I would prefer the 2 days/ nights in Denali then the 2 at McKinley Lodge.... We booked the cruisetour so that Princess could do it all for us, but it appears that we won't be seeing much on their land tour.

[Budget Queen]

That's an incorrect assumption. We saw Plenty on the land portion of the tour. Yes, there are some valid points about being able to stop or detour in a car versus the train, but between the upgrade to the TWT in denali and some luck at McKinley we saw plenty, with the tradeoff being I didn't have to DRIVE and could walk around on the train and stretch :) As a side note, on legs where bus is the option, the driver WILL pull over for a bit for something notable. I didn't have my camera out, but on the shuttle from the train to McKinley she spotted an active beaver dam and pulled the whole convoy over for 5 mins.

 

 

See below for some photos, all of the first few pages were from the land portion..

 

http://loonbeam.smugmug.com/Travel/Alaska-2009/13372271_S5ZH3#972434108_jJsJd

 

I stand by my post in an earlier thread, cruisetour for first timers, then consider on your own for repeat trips (which everyone seems to make)

 

 

Have you also traveled independent interior Alaska?

[Budget Queen]

Budget Queen, we're already booked with Princess for this cruisetour. Is it possible to cancel the land part, and do on our own as you seem to suggest? From what I have just been looking at on the personalizer, I would prefer the 2 days/ nights in Denali then the 2 at McKinley Lodge.... We booked the cruisetour so that Princess could do it all for us, but it appears that we won't be seeing much on their land tour.

 

Yes, prior to final payments, cruisetours can be canceled.

 

It is a great advantage in both areas to have your own transportation. Especially Denali Park where you can then take the Eielson shuttle bus. There are many lodging choices also to consider.

 

I would suggest you head to your library and take out Fodor's Alaska, Frommer's Alaska etc. a complete guide to all the small stuff a cruisetour misses- which can be plenty. I can list stops all along the Parks Highway, that Princess never even considers- so I am not going to get into disputing that. It is SIMPLE. Many people on these boards have done it, the first time around. Head to the Alaska board. There is accurate, first hand, expert advice for planning if you care to use it. Never has there ever been reports of anyone returning, that they wished they had done a cruisetour. :)

 

Cruisetours are great options for many. I am NOT suggesting otherwise, but after being on these board for years, and seeing constant posts from cruisetour people, who didn't know what they bought to begin with, then finding out on these boards the negatives they don't want- either you change something, or accept it. But my point is, Princess puts together some pretty crappy cruisetours, no matter how you book, I always strongly encourage those in the planning stages to read between the lines and do your homework. No matter how you book.