H
H2O babe
Guest
Hoping to find some fellow cruisers to chat with.
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K
KWilke
Guest
H20 babe,
I was anxious to reply to you as I was sure we were on the same cruise next year. Turns out we are the exact same cruisetour, but eleven days later on June 16, 2006! However, I'm sure we will have a lot in common to discuss along the line before actually going. We were on the Island's sister ship, The Coral, November 2004 to the Panama Canal. It's a gorgeous ship, conveniently designed for finding where things are on board. We are anxious to rediscover her.
I hope to hear from someone booked on The Island Princess/Alaska June 16, 2006 southbound as well.......
kwilke
I was anxious to reply to you as I was sure we were on the same cruise next year. Turns out we are the exact same cruisetour, but eleven days later on June 16, 2006! However, I'm sure we will have a lot in common to discuss along the line before actually going. We were on the Island's sister ship, The Coral, November 2004 to the Panama Canal. It's a gorgeous ship, conveniently designed for finding where things are on board. We are anxious to rediscover her.
I hope to hear from someone booked on The Island Princess/Alaska June 16, 2006 southbound as well.......
kwilke
H
H2O babe
Guest
Hi there KWilke,
I had kind of given up hope, but am glad to see you are doing an Alaskan cruise aboard Princess as well.
Have you thought about excursions? We are planning on doing the drive to Emerald Lake and into the Yukon. We are renting a car in Skagway. Planning a helicopter glacier tour/hike in Juneau and a whale watch with Captain Larry if we can fit it in. Doing a float plane tour in Ketchikan and some kayaking. We are very excited to be headed to Alaska. It is our first time to Alaska. We are unable to do any interior land touring at this time, but know we will certainly be back to explore more of this great state.
Welcome aboard and will enjoy chatting here on the boards with you.
Kay
I had kind of given up hope, but am glad to see you are doing an Alaskan cruise aboard Princess as well.
Have you thought about excursions? We are planning on doing the drive to Emerald Lake and into the Yukon. We are renting a car in Skagway. Planning a helicopter glacier tour/hike in Juneau and a whale watch with Captain Larry if we can fit it in. Doing a float plane tour in Ketchikan and some kayaking. We are very excited to be headed to Alaska. It is our first time to Alaska. We are unable to do any interior land touring at this time, but know we will certainly be back to explore more of this great state.
Welcome aboard and will enjoy chatting here on the boards with you.
Kay
K
KWilke
Guest
H20 babe,
Good to hear from you. We're excited about making our reservations for the Alaskan Cruise too! I wish it were sooner. We have a fun New Year's Eve planned though, so I have that to tide me over in the meantime!
We haven't decided on any excursions as yet. We have the land portion on the front side for five days, so it's pretty much planned for us. Then we have the cruise on the last portion - I thought it would be great to be able to relax on the cruise part after all the land stuff :0} - so that's the time we need to consider for excursions. It looks like we have three ports that we could schedule excursions on (some are scenic cruising days). We are also looking at staying a day in Vancouver at the end. I understand it's a beautiful place, so I'm learning what to see there as well.
Your ideas on excursions sound great! I'm interested in the whale watching too. I see numerous posts about "Captain Larry" - I take it he has a good reputation on these boards for booking with.
It's all so exciting! Can't wait! By the way.......thanks for the welcome!
kwilke
Good to hear from you. We're excited about making our reservations for the Alaskan Cruise too! I wish it were sooner. We have a fun New Year's Eve planned though, so I have that to tide me over in the meantime!
We haven't decided on any excursions as yet. We have the land portion on the front side for five days, so it's pretty much planned for us. Then we have the cruise on the last portion - I thought it would be great to be able to relax on the cruise part after all the land stuff :0} - so that's the time we need to consider for excursions. It looks like we have three ports that we could schedule excursions on (some are scenic cruising days). We are also looking at staying a day in Vancouver at the end. I understand it's a beautiful place, so I'm learning what to see there as well.
Your ideas on excursions sound great! I'm interested in the whale watching too. I see numerous posts about "Captain Larry" - I take it he has a good reputation on these boards for booking with.
It's all so exciting! Can't wait! By the way.......thanks for the welcome!
kwilke
H
H2O babe
Guest
kwilke,
I am envious of your land portion before your cruise. As I said, we know we will return to Alaska---probably to spend 2-3 weeks interior in an RV. June 2006 was not an option for us to have more than the 9 days we took for the cruise.
Yes, Captain Larry does get high recommendations from many posters. We do not usally book excursions through the ship and so I spend months before hand researching and reading about the best excursions and things to do. We enjoy having them all chosen and booked long before we actually cruise.
I was confused by your sentence that said you were on the southbound June 16 sailing. I think the Island Princess is southbound again on the 19th.
I am looking forward to cruising on this ship. We sailed the Carnival Glory (eastern Caribbean) with 3500 people and I'm sure I will much prefer the 2000 on board the Island.
Where are you from? We're in central MN in a very rural setting with lots of trees and lakes. Very pretty area.
I am envious of your land portion before your cruise. As I said, we know we will return to Alaska---probably to spend 2-3 weeks interior in an RV. June 2006 was not an option for us to have more than the 9 days we took for the cruise.
Yes, Captain Larry does get high recommendations from many posters. We do not usally book excursions through the ship and so I spend months before hand researching and reading about the best excursions and things to do. We enjoy having them all chosen and booked long before we actually cruise.
I was confused by your sentence that said you were on the southbound June 16 sailing. I think the Island Princess is southbound again on the 19th.
I am looking forward to cruising on this ship. We sailed the Carnival Glory (eastern Caribbean) with 3500 people and I'm sure I will much prefer the 2000 on board the Island.
Where are you from? We're in central MN in a very rural setting with lots of trees and lakes. Very pretty area.
K
KWilke
Guest
H20 babe,
Great hearing from you again! Thanks again for the info on Capt. Larry. Although we have only booked excursions through the cruise lines in the past, I may have to do some research into this since there are such high recommendations.
Regarding our cruisetour........we fly into Fairbanks June 15th. The land portion of our trip takes us from Fairbanks to Denali to Whittier between June 15th and June 19th. We board the Island Princess on the evening of the 19th for the southbound sailing. That's probably why it didn't sound right - we do the land portion first before the sailing on the 19th.
As far as this ship goes, I think you'll love it. We sailed on her sister ship, The Coral, November of 2004 through the Panama Canal. Excellent trip, beautiful ship, easy to navigate and find things on her. Most everything as far as public rooms (casino, main dining rooms, etc.) are located off the center atrium, depending on the deck. Do you have a balcony? One thing that I learned before booking this Alaska trip was it can be critical which side of the ship you have a balcony, depending on which direction you are sailing. We would have been on the wrong side had I booked our same stateroom that we had on the Panama Canal trip! That would've been the pits..... :0P
We (my husband, my 19 year old son, and I) live in Bedford, TX, an area between Dallas and Ft. Worth called the Mid-Cities, that is comprised of small suburban towns. We are just west of the DFW Airport. While I am not a native Texan, I married one and have been here 25 years. What is interesting though, is my family originates in MN - my father and my younger brother live in Detroit Lakes, and I have cousins scattered all over the state from Frazee to Audobon to Fargo/Moorehead to Fairmont! Small world, huh? I was born in No. Dakota (my father worked on all the dams up there in the 50's so us kids were each born in a different state), and we moved to southern California when I was 6. So I was raised there, but went back to MN every summer to visit the grandparents and every relative who lived on a lake or a farm! Fun for a city kid from CA!
Pretty neat stuff - too bad we aren't on that cruise together. I don't know your age, but I think you'll find the Princess cruise to be very attentive. I found the staff (cabin stewards) to be very intuitive right down to knowing whether I wanted a ton of ice on sea days for refilling my insulated mug for out by the pool! I love that - I feel like that's what I paid for - to get that service I don't get any other time!
Look forward to hearing from you!
KWilke
Great hearing from you again! Thanks again for the info on Capt. Larry. Although we have only booked excursions through the cruise lines in the past, I may have to do some research into this since there are such high recommendations.
Regarding our cruisetour........we fly into Fairbanks June 15th. The land portion of our trip takes us from Fairbanks to Denali to Whittier between June 15th and June 19th. We board the Island Princess on the evening of the 19th for the southbound sailing. That's probably why it didn't sound right - we do the land portion first before the sailing on the 19th.
As far as this ship goes, I think you'll love it. We sailed on her sister ship, The Coral, November of 2004 through the Panama Canal. Excellent trip, beautiful ship, easy to navigate and find things on her. Most everything as far as public rooms (casino, main dining rooms, etc.) are located off the center atrium, depending on the deck. Do you have a balcony? One thing that I learned before booking this Alaska trip was it can be critical which side of the ship you have a balcony, depending on which direction you are sailing. We would have been on the wrong side had I booked our same stateroom that we had on the Panama Canal trip! That would've been the pits..... :0P
We (my husband, my 19 year old son, and I) live in Bedford, TX, an area between Dallas and Ft. Worth called the Mid-Cities, that is comprised of small suburban towns. We are just west of the DFW Airport. While I am not a native Texan, I married one and have been here 25 years. What is interesting though, is my family originates in MN - my father and my younger brother live in Detroit Lakes, and I have cousins scattered all over the state from Frazee to Audobon to Fargo/Moorehead to Fairmont! Small world, huh? I was born in No. Dakota (my father worked on all the dams up there in the 50's so us kids were each born in a different state), and we moved to southern California when I was 6. So I was raised there, but went back to MN every summer to visit the grandparents and every relative who lived on a lake or a farm! Fun for a city kid from CA!
Pretty neat stuff - too bad we aren't on that cruise together. I don't know your age, but I think you'll find the Princess cruise to be very attentive. I found the staff (cabin stewards) to be very intuitive right down to knowing whether I wanted a ton of ice on sea days for refilling my insulated mug for out by the pool! I love that - I feel like that's what I paid for - to get that service I don't get any other time!
Look forward to hearing from you!
KWilke
H
H2O babe
Guest
KWilke,
Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this thread! I have started on my master's degree (I'm a teacher) and it has me a bit busy!
Interesting to hear of your knowledge of this fair state. Detroit Lakes is about 2 hours from me. Have been there lots for various things. Sounds as though you've covered quite a bit of this great lakes area.
I am 45 and my significant other is 43. I have 2 sons (one is 19 and in college down at the U of M and the other is 17 and a jr. in high school). We went on our first cruise last March to the Eastern Caribbean aboard the Carnival Glory. It was a graduation present for my son. We had such a fabulous time. The kids aren't going with us to Alaska-just the 2 of us and I am even more excited about this second cruise than I was the first. Probably because I have wanted to go to Alaska for such a long time.
I have our air fare all booked. We are flying into Seattle and then a one way up to Anchorage. Taking the Alaskan Railroad to Whittier. When we disembark in Vancouver, we'll take the quick shuttle or Amtrak down to Seattle. We don't fly home the same day so I have some leeway in getting there. Have hotels booked in both Anchorage and Seattle. Lots of the hotels in Anchorage showed no vacancy for the night I wanted in June so I am glad I got that booked and taken care of.
I have our excursions pretty well lined up as well. We are active people and not much for shopping. We do like to see the towns but don't care to enter many of the shops. We are whale watching with Captain Larry and doing a Helicopter/glacier trek in Juneau. (Booked this through Orca Enterprises, which is Captain Larry.)
In Skagway I have rented a car and we are driving to White Pass and then into Carcross (the Yukon). We are stopping at a ranch up there and doing a horseback ride excursion with Joni, which I've read many good reviews of.
In Ketchikan we are kayaking to Orca's Cove and doing a flightseeing trip to Misty Fjords. Southeast Tours has arranged this combination for us, again with tons of good reviews.
If you would like any of the website addresses I'd be happy to list them for you. I'm sure that ship excursions will be great too but I have read so much over on www.cruisecritic.com boards that have convinced me to book independently.
Drop me a line when you can. HOpe to hear from you soon.
K.
Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this thread! I have started on my master's degree (I'm a teacher) and it has me a bit busy!
Interesting to hear of your knowledge of this fair state. Detroit Lakes is about 2 hours from me. Have been there lots for various things. Sounds as though you've covered quite a bit of this great lakes area.
I am 45 and my significant other is 43. I have 2 sons (one is 19 and in college down at the U of M and the other is 17 and a jr. in high school). We went on our first cruise last March to the Eastern Caribbean aboard the Carnival Glory. It was a graduation present for my son. We had such a fabulous time. The kids aren't going with us to Alaska-just the 2 of us and I am even more excited about this second cruise than I was the first. Probably because I have wanted to go to Alaska for such a long time.
I have our air fare all booked. We are flying into Seattle and then a one way up to Anchorage. Taking the Alaskan Railroad to Whittier. When we disembark in Vancouver, we'll take the quick shuttle or Amtrak down to Seattle. We don't fly home the same day so I have some leeway in getting there. Have hotels booked in both Anchorage and Seattle. Lots of the hotels in Anchorage showed no vacancy for the night I wanted in June so I am glad I got that booked and taken care of.
I have our excursions pretty well lined up as well. We are active people and not much for shopping. We do like to see the towns but don't care to enter many of the shops. We are whale watching with Captain Larry and doing a Helicopter/glacier trek in Juneau. (Booked this through Orca Enterprises, which is Captain Larry.)
In Skagway I have rented a car and we are driving to White Pass and then into Carcross (the Yukon). We are stopping at a ranch up there and doing a horseback ride excursion with Joni, which I've read many good reviews of.
In Ketchikan we are kayaking to Orca's Cove and doing a flightseeing trip to Misty Fjords. Southeast Tours has arranged this combination for us, again with tons of good reviews.
If you would like any of the website addresses I'd be happy to list them for you. I'm sure that ship excursions will be great too but I have read so much over on www.cruisecritic.com boards that have convinced me to book independently.
Drop me a line when you can. HOpe to hear from you soon.
K.