Live From Majestic Princess JB5 Denali Explorer Alaska Cruise Tour 6-2022

[Steelers0854]

Hello and welcome to our live from. We are so excited to be returning to Alaska after having done a round trip from Seattle so many years ago. We loved Alaska so much we knew when we returned we wanted to do a cruise tour with the land portion to really see what Alaska truly has to offer. I am starting this the day before we leave, which is actually 3 days before we begin our adventure. Due to where we live we won’t be able to get into Fairbanks until just after midnight on Monday and that’s the day we check into our hotel prior to beginning the cruise tour on Tuesday. So we booked a hotel on points for that “night” and thankfully they will either send someone to pick us up at the airport or pay for a cab, we just call when we land and they will let us know.

 

Here is our itinerary:

 

In Fairbanks we are staying at the Westmark Fairbanks.

 

In Anchorage we will be staying at Hotel Captain Cook.

 

These hotels were assigned to us about 30ish days before departure.

 

A little about us. We are DINKS in our 30s and Princess is our favorite brand. After we hit platinum we branched out for bit to try other lines but Princess remains our overall favorite. We will be on this cruise with another couple on their 2nd cruise ever.

 

My goal is to post every day. Between cell and Wi-Fi I’m hoping to accomplish this.

 

DW has several good allergies (no gluten, dairy, or egg) and so expect a breakdown of how those allergies are handled along the way. We did plan in advance as we know the land portion will be challenging with day long excursions. So we bought a loaf of bread, single serve peanut butter, jelly packets and individual packets of salad dressing. We are hoping that this will help augment what they can do. I did try and email Princess, specifically the land tour desk, about a month ago but never heard back. We did mark everything in the Medallion app but aren’t sure how that will translate with the landtour.  So we shall see!

 

Tomorrow is a travel day for us. Feel free to ask questions along the way and I am happy to provide or hunt down the answers. When we booked we did get free Wi-Fi, gratuities, premium beverage package and 1 specialty dining. While there are some unique specialty restaurants on board DW’s allergies make it difficult to eat there so we will be going to the crown grill. I may have to take a detour one day to Harmony because it looks amazing!

 

Here are the excursions we have planned (some of these are included in the package):

 

• Riverboat in Fairbanks
• Tundra Wilderness Tour (limited due to a road closure in the park)
• Train from Denali to Talkeetna
• Mt McKinley Sun Dog Kennels
• Anchorage: Wildlife Conservation Center
• Skagway: Kroschel Wildlife Refuge - An Animal Planet Exclusive (we love the show Dr Oakley and Steve is one of the best ones on the show!)
• Juneau: Local Connections: Discover Alaska's Whales
• Ketchikan: Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show

 

We had an early disappointment in our plans due to a bad rockslide that hit Denali Park.  We had wanted to do the Tundra wilderness tour or get into the Eielson Visitor Center (at mile marker 66), but unfortunately due to the road construction we can only go as far as mile marker 43.  Oh well, not much you can do about Mother Nature!

 

We also had some changes at the last minute on this cruise.  5 days before leaving, in the middle of the night, Princess sends a cryptic email only titled as “Booking Notification” that looked like any other email confirmation with all of our itinerary details on it.  When I got it, I glazed over it.  But in the middle of the email it states a change to the COVID testing requirements.  We now had to provide a negative test before the land portion our our trip.  We are 5 days before we leave.  Gee, thanks Princess for the very prominent and prompt notification of this extremely critical change.  SMH.  I know I own part of this, I should read in detail every email i get at this point, but come on, they can and should do better.

 

We booked our flights for this trip using EZ Air.  This was our first time using it and while there were some struggles I am 100% glad we did.  If you want to read more of the details the post I made is linked below.  But a schedule change by an airline close in to the cruise made it necessary for us to change airlines to be able to make it back home, which that close in would have cost us a fortune.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2845667-ez-air-not-so-easy-but-the-lesser-of-2-evils/#comment-63122111

 

So we have just completed our eMed tests, we are COVID negative and ready to travel.  Now off to pack!

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2022 by Steelers0854
Fix image position

[ghgeckos]

Looking forward to hearing about the pre cruise adventures, this is a bucket list location of mine. My DH is gluten free so I’m interested in hearing about the GF bread options. We usually bring some GF snacks and crackers with us to have in the cabin and for excursions too. Have a great trip.

[KLM3164]

Following….Majestic is my favorite ship. Have a great vacation and thanks for taking us along!

[cruzin4us]

Glad you are doing a "Live", especially one that includes the land tour.    

Please let me know what you think of Harmony.   We were on Majestic in Oct. '21 and we were very disappointed.   I'd like to hear your opinion.

I loved cruising on the Majestic.......Alfredos and IC are all I need!

Looking forward to some great commentary and pics!

 

[Steelers0854]

4 hours ago, ghgeckos said:

Looking forward to hearing about the pre cruise adventures, this is a bucket list location of mine. My DH is gluten free so I’m interested in hearing about the GF bread options. We usually bring some GF snacks and crackers with us to have in the cabin and for excursions too. Have a great trip.

 

Princess by far (Celebrity too) has been the best with DW’s allergies, Carnival - not so much.  Ill make sure to keep an eye out, DW cant eat Gluten free bread because it almost always has egg so they generally make her her own bread for the cruise.  

 

12 minutes ago, cruzin4us said:

Glad you are doing a "Live", especially one that includes the land tour.    

Please let me know what you think of Harmony.   We were on Majestic in Oct. '21 and we were very disappointed.   I'd like to hear your opinion.

I loved cruising on the Majestic.......Alfredos and IC are all I need!

Looking forward to some great commentary and pics!

 

 

Can I ask what it was that disappointed you?  And I agree, on Alfredos and the IC< but my waistline begs to differ, lol.

 

 

[cruzin4us]

5 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

 

Can I ask what it was that disappointed you?  And I agree, on Alfredos and the IC< but my waistline begs to differ, lol.

 

The food was beautifully presented, but it was blah in taste.   The 2 worst dishes were some kind of tofu dish and the Lobster stir fry (there was a surcharge on this dish).   They took a slipper sized lobster and cut it into about 6 pieces but they left the shell on.   It was impossible to eat.    The restaurant is decorated nicely and the servers were good.    I eat anything and will try everything (except black licorice) but it really wasn't good (and I'm being nice).    The 1st two pics are of the tofu item and the lobster dish.   The last pics are of the desserts.    I heard that they "Americanized" the menu and the quality went downhill.   I never tried it before the revamp of the menu.    They have a lot of items that are typical Panda Express...Kung Pao Chicken, Broccoli Beef.   I didn't try those, I went with the more exotic items.    My BFF ordered completely different items and she was equally unimpressed.   

[Italy52]

Have a FANTASTIC journey.  We will be taking the 14-day Alaska itinerary out of Vancouver on the Majestic and will be boarding on June 18th.  Looking forward to hearing all about your trip.  Wishing you a smooth sailing and many wonderful memories.

[Love2travel4]

Thank you so much for posting…can’t wait to follow along!

[Willwils]

Thanks for doing the live Majestic posts. We have a Majestic cruisetour that also starts in Fairbanks in July '22. Also have EZ-AIR. Look forward to getting your subsequent posts. 

[Steelers0854]

12:30 AM in Fairbanks. This is gonna take some getting used to!

 

[Steelers0854]

We landed about 12:15AM, right on time and it was an “easy” flight.  After being up for almost 24 hours I’m not sure anything at that point was easy.

 

In baggage claim they had all the major cruise lines there with personnel to help the arriving passengers.  We spoke with the Princess rep and had 2 options since we were booked on our own that night:

 

1. Come back to the airport in the afternoon of checkin, get our welcome packet and take a bus to the hotel.
2. Our welcome packet could be sent directly to the hotel and we could make our own way there and pick it up when we arrived.

We chose option 2, she filled out a piece of paper with our information (where we are staying tonight, which cruise line (Princess, HAL) and what hotel we are staying at with Princess, and told us that our welcome packet would be waiting for us at the hotel.

 

We called the Hampton Inn and in 20 min they arrived with a shuttle to pick us up and take us to the hotel.

 

Fun facts shared by our shuttle driver:

1. It’s mosquito hatching season, for the next 2 weeks they will be terrible, and already are.  They are HUGE and everywhere.
2. In 2 weeks is the summer solstice, they have a huge festival in town and at midnight the sun i up and it looks like it is noon so they all gather around at take pictures.
3. The Hampton Inn has an amazing view of the Northern Lights.  It looks out into an area where there are no lights and the photos she showed us are amazing.  She said the best times to come for that are March and November.

 

It’s a nice hotel, breakfast was so so, but serviceable.  The weather is beautiful, clear, sunny and a high of 75 today.

 

We have no real plans for today, just going to bum around town and head over to the Westmark in the late afternoon to check in.

 

 

 

[clueless2]

We did this exact same itinerary years (decades!) ago.  Out first non-Caribbean cruise.  DId it in May before the bird sized mosquitoes were out. Great trip.  Loved the land based part.  Enjoy!

[Steelers0854]

It’s a well oiled machine here on the land tour.  The hotel has this down to a science.  Everyone here is knowledgeable and friendly.  While our packets were not here when we arrived a quick call to the airport had them sent over on the next bus.  In there is detailed info on how to handle and tag your luggage, when to leave it in the hallway outside your room and when to be downstairs ready to go (7:55 for us).

 

We didnt really do much today, we ate at a place called Pho House by the Hampton Inn for lunch and it was excellent.  I would recommend it.  For dinner we just ate the one of the hotel restaurants, while expensive the food was very good.  DW got a burger without a bun and I got a Glacier Salad which had one the best chicken breasts I have had in a while, perfectly cooked and full of flavor.

 

We are still trying to get acclimated to the time zone so we called it an early night, plus we have to be up at 5:30 in order to be ready to go and have our luggage out by 6:30.

 

This morning we have the Riverboat ride and then the bus ride to Denali.

 

[Steelers0854]

Princess really does a great job with the logistics. This process so so easy, they announce in the lobby what buses are here they have plenty of staff to get you where you are going and we even have branded Princess busses!

 

 

 

 

My one complaint. No one asked us for our COVID test. They made such a big deal about this and it didn’t make a bit of difference if we had it or not.

 

Our first stop is the Riverboat. It was a 15 minute drive to meet the boat.

 

 

 

This was a fantastic tour. The boat was wonderful, the scenery was beautiful and they had several points of interest along the way. We stopped on the river at one of the self dog kennels, they have wireless microphones so the people on shore talk to you through the speakers on the boat. They pointed out things along the way including design elements of homes that are unique and a lot about the native population.

 

 

 

 

We had about an hour stop at a location where we got off and they discussed a lot about native culture and how they lived many many years ago. It was a wonderful glimpse into their lives and culture.

 

 

We boarded the boat again and headed back. They served us some salmon on crackers as a snack. We also got blueberry donuts this morning. Both were delicious.

 

They had a snack bar onboard with the most reasonable prices you will likely see this entire trip.

 

 

When we got off they had a dining hall with an all you care to enjoy family style meal for an amazing $15. They also had some boxed lunches for about $13 that had turkey sandwiches with chips etc. DW didn’t want to risk lunch and so she busted out her bread, peanut butter and jelly and made a sandwich. They were nice and let her sit with me (you seat at long picnic bench style seating) while I had an absolutely delicious lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now we are off on a 3ish hour drive to Denali!

[clueless2]

Great pictures.  Looks like they got a new coat since 2008.  🙂

[Steelers0854]

18 minutes ago, clueless2 said:

Great pictures.  Looks like they got a new coat since 2008.  🙂

they said that coat is appraised at $18,000 - $20,000

[Steelers0854]

Welcome to Denali

 

 

[Steelers0854]

First drink. Blueberry mojito. 

 

 

[Steelers0854]

Shout out to Kate our driver. She is amazing, so funny and informative. She is an excellent driver and guide and did a FANTASTIC JOB!

 

I also forgot to discuss the Westmark hotel in Fairbanks.  The staff are great, the lobby and first floor areas are bright, fairly updated and nice.  The rooms on the other hand gave me motel 6 vibes.  They desperately need an update, but for 1 night, they were fine.

 

We made 1 stop at a small trailer/camper park on the way to Denali about 90 minutes, mainly for a restroom break but they had a fairly large gift shop and a nice array of snacks and drinks for again, what I felt was a very reasonable price.

 

The drive was breathtaking as your inch closer to the mountain.  We arrived and they came onboard the bus and handed out our envelopes which had all the usual info, itinerary, luggage tags, property map etc.  We walked straight to the room and our bags were already sitting inside waiting for us.  We did some quick unpacking and walk around the property.

 

They have an amazing outdoor deck area (where i took my drink picture posted above) that overlooks the river.  We had a few drinks out there and headed in for dinner.

 

They have 3 main restaurants onsite (really 4 but the Grizzly Burger place was closed).  We decided to eat at King Salmon tonight but all the menus are below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The table started off with the seafood dip and the halibut tenders.  The seafood dip was so very good, creamy and full of genuine seafood flavor, no imitation crab or seafood flavoring here, large numerous chunks of delicious seafood, it was amazing!  The halibut tenders were good, they did lack a little flavor especially in comparison to the dip but they were delicious.  DW went with the salad and she said the dressing was so good she wanted to lick the plate.

 

 

 

For entrees we got the Prime Rib, the King Salmon and DW got the chicken.  For DW the subbed the mashed potatoes with roasted potatoes which she said were excellent.  She also said the chicken was cooked perfectly and the compote served with it was excellent.  The prime rib was also very good, flavorful and cooked perfectly.  The salmon of course was the highlight, seasoned just right, flaky and delicious, all it needed was the lemon edge that came with it, you didnt miss any sauce or other accompaniments.

 

 

 

 

After dinner we walked around a bit and called it a night.  We have a late start tomorrow.  Ours Tundra Wilderness tour doesn’t start til 2pm, so we are going to get up for breakfast and have a leisurely morning.

[cr8tiv1]

It has been a very long time since I've done an Alaskan land tour.  Thank you for the very detailed description of your trip.  

[Love2travel4]

Thank you so much…this is very helpful and love the details and pictures.  On the bus ride from Fairbanks to Denali, I know you mentioned a stop for restrooms/snacks/shop.  Curious how long the stop is?  Also, as they’re large coach busses, I am assuming bathrooms on board for and emergency?

[Steelers0854]

6 hours ago, Love2travel4 said:

Thank you so much…this is very helpful and love the details and pictures.  On the bus ride from Fairbanks to Denali, I know you mentioned a stop for restrooms/snacks/shop.  Curious how long the stop is?  Also, as they’re large coach busses, I am assuming bathrooms on board for and emergency?

we stopped for about 30 minutes. Yes there is a bathroom onboard that you can use at any time. 

[Lido deck main]

Wonderful review, thank you very much for posting.  We are not even planning a land tour to Alaska but enjoying the reports.  We are going on our first cruise since covid in September.  Last cruise was in October 2019.  Husband has severe allergy to milk products, can't be lactose free, has to be dairy free.  Interested to learn what your DW learns about that on this cruise.  Hope you both have a great time.

[voljeep]

1 hour ago, Steelers0854 said:

we stopped for about 30 minutes. Yes there is a bathroom onboard that you can use at any time. 

what is the alcohol policy on the bus? - can you bring beer on board - can you buy beer in the snack shops?

[Steelers0854]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

what is the alcohol policy on the bus? - can you bring beer on board - can you buy beer in the snack shops?

You can definitely bring it on board but I dont believe you can consume it. A couple next to us had 3 bottles of wine with them.