Timing question for 26 Glaciers on same day embarking Princess cruise at whittier

[EP23]

Hello,

 

26 Glacier tour starts at 12:30pm, and back at Whittier at 6:20pm. While southbound Princess cruise from Whittier to Vancouver, depart at 8:30pm at Whittier.

 

Called Princess, Princess refused to give me latest check-in time for boarding royal princess. Called 26 Glacier, said they don't usually have problem back to port scheduled time.

 

Does anyone have experience taking the 26 glacier tour right before boarding Priness cruise on the same day???? I am worried 6:30 pm or even 7pm-ish is too late to board a cruise that is scheduled to depart at 8:30pm.

 

 

 

 

[Coral]

You will be fine. People doing a B2B in Whittier can book this as a Princess excursion (at least in the past they could). Sometimes some Princess land trips include this before boarding the ship.

 

The timing of the end of the tour will give you plenty of time to embark on the ship. You won't be the only Princess passengers on this trip.

Edited December 31, 2023 by Coral

[Ken the cruiser]

32 minutes ago, Coral said:

You will be fine. People doing a B2B in Whittier can book this as a Princess excursion (at least in the past they could). Sometimes some Princess land trips include this before boarding the ship.

 

The timing of the end of the tour will give you plenty of time to embark on the ship. You won't be the only Princess passengers on this trip.

@EP23, thanks for opening this thread! This excursion sure looks like a pretty cool “transition day” excursion and we’ll be on the Grand on a “Voyage of the Glaciers” B2B in May with a transition day in Whittier. We checked the current excursions available for our cruise, but since it’s usually only offered on transition day, I guess we will have to wait and hope they offer it once we’re on the ship.

 

Special Notes:

This tour is only available to passengers on back-to-back voyages who will stay onboard the ship and cruise back to Vancouver as it is a roundtrip that will end back at the pier in Whittier. It is not available to guests disembarking the ship and ending their cruise in Whittier.

 

https://www.princess.com/ports-excursions/anchorage-whittier-alaska-excursions/26-glacier-cruise

But in answer to your question since it’s a long excursion, we would only book it if Princess offered it, of which we definitely will! 😁

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[SCX22]

If you are joining the 26 Glacier Cruise in Whittier as an embarking passenger, it would be best to arrive in Whittier early to check-in for your Princess cruise before boarding the catamaran for the 26 Glacier Cruise.

 

I was on the Majestic Princess this summer as a transiting passenger in Whittier on a B2B Voyage of the Glaciers cruise.  I took this excursion and when we returned to the terminal at around 6:30 p.m., check-in had already ceased, which is why I recommend checking-in for the Princess cruise before boarding the catamaran for the excursion.  Can't say for sure what the check-in times are for embarking passengers because I wasn't one.  The pier for the 26 Glacier Cruise is right next to the cruise ship pier and its literally a 1 minute walk.

[SCX22]

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

thanks for opening this thread! This excursion sure looks like a pretty cool “transition day” excursion and we’ll be on the Grand on a “Voyage of the Glaciers” B2B in May with a transition day in Whittier. We checked the current excursions available for our cruise, but since it’s usually only offered on transition day, I guess we will have to wait and hope they offer it once we’re on the ship.

 

It was a very cool experience, but I thought it was overpriced.  I went because my friend's brother was working as a crew member for Philips Cruises and got us tickets for 1/2 off.  The 26 Glacier Cruise takes you into College Fjord.  The Grand Princess will take you around College Fjord the evening of arriving into Whittier.  You're basically seeing the same thing on the cruise ship, except up close.  Most of the tables on the catamaran aren't near windows, so you might find yourself standing up a lot and going outside.  You're pre-assigned a seat at a table.  If you want good pictures, it's best to stand outside because the catamaran's windows are tinted.  But it is a 6 hour cruise, so how much standing do you really want to be doing?

 

Not sure how adventurous you are, but I would have just as happy hiking another trail in Whittier.  We actually got off the ship at 6:00 a.m. and hiked the Portage Pass Trail, arrived back at the ship at 10:30, ate/showered/got ready, and were still able to make it to the 26 Glacier Cruise boarding at noon.

[EP23]

Thank you everyone for the reply.
 

The problem about the check in is that. We are going to take the train. And they arrive at Whittier at 12:20, and the 26 glacier tour depart at 12:30. So it basically impossible for us to check in with princess with so little time left. It is my first ever cruise, and I have no clue what is the latest time I can check in and I absolutely does not want to risk it by not able to be board the princess. 
 

And because husband is wheelchair bound so everything will take a bit longer time…. And only the 26 glacier is wheelchair accessible. The shorter cruise is not. So we are kind of stuck. Unless we skip the 26 glacier cruise completely and will feel like wasting a day just to board the princess… 

[beg3yrs]

2 minutes ago, EP23 said:

Thank you everyone for the reply.
 

The problem about the check in is that. We are going to take the train. And they arrive at Whittier at 12:20, and the 26 glacier tour depart at 12:30. So it basically impossible for us to check in with princess with so little time left. It is my first ever cruise, and I have no clue what is the latest time I can check in and I absolutely does not want to risk it by not able to be board the princess. 
 

And because husband is wheelchair bound so everything will take a bit longer time…. And only the 26 glacier is wheelchair accessible. The shorter cruise is not. So we are kind of stuck. Unless we skip the 26 glacier cruise completely and will feel like wasting a day just to board the princess… 

Wow, 12:20 to 12:30 is cutting things extremely close, too close IMHO. Trains everywhere are subject to delays for multiple reasons but in Alaska it could be a moose or bear on the tracks just sauntering along. That with DH being in a wheelchair taking a bit longer and Princess check-in possibly being closed up by the time you return from the tour, I personally wouldn't do it.

 

Besides, is it really "wasting a day just to board the princess..."? I suppose we all have different values but to me, getting on board and enjoying the ship isn't a waste. Plenty to do the first day on board - watch the safety video while unpacking and organizing the cabin, visiting the muster station, getting a drink (likely the first thing) and so on. Doing all that after leaving the hotel, getting on a train in the AM and then checking in, I'm done!

[Ken the cruiser]

27 minutes ago, EP23 said:

Thank you everyone for the reply.
 

The problem about the check in is that. We are going to take the train. And they arrive at Whittier at 12:20, and the 26 glacier tour depart at 12:30. So it basically impossible for us to check in with princess with so little time left. It is my first ever cruise, and I have no clue what is the latest time I can check in and I absolutely does not want to risk it by not able to be board the princess. 
 

And because husband is wheelchair bound so everything will take a bit longer time…. And only the 26 glacier is wheelchair accessible. The shorter cruise is not. So we are kind of stuck. Unless we skip the 26 glacier cruise completely and will feel like wasting a day just to board the princess… 

You may not even have the option of booking the excursion, unless you have heard something different directly from Princess. In the Special Notes of the excursion description I posted above, it is only available to passengers on B2B voyages where Whittier is the "transition" port between the two legs.

 

Special Notes:

This tour is only available to passengers on back-to-back voyages who will stay onboard the ship and cruise back to Vancouver as it is a roundtrip that will end back at the pier in Whittier. It is not available to guests disembarking the ship and ending their cruise in Whittier.

 

I realize it did not specifically mention passengers embarking the ship in Whittier, as you two appear to be. However, and I could be wrong, but the only place Princess usually offers a "transition port" excursion that does not include dropping folks off at the airport at the conclusion of the tour is onboard the ship.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

7 hours ago, SCX22 said:

 

It was a very cool experience, but I thought it was overpriced.  I went because my friend's brother was working as a crew member for Philips Cruises and got us tickets for 1/2 off.  The 26 Glacier Cruise takes you into College Fjord.  The Grand Princess will take you around College Fjord the evening of arriving into Whittier.  You're basically seeing the same thing on the cruise ship, except up close.  Most of the tables on the catamaran aren't near windows, so you might find yourself standing up a lot and going outside.  You're pre-assigned a seat at a table.  If you want good pictures, it's best to stand outside because the catamaran's windows are tinted.  But it is a 6 hour cruise, so how much standing do you really want to be doing?

 

Not sure how adventurous you are, but I would have just as happy hiking another trail in Whittier.  We actually got off the ship at 6:00 a.m. and hiked the Portage Pass Trail, arrived back at the ship at 10:30, ate/showered/got ready, and were still able to make it to the 26 Glacier Cruise boarding at noon.

Thanks for the heads up. We're in our early 70s and just finished a Galapagos cruise where we did morning and afternoon "long walks" each day, which allowed us to finally check off our life-long "adventurous hiking" box (see Live From thread below). OTOH taking pictures of wildlife and posting them to a Live From thread is still definitely on the list, as you might also notice in my Live from threads! 😂

 

 

I truly hope I am wrong, and the OP will be able to find a way to book the excursion, as this does sound like an awesome one. As far as the cost goes, we will hopefully have some nonrefundable OBC left over from our second leg of our 22-day B3B to offset the cost.

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Coral]

1 hour ago, EP23 said:

Thank you everyone for the reply.
 

The problem about the check in is that. We are going to take the train. And they arrive at Whittier at 12:20, and the 26 glacier tour depart at 12:30. So it basically impossible for us to check in with princess with so little time left. It is my first ever cruise, and I have no clue what is the latest time I can check in and I absolutely does not want to risk it by not able to be board the princess. 
 

And because husband is wheelchair bound so everything will take a bit longer time…. And only the 26 glacier is wheelchair accessible. The shorter cruise is not. So we are kind of stuck. Unless we skip the 26 glacier cruise completely and will feel like wasting a day just to board the princess… 

Honestly - it is not an issue. The cruises I have been on out of Whittier allow boarding up until 7 or 7:30. The piers are right next to each other.

[EP23]

8 hours ago, SCX22 said:

 

  Most of the tables on the catamaran aren't near windows, so you might find yourself standing up a lot and going outside.  You're pre-assigned a seat at a table.  If you want good pictures, it's best to stand outside because the catamaran's windows are tinted.  But it is a 6 hour cruise, so how much standing do you really want to be doing?

 

Thank you for the inside insight! That make me think twice about the 26 glacier tour now since husband will not able to walk at all. So he would be missing a lot of the scenery. 
 

the only reason I thought this would be a good idea is that we still doing something for Saturday before boarding the cruise to make the most of our trip. 
 

We are indeed landing Sunday night and have about 6 days on land in around anchorage, Denali area..plus the ports the cruise will stop at. So to have that glacier experience I was even thinking about driving to the matanuska glacier for a guided tour. But husband cannot walk so maybe only me and the in law doing it and husband just sit there ? 😵‍💫 or planing a helicopter that land on glacier but again husband cannot even stand up so we will have to lift him up into the helicopter and stay there while other walk on the glacier for that part. 
 

budget is limited and $200+ for a tour that may make us potential missing the princess cruise is iffy …unless princess said 6:40 to check in is not too late for a cruise that depart at 8:30pm.

[PescadoAmarillo]

56 minutes ago, Coral said:

Honestly - it is not an issue. The cruises I have been on out of Whittier allow boarding up until 7 or 7:30. The piers are right next to each other.

We did B2B cruises last year and did the 26 glacier tour on turnaround day (lots of pics and info here:  http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/2023/10/day-9-whittier-alaska.html). There were still guests being checked in for their cruise as we walked through the terminal about 6:30pm (we were held up a few minutes on the tour boat when we docked due to a bear on the shore right there). 
 

We love this tour and have done it twice now. I think it’s much better than the ship’s scenic cruising in College Fiord, though it’s nice to have both perspectives. 
 

I would, however, be concerned by your 12:20pm arrival time on the train. All kind of things could delay that. 

[Coral]

21 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

We did B2B cruises last year and did the 26 glacier tour on turnaround day (lots of pics and info here:  http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/2023/10/day-9-whittier-alaska.html). There were still guests being checked in for their cruise as we walked through the terminal about 6:30pm (we were held up a few minutes on the tour boat when we docked due to a bear on the shore right there). 
 

We love this tour and have done it twice now. I think it’s much better than the ship’s scenic cruising in College Fiord, though it’s nice to have both perspectives. 
 

I would, however, be concerned by your 12:20pm arrival time on the train. All kind of things could delay that. 

I agree that the small boat tour is significantly better than the ship's cruise through College Fiord.

 

I would not worry about the train arrival and timing. 26 glacier tour sells train/glacier cruise combination tickets. Many people reach this tour via train. It is timed for the train ride.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, EP23 said:

Thank you for the inside insight! That make me think twice about the 26 glacier tour now since husband will not able to walk at all. So he would be missing a lot of the scenery. 
 

the only reason I thought this would be a good idea is that we still doing something for Saturday before boarding the cruise to make the most of our trip. 
 

We are indeed landing Sunday night and have about 6 days on land in around anchorage, Denali area..plus the ports the cruise will stop at. So to have that glacier experience I was even thinking about driving to the matanuska glacier for a guided tour. But husband cannot walk so maybe only me and the in law doing it and husband just sit there ? 😵‍💫 or planing a helicopter that land on glacier but again husband cannot even stand up so we will have to lift him up into the helicopter and stay there while other walk on the glacier for that part. 
 

budget is limited and $200+ for a tour that may make us potential missing the princess cruise is iffy …unless princess said 6:40 to check in is not too late for a cruise that depart at 8:30pm.

If I might ask, how would you even be able to book this excursion if you were embarking on the cruise the same day?

[Coral]

2 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, how would you even be able to book this excursion if you were embarking on the cruise the same day?

This can be booked privately. Obviously they can not book it through the cruise line if they are embarking that day (not on a B2B).

[Ken the cruiser]

14 minutes ago, Coral said:

This can be booked privately. Obviously they can not book it through the cruise line if they are embarking that day (not on a B2B).

That makes sense. I was just making sure we weren’t missing anything since the excursion is not being offered for precruise booking on our upcoming May B3B cruise on the Grand.

[Wishing on a star]

1.   There should be NO problem enjoying this glacier cruise before boarding for departure!

2.  Yes, you can get there early, board the ship...  then go over and board the Glacier Cruise.

The Princess transfers and other busses might NOT get you to Whittier early enough.  We took the railway, which leaves in the morning, and a it worked out perfectly.   The rail train is basically there FOR these Princess cruisers...  They accept all your luggage, with the Princess tags...  no problem.

3.  We were boarding Southbound, not doing the Northbound itinerary, which does see some of this area, as mentioned.   However, it is a whole different experience on this smaller boat...  up close and personal..  You do get to see more.  If this is like it was a few years ago when we did this, I recommend!

 

The Princess ship does this every week...  this is seamless and they are set up this way.   

The dining on this embarkation is 'Open Dining'...   (Which most people are doing Dine My Way anyhow). And any attire, within reason, is accepted.    When they see latecomers walking onboard, and the dining rooms are opening..  they will smile and welcome you to go right to dinner, if you wish.

Edited December 31, 2023 by Wishing on a star

[SCX22]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, how would you even be able to book this excursion if you were embarking on the cruise the same day?

 

https://phillipscruises.com/26-glacier-cruise/

 

Philips cruises is the only tour operator that operates the 26 Glacier Cruise out of Whittier.  According to my friend's brother that worked for Philips Cruises, there is usually only one catamaran per day operating this tour (company only has 3 catamarans, and another catamaran is doing the shorter Glacier Discovery Cruise).  People that booked with Princess are usually on the same catamaran as those who booked directly with Philips.  

Edited December 31, 2023 by SCX22

[SCX22]

@EP23

 

Again I have no idea what time the check in window is for passengers in Whittier.  Maybe check your Itinerary in your Cruise Personalizer if it's listed there.  I attached the Event Listings from my transit day in Whittier this summer and it states all aboard times is 7:30 p.m. for in transit guests only.  It could have been all the newly embarking passengers arrived before 6:30 p.m. and check-in finished early for the sailing I was on.

[Ken the cruiser]

10 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

https://phillipscruises.com/26-glacier-cruise/

 

Philips cruises is the only tour operator that operates the 26 Glacier Cruise out of Whittier.  According to my friend's brother that worked for Philips Cruises, there is usually only one catamaran per day operating this tour (company only has 3 catamarans, and another catamaran is doing the shorter Glacier Discovery Cruise).  People that booked with Princess are usually on the same catamaran as those who booked directly with Philips.  

Thanks! Now comes the decision. Book the “private” tour for $214 pp on transition day or hope Princess offers it for $240 pp? 🤔

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

3 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

@EP23

 

Again I have no idea what time the check in window is for passengers in Whittier.  Maybe check your Itinerary in your Cruise Personalizer if it's listed there.  I attached the Event Listings from my transit day in Whittier this summer and it states all aboard times is 7:30 p.m. for in transit guests only.  It could have been all the newly embarking passengers arrived before 6:30 p.m. and check-in finished early for the sailing I was on.

I just checked our transition day departure time from Whittier and it’s 8:30 pm which equates to your 7:30 pm all aboard time.

 

[wallyj]

@Ken the cruiser, Princess used to have a price match and the 26 Glacier tour was one I remember past passengers would use. No more price match.

 

I would book direct to save some $.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, wallyj said:

@Ken the cruiser, Princess used to have a price match and the 26 Glacier tour was one I remember past passengers would use. No more price match.

 

I would book direct to save some $.

Thanks. I just checked and we’ll have about $240 extra in OBC, so that now tilts the needle towards booking onboard. However, we now have a Plan B just in case Princess does not offer it as a transition day excursion.

[PescadoAmarillo]

We booked through Princess only because it was very slightly less expensive with our Elite discount. But you don’t meet up as a group, just walk off the ship and next door to the excursion boat on your own. 

[Ken the cruiser]

6 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

We booked through Princess only because it was very slightly less expensive with our Elite discount. But you don’t meet up as a group, just walk off the ship and next door to the excursion boat on your own. 

Thanks! I forgot about the 10% discount as we just made Elite! 🕺