Post Cruise Princess Package From Fairbanks

[BillMcAnally]

Would like to hear from anyone that has booked a Princess post cruise package for the ship leaving Fairbanks, Alaska. I would like to do this, but is it worth the money? We are thinking about the seven day one.

[Momj47]

There is no ship leaving Fairbanks, Anchorage is the closest big city to the ships that dock in Whittier, AK.

 

My DD, SIL and I did the Princess Cruisetour - Alaska Wilderness/Explorer - 7 day land tour, 7 day cruise. We loved it. Started in Anchorage, on to Denali for two nights, then Fairbanks, a two day bus ride to Prudhoe Bay, fly back to Anchorage, bus to Whittier, cruise to Vancouver. I recommend it, an experience not to be missed.

 

Here are some pictures from our trip.

 

Enjoy your cruise

[Genessa]

we did a 7 night cruise tour from Fairbanks, but did it pre-cruise and added an extra night in Fairbanks to start (as we were travelling from NY and felt we'd need the recovery time - which we did).

 

Four of us thought it was well worth it (all 4 had dreamed of going to Alaska for years) and two of us thought it was very expensive (not that we're not all about in the same financial circumstances, but they came on vacation to vacation with us - Alaska was never their dream vacation). It "ain't" cheap to do a cruise tour, you can do it more "reasonably" going on your own, but we chose a cruise tour for a few reasons:

 

1. we picked a tour that was going to every place one of the 6 of us wanted to see interior and were going to do a large portion of it on the dome train which all of us wanted to do.

2. we're at a point in our life where anything under a 3 star hotel is "roughing it".

3. it would be a hassle free way to travel and when we're on vacation we all like lots of relaxation and little hassle.

 

So, check out the ports of call section, look at travel books, see if the tour is including everything you might want and know that if it isn't written that it is included, it is NOT included - for instance, food.

You will be spending a lot of time in transit, but even though we all brought books to read and cards to play, we did neither - we looked out the windows of the trains (and when we took the shuttle bus to and from Mt.McKinley Wilderness Lodge to Talkeetna - about 45 minutes each way - we looked out the bus windows).

[Budget Queen]

For your best choices, do your homework. :) Get an Alaska map too. Head to your library and take out Frommer's Alaska and Fodor's Alaska.

 

Then take a look at cruise brochures and routings. My opinion only, cruisetours with princess need your full understanding. There are some negatives such as a good portion of the cruisetours including the Natural History tour into Denali Park, a waste of time, like viewing Disneyland from the parking lot. Educate yourself on the different options here. http://www.nps.gov/dena

 

Cruisetours are the most costly way to go compared to independent. If you are coming into Fairbanks, it is highly suggested you add a couple days and a rental car as you see little of the city on the cruisetour.

 

If you are interested there is plenty of information on independent touring, superior for making the most of your time. My last trips to Talkeetna, all I saw at the train station and bus pick up were hoards of people waiting and waiting.

[BillMcAnally]

Hi Momj47, Gemessa, & Budget Queen. Thinks for your input. I didn’t quite state my post correctly. It was supposed to be Princess Pre-Cruise package from Fairbanks. We are looking at the Diamond Princess in August. We plan on booking a suite and making a 7 & 7. We want to fly to Fairbanks, do the 7 day land tour and then board the ship in Whittier. I am just not to sold on the land tours offered for the price. My wife wants it, I’m hesitant. Mom47j sounds like you loved it and really thought you got your money’s worth. I just don’t relish the thought of living out of a suitcase for seven days. We made the cruise to Alaska in 1985 out of San Francisco. Going to Vancouver, The inside Passage, Ketchikan, Juno, Skagway, Sitka, Glacier Bay, and back to San Francisco. We really enjoyed the cruise and wanted to go back taking out oldest daughter and her husband with us. We are studying the possibilities. We got a letter from the Governor of Alaska asking us to visit his state and offered to send us information about what his state has to offer if we ask for it. We have but it hasn’t come yet. Again thanks for your input. You have helped considerably.

[Momj47]

:) I had the same thoughts about living out of a suitcase, and it actually wasn't too bad. Princess handles all the transportation, transfers, baggage, lodging and some meals, so there's very little for you to do yourself. I think it was worth the extra money. My daughter was 6 months pregnant, they even got her some masks to use on the bus when forest fires were close to the road. We had wonderful tour guides and bus drivers. They all live in Alaska and know it very well, and they shared their lives with us - showing us where they fish with their friends, take the kids camping and hiking, and stories about some of their adventures, as well as historical anecdotes about the places we visited. It became a very personal tour for all of us.

 

I've never done a "Tour" before, I've always planned all my trips, both in North America and Europe, making arrangements for everything myself. I felt like this trip was different. Most of Alaska is pretty remote and wild and I felt like a planned tour was the way to go for our first trip. Now that I have a better sense of the place, I could see doing some tours on my own, but I don't regret our tour at all, I tend to be frugal, I don't think we would have seen nearly as much on our own as we did with Princess.

 

Enjoy your trip.

[BillMcAnally]

Thanks again Momj47. Enjoyed your pictures.

[Genessa]

Bill,

 

to second what Momj47 said, with Princess you don't really feel as if you are living out of a suitcase, even though you are...

they handle the luggage so well, giving explicit directions on when and where to put it and then they take it away and the next time you see it it is already in your room. We sent one suitcase "ahead", with our cruise clothes (all our formal wear, etc.) and found everything to be quite painless.

 

We purposely picked a tour that gave us two nights at MtMcKinley Wilderness Lodge so that we could relax and de-stress and do or not do whatever. Thanks to so much of the info here - most of it from Budget Queen, we also upgraded to the Tundra Wilderness tour, rather than the Natural History Tour. I've been reading here that it is harder to do that now, so you might want to pick a tour (if you decide to go with it) that includes two nights at Denali. This would give you a better opportunity to either take the Wilderness tour or take the shuttle into the park.

[BillMcAnally]

Thanks Genessa for your help. I got something Saturday in the mail from Vantage for Alaska Land & Sea. 15 days from $3,149 per person. 0n the Sapphire Princess and they included a free night in Vancouver and free airfair from most cities. Sounds like quite a deal.

[BillMcAnally]

Thanks Genessa for your help. I got something Saturday in the mail from Vantage for Alaska Land & Sea. 15 days from $3,149 per person. 0n the Sapphire Princess and they included a free night in Vancouver and free airfair from most cities. Sounds like quite a deal.

[beckers]

Genessa - How many bags were you allowed on the cruise tour and how did you send one bag ahead with your cruise clothes. That sounds awesome. Thanks in advance for the info.

 

Becky

[Genessa]

Genessa - How many bags were you allowed on the cruise tour and how did you send one bag ahead with your cruise clothes. That sounds awesome. Thanks in advance for the info.

 

Becky

 

Becky,

 

there was no limit on the number of bags we were allowed, except that when we went, if you were only spending one night in Denali (which we did), you were only able to take one smallish carry-on with you on the train. The rest of our land luggage met us at Mt.McKinley Wilderness.

Princess gave us luggage tags the first night we were in Fairbanks - ones marked for the ship we were on and ones with our next hotel on it. The night we packed for the one night in Denali the tags were marked for Mt.McKinley Lodge.

We brought two plane sized carry-ons (one for dh & one for me) and ended up we could only fit one under the seat - the rolling one. The other was a soft backpack and I took some things out of it and basically sat with what was left on the bench.

 

The reason for the one carry-on limit is that there is no overhead luggage rack (because the dome is there) and so you are limited to what fits under the bench. Those who didn't realize were able to put a bag on the open deck and they were tied out there - not too many. The train leaves quickly after it pulls into the station - no time to retrieve bags stored under the train - I think Princess used to truck the bags separately.

But, from what I've read here, you might not have that limitation anymore with the new trains.

 

They really do a great job of explaining the whole process, but knowing ahead of time saved me from repacking too much. I'm a worry wart and couldn't leave the house with one "cruise" bag and one "land" bag, in case we lost a bag, so I did need to do a little repacking.

[Cruiseteach]

We did this tour several years ago. I think a lot depends on where you live. We are from Maine. Denali is very nice, but we could have been at home, in Baxter State Park or Moosehead Lake. Other people on our tour, however, were awestruck. We did the domed train. Again, some people loved this, but, to me, it was 7 1/2 hours of trees! At one point toward the end, someone spotted a moose. The whole car whooped and rushed to that side of the train to look. My friend and I just looked at each other and said, "Oh, yea- a moose". (Understand that this is not exactly a rare occurance for us :) ) At Denali, we were very fortunate to hit one of the few (20%) days when Mt. McKinley is fully visable. That was awesome. Another highlight was getting to meet a dogsledder and his dogs. I foumd that very interesting. The accomodations at Denali are not exactly first class. Will remind you somewhat of a summer camp, but I thought it was fine- kind of deliberately rustic. If you are not into outdoor stuff, there isn't a lot to do.

In Fairbanks, we did the riverboat cruise, which was very nice, and got to meet Susan Boucher, the dogsledder. We also went to a "goldmine" and got to "pan" for gold. Big Whoop! After that, they take you into their "magnificent" giftshop, where, for an outrageous price, they will put your gold into some kind of junky jewelry.

We opted to fly to the "city" of Kotzebue, which in any other place, would hardly qualify as a town. I have to say, it was a highlight, though. The whole place looks very impoverished, with unpainted houses and dirt streets, but that is because they are above the Arctic Circle and can't keep paint on their house or tar on their roads. Being above the Arctic Circle was indescrible. We had our picture taken on a beach at midnight, with the sun shining brightly behind us. We saw a cultural presentation by local children that was unforgettable. Not what you'd call scenic or luxurious, but, nevertheless, a highlight.

We also went to Nome to see where the Iditirod takes place.

Would I do it again? No, not after doing it once, but i don't regret doing it the first time.