Princess Cruisetour/Train Question

[JUST ADD WATER]

We are on the May 20th Dawn Princess 8S Cruisetour. In a nutshell it is Fri (5/20) Fairbanks, Sat and Sun (5/21-22) Denali, Mon Train trip to ship, then Southbound cruise ending in Vancouver.

 

Couple of questions: Anyone ever take this train ride? Do we stop at other cities to pick up additional passengers? When do we get to the ship? We are excited about the train ride since neither of us has ever been on a train except for in a park or zoo! :D

 

In Denali, we are going on the Tundra Tour Sun AM. Will we have time to do any other tours later in the day? The day we arrive at Denali (Sat at 4PM) we are going to the Dinner Show and then to bed for the 6AM Tundra departure. Just curious if we can squeeze in one more event on Sun afternoon/early evening before leaving Denali!

 

Any other advise on tours or things we need to see would be appreciated!

[whale-watcher]

We really enjoyed the train trip -- especially the stretch around Denali itself. The Princess cars are separate and had guides to point out wildlife and other interesting things to see, and there were very few (if any) stops along the way.

We also had 2 nights in Denali last year. There were optional evening excursions after the Tundra tour -- we opted for scenic rafting, and we even had time for early morning horseback riding the next day before we boarded the train (although we were northbound, so the departure time may be different).

[Budget Queen]

I've taken the train several times. Princess has table seating for 4 facing each other, assigned seating. Since you are on the Princess contracted train- I've been told it is running separate from the regular run. You will be about 10 hours on the train Denali Park- Whittier- no stops. This information is second hand and if there was a stop you would have only 2- Talkeetna and Anchorage. Also IF you are leaving Fairbanks- arriving Denali Park- the train arrives at noon- regular schedule. The Tundra Wilderness tour runs about 6-8 hours, so yes you would have time for something later.

[JUST ADD WATER]

We really appreciate your help. We have cruised many times, but an Alaska cruise seems to be like no other :D ! We are so excited to go on such a new and different type of cruise.

 

I do have another question: since it is light so long in May at Fairbanks, is there any chance we could see the Northern Lights (sorry, I cannot spell the real name for them!)?

 

We are counting the days!

[Budget Queen]

We really appreciate your help. We have cruised many times, but an Alaska cruise seems to be like no other :D ! We are so excited to go on such a new and different type of cruise.

 

I do have another question: since it is light so long in May at Fairbanks, is there any chance we could see the Northern Lights (sorry, I cannot spell the real name for them!)?

 

We are counting the days!

 

 

Aurora- nope not a chance. :(

[JUST ADD WATER]

Oh well, maybe the bears will cooperate instead :D . Thanks for the advice. I guess I'd rather have 21 hours of daylight anyways!

[whale-watcher]

We saw both grizzley and black bears from the train, as well as brown and black bears from the ship in Glacier bay. Fortunately we managed to avoid seeing any bears while we were hiking in Denali!

[JUST ADD WATER]

Whale-watcher: We agree! The best bears are the ones out there in the field. They look MUCH better through the binocculars :D . Too close and the running (away) distorts the image....HAH!

 

Did you see any moose or caribou?

[whale-watcher]

Did you see any moose or caribou?

Yes and yes -- quite a few moose between Anchorage and Denali, and a few Caribou just south of Denali. Was hard to get a good look through binoculars with the movement of the train, but they were fairly close.

[JUST ADD WATER]

Whale-watcher: Thanks for the speedy reply! We have a set of 15 x 35 binocculars and 2 "travel" pairs of unknown strength (but very light and compact so maybe use in port). Any suggestions for a second pair we are going to buy this weekend?

[whale-watcher]

We bring several pairs along -- I use a pair of Leica 10x42 binculars for whale- and bird- watching, and to keep in the room just in case, but also bring along several compact pairs of 8x20's to carry with us all the time, as some of the most interesting wildlife sightings come when you least expect them. As a general rule, the more you spend, the better the quality; I find our compact Leica and Zeiss 8x20 binoculars to be brighter and sharper than many pairs of 10x50 binoculars weighing much more (but costing much less). I use binoculars every day, so I don't care if they are wide angle or not, but if you don't use them regularly, you will have an easier time with a wider field of view (although you do give up some brightness and clarity for this). Higher power binoculars will be harder to hold steady, especially if they are very heavy; for this reason, many serious bird watchers and naturalists chose 8x over 10x if they have any sort of hand shaking (the current favorite pair of binoculars for most serious birdwatchers world-wide are Swarovski 8.5x42 EL binoculars, retailing for $1400!)

Do look for waterproof or fogproof binoculars if you plan to use them in wet conditions (Alaska).

Here is a link to a website that has reviews of different binoculars:

http://www.betterviewdesired.com/

 

I also like the eagle optics website (www.eagleoptics.com) -- although I have sometimes found better prices on e-bay or at my local Sporting goods store (they just had a moving sale, with great discounts).