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Brief thoughts June 27-July 4th Crown Princess Inside Passage & Glacier Bay


LoisLane0
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Everyone was so helpful in answering my questions I wanted to give back what little I can.

 

I'm a neophyte cruiser. Before this one I'd only been on a Disney Cruise some years ago. I wasn't a big fan of cruising but when my husband's family suggested a family vacation to Alaska, I was all in.

 

Here goes:

 

Saturday June 27th: We arrived at the dock after 12 pm so it was a relatively quick process to embark. We had a group of us with adjoining balconies and we asked the room steward to open it up so we were connected. It was fantastic to have a private corridor between our rooms. We explored the ship and registered the kids at the teen club, which they never used so I don't have any feedback around that. We had early dining and then we just wandered around our balconies catching up with each other. We didn't attend any events that day.

 

Sunday June 28th: A day at sea. Some in our groups went to the gym to work out, others just wandered around the ship. I had breakfast with some of us in the dining room that day which was nice. My mother in law took a dancing lesson which she enjoyed.

 

 

Monday June 29th: We had booked a Harv and Marv's whale watching excursion in Juneau. It was incredible. The whales were out in force and the weather was fantastic. We didn't spend any time in town but we drove through it on the way to our excursion.

 

 

Tuesday June 30th: Skagway My family went on the White Pass railroad excursion through Princess. We had fantastic weather yet again and the scenery was breathtaking. Other members of our party went zip lining and had a wonderful time.

 

Wednesday July 1st: Glacier Bay. WOW!! Words can't do this justice. It was a gorgeous day and I saw a glacier calf. Gorgeous.

 

Thursday July 2nd : Ketchikan. We didn't go on any excursions. We wandered around the town and visited the Totem Heritage museum. Other members of our party went on a Princess off roading and canoeing excursion and enjoyed it a lot.

 

Friday July 3rd: Mostly sea with a quick stop in Victoria. We got off briefly to wander around but none in our party took any excursions anywhere.

 

Saturday July 4th: We decided to disembark at 9 am. In retrospect, I'd have gotten off earlier.

 

My thoughts:

 

My favorite excursion by far was Harv and Marv's Whale Watching. We had a child under 13 in our party so we had to reserve a private tour, which was perfect because they tailored it to our interests. The train in Skagway was, I thought, a great one time thing to do. The views are incredible and it's amazing what human ingenuity can do. I was amazed at the inhospitable places these folks were able to lay track.

 

Early dining worked for us because some of our party was from the East Coast and jet lagged, this included an eight year old so eating early was good. It was also nice to have the same friendly faces in the form of the wait staff. They were incredibly nice people. My birthday fell in the middle of the cruise but I didn't want a fuss made. I asked them not to sing and they didn't, I didn't hand them the card but they had a small cake for me which the table quickly demolished. The food in general was good. I loved the pistachio chocolate desert in the main dining room, it was the best of the cruise. I went to the International Cafe a couple times for lunch. I liked that better than Horizon court.

 

As for the on board entertainment, I went to two shows, a disco one and the motor city one. It was fun but then I'm in my early 50s so this was the music I grew up with.

 

My father in law wanted to do the scavenger hunt but got no takers. The teens were not interested and the 8 year old didn't want to be the only one doing it.

 

As mentioned before we had balconies, I've read a lot of debate on whether a balcony is necessary or not. I think it's very subjective and depends on your personality. I'm more of a loner. I *need* alone time so spending most of the time on deck wouldn't have worked for me. I used my balcony a lot. I didn't do many on board activities, but instead spent a lot of time on the balcony with my tablet reading and enjoying the stunning scenery. The exception was Glacier Bay when I spent a good amount of time roaming the ship to see the glaciers with no obstructions.

 

However, people who enjoy mixing might find they are only in their rooms to sleep which would make a balcony not as important to have.

 

Prior to the ship I had asked questions how the finances worked on board as my Father in Law was giving this trip to his kids and their family as a gift. I was worried about taking advantage of his generosity. It turned out to be a moot point. I had pre paid for our Princess train excursion before boarding, and we had surprised my in-laws with the Harv and Marv's excursion. My family didn't do any other excursions so our non refundable room credit ($200 per room) was more than sufficient. At the end of the cruise I owed $36 but my daughter, whom I shared the room with, had $66 credit. All the rooms were under one credit card, so it turned out we left room credit on the table which was fine because we all did what we wanted to do. :)

 

We all used the on board Princess @ Sea messenger system to keep in contact. That was helpful, though I'd suggest they build in audio/vibrate notification. We all had to keep an eye on it to see if anybody was trying to get in touch.

 

I'm still not a fan of cruising, however, and this is a HUGE however, I think cruising in Alaska offered opportunities I wouldn't have had. Especially seeing Glacier Bay. I'd love to go back to Alaska but I'd explore other methods of travel, maybe fly in and then investigate how to visit these scenic sights.

 

That said, I was very impressed with the professional operation Princess runs. They move a lot of people through a lot of places and the amount of work everyone does to provide such a memorable experience is something I greatly appreciate.

 

My ambivalent feelings towards cruising is a reflection on me and my personality, not the line or the experience. If ever I go on another cruise, it would be to get to Antarctica.

 

Thanks again for all the great information provided on this board. If anybody has any questions, I'll do my very best to answer what I can.

Edited by LoisLane0
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Wednesday July 1st: Glacier Bay. WOW!! Words can't do this justice. It was a gorgeous day and I saw a glacier calf. Gorgeous.

 

Yeesh. Should read Glacier calving. :o

 

Saturday July 4th: We decided to disembark at 9 am. In retrospect, I'd have gotten off earlier.

 

I forgot to say this was a R/T from Seattle.

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