Alaska Cruse Tour SB on Island Princess July 2011

[texasgirl29]

Simbasmom, I'm sorry but no photos of the orchestra. They do a great job, not only with the Motor City show but backing up Joe Sackenheim and then the International Crew show. Lots of versatility there!

 

BTW, have you read Cruise Confidential 2? I'd be interested in what you or your son think of it -- he tells about the entertainers aboard the ships in that one.

 

JoAnn

[CenTexGal]

Thanks for a great review. We are also from Waco and leaving in a little over two weeks on the Island Princess SB. Our land portion is a little different as we are flying into Anchorage...so I loved seeing your pics of things we will not see. Looks like you had a fabulous time!!

[vacation1011]

I really enjoyed your review - we are going to Fairbanks on Sunday for our cruisetour on the Coral Princess - Thanks for the pictures - they are great. We can hardly wait. :p

[GweninTX]

Thanks for a great review! We leave on 8/20 on the Coral Southbound! I cannot wait! We are from TX also! Will be great to leave this heat!

[texasgirl29]

We are also from Waco and leaving in a little over two weeks on the Island Princess SB.

 

Glad you enjoyed it. You will be so glad to get out of this horrible heat. I even loved the rain and fog!

 

JoAnn

[texasgirl29]

I really enjoyed your review - we are going to Fairbanks on Sunday for our cruisetour on the Coral Princess - Thanks for the pictures - they are great. We can hardly wait. :p

 

You will have a great time. Fairbanks is more spread out than I imagined. I wonder how they plow the streets in the winter. Any hint of ice here in Texas and we shut down!

 

JoAnn

[texasgirl29]

\We are from TX also! Will be great to leave this heat!

 

Amen to that! We've broken 30-year records for 100+ days. You will enjoy the beautiful (even if raining!) weather and the abundance of flowers everywhere.

 

JoAnn

[DNArocks]

Fantastic review. Thank-you for taking the time to post your events and pictures. I have loved reading/seeing each one. You have a beautiful family. You are truly blessed and I thank you for sharing those blessings with me.

[LisaH]

Saturday, July 16

Our time in Fairbanks was over – we boarded the bus for Denali at 9 am and arrived about noon. It was rainy and overcast (not a problem for me, we haven’t seen rain in months, I enjoyed it.) Our driver pointed out a few things along the way.

 

We stopped in Nenana http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nenana,_Alaska for a quick potty break. The building has a little museum and some crafts for sale. There was a long line for the bathroom. Paul and Dave took off on foot instead and quickly (very quickly) explored the town. This is where you can enter the lottery to see when the ice will break.

 

 

When we arrived at the Denali Princess, we first had a quick lunch across the street at Subway. The weather was cloudy and very cool.

 

 

Our room was in building 10 facing the river. Coming out of the lobby of Building 10 to the patio was an amazing experience – what a view! (Hint for Princess – buy some outdoor space heaters and put that patio to use!)

 

 

 

 

There is a walkway along the river connecting Buildings 10 and 11 to the main part of the hotel and shops. Flowers and rustic looking cabins, very beautiful.

 

 

The main lodge has two levels with many, many places to see on the upper level, giving it the appearance of a fancy bus station with comfortable seats. But as tours come and go, all of the seats are occupied with many others standing. The lower level has tables, a snack bar and of course, the gift shop. Wi-Fi is available in the lodge as well as the lobby of Building 10.

 

We had tickets for the Denali Music Dinner Theater which was fun although a bit cheesy. Bring your corny sense of humor to enjoy. The food was pretty good and very plentiful. The actors are also the waiters and will stand at the door afterwards for tips. Afterwards we walked around – stores were still open and it was still daylight although cloudy and cool.

 

Great review so far. We also had a room overlooking the river and the sound of it was so awesome to fall asleep to with the windows open.

 

We also enjoyed that wooden deck. We had a couple meals outside there and drinks too. NICE!

[LisaH]

Tuesday, July 19

My sore throat was now a chest cold. But when I looked out the window I saw the bright snow-covered mountain so got quickly dressed and took some photos.

 

 

 

In the lodge, we purchased tickets and watched a video of the Northern Lights set to symphonic music. Felt pretty crummy so went back to bed for a few hours. Later in the afternoon doctored sufficiently with Advil and Robitussen so joined the family in the lodge.

 

 

 

 

 

Rachel worked for hours on a puzzle and Stephanie read her book. Set out our luggage for 6 a.m. pickup

 

 

Ahhh, the memories. We spent hours by that fireplace!

[Lovharvey]

You will have a great time. Fairbanks is more spread out than I imagined. I wonder how they plow the streets in the winter. Any hint of ice here in Texas and we shut down!

 

JoAnn

 

 

There is a difference in the fact they know how to deal with and most of us don't. Back in Feb., I paid for an extra night in a hotel so I could get to Galveston before we had any problems here.

I love Alaska. I would love to do a cruisetour/cruise one of these days. Great review and the pictures are stunning.

[luvtravel88]

We did a similar itinerary five years ago. Your wonderful review and pictures brought back many great memories. Thanks for taking the time to write it!

[simbasmom]

Hi again, texasgirl29! I just wanted to let you know that I passed on your positive comments on Joe and the African-American woman singer. Turns out Matt had gone ona hike with her in one of the ports and says she's just as nice off-stage as on. But somehow names didn't get exchanged during the hike. He says Joe's also very nice.

 

I just noticed you're from Waco. Gone to any football games at Baylor? Home of the steepest entrance ramp into the stadium! Matt and his high school marching band performed at the state contest there, and the ramp was so steep they really struggled to keep the rolling instruments from getting away from them. Ah, yes-good times in Waco!

[simbasmom]

Simbasmom, I'm sorry but no photos of the orchestra. They do a great job, not only with the Motor City show but backing up Joe Sackenheim and then the International Crew show. Lots of versatility there!

 

BTW, have you read Cruise Confidential 2? I'd be interested in what you or your son think of it -- he tells about the entertainers aboard the ships in that one.

 

JoAnn

I almost forgot-Matt had never heard of the Cruise Confidential or Cruise Confidental 2, but he was very interested in them. Thanks for the mention of them-they might make good Christmas gifts.

[arizonaperson]

Texasgirl29- Thanks for the photos on your review of your cruise tour on The Island. I leave in 2 weeks, so it is nice to see some recent photos.

[texasgirl29]

Simbasmom--Cruise Confidental is about an American who becomes a waiter on Carnival and the sequel is about him becoming an art auctioneer on cruise ships. Gives us, as passengers, a different perspective of the cruise experience.

 

Yes, I've been to a couple of games at Baylor, but mostly to see my alma mater -- UT!

 

JoAnn

[texasgirl29]

Tuesday, July 26

Sea Day

Up early for the "Hilarious Cooking Show" which was a rivalry between the executive chef and the maitre d'. We had seen this show on our Panama Canal trip but it was only the two of them (I had been looking forward to hearing the waiter Jorge sing “My Way” as he did then.) Afterwards we walked thru the kitchen and thru the dining room where there were various items for sale including T-shirts and tote bags. I bought an Alaska-Princess cruises t-shirt.

 

I walked around the ship and happened upon the Princess Pop Choir in the atrium. It was conducted by Joe Sackenheim, Mr. Charisma from the theater the night before. The pop choir was composed mostly of middle aged folks -- more women than men. Everyone was hugging Joe – you could tell they were thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with him.

 

I packed up suitcases for myself and the girls as we were supposed to get them in the hallway before dinner. Paul and I walked around the promenade -- the weather was quite warm on the sunny side of the ship. Our landfall dinner was good -- I had turkey. Rachel was coughing and Paul took her back to the cabin while Stephanie and I went to see a show. The first half was the show featured Joe Sackenheim singing crooner type songs (Bobby Darin, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra) with the ship’s orchestra backing him up. Fabulous – could have listened to him all night. Then the comedian Jim McDonald was the second half. His presentation with slides was cute, but not crazy laugh-out-loud.

 

Wednesday, July 27

Vancouver

I was up early as we sailed into Vancouver. Paul and I had coffee at the buffet while the girls woke up and packed the last of their stuff. I joined them for breakfast in the dining room. We waited for our group to be called in the Explorer Lounge. We said goodbye to Melissa and Carolyn and Stephen, our new friends from NYC, and exchanged email addresses.

 

 

We quickly went through customs and into taxis for the ride to the Holiday Inn Express. We had plans for a reunion with some other families we knew from the China adoption community and had all booked a hotel in Burnaby, a suburb of Vancouver. We had been told there was a large mall, but all we saw were some old shops and a Chinese mall. It was majorly disappointing until we saw the REAL Metropolis Mall www.metropolisatmetrotown.com which is HUGE! Stephanie found a new store to love -- Urban Planet.

 

Thursday, July 28

Victoria

All seven of us left the hotel just after 8 a.m.and rode the Sky Train www.skytrain.info/ to the terminus at Waterfront, and then took a train to next terminus where we waited for bus 620 for a ride to the ferry terminal.

 

 

At the terminal we got tickets and boarded a huge ferry. It had a gift shop, snack bar, quick meals and a buffet.

 

 

After about an hour and a half ferry sailing, boarded a bus in Victoria for a 50 minute ride to the Butchart Gardens www.butchartgardens.com . It was a total of about five hours transit time on public transportation, but we enjoyed the journey and the opportunity to see the island.

 

 

 

 

 

Butchart Gardens are spectacular with gorgeous color combinations. My husband has been telling me how beautiful it is for years and years and I’m glad I finally got to see it. If I had realized it was going to be such a long trip to get there, I probably would not have gone (at least not with the entire family in tow) but I glad we did. We spent about four hours there, then returned the same way we came. Long day!

[texasgirl29]

Friday, July 29

Vancouver

The next morning we took the Sky Train and a bus to Granville Island www.granvilleisland.com .

 

We had lunch at a bar and restaurant called The Keg and then walked through the Public Market, full of fresh produce, candy, meat, crafts and musicians. It was another beautiful day with the sun shining on the water and the seagulls flying overhead.

 

 

 

 

 

[texasgirl29]

Saturday, July 30

Vancouver

Paul and I went to the Burnaby Historic Village, www.burnabyvillagemuseum.ca/-- a collection of renovated or recreated buildings. I liked the print shop with all the letterpress equipment.

 

 

 

 

 

At 2:30 we met up in Chinatown www.vancouver-chinatown.com for a tour. We learned about some of the history of Chinatown and he took us to the markets and went over some of the herbs and produce.

 

 

 

[texasgirl29]

This concludes my review of our southbound cruise tour on the Island Princess. I hope you enjoyed and will post your own adventures!

 

JoAnn

[silverbird]

Thank you for your excellent review. My husband and I were able to re-live the cruise we took two years ago. Your photos are spectacular. Most of all though -- think of the everlasting memories you have created for your daughters. They are as cute as buttons!! Again, thank you for taking the time to write the review and enclose pictures. Well done.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Your review was so wonderfully thorough and fun to read! I loved seeing all of the pictures, some evoking memories of our past Alaska cruises, and some providing us with views of places we haven't explored! Thank you for the time and care you put into this, and I'm glad you and your family had a blast!:)

[rbnk]

Great review and pictures - we were on this same trip as you have mentioned on my review - glad you enjoyed as much as we did!!:)

[houstonmomof4]

I loved reading your posts and looking at your pictures. I've gotten some valuable information from you, so a thank you is in order!

 

We're going on our Alaskan Cruisetour next June!

[sha88]

for sharing your trip with us. I am looking forward to going back to Alaska in 2013 with Princess. Your itinerary seemed fantastic!