Coral Princess Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,032 reviews

Wonderful Coral Princess Cruise and HB5 Denali Tour July 2013

Review for Alaska Cruise on Coral Princess
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RetiredTravelerTN
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jul 2013
Cabin: Balcony

Princess delivered a great cruise/tour to Denali and the inside passage. We had never taken an organized tour or a cruise; our first experience met every expectation. As we researched the places and activities in Alaska, we determined that we wanted to see the Kenai Peninsula, Denali, and the inside passage. We wanted the freedom of independent travel to see the Kenai Peninsula, but we decided that we would enjoy the convenience of an organized tour to Denali, and we wanted to ride the domed railcar from Denali to the cruise ship. After selecting the HB5 land tour, we selected the dates/ship for the Princess portion of our Alaskan adventure; then, we booked air tickets that took us to Anchorage a few days before the Princess tour. For the next few months I researched activities.

Prior to travel, we completed the requested information on the Princess website and read the instructions for our tour. Princess has excellent organization and processes. Upon arrival at Hotel Captain Cook, we checked in at the Princess desk (not the hotel front desk) where we were given an envelope with our room keys, instructions for departing to the next location the following morning, and luggage tags for the next stop. Princess is expert at transporting people and luggage to each place, and a successful trip is obtained just by following their instructions. The motor coaches are comfortable and accommodating, driven by capable drivers who also provide information and stories along the way. Once we began the Princess land and cruise tour, we did not have to worry about our luggage until we departed the cruise ship in Vancouver.

Tour HB5 was the perfect land tour for us. It provided one night at Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage, two nights at McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, and two nights at Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge. After reading that Denali is only visible an average of one out of three days, we hoped that we would get to see it at least once - we were very lucky that the mountain was visible 4 out of 5 days! It is an amazing sight! Spending two nights at McKinley Princess was better than one night for us because the location is in an area that provides great views of the mountain when it is not enshrouded in clouds. It also gave us a full day to enjoy the town of Talkeetna. More than two nights at Denali would have been better, but we were happy to enjoy 1  days in the park. The only significant comment I'll make here about Denali NP is to note that, prior to travel, we cancelled the Natural History Tour that was part of the Princess package. They kindly gave us a refund for the tour. Prior to travel I booked the national park shuttle to Eielson Visitor Center at mile 66 in the park. This gave us a much better opportunity to see the park. The train ride in the domed railcar from Denali to Whittier was a highlight; we were assigned to a car and table that happened to be among a great group of people - we talked and laughed all day as we marveled at the beautiful views and photographed the scenery.

Cabin Review

Balcony

Cabin BD

B706 aft portside cabin -- quiet and smooth, near the laundry, good views while sailing south, nice small balcony with 2 chairs and small round table -- good for viewing, reading, writing, and relaxing.

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