Island princess and DIY land tour review 6/20-7/4

[treinke]

I'll try and be comprehensive and brief in the review. If anyone has questions let me know.

 

We liked the ship. The smaller size made it easy to get around.

 

The staff was great. Our room steward Ferdinand was outstanding and we've already told princess about how great he is. DJ Aris was fun.

 

Loved our balcony room, B645. It was the last covered balcony on the starboard side which came in handy.

 

Food in dining room was good but not memorable. Horizon court was a little below standard buffet food (think a little below Golden Corral). I wish we could have eaten more lunches in the dining room. Desserts were really good, especially any layered cake. The sugar free desserts were as good or better than the sugar ones. Both my husband and I agreed that none of the food was memorable. In fact my best memory is the chocolate mint martini at Crooners. Anytime dining didn't work the first night at all. We waited for at least 30 minutes before even getting to the door. After that we made reservations for 7:30 or 7:45 and always got a table for 2.

 

Embarkation was super easy. We had stayed at the downtown Hampton inn and took the shuttle. Got to the ship by 12:30 and was on by 1.

 

We booked all excursions directly.

Ports of call: Ketchikan did the zip line with alaskan canopy. Fantastic experience and the staff there was friendly and knowledgeable. Not very much time afterwards but walked around town a bit. We also had a perfectly sunny day with no rain.

Juneau we did the glacier/dog sled with Era helicopters. This was the highlight for us. Another sunny day. Only wore a short sleeve thirst and light jacket on the glacier. By the afternoon I was sunburned and wanted to wear shorts. Ridiculously warm. I highly recommend doing this in your lifetime.

Skagway we booked with chilkoot tours and took a bus to Frazier and rode the train back. It ended up just three couples on a minibus that would hold 30. Mike was our driver and he was the best tour driver we've ever had. The train ride was ok but after mike everything was a letdown. Another sunny day here.

Glacier bay was cold and light rain. It took the captain longer to get to the glacier because of the ice in the water. Us hardy folks who stayed outside got to see a couple of huge glacier calving. We watched on the aft side first behind the indoor pool. Then we moved to our balcony when the ship rotated.

 

We had calm seas the entire time except for a little bumpy patch when we left glacier bay. I saw whales, otters, eagles and sea lions while on the ship.

 

We rented a car in Whittier and drove to Seward for a couple of days. Went to exit glacier and guess what, it was sunny again. I was really beginning to think that Alaska never got cold. We went to the sealife center too. We stopped at the Alaska conservation center on the way to wasilla and saw three baby moose. We stayed in talkeetna one night and went flight seeing. You guessed it... Sunny and we saw Denali and everything else. Beautiful pictures. Stayed three nights in Healy. Took the tundra wilderness tour and had a really great driver. She had commercial fished for years and had run the idatarod. Saw several grizzly, caribou and sheep. Stopped at the idatarod museum on the way to the airport.

 

We stayed in small cabins and inns that I would be happy to recommend.

 

Negatives of trip- the entertainment on the ship was weak. I only saw the cruise director once at the chef demonstration. I have no idea what he does because his staff was at everything we went to. Horizon court at lunch was too hot to eat at if you were lucky to find a seat. That was the only place that I saw hand sanitizer and they often ran out.

 

There were very few children on the ship compared to other cruises we've taken. We also felt very young (we are in our mid 40s).

 

I'm sure I'm forgetting things but I'm writing this at the airport waiting for the flight back home.

[pmjnh]

Thank you for your report. Please tell us about the lodging and restaurant facilities you used in Seward , Talkeetna and Healy. We have rented a car in Anchorage and will be traveling the same route. You really lucked out with the weather! Hoping for the same next week, but I am going with the expectation that it rains every day!

 

Have a safe flight home!

[Keith1010]

Thanks for writing and posting your review.

 

Keith

[treinke]

Thank you for your report. Please tell us about the lodging and restaurant facilities you used in Seward , Talkeetna and Healy. We have rented a car in Anchorage and will be traveling the same route. You really lucked out with the weather! Hoping for the same next week, but I am going with the expectation that it rains every day!

 

Have a safe flight home!

 

We stayed at Anika's guesthouse in Seward. It's a cabin behind the owners house. Very secluded. Talkeetna was Denali fireside cabins. And suites. They have four suites and two cabins. It's right next to the train tracks and main road and the airfield but none of that noise bothered us to sleep. In Healy we stayed at alaska spruce cabins (there are three of them) and aspen haus. We had to stay two places because we couldn't get three nights at either one.

 

We really didn't eat out much. We bought some food at the Seward Safeway and cubbys Ida near talkeetna. Only tru restaurant was the flying squirrel cafe outside of talkeetna. It was nice and see,Ed to be frequented by locls and not many tourists.

[pmjnh]

Thank you, treinke.

We have reservations for 3 nights at Alaska Spruce Cabins. I see that you did not stay there the entire visit, but were you pleased with the facility?

[treinke]

Thank you, treinke.

We have reservations for 3 nights at Alaska Spruce Cabins. I see that you did not stay there the entire visit, but were you pleased with the facility?

 

They were clean and very quiet. Full kitchen facilities which was nice. They had the least successful curtains for keeping out the sun of everywhere we stayed. There wasn't one in the bathroom to close so needed to keep that door pretty closed at night. There were blinds in the kitchen and then a curtain in the front room. The towels were thin but the shower would make a tall person very happy. Wifi worked perfectly. I think I would prefer this one over Aspen Haus if we went again simply because of the quiet.

[mapleleaves]

They were clean and very quiet. Full kitchen facilities which was nice. They had the least successful curtains for keeping out the sun of everywhere we stayed. There wasn't one in the bathroom to close so needed to keep that door pretty closed at night. There were blinds in the kitchen and then a curtain in the front room. The towels were thin but the shower would make a tall person very happy. Wifi worked perfectly. I think I would prefer this one over Aspen Haus if we went again simply because of the quiet.

 

Thanks for posting your review. I'm happy to read that someone 'braved' the Alaska highways for a DIY trip. And bonus ... you made it there and back in one piece!

The zipline is new since I was last in Ketchikan ... would it have been enjoyable if it was raining? Sunshine is also new to Ketchikan since I was last there! Aspen Haus wasn't quiet ??

 

pmjnh,

to block out the sun, use aluminum foil and masking tape to cover the window. Or if there are curtain rods, drape a large black garbage bag over the rod.

[treinke]

I think zip lining would have been fun in everything except pouring rain.

 

Aspen haus was surrounded by other homes with kids and since it was beautiful weather they were all outside playing. So when you had the windows open you heard the kids along with someone who was using a chainsaw all day. Once windows were closed it got better. The other problem there was the sloped ceiling in the suites since it was on the second floor over a garage. My husband kept hitting his head. They have canine but not sure what they re like.