6 Things you must do when cruising to Alaska...

[ShibaInuMom]

6 Things you must do when cruising to Alaska:

 

1)Make friends on your Cruise Critic Roll Call. Your trip will be more rewarding having friends onboard to share meals, trivia games and possibly share excursions with.

2) Eat local. Get off the boat and eat in the ports/towns you visit. Here are some examples:

-Icy Strait Point: The Office – Fresh Dungeness Crabs

-Juneau: Tracy’s King Crab Shack (between the Library and Tram entrance) – Crab Bisque and Crab Legs

-Kodiak: Chowder House – King Crab Legs.

3)Don’t be afraid to plan excursions on your own. Please remember to plan enough time to get back on the ship! Here are some examples:

-Skagway: Dyea Dave – either round-trip or before or after the train. He is friendly, humorous and we saw 3 bears.

-Kodiak: Rental Car – drive up to Fort Abercrombie (you won’t have to walk as far as you do on the ship tour and you have more time). There are look outs on the side of the road. Also drive south of the dock for even more scenery. Besides, the Chowder House is a little far to walk.

-Icy Strait Point: Glacier Wind or FISHES (whale watching boats). These tours are on smaller boats then the ones sponsored by the cruise ship and allow more time to watch for whales. Glacier Winds was a 4-hour tour with 6 people onboard. The ship sponsored tour was 2 ½ hours with over 120 people on board. Note - you don’t have to look very hard, there were whales everywhere we looked.

4)Learn how to use the burst mode on your camera. You will need to take rapid pictures when photographing whales, otters, sea lions, porpoises, and maybe bears!

5) Dress comfortably. You never know what the weather will be in Alaska. Dress in layers. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes since you will be on your feet either walking or standing in a boat – you don’t want to sit around and miss the perfect photo shot!

6)There are some good excursions that are ship sponsored. Here are a few:

-Columbia Glacier Tour (Valdez): up close and great photo opportunities.

-Kenai Fjords National Park tour (Seward): up close, great photo opportunities however – very bumpy ride – many had sea sickness onboard.

-Photo Safari by Land and Sea (Juneau): A great tour with a photo expert. Tips for taking pictures, possibly good enough for publishing. Land tour included Mendenhall Glacier (hike on trails) and sea tour included a lighthouse, whales and other sea creatures (up close and personal).

 

This list was developed after our 14 day Alaska Connoisseur Cruise on the Pacific Princess, June 11 sail date. Note: the items on the list are my personal preferences. It was difficult to decide on the order – in fact – all items are very important. Remember – research your ports, excursion options, and opinions of other cruisers. Have a great cruise! If you have additions to this list - please share.

[pamwinn]

Great list! I second all your recommendations.

[vbmom87]

I agree with everything except the eat locally. Although, we did that on our independent land tour, we did not feel it was in our budget to eat at port restaurants when we had already paid to eat on the cruise ship. If money were no object, then yes, it would be a nice treat. However, for the more budget conscious you can still have a wonderful trip to Alaska without eating at the ports.

[lovebug33]

I agree with you, vbmom, but there was an awesome Mexican restaurant in Juneau that wasn't terribly expensive and after 5 days with no Mexican food I was having serious withdrawals!

[vbmom87]

I agree with you, vbmom, but there was an awesome Mexican restaurant in Juneau that wasn't terribly expensive and after 5 days with no Mexican food I was having serious withdrawals!

 

lol!!!! Juneau was the one place where I stopped at the Paradise Cafe to get a vegetarian sandwich before boarding our Adventure Bound Boat Tour. They had no vegetarian options on the tour, so I was 'forced' to find something in port. Worked out fine. That was our only port food purchase.

[springfire]

Nice list! Those are great ideas!

 

I will not be going to Alaska for Mexican food, I can tell you that.

[mountainhouse]

Good points, ShibaInuMom! Was certainly great meeting everyone on the role call! We also got to know a number of folks that just lurk. :cool: So many more than those that post benefit from these forums.

 

lovebug33 - There was Mexican food on our buffet. Only I had to explain to them that their "burrito" was actually a chimichanga. :D

[dandro]

I would like to comment on #1. While it was very nice to meet everyone from our roll call, we never met up with anyone after the meet & greet.

 

I would like to add another recommendation:

Shop local. Go to locally owned shops and make sure the items are all made in Alaska.

[mountainhouse]

I would like to comment on #1. While it was very nice to meet everyone from our roll call, we never met up with anyone after the meet & greet.

 

Each group is different. Sometimes folks just don't click. But also, sometimes you just have to reach out a little. In February, someone suggested cocktails between dinners each evening to catch up. Most of us did it pretty regularly. It was nice!

[born2cruize]

I recognize a few names from our just completed cruise. I haven't forgotten any of you. I've just finished editing over 1100 photos and pared them down to under 400. They are online but not viewable to the general public until I complete my blog.

 

Talking about the Whale Watching via the ship. While the ship does hold 120-150 our morning cruise only had about 65. Of course Pacific Princess is not a 3000 passenger ship.

 

I've done 3 whale watching cruises, two in Juneau with Captain Larry and this one in Icy Strait Point. By far this tour was the most disappointing cruise I've been on. Don't get me wrong, we saw tons of whale on this tour. The problem was that they were mostly off in the distance. We were told that they could not allow anyone on deck while the boat was going at any decent speeds. Only when he slowed down were people allowed on deck. But at that speed the whales were passing us by and he never made an attempt to go to were the whales were.

 

Captain Larry also doesn't allow passengers on the upper platform when he is traveling fast but you can be on the back deck at any speed.

 

The "naturalist" on the ship sponsored told was absolutely no help, almost every one of her "announcements" was after the whale was showing tail.

 

8 of my 1100 photos were taken on this tour.

 

I can't stress enough, if you what a good bang for your buck stay away from the ship sponsored whale watching tour in Icy Strait Point. I didn't see Alan's pictures from Icy Strait Point but I did see some of Frank's and he has some great memory pictures.

[bqkali]

6 Things you must do when cruising to Alaska:

4)Learn how to use the burst mode on your camera. You will need to take rapid pictures when photographing whales, otters, sea lions, porpoises, and maybe bears!

 

What a fantastic suggestion that I never would've thought of ahead of time! I will definitely figure that out at home BEFORE I get on the cruise :D Thanks!

[ellbon]

I had one RC that we planned some tours together but in general i never see people after sail away.

 

I love to eat local food. i much rather have fresh salmon or shell fish than what is on the ship. read the posts on all that wonderful food.

[RoofingPrincess]

In Icy Strait Point, F.I.S.H.E.S. does a great whale-watching excursion. Friendly, knowledgable operator, and his boat can take a max of 6 people.

And yes, that "burst" option on the camera comes in handy! For the whale-watching pix, and on glacier day to capture the memory of a glacier calving.

[StarTrkGeek]

I recognize a few names from our just completed cruise. I haven't forgotten any of you. I've just finished editing over 1100 photos and pared them down to under 400. They are online but not viewable to the general public until I complete my blog.

 

Talking about the Whale Watching via the ship. While the ship does hold 120-150 our morning cruise only had about 65. Of course Pacific Princess is not a 3000 passenger ship.

 

I've done 3 whale watching cruises, two in Juneau with Captain Larry and this one in Icy Strait Point. By far this tour was the most disappointing cruise I've been on. Don't get me wrong, we saw tons of whale on this tour. The problem was that they were mostly off in the distance. We were told that they could not allow anyone on deck while the boat was going at any decent speeds. Only when he slowed down were people allowed on deck. But at that speed the whales were passing us by and he never made an attempt to go to were the whales were.

 

Captain Larry also doesn't allow passengers on the upper platform when he is traveling fast but you can be on the back deck at any speed.

 

The "naturalist" on the ship sponsored told was absolutely no help, almost every one of her "announcements" was after the whale was showing tail.

 

8 of my 1100 photos were taken on this tour.

 

I can't stress enough, if you what a good bang for your buck stay away from the ship sponsored whale watching tour in Icy Strait Point. I didn't see Alan's pictures from Icy Strait Point but I did see some of Frank's and he has some great memory pictures.

Hi Stewart,

I have not even started going through my pictures yet. I guess I need to make time for that, huh? It was great to meet you and Kathy, as well as the other Cruise Critic folks from the Roll Call.

Alan

[StarTrkGeek]

I agree with everything except the eat locally. Although, we did that on our independent land tour, we did not feel it was in our budget to eat at port restaurants when we had already paid to eat on the cruise ship. If money were no object, then yes, it would be a nice treat. However, for the more budget conscious you can still have a wonderful trip to Alaska without eating at the ports.

I agree totally with watching your budget -- which is why we ate only 2 meals in ports (outstanding King Crab Legs at the Chowder House and just as good Dungeness Crab at The Office). The "King Crab" on Alaskan night on the ship tasted like the stuff you get at the buffets in Las Vegas; that is, it tasted like frozen Snow Crab, not King Crab.

[countrygal52]

When you are in port and running around looking at stuff or going on excursions, WHY would you stop what you were doing and race back to the ship for lunch?? :eek: We were sometimes gone from 8am until 4-5 pm.....

You don't necessasarily need to eat expensive lunches - in Juneau we found a local street vendor that was selling corn dogs - we each had one and a soda for lunch. In Skagway, we ate at a brew pub that had great burgers. The most expensive lunch we had was in Hoonah at The Office for the crab, but wouldn't have missed that for the world!

[born2cruize]

I would like to comment on #1. While it was very nice to meet everyone from our roll call, we never met up with anyone after the meet & greet.

 

I would like to add another recommendation:

Shop local. Go to locally owned shops and make sure the items are all made in Alaska.

 

I think that is the difference between a 3000 passenger ship and a 670 passenger ship. You couldn't help but bump into people you've met either at the CC meet and greet or people who asked to sit at your table at the breakfast buffet. :)

 

Each group is different. Sometimes folks just don't click. But also, sometimes you just have to reach out a little. In February, someone suggested cocktails between dinners each evening to catch up. Most of us did it pretty regularly. It was nice!

 

For you second seaters :)

 

My web site has my pictures posted but the blog is not complete yet. A word of warning, if you don't have high speed internet the pictures may take a while to load as many in Glacier Bay, Valdez are panoramas.

[derrick22]

Each group is different. Sometimes folks just don't click. But also, sometimes you just have to reach out a little. In February, someone suggested cocktails between dinners each evening to catch up. Most of us did it pretty regularly. It was nice!

 

I like that idea. Going to borrow it.

 

Thanks

 

Denise

[derrick22]

4)Learn how to use the burst mode on your camera. You will need to take rapid pictures when photographing whales, otters, sea lions, porpoises, and maybe bears!

 

Thanks, the camera and the manual are sitting next to me as I type this.

 

Denise

[handwcruisers]

countrygal52,

I am curious how much was the dungeness crab at the office? We are planning on visiting them we are there in Aug. We are also just planning to grab food on the run in most of the ports. Juneau grab something between Harv and Marv and the glacier and Glacier gardens. In Skagway we are taking Dyna Dave to the Yukon and back. There would be no way we would be able to get back to the ship any of those days. Thanks for the info.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thank you for those great suggestions. I am interested in the suggestion for the photo tour in Juneau. I just looked it up - kind of pricey. When they do the sea portion are you in a large tour boat or a small one? Do you get to see many whales? We were planning on going with a private whale watching excursion like Harv & Marv or Orca and then going ot the glacier. However, I like the photo instructions, etc, too. Looking for the burst mode on my camera....:D

[ShibaInuMom]

countrygal52,

I am curious how much was the dungeness crab at the office? We are planning on visiting them we are there in Aug. We are also just planning to grab food on the run in most of the ports. Juneau grab something between Harv and Marv and the glacier and Glacier gardens. In Skagway we are taking Dyna Dave to the Yukon and back. There would be no way we would be able to get back to the ship any of those days. Thanks for the info.

 

The crab at The Office was $18 per person (I say per person because after seeing how much we enjoyed our crabs they brought us a couple more). While on the tour with Dyea Dave, he took us to The Cinnamon Cache, a small restaurant owned by a local woman who makes homemade bread, soup, sandwiches and dessert. She will take US dollars, however no change (averages around $10-11 per person).

[poolwife]

What did they serve with the crab at The Office? And isn't that in Icy Straight Point?

 

Is the food at Cinnamon Cache good?

[siuc78]

What did they serve with the crab at The Office? And isn't that in Icy Straight Point?

 

Is the food at Cinnamon Cache good?

 

Yes, The Office is in Icy Straight. They serve chowder with the crab. I believe they also had burgers.

I liked the food at the Cinnamon Cache. I had the chicken and rice soup - it really hit the spot! You could tell it was homemade and not out of the can.:)

[BayStateguppy]

In Skagway, we ate at a brew pub that had great burgers. quote]

 

I am curious... what was the name of the brew pub you ate at in Skagway?