Alaska -Cruisetour and Coral Princess Review

[Oi]

I’ll try not to be long, but I wanted to pass on our little piece of the good, bad and ugly. Please excuse my spelling as I’m not going to have time to edit.

 

First of all...overall we had an amazing trip! It was a blast with little disappointment. That being said, here's my breakdown.

 

First, the land tour. Loved it! Just as a reminder, make sure you have mosquito repellant, Alaska is full of them.

 

In Fairbanks we stayed at Bear Lodge which is a beautiful little lodge. We loved it. The lounge and bar tender are a lot of fun as well and we got to hang out with other passengers on Royal Cruise tours which made it really neat comparing itineraries etc. They have a lovely coffee café in a nearby building, a bird museum and sanctuary, a show of historic films and some nice little trails that let you view some interesting birds etc. In Fairbanks we did a kayak trip (and my parents did a canoe) down the Chena river from pioneer park. I highly recommend this…it is fun and the trip ends at a restaurant called the pump house right on the river with a lovely view where you can watch float planes take off and land. I also recommend going to the university of Alaska in Fairbanks and checking out their museum. Very nice and some lovely overlooks in the area.

 

Traveling to Denali – the train ride is awesome! We saw Moose and Moose cubs and loved it all. The breakfast in the dining cart is a nice experience. Keep in mind that when you get to Denali, McKinley, etc…none of the hotels, restaurants, etc…have air-conditioning, so if you’re sensitive to heat, keep this in mind. Although though mountains tend to be cooler in the evenings, it still got up to the 90’s while we were there.

 

Denali Nat Park and Princess wilderness lodge – very nice, but our least favorite lodge. The lobby had an airport feel to it, we understand that they need to move large amounts of people, but they did this fine at the McKinley Lodge and it felt more spread out. We found it more commercial than wilderness and we happened to be there on a pretty hot day so not having air-conditioning was a little hard on me and my mom in the evening, but that is not the lodges fault, that’s just the way it is in those parts. The music of Denali dinner theater show is wonderful, so if you can see it, please do…it is very nice. The lodge also has some nice gift shops. Across from the lodge is a coffee shop called black bear coffee and they open up at 6:30AM. I highly suggest this for a reasonably priced cup of coffee that is good quality and some breakfast or sandwich items. It is more of a locals place too, there were a few people there that lived in the area, so that says something about the place.

 

McKinley Wilderness Lodge – our favorite lodge by far! Loved the rooms, the views, the summit restaurant is just marvelous!!! The food and wine were tasty and the view of the mountain, just wonderful. The grizzly bar is great for a nightcap out on the deck. The coffee shop in the lodge has a great deal…for 2 large coffees (can you tell I love coffee!) it cost under 4$ and you get free refills the entire time you are at the lodge as long as you keep the cup! Some of the people at the lodge in the coffee bar and at the cub café were not that friendly, but we worked hard to joke with them and have a good time which they eventually did. Overall, we had a blast at this lodge and the gift shop in the lodge is lovely and quite reasonably priced! On our next day we took a raft trip down the Chulitna River which was just lovely. We spent two days here before going to catch our train to the ship.

 

A few notes, the train you catch is in the little town of Talkeetna. It’s a lovely little town and a lot of adventurers and mountain climbers live in it. Our raft guide from the previous day told us about a local restaurant to try for breakfast called the road house. It was fantastic! Its all homemade goods, family style seating which was fun and they have their own bakery. They have bunks in the back for people who are traveling and it is a real locals and mountain climbers hang out. We sat with someone who had done McKinley summit and just got back from Everest…listening to the climbers was too awesome. Talkeetna is small, but quaint and neat to look around for an hour or so. When you leave McKinley, they give you an option to go into town early to look around before the train and you could leave at 7:30 or 9:30, we found leaving at 9:30 gave us plenty of time to eat breakfast at the road house and look around the town with still time to make our way over to the train station.

 

On the way to the ship on our train we had a wonderful guide who pointed out glaciers, gave us facts about Alaska and each town we passed and we got to see some mountain goats!

 

Now, first site of the Coral was magnificent! She is a truly beautiful ship!

 

When we went to get on board the ship, our ID cards were rejected and when we went to have them straightened out it turned out to be free upgrades for both my parents and ourselves. My parents who stared off with a window ended up with a very nice balcony view, and my husband and I who started with an inside cabin, got a lovely window! Go Princess! I’ve always heard about these mysterious free upgrades, but it was the first time we were on the receiving end. It was our first time with princess, so that was a nice surprise!

 

The inside of the ship is as lovely as out. The shows are fantastic! Some of the best I’ve seen on a cruise ship. We loved the food, especially the dessert! The activities are fun and the naturalist on board, Barbara (something) was one of the best! Her knowledge of Alaska and wildlife was immense!

 

The College Fjord and Glacier Bay cruising was fun and I highly suggest getting the Alaska cruise companion as it is fun to follow along and get additional facts about your trip.

 

Skagway, we were disappointed here as the fog was too thick and our glacier trip was cancelled. We got over it, but were a little bummed at first. My parents ended up on a motor coach tour with the days of ’98 show and loved it, my husband and I went on a mountain bike ride and that was fun. The red onion saloon has excellent pizza and the staff there are so fun to play and joke with.

 

Juneau – whale watching…Orca point lodge dining…THE BEST…we loved this day! Great excursion! Tons of fun! The town here is also adorable with tons of good shopping if you like to shop. I’m not big on shopping, but the town is fun feeling.

 

Ketchikan – one of the coolest days! We did the fishing and wildlife dining excursion and were not disappointed a bit!! It in fact exceeded our expectations! We thought it was going to be a large chartered fishing boat where you bump into each other…NOPE! 4 man skiff! Tons of room! You are really roughing it out in the rain, but they gear you up well and you never really feel cold or uncomfortable! You fish (deep-300 feet down) for halibut, red snapper, rockfish and the fish do not disappoint! These guides really know what they are doing and our guide Ken, was GREAT and Fun! After you fish, you go to an island where you are under a large tarp to keep you dry, surrounded by roaring camp fires to warm you, drinking homemade campfire coffee (Ken’s own recipe that they all use) and it is good and they fix your fish up for you in a nice meal. They meal they make is actually appearing in Fine Dining magazine in July issue. (ah…I have to remember the exact name of the mag). Sorry!

 

Anyway, those are the highlights in a nutshell! Ask any questions you want!

[GREENFROG]

COULD YOU EXPLAIN TO ME HOW THE UPGRADES WORKED....DEPARTING IN A FEW WEEKS..........:confused:

[Oi]

Upgrades...I can't explain how they work. They just gave them to us...it was not requested, we did not ask about upgrades, we just got them. they sent us an email on the 17th, but we were already at Mt. McKinley and did not have access to or would check email, so we did not find out about it until we got on board. Wish I could help. I think they gave them to us because there were 4 of us traveling together and it was our first princess cruise so they wanted to make a good impression...either that or it was just luck of the draw. But a very happy surprise.

 

The cruise we did was the southbound Alaska Cruise tour on Coral. We started in Fairbanks on the 13th (we flew in early) and the ship left whittier on the 18th towards Vancouver.

 

Any other questions I can help with...I just don'w know about the upgrades...so sorry!

[mii]

Great review. The Coral is one of my favorite ships.

 

Marilyn

[Taters]

Thanks for the review! I am glad that you liked Fairbanks! I'm looking forward to cruising Northbound on the Coral in September, 2006.

 

Taters

[Princesshhi]

How was the ship itself?

[LARGIN]

Glad you enjoyed the Coral. She is our favorite ship.. Cannot wait until next May when we will board her again

[Sharbro]

I’ll try not to be long, but I wanted to pass on our little piece of the good, bad and ugly. Please excuse my spelling as I’m not going to have time to edit.

 

First of all...overall we had an amazing trip! It was a blast with little disappointment. That being said, here's my breakdown.

 

First, the land tour. Loved it! Just as a reminder, make sure you have mosquito repellant, Alaska is full of them.

 

In Fairbanks we stayed at Bear Lodge which is a beautiful little lodge. We loved it. The lounge and bar tender are a lot of fun as well and we got to hang out with other passengers on Royal Cruise tours which made it really neat comparing itineraries etc. They have a lovely coffee café in a nearby building, a bird museum and sanctuary, a show of historic films and some nice little trails that let you view some interesting birds etc. In Fairbanks we did a kayak trip (and my parents did a canoe) down the Chena river from pioneer park. I highly recommend this…it is fun and the trip ends at a restaurant called the pump house right on the river with a lovely view where you can watch float planes take off and land. I also recommend going to the university of Alaska in Fairbanks and checking out their museum. Very nice and some lovely overlooks in the area.

 

Traveling to Denali – the train ride is awesome! We saw Moose and Moose cubs and loved it all. The breakfast in the dining cart is a nice experience. Keep in mind that when you get to Denali, McKinley, etc…none of the hotels, restaurants, etc…have air-conditioning, so if you’re sensitive to heat, keep this in mind. Although though mountains tend to be cooler in the evenings, it still got up to the 90’s while we were there.

 

Denali Nat Park and Princess wilderness lodge – very nice, but our least favorite lodge. The lobby had an airport feel to it, we understand that they need to move large amounts of people, but they did this fine at the McKinley Lodge and it felt more spread out. We found it more commercial than wilderness and we happened to be there on a pretty hot day so not having air-conditioning was a little hard on me and my mom in the evening, but that is not the lodges fault, that’s just the way it is in those parts. The music of Denali dinner theater show is wonderful, so if you can see it, please do…it is very nice. The lodge also has some nice gift shops. Across from the lodge is a coffee shop called black bear coffee and they open up at 6:30AM. I highly suggest this for a reasonably priced cup of coffee that is good quality and some breakfast or sandwich items. It is more of a locals place too, there were a few people there that lived in the area, so that says something about the place.

 

McKinley Wilderness Lodge – our favorite lodge by far! Loved the rooms, the views, the summit restaurant is just marvelous!!! The food and wine were tasty and the view of the mountain, just wonderful. The grizzly bar is great for a nightcap out on the deck. The coffee shop in the lodge has a great deal…for 2 large coffees (can you tell I love coffee!) it cost under 4$ and you get free refills the entire time you are at the lodge as long as you keep the cup! Some of the people at the lodge in the coffee bar and at the cub café were not that friendly, but we worked hard to joke with them and have a good time which they eventually did. Overall, we had a blast at this lodge and the gift shop in the lodge is lovely and quite reasonably priced! On our next day we took a raft trip down the Chulitna River which was just lovely. We spent two days here before going to catch our train to the ship.

 

A few notes, the train you catch is in the little town of Talkeetna. It’s a lovely little town and a lot of adventurers and mountain climbers live in it. Our raft guide from the previous day told us about a local restaurant to try for breakfast called the road house. It was fantastic! Its all homemade goods, family style seating which was fun and they have their own bakery. They have bunks in the back for people who are traveling and it is a real locals and mountain climbers hang out. We sat with someone who had done McKinley summit and just got back from Everest…listening to the climbers was too awesome. Talkeetna is small, but quaint and neat to look around for an hour or so. When you leave McKinley, they give you an option to go into town early to look around before the train and you could leave at 7:30 or 9:30, we found leaving at 9:30 gave us plenty of time to eat breakfast at the road house and look around the town with still time to make our way over to the train station.

 

On the way to the ship on our train we had a wonderful guide who pointed out glaciers, gave us facts about Alaska and each town we passed and we got to see some mountain goats!

 

Now, first site of the Coral was magnificent! She is a truly beautiful ship!

 

When we went to get on board the ship, our ID cards were rejected and when we went to have them straightened out it turned out to be free upgrades for both my parents and ourselves. My parents who stared off with a window ended up with a very nice balcony view, and my husband and I who started with an inside cabin, got a lovely window! Go Princess! I’ve always heard about these mysterious free upgrades, but it was the first time we were on the receiving end. It was our first time with princess, so that was a nice surprise!

 

The inside of the ship is as lovely as out. The shows are fantastic! Some of the best I’ve seen on a cruise ship. We loved the food, especially the dessert! The activities are fun and the naturalist on board, Barbara (something) was one of the best! Her knowledge of Alaska and wildlife was immense!

 

The College Fjord and Glacier Bay cruising was fun and I highly suggest getting the Alaska cruise companion as it is fun to follow along and get additional facts about your trip.

 

Skagway, we were disappointed here as the fog was too thick and our glacier trip was cancelled. We got over it, but were a little bummed at first. My parents ended up on a motor coach tour with the days of ’98 show and loved it, my husband and I went on a mountain bike ride and that was fun. The red onion saloon has excellent pizza and the staff there are so fun to play and joke with.

 

Juneau – whale watching…Orca point lodge dining…THE BEST…we loved this day! Great excursion! Tons of fun! The town here is also adorable with tons of good shopping if you like to shop. I’m not big on shopping, but the town is fun feeling.

 

Ketchikan – one of the coolest days! We did the fishing and wildlife dining excursion and were not disappointed a bit!! It in fact exceeded our expectations! We thought it was going to be a large chartered fishing boat where you bump into each other…NOPE! 4 man skiff! Tons of room! You are really roughing it out in the rain, but they gear you up well and you never really feel cold or uncomfortable! You fish (deep-300 feet down) for halibut, red snapper, rockfish and the fish do not disappoint! These guides really know what they are doing and our guide Ken, was GREAT and Fun! After you fish, you go to an island where you are under a large tarp to keep you dry, surrounded by roaring camp fires to warm you, drinking homemade campfire coffee (Ken’s own recipe that they all use) and it is good and they fix your fish up for you in a nice meal. They meal they make is actually appearing in Fine Dining magazine in July issue. (ah…I have to remember the exact name of the mag). Sorry!

 

Anyway, those are the highlights in a nutshell! Ask any questions you want!

 

Wow . I hope we have as good a time as you guys. It sounds like we are doing a similar cruisetour on Island Princess. A couple of questions. Where do you get the Alaska Cruise handbook? Also where was your cabin on the ship? Toward the front or back? Did you take seasick meds? Did you go on one of the tours into Denali Park? Thanks!!! Sharbro:rolleyes: :p :rolleyes: :o

[Sharbro]

What kind of clothes to we need for the land tour part? Layers or just hot weather clothing? Is one bottle of deepwoods off enough? Sharbro

[crusdiva]

Thank you so much for posting a review. I enjoyed it very much. DH and I are counting the days....67 at this posting ;) until our return to the Coral Princess.

We are taking the same land package and were thrilled to see all of the tips about the lodges, dining, shopping and of course, the bars.:D

It is our first trip to Alaska and can't get enough info - I'm even reading Michener's Alaska :eek: and my cruise companion.

I do have a question I hope you can help me with; can you tell me a little about how Princess deals with the luggage issues on the land portion? I know we send the bulk of our luggage onto the ship, but I'm confused :confused: about what we get to keep with us, how many, what size it should be that sort of thing.

Thank you again for posting and answering questions.

[Oi]

...and in no particular order.

 

Cruisetour companion hand booklet, you can get it from princess before you leave...i think by calling or faxing them, it might be on the website, we bought ours right on the boat though and read to catch up. They have it in every gift store on the boat.

 

Clothes for the land tour: In northern alaska (fairbanks, denali, mckinley) the weather was hot and dry. we brought layers, but found we did not need them all that much. I get cool quickly and hot quickly, so I always had a long sleeve wrapped around my waist just in case. In Fairbanks, we were in tank tops and shorts through both days and evenings, In June, we were hitting about 19 hours of daylight, after summer solstice (June 21), this starts to decrease slightly by the day, so even at midnight, it was still very warm in Fairbanks. As you hit Denali and Mt. McKinley, it was still very warm in the day and would sometimes rain in the evenings for a short period of time. In the daytime in those parts we were still in shorts and tanktops and in the evenings would change into pants with a light longsleeve shirt or a sweatshirt as it would cool off a bit. the areas were as follows:

 

City Daytime/Nightime

Fairbanks 90/75

Denali 80's/60's

McKinley 80's/50's

 

We only had one bottle of bugspray and came home with a good portion left. you'll mostly need it for the land portion if you want to hike the trails or do any outdoor excursions. the mosquitos will still swarm, but the spray did stop them from biting. and luckily, the mosquitos in alaska are not the breed which carries west nile.

 

Denali - did the natural history tour that was included and there is a post discussing this tour that answers more questions about it. see if this link to it works: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=197520&highlight=denali

 

breifly, we thought it was ok. my parents did some hiking in the park on their own and saw moose and i think had more fun than us, but it all depends what you are in the mood for.

 

Luggage - We sent 1 large and 1 small to the ship that we would not see until we got on the ship and we kept 1 large 1 small and a carry on for land. the only place you have to watch the size of the luggage is the carry on for the train. that has to be kind of small, they will give you the dimensions. its not really small though, just carry on size (normal). Both at the airport and when you get to your first hotel, they give you more instructions on what to do with your luggage. luggage on land was AMAZING!!! without fail, they had our luggage in the room before we had the chance to get in it ourselves. I don't know if it is always like that or if we were just that lucky, but it was a real nice job. when you get to the airport in fairbanks, princess has you identify your luggage and tag it with your first hotel tag. they take it away and take you to the hotel...and there it is in the room!! it beats you there. when you leave for your next hotel on land, you tag it and have it outside your door either between 9 and 11 the previous night or before 6am the next morning. they take it to the next place. it was all very smooth.

 

Ok, the ship and the room questions:

No seasick meds, but my mom used the patch. we had just one rough day, but my husband and I love the waves, mom did ok on the patch though and we saw quite a few people wearing them.

 

The ship is lovely, the Crooners bar is a really neat place to sit by the windows, enjoy the view and a few cocktails. Its quiet and they have a pretty talented piano player for some quiet background music.

the wheelhouse lounge has some neat entertainment with this duo that does some classic rock and jimmy buffet songs, but certain areas of the lounge are a little smokey, so watch where you sit. the explorers lounge seemed to be very popular with people, it is a really neat lounge, but it was heavily smokey - so if that bothers you, you may not like it. the band, sonar is pretty good and does some of their own renditions to classics and todays music, but mostly they sound disco. a few points about the universe lounge for the shows - this lounge has a really dynamic stage and when the production of TRIBUTE goes on, they really make use of it. MAKE SURE YOU GET THERE EARLY FOR SEATS and sit downstairs if you can...if you get there too late, the seats in the top back are all thats left and the way it is designed, you will not see anything. we were a little late getting there and had to stand in order to catch a glimpse and it really was an excellent show and would have been more enjoyable if you could see everything (or at least a little more). I dont think there are bad seats in the princess thearter. very nice.

 

The rooms we had were on Emerald Deck. We were starboard and my parents port. we were both towards the middle of the ship ours leaning towards the bow and theres towards aft. we just loved the location right by the library on one side and so close to the stairs that take you to the main levels of promenode, plaza and all the other stuff going on. we found it very quiet...in fact, I was surprised how quiet it was. On the evening of the Champagne Waterfall, the music and dancing was really kicking on the promenade just one deck below us and when we got to our door, you could still hear it very loudly and I said to my husband right before we opened the door to our room that I probably could not sleep like that and he assured me that as soon as we closed our door, you would not hear a thing, and he was right! so quiet!! The rooms have refrigerators which we really liked! being able to store water in there or use the ice they bring you daily is an added plus. I know a lot of people are not crazy about the beds and suggest egg crates, but we love a firm mattress and slept very well.

 

The fitness center is one of the best I've seen on a ship. Lots of equipments and nice aerobics classes. Some of them cost, but I think spinning and kickboxing are worth the extra.

 

The dining rooms were lovely and elegant with stars in the ceiling to gaze at.

 

horizon court was one of the most crowded places on the ship with the constant buffet, but even then, it moved nicley we thought and we always had a table by the window.

 

let me know if there are any more questions and I hope I did not forget anything in my answers to you!

 

Happy Cruising!

[crusdiva]

Oi,

Thank you for answering my question about luggage and all the other great info on clothing and the lodges. We're expecting pre-cruise docs soon...that should help pass the time.;)

[Sharbro]

...and in no particular order.

 

Cruisetour companion hand booklet, you can get it from princess before you leave...i think by calling or faxing them, it might be on the website, we bought ours right on the boat though and read to catch up. They have it in every gift store on the boat.

 

Clothes for the land tour: In northern alaska (fairbanks, denali, mckinley) the weather was hot and dry. we brought layers, but found we did not need them all that much. I get cool quickly and hot quickly, so I always had a long sleeve wrapped around my waist just in case. In Fairbanks, we were in tank tops and shorts through both days and evenings, In June, we were hitting about 19 hours of daylight, after summer solstice (June 21), this starts to decrease slightly by the day, so even at midnight, it was still very warm in Fairbanks. As you hit Denali and Mt. McKinley, it was still very warm in the day and would sometimes rain in the evenings for a short period of time. In the daytime in those parts we were still in shorts and tanktops and in the evenings would change into pants with a light longsleeve shirt or a sweatshirt as it would cool off a bit. the areas were as follows:

 

City Daytime/Nightime

Fairbanks 90/75

Denali 80's/60's

McKinley 80's/50's

 

We only had one bottle of bugspray and came home with a good portion left. you'll mostly need it for the land portion if you want to hike the trails or do any outdoor excursions. the mosquitos will still swarm, but the spray did stop them from biting. and luckily, the mosquitos in alaska are not the breed which carries west nile.

 

Denali - did the natural history tour that was included and there is a post discussing this tour that answers more questions about it. see if this link to it works: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=197520&highlight=denali

 

breifly, we thought it was ok. my parents did some hiking in the park on their own and saw moose and i think had more fun than us, but it all depends what you are in the mood for.

 

Luggage - We sent 1 large and 1 small to the ship that we would not see until we got on the ship and we kept 1 large 1 small and a carry on for land. the only place you have to watch the size of the luggage is the carry on for the train. that has to be kind of small, they will give you the dimensions. its not really small though, just carry on size (normal). Both at the airport and when you get to your first hotel, they give you more instructions on what to do with your luggage. luggage on land was AMAZING!!! without fail, they had our luggage in the room before we had the chance to get in it ourselves. I don't know if it is always like that or if we were just that lucky, but it was a real nice job. when you get to the airport in fairbanks, princess has you identify your luggage and tag it with your first hotel tag. they take it away and take you to the hotel...and there it is in the room!! it beats you there. when you leave for your next hotel on land, you tag it and have it outside your door either between 9 and 11 the previous night or before 6am the next morning. they take it to the next place. it was all very smooth.

 

Ok, the ship and the room questions:

No seasick meds, but my mom used the patch. we had just one rough day, but my husband and I love the waves, mom did ok on the patch though and we saw quite a few people wearing them.

 

The ship is lovely, the Crooners bar is a really neat place to sit by the windows, enjoy the view and a few cocktails. Its quiet and they have a pretty talented piano player for some quiet background music.

the wheelhouse lounge has some neat entertainment with this duo that does some classic rock and jimmy buffet songs, but certain areas of the lounge are a little smokey, so watch where you sit. the explorers lounge seemed to be very popular with people, it is a really neat lounge, but it was heavily smokey - so if that bothers you, you may not like it. the band, sonar is pretty good and does some of their own renditions to classics and todays music, but mostly they sound disco. a few points about the universe lounge for the shows - this lounge has a really dynamic stage and when the production of TRIBUTE goes on, they really make use of it. MAKE SURE YOU GET THERE EARLY FOR SEATS and sit downstairs if you can...if you get there too late, the seats in the top back are all thats left and the way it is designed, you will not see anything. we were a little late getting there and had to stand in order to catch a glimpse and it really was an excellent show and would have been more enjoyable if you could see everything (or at least a little more). I dont think there are bad seats in the princess thearter. very nice.

 

The rooms we had were on Emerald Deck. We were starboard and my parents port. we were both towards the middle of the ship ours leaning towards the bow and theres towards aft. we just loved the location right by the library on one side and so close to the stairs that take you to the main levels of promenode, plaza and all the other stuff going on. we found it very quiet...in fact, I was surprised how quiet it was. On the evening of the Champagne Waterfall, the music and dancing was really kicking on the promenade just one deck below us and when we got to our door, you could still hear it very loudly and I said to my husband right before we opened the door to our room that I probably could not sleep like that and he assured me that as soon as we closed our door, you would not hear a thing, and he was right! so quiet!! The rooms have refrigerators which we really liked! being able to store water in there or use the ice they bring you daily is an added plus. I know a lot of people are not crazy about the beds and suggest egg crates, but we love a firm mattress and slept very well.

 

The fitness center is one of the best I've seen on a ship. Lots of equipments and nice aerobics classes. Some of them cost, but I think spinning and kickboxing are worth the extra.

 

The dining rooms were lovely and elegant with stars in the ceiling to gaze at.

 

horizon court was one of the most crowded places on the ship with the constant buffet, but even then, it moved nicley we thought and we always had a table by the window.

 

let me know if there are any more questions and I hope I did not forget anything in my answers to you!

 

Happy Cruising!

 

Thanks so much for your time answering my questions. I hope we have as much fun as you did!!!!! Six more days!!! Sharon (sharbro):) :)

[Sharbro]

One more question - Is the duffle bag type bag that comes with our luggage ok or too big. that is what we usually use for flying to carry on with us. Does it have to be smaller? Thanks Sharon:rolleyes:

[Oi]

The carry on bag that you take on the plane and the trains, etc have dimensions that they give you in the cruise documents when they send them. I don't remember specifically what they are but they are around 17 X something. Basically, they want them to fit into the storage areas, but if its something you have to have and its normally what you take on the plane, it will probably be ok. worst case scenario, you will not be able to store it on the train and will have to carry it on your lap, but its probably ok. my parents each had a rectangular carry on and it fit under the train seats just fine, and I thought they were a pretty good size.

 

hope this helps...but when your crusie docs come, they give you the exact dimensions... :-) Have a great time!!