Princess Alaska
Princess Alaska
aka The amazing race!
Land Tour from Anchorage to Fairbanks
7 night Inside Passage cruise from Seattle onboard the Golden Princess
26th May – 11th June 2007
Top 10 tips and Trivia
1. Take Inspect Repellant Alaska’s national bird is really the mosquito
2. Princess always have the last rail carriages on the rail through Alaska allowing for the best photo shots
3. Princess have an incredible infrastructure in the interior whether escorted or not you would not look far for a Princess staff member for assistance
4. Alaska can be a little bit of a car park (mind you spectacular views for a cruise geek of all the ships) but there is a huge array of shore excursions to get you up, up and away from the tourist stores that are just a stones throw from the pier. The best souvenir shopping for clothing was in Fairbanks and the best high end souvenir shopping for local Alaskan art and Christmas decorations was Juneau
5. On that note, a helicopter or small plane flight is a must! As is getting out on the water rafting or canoeing or kayaking!
6. The seafood is spectacular – Simon and Seaforts in Anchorage a must dine.
7. Whilst the round trip was excellent, the Northbound voyage is recommended as the scenery just gets better and better as you head further north and end with College Fjord
8. Loved the Doubletree at Seattle Airport from the moment we received a warm choc chip cookie on check in to the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in!
9. Pack some spare underwear and a formal frock in your overnight bag in case your luggage doesn’t arrive with you on the ship!
10. Remember to sleep – it never really gets dark in Fairbanks just a sort of twilight and it can be hectic!
For a long time now I have been selling and studying Alaska but everything was bigger, better and more interesting than I had imagined.
Alaskan Quick Facts
Alaska has 100,000 glaciers which equal 5% of the state. There are 1,800 named islands and 13 major volcanoes mostly along the Aleutian chain.
Alaska is one of the least populated places on earth, with only 0.001 percent of it’s land area developed into cities. The population is 600,000 and 15% is Native American.
Alaska has wildlife species- grizzlies, bald eagles, humpback whales, and wolves – in abundance that are endangered elsewhere.
Alaska was admitted to the Union of the United States as the 49th state on January 3, 1959
We hit the ground running after arriving in Seattle via Sydney and San Francisco with Qantas – the new on demand entertainment system was excellent and the food was also good. Alaska Airlines had the connection from San Fran to Seattle and this was actually a wonderfully scenic flight over the snow fields in Oregon and the service was also good – although all extra’s are paid for other than soft drinks, water and juice.
Seattle is a beautifully green and clean city with quite a bit of rain but was wonderfully welcoming.
The Seattle Doubletree Airport Hotel has the best welcome ever with a hot chocolate chip cookie on check in. The beds were also the best experienced anywhere on the trip – truly sweet dreams! Our first night we also dined at Seattle’s 13 Coins restaurant (there is 1 in the city and 1 in the airport hotel precinct), they are open 24 hours a day and serve breakfast lunch and dinner 24 hours a day. The hotel also offered a shuttle into the city for a small fee and it was about 20 minutes into the city via taxi.
In Seattle we also visited the Boeing Factory which was extremely interesting, including a tour of the factory – there is something quite amazing about being in the largest building by volume in the world and seeing so many planes being built under one roof including the brand new dreamliner.
Next stop, Anchorage after another “scenic flight” with Alaska Airlines. Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska. We stayed at the Hilton which was very handy to the centre of town and one thing about all of Alaska, is you don’t go far for finding a helpful Princess staff member if you are in need of any assistance.
The tour we embarked on was an Escorted Tour with the dynamic Liz Bell as our Escort. You can also do exactly the same tour by yourselves however the meals are not included but having someone like Liz there made our journey all the more special.
Our dinner in Anchorage was possibly the best meal of our whole trip at the famous “Simon and Seaforts” restaurant – the seafood was out of this world and we rolled home in the midnight twilight!
The next morning we head off on the first leg of our journey on the Midnight Express in the glass domed cars. Breakfast is served on the lower lever and the food and service was excellent.
This leg of the journey ended in Talkeetna, 1 hour by coach from Mt McKinley Lodge the Princess lodge closest to Denali the mountain itself.
The Lodge was warm and comforting and as all of the Princess lodges offered a variety of dining options, tours desk and free internet access.
Next day we travelled by Coach to Denali National Park and the Denali Princess Lodge part of the area outside of the park now nicknamed “Glitter Gulch” for the lodges and tourist strip.
Fairbanks was our final destination in the interior and as we were in June there it was hardly dark at all and again a lovely seafood meal was had the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge.
Sights and Sounds of the Interior
Anchorage:
The Alaska Native Heritage Centre offered live shows, interactive demonstrations and films.
Talkeetna (Mt McKinley Lodge):
Our Tour here was the “Glacier Landing Explorer Tour” with K2 Aviation which was a breath taking flight seeing tour of the Kahiltna Glacier and if weather conditions had of been better we would have been able to land on the Glacier.
Denali:
We were unable to book on the rafting tour here (they had saved space for full paying passengers) so we decided to do the Husky Homestead tour. This was great – much better than I thought it would be. We were picked up and taken to Jeff King’s Husky Kennel and were able to hold some husky puppies particularly cute little “Possum” and then were shown a demonstration by the full grown huskies. After this we received more information on the Iditarod itself – this is the annual endurance race from Anchorage to Nome. It was very informative and I came away very satisfied with the tour.
The National History Tour gave took us into the park itself with views of the Mountain and how early Alaskan pioneers lived and travelled in the park as well as a talk by a local Athapascan.
Fairbanks:
Our morning tour was to the Eldorado Gold mine and whilst I wasn’t overly keen at first it was quite an interesting tour and on the way we visited a section of the Alyeska Pipeline which has also become a tourist attraction within itself. The 800 mile long Trans Alaska Pipeline is one of the longest pipeline systems in the world. It stretches from Prudoe Bay on Alaska’s North slope to Valdez, the northernmost ice free port in North America.
In the afternoon we continued on the Riverboarst Discovery Tour, as well as a Paddle Steamer tour and a visit to the Chena Village.
Finally, onboard!
Our connections to Seattle from Fairbanks were not the usual connections as we had limited time to allow for delays and were travelling via Anchorage, this is where it really felt like we were on the Amazing Race! Running through airports and embarking the Golden Princess as the anchor ropes were being pulled up and the horn blowing! Our luggage eventually caught up with us in Juneau!
Accommodation
Obstructed View Cabin E 633 – we were lucky enough to have one of the least obstructed cabins which allowed for plenty of light whereas others in the group did have fully obstructed cabins with no daylight.
There was adequate room in the cabin but the best part was the walk in robe type area outside of the bathroom separate to the cabin. This was fantastic for unpacking and dressing to have this area separate.
Our cabin stewardess was also fantastic and looked after us exceptionally well.
Food Glorious Food
Our dining was Princess Personal Choice Dining and we chose to dine every night at 7.30pm this was a great option as we ate off the normal menu as the traditional dining restaurant.
Complimentary Continental Breakfast is available in the cabin or you can choose the buffet or main dining restaurant.
There are two restaurants that have an additional surcharge the Steakhouse and Sabatini’s and both were well worth the small extra charge.
Lunch was also in the main restaurant or the buffet and the food was plentiful and fresh at all times.
Activities and Entertainment
 Whilst all the cruise staples were catered for onboard Golden Princess they did come in second to the scenery and the majesty of Alaska. It was more about the destination than the shows on this cruise for most of the passengers.
There were several bars available onboard, from a quiet drink, to Karaoke to Skywalkers nightclub right at the aft end of the ship on deck 17 well away from disturbing any guests. Unfortunately this was the only area that was very smoky.
There were also the traditional cruise activities of Bingo, a large casino and all sorts of daily trivia, meetings and get togethers.
Beauty Treatments – the full range of hair, beauty and relaxations treatments are available. Daily specials are often available and are the most economical. The gym offered a good range of equipment plus yoga and Pilates at a small extra charge.
Princess cruises also offer a comprehensive Children’s and Teen program.
Gratuities are charged to your onboard account at US$10 per passenger per day.
Ports of Call
Juneau is Alaska’s capital and it is an easy walk from any of the ship’s berths into town – with a main street with  the widest range of native shops as well as the chain shops. We then went back to the ship to meet our shore tour which was the Mendenhall Glacier rafting trip – not as adventurous as I had hoped for but fun and scenic. We then journeyed up the Mt Roberts Tramway with wonderful views of the town and the cruise ships in port (apparently also just missing a bear sighting).
Skagway known as the gateway to the gold fields for the thousands who flocked to Alaska and the Yukon with the hope of striking it rich. There is a plethora of tours on offer and for the most part the prices were the same booking ashore as they were onboard. This was the highlight when it comes to shore tours as we chose the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari. After a fast catamaran ride down the Lynn Canal and past Haines and some noisy sea lions we landed a remote beach at Glacier Point. We rode then a converted safari school bus and a short hike to the waterfront where we boarded our 8 man canoes and paddled towards the Davidson Glacier. It was a relatively easy canoe ride but the information and views were fantastic – it was an great close up view of the Glacier.
Land Tour from Anchorage to Fairbanks
7 night Inside Passage cruise from Seattle onboard the Golden Princess
26th May – 11th June 2007
Tracy Arm was our day of scenic cruising, near the North and South Sawyer Glacier. We were able to see plenty of seals also amongst the ice and the views were incredible, after spending over an hour wrapped up against the cold I decided the spa was the best place to view the glacier and at a balmy 32 degrees it most certainly was!
Ketchikan
I chose not to do a tour in Ketchikan and it was possibly my least favourite port of call, the shops all looked the same and if felt very commercial near the wharf. Creek Street was novel and interesting as was Dolly’s House. It would have been great to have explored further afield here as Ketchikan is also famous for it’s totems.
Victoria was founded in 1843 and is the capital of Canada’s Vancouver Island. It has a quaint almost English village feel. It is also home to the famous Butchart Gardens. We didn’t pre book a shore tour instead 3 of us chose to go ashore and take our chance with the local transport for a tour around. Our choices ranged from a standard taxi, to an open top vintage car, limo, pedicab or converted trolley, we chose the comfort and style of the limo and were very pleased! Our limo driver took us around to the tourist spots of Victoria and then headed out to Butchart Gardens and our driver waited while we wandered amongst the beautiful flowers, trees, shrubs and all things botanical.
Our disembarkation was a lot smoother and we made the most of a rainy Seattle day and visited the Space Needle although it wasn’t the clearest view. Our flights home although slightly delayed in Seattle also ran smoothly.
The time seem to fly by and it wasn’t until a couple of weeks after I got home that I could truly digest the magnificence of Alaska.
Back
|
