Alaska Trip Report - Coral Princess 9/2 to 9/9 - Voyage of the Glaciers Northbound

[shredie]

I love Skagway. Thanks for the pictures to remind me. :)

[LAcatlady]

I love Skagway. Thanks for the pictures to remind me. :)

 

@shredie You are most welcome! :)

[Bimmer09]

I love the White Pass and Yukon railroad.

 

On our first (Coral) cruise we had an excursion that took us out into Canada by bus to Bennett Lake for some kayaking and the return trip was via the train.

Last carriage...I stood outside all the way, even though there was soft drizzle.

 

One of those "pinch me" hours....I wish Febreze could capture it in a spray can.

 

Thanks for being there and taking me with you!

 

Norris

[Mythros]

I am looking forward to the rest of your review. It brings back all those great memories of my Alaska cruise back in 2005. It also makes me realize that it is time to book our next Alaska trip!:rolleyes:

[cnd crsr]

Great pictures of Skagway. They brought back such great memories. The train trip one of our favourite excursions. Looking forward to your scenic cruising days.

[metairiegal]

Great review and pics! :)

[LAcatlady]

I love the White Pass and Yukon railroad.

 

On our first (Coral) cruise we had an excursion that took us out into Canada by bus to Bennett Lake for some kayaking and the return trip was via the train.

Last carriage...I stood outside all the way, even though there was soft drizzle.

 

One of those "pinch me" hours....I wish Febreze could capture it in a spray can.

 

Thanks for being there and taking me with you!

 

Norris

 

@Bimmer09 You're welcome, Norris! I think you're onto a great idea with Alaska-infused Febreze. :) The next time we do a trip to Skagway I'd definitely do the train again, although maybe just one way like your excursion. I loved it but there is so much more to see!

[LAcatlady]

I am looking forward to the rest of your review. It brings back all those great memories of my Alaska cruise back in 2005. It also makes me realize that it is time to book our next Alaska trip!:rolleyes:

 

@Mythros Glad to help bring back memories for you, and hope you’re able to book another AK trip soon!

 

Great pictures of Skagway. They brought back such great memories. The train trip one of our favourite excursions. Looking forward to your scenic cruising days.

 

@cnd crsr Thank you! Working on the scenic cruising posts today… :)

 

Great review and pics! :)

 

@metairiegal Thanks very much!

[LAcatlady]

Ahhh, Glacier Bay. I think this was the day I was most excited for! The Coral was the first cruise ship in Glacier Bay the day we were there, to be followed by the Grand Princess later on. As I’m sure most of you know, the National Park Service has a limit of 2 cruise ships per day in Glacier Bay.

 

It was a drizzly morning. I suppose we were finally making up for all of the good weather we had previously!

 

Since we were the first ship of the day, the rangers came on board and started their commentary pretty early. We arrived off Bartlett Cove to pick up the rangers a little after 6 AM. The ranger information desk opened at 7 AM above the Lotus pool. We stopped by and purchased a National Parks Passport (one of our travel goals is to visit more parks), which we had stamped (or “canceled”) with the official Glacier Bay stamp they had set out on a table. We also made a donation to Alaska Geographic while we were there. A piece of advice - if you don’t receive the official National Park Service map of Glacier Bay in your stateroom’s mail slot before arriving, I recommend picking one up at the ranger desk.

 

The rangers started their commentary around 8 AM, which we listened to from our room. Because of the drizzle, we couldn’t see much until we were close to Margerie Glacier sometime around or just after 9 AM. At that point, we headed to Promenade deck so we could move around the ship more easily. The water of Tarr Inlet, which is the inlet that leads up to Margerie and Grand Pacific Glaciers, was so beautiful!

 

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Hello Margerie Glacier!

 

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Margerie started some breathtaking calving after we arrived. I didn’t get a video, but here are a couple of pictures of the calving in process. The thundering sound of the calving, which seemed to go on for quite a while, was incredible.

 

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Margerie Glacier is about 1 mile wide. So amazing.

 

Margerie Panorama 2

 

The ship turned to view the Grand Pacific Glacier briefly before leaving Tarr Inlet. The Patter said we would be making our way to Lamplugh Glacier next, which we did pass, but we were able to visit something very special instead - the Johns Hopkins Glacier. More on that in the next post.

 

Here’s our Lamplugh Glacier “drive by” on the way into Johns Hopkins Inlet.

 

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Up next - Glacier Bay (continued)

[LAcatlady]

I mentioned that we were able to visit something special while in Glacier Bay - the Johns Hopkins Glacier. The Johns Hopkins Inlet leading up to the glacier is an area that is usually closed to cruise ships in order to protect harbor seal pups. Apparently, the pups are weaned by around early-September so if conditions are right cruise ships can enter the inlet at this time. We were lucky to be the Coral’s first sailing into the inlet for the season. It seemed like the captain was pretty excited about this, as were we!

 

Beautiful scenery leading up to the Johns Hopkins Glacier.

 

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The Johns Hopkins Glacier is 1 1/2 miles wide, and it is one of the few glaciers still advancing.

 

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We said hello to the Lamplugh Glacier again during another “drive by” as we left the Johns Hopkins Inlet.

 

Lamplugh Panorama

 

Oh, hello Grand Princess!

 

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Phew. That was only the morning of Glacier Bay day!

 

Up next - Glacier Bay (continued again)

[Bimmer09]

@Bimmer09 You're welcome, Norris! I think you're onto a great idea with Alaska-infused Febreze. :) The next time we do a trip to Skagway I'd definitely do the train again, although maybe just one way like your excursion. I loved it but there is so much more to see!

 

Alaska is one of those destinations (IMO) where it doesn't ruin my day if it rains. The rain had always been a soft drizzle with no wind and the dampness just makes the forest colors pop even more. It's never been really cold, except when in front of an glacier. That's when a hot chocolate or a hot whisky comes in handy.

 

On a Caribbean cruise rain would simply "burn my shorts" so to speak.

 

Much enjoying this review.

 

Norris

[LAcatlady]

Once we passed Lamplugh Glacier again and started to head out of the national park, we stopped by Horizon Court for the “Taste of Alaska Buffet.” As a vegetarian, I went with rice and vegetables (not really “Alaskan,” I suppose!), but my husband had quite a seafood feast. Seems like this was a pretty popular lunch as we barely found a spot for the two of us to sit.

 

After lunch, we went to the presentation from one of the park rangers in the Princess Theater. I started daydreaming during the presentation about how amazing it would be to do what they do.

 

It had stopped raining, so we went to the “secret” forward Baja deck for some wildlife spotting with the naturalist. We saw several sea otters, different types of birds, and even a rainbow as we said good bye to Glacier Bay.

 

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We enjoyed the beautiful scenery as we made our way towards the Gulf of Alaska.

 

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We hung out on deck all the way until we got to Taylor Bay and could see the Brady Glacier.

 

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We then bid farewell to the pilots who had accompanied us through the Inside Passage as we were about to head into open waters.

 

We had just enough time to quickly change for our last formal night dinner. And another amazing dessert.

 

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After dinner, we attended the Captain’s Circle Cocktail Party. I have a feeling my husband and I were probably the least traveled passengers at this party with only a 4-day cruise behind us! We were thrilled to be there, though. Well done to the most traveled passengers with Princess at 2,421 days!

 

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We listened to Ray Coussins again to close out this truly incredible day. I wonder what Glacier Bay will be like the next time we are fortunate enough to be there again.

 

Up next - College Fjord

[LAcatlady]

Alaska is one of those destinations (IMO) where it doesn't ruin my day if it rains. The rain had always been a soft drizzle with no wind and the dampness just makes the forest colors pop even more. It's never been really cold, except when in front of an glacier. That's when a hot chocolate or a hot whisky comes in handy.

 

On a Caribbean cruise rain would simply "burn my shorts" so to speak.

 

Much enjoying this review.

 

Norris

 

@Bimmer09 I agree, Norris! We had drizzle in both Glacier Bay and College Fjord. While sunshine would have been great for pictures, I thought the blues and greens of the glaciers and water were beautiful because of the clouds. The hot chocolate with Irish cream they were serving on Promenade deck made everything even better!

[LAcatlady]

Sigh. This was our last full day of the cruise. We were happy to have a relaxing sea day and some scenic cruising ahead of us, but very, very sad about having to pack and go home the next day.

 

We started with a good breakfast at the buffet (how had I missed the bagels and all of the toppings until now?), then walked around the ship for a bit and lounged by the Lotus pool.

 

You’re a great ship, Coral Princess!

 

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We had fun at the Culinary Demonstration in the Universe Lounge, followed by a Galley Tour. They made three dishes during the demonstration, including fettuccine alfredo with smoked salmon. This looked so good that I made a vegetarian version the day after we got home (I sautéed tomatoes from our garden in place of the smoked salmon). In case you’re wondering about the Galley Tour, it was really just a brief walk through the dining room, the galley, and back out with no stopping. But it was still an interesting quick peek behind the scenes, and we had the opportunity to say thank you to many of the galley staff.

 

With all of this talk of food, we were hungry again and had pizza and salad for lunch by the pool. The eating continued with dessert from Horizon Court that we brought back in our room, and my dad and uncle joined us for a bottle of Princess’ 50th anniversary Prosecco and chocolate covered strawberries on our balcony. Cheers to a wonderful vacation!

 

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Even though we weren’t doing much other than relaxing, the day was flying by. If I had a little more time, I would have liked to go to the book club discussion in the afternoon as I had read and really enjoyed both of the September selections.

 

We did make it to the 50th Anniversary Balloon Drop Party, and then we quickly went out on Promenade Deck as we had arrived at College Fjord.

 

The Bryn Mawr and Smith Glaciers on a rainy evening in College Fjord.

 

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The Harvard Glacier.

 

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Unfortunately, we had to miss dinner in the Bordeaux dining room as we were watching the glaciers, but we did sneak in later for dessert, though.

 

A trip to Alaska isn’t complete without Baked Alaska!

 

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We did our final trivia of the cruise (“TV themes”), and (very reluctantly) made our way back to our room for the night. We somehow managed to remember to put our luggage out earlier in the evening, too.

 

Up next - Whittier and Anchorage

[LAcatlady]

1,494 nautical miles later, our wonderful journey on the Coral Princess had come to an end in Whittier. This was a very difficult day! My husband and I had to get home to our cats and work and would be on a flight from Anchorage to LA later in the afternoon. It's a harsh reality after so many months of carefully planning and then living such an awesome adventure. To be fair, we were very excited to be seeing our cats again soon!

 

It was an overcast, drizzly morning in Whittier (very fitting for our emotional state), and we were docked on the starboard side. The BTI building loomed in the distance (by the way, there's a really interesting article on CNN's website about the building and town, if you're curious).

 

After a quick breakfast in Horizon Court, we disembarked at 7:40 AM in Silver Group 2, collected our bags, and found our independent transfer (Anchorage Tours and Transfers) waiting in the terminal. We booked this independent transfer because it made a few stops on the way to the airport, which allowed us to do a little more sightseeing before going home.

 

Farewell, Coral Princess!

 

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Our transfer stopped at Portage Lake, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, and Beluga Point.

 

I really appreciated the efforts of the Conservation Center and wished I could spend additional time there to learn even more about what they do and the stories of all of the animals there.

 

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The windy view from Beluga Point.

 

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There really isn't much to say about Anchorage, but I certainly wish there was more. We were dropped off at the airport, had lunch at Silver Gulch Brewing, and watched the view from the observation deck for a while until it was time to board. We made it home safely and were happily reunited with our cats!

 

I'm planning on doing another post or two to recap some final thoughts about the cruise, things we really liked, what we might do differently next time, and probably a few more pictures. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have, and thanks for following along so far!

[ar1950]

................. It's a harsh reality after so many months of carefully planning and then living such an awesome adventure. To be fair, we were very excited to be seeing our cats again soon!

 

Totally understandable. We have the same feeling at the end of our trips.

 

I'm planning on doing another post or two to recap some final thoughts about the cruise, things we really liked, what we might do differently next time, and probably a few more pictures. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have, and thanks for following along so far!

 

Looking forward to the recap, especially the what you would do the same and what you would do differently part. Oh, and the more pictures part, as well. Thanks again for doing this review.

Edited September 21, 2015 by ar1950

[momdowe]

Thank you, thank you for the wonderful review and amazing pictures - I am planning an Alaska trip for my family for this time next year and your review was very inspiring - I have a whole year to get excited about it 😃.

[lbkpalm]

Thank you so much for this fabulous, in depth review!! A Princess Alaskan cruise has been on my back burner for awhile; I've begun to explore travel tips. I've SO enjoyed your review and absolutely beautiful pictures!

[Bimmer09]

Totally understandable. We have the same feeling at the end of our trips.

 

Ar was agreeing with "getting home to the cats" (or dogs/parrot/sloth etc).

 

We have the same feeling as we leave two at home. Their English is not so good so there's no point pointing to the Cruise Atlas and saying "Kitties we'll be gone for 12 days" and hoping they will understand. We mimic airplanes taking off and do the sound of a ship's horn, speak in Italian French and German and point out the window to the sun....but they are clueless.

 

We have cat sitters come in to feed them and scoop their boxes but it's not unreasonable to suppose that the cats think you have gone for good. The cat sitters send us e mails with photos attached so we know they are okay.

 

We think about them while on the cruise and make a fuss of them when we get home as we are so happy to see them again.

 

What I am not happy about is this review coming to an end!

 

Nice job. A story well told and the photos were evocative. Can't ask for more-except MORE.

 

Norris

[AF-1]

You have done an amazing job with your review. It will be fun to see what worked and didn't work on your cruise.

[LAcatlady]

Now that we’ve been home from our cruise for a little over two weeks, it’s a good time to reflect on the trip and share some final thoughts on what we liked and what we might do differently next time.

 

First, I sure do miss the Coral Princess!

 

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We really did have a wonderful Alaskan cruise on the Coral. I usually like to visit new places and try different things, but I would do the same exact cruise again without question.

 

Things we liked:

 

1. Getting to Vancouver a day early. Definitely alleviated any stress of not getting to the ship on-time. It was a very relaxing way to start the vacation with a lot of options of things to do.

 

Vancouver Bridge Panorama

 

2. Coral Princess. Really a terrific ship. For us, the size was great (not too big, not too small - great size for moving around while enjoying the scenery in Alaska), there were lovely open spaces to relax (the aft and forward decks and large Promenade deck were my favorite spots), and all of the staff we encountered were friendly and helpful (the Cruise Director’s staff did a great job with the trivia sessions!).

 

And have I mentioned the fun carpet yet?!?

 

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3. Princess brought nice touches of Alaska to the ship. The large banners hanging in the Atrium, the terrific naturalist, "The Alaska Cruise Companion” book, special Alaskan dishes in the dining room and buffet, an Alaskan-themed drink menu, and having speakers come on board (we saw the lumberjack who presented the day before Ketchikan, Libby Riddles, the Glacier Bay rangers, and I’m sure there were more that we simply did not have time to see).

 

4. Since we had not been to Alaska before, it was easiest for us to book Princess’ excursions and all of the ones we did were well-organized and lived up to their descriptions.

 

5. Maybe it was the luck of the Coral’s schedule or because we were there at the end of the season, but the ports didn’t seem too crowded when we were there. Ketchikan did have other ships, but we were the only ship in Juneau and Skagway. I found the Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska website to be really helpful as they post details of what ships will be in each port during the cruising season.

 

6. Very glad we did the independent transfer from Whittier to Anchorage airport, and especially the stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.

 

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7. Reruns of “The Love Boat” nearly 24 hours a day!

 

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8. While we tried to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Alaska as much as possible, we also liked attending many of the fun events on the ship, such as trivia, the champagne waterfall, more trivia, the balloon drop, and a little more trivia (oh, and shuffleboard for my dad). It’s good to get involved and meet new people!

 

There isn’t a lot we would do differently, but here are a few things that we’ll keep in mind for next time.

 

1. MORE TIME! One night in Vancouver then the 7-day cruise is not enough time in Alaska. Hopefully we can add a few days on land to our next Alaskan cruise. And 2 nights in Vancouver instead of 1 would also be great.

 

2. To my fellow photography enthusiasts, practice ahead of time. Try to anticipate some of the types of shots you might want to make. There’s so much to see in Alaska, and you don’t want to spend your time figuring out camera settings when you’re there.

 

3. We originally considered doing a Misty Fjords seaplane excursion in Ketchikan but were nervous with the uncertainty of the weather. It turned out to be a gorgeous day. Maybe next time we’ll see if we can book one somewhat last-minute depending on the weather.

 

4. In Skagway, the train was great and we were really glad we did the round-trip our first time there. Next time I’d like to do the train only one-way and one of the many other options for the other way, just to see something different.

 

5. We would also consider doing the Southbound cruise so we could see Hubbard Glacier, but we also really liked the Northbound route and ending the cruise with 2 sea days of glaciers. So I guess we’ll have to do a back-to-back! Problem solved.

 

6. I wish we had more time to attend the naturalist’s presentations, but we were glad to have been able to listen to him live throughout the cruise (either from our room or out on deck).

 

7. Bring your hat, scarf, and gloves for glacier scenic cruising, but if you are a photographer don’t bring “fuzzy” gloves like I did if you will be making lens changes. I ended up with a large fuzz in my camera during the first part of the Johns Hopkins Inlet in Glacier Bay (thankfully, that my husband was able to locate and remove for me).

 

Thank you all for reading along, and I really have appreciated all of the kind words along the way. I wish you all a wonderful cruise, wherever and whenever your next one may be!

 

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That’s me at the back of the group!

[LAcatlady]

Thank you, thank you for the wonderful review and amazing pictures - I am planning an Alaska trip for my family for this time next year and your review was very inspiring - I have a whole year to get excited about it 😃.

 

@momdowe Best of luck with your planning! So glad to hear my review has been helpful. :)

 

Thank you so much for this fabulous, in depth review!! A Princess Alaskan cruise has been on my back burner for awhile; I've begun to explore travel tips. I've SO enjoyed your review and absolutely beautiful pictures!

 

@lbkpalm It had been on our back-burner for a long time, but we’re so glad we finally did it and can’t wait to go back again! Thanks for reading along!

[LAcatlady]

Ar was agreeing with "getting home to the cats" (or dogs/parrot/sloth etc).

 

We have the same feeling as we leave two at home. Their English is not so good so there's no point pointing to the Cruise Atlas and saying "Kitties we'll be gone for 12 days" and hoping they will understand. We mimic airplanes taking off and do the sound of a ship's horn, speak in Italian French and German and point out the window to the sun....but they are clueless.

 

We have cat sitters come in to feed them and scoop their boxes but it's not unreasonable to suppose that the cats think you have gone for good. The cat sitters send us e mails with photos attached so we know they are okay.

 

We think about them while on the cruise and make a fuss of them when we get home as we are so happy to see them again.

 

What I am not happy about is this review coming to an end!

 

Nice job. A story well told and the photos were evocative. Can't ask for more-except MORE.

 

Norris

 

@Bimmer09 Norris, ha ha! This made my day! So true. We sit our 4 cats down and try to have a serious talk with them about where we are going and when we will be home, but we usually just get a cranky meow and look towards the food cabinet in response.

 

Thank you for the kind words about the review, too. :)

[LAcatlady]

You have done an amazing job with your review. It will be fun to see what worked and didn't work on your cruise.

 

@AF-1 Thanks so much!

[cafelovercanada]

Thanks for such a comprehensive review. I've made notes for our upcoming June cruise which I know will be VERY helpful. By the way, did you know what the on board activities were before you got on the ship? If not, how did you know what was going on around the ship? Knowing this ahead of time would help us to decide when and where to eat, what to do, etc. especially since we're cruising with a small group and I don't want to spend time deciding at the last minute what our "schedule" will be. Great job on your review!!