reindeer farm

[wkalthoff]

My husband and I are going on a cruise ***** May 19th. I was wondering if anyone knows that if Princess goes to the reindeer farm in Fairbanks, Alaska or has a cruise execursion that goes there.

Thank you for your time.

Edited January 29, 2018 by wkalthoff
typos and more details

[Astro Flyer]

Based on this list of generally available Fairbanks tours, none of the summaries show going to a reindeer farm.

 

https://www.princess.com/excursion/exlistfordestination.page?portid=FAI&t=A&exType=L

 

I could not locate what activities are included in a Cruisetour..

[txwriter]

There is a reindeer farm in or Palmer, AK which is outside of Anchorage, not Fairbanks.https://www.reindeerfarm.com/

 

I believe there is an excursion from Fairbanks that includes a side trip to North Pole, AK. I think they may have 1-2 reindeer there to see/pet.

[argenta01]

If you are going to Denali, you will see tons of caribou/reindeer.

[Thrak]

If you take the river boat cruise in Fairbanks you stop and get to check out the reindeer. I got some good pics of my wife with the reindeer. You also get a talk with the indigenous people. I was surprised that they referred to themselves as Eskimos as I had been told previously that Eskimo was a pejorative term. I asked about it and they said, "Nope. Eskimo is fine".

 

We had the river boat excursion included as part of the connoisseur cruise tour. We thought it would be hokey but we ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

[Jimbo]

If you take the river boat cruise in Fairbanks you stop and get to check out the reindeer. I got some good pics of my wife with the reindeer. You also get a talk with the indigenous people. I was surprised that they referred to themselves as Eskimos as I had been told previously that Eskimo was a pejorative term. I asked about it and they said, "Nope. Eskimo is fine".

 

We had the river boat excursion included as part of the connoisseur cruise tour. We thought it would be hokey but we ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

 

 

What ship did you go on, choices for us is Golden, Island, Royal and Coral..........I have no idea which is best, we mostly cruise on Royal Caribbean.

[Thrak]

What ship did you go on, choices for us is Golden, Island, Royal and Coral..........I have no idea which is best, we mostly cruise on Royal Caribbean.

 

We had no choice due to the itinerary. We sailed Island which is my last choice. For your cruise I would choose Coral as we love that ship. Golden would be good and Royal is a whole different ball game that you might want to try but there is not a covered pool on Royal if that is important to you. I would choose any of the others before choosing Island. Coral has fore and aft viewing decks on both Baja and Caribe decks. Just go to the end of the hallway and out through the solid doors. Coral also has the buffet at the bow which gives nice views when eating. The best viewing in Alaska is from the public decks.

[ggprincess2004]

What ship did you go on, choices for us is Golden, Island, Royal and Coral..........I have no idea which is best, we mostly cruise on Royal Caribbean.

Golden or Coral. Avoid the Island at all costs and imho Royal us just too big for Alaska cruising.

[satxdiver]

Princess hacked the Island and it no longer is a nice ship to sail. We sailed on her twice before the infamous dry dock where they hacked the ship. The Coral which was a twin to the Island before it was hacked, is a smaller ship holding about 2000 pax. The Golden which is about the same age as the Coral holds 2600 pax so it is a bigger ship. The Royal, the newest of the ships, was put into service in 2013, holds 3600 pax and is the largest of the four ships. It is all in what you like. The bigger ships offer more than the smallest Coral. All the ports in AK you will be sharing the port with 2 or 3 or more other ships which in many cases will increase their population by thousands. My only suggestion is to take the cruise that goes to Glacier Bay and not Tracy Arm. Glacier Bay is a lot more scenic IMO.

 

I saw the reindeer at the North Pole (small town), Denali NP and on the river cruise in Fairbanks. The town of North Pole is north of Fairbanks and not too far.

[aknursemom]

If you take the river boat cruise in Fairbanks you stop and get to check out the reindeer. I got some good pics of my wife with the reindeer. You also get a talk with the indigenous people. I was surprised that they referred to themselves as Eskimos as I had been told previously that Eskimo was a pejorative term. I asked about it and they said, "Nope. Eskimo is fine".

 

If they are Eskimos. Some other tribes do take offense if you call them Eskimos and they aren't. At times I hear members of other groups call each other Eskimo as an insult.

[laughing husky]

If you take the river boat cruise in Fairbanks you stop and get to check out the reindeer. I got some good pics of my wife with the reindeer. You also get a talk with the indigenous people. I was surprised that they referred to themselves as Eskimos as I had been told previously that Eskimo was a pejorative term. I asked about it and they said, "Nope. Eskimo is fine".

 

We had the river boat excursion included as part of the connoisseur cruise tour. We thought it would be hokey but we ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

 

They are being nice to you.....but they laugh after you leave. It is not a good term. what they call themselves, and what you can call them....2 different things...it is sorta like the other nationalities in our country. You can't say it and sound very nice, but they can call themselves that...

[laughing husky]

There are 2 places to view reindeer in Alaska...Reindeer are farmed caribou....One is the large animal research station in Fairbanks. Occasionally they have tours, but mostly it is for research of various varieties. the other place is the Reindeer farm in Palmer, Alaska about an 1.5 hours outside of downtown Anchorage. https://www.reindeerfarm.com/ It is a commercial venture where you can pet and feed them. Great for kids and you can learn all about caribou....and some of it is very interesting. Doesn't take very long, and then you can go to the Musk Ox farm near by...You do need a car, however, as there are no tours that go there. https://www.muskoxfarm.org/

[Thrak]

They are being nice to you.....but they laugh after you leave. It is not a good term. what they call themselves, and what you can call them....2 different things...it is sorta like the other nationalities in our country. You can't say it and sound very nice, but they can call themselves that...

 

Well... I didn't call them Eskimo. They used the term repeatedly when speaking to the group. I only asked afterward as I had been told that was not a nice term to use (and said that) and was told they don't have a problem with it at all. I don't see how that is "being nice to me". There would be no need to laugh at me later as I wasn't the one using the term.

 

I understand about terms used by groups themselves vs being used by others. This really didn't seem to be the case there. I also think the "I can say it but you can't" thing is total BS. If a term is deemed to be a "bad" or "nasty" or "racist" term then nobody should be using it although I also remember when people used the term "freak" to describe people with long hair and such but my friends and I never minded it when the term was used. Maybe we just have "broader shoulders" than some other groups.