I took my 7 year old and 3 year old up to Anchorage Alaska and boarded the Coral Princess Ship in Whittier- we spent 7 days going southbound to Vancouver. Here is all of my tidbits... the good and the bad:
Lets start with the good:
1) The bed is the MOST comfortable thing ever! I wanted to take it home, my happy place was IN BED on the boat! They even have a flyer that talks about the amazing mattresses! (on my Christmas list)
2) Nature! Princess does the nature of Alaska right! The Naturalist on board (Gloeta) was amazing. The ship brought on Rangers in Glacier Bay National Park (Where only 2 boats get to enter a day and very FEW companies have access to this National Park) there were many bridge wildlife talks, and lectures on Glaciers and Whales. Princess does an amazing job on bringing Alaska alive to you! (No, you do NOT need a balcony. I had a window, and it was perfect on deck 5. If you can afford it, great.. but I chose to spend more money on excursions, etc)
3) Rooms are a GREAT size! 4 of us in 1 room, no problem. Sufficient closet space!
4) Formal Photos are amazing, they actually EDIT the formal night photos! The package for $250 is worth it! You get all photos PLUS the digital copy.
5) Kids Clubs: My kids LOVED the kids club, they kept things simple, and they did fun crafts and activities. They did NOT want to leave :) My kids had a disco party, a pajama party, made a fish key chain, made crowns, made a puppet, tshirt, totem bandana, plus played countless hours of the Wii. note: What you see on the website now is NOT the currently Discovery Kids Club. They are remodeling to the Discovery rooms by 2018, the Coral is not done yet.
Here are the guides from the July 15-22nd Cruise:
Here are the guides from the July 15-22nd Cruise:
6) The Pizza up a the grill is amazing and the ESPRESSO from the bars (Latte's) are phenomenal. Buy the $31 coffee card! You get 15 specialty drinks and unlimited coffee and tea.
7) The Alaskan Railroad from ANC to Whittier was amazing! Your seats are pre-selected and since we had kids we lucked out with a 2 row section that faced each other. The 2 hour ride was narrated and we went thru gorgeous territory! I highly recommend it! They also TAKE your luggage at the train depot and put it on the ship for you!!!! Yup--luggage service! The train drops you off 80 feet from the boat, no joke! You hop off train, walk 30 seconds to the Princess boarding area to check in. EASY PEASY! (Note: the hotel called a cab with car seats for me to get to train station! We stayed in middle ANC and the cab ride was only $15).
7) The Alaskan Railroad from ANC to Whittier was amazing! Your seats are pre-selected and since we had kids we lucked out with a 2 row section that faced each other. The 2 hour ride was narrated and we went thru gorgeous territory! I highly recommend it! They also TAKE your luggage at the train depot and put it on the ship for you!!!! Yup--luggage service! The train drops you off 80 feet from the boat, no joke! You hop off train, walk 30 seconds to the Princess boarding area to check in. EASY PEASY! (Note: the hotel called a cab with car seats for me to get to train station! We stayed in middle ANC and the cab ride was only $15).
Ninja Mom Hacks
- Happy hour is 2 times a day. Buy one get one for $1, and it must be the same drink. From 3-4pm and 9-10pm. Example: 2 Alaskan Ambers = $9. You cannot get different drinks. Happy Hour is only at 1 bar each time. There will be 20 bartenders there for quick service.
- Pack light= laundry $6 a load start to finish. Dryers are huge. I packed for 3 days then did laundry. I was able to do 2 washers, then fit it all in the dryer. 45 min dry time.
- Bring a lanyard, and have front desk punch hole in your room key, then hook it at the bottom of the lanyard.
- You will need a small bag/backpack- You will use your phone for camera/messenger app, and the kids club gives you a pager (yes, a flipping BEEPER!).
- Teach kids how to type certain things on messenger app. They can be alone in room. My 7 year old loved being on his iPad alone, he had the app and knew how to type "please come back". I was never gone for more than 30 minutes (to get food, etc). The ship is SAFE! Also your room steward is always around and you can tell your kids to find him if they need you.
- In skagway- they bring puppies on board from the sled dogs. At 5pm they have Puppies in the Atrium and you can take photos with them.
- No shops open in port.
- You are packing for 4 seasons. 75 in ANC, to rain/freezing on the boat. Pack in 4 day cycles with layers, and do laundry. Your kids NEVER need to go outside... so if your kids love TShirt and Shorts- they will be fine. Deck 7 goes all the way thru, so no need to go outside, ever! I brought each kid a huge heavy jacket and rain coats- they NEVER wore them. Long sleeves and pants- perfect outfit.
- The Kids Club will take the kids in Port- they open at 8am (earlier) and feed them lunch. This way you can go enjoy a tour of the port.
- Take them on the Skagway Train up the White Pass! That is something everyone should see-- you will literally see the gold rush trail and end in Canada :) The history is amazing! If you book a tour that has other things with the train, then you get a private tour guide the whole time. We did sled dogs, gold panning, and train (7 hour tour)- and we had a guide the entire time. So worth it! Getting our own train car was the highlight. This is from our room! The train is THAT close- seriously these cruise lines make it sooo damn easy to travel...
- The kids club does 2 kid dinners- you drop them off at the buffet and they have an area blocked off just for the kids. Pizza and punch are laid out and they have their own dinner party. Make sure you do this, so then you get alone time with your spouse over a nice meal. The other 5 nights the kids are with you (even formal night). In fact the Kids Club is closed most days lunch and dinner. You can drop them off at 9am-noon. then 2-5pm then 7-10pm You have them lunch/dinner.
- You will need an extra luggage bag for all the stuff the kids will bring back: pirate hat, crown, puppet, shirt, art work, etc.
- Junior Ranger Program: In Glacier Bay the Ranger who boards the boat will head to the kids area and they have the Junior Ranger Program. They work on the book and get their badge! Then in Skagway you can go to 4th and Broadway for that Junior Ranger Badge, then again in Ketchikan! 3 badges in 1 trip :) If you don't take your kids in port, you can get the book and address- simply do book with kids and mail them in. They mail back badges.
- Channel 27 rotates 2 movies every day, all day long. Sing, Moana, Dory, Monster Trucks, Power Rangers, etc. Great selection...
- The pizza is amazing and my kids lived on it. I would leave them in the room and walk to get them pizza and bring it back to the room. You also can room service a WHOLE pizza from them to the room!!!
- Cell Service: When you pass the Ranger Station in Glacier Bay at 7am you will have CELL SERVICE! But it will only last a short while. Then you get it again in Skagway, etc. The night before Skagway you should get it at 10pm at night. You must be on the LAND side of the boat!
OK THE BAD....
Cons-
Princess seems to cater to those of the older age, just as Disney caters to kids/families. This is important to note... you must be prepared--
Princess seems to cater to those of the older age, just as Disney caters to kids/families. This is important to note... you must be prepared--
1) The sit down restaurants are not that great- we found the food to be completely tasteless and bland. So.. skip it and go to the buffet. The buffet is amazing! We only had sit down service ONCE... buffet is where it's at - yum.
2) You will be nickle and dimed... all the time. There are 2 specialty restaurants on site, those are NOT included in your voyage- they are extra. Crab feast: extra $. The guide to all the days activities is called the Patter, and when you open it your jaw will DROP with all the things to do... but there is a catch. A lot of the activities involve spending more money: yoga, spin, jewelry, foot arch evaluation, acupuncture, bingo, casino, art gallery, lose weight, lose inches, etc. On the last sea day I went thru the patter and crossed out everything that cost $$ and everything I did NOT want to do. I was left with Trivia at 4pm. That was it... I was very bored that day.
3) The Princess App messenger system. In airplane mode you can open up internet and use thier chat/messenger thing with your family. It works great if you have it open every waking second, because it does NOT alert you that you have a message! You have to open it to see if someone has left you a message. So it is NOT the best mode of communication.
2) You will be nickle and dimed... all the time. There are 2 specialty restaurants on site, those are NOT included in your voyage- they are extra. Crab feast: extra $. The guide to all the days activities is called the Patter, and when you open it your jaw will DROP with all the things to do... but there is a catch. A lot of the activities involve spending more money: yoga, spin, jewelry, foot arch evaluation, acupuncture, bingo, casino, art gallery, lose weight, lose inches, etc. On the last sea day I went thru the patter and crossed out everything that cost $$ and everything I did NOT want to do. I was left with Trivia at 4pm. That was it... I was very bored that day.
3) The Princess App messenger system. In airplane mode you can open up internet and use thier chat/messenger thing with your family. It works great if you have it open every waking second, because it does NOT alert you that you have a message! You have to open it to see if someone has left you a message. So it is NOT the best mode of communication.
The only reason I would do Princess again is because my friend is crew... but for now I will stick with Disney. You cannot compare Disney to Princess, they both cater to different groups. Once Princess stops making people spend more money every waking moment, I will go back :)
As always I explain our my family spends 25K a year on vacations while still have a $630 a month daycare bill.
1) Working REWARDS!
a) Disney Chase Credit card. 2% back. Use if for EVERYTHING except 3 things. We have one of us cruise for free on Disney every other year. AND Disney Vacations are 6 months 0 % interest.
b) Costco Citi card! We make over $1500 a year back from 2 cards and the Executive Membership. That cash (sent as checks you cash at Costco registers) is used to pay for our entire Carnival Cruise this spring break!
c) Alaskan Airlines Credit Card- companion fares, free baggage, miles.
d) EBATES! In 8 days I have made $63 in cash and $30 is pending travel. You start at the EBATES website and simply shop like normal online. The referral link within Ebates makes you money.
ex: Amazon says "hey EBATES send me people to shop" Ebates loads up the % back and posts it. You start on Ebates and click the Amazon link, it sends you to Amazon KNOWING you will earn cash back. You shop on Amazon like normal (be sure to stay in that referral link) and BAM % back in your EBATE account the next day. It is THAT easy!
Cash is sent to your Paypal account (or paper check) every quarter. This alone pays for our spending money for our Thanksgiving Cancun Trip. Here is my snip-it proving what I have earned and (promise, legit)! And the link to sign up.
Below in the photo #1) All money made on Ebates to date (8 days people)! #2) My last PayPal deposit. #3) how I earned cash back on shopping.
LINK to sign up: https://www.ebates.com/r/OOGIEN3?eeid=28187
2) We do not have car payments. Hubby drives a 2003 Accord, me a 2010 Swag Van we paid off in 2 years (hence, didn't travel much those years).
3) Our mortgage is lower. We are both full time educators and could have afforded over 2K a month on a mortgage, instead we opted for a cheaper home for a cheaper mortgage.
4) Shop travel deals online during good sales. Our entire April spring break Carnival cruise is $1400 for all of us. Our Alaskan Cruise we got the alcohol package for FREE when we upgraded to a Balcony (which I had always wanted). In Mexico always Kids Stay FREE deals.
5) YNAB! You Need a Budget is an online cloud budget tool. It is budgeting on steroids! You have to account for EVERY penny! I have been using YNAB for 5 years and I am able to FULLY fund my vacations thru budgeting each month. I set aside 2k a month for travel, this tool allows me to budget monthly and set goals. It tells me what we spend the most money on (ahem, food and shopping) and allows us to have discussions about habits we NEED to change to reach our goals. They have amazing training videos, and a FREE 30 day trial. Try it, no obligation (it is better than MINT which I used for 2 years and EveryDollar). Try it here: https://ynab.com/referral/?ref=G6Kp8nTV4XKAQNSX&utm_source=customer_referral
Travel on Everyone!
-Auggie
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