Costco Kirkland Signature Cruises
SMS
Signature Cruises, with Alaska being the first destination in 2008.
"http://tinyurl.com/3cl9kt" The prices didn't seem to be anything to
write home about.
I read a story about Costco's foray into cruises. They're getting
Princess to rename the ship to the "Kirkland Princess," and Royal
Caribbean will be renaming one of their ships to "Kirkland of the Seas."
Hopefully you don't have to buy ten cruises at once.
Nonnymus
I love the itinerary, but a few things jump out at me. First of all,
the price seems a bit high despite the added shore things. We've done
both Princess and HAL in Alaska, and I really, really prefer Princess. I
wonder what something similar would cost if you got an adjoining date
through a TA like George, Cal or Ray? Secondly, there's that pesky open
jaw air problem.
While on the air subject, in the three times we've caught a plane in
Anchorage, it's been a fairly early flight. . . such as around
6:00a-7:00a. or even earlier, as I recall. Since the departure point of
the vacation is Vancouver, I wonder when Customs for the US entry will
be held?
If the Customs is handled when the ship arrives at Whittier, then it
wouldn't be repeated at the Anchorage airport. The last time we did a
southern departure from Anchorage, following back to back cruise tours
into and out of Canada, it was a trying. Well, actually it was beyond a
mess, but we're in mixed company here. I'm going on 7-8 year old memory
here, so please be gentle.
Our flight home from Anchorage was fairly early- say about 6:30a.
Princess had a bus to take us from the Hilton to the airport, departing
about 3:30a, as I recall. Our bags had been taken to the International
terminal, since we'd been on a cruise tour in and out of Canada, and
they were still handling the luggage for us. Customs did their thing in
the international terminal, but security and check in for the flight was
at the regular terminal. We had to stand in line for the bags to be
inspected at the International terminal by customs, then lug them
ourselves to the regular terminal for airline security and check-in.
This all took time and effort after 4+ weeks of cruising and riding
buses, trains and boats with little sleep, heat (little air conditioning
in Alaska) and almost perpetual daylight.
We'd had a great time on the back to back cruise tours of HAL and
Princess, but by the end of the trip I was ready to go home. . . as were
all of us. The last "day," being virtually an all-nighter, was
unpleasant and a terrible way to end a great time. My most sincere
advice for anyone doing a cruise tour TO Alaska would be to arrange for
an extra day in Anchorage and to get a daytime flight home, allowing
plenty of time at the Anchorage airport if they haven't modified their
system. Since what we encountered was relatively new, then, I am fairly
sure that they've streamlined it a bunch, but it's sure worth checking.
If we were doing it again, I would definitely do the motorcoach/train
portion in Alaska first, then cruise south to Vancouver. This gives you
a week aboard an air conditioned ship to unwind. The tour portion of a
cruise-tour is made as easy as it can be for the guests, including
handling luggage and narration. The motorcoaches are air conditioned,
ride smoothly, the seats are comfortable and the stops are at reasonable
intervals. For those with scooters, the luggage bins beneath the
motorcoach can easily hold the scooter and the driver had it waiting for
you at the bottom of the bus steps. Still, compared to a cruise, there
is a lot more walking, less time for sleep and more turmoil during a
motorcoach tour than aboard a cruise ship. It's far better to do it
first, while you're excited and fresh, then unwind on the cruise as you
come home.
--
---Nonnymus---
You don’t stand any taller by
trying to make others appear shorter.
rieker
cruisetour (Diamond Princess) [Vancouver to Whittier to Denali to Anchorage]
Overall it was fabulous!
Princess has a wonderful offering with their cruises and cruisetours. We
had the benefit of onboard, live narration of where we were and what we were
seeing as the ship sailed up the Inside Passage, Glacier Bay and Prince
William Sound/College Fjord. While sailing we saw whales, porpoises,
whales, sea lions, whales, bald eagles, otters, whales, seals. Did I
mention whales?? :)
We even saw a ton of Beluga whales in Turnagain Arm on the train from
Whittier to Anchorage.
The negatives were:
1. The train from Whittier to Denali. WAYYY too long. They took 10 hours
to get us to a place that should have been no more than a 4 hour train trip.
Sadly we were uncomfortable and grumpy by the time that we arrived at
Denali. The Denali Princess lodge is nice. Maybe 3.5 stars. But it served
the purpose.
2. "Experience Denali Tour". Advertised as a 3 hour bus ride. We did not
take it, but 8 in our group did. Seems it was about 30 minutes on the bus,
a 1 mile hike and a lecture by a naturalist. (no wildlife or tundra
experience) They were passionately disappointed. :(
I notice that on this Costco trip, the 'Tundra Wilderness Tour' is
scheduled. We ditched the"Experience Denali Tour" in favor of the TWT even
tho we had to cover the cost ourselves. WELL worth it!. We were gone 8
hours, had a great driver/guide. We saw 12 grizzlies (1 sow had 3 cubs with
her), caribou, a "Boon and Crockett" bull moose, dall sheep, showshoe hare,
ptarmigan(s) and loads of beautiful country. Anyone planning Denali should
take this tour. http://www.reservedenali.com/tours.php Anyone or any TA
who might book this for themselves or a client should know that it is often
full by February. We were able to book at the last minute due to
cancellations.
Apparently either Costco or Princess got the message as it is offered in
this Kirkland itinerary.
SMS
> Interesting itinerary. We just got back from a shortened version of that
> cruisetour (Diamond Princess) [Vancouver to Whittier to Denali to Anchorage]
>
> Overall it was fabulous!
>
> Princess has a wonderful offering with their cruises and cruisetours. We
> had the benefit of onboard, live narration of where we were and what we were
> seeing as the ship sailed up the Inside Passage, Glacier Bay and Prince
> William Sound/College Fjord. While sailing we saw whales, porpoises,
> whales, sea lions, whales, bald eagles, otters, whales, seals. Did I
> mention whales?? :)
> We even saw a ton of Beluga whales in Turnagain Arm on the train from
> Whittier to Anchorage.
>
> The negatives were:
>
> 1. The train from Whittier to Denali. WAYYY too long. They took 10 hours
> to get us to a place that should have been no more than a 4 hour train trip.
> Sadly we were uncomfortable and grumpy by the time that we arrived at
> Denali. The Denali Princess lodge is nice. Maybe 3.5 stars. But it served
> the purpose.
The joke is that Alaska really isn't all that big, it's just that the
train is so slow. The Alaska Railroad is not for anyone in a rush. We
took it several years ago, but not in a rail car from a cruise line
being towed along, but in the regular train. The hostess told us that
the people in the cruise rail cars see much less wildlife because the
wildlife is scared away by the time the rear rail cars get to where the
wildlife was.
> 2. "Experience Denali Tour". Advertised as a 3 hour bus ride. We did not
> take it, but 8 in our group did. Seems it was about 30 minutes on the bus,
> a 1 mile hike and a lecture by a naturalist. (no wildlife or tundra
> experience) They were passionately disappointed. :(
> I notice that on this Costco trip, the 'Tundra Wilderness Tour' is
> scheduled. We ditched the"Experience Denali Tour" in favor of the TWT even
> tho we had to cover the cost ourselves. WELL worth it!. We were gone 8
> hours, had a great driver/guide. We saw 12 grizzlies (1 sow had 3 cubs with
> her), caribou, a "Boon and Crockett" bull moose, dall sheep, showshoe hare,
> ptarmigan(s) and loads of beautiful country. Anyone planning Denali should
> take this tour. http://www.reservedenali.com/tours.php Anyone or any TA
> who might book this for themselves or a client should know that it is often
> full by February. We were able to book at the last minute due to
> cancellations.
>
> Apparently either Costco or Princess got the message as it is offered in
> this Kirkland itinerary.
We took a very long bus tour to the Kantishna Road House. About 13
hours. We saw a lot of wildlife. The guide/driver kept talking about the
wonderful lunch at the road house, which consisted of some sandwiches!
"http://www.alaskatravel.com/denali-park/kantishna-bus-tour.html". Not
sure how much we actually paid, as we bought some package from Alaska
Tour and Travel. I think the eight hour trip would have been sufficient.
We stayed at the Denali Princess Lodge even though we were not on a
cruise. It was okay, but nothing to write home about. At least they had
a laundrymat!
Peri
> I notice that Costco is now marketing their own brand of Kirkland
> Hopefully you don't have to buy ten cruises at once.
I'm sorry...the problem with this would be WHAT??! <vbg>
~ Peri
SMS
The problem is that all of them are on the same ship on the same date.