Off-Topic trip to Alaska

[Indy]

I cruised to Alaska for my honeymoon on Princess. We were novices and booked every excursion we did through the cruise line and we jam packed all of our days onshore sometimes doing 3 things in a day. We went in May - it was the first cruise there of the season and the bears were not out yet.

The things I liked the best were a zip line excursion, snowshoeing up in the mountains near the tree line, a flight to a lodge only accessible by small plane followed by a feast of salmon, we took a flight where we were supposed to land on a glacier - but couldn't land and they just flew us around Mount McKinley.

Negatives - the water was sort of choppy and I was sea sick - I suggest taking something for that as a precaution. Not Dramamine - that made me so sleepy. The small planes also made me sick. We went on a tour of Denali state park - I felt it was beyond boring. Perhaps it was the time of year but it was hours of watching out to see the wildlife. We were far off from any animal so somebody would spot a speck in the distance and we would all get out our binoculars to try to see what it was - I got tired of that almost immediately. Most interesting and close up was a moose.

We both remember that trip quite fondly - probably the best vacation we have had.

[bee]

Ha! We are thinking about a cruise in Alaska this June. Hopefully we're not too late booking. This thread could be very helpful -- thank you!!

[Mickey12]

Bee, we saw a presentation by Princess Cruise Line a few weeks ago. They said they still had SOME 2018 dates left, but they were mainly presenting for 2019 trips.

If you really want to go this year, I would strongly recommend you start planning quickly.

Thanks everyone for the tips and recommendations. We have not booked yet, but will probably do a mainly land excursion, no big cruise ships. I really want to do a smaller ship into Kenai Fjords National Park. I heard really good things about that.

Kim

[Karen Beckwith]

Originally Posted by bee

Ha! We are thinking about a cruise in Alaska this June. Hopefully we're not too late booking. This thread could be very helpful -- thank you!!

We were going to go last year but, by the time we got serious about booking, all the "land" side cabins were gone. So we booked mid last year for our cruise coming up in May.

[BunnyHop]

Years ago my dad took an Alaska cruise trip and really had a good time. He said the glaciers were gorgeous and pictures simply don't do them justice.

Somewhere along the way on the trip he bought both a good camera and a good set of binoculars. I'm not sure I'd be knowledgeable enough to avoid getting scammed, but FWIW he still has both, which seem to be excellent quality.

When younger he was fond of watching birds so he did have quite a lot of use for the binoculars once he got home.
(Though I'm not sure they even make film for the camera any more, everything's digital now.)

[bee]

Originally Posted by Mickey12

Bee, we saw a presentation by Princess Cruise Line a few weeks ago. They said they still had SOME 2018 dates left, but they were mainly presenting for 2019 trips.

If you really want to go this year, I would strongly recommend you start planning quickly.

Kim

Sigh..... we are really bad at planning! But I'm glad you let me know that -- I'll try to get on it. Thanks! Have a great time!!