Island Princess Alaska landcruise, SB June 8-15 (LONG!!)

[New York Nana]

Introduction: DH and I are 1st time cruisers; 67 & 56 respectively. 1st trip to Alaska, we wanted everything ‘easy’ and we couldn’t have asked for any better service than what we got with Princess. We decided to ‘go for it’ and after much research on CC, we did the 12 day Cruisetour (5 land/7 cruise). We booked an AA mini-suite, (C504) midship, Deck 10 (Caribe) on the Island Princess, SB from Whittier to Vancouver, June 8 to 15. Our land tour began June 3 in Fairbanks. The tour # was GB5 - 1 night Fairbanks, 2/Denali, 2/McKinley

 

We booked ourselves from upstate NY to Seattle, WA . We had 2 nights at the Mayflower Park Hotel located only 3 blocks from the Pikes Market, and adjoining the Westlake Mall and access to both the monorail to the Seattle Center (Space Needle) and the light-rail. We used the Shuttle Express to/from the airport for a web reserved discount of $54 r/t for the both of us and 4 pieces of luggage. Great location, rooms are smaller than newer hotels, but staff was helpful, friendly and accommodating. Loved the convenience of being able to walk anywhere. Also, business district city busses are free, so we saved on a Hop on/Hop off tour bus. Ate at the Market (Lowells the 1st night; The Pink Door for the 2nd – OUTSTANDING!) Picked up some fresh cooked prawns and fruit and picnicked for lunch.

 

Booked air travel through Princess between Seattle and Fairbanks. Arrived in Fairbanks and left our worries behind. Princess took care of EVERYTHING! At the airport, they gave us a welcome envelope that included our room keys, luggage tags ( “come with me tonight” and “meet me at the ship”), itinerary for the next day, time to leave luggage outside (6:00 am), time to get bus to Discovery Riverboat trip and bus # to Denali Princess Lodge (3.5 hrs). This same scenario repeated itself over the course of the next days travels. A Princess Rep would get on the bus and hand out our envelopes with all information required printed on the front.

 

Travel by coach – comfortable, like a regular charter bus. Small storage bins above seats, room at feet; storage in belly of bus for larger items.

 

Travel by train – 2 different types of trains. Our 1st experience was the McKinley Explorer, a double decker, dome car with front facing, wide cushioned seats. Ample room at feet for small bags & carry ons; storage available below prior to getting on train for larger items. Did see some ‘airline’ sized carryon bags that were stowed underneath. This was between the Denali Princess and the McKinley Princess lodges (4 hr ride). The 2nd train (between McKinley Lodge and Whittier-5 hr ride), was the McKinley Express. This is also a dome car, but one level, bench seat style facing each other over a table. NO SPACE AT ALL! We crammed our backpacks in at our feet – a VERY uncomfortable 5 hour trip! The lady seated opposite us (we were facing forward) said she’d get sick riding backwards, so my DH switched with her. They did offer storage as well in the club car, but I traveled with my laptop and didn’t want to risk it being bounced around and damaged. Dining car available on the 1st train; limited menu on the 2nd. Not supposed to bring on own food, but we didn’t know that and we’d brought our own sandwiches with us! No one said anything.

 

Lodging –

Fairbanks Princess Lodge: 5 min. trip from airport. Located on river, nice rooms, spacious and clean. Small gift shop, ate in Pub for dinner first night; had buffet for breakfast the next morning. Very satisfied with both. Would have liked 2 nights in Fairbanks, some interesting tours near by we didn’t have time for. Shuttle bus into Fairbanks available for $5 pp. We didn’t take it, but saw several people lined up for it.

 

Princess Denali Lodge: 3.5 hr trip from Fairbanks by coach. Had a great guide/driver, who pointed out many points of interest and interesting side stories along the way. Those on the 2nd coach to Denali had a more ‘sedate’ driver/guide who hardly spoke. Main lodge is near road; across the street from a ‘strip’ of shops and places to eat. Pizza place, Subway (24 hrs), Salmon Bake rest. Ate at the lodge’s pub the 1st night (just chowder and appetizers). Had dinner at the Salmon Bake the following night and breakfast there the morning before leaving for the McKinley Lodge. Heard different comments regarding the dinner show (from ‘cute’ to ‘hokey’). Rooms are spread out in different buildings, shuttle constantly running through, but hardly ever saw anyone using it. Several gift shops between the main lodge and the rooms. Newer buildings (#10/11) are up a slight hill. Our room was in a Bldg near the restaurant. Comfortable, flat screen TV, quiet – quite satisfied. 2 PC's available in lower level of main lodge, as well as wifi. Saw MANY people overstay the requested/posted 15 minute limit on the PC's!

 

Took the Tundra Wilderness Tour the following morning. DO NOT bother with the Natural History tour. Your first 15 miles are essentially the ‘public’ areas of the park – with the exception of a mother moose and her twin calves near the entrance of the park – there was virtually no wildlife that we saw – even the drive is limited in the views. We probably went in about 25 miles before we began to see anything. NOTE: the busses look like a school bus on the outside; the seats are NOT bench style – they are more like the coach/charter bus seat, a bit more narrow. Open shelving above for storage. Try to sit (either side) either right below one of the drop down video screens or one row back. They are spaced out about 1 every 4/5 rows. It made a difference a couple of times to see the wildlife up closer. NOTE: ‘box lunch’ includes: reindeer sausage (looks like kielbasa), bag of baby carrots, bag of granola, 1 oz pkg of cheese, 1 bottle of water, 1 sliced white roll.) Bathroom breaks were every 90-120 min. Nice, clean facilities – not what I expected. One stop even has a small gift shop!!

 

Wildlife viewing is different every trip. Appreciate what you DO see! We saw everything but bears – bus behind us? Saw the bears! Oh well! The views are breathtaking!

 

Some took shuttle back to Visitor’s center – we didn’t because DH wasn’t feeling well, but others said it was great – do it if you can.

 

HINT – taking the train from Denali to McKinley? Don’t wait for the scheduled bus – crowded and mayhem at the main lodge. Hop on one of the free shuttles to the Visitors’ Center, cross the street and you’re at the train station! Princess has their clients wait in covered shelters to the left of the main station. Holland America has theirs wait in a more open area towards the center. A Princess rep will tell you which shelter to wait in based upon the name of the railcar you are assigned to.

 

We had a great ‘guide’ on the train and had a great day of weather – as we rounded a bend, he pointed out that “the mountain is OUT!” Sure enough, Mt McKinley (Denali to the locals) was clear and bright! An incredible and impressive sight. We counted ourselves very fortunate to get to see it!!

 

McKinley Princess Lodge – REMOTE! A good hour drive by coach after arriving by train in Talkeetna. Some chose to stay in town and catch the hourly shuttle back to the lodge later. NOTE: You are allowed one “FREE” roundtrip on the coach. If you stay in town upon arrival, you can catch the shuttle back at no cost. If you take the shuttle into Talkeetna and back the same day (like we did on our ‘free’ day), it is $10 roundtrip pp. The town is SMALL! Only about a dozen buildings. If you can, catch some of the lectures/presentations back at the lodge before exploring the town. We went to the one about “Bush Pilots” and then went into town. It really gave a lot of background info on some local legends. Visit the historical museum, and if you have time, walk over to the town cemetery. There are gravesites there that have plane propellers instead of headstones! Eat at the “Roadhouse” – it’s family style seating, good food and the building is pretty interesting itself.

Our room was located in one of the several lodge style buildings throughout the grounds. We were right near the 20,320 Restaurant. This is the only place we ate on property – breakfast and dinner. Prices were reasonable and service good. The main lodge had a good sized gift shop, a HUGE common area with large windows and a large deck area with plenty of seating to see the mountains. They have 4 or 5 computers available in the ‘internet’ lounge, but wireless was easily available on your own equipment. Not in the rooms, however. Again, Princess made everything easy. Bus to the train the next day was on time and our driver was a doll!

Train to Whittier – only issue on entire trip. The McKinley Express is (as I described above) not as a comfortable mode of transportation. It did go past some beautiful scenery though.

 

Arrival at Whittier – I should mention that we stopped shortly in Anchorage where Princess rep’s boarded the train – one to each car. They went seat by seat and scanned everyone’s passports. Answered questions and explained how embarkation would work. When we arrived in Whittier, and before leaving the railcar, we received our Cruise Cards! Simply walked off the train, followed the walkway to the security building (there were about 400 of us on the train, so that did take about 20 minutes or so to get through), continued to the ship where they scanned our card at the entryway and the ‘machine’ took our photo!

 

Onboard at last! Barely walked in when our room steward, Robert, came by, introduced himself, pointed out that the egg crate and distilled water (for DH Cpap machine) were already in our cabin, confirmed our requests for robes, showed us how to request service, explained the breakfast room service card. Within 15 min. or so it was time to go to the muster drill. Crew and staff were posted everywhere to direct people, instructions were short and sweet and then everyone disbursed again.

Got our bearings and headed to the buffet where it was a bit crowded and crazy to say the least. Buffet lines were slow moving (some seemed to be filling up a week’s worth of food – perhaps they were afraid the ship would run out!). Eventually we got our ‘light’ supper and then did a quick cursory tour of the ship, unpacked and settled in for the night. DH has been in the food svc industry for 40+ years and he commented that their buffet line was not well organized. An example he gave was the salad fixings were in the center area, but you had to go backwards to a side line to get the dressings. I don't notice these things, but just wanted to point that out for those interested in it.

Cabin C504-loved it and SO glad we got the mini-suite! We appreciated the full size bathroom with tub/shower and wide/long countertop and shelves to put things. There's an pull-out line in the tub to hang bathing suits, towels, whatever. We were on the port side, mid ship bump-out. The wind was blocked by room ahead of us and we had a full cover overhead by the balcony on the Baja deck. Yes, the room next to us was 'close' on the balcony, but they were sweet people and we enjoyed pointing out different sites while out there. I spent a lot of time on the balcony taking pictures. When we were in Glacier Bay, the Captain turned the ship in a 360 degree circle, so we could just sit there and watch everything. I DID go out the the Caribe Deck 'secret' doors to the bow of the ship. Only about 15-20 people there at most. Also able to get a lot of great pix from that vantagepoint. A 'crew' room was across the hall, but unless people were directly in front of our door speaking, we never heard any noise. We were right near the elevators/staircase and again, no noise. We appreciated the convenience of being midship and getting from place to place easily.

 

1st day of cruise was spent getting a massage (ask for Mary - she's WONDERFUL!:)), attending the CC Meet and Greet (Thanks Jody!), having lunch in the Bordeaux . It was also the first formal night, but because we were also cruising to Hubbard Glacier, we made a decision to forgo the dinner to watch the glacier instead. HOWEVER, due to heavy ice floe and heavy fog setting in, the Captain decided for safety sake to stop eight miles away (still pretty impressive from what we could see) and turned around earlier. Problem solved – dressed for dinner. We had the new 'early' traditional seating at 5:15. This seating is held in the "Anytime" dining room "Bordeaux". We had the same table each night, same wait staff (THANK YOU Rodrigo! A real professional!) and were want for nothing! Breakfasts and lunches in there were excellent as well - all the staff we encountered were responsive and pleasant. We were given options of sharing tables at the other meals, but would be given a private table if requested. We enjoyed both arrangements. After dinner, the Captain and his staff were introduced in the Atrium, champagne and canapes were provided by roving waitstaff and the Captain began the "Champagne Waterfall". Several photographers were situated around the main areas of the ship and portraits were available to be taken. No heavy handed promotions or 'assaults' took place. They did run a promotion to get free photos, in which we won 2nd place. We were able to select one pose from each of the different photographers we visited.

 

We preferred eating our meals in the dining room. Enjoyed the service, the quality of food and the ambiance. We had a lunch in Horizon Court once and on an early tour excursion in Juneau, we had room service (mostly breaks, fruits, cereals, juices and an ‘egg mcmuffin’ style sandwich, only fresher and better.) DH had room service bring coffee, juice and fruit each morning. Always on time or early. Always delivered with a smile and ‘good morning’! Had pizza a couple of times as a snack. Actually pretty good! Had ice cream cones a couple of times as well. I’m a big diet soda drinker, so we sprung for a soda package ($36 for the length of the cruise, unlimited). Had no trouble getting it at the buffett, dining room or any of the bars open throughout the ship. I saw some people walking around with their ‘coke’ souvenir mug to have it filled up, but I just showed my cruise card with the sticker on it. NOTE: got my cruise card punched in the casino and the cashier put it on a lanyard for me. VERY handy!

 

DH went to the Casino for a 'class' on table games and got a $5 free play. That was the extent of our casino 'experience'. Made 2 of the comedian shows. OK - nothing outstanding. Most nights we just enjoyed our room/balcony because we were TIRED!

 

Hubbard Glacier-as I mentioned above, disappointed we couldn't get closer, but still got out front to get pictures before the fog set in. I DID need to layer here, along with hat/gloves. VERY WINDY up front! Sent one of my gloves "sailing" out to the bay! Didn't realize I'd lost it, until I went back to the bow of the ship on the Caribe "secret" deck in the forward of the ship. A lady saw me looking for something and I told her I was looking for my glove. She told me that she and her husband were on their balcony and she saw something fly by and said, "oh look, a PUFFIN!", and her husband replied: "No dear, a GLOVE!"

 

Glacier Bay was outstanding – weather was perfect, glaciers were calving, Rangers on board were great!

 

Skagway – DH didn’t want to do the White Pass train, so we opted for the bus trip over the summit and Liarsville. Beautiful scenery. Liarsville was cute. A B+ overall. Went back to the ship for lunch, then met up with our guide for the “Good Times Girls walking tour”. Also a B+ (although DH would probably give it an A+!!:rolleyes:).

 

Juneau – booked our own tour with Harv & Marv’s. :DOUTSTANDING! They book no more than 6 pax per ship, so imagine our surprise when we were the ONLY TWO on our tour! We had Captain Liz, who did a WONDERFUL job of getting us to the whales fast and pointing out great shots. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day! I HIGHLY recommend H&M!

That evening was the second formal night .

 

Ketchican – the first ‘drizzly’ day we had all week! Still, not wet enough to need much more than a good waterproof jacket and baseball cap. We took the self-guided tour through town (pick up right at the dock at the Visitor Center). The first thing we did, though, was head to the Post Office to mail packages of gifts we’d been buying all along. What I didn’t know, until I read it in the Patter, is that you have to meet with a Custom’s agent ON THE SHIP prior to taking any packages off to be mailed. About a dozen pax and crew waited for the agent to arrive in the Provence DR. She did a cursory check of the opened packages and then you sealed it and she put the customs inspection tape on it. I don’t know if this is something that people bypass by not packing boxes and just carrying things off, but we didn’t want to take any chances. Also, stopped by the Library/Museum. Nice museum and the library offers 30 minutes free wifi if you have your own laptop. They also have some PC’s available, but I overhead the librarian tell a fellow pax that they would have to wait an hour to use it.

 

Ultimate Ship Tour – yes, we sprung for the $150 pp and LOVED IT! Only one dozen permitted on the tour (we had ten total). Got to see the galley’s, coolers, laundry, medical center, mooring, engineer room, walk the “M1” secret corridor on deck 3 from forward to aft, and finished up in the Bridge with the Captain. Not long after the 3.5 hr tour, we received 2 heavy terry cloth robes, 2 chef’s coats, autographed photos taken at the different locations. A great experience!

 

Vancouver – arrived at dock on time. Disembarkation was relatively quick. Our group (independent travelers with prior arrangements) was given the place (Universal Lounge) and time (8:20). We departed the ship about 8:30, went right through Canadian customs, found our luggage, got in a cab and by 9:15 we were at the West End Guest House B&B only about 4 blocks from Canada Place. (Can't say enough good about Evan and his B&B. Only regret was not booking a couple of more nights there!). Dropped off our luggage, picked up the Vancouver Trolley and toured the city. Ate at the Fish House in Stanley Park. Went to the Aquarium and watched the locals prepare for that evening's Stanley Cup finals. Let's just say the evening was full of excitement!

Friends of ours chose the Princess transfer to SEATAC. They said it went smooth. They stopped at the border and Customs got on board and randomly asked for passports. One gentleman on their bus apparently missed the MANY reminders to keep passports ON YOUR PERSON throughout the entire trip - he'd packed his in his luggage that was stowed in the belly of the bus!! It could have held up their travel, but FORTUNATELY the Custom's agent didn't ask to see HIS passport that morning!:eek:

 

In conlusion - our first cruise was more than I could have imagined! We thought Princess did a PHENOMINAL job of 'people' and 'luggage' moving. Their logistics system is top notch! All staff we encountered anywhere were smiling, helpful and just seemed to enjoy their work. Our Cruise Director was Richard Joseph and he and Elaine (his Ass't director) were a HOOT in the morning "Wake Show"! It was like watching Regis and Kelly!!

Alaska has some of the most breathtaking scenes I even experienced (and I thought the Grand Canyon took my breath away!). You can't do it all, but I'm glad for what we DID get to see. Everyone's perspectives are different, of course, but we couldn't find anything to fault on our trip (except for not winning the lottery so we could have stayed LONGER!).

 

I have the Princess Patters from our trip, if anyone is interested, I can scan them and email them to you. Just put "Patter" in the subject line and email me at beh614@gmail.com

I also have pictures of our all our rooms at the lodges, our cabin, our balcony and many, MANY pictures of Mt McKinley!

 

I apologize for the lenght of this review - I'm a 'detail' nut and didn't want to miss anything (although I'm sure I did!). Feel free to ask me questions - I'll answer what I can.

[LARGIN]

Thanks for the review. The Coral/Island sister ships are our favorites. Question.. Was Jose your Maitre D'?

[Maryandi]

Just wonderful - Thank You for all the detail, esp. of the Bus/Train travel.

 

MaryAnn

[flashdog_1]

Sorry, double post. See the next one.

[flashdog_1]

Thanks for your review. I almost always learn something I'd never heard before in each one. In yours I learned about the free bus in the business district of Seattle.

 

I knew about route 99 that was free on the waterfront, and that may be the one you are referring to. I don't know.

 

Do you have a map of the free bus route(s) that you could scan and send me p gauker at bell south dot net? If so, pls put Cruise Critic in the subject line so I won't delete it by accident.

 

Our hotel is 4 blocks from Alaska Way ON pier 56, at 400 Spring St. We were going to walk to dinner at Elliot's Oyster place, but I just realized these routes may not be crossable for pedestrians, and if there is a bus, that would be great. I'll call the hotel for advice if you don't have the map.

 

Thanks so much

[Bucket Listed]

We'll be in the mini above yours next month, and traveling on a land tour with Princess from Anchorage, to McKinley, and Denali lodges. Appreciate your insight related to the travel also. Sent you an email for the patters. Thanks loads.

[lewes]

Hello

Thank you for your review. My wife and I along with friends will be leaving to start our cruisetour on Wed. this week.

 

Your review made us even more excited.

[BLS]

Great review, thanks for sharing!

Makes me want to book an Alaskan cruise right away.

[newtocruising]

Loved your review. Did send you an email for the patters. We will be on the Island Aug31st, also on Caribe deck. Will have to remember about the gloves.;)

[arizonaperson]

New York Nana- thanks for the details. Love the details. Enjoyed reading your post. Any chance you will post it under the member review section of the cruise reviews? That's where I look for a particular ship or itinerary for helpful hints.:)

You could also post the Patters in a thread as well.

[New York Nana]

Thanks for your review. I almost always learn something I'd never heard before in each one. In yours I learned about the free bus in the business district of Seattle.

 

I knew about route 99 that was free on the waterfront, and that may be the one you are referring to. I don't know.

 

Do you have a map of the free bus route(s) that you could scan and send me p gauker at bell south dot net? If so, pls put Cruise Critic in the subject line so I won't delete it by accident.

 

Our hotel is 4 blocks from Alaska Way ON pier 56, at 400 Spring St. We were going to walk to dinner at Elliot's Oyster place, but I just realized these routes may not be crossable for pedestrians, and if there is a bus, that would be great. I'll call the hotel for advice if you don't have the map.

 

Thanks so much

Yes, the Rte 99 bus is free along the waterfront, but it circles south to China town and back up on 1st Ave. I'll email you the map of that route I have. Our hotel provided a good map of Seattle where the 'yellow' highlighted area showed where ALL the busses are free during the work day (6am to 7pm I think!). Sorry, I gave the map to a friend who is traveling there next week, so I can't scan that one in, but I'm sure your hotel concierge may be able to help. Also, we had no problem crossing the road to get to the waterfront where the restaurants and aquarium are. We walked down the 'hill climb' stairs, but took the elevator in the parking garage back up to the market.

[New York Nana]

New York Nana- thanks for the details. Love the details. Enjoyed reading your post. Any chance you will post it under the member review section of the cruise reviews? That's where I look for a particular ship or itinerary for helpful hints.:)

You could also post the Patters in a thread as well.

Thanks! I did do a 'member' review - which was pretty much what I included on this review, just wasn't sure if it went through or not.

I've scanned the Patters and will try to attach them. Never did that before, so let's see what happens!

I'm more than happy to email them to anyone - I've scanned them into .pdf format.

[New York Nana]

Hello

Thank you for your review. My wife and I along with friends will be leaving to start our cruisetour on Wed. this week.

 

Your review made us even more excited.

You'll love it! I have 'Patters' from the Denali and McKinley lodges if you are interested in looking at them before you leave. Just email me at beh614@gmail.com and put "Patters" in the subject line and let me know which ones you'd like.

Have a great trip!