Alaska Cruisetour 6/2 Review

[julieawill]

I've finally started posting my review on my blog. I'm sorry it took so long. I really appreciate all those who've posted information on this board, and I used it extensively in planning our trip. I posted the review to give back, and hopefully help someone else.

 

http://www.terrellandjulie.blogspot.com

 

I'm happy to answer any questions.

 

Julie

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you.

 

Enjoyed your review.

[GweninTX]

Can't wait to read some more!

[Kana boy]

Looking forward to the REST of the story. Nice job on the blog. We will be on Celebrity 8/12/11 for 7 days with the 5 day land tour so this information is great.

 

Thanks for taking the time and sharing,

Cheryl & Richard:)

[2thklnr]

I am with a group of 3 couples leaving on Aug.12th for Fairbanks 12 day trip. Will be anxious to see if you do any of the things we have planned. So far it looks intriguing. I have to admit I will avoid the hotel restaurants judging by what you have said!

Enjoy your next day in Denali,

Ellen

[karonius]

Great review. We are doing the same tour next year with Princess on the Island and are anxious to read the rest of your review.

 

One question, so far, being that you did a dog kennel tour in Fairbanks and the one in Denali, would you still recommend doing both? We are planning to do both but just wondering if it would be redundant.

[shutterbug285]

Enjoying the review. Wish thay had a "like" button lol

[Artrina]

I'm enjoying your blog, too. We're doing a cruisetour of debatable length next year.

[DMorris]

Great blog so far... are you still working on writing more? Only see up to day 2 so far...

[MJN]

Wish I'd know about the 30% club t-shirts you found, I would have bought one as well. We were at Denali on the 17-19th and it rained while we were there but when we got to Talkeetna the mountain was totally in the clear for quite a while. They told us we were actually in the 1% club because most people who do see it will have at least a few clouds or it will be partially obscured, it was totally in the clear for us! Our tour started in Seward after our northbound cruise on Radiance of the Seas and went to Seward one night, Aleyeska one night, Denali 2 nights and Talkeetna one night, all by motorcoach and then train from Talkeetna to Anchorage. It was an awesome experience and would do it again in a heartbeat! Hope the rest of yours was just as awesome!

[julieawill]

All,

 

Thank you for your kind comments so far. I just posted our review of our Summit Flight over Mt. McKinley, so it's up to date through day 4 or 5 (depending on if you count the first day). I'll list the shore excursions we took, in case any of you are planning the same ones.

 

Skagway - rented a car and drove into Carcross. It was the Canadian version of The Shining. Good thing we have a sense of humor.

 

Juneau - the Photo Safari - whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier. What a wonderful surprise!

 

Ketchikan - Misty Fjords Floatplane trip. My favorite thing was Creek Street...

 

I'll try to be better about checking back here to answer questions.

 

Thanks,

 

Julie

[julieawill]

Great review. We are doing the same tour next year with Princess on the Island and are anxious to read the rest of your review.

 

One question, so far, being that you did a dog kennel tour in Fairbanks and the one in Denali, would you still recommend doing both? We are planning to do both but just wondering if it would be redundant.

 

We actually didn't do both kennel tours. We saw Dave Monson's kennels from the riverboat. It was like one of those old coffee commercials, everyone went over to that side of the ship to watch, and it really did list slightly.

 

I'm not sure what they would do differently at the two kennels, so I couldn't really say. I did enjoy the time we spent at Jeff King's. The puppies are adorable. We got to see them hook up the dogs to the ATV. And then we spent about an hour listening to Jeff speak about his experiences on the Iditarod. His stories are fascinating. If I had to choose between the two, I'd probably choose Jeff, since he won 4 Iditarods. Your Fairbanks tour may have the most recent winner of the Iditarod (or multiple winner - I forget which one). He accompanied us on the Riverboat and was signing his book.

 

Dave Monson (Susan Butcher's husband) was signing their kids' book "Granite" in the Post Office in the Athabaskan village.

 

I hope that makes sense...let me know if you have any more questions.

 

Julie

[julieawill]

I am with a group of 3 couples leaving on Aug.12th for Fairbanks 12 day trip. Will be anxious to see if you do any of the things we have planned. So far it looks intriguing. I have to admit I will avoid the hotel restaurants judging by what you have said!

Enjoy your next day in Denali,

Ellen

 

Hi Ellen,

 

It's kind of hard to avoid the restaurant in Fairbanks, since we were a captive audience. It just wasn't worth it to try to take the shuttle or rent a car, although you can if you like. The food is not bad by any stretch, and the prices were comparable to other Alaska restaurants. Just be prepared for sticker shock wherever you go.

 

Julie

[marinemom99]

very much enjoying your blog reports...we are just now in the planning stage to go next year. Can you tell me the dates you were there? also, will you be adding more to the blog? we are loving all the information and pictures!!!!

 

thanks

debi

[julieawill]

very much enjoying your blog reports...we are just now in the planning stage to go next year. Can you tell me the dates you were there? also, will you be adding more to the blog? we are loving all the information and pictures!!!!

 

thanks

debi

 

Debi,

 

Thanks for the encouragement. I definitely plan to blog through the end of the trip, then I'll start on our Scandinavia and Russia cruise from last year.

 

We started in Fairbanks on June 2, then boarded the Island Princess for a southbound Voyage of the Glaciers cruise June 8-15. Our weather was good, we only had intermittent rain a couple of days. While it was a little on the cool side, we were well-prepared and it wasn't an issue. We never had to use our rain pants, so I figure purchasing them was good insurance. I didn't pack a heavy enough coat, but they had the warm, fleece-lined Alaska parkas at every single stop/city for $24.95. I also picked up a favorite polar fleece at the Princess Denali Lodge. There are great prices everywhere on cold weather gear.

 

If I went back to Alaska again, I'd go in July so we could see the bears at the Anan preserve. But we got incredibly close to some grizzlies on the road to Carcross out of Skagway. They were busy eating vegetation to get their digestive systems going after hibernation, so they're fairly common along the Yukon highway. We also saw a couple of black bears along the highway as well.

 

I would imagine that each season has it's pros and cons, we opted for June because of lower prices and lower chance of rain.

 

I hope that answers your question.

 

Julie

[dnvmiller]

My wife and I were in Fairbanks last week...she was born and raised there...and we stayed at the princess as normal guests, not members of any tour..the accomodations are good..we got a resident discount which helped...but the dining on the deck left a little to be desired. The service was not good...they were trying but couldnt seem to get it together...we kept our sense of humour tho...$58 for dinner for two is par for the course...youd likely pay that anywhere in town short of Taco Bell. At the Princess you are around the corner from Pikes Landing...a long time Fairbanks restaurant with alot of local clientele, run by a former state legislator.....so maybe you could get the hotel shuttle to run you up there...but youd get a good local flavor...in more ways than one...

 

We took the train up from Anchorage...my wife had done it a number of times back in the day when it was an actual mode of transportation as opposed to a fun ride for the touri...and I had never done the leg from Denali to Fairbanks...one thing...the narrators on the train...get about 50% of what they tell you totally wrong..we were cracking up at how much they were able to screw up simple straightforward events...my wife..who has worked for the Alaska StateTroopers for many years was pointing out all the places that bodies were found or homicides committed...lots of them along the railroad right of way....maybe the narrators are more accurature in the dedicated Princess-HAL cars...but you dont get the body count or the "real" story from a local either...

 

Ya know the state motto is "Take only Pictures, leave only money"...

 

Don and Vickie

 

Anchorage AK

[julieawill]

Don,

 

I loved your post. I wish I'd had the homicide tour; sounds like a way more unique take on the scenery.

 

Julie

[DMorris]

I am so enjoying your blog... excited to read the rest as it is posted.

[julieawill]

I've just posted through Hubbard Glacier. Not much for that sea day, I'm afraid. For the first time, weather interfered with our plans. I'll try to get Glacier Bay up ASAP, as it was unbelievably amazing.

 

Enjoy,

 

Julie

[marinemom99]

Hi Julie...

 

just a couple of questions...are ou glad you did the land portion? was there anything you really didn't like aor really loved? is the land portion something you thought you might be able to do on your own for less $$ and better sights, etc?? just curious.

 

we are both loving your blog!! can't wait for our turn!

 

debi

[ROCruiser]

Enjoyed your blog! Thank you for sharing.

[marinemom99]

another quick question...who did you do the flyseeing at Mt McKinley with? just cuious since i haven't researched this yet. any info is appreciated!!!

[julieawill]

Hi Julie...

 

just a couple of questions...are ou glad you did the land portion? was there anything you really didn't like aor really loved? is the land portion something you thought you might be able to do on your own for less $$ and better sights, etc?? just curious.

 

we are both loving your blog!! can't wait for our turn!

 

debi

 

Hi Debi,

 

I am so glad we did the land portion. Our favorite excursion was the Summit Flight and Glacier Landing out of Talkeetna, and our favorite "port" was Talkeetna.

If I did it again, I would skip Fairbanks, and maybe add on Kenai or Anchorage. However, if you have kids, and they've never been exposed to gold country, you might want to keep Fairbanks. I was raised in California and have been to gold mining towns, and done the gold panning. For me it was kind of "been there, done that". I really liked the Athabascan Village, but not enough to schedule two nights in Fairbanks.

 

We did the Flightseeing tour on our own through Talkeetna Air Taxi. See my post for that day, and my comments on why I was glad we with went with them. I booked before Mar 1 (or Mar 31, I forget), and got a discount of $50pp. It was way cheaper than with Princess.

 

One thing that was a waste for us (and the group right before us loved it, so it's all personal preference) was the Misty Fjords Flightseeing tour in Ketchikan. Our pilot was great, it's just that it couldn't compare with the fabulous day we had at Denali flightseeing. This tour was probably our most expensive and least enjoyable. However, I would book a tour (flightseeing) to the Anan Bear Preserve out of Ketchikan in a heart beat. We just there at the wrong time of the year for that. The group before us were raving about their flight - but they are fishermen, and they caught a ton of fish in a mountain lake. It takes a while to get to the Misty Fjords, and then it all starts to look the same (I know I'm going to get flamed for that). It's just what you prefer (and I love hiking, sightseeing, rock climbing, etc.). Maybe if we didn't have the Rocky Mountains literally in our backyard, it would have seemed more amazing to us. The expense just didn't have the payoff (for us).

 

Also, I'll post my Skagway review in the next day or two. We won't be doing that tour again, but we had a good laugh and a great time despite the hiccups.

 

Julie

[julieawill]

another quick question...who did you do the flyseeing at Mt McKinley with? just cuious since i haven't researched this yet. any info is appreciated!!!

 

Hi Marine Mom,

 

We booked our flight with Talkeetna Air Taxi. I chose them because their Summit Flight and Glacier Landing tour coincided with our train's arrival in Talkeetna in the evening. I wanted an evening flight the first night, because if it was cancelled due to weather conditions, we would have the next day to reschedule. They also offered a discount on their website for tours booked before Mar 1 (I think, it could have been later). Due to their refitted, larger, convex windows, I am so glad I went with them. See my post for photos of the different planes and you'll see the difference in the windows. You will be spending most of your time looking out these windows, so they do make a difference.

 

I'm sure the other providers have great flights, and maybe even better narrative from the pilot. We were just so stunned at the amazing views, I'm not sure we even listened to our pilot.

 

Happy researching,

 

Julie

[julieawill]

Hi All,

 

I finally posted my Juneau Whale Watching and Glacier Photography Tour review. I'm sorry it took so long, I've had family in town for the past few days.

 

http://terrellandjulie.blogspot.com/

 

Only one more port!

 

Julie