AlibearNS

Well, I think I was truly cursed this cruise. In all my Princess cruises, this had to be our worst for issues, too many to list, but we made the most of it, as you do, but disappointing. The Sapphire was the first Princess ship we ever sailed on, so a bit sad so much went wrong for us but so glad everyone else on this thread had a great cruise. 

And we did have excellent weather!!!

Disembarkation was the most organized we've ever seen in Vancouver, despite there being two other ships in. But on the last morning our toilet flooded which was crappy (excuse the pun) so we had to leave early to use other facilities. And now, despite wearing a mask indoors the whole time and on the ferry home, I have covid for the first time ever (sigh).

So sorry for the people posting here of their experience. The last thing you want as you start the cruise is a fight over what you've booked or paid for.

I, too, bring hard copies of everything. I go one further, I screen shot my dining reservations on the app in case I have difficulty loading it to see when and where we need to be.

This is nowhere as bad as others report, but still rankled. On my cruise last week, very late the night before the first formal, they switched our reservation for two for a private table to a shared. I noticed first thing in the morning and spent the day speaking to various people to try and get it back as it was, and being pretty much told it was my fault, and nobody at Princess had changed anything!

That was the worst part, being gaslit when I had the screenshot! Also an automated email came through at 11.08pm the previous night saying they'd changed the reservation, but not showing what they did. Someone was obviously in the system moving things about! I guess they thought we'd not notice, turn up, wait however long it took for a table and the situation would resolve itself.

The upshot, even after taking it higher, was to turn up at the assigned time, wait, pick up someone else's reservation when they don't show up after 20 minutes. Kind of makes a mockery of booking. I get that they anticipated being busy that night, but own it when you're caught out and definitely don't imply the passenger messed up 😞

18 hours ago, Carnevale said:

The chef’s table looks interesting.  Are they able to accommodate dietary requirements?  We eat fish but no meat or poultry.  Might not be possible given the set menu approach.

It may vary from ship to ship but on the Royal (or it may have been the Majestic) last year we were personally invited by the restaurant manager but when he found out we didn’t eat meat and poultry he couldn’t put us on the list. He was very apologetic about it. 

I found the premium desserts half an hour ago on the Sapphire, upstairs at the ice cream bar. I’m not a dessert person, maybe had three so far at dinner since boarding 8 days ago but I was determined we have at least one of these premium monstrosities on this trip since they’ve included two a day on Plus. I mean, who thought this up! They look like they’re aimed at 5 year olds not adults.

I am now covered in chocolate and strawberry sauce. It’s in my hair, hands and face and there’s a dollop on my arm. These things are incredibly drippy! Maybe I shouldn’t have taken it back to the cabin. I still think they a ridiculous inclusion in Plus (just give me some decent wine!) but I have to say the cheesecake one was delicious!!!

Meanwhile, DH arrived at cabin with his premium dessert from the International cafe! OMG! He valiantly managed a little less than half!

Currently on the Sapphire and had to crew chat to ask about juice as no one seemed to know. They say it’s at swirls ice cream bar. Interestingly met a couple at dinner the other night who said the slices of the big cakes at the International Café are also considered part of the plus premium desserts. Haven’t investigated this yet. Already had way too much sugar!

Beautiful weather sailing into Ketchikan this morning!!

Looking through my videos of Fortress of the Bear in Sitka. Friends back in the UK are convinced it’s a person in a bear suit, ha! First time posting a vid here; hope it works!

BTW, high activity and clear skies forecast tonight!!!!

49 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

Are Northern Lights predicted tonight ?!?

Yes and tomorrow night according to University of Alaska web page. Captain says 50 50 chance tonight and hoping for wind to reduce cloud cover. We’re leaving the bridge cam on tonight as he’ll announce if they show 🙂

1 hour ago, EDVM96 said:

Sitka Sound. What a nice Archipelago. And with us came the good weather said the locals (again).

 

Princess should stop here more often. It's an unusual stop for Princess ships. The 7 day Voyage of the Glaciers never stops here.

 

I like this place.

 

Our first visit. I liked it too. Loved Fortress of the Bear! Fingers crossed for the Northern Lights tonight!!!

6 hours ago, Drdarkknight said:

Going to bed early was absolutely the right call as it made waking up at 6am for Glacier Bay relatively easy. We hit the buffet by 6:30am to find it…closed? That was weird. It was about a ten minute wait before it opened up and we had to actually flag someone down to bring us drinks, despite the restaurant being nearly empty. 

 

We ate quickly and went up to Skywalkers for the 7:30am Rangers Chat, which was informative albeit short. Then we started the lap routine we had started at Hubbard Glacier. Deck 15 then down to 7, warm up and resume. It was windy and overcast to start but when we hit deck 15 for the second time at 9am it was gorgeous and sunny! Being the psycho Canadians that we are; we ordered cold alcoholic drinks and sat down at the bar. It was so sunny and hot my husband ran down our jackets to the room. While he was gone I noticed we were really close to a cliff side so I went to take a picture and there was a glacier coming right into view! 

 

At this point the captain had started his turn so my husband and I went for a lap around deck 7. We saw a lot of sea otters and got a look at another glacier before heading back to deck 15. We ordered more drinks and we’re about to continue our laps but when we walked over to the side to see there was Margerie Glacier coming into view! We stayed put and got some pictures and even saw some calving. 

 

I will say we both preferred Hubbard Glacier. Nothing wrong with Glacier Bay, we just felt Hubbard was more impressive. You can’t beat the weather today though. It was just gorgeous out. I didn’t think I’d get a sunburn in Alaska! 

 

At noon we went down to the International Dining Room for lunch. It was pretty good. I had the mozzarella sticks, aglio e olio spaghetti and potato latkes, with some ice cream for dessert. When the waiter brought my latkes he stressed that they were vegetarian, which I found odd. But then I realized everything I’d ordered was vegetarian and he probably thought I was one. Oops. 

 

We did another walk around the promenade deck before heading back to deck 15 until 3pm. We went down to Explorer’s Lounge for 3:15 to play Taboo. It wasn’t totally what I expected (I thought it would be set up more like a game show or trivia) but it was a blast. There was a group of 12 of us divided into six groups and we did two rounds. My husband and I won by two points! The game is definitely easier when you play with someone you know. Since you can’t use specific words you can at least say things like ‘what do we have in our kitchen that’s new?’ 

 

We got ready for our second formal night and then went to good old Vines for a drink before dinner. We tried out Pacific Moon tonight and had a seat right by the window. This was the quickest service by far! It was also one of my favourite meals of the trip. I had the crab and artichoke dip, seafood deviled eggs, cheesy tortellini, surf and turf and we split the pistachio dome for desert. 

 

That meant we arrived at the evening’s show with plenty of time to spare. Tonight it was The Voices of Tricia Kelly and by now the boat was really rocking. We haven’t really felt it like this since Hubbard Glacier so even though I was expecting it, it was a bit of a jolt. In any case, Tricia Kelly is an amazingly talented singer and hilarious to boot! I really enjoyed her. 

 

We rushed from her show to Explorer’s Lounge for the Marriage Match show. My husband wanted to put our names down and we were picked for the ‘newlywed’ category. It was part embarrassing part hilarious. I’ll get over it haha. We received a great prize at the end so it was certainly worth some mild humiliation. 

 

We went back to Vines for a bit and they offered to store our sparkling wine for us until we wanted to drink it. We checked out the White & Gold Party in the Piazza for about ten minutes but ultimately left. There was movie soundtrack trivia at 10:30 and I’m a huge movie buff. Normally I’d pick a special ship event over trivia but, to be honest, I’m tired of hearing the same songs at every party. 

 

We made the right choice because movie soundtrack trivia was so fun! I tied for first with 27/30 and would have had 28 if I wasn’t an idiot who messed up Back to the Future of all things. I lost the tie breaker question but that was okay; we had a great time and a great end to our day! 

 

 

We agree, Hubbard is the most impressive! But the weather yesterday was so amazingly warm and Margerie spectacular. People back home are saying I should frame some of my photos. They were taken with my phone ha ha but the light was excellent.

With you about the rocking. It was going some last night but all good.

Enjoyed watching you in the game show. We came 30 minutes early and I think got the last two seats at the back! People come for the trivia before and stay put for the big game shows. I think that’s a good plan. There were crowds standing at the back.

Our dining in the Savoy was still super slow with lots of apologies. It was about 40 mins to first course but now I’m allowed to drink again it didn’t feel too bad and we don’t mind eating slowly. Those waiters work incredibly hard. The waiter we had in Juneau had just flown in - a 26 hour journey - and was straight to work! 

Just now, billco said:

Captain’s Circle Party 

 

 

Was it good? We missed it. Too much fresh air, fell asleep!

Interestingly, we’ve noticed all our guides and drivers on our Princess tours have not been locals and all seem to be from the same handful of US states. Although enthusiastic they struggle if you ask a question not on script. One of our drivers/come guide said to bear with him if he messes up the dates or names as it’s a lot to learn and his first tour. At Liarsville we stumbled into a quiet area where all the bake staff were chilling. We had a good laugh with them when they asked where we were from and then told us where they were from - only one guy was Alaskan. And the guy from Arizona was feeling the cold!!!

So, curious now, I had a chat with one of the seasonal workers.

All guides work for Carnival Corp and a recruiter company. They recruited in Idaho, Arizona, and at least 2 other states but not being from the USA I forget the names. Maybe Míchigan? They recruit mostly Mormons and they do their commercial drivers licence training at home before coming out. At the end of the season they get a very low cost HAL cruise!

After cruising Alaska in May last year post COVID with few tour options due to lack of guides, I’m in two minds about this. It’s great to have so many tours up and running again and they’re doing a fantastic job, adding to the local economy and cruise experience but, if you want a truly authentic Alaskan experience I’d suggest hunting out private tours if any available. Saying that, Princess tours are a lot of fun!!!

Non US residents currently still have to be vaccinated to enter the US so if you were a US citizen you were fine. Being Canadians, we needed it but also weren’t told. Luckily DH had his phone (he normally doesn’t carry it) so we were able to board. Border didn’t ask to see passport or vac status but Guide said we were lucky to go through quickly.

Before our afternoon tour, we took the obligatory shuttle to the end of the pier and then had to come back again as they’d changed the procedure to the tour bus waiting with the shuttles and being slightly early we got caught in the changeover. Luckily we checked and were sent back lol.

We did our first self serve laundry this morning. I send everything out but delicates and underwear. Love the stacked washer dryers on the Sapphire. Some pictures for first timers. And yes, Elites DO get free tokens. Just ask at GS.

Yesterday I survived being eaten by a bear (just kidding) and had a surreal spiritual moment in Icy Point where some weird coincidences led me to think my late father was with me. He LOVED cruising and we had many adventures at his side. Got all emotional (in a good way).

Just wanted to say something about the shower. We’ve been on 7 different Princess ships, mostly balconies, and never had a shower like this. Currently in a BA on Baja and it’s superb. No more trickle to wriggle round; it blasts like a power shower, small but mighty! We keep joking with the steward about it. He says maybe they cleaned out the pipes in dry dock lol. It makes washing my thick longish hair much easier. Everyone else’s shower the same?

Just now, Drdarkknight said:

It was an early morning for us today (7am) but that’s okay because we’ve finally reached land! We went up to the buffet for the first time today and we’re surprised to find a dry, sunny day awaiting us. After a quick breakfast we headed down to Deck 4 to head off on our excursion. 

 

It seemed to be a little delayed leaving the ship. We were meant to meet our tour at 8:15 but we were still in the gangway. We still made it on time, however. And then, we were in Icy Strait Point and whisked off one ship and onto another boat. We were doing a combination tour of whale watching and brown bear expedition. 

 

Whale watching was up first. To everyone’s surprise we saw our first whale when only a few meters from the ship! It was a humpback whale and we followed him for about fifteen minutes. Then we were off in search of more whales. This was a bit tricky since nature doesn’t follow a schedule. We saw a cute group of otters near some rocks. All in all we saw about four whales - including two tails! I’m sure people were expecting more and I could sense the frustration that they were all located near the Sapphire Princess. Still, it was worth the experience for us. 

 

After the whale watching we were split into two groups: 11:30 and 12:00. As we had the 12pm group we ended up with about 45 minutes to kill before we left. We walked around the historic cannery which has a free museum inside which was pretty cool. We tried to buy some salmon jerky from the Salmon Shop but it hasn’t arrived yet. 

 

We met our afternoon guide at the dock and our group was led to a bus. Throughout the thirty minute drive to Spasski Valley our guide educated us on some history of Hoonah and the Tlingit people. 

 

Upon arrival we were greeted by our ‘Bear Security’, a Tlingit man with a rifle should we encounter an aggressive bear. He announced there was a bear in the valley that day so the group basically rushed through the first two viewing platforms to get to platform three and see the bear. I found him! Though most people struggled to see him. 

 

We drove back to Icy Strait Point and my husband and I headed to Duck Point Smokehouse for a very late lunch. We also tried to famous Cannery Red Ale. I’m not a fan of amber beers but this was pretty good! The smoked salmon dip was so good I regretted sharing with my husband. Even from our little perch at the restaurant we were able to watch some otters in the water. 

 

Afterwards we discussed what we would do here if we did another Alaskan cruise. I said I’d like to do the gondola and the zip rider. My husband would like to do the walk into Hoonah. 

 

When we arrived back at the ship I immediately took the greatest hot shower of my life. It felt so great after a long, kindof chilly, day. The plan was to take it pretty easy tonight (for us). But first - to Vines!

 

We went to dinner at Sterling Steakhouse tonight, our first and only time we will be deviating from the main dining rooms. It wasn’t very busy at all but the staff was wonderful. We started with some amazing garlic cheese bread. I can never go back to the main dining room bread basket after this! I had the scallops, shrimp bisque and a New York striploin. Service slowed down a fair bit after the soup course. Our water and drinks were empty and the empty bowl sat in front of us for awhile. When we finally got our steaks I was disappointed to see they forgot my baked potato. I didn’t bother reminding them, however, because the restaurant was absolutely freezing and I just wanted to keep plucking along so I could go get warm. The steak was only okay. I wish they had sauce options. It had more fat than I expected. Dessert was the salted caramel creme brûlée cheesecake, which was good but way too rich for me. Overall, I don’t think I’d go back. The staff was wonderful but the restaurant was colder than Alaska and the food wasn’t good enough to warrant being paid for. 

 

We next headed to Wheelhouse Bar, where we haven’t been before. Allure Strings was playing again and since we were having a low key evening I thought it would be a nice way to spend some time. We walked in as she was playing Mamma Mia on the violin. A string instrument and ABBA? I’m in heaven. It really picked up after the 7:30pm show let out. I was happy to see so many other fans of this type of music. 

 

Our last activity of the evening was the production show Do You Wanna Dance. I’d mentioned after the last one that I wanted to see more of the dancers and now was my chance! It was alright. Some of the numbers were really good and they tended to be the ones with a heavy focus on the dancers. My husband’s favourite was the southeast Asian style dance and mine was the swing montage. 

 

I have to say, after this day I am absolutely exhausted. I’m pretty much planning to fall asleep as soon as I post this. I’ll tell you all about Juneau tomorrow!

We went on the bear search in the morning. I think we saw the same bear! I was convinced it was a log but DH got a photo with his zoom lens. The guide was really good, very chatty and I also, like you, have a photo of Travis, carved by Travis. Adorable. I preferred him to the real bear 🙂 

So glad you got to see whales. Our evening whale watching in Juneau has been cancelled but we’ve switched to the afternoon one so fingers crossed!

5 hours ago, piper said:

After reading about some of the issues with staffing, service, crowded dining rooms, sewage smells, crowded shows and inability to get tickets (whatever that means), I’m having some regrets booking Princess (we did so to go to Alaska with friends).. We have been sailing on Azamara with none of these issues. I know we will have a good time, but I sure hope they get their act together before July

I think it’s just teething problems with new staff and training slowing things down. And they’ve definitely been understaffed at times. I’ve been told a few times they’re also short of supplies which should be resolved soon. We’ve sailed Alaska on HAL, NCL and Princess three times previously and Princess does it best.

The food is great and the entertainment this cruise has been outstanding. I’ve been a big fan of the app from the start. It makes everything so easy! My only real gripe is the wine on the PLUS package is awful but we can pay the difference for a better wine so easily remedied. Are things perfect, no, but they’re getting there!!
 

We usually find the entertainment on Princess quite poor but this cruise the guest entertainers have been outstanding!

The mighty Gods of Princess must be angry at us for going on that Celebrity cruise! Left the cabin at 5.45 last night, and had a great evening. Met some lovely Australians at dinner, and made 3 new friends at the trivia - lost horribly but that’s okay. Couldn’t get seats for the comedian’s early show (agree other OP, he should be in Club Fusion) so it was 11.30 when we finally arrived back at cabin. “I feel a little sea sick. Can’t wait to go to bed,” I said naively and then, bam, it hit us. The sewage smell that’s been lingering off and on around the centre of the ship had found its way to our cabin. It was overpowering! And, surprisingly, the loo was the only place smell free. I waited there while Princess sent someone, who, to be fair, came straight away, apologized and opened the balcony door for a few minutes. I guess we could have done that but thought it should be reported. He said it would have come through the air conditioning and built up whilst we were out, We’re to let them know if it happens again.

This morning sheet under door, our Juneau evening whale watching has been cancelled.

Going on an excursion to look for bears this morning. With my luck I’ll probably be eaten by one!

Just now, HaveDogWillTravel said:

It’s snowing!!!! And just so pretty. Camera doesn’t capture it well these are from earlier today. 

We were up there. Loved every minute even if we got a bit wet lol! Did you see the sea lions? They were so noisy coming in!

We are being super unlucky this cruise! Yesterday ordered the Elite afternoon tea for two at 3pm on Hubbard Glacier day. Explained I wanted the vegetarian version, no meat. She said, you only want vegetable sandwiches? I said yes, no meat. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what arrived - only vegetable sandwiches, 5 small identical avocado and beet sandwiches on a plate. The delivery guy said even he was surprised we didn’t want the scones or pastries. He’s going to let them know… sigh.

So disappointing after after being outside for hours Glacier viewing and looking forward to tucking into those cream scones. And worse, DH hates beetroot. I think I am cursed! Please send good vibes!!!

16 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

On here Elites have reported being able to get free laundry tokens at Guest Services if they tell them they prefer to do their own laundry.

 

Not sure if this is consistent fleetwide but personally I'd like to know because I turn Elite after my next cruise, and I'm selective about what I send out to be boiled and baked.

We’re currently on the Sapphire and long been curious about whether Elites get free tokens. Just went and asked and we do 🙂 

I like to wash underwear in the self service laundry but in the past whenever we’ve sent out t shirts, shirts, shorts etc Princess have done a great job. Definitely not boiled and baked.

Just now, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I’ve been watching the naturalist & guest lecturer in my cabin on the tv. They really are outstanding. 
My restaurant mgr Vasco said we have 2300 or so on board. With the cold wet rain and great programming to attend it has felt pretty crowded to me. 

I was chatting with our naturalist Sunday before her talk with 6 or 7 others. Close quarters 20 minutes or so. I went into the theater and sat down for the talk but it got too crowded with mostly unmasked folks so I left. 
 

Later when I watched her on the tv I heard her deep phlegmy cough. She said she was loosing her voice due to just starting the season and talking so much and projecting so loud. I was a college professor and lectured for 20 years. Every fall semester I would “lose” my voice in the first week or two of classes. I assure you that is NOT how it sounds…… at all. I am not a doctor so offer no diagnosis to what that cough she has is from.  But as she and I entered the theater together she looked at me and said “you are wise to wear that mask”. 

Our steward has suddenly started wearing a mask and last night’s dining was chaotic. Only one guy at the door booking in and showing to seats AND handing out menus while the line up waited! We were on time for the reservation but had to wait a while to be seated then 45 mins to first course. Missed the YES NO 😞 Our waiter was the first great waiter we’ve had but clearly there were staff shortages and they weren’t saying why.

MDR lunch has been difficult unless you’re prepared to share. We went at 12.30 first day and couldn’t get seated. Told to go back in 45 mins so gave up. Second day turned up at 12.05 and told we should have come earlier! They did take cabin number and had us come back at 12.50 and they called us from the line up. Luckily we had late dinner reservation else would have given up again.
Went to store to get some mints last night. Listed to be open till 11pm but was closed at 10.30 when we went.

Just now, PacnGoNow said:

Thank goodness!  How were these suitcases all damaged?

No idea but I was shocked to see so many! We’ve taken many Princess cruises and never had this happen before. 

An update on our damaged luggage (for anyone interested in the process).

Got a call day 3 to say unrepairable & to come to GS to fill form. I didn’t know who rang, hence some confusion on arrival and I was asked to identify my bag from a line up of about 8-10 cases that had been damaged and repaired, sadly mine not among them. The form was about compensation: make, model, when bought, how much paid etc. Here the real stress began with language difficulties and misinformation as I panicked over how to get my things home with no suitcase and a broken wrist! First told no problem, the store could sell us a suitcase (big relief) so off we went to find they don’t sell big suitcases onboard, only small travel bags that would barely hold my socks and knickers! I’d need at least 3 and none were on wheels. Upon return to GS, now more stressed, told to go shopping in port or later at home! Really panicking now as later at home doesn’t work and we have planned activities/excursions at every port! Spent all day googling luggage stores with Internet intermittent and hanging. None of the stores we found were within easy reach of the pier. Returned to GS, begging them to somehow do something to enable us to use it to get home. They said they’d have the upholsterer take another look and see what they could do.

Tonight returned to cabin to find suitcase fixed with all of its wheels. I could have cried with relief. They must have had the missing wheel all the time! Does it look pretty? No, but it will get us home!! Now I can finally relax and enjoy the cruise instead of constantly focussing on disembarkation!