Are you going to Alaska in 2012? I’m looking for someone to split the cost of the TourSaver coupon book. Please e-mail me if you are sailing in May-July and interested!
About Us
Chris and I are a married couple of DINKS (Double Income No Kids) in our early 30′s. This was our 4th cruise and 3rd cruise in the last 2 years. We have sailed Disney twice and Royal Caribbean once but this was our first Princess cruise.
We did not do a cruisetour and booked our land portion (2 nights in Anchorage, 2 nights in Denali, train to Whittier, and Prince William Sound cruise) independently, though we used Princess for the Denali portion. For more info about this, see my Day 2 post. Other than the Vancouver Overview tour before flying home, we also booked all our excursions independently.
Feel free to post any questions in the meantime or send me an e-mail!
Trip Report
Below are links by day to my DETAILED trip report with photos:
+ Day 1: Anchorage, Alaska – Historic Anchorage Hotel
+ Day 2: Denali National Park, Alaska – Alaska Railroad, Denali Princess, Husky Homestead Tour
+ Day 3: Denali National Park, Alaska – Eielson Shuttle Bus
+ Day 4: Denali National Park, Alaska – Canyon Run Whitewater Rafting, Historic Anchorage Hotel
+ Day 5: Whittier, Alaska – Alaska Railroad, Prince William Sound Cruise
+ Island Princess Review
+ Day 6: Hubbard Glacier, Alaska
+ Day 7: Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
+ Day 8: Skagway, Alaska – White Pass & Yukon Railroad
+ Day 9: Juneau, Alaska – Mendenhall Glacier Dog Sledding
+ Day 10: Ketchikan, Alaska – Anan Creek Bear Viewing
+ Day 11: Day at Sea
+ Day 12: Vancouver, Canada
+ Newbie’s Guide to Princess Cruises
Overall Thoughts
This vacation was literally day after day of amazing experiences! Like many, I thought this might be a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Alaska but I definitely plan to return in a few years. I loved everything we did but there is so many more things I want to do!
Trip Photos
+ My Alaska photos
+ My photo book
All photos were taken with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1, which we bought for this cruise because it has 12x optical zoom, and the Canon PowerShot SD790 IS digital cameras. Many of the photos of Chris and I together were taken using Xshot Camera Extender/Monopod.
Trip Planning
I am an obsessive trip planner and detailed-oriented. These were the resources that helped make my trip a success:
+ Cruise Critic Alaska Forum: The folks on the Alaska Forum are SO helpful and I learned about so many things I would not have otherwise known.
+ Guide Books: Frommer’s Alaska
+ Port Maps: Destination Alaska coupon book
+ Cruise Compete: Get the best deal on your cruise by getting quotes from multiple travel agencies at one time! I’ve used this site to book 3 cruises now and have always gotten a killer deal!
Packing
Check out my tips on what to pack for an Alaskan cruise, including things we packed but didn’t need and separate clothing lists for men and women:
+ Alaskan Packing List
Shopping
I love collecting souvenirs and I share my favorite deals from my Alaskan trip:
+ Alaska Shopping
What a fantastic trip report. I came here from Cruise critic. Loved all your photos too. So wonderful seeing and reading all about your trip as we are in the planning stages of our trip next June and we’re planning on doing a lot of the things you did.
Libby
Rebecca and Chris,
I really enjoyed reading your trip to Alaska.You both have done a FANTASTIC job.( writing and taking awsome pictures). You can publish a book. We are booked on the same tour for August 2011 and after reading your journey I have a feeling I was already there. You had answered all my question I would have to ask Princess Cruise. Very detailed report. Thank you very very much.