Coral Cruise on May 12,08 - Family Trip

[Blessed One]

This is our first cruise and we are going to Alaska . Can anyone gives us some advices for the following questions so far. Really appreciate!

 

1) How to get to the airport from the port of Whittier? We have members of 7. Is there any public transportation from the port?

 

2) We are planning to take one excursion tour on either port of Juneau or Skagway. Any good suggestions?

 

Thanks for all your help in advance.

[mjmalino]

Hi, welcome to cruise critic. You will love Alaska! We were there last summer and my family loved it. I am going to answer your questions according to our experiences, however, you may also want to post your question on the Alaska boards, especially with regards to the excursions.

 

To answer your questions:

 

1) When we disembarked in Whittier, we had the Princess transfers to Anchorage (they were available right to the airport as well, but we decided to spend the night in Anchorage before returning home). It cost us $55/pp for the approximately 1 hour ride.

 

2)As for excursions, we did one in both Juneau and Skagway, and since this was our first cruise as well, we did the ship sponsored ones. In Juneau, we did whale watching. It was good, however, my 9yo got a bit bored waiting for the whales to resurface (they can be down for as much as 15 minutes).Skagway was our splurge, we did a helicopter/glacier trek. It was awesome! After a breathtaking helicopter ride around the area they set us down on a glacier to walk around for about 30 minutes. The kids loved this!!

 

Good luck!

[LARGIN]

Welcome to the Cruise Critic.. Join our May 12th Roll Call on your cruise.. Go here for great information and the best answers to all of your questions..

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=558765

[mii]

As Largin stated above come join our roll call. I am also on that cruise. Also to get answers to a lot of our questions about Alaska go over the Ports of Call board and scroll down to Alaska. there is a wealth of info there and the exact same questions you have are right there on the alaska board.

 

Marilyn

[Blessed One]

Thanks for all your information, I will denfinitely join the roll call tonight after work.

I love this site, people are willing to help, thanks.

[Colo Cruiser]

Try these guys they are great....

 

http://www.themagicbus.com/

[8 Bells]

As others have said, visit the Alaska forum for information on transportation and tours.

 

We are on the Coral later in May, and are taking the Alaskan Leopard to Anchorage after disembarking in Whittier: http://www.alaskanleopard.com/Tours/index.htm

 

For excursions, most folks on the Alaska boards recommend do-it-yourself. We are doing a whale watch cruise in Juneau with Harv & Marv: http://www.harvandmarvs.com/alaskawhalewatching.html

 

In Skagway, we are renting a car from Avis and driving to Emeral Lake using Murray's Guide. If you do a search on the Alaska boards, you will find lots of information about this.

 

Have a great trip! :)

[Go-Bucks!]

We went to Alaska in Sept. 2007 for the first time and probably over-did the excursions, but we saw and did so many cool things! You'll love Alaska.

 

In Juneau: We went panning for gold which we really enjoyed. Got many little flecks and had fun. But children might get bored. Then we went to the Salmon Bake for dinner. Very good food, but again, not much fun for kids.

 

In Skagway: These were the most fun on the whole trip and I HIGHLY recommend both. First, we took the White Pass Railroad trip just up to the turnaround and came back. I think it was about 3 hrs. total. You'll love it! Awesome scenery and the tracks are right on the edge of the mountain. You can go out and stand at the back of the cars for a great outdoors view. It's narrated so you learn alot too.

 

Then, in the afternoon, we did my very favorite excursion - we went dogsledding!! Not on a glacier (we won't go in small planes or helicopters), but on the ground at the musher's camp. It was an authentic camp where they train the Alaskan husky dogs during the summer to keep them in shape for the winter races. The carts have wheels, but it was thrilling to be pulled up and down the trails by 16 howling dogs! Then the actual mushers teach you all about how they race, show you what they wear and the supplies they take, then let you pet the dogs and play with the new puppies!!! You get refreshments too. And the trip to and from the camp was gorgeous - the van stopped several times so we could get out and get pictures or see wildlife. You won't regret this excursion and the children will be in heaven!! ;)

[laurachr]

so, where did you do the dog ride? i thought it is up near Carcross. if so, did you go back up that way after doing the train?

[LoriPhil]

We took the Princess transfer from Whittier to Anchorage last July and it couldn't have been simpler. We just walked off the ship down the covered walkway onto the bus and zoomed to town (no worrying about luggage, they handle everything for you). You debark at a centralized location in Anchorage and you can check your luggage for the day and explore town if you have a later flight. When it's time to leave, go back and get your luggage and board one of the Princess busses that stop at the Center every 15 - 30 minutes, which will take you to the airport (included in the transfer price).

 

As far as excursions, DH took the Princess-sponsored Helicopter/Glacier trip in Skagway and just loved it. For Juneau, after researching the Alaska boards we booked independently with Captain Larry at Orca (Enterprises? Adventures?) and had an amazing few hours.

 

Congratulations on your cruise - Alaska is magnificent and I'm sure you'll have terrific fun, particularly with a large group!

[Blessed One]

We took the Princess transfer from Whittier to Anchorage last July and it couldn't have been simpler. We just walked off the ship down the covered walkway onto the bus and zoomed to town (no worrying about luggage, they handle everything for you). You debark at a centralized location in Anchorage and you can check your luggage for the day and explore town if you have a later flight. When it's time to leave, go back and get your luggage and board one of the Princess busses that stop at the Center every 15 - 30 minutes, which will take you to the airport (included in the transfer price).

 

As far as excursions, DH took the Princess-sponsored Helicopter/Glacier trip in Skagway and just loved it. For Juneau, after researching the Alaska boards we booked independently with Captain Larry at Orca (Enterprises? Adventures?) and had an amazing few hours.

 

Congratulations on your cruise - Alaska is magnificent and I'm sure you'll have terrific fun, particularly with a large group!

 

Thanks, it sounds the arrangement by princess is fine. Our flight is 2:30pm, do you think we will have enough time to walk around in the town? What time can we get off the ship on the last day? Can we ask for the eariler shuttle to leave and have time to spend in the town? sorry so many questions.

[LoriPhil]

Good questions! We debarked around 8-ish and I think we were in Anchorage by 9:30 or so (there was a wait for us to get through the tunnel, which alternates with one-way traffic, so it's possible to get there earlier), so you'll certainly have time to wander. We enjoyed the museum which is just a few blocks walk, and there are some great restaurants if you want to grab an early lunch before heading out to the airport. If you watched the most recent Amazing Race (a guilty pleasure for me I'm afraid) you will see the decorative Salmon sculptures featured on the final episode sprinkled around town. There were also a series of fun critter/people bronze sculptures about 1 block further down the street from where the bus drops you off (don't know if these were a permanent installation or just temporary).

[Blessed One]

Thanks for the information, it sounds wonderful.

[jrw]

Noticed in your sig that we (my mom & I -- hubby won't fly) will be on the same Alaska cruise in Sept. I have not seen a Roll Call. Should we start one?

 

-- Renée

[Go-Bucks!]

so, where did you do the dog ride? i thought it is up near Carcross. if so, did you go back up that way after doing the train?

 

 

The musher's camp was about a 20-30 min. van ride up into the mountains outside of Skagway. Not sure if there was a city nearby, but this place was way out in the boonies! We went by very beautiful scenery and a lake, but I didn't ask what city might be near. It was a Princess-sponsored excursion.

 

We took the train at 8:30am and got back to Skagway at about 11:30am. We then ate lunch at the Red Onion Saloon (quite crowded, but very good food and atmosphere) and left about 1 or 2pm on the dogsled excursion. Got back to the ship at about 5 or 6pm. Not sure of the exact times. It was a FULL day, but we had a ball. I took my camcorder and recorded the train ride and the dogsled ride and the dogs/puppies. It's a great memory!!