Alaska cruise

Author Message   John Braddy Senior Member Username: Wingrider Post Number: 93 Registered: 12-2003 Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 05:54 pm:    We took one of those tours a few years ago and our young bus driver/tour director was the most knowledgeable person about Alaska we had encountered on any of our shore excursions. Surely he must be a native we thought, he could quote facts, fiction, dates, and tell stories and tall tales with the best of them. So I asked him if he was a native of the area. He hurriedly changed the subject and started telling more stories. I asked him a couple more times how long he had lived in Alaska. Finally he turned around and quietly told me he was a college student and had found the job listed on the internet. He applied for and got the job and was handed a "script" to learn, just like an actor, then made the tour several times as a "tourist" listening to the current guide. He had only been in Alaska for 6 weeks and this was his first visit there....and that particular part of Alaska was all of it he had ever seen. What really was so strange was when I found out where he was from, he lived and attended a college about 150 miles from us here in Tennessee! He was pretty homesick and was anxious for the job to end so he could head back to Tennessee. Just a fun story I enjoy telling folks, but the bottom line is....everyone should take everything the tour guides tell you with a grain of salt. They simply get their information off a closely guarded and well rehearshed script!   Phyllis DeLancey Senior Member Username: Phyllis Post Number: 1336 Registered: 06-2003 Posted on Sunday, February 04, 2007 - 11:14 pm:    May when they are in Juno if they just get off the ship and walk out on the pier, there are many tours they can take for much less that are as good as the ship. We did that and even got a discount for out AAA membership. The driver told us he had taken a tour from the ship earlier, and we would see more for less. They just need to keep an eye on the time and not miss the ship.   May Thomas Senior Member Username: May Post Number: 153 Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Sunday, February 04, 2007 - 11:11 pm:    I booked by parents for a cruise to Alaska in May on NCL aboard the Pearl. I had planned on a longer cruise with land package, but after speaking with my parents changed it to a round trip out of Seattle. They just felt the longer trip would be too much. But they are very excited as this is their first cruise. Thanks again for all the advise. Now to arrange shore trips.....   dinotars Senior Member Username: Dinotars Post Number: 2181 Registered: 06-2003 Posted on Friday, November 10, 2006 - 11:46 pm:    We enjoyed an Alaska cruise in June 2003.Went spacea from Charleston to McChord then to Elmendorf.Stayed a week in the Anchorage area.Train to Seward to board our Carnival Spirit and went on a 7 day cruise south to Vancouver.Bus to McChord and spacea back to Charleston,then drove home.Some rain and cool on the trip but enjoyed the several port calls.   May Thomas Senior Member Username: May Post Number: 148 Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Sunday, October 29, 2006 - 11:04 am:    Thank you so much for the responses. These ideas will contribute greatly to the fun-factor of their trip.   John R Garrison Senior Member Username: Majorg Post Number: 97 Registered: 02-2006 Posted on Saturday, October 28, 2006 - 02:32 pm:    May: Took a trip from VanCouver, BC north on the Statendam (Holland America) first week in August, 2002. Best Stop was Sitka! Did the Bike and walking tours. Stayed at the Aleyeska Resort on Seward penninsula and flew back out of Anchorage. Going again this summer (Jul 14) (on the Zuiederdam...love those "dam" ships!) on a seven day round trip out of Vancouver (this time we get to stop in Skagway!). What ever trip your parents take....they will love it! Tell them to bring cameras and binoculers! This is nature...up close and personal. Happy travels, John   Cherry C. Senior Member Username: Cherry Post Number: 2038 Registered: 06-2003 Posted on Saturday, October 28, 2006 - 02:09 pm:    As Ed says, it can be kinda "cool" on that balcony but (1) you usually have a glass wall at that end of the room so you can stay inside to be warm and still see *almost* as much, or (2) you can always wrap up in a jacket and/or spare blanket and sit out there for the full effect. In some of the towns just walking around is plenty of a "shore excursion" but I would recommend taking the railway in Skagway--not only for fantastic views but for the amazing story of how it was built during the gold rush, and a tour in Sitka (the Russian village) if your ship stops there. My husband also took some of the kayaking (2-3 hour) trips and enjoyed them very much. One of the fun things about this trip is that in the beginning everybody is so excited at seeing bald eagles, and by the time you are almost done it's just "Ho, hum, more 'golf balls sitting in trees'..." (because that's just what those white heads look like from a distance).   Edwin B McConville Senior Member Username: Perkyva1 Post Number: 672 Registered: 06-2003 Posted on Saturday, October 28, 2006 - 01:37 pm:    I second everything Cherry says; we were advised to go south on land first, then the ship cruise; we also had a balcony on the portside of the ship, eastside, going south; altho didn't use it as much as I thought, the temps altho in the high 50s, low 60s, were cooler because of the speed of the ship & the resulting breeze being cooler than we liked for sitting & watching.   Cherry C. Senior Member Username: Cherry Post Number: 2034 Registered: 06-2003 Posted on Friday, October 27, 2006 - 05:47 pm:    Late May-early June is an ideal time for Alaska, because the black fly season will not have begun yet, and the horde of tourists will only be starting. That is the time we went (with Grand Circle Tours, including a 1-week cruise on one of the Royal Caribbean ships) and although the mosquitos were already out everything else was great. The Grand Circle escort was very knowledeable and the bus driver excellent. We, too, flew to Fairbanks, spent a few days there, then by train to Denali (2 nights as I recall, with tour into the park to view many wild animals; and we made independent arrangements for rafting trips) and on to Anchorage (1 or 2 nights) after which we were taken by chartered bus to the port to board the ship for the southbound Inside Passage cruise. This general itinerary (start in the north and work your way south) was highly recommended by a knowledgeable travel agent who explained that it is *much* easier to fly home to the lower 48 states if your cruise terminates in Vancouver or Seattle than if you take the northbound cruise that terminates in Seward (near Anchorage). We flew in one fairly easy day from the DC area to Seattle and then via Alaska Air to Fairbanks (daylight all the way, of course). The return flight was shorter because we were already so much farther south. Furthermore,people who cruise UP and then tour DOWN say they are exhausted by the end of the trip, instead of touring first and then resting up on the cruise portion. An alternative of course is not to make any land arrangements at all, but to cruise one-way southbound, OR else go for 2 weeks and take the same ship northbound and then southbound. There were quite a few folks aboard who had done just that. For this cruise I would definitely urge "splurging" on a balcony cabin. You can sit out there and see all kinds of scenery, aquatic life, birds & other activity. Get a cabin on the side of the ship that will on the east (mainland) side for the best views. (This means starboard if northbound, port if southbound.)   Edwin B McConville Senior Member Username: Perkyva1 Post Number: 669 Registered: 06-2003 Posted on Friday, October 27, 2006 - 05:02 pm:    May: My wife & I made an 11 day Alaska cruise tour starting 27 May of 2005 by flying from NGU to Fairbanks, an 18 hr sojourn, too long. We used Princess as we've been on 4 Princess cruises, all excellent. This was our first to Alaska. Starting in Fairbanks we toured Fairbanks & the route to Denali National Park area by buses, staying in the Princess lodges which are excellent. Princess guides toured us around Denali Nat Park also, again excellent. On the 4th day we took a Princess train from Denali to Whittier to meet the ship. The train was again excellent passing thru the Alaska wilderness where we saw all kinds of wildlife. The wk aboard the ship was again excellent & up to the usual high Princess standard. The cruise ended in Vancouver. The weather in Alaska was mild, much warmer by 20 degrees than it was when we left Norfolk, people were in shorts & tees, having had to leave their down overcoats aboard. By using Princess everything was Princess owned or operated, no going into a brand x hotel, restaurants, all transfers & baggage handling were done by Princess employees. We wanted to do it again this summer but couldn't seem to get it together. We'll try again late next summer when according to one of the guides Alaska is in the most colorful period of the yr, still fairly mild, & a good chance of seeing Aorela Borealis(sp) exists.   May Thomas Senior Member Username: May Post Number: 147 Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Friday, October 27, 2006 - 02:31 pm:    I am looking for an excellent cruise for my parents 50th anniversary to Alaska from May to June, 2007. Is this a good time to send them? They are 80 and in excellent health. Probably leave from Seattle since they live in Puyallup. I've searched the sites but would like first hand experience information. Thanks so much, May