2019 Trip Reports

[mac1_131]

Going to try get this stickied for this year's reports.

From the previous years instructions:

Hopefully lots of you will be returning soon, wanting to share information about your cruise experience, excursions, activities, vendors, land travel, etc.
A report can be one paragraph outlining each port you visited and your activity at each port, OR, it can be a 20 pg report with photos of your cabin, public areas, meals, dailys, activities of each port, and every sight along the way. Or it can be something in between! Whatever you have time for.
Please CREATE YOUR OWN THREAD to post your trip report, then paste a link to THIS thread. That way, if people have questions they will post directly to your report. Best to keep this list as an informational tool, not gunked up with questions and comments.
It would be helpful if the first line included the SHIP, ITINERARY, DATE, EXCURSIONS, and who travelled ( family with children, a multigenerational trip, active 30 somethings, etc).

[hvbaskey]

Alaska Trip Report:  May 10th - 17th, 2019

Ship:  Celebrity Millennium
Itinerary:  

• Vancouver (embarkation, flying in the day of, Celebrity transfer to ship)
• Inside Passage (cruising)
• Ketchikan (Ketchikan Cab Tours - shared with family from CC Roll Call)
• Icy Strait Point (Icy Strait Whale Adventures, booked independently)
• Juneau (DIY day - TBD day of, but current plans include Mendenhall glacier and Tram)
• Skagway (Skagway Van Tours - sharing with others from CC Roll Call)
• Hubbard Glacier (cruising)
• Seward (shuttle directly from ship to Anchorage, picking up rental car from airport for 2 days

Travelling with DH, both of us are in our early/mid fifties; 10th cruise with Celebrity, 1st cruise to Alaska

Link below to actual Trip Report:

 

Edited April 28, 2019 by hvbaskey

[Easton13A]

Golden Princess, RT Vancouver, Inside Passage, 5/7-5/14/19

Vancouver

At Sea

Juneau

Skagway

Glacier Bay

Ketchikan

At Sea

Vancouver

 

 

[ErLee]

June 12th - 25th Princess Connoiseur Cruisetour - Coral Princess plus a couple days DIY in Vancouver pre-cruise!

 

DH and I are in our mid 50s and celebrating our 25th anniversary!

 

Our cruise will be visiting Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Glacier Bay.  Our land tour includes stays at the Princess McKinley Lodge, Denali Lodge and Fairbanks Riverside Lodge.

 

 

Edited April 30, 2019 by ErLee

[foggyphils]

May 25-June 6 Royal Princess Cruisetour - Northbound (Vancouver to Fairbanks)

7 night cruise followed by 5 night Land Tour

May 23-25 - Pre-cruise stay in Vancouver with a day trip to Victoria

Participants: My mom (60s) and I (40s). My mom is more active than I want to be so we have no mobility issues. However, She has nixed any small plane tours. My dad was a pilot and had a sesna that had several emergency landings over the years so she’s not a fan. 

 

As of April, I haven’t figured out all of our excursions yet, but so far:

Vancouver - Day trip to Victoria including V2V to get there and the Prince of Whales Tour that includes Butchart Gardens and 2.5 hr sunset cruise back to Vancouver (it actually leaves from BG so no need to go back to DT Victoria)

4 hour Vancouver City Tour- I found a good deal on Groupon for this. 

Ketchikan - not sure yet

Juneau - Adventure Bound Tracy Arm Fjord Cruise 

Skagway - A combo train/tour...not sure which one. Trying to do glass blowing at Jewel Gardens too. 

Whittier to Anchorage - Transfer that include the Alaska Conservation Center. I’d really like to upgrade to the one that includes the Alyeska Tram, but not sure that’s possible on a cruisetour. 

Anchorage - not sure yet. 

Denali - Tundra Wilderness Tour, One of the dinner shows, maybe a hike 

Fairbanks - Gold Panning/steamwheeler tour with lunch

 

I’ve  posted the pre-planning stuff on our modest travel blog. It includes a lot of cost analysis and budgeting costs. 

https://momandigo.wordpress.com/category/to-alaska/

 

 

[Ginnyfyr]

6 hours ago, foggyphils said:

May 25-June 6 Royal Princess Cruisetour - Northbound (Vancouver to Fairbanks)

7 night cruise followed by 5 night Land Tour

May 23-25 - Pre-cruise stay in Vancouver with a day trip to Victoria

Participants: My mom (60s) and I (40s). My mom is more active than I want to be so we have no mobility issues. However, She has nixed any small plane tours. My dad was a pilot and had a sesna that had several emergency landings over the years so she’s not a fan. 

 

As of April, I haven’t figured out all of our excursions yet, but so far:

Vancouver - Day trip to Victoria including V2V to get there and the Prince of Whales Tour that includes Butchart Gardens and 2.5 hr sunset cruise back to Vancouver (it actually leaves from BG so no need to go back to DT Victoria)

4 hour Vancouver City Tour- I found a good deal on Groupon for this. 

Ketchikan - not sure yet

Juneau - Adventure Bound Tracy Arm Fjord Cruise 

Skagway - A combo train/tour...not sure which one. Trying to do glass blowing at Jewel Gardens too. 

Whittier to Anchorage - Transfer that include the Alaska Conservation Center. I’d really like to upgrade to the one that includes the Alyeska Tram, but not sure that’s possible on a cruisetour. 

Anchorage - not sure yet. 

Denali - Tundra Wilderness Tour, One of the dinner shows, maybe a hike 

Fairbanks - Gold Panning/steamwheeler tour with lunch

 

I’ve  posted the pre-planning stuff on our modest travel blog. It includes a lot of cost analysis and budgeting costs. 

https://momandigo.wordpress.com/category/to-alaska/

 

 

If you're up for a little adventure in Ketchikan, I highly recommend the zodiak boat trip offered by Ketchikan Outdoors - I believe Princess calls it 'outback adventure'. You go out for about 2-3 hours and tour around in a small zodiak boat (holds up to 4 passengers - if you are in a foursome you can switch drivers half way through) led by a guide. Hubby and I have done it twice and signed up again for our return to Ketchikan in a few weeks. They provide you with everything you need to stay warm and dry on the water (rubber pants & jacket, hat, boots) so all you really need to bring is your camera/phone! 

[masterdrago]

As requested, the link to the starting trip report is at

 

[AKfamily]

May 12 Chicagof Dream

Alaskan Dream Cruises

Sitka to Juneau, 7 nights

 

 

[Mediterranean_Honeymooner]

Carnival Legend

Obstructed balcony stateroom 5235

4/29-5/6/19

Departing Vancouver, returning to Seattle

1/2 in Seattle - self tour of Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square, and Space Needle

1/2 day in Vancouver - Viator 2 hour private tour

Juneau - whale watch, Mendenhall Glacier, and Tracy's Crab Shack through Juneau Whale Watch

Skagway - White Pass Yukon Railroad to Fraser and then bus tour to Carcross/Emerald Lake/Yukon through Dyea Dave Tours

Glacier Bay

Ketchikan - Carlin Air floatplane tour of Misty Fjords, then self guided walking tour of Ketchikan

 

 

Edited May 15, 2019 by Mediterranean_Honeymooner

[Unibok]

Trip Report for Silver Muse, southbound Seward to Vancouver (10 days), 27 May to 6 June. 

 

I've only just started with the live report of our pre-cruise DIY in Denali. The remainder of our itinerary includes: 

Seward

Hubbard Glacier

Sitka

Haines 

Juneau

Tracy Arm and Sawyer

Wrangell

Ketchikan

Prince Rupert

Inside Passage

Vancouver (with post-cruise stay)

 

Hop on over if you like: 

 

 

 

[scubamargie]

Ship: Celebrity Millennium; Week: May 17; Southbound Seward to Vancouver, BC

The first week was land based. The second is cruising.

Edited May 29, 2019 by scubamargie

[rockfsh]

Alaskan Bliss Trip Report May 19-26.

 

 

[Kelli0927]

On 4/30/2019 at 10:39 AM, Ginnyfyr said:

If you're up for a little adventure in Ketchikan, I highly recommend the zodiak boat trip offered by Ketchikan Outdoors - I believe Princess calls it 'outback adventure'. You go out for about 2-3 hours and tour around in a small zodiak boat 

We're doing a similar tour on zodiak boats in ketchikan. I think my 10 yo son (and 40 yo husband) are gonna love it!

[verobay]

 

Here's my trip report. My husband and I are active 30-ish-year-olds. Here was our itinerary on the Celebrity Millennium:

Date

Port or Activity

Arrive

Depart

Fri, May 24	Vancouver, BC, Canada		4:30pm
Sat, May 25	Inside Passage, AK (Cruising)
Sun, May 26	Ketchikan, AK	7:00am	3:00pm
Mon, May 27	Icy Strait Point, AK	10:00am	8:00pm
Tue, May 28	Juneau, AK	7:00am	9:30pm
Wed, May 29	Skagway, AK	7:00am	4:00pm
Thu, May 30	Hubbard Glacier, AK (Cruising)
Fri, May 31	Anchorage (Seward), AK	5:00am

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

7 Day Round trip Seattle Ruby Princess 5/25-6/1/19

 

 

[Eileen G]

Coral Princess northbound May 15 with 5 days post cruise DYI.

 

 

[Pushka]

10 night northbound on Viking Orion starting May 26th. 

 

[ricko999]

First timers cruisers awaiting our first Alaska visit! Wife's birthday is on Glacier Bay day.

 

RO

[Pair of Hikers]

Cruisetour Y4L Holland America May 27-June 8

12 Days, 8 on land, 4 on Nieuw Amsterdam

Anchorage - Anchorage Museum, Flattop Mountain Hike, Tony Knowles Costal Trail

Denali - Husky Homestead, Mt. Healy hike

Fairbanks - Gold Dredge 8

Dawson City - Diamond Tooth Gerties, Klondike Spirit

Whitehorse - Millenium Trail

Skagway - Upper Dewey Falls hike 

Glacier Bay

Ketchican - Deer Mountain hike

Couple 60 and 63

 

 

 

[~*Lou*~]

 

Coral Princess

5-12 June 2019

Whittier, glacier bay national park, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, Vancouver 

 

with 2 children 

[kmerlin14]

I started a trip report for the Queen Elizabeth June 10-20 sailing (or at least I thought I did, see below) It will talk about dancing, clothes for hiking, possibly a little bit about navigating the food offerings as a prediabetic and I haven't seen any reports for this ship this season and Cunard hasn't been to Alaska for 30 years.

Our ports were

Vancouver

Inside Passage

Ketchikan

Juno

Skagway

Icy Strait

sailing the Hubbard Glacier

Sitka

Sea day

Victoria

Vancouver-disembark

 

Now I can't find it to link to it, so I must have done something wrong. Or does the new thread need to be approved first. Once I figure that out, I will try to post the link.

[kmerlin14]

Queen Elizabeth Round trip June 10-20 trip reportI started a trip report for the Queen Elizabeth June 10-20 sailing. It will talk about dancing, clothes for hiking, and I haven't seen any reports for this ship and Cunard hasn't been to Alaska for 30 years.

Our ports were

Vancouver

Inside Passage

Ketchikan

Juno

Skagway

Icy Strait

sailing the Hubbard Glacier

Sitka

Sea day

Victoria

Vancouver-disembark

[plagmah]

Trip Report - Celebrity Millennium Inside Passage Northbound  June 7, 2019

 

 

[MNshortie21]

Alaska Trip Report:  June 14th - 24th

Ship:  Radiance of the Seas
Itinerary:  

• Vancouver 
• Inside Passage 
• Ketchikan 
• Icy Strait Point 
• Juneau 
• Skagway 
• Hubbard Glacier (cruising)
• Land Tour 1A Through Royal
  • Seward-Anchorage-Talkeetna-Denali

 

 

[Oakman58]

Here’s a link to my trip report with pictures on the Holland Westerdam’s 11 day double Denali cruise/tour northbound from Vancouver June 2^nd to June 13^th.  The land portion ended in Fairbanks.