Just back from 14 day land/cruise Princess long review

[emste]

My family and I just got back from 14 day Alaskan land/cruise. It was myself, my husband, 3 kids (15 yrs, 6 yrs, 4 yrs) and my in-laws. We did Fairbanks, 2 nights, Denali, 2 night, McKinley, 1 night and Anchorage, 1 night. Took a 7 day southbound cruise on the Sapphire Princess. We flew into Seattle Sat. July 12 and stayed over night. Sunday morning we flew from Seattle to Fairbanks. A passanger had a heart attack during the flight and we had to make an emergency landing in Juneau. He was very lucky, as we had an EMT who happened to be on the flight and was a huge help. We didnt' end up getting into Fairbanks until about 5 pm. We rented a car at the airport and drove the the Princess lodge.

 

Fairbanks: Monday we drove to Chena Hot Springs. It was a long ride. My children were very excited about swimming in the pool there. The pool was a dissappointment (not to the kids) but once I tried the rock pond outside it was determined that it was worth every penny we paid! My husband and I took turns, one would go out to the rock pond (it is adults only) and the other would stay with the kids. We also toured the ice museum after that. Very interesting. After leaving the hot springs we drove to the North Pole to Santa Clause House. It is a cute town espically for the kids. Only disappintment was that we didn't find out until we got there that Santa takes Sunday's & Monday's off. The kids were really looking forward to seeing him. They enjoyed it anyways. On Tuesday we woke up and took the bus to the train station. It was a beautiful day and we could actually see Mt. McKinley! The train ride was nice.

 

Denali: We got into Denali Princess lodge in the early afternoon. I really liked this property. The next morning we took the shuttle over to the visitors center and to the dog sled demonstration. It was ok. We had spoken to a family that had done the Husky Homestead tour at Jeff King's house (4 time Ididarod winner) and they said it was really good. After the demonstration we went back to the hotel and deciced to book the Husky Homestead tour. We shuttled back to the visitors center so the kids could become junior rangers. My in-laws went on the Tundra Wilderness tour. They really enjoyed it but it was very long, which is why we didn't go. I didn't think the kids would last that long on the bus. We went on the Husy Homestead tour after dinner. If you are a dog lover, this is a do not miss. We all really enjoyed it. The kids loved the puppies! The next morning it was time to pack up again. We got on the train to go to the McKinley lodge.

 

McKinley: It was about a 4 1/2 hour train ride to Talkeetna then another hour by bus to the lodge. It rained, and rained and rained. We were 40 miles from the mountain and could not even see the base of it! There really is not much to do here. We got into the hotel about 7 pm Thursday and left Friday at noon. So it was a short stay. And rained the whole time we were there!

 

Anchorage: We took the bus to Anchorage and it was a LONG ride. We were on the bus about 4 hours. The bus takes you to the Native Heritage Village, but many of us on the bus just wanted to go the the hotel. We got there at 3:45 and were told by the bus driver that we had to stay until closing, at 5:30. There were alot of upset people. I think this should be offered to those who want to go, not mandatory. It was ok, but like I said, after many long hours on the bus we were ready to just get to the hotel. We stayed at the Hilton, which was nice. If you stay there be sure to check out the bears in the lobby. They are around the corner, but my kids thought they were coolest thing.

 

Whittier: Last train ride! We left Saturday morning to take the train to Whittier. It was a great ride. Beautiful scenery. We got into Whittier around noon and checked in. The wait was not a bad one. We were on the boat by 1. We dropped our bags, at lunch, explored the ship a bit, then walked into "town". There are only a few small shops. And of course, the homemade fudge shop was closed! I really enjoyed Whittier. We sailed out at 9:30 pm.

 

College Fjord: This was probably my fault, but I was not aware that we sailed into College Fjord at 6:30am and sailed out by 9:00 am. I though I could sleep in a bit and woke up at 8:30, ran to the balcony and saw nothing. I turned on the tv and realized that we missed our first sight! Our first sea day was nice. It was nice to relax for the day after all the travel. We saw several whales in the distance and I even saw one breach. It was awesome!

 

Glacier Bay: Galcier Bay was beautiful! I didn't think I would be so impressed by the glaciers. We only saw a few small piece fall off. It was all very impressive. We were even able to go near John Hopkins glacier, which they said they do not do all the time. All in all a nice day.

 

Skagway: We rented a car from Avis to drive to Emerald Lake. We got off the boat as soon as we could and walked into town. We were there about 7:20 and Avis does not open until 8. Most everything was closed, but we managed to find an open Starbucks (yipee) and had breakfast while we waited. My husband, I and the two younger kids rented the car, while my in-laws and the older one went on the train with Chilkoot Charters. It was a very cloudy day. We started the drive and at one point could barely see a foot in front of us. It cleared as we made our way up the mountain. What gorgeous scenery. We stopped frequently to take pictures. Of course, we had Murray's Guide with us. We got to Caribou Crossing about a half hour before the buses were scheduled to come in. We ate quickly then looked around before it got too crowded. A cute place to stop. We also stopped at the cinnamon bun place (Cinnamon Cache?) Emerald Lake is as beautiful as in the pictures. We some some new things on the way back since the fog had cleared. It was COLD. I think the temp. was about 43 degrees. We didn't see much wildlife, but my in-laws who were about a half hour behind us, saw a mother bear and her two cubs on the side of the road. When we got back, it was more shopping in town!

 

Juneau: We booked a whale watch with Orca Enterprises. We saw a ton of eagles on the drive to the boat. It was a cold overcast day. We did see 4 humpbacks, including a mother and 8 month old baby. They also came very close to the boat. Capt. Larry was great. We went back into town and went up on the tram. Great views. A bit scary for people who are afraid of heights (like myself), but I am glad I went up. Then more shopping!

 

Ketchikan: We booked a salmon fishing trip for my husband, older son and myself. My in-laws took the younger kids on the horse trolly and to the lumberjack show. I wish we had more time in port as we were torn between fishing and the crab boat tour. We walked into town, got off the boat as soon as we could. I didn't realized that the walk to town was as long as it was. We had to head back to meet up with the fishing charter before we could make it to Creek Street. I was a bit disappointed. The fishing was good. We saw a ton of eagles. It is nice to see them in the wild.

 

We got off the boat Saturday morning at 10:00 am. We rented a car to drive down to Seattle for our return flight home. We sat waiting to cross the border for close to two hours! We stopped in Seattle and went up in the Space Needle. I really enjoyed Seattle for the little amount of time we spent there.

 

All in all the vacation was great. Everything I expected and more. This was our first time on Princess and I don't think we would sail with them again. We have cruised before with Norwegian and Royal Caribbean and enjoyed them. There was not one specific incident but we were not impressed with Princess. The ship itself was nice. The service was not that good. Our room steward, Rolando, was good. I noticed the staff was not as friendly as on the other crusies we have been on. There was also always something closed. They never had all the hot tubs open at the same time. The buffet was extremely unorganized. There is no rhyme or reason. The food was ok. Not good, not bad. It wasn't too bad, as I did my share of eating! Then on the last day at sea the closed the indoor pool to paint it! I would think they could have done it during the port days? The younger kids went to the kids club and loved it. Our last night we had dinner in the dining room and were there for an hour and a half. The service was flat out bad that night. The other times we ate in the dining room were ok. That said, everyone had their own opinion and that is just mine. Sorry for the long review, but I tried to cover everything. I looked to these boards while planning my trips and it was a great help to hear about other people's expierences, likes and dislikes. We got home and my husband said last night, lets go back next week! We will definetly find our way back to Alaska!

[captjaneway]

Thanks for the trip report emste. Who did you fish with in Ketchican? We are looking at a 1/2 day with Capt. Jerry but I am hopping to see a bit of the town too.

[emste]

Catjaneway - I will look when I get home at the name of the man we went with. He was great. I hooked, and lost 8, yes 8 fish, and he stayed out as long as possible trying to let me catch just one. I didn't but he did his best. Good thing my husband and son caught some to make up!

 

Also, a note for everyone, keep your eyes peeled going through the Johnstone Strait. We ended up seeing about 5 orca's. It was announced that that was the first time this year they have seen orca's there. It was one of the MANY highlights of our trip. We also saw a few humpbacks and many dall's porpoise!

[Bubs]

Thanks for the review. I'm going on the Diamond Princess next June, northbound though.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write about your wonderful land/cruise in Alaska.

[ellbon]

I did jef king's homestead tour. it was great. I am holding one of his puppies. She is two now. He is a doll and his daughters are nice too.

 

Also i did the crab feast that is also a crab boat before the feast. I flew in but you can bus in and do the boat.

[SFAM]

Thanks so much for the review, emste. Regarding the Tundra Wildlife tour, we too are worried that perhaps its too long for our youngest kid who is 10. Did your in-laws mention if they saw a lot of wildlife on it or not, and if there were kids, how they handled it?

[emste]

I tired to call to book fishing with Ken at Northern Lights, but he was booked. He referred me to Ketchikan Charter Boats, who booked us with Miss Tai Charters. He was great, a nice guy.

 

Yes, there were kids on the Tundra Wilderness Tour my mother-in-law said. She also said that the kids that were on the tour really enjoyed it. But she also said it was a long time to be on the bus and she napped. They did see quite a bit of wildlife, alot of bears! Enjoy!

[Happyladi]

I did a Princess land and cruise tour last August and we had a southbound sailing. We started in Anchorage and headed north, though, we never got to Fairbanks. We got very lucky the day we were at the Mt McKinley Princess, the mountain was out all day and the weather was sunny and in the low 70's. A rainy day there wouldn't be fun at all.

 

I did know about the College Fjord and we ordered room service and got up very early the first day. We just viewed from our balcony. It was nice, but nothing like Glacier Bay. You didn't miss that much.

 

We did the Tundra Tour with our 16 year old son and 21 year old daughter. It was long, maybe too long for very small kids. The person who asked that had a 10 year old child, I think it just depends on your child. My kids loved it. We saw lots of wildlife and we got out of the bus often to walk around a little and stretch our legs. There are bathroom stops. Good binoculars are needed. I would recommend the tour very much.

 

Sit on the left side of the bus if you can (better views going in) and bring a small washcloth to wipe the windows off if needed, they get condensation on them. We brought extra food from the Subway and extra water and were glad we did.

 

I have never been on another cruise so I can't compare it. Everyone seemed friendly to me and the food was usually very good. The buffet was poorly planned and several times we walked around looking for a table. I loved the shows and the mini suite my husband and I had was wonderful. My kids had an inside room down the hall and it was nice, too, but the shower was very small. I really really liked having a balcony.

 

We also rented a car in Skagway and at first it was just like you talked about. It was cold and very foggy but it cleared up as we went along. Bring your warm coats! We also brought water and snacks with us.

 

Thanks for your review!