Hi
We just completed our PG cruise to FP and loved, loved, loved it. Now contemplating Alaska next year. We're thinking about the Mariner since we were so pleased with PG, however, I'm a bit confused with the choices of post and pre cruise -Some of the hotels included in the post and pre are not rated very well on various trip advisor reports. We're looking for 4 night preferably precruise. The one I'm looking at includes overnight in Kamloops (sp?) and I understand the hotels in the area aren't the greatest. Also the Denali hotel doesn't rate high marks either. Also looking at Celebrity and Princess, but I'm afraid we've been spoiled with the PG and may not be happy on the larger vessel.
Heard there was a great hotel in Banff?? Any suggestions?? Thanks in advance.
j.

Welcome to LCT. Thanks for posting.

There is a different opinion in Alaska from the lower 48 as to what is considered luxury. So if you see a 3 or 4 star property, know that rugged is still the norm there and not to have high expectations. There is a reason it's called The Last Frontier. Go and enjoy the beauty of the place and not the hotels. A RSSC ship will have the highest rated amenities, food and luxury.

Banff Springs Hotel and Chateau Lake Louise are wonderful hotels, cant go wrong there.

I agree, can't go wrong with any Fairmont, IMO.

http://www.fairmont.com/banffsprings/

So if I understand the question, you're doing the precruise in Anchorage? Or in Vancouver?

Masaki

Kamloops (spelled correctly, by the way). That must mean you're considering the two-day train trip through the Rockies? I would love to do that, and it's probably worth a not-very-glamorous hotel. But before I say that, which hotel are they offering? There may be quite a nice one there.

I like Jasper Lake Lodge also. It's not as glamorous as Chateau Lake Louise or Banff Fairmont but lovely, relaxing setting. We stayed at all three on our Canadian Rockies Tauck tour.

Yes, Jasper is lovely. We saw so much wildlife there and the Icefields Parkway drive is really so special. Beautiful part of the world.

Kamloops is not much. It is just basically an agricultural area with orchards.

Banff Springs Hotel is wonderful. I have not stayed there but visited. There was a bagpiper who marched the grounds away from the hotel playing his music. It was a wonderful experience. The town of Banff is not what it was. Japanese have bought many historic buildings and converted them to steak houses.

But nothing, absolutely nothing, can destroy the beauty of Banff and Lake Louise.The icefields parkway is worth renting a car for. You can take an icemobile onto the glacier.

Agree with Ardis about Kamloops...nothing. It was just a stopover on the two night train trip from Vancouver to Jasper. Stayed at a Motel 6 type of place which we would not have chosen. Asked for the best place to eat and a local Friendly's/Applebee's type of place was recommended. Loved Jasper Park Lodge, Lake Louise and Banff Springs Hotels on the same trip though. Linda & Larry

First, thank you for the warm welcome and all your replies....I'm so appreciative. We've only cruised 2x before - once on Celebrity and a few weeks ago on the beautiful PG. Now that the kids are "colleged" and married - we're on our way!!! If we cruise the Mariner, which is where I'm leaning, this is one option.
5 night pre cruise
Day 1 Starts Calgary airport to Banff Springs Hotel (2 nights).
Day 2 The Columbia Icefields in Jasper National Park. A stop at Lake Louise.
Day 3 Train station to the Rocky Mountaineer, heading west. From Banff the train crosses over the Continental Divide and passes through the Spiral Tunnels in Yoho National Park. Passes the Craigellachie. Then Kamloops. "Upon arrival in Kamloops you will transfer to a hotel selected by the Rocky Mountaineer. Although hotels in Kamloops are the best available, they do not compare to the grand hotels built by the Canadian Pacific." This gives me pause - doesn't sound like a great place to stay. Overnight in Kamloops. :(
Day 4 Westward. Leaving Kamloops, the train travels along the Thompson River to the Fraser Canyon-Hell's Gate. Then through Fraser Valley to Vancouver. In Vancouver transfer to the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.
Day 5 Day and night are at leisure in Vancouver. Overnight at the Hotel Vancouver.
Day 6 Transfer to ship in Vancouver BC.

It sounds good to me, but I'm just afraid I'm missing something by not going to Denali on this one. ALso, two nights in downtown Vancouver doesn't sound so great and one in Kamloops is questionable. Some of the other pre/post tours go through Denali- Hubbard glacier.....In your opinion, is Denali a must see? (Sorry so long!!)

Hi Nana:
Welcome!! I'm new too. And, once the kids are gone and college done...we were off!! But now, they want to go too!! (But we aren
t ready for that yet! Tho, I'd love to take the grandkids on a Disney). Anyhow, saw your post. We did Alaska with Princes and their land tour last July. I don't know much about the tour you are talking about, but we were awed by Mckinley/Denali...the are is true wilderness and mostly untouched. As far as downtown Vancouver....it is a wonderful city. Easy to get around, wonderful restaurants and if you've never been, a day in Victoria at Butchart Gardens is spectacular.
Noticed you were on the PG recently...we are going 7/12 on the 10 day. Any helpful hints or tour suggestions not to miss!!
Good luck...these are hard decisions but they are sure the fun kind!
Carol

Welcome to Nana and Carol! I love seeing all these new names :)

Welcome - please post often and ask questions?? You are only "new" with your first post!!! Joanna

Nana & Carol,

Welcome to LCT!

Betty

Thanks again everyone for making me feel so welcomed!!

Carol, we were on the PG end of April. Did 7 nights with 5 days post cruise in BB at the Pearl Beach. The only problem I have with it is that I'm afraid nothing else will ever compare. There is NOTHING I could say, "I only wish..." From the incredible ship to the beauty of the lagoon at PB......Just a wonderful experience. While on the ship,we did a Sunday A/C bus tour of Raiatea which was most interesting - learned alot about the locals, i.e., customs, etc. , swam with the stingrays in Moorea, did the tour of the Ancients in Moorea. At PB, a 4x4 in Bora Bora - Walked all around Vaitape - and snorkelled everyday! All incredible. We booked everything before we left on the trip through my TA/Radisson. All transfers, etc. were absolutely seamless. Radisson (Regent) really takes care of you. Another place to get valuable info on PG and excursions, etc. is Tahiti Explorer.com. Great forum, like this one. You'll get alot of great advice. The best thing about one trip ending is planning the next!!
j.

Nana,

Prior to our July '05 Mariner Alaska cruise, we debated doing the Banff/Lake Louise etc. pre-cruise. Last year, I believe it was only 4 nights, 2 of which were in Vancouver, which we had been to at least twice, albeit 25? yrs. ago, we later realized. Vancouver was a totally different BOOMING city from our memory; still beautiful because of its natural setting and we enjoyed (arrived day before cruise.) So we opted for the Denali post-cruise, 4 nights,recommended by friends, which was enjoyable , except that DH got sick with ? (infection, high fever, respiratory, etc., evidently day before we got off ship but he didn't tell me.) I did go on the Denali tour, which he insisted on, and the scope/vistas/animal sightings were most impressive. Did NOT see the mountain but that is such a luck of the draw, I don't know how you calculate that, except to get an analysis from Anchorage/Talkeetna the day of and go for it! (flightseeing.) The RSSC tour operator, Premier Alaska Tours, was excellent.

Hubbard Glacier will be seen on the cruise - awesome! The SCALE of everything in Alaska is really beyond my descriptive capabilities, compared to Switzerland, Italian Dolomites, US Rockies, etc.

Just my experience, hope it's helpful.

If you read through the MUSH posts, you'll see that some previous Alaska cruisers (ChatKat and Masaki and others,) are doing a Denali extension on their own so as to experience the inland country.

I put together the Post Cruise for MUSH. We depart the Mariner on Wednesday, Drive up via Chartered Limo Motorcoach (Alaska Timberwolf Tours is driving us from Whittier)to Denali, we are staying two nights at the Grande Denali Lodge, booked the Cabin Nite Dinner Theater for arrival night, The Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali, and then taking the Gold Star Train the next day back to Anchorage. Staying one night in Anchorage. We needed a minimum of 20 to do this with Premier Alaska Tours. I would have like one more day in Denali, but, we all have to get back home and a day home before going back to the office is needed.

Thanks all for the welcomes! I noted I mispelled a few words....my first post anxiety???
Nana...thanks for the wonderful info on PG....I cannot wait!! This site is such a great find!!

Carol

LOL Carol, if you want to see some misspelled words, just read my posts!! Thank goodness for spell check or everyone would think that I flunked the hooked on Phonics class! Spell check doesn't work when I use layed when I meant laid, etc. :)

Welcome Carol and Nana
I'm leaving on the Mariner June 7 for Alaska, but no land tour. We will do an separate land tour in 2008 hopefully Everyone on this board is very helpful. I can spell but can't type so have lots of mistakes in my posts.
Sandra

Sandra - have a great trip and can't wait to hear your trip report. :bv:
j.

If you haven't been to Vancouver, I think this trip sounds great.

Sedona - First - love the pic of the dog.
Never been to Vancouver....Just debating on the post Denali or the pre Banff/Lake Louise/Kamloops/Vancouver. I'm just put off by the hotels included. I know we'll be out most of the day, but I don't want to stay in a marginal hotel either. The trip advisor reports from people who have been in these hotels are pretty poor, other than Banff, which I'd really like to see. Decisions, decisions.....All the cruise lines seem to use the same hotels, except Princess, which my friend took a few years ago and said the pre cruise/hotels were great, but I really want to go on the Mariner, rather than a 2,000 people cruise. Got spoiled with the PG.
j.