321GO - The Alternative West Coast PTR

[jns]

Sounds like a great trip
Enjoy the planning

 

[Chilly]

Mike is supposed to be planning this trip but I can't help interfering because i'm such a planner and he is very laid back. Our cruise booking date for palo etc is 2 weeks tomorrow and although we might book the tours ourselves to save money rather than going through Disney I would like to have it decided by then but i'm not getting very far when I discuss it with DH, its driving me mad. There are so many options of excursions many of which sound great but most of them through Disney are sooooooo expensive. As this trip is already costing us a lot of money we can't be splashing out a lot more money on tours but DH keeps mentioning the words "once in a lifetime" and I keep mentioning the words "rip off" for example one of the ziplinning tours is $178 each! That's about £240 for us both, when we went to go ape near our house it was no more than £60 for 2.

Here's my thinking so far on what we could do each day.

Skagway - docks 7:15 a.m. onboard 7:30 p.m

River Float and White Pass Summit & City Combo - http://skagwayfloat.com/tours/white-pass-combo/ - $100 each but would take up most of the day (£135 for us both) but leaves time for lunch and seeing the town and the evening if wanted.

Through Disney...

Klondike Rock Climbing and Rappelling = $95 each half day

Adventure Park and Zip Lines = $104 each half day

Yukon Suspension Bridge and Klondike Explorer = $69 each half day

Yukon Suspension Bridge, City and White Pass Railway - Adult Only Departure = $172 each just over half a day

Juneau docks 7:45 a.m. onboard 5:30 p.m

Shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier - $16 each, visitor Centre $3, walking about priceless (free). http://juneautours.com/

CITY & GLACIER TOUR - $30 each http://juneautours.com/

Whale Watching & Glacier Tour $120 each, £160 for us both http://juneautours.com/

Through Disney....

Mount Roberts Tramway = $29 each
(But I think i'd just buy a ticket on the day if we wanted to do this which would be cheaper)

Ketchikan docks 11:15 a.m. onboard 4:30 p.m

Totem Heritage Centre - $5 each

Eco tour - kayak http://www.ketchikankayakco.com/Kayak_Tours.htm - $89 each

Through Disney...

Best of Ketchikan by Land and Sea - $125 each half day


Hoping to book Palo Brunch for the Tracey Arm day and Palo Dinner for our middle night. Not sure whether to book afternoon tea or not but I guess we'd do that on our last sea day maybe. I've found out our possible dining rotations:

The 3 dining rotations are:
A) T A P T A P T
B) A P T A P T A
C) P T A P T A P

("T" = Triton's, "A" = Animator's Palace, "P" = Parrot Cay)

Formal/Captain's Gala: Night 2, Tuesday (05/22)
Pirates: Night 4, Thursday (05/24)
Semi-Formal: Night 6, Saturday (05/26)

So depending on our rotation we'd end up with one of the following
Mon - T A P
Tue - A P T (Formal/Captain's Gala Night) - AT SEA
Wed - P T A - TRACEY ARM
Thu - T A P (Pirates Night) - Skagway Hoping to book Palo Dinner
Fri - A P T - Juneau
Sat - P T A - Ketchikan (Semi-Formal Night)
Sun - T A P - AT SEA

 

[Chilly]

your plans sound fab, very interested in hearing about the Cruise.
An Alaska cruise is next on our list

I was pleased when they started doing the cruise as it had been on my list for a while.

OMG Claire, this sounds so exciting. No wonder you can't resist 'helping'!

We booked an Alaskan cruise last week (I am still trying to recover from the excitement!!) so I will now be following your adventures avidly.

How exciting, I hope my TR will help you.

Sounds like a great trip
Enjoy the planning

I have to plan on the sly as DH is supposed to be sorting out everything for this trip!

 

[meryll83]

Plans so far sound good Claire!

As I mentioned on Facebook, we're thinking of a Princess cruisetour in 2014, but I think the ports of call are very similar so I'm looking forward to hearing what you guys get up to! It stemmed randomly from watching some Frozen Planet and another programme about bears!

Looking forward to hearing more, it'll be here before you know it!

 

[Chilly]

Plans so far sound good Claire!

As I mentioned on Facebook, we're thinking of a Princess cruisetour in 2014, but I think the ports of call are very similar so I'm looking forward to hearing what you guys get up to! It stemmed randomly from watching some Frozen Planet and another programme about bears!

Looking forward to hearing more, it'll be here before you know it!

Why did you decide on Princess? My interest in Alaska began when someone in a fiction book who won the lotto went on one! You are certainly planning ahead.

 

[Linda67]

It's great reading about your plans
I am currently trying to convince DH that an Alaskan Cruise June 2013 is a good idea
He just keeps saying 'but it'll be cold!" I'm sure I can talk him into it eventually
Your TR might help ..... No pressure !!

 

[Chilly]

It's great reading about your plans
I am currently trying to convince DH that an Alaskan Cruise June 2013 is a good idea
He just keeps saying 'but it'll be cold!" I'm sure I can talk him into it eventually
Your TR might help ..... No pressure !!

I'm not looking forward to the cold bit either, holidays should be hot! I'll try my very best to make the TR sound amazing!

 

[meryll83]

Why did you decide on Princess? My interest in Alaska began when someone in a fiction book who won the lotto went on one! You are certainly planning ahead.

I just picked up their brochure when passing Thomas Cook as I remembered from my ye olde days as a travel agent that they had a dedicated brochure for Alaska cruises and figured it'd be the best for amount of info on the location. They do cruisetours which combine a cool looking train journey and some lovely lodges with the cruise and you can be pretty flexible about the land locations included. Of course I'd love to go on a DCL ship but I've become quite partial the the Princess land itineraries and I think they're slightly cheaper - cant book for over a year anyway, so still plenty of time to change my mind!

 

[Chilly]

DDD!!! 99 days baby!!!

 

[darthtatty]

woohooo lucky you.xx

 

[Linda67]

yay double digits​

 

[Chilly]

Not much to update at the moment, next week there will be an update as Tuesday is our Palo and excursion booking day, I can't tell you what we are booking because we can't decide! In my lunch break today I'm putting together a spreadsheet which will hopefully help (gotta love a spreadsheet). The only thing we have decided is we'll book our tours through Disney rather than direct. We've got a general idea of what we want to do but there are so many combo's its picking one of them that is the problem, its a good problem to have though.

 

[Linda67]

It's exciting to be able to book your excursions, hope you get everything you want
I've been pricing up an Alaskan Cruise for June 2013 ..... Just gotta keep working on DH and hope that we can book when we are on our cruise in May

 

[Chilly]

It's exciting to be able to book your excursions, hope you get everything you want
I've been pricing up an Alaskan Cruise for June 2013 ..... Just gotta keep working on DH and hope that we can book when we are on our cruise in May

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you.

 

[Chilly]

Today was the day our booking window opened for Palo and excursions etc. As DH is planning this holiday I told him he had to get up to do it at 5am. He moaned a lot said will it really make a difference and to which I replied if we can't book Palo how will you feel, that shut him up. So the alarm went off at 4.45am this morning and he got up, I was already awake having woken at 4.20am, I tried to go back to sleep and managed to doze a bit but I kept thinking he would come in and ask me something but he didn't, I felt like one of the brides on Don't Tell the Bride who don't trust the grooms to plan the wedding.

Overall we were very successful. We got Palo Brunch on day 3, our cruising day, and Palo dinner on the last night, we din't bother with High Tea. We had decided on 2 excursions, we got 1 but had to book our 2nd choice for the other. Wonderful DH also booked me into the spa on day 2 for a hot stone massage, well I did drop enough hints.

So the excursions we've booked are, on day 4, Yukon Suspension Bridge, City and White Pass Railway - Board a vintage rail car for an approximate 95-minute, fully narrated trip aboard the historic White Pass & Yukon Route 3,292 feet above sea level. Next, visit the Yukon Suspension Bridge before continuing down the west side of the White Pass canyon. This was our 2nd choice as we had wanted to do the White Pass Railway with Glacier Lake Kayak but that wasn't available to book.

Then on day 5, Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Quest - Experience Alaska's premier attractions - glaciers and wildlife - by land and by sea. Enjoy a 3-hour whale watching and wildlife cruise aboard a deluxe catamaran, plus the opportunity to visit the world-famous Mendenhall Glacier. We also plan if the whether is good to go up the MT Roberts Tramway after our excursion. On day 6 we decided to save money and not book anything.

DH forgot to do the online check in but i've now completed that and picked the 1100>1130 port arrival time.

Next job decide what to do when we aren't on the cruise.

 

[meryll83]

I forgot about the joys of getting up at silly o'clock to book excursions etc!

Bet it's a relief to have them sorted now though

 

[princess_ariel_85]

As DH is planning this holiday I told him he had to get up to do it at 5am. He moaned a lot said will it really make a difference and to which I replied if we can't book Palo how will you feel, that shut him up. So the alarm went off at 4.45am this morning and he got up, I was already awake having woken at 4.20am, I tried to go back to sleep and managed to doze a bit but I kept thinking he would come in and ask me something but he didn't, I felt like one of the brides on Don't Tell the Bride who don't trust the grooms to plan the wedding.

I'n all seriousness though I'm pleased you were successful in getting the excursions you wanted.

I'm so jealous that your going whale watching. Sounds amazing.

I'm excited for you.... (and all the fabulous piccies your bound to take!) xx

 

[Chilly]

I forgot about the joys of getting up at silly o'clock to book excursions etc!

Bet it's a relief to have them sorted now though

Yeah it is. It didn't help that we were going out last night as well so it was a long day.

I'n all seriousness though I'm pleased you were successful in getting the excursions you wanted.

I'm so jealous that your going whale watching. Sounds amazing.

I'm excited for you.... (and all the fabulous piccies your bound to take!) xx

Its pretty much guaranteed that you see whales as well and if you don't you get your money back which has never happened in 10 years they said.

 

[Linda67]

Your excursions sound wonderful

I don't think the control freak in me could let DH do the bookings though

 

[Ciorsdah]

OMG your trip sounds amazing! Those excursions look really breathtaking

I'm impressed that you have handed the reigns to DH to book, thats true love right there I dont think I could ever let DBF book any trips on his own ( that were not surprises for me!), I'm such a control monster

Kirsty