2 week Trip Report (Cruise Portion)

[Trailblazer]

First of all I would like to sincerely thank everyone who contributes and monitors this message board. The info I obtained from it, especially Budget Queen, Yukon, and Gardyloo posts were invaluable to the planning of our trip. We were 4 couples from western NY, all in our mid-50's, fairly active, who had a limited budget for excursions. The weather was perfect everyday, not a drop of rain,temps around 70 and this certainly added to our trip. We couldn't believe our good fortune!!!!! We started in Seattle7/31,went Northbound on the Dawn Princess8/2--8/9, then traveled independently to Denali,finally flying home from Anchorage on 8/13.

Arrived Seattle mid-day, stayed at Roosevelt Hotel (downtown.) We were very pleased with location,cleanliness and the extremely helpful front end staff.Walked to Pike Market, ate lunch at Ivars, more shopping and then caught the SeaFair parade in the evening.On Sunday 8/1 we took the Victoria Clipper to Victoria where we had reserved the city tour and Bushart Gardens. Heavy fog obscure any sightseeing on the way to Victoria, but after that burnt off we had an incredible day. The Gardens are beyond description.Many in our group felt it was the #1 thing we did on the entire trip. After 2 hours at Bushart we returned to Victoria where we walked through the Empress Hotel, strolled around the waterfront and finally boarded the Clipper around 5 pm. Back in Seattle around 7:30, had dinner downstairs at Anthony's and then walked up the steep hill to the Roosevelt.

Monday 8/2 we caught the 11:30 Princess bus to Vancouver. That , along with embarkation was well organized and we breezed right through, found our cabins and then made our way to the upper deck to watch our ship get underway. Everything about the cruise was fantastic. We have only compliments for Princess. They really have the Alaska cruise down. Sailing the Inside Passage the entire day was a little rough but bearable. First port, Ketchikan, the guys did a half day charter with Capt. Ken of Northern Lights Fishing. Ken was a great guy, efficient, informative and really knew his stuff. Fishing time of 4 hours produced 14 pink salmon--we were thrilled but Ken considered that a mediocre day. The ladies shopped til they dropped and thank goodness we were only in port until 2:30. Enjoyed the scenery from upper deck all throughout the cruise. We all had inside cabins, don't feel we missed anything, because we were on deck except to eat and sleep. Next day in Juneau, we took the MGT blue buses oput to the Mendenhall Glacier. Again, weather was warm and sunny which made our hike out to Nugget Falls very enjoyable. This hike requires a short stretch on steep bare rock, so it is not for everyone, but if you can it is a rewarding short hike. We were very glad to be on our own time and not on a tour because we spent a fair amount of time hiking and watching the salmon in the stream near one of the parking lots. The MGT driver was a real comedian and it made the trip that much more enjoyable. Back in Juneau, the ladies had to shop some more and somehow we all ended up in the Red Dog Saloon--Fantastic, Incredible, Holy****,----- what hell is the Red Dog Saloon?? If you've been there you might recognize the lyrics from a rowdy song we all got into--it was a blast and adults shouldn't miss it. Left Juneau at 8pm, sailed all night and arrived in Skagwayby 6am the next morning.We had reservations with Frontier Excursions for the Yukon Discovery Tour. It was incredible!!!! For me it was the highlight of the cruise week. Our driver, guide--Harris-- was a very personable young man , who added alot to our appreciation of the area. This was a 7hour narrated van excursion as far as Emerald Lake. It included a great Chicken bbq near Carcross where there was an extra-ordinary wildlife museum. This was worth the trip alone!! We were very glad we did the van excursion because it stopped at all of the scenic lookouts, was narrated by someone who knew, and loved the area and it was thoroughly comfortable for everyone. We would definetly recommend this to anyone stopping in Skagway. After our return to Skagway, the ladies shopped and the men found their way to Red Onion Saloon-(yes there is a patter being established)On our walk back to the ship we watched salmon in a small stream and I even caught one with a borrowed rod from a nice crew member who was fishing there during his time off. I really appreciated his generocity and it put a real cap on another perfect day.Sailed at 7pm and awoke in Glacier Bay the next morning. Coming from the western NY, where we have pretty harsh winters I was not really excited about seeing more ice and snow. But witnessing the incredible beauty of the bay and the vastness of the glaciers is truly spectacular. Again words can not describe the enormity of the scenery. As an indication of our good fortune with the weather--a deck hand was putting out more lounges as we sailed out of Glacier Bay. He said he had been sailing this cruise for 3 years and it was the first time he could remember having to put out more chairs for people to catch a few rays of summer warmth.The next day in College Fjord was equally as beautiful and we were very glad to have the itinerary that we did. Awoke in Whittier the next morning and began disembarkation around 6:30. Since we were traveling independently from this point on, our group was scheduled to disembark starting around 9am. This allowed us to have a nice relaxing morning with breakfast and plenty of time to ease into the day.

I realize how long this is getting and I'm starting to wear down, so I will finish our independent land travel tomorrow.

[Coral]

Thanks for the review!

 

Isn't the Yukon area beautiful! That trip ride has been a highlight of my trip also (I did mine through Princess). I thought I checked with Frontier and didn't think they went to Emerald Lake.

 

Glad you had excellent weather!

[mscloyd]

Coral,

 

We were on the Coral 8/14 and would concur that Princess really knows what they are doing. Had the exact same itinerary and beautiful weather. Also went to Butchert Gardens but took the floatplane from Vancouver. It was nice but definitely NOT the highlight for us. We also had high tea at the Fairmount Empress. I knew that it was costly but was quite surprised when the bill for two came to $144 CAN with tip (included a glass of champaign for each of us). Was a nice experience, though. We also went to the Red Onion and the Red Dog. We took the White Pass train in the a.m. in Skagway and it was OK but long. In the p.m. we rented a car and drove to Carcross and it was spectacular! Enjoyed it much more than the train. Glad you had a good trip. I'm only home 24-hours and missing Alaska already.

[Coral]

Mscloyd,

 

First time to Alaska, I did the White Pass ride and it was rainy and foggy. I didn't like it at all. Next time - I took the bus to Yukon (I am sort of afraid to drive on my own - don't want the car to break and miss the ship) and loved that trip.

 

This year I did a B2B to Alaska - first week I did the Yukon trip and the 2nd week I did the train ride. I was surprised that I liked the train ride this time but did prefer the drive to the Yukon.

 

Glad you had a great cruise on the Coral!