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North to Alaska! Our first Cruise! 7/31-8/10

utseabee

By utseabee,
in Princess Cruises

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utseabee

utseabee

Posted
Posted

First, the fact that I am already describing this as our "first cruise" is a good sign!



In mid '09, my husband and I began looking into how to celebrate our tenth anniversary and the idea of a cruise came up. Once my mother agreed to stay with the kids for 10 days, the planning began!

Originally, we wanted to do a a cruisetour, but as we factored in the cost of one way airfare, food during the land portion, etc, the price was easily doubling. So we started looking locally (well, within decent driving distance) and found the Sea Princess, round trip from San Francisco. Ding, we had a winner!

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SAN FRANCISCO:

We drove up Friday afternoon and got a room at the Citigarden hotel, which is located near the airport. The rooms were very nice and comfortable. Breakfast...eh. The continental breakfast consisted of white bread for toast and plain cereal. Not a danish to be found. The hotel offered "park and cruise", but the cost of a taxi was $45 each way, so opted to drive to the pier and use their parking. ($12 a day, about 2 city blocks walk away)

EMBARK:

Being our first cruise, we were unsure about how to go about dropping the bags, how soon we could board, etc. We left our bags with a porter around 10 (when people were still disembarking) and were allowed to board around 11:45, and walked right onto the ship, no lines, no delay. We heard later in the day this was not the case, so I wonder our boarding passes said to come after 1:30? We skipped the sail-away party and watched us depart from the back porch of the Aloha deck. Sailing under the Golden Gate bridge was amazing!

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ROOM:

 

We had a balcony stateroom on the Aloha Deck, midship, port side. The balcony was very small, but worth the money, as we got our money's worth- Alaska is truly beautiful, and completely untouched. In Glacier Bay we started out on deck, then as the ship turned, we ran down to our room to watch the scenery from our balcony.



Bed and pillows were fine- slept like a baby. The only problem with the room was the shortage of outlets. There were only two in the room-one that the flat screen TV was plugged into, and one above the desk. That outlet had a switch on each side, so could not be used for anything wider than the actual plug. Another Tip: People always say to bring all the clothes you want, you can always ask for more hangars- there is only so much room for those extra hangars to go! If you don't wear something at home, you won't wear it on a cruise! I have one dress I never wore, and one that I wore three times.

Our room steward Alvin was wonderful, he poked his head in while we were unpacking to introduce himself, and see if we needed anything. Anytime he saw us coming down the hallway, he would open our door for us and ask how our day was. And the pillow chocolates...mmmmmmm!

 

PORTS:



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Victoria- We did not book any excursions here, but chose to walk into town. It was a nice, scenic, 45 minute walk. We saw the flowers, saw the buildings, walked around the street market, and walked back.

Juneau- BEAUTIFUL!!! We had an opportunity to get in on one of Harv and Marv's whalewatching trips, and it was worth every penny! We saw humpbacks bubblefeeding, and a few more just playing around. I set my camera on continuous, to take 10 pictures at once, so we got some great shots. (including one jumping out of the water!)

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It was so peaceful, and beautiful, and was great to talk to Captain Shawn. He has his education in Marine Biology, specifically whale and dolphin behavior, and actually follows these whales to hawaii in the winter and lectures there. Just as interesting was talking to our Co-pilot, Jayleene, about what it is like to grow up on Shelter Island. After the boat, we went to Mendenhall Glacier, and I wish we had more time there!

 

Due to our late docking time, we couldn't just catch a shuttle back, and we only had an hour there. Along the drive out and back, we were treated to photo albums of the splendors of Juneau year round.



Skagway: Probably my favorite port, due to my favorite excursion!

 

The ziplining here was amazing! It was our first time, and we went with cost (this was about $60 less than the ziplining in Juneau and Kethican) The guides were a good mix of college kids and hippies, and were great to chat with. It was awesome to see how nothing was permanent, that they really worked with the land, but still made an awesome adventure for us. (sorry, that is the hippie in me!) We walked around town, it was mostly jewelry shops, but if you make it to the end of the road, there is the Skagway Brewing Co. We didn't eat there, but my husband went in the gift shop and purchased a growler for $18 and they filled it for him at the bar. He put it into his backpack and carried it onto the ship, and enjoyed some tasty resfreshment later!



Glacier Bay:

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Was absolutely beautiful! Words can't describe how wonderful it was. If you want breakfast in the buffet, either go early, or take it back to your room. All of the tables were taken by people enjoying the view, and taking pictures from inside. When we approached the marjorie glacier we were on deck 14. As the ship began to turn, we ran down to get our money's worth out of our balcony! And it was awesome! We put it on the commentary channel it was like we were the only ones on the ship. Until our neighbors get the same idea...and they didn't seem to realize that the balconies were connected. And we could hear every word they were saying! so the ship began to turn again, so we ran down to deck 7, which was vitually empty. It was awesome to see the glaciers from so many angles, especially since we were on deck 7 when the glacier calved, and hubby just happened to have the camera pointed at the right place at the right time!

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Ketchican:

Again, we opted not to have an excursion, and walked around town. The annual blueberry festival was going on, so we strolled up there and watched the 5K and the Slug races. The one excursion I really wanted to do was the Bering Sea Tour, as I LOVE Deadliest Catch.

But the ship has a sign on it that says visitors welcome, so once they came in I headed over and chatted with Derrick, the skipper. It was interesting to get his feedback on the show, about the difference between reality and reality TV! And on the way out, I saw the Time Bandit anchored...I was like a kid on Christmas morning!

 

ENTERTAINMENT:

 

The Sea Princess has two main venues, the Princess Theater (forward) and the Vista Lounge. (aft) The Theater played the production shows, and we caught all but one of the shows. We never had a problem finding a seat, as we always watched the shows on the second night. The shows were pretty entertaining, and the costumes were amazing. The female singer had a pageant-ish style that was kind of distracting, but overall, the singers and dancers were very talented. Not to be missed was the International Crew Show that played one night only, and the crew has some talent!



The Vista Lounge housed the comedians and cruise director's staff shows. We had three comedians cycle through during our 10 day cruise. First, Dan Bennett was awesome! We saw him twice and laughed just as hard the second time, even though we knew the punchlines! Next up was Lorenzo Clark... i thought he did his best stuff during the sail-away show. His actual show... The first 10-15 minutes of his show was a video of him, about 15 years and at least 30 pounds ago. Then he comes out and does knock-knock caliber jokes. he seems very similar to Ron White- his mannerisms, speech patterns, timing. Finally was Carlos Oscar- he KILLED!!!! And I heard that he had new material each night, so I really wish I had gone to a few more of his shows, he was awesome! We aren't big "clubbers" so i can't tell you anything about the clubs on board.

ACTIVITIES:

Bingo was fun the first two days, after that, the odds just weren't worth it. By the third sea day, there were 2 or 3 people splitting a $150 bingo.

Art auctions were pretty fun and educational, we had a good time. My husband ended up with a Rat Pack picture for his man cave.

We did the Ultimate Ship's Tour, and loved it! We only had 9 people on our tour, but so many people we talked to afterward missed the announcement in the Patter, so I think if it was advertised a little better, they would have a better turnout. My husband works in power generation and understood everything the Chief Engineer was saying and I was TOTALLY impressed by the laundry facility. To think that 12 people are in charge of every single sheet, tablecloth, napkin, uniform, costume, EVERYTHING, it is amazing! Oh, and we got to see the 3 person morgue on board, its in the hallway outside of the medical clinic! (don't worry...it was empty!)

DINING:

We were on the new 5:30 traditional seating in the Rigoletto Dining room and it worked out great for us. I'm not a big fan of eating so early, but we were done with dinner in time to catch two shows in the evening. We were seated at a 4 person table, but our table mates never showed so the second night we told our waiter we were OK to sit with strangers. Honestly, we felt bad sitting there alone when the line to get in curved around the Atrium. So we really had to best of both worlds- we didn't have to wait, we had our same waiters, but got to meet different people every night. Food was amazing, service was outstanding! Now, to break another cruise myth...if you eat the portions they serve you, you will be fine. I only gained 3 pounds on board, and a week later... all better! We only had breakfast and lunch in the dining room a few times- I just didn't feel like spending the entire cruise seated in the dining room.

DISEMBARK: Went pretty smooth, I am very glad we had a deck of cards in our bag to keep us entertained while waiting. The curbside outside was ridiculous- between all of the cars, buses, taxis, limos, etc. trying to get in and out of such a small area in such a limited time... it was a zoo!

CONCLUSION:

This was the trip of a lifetime! I was more relaxed than i have been in ten years! Alaska is beautiful, and Princess is above and beyond! i can't wait until this trip is paid off, so we can start planning the next one!

...sorry if this got kind of long, and i have more pictures upon request!

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RickEk

RickEk

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Posted

Thanks for the great review. It completely mirrors our experience on the cruise before yours. Oh, and I know it doesn't matter now, but there was an additional electrical outlet under the little table that was stuck to the wall under the mirror... it took us a few days to notice that it was there and then only because I dropped something and happened to see it. :p

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wizard-of-roz

wizard-of-roz

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You did a wonderful job of showing us everything and relaying your experiences in a very interesting way. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And, the pictures were great.

No matter how many times you see the same things, you will always see something that you missed. And, the beauty of Alaska should not be missed!

Well, you're "hooked" now.....can't wait to hear about your next cruise.

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mnfun2bme

mnfun2bme

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Thanks for your review. The pictures were beautiful.

 

I took my daughter on the Sapphire to AK when she graduated from high school and we said, "This is a once in a lifetime trip." That was in 2006, we sailed from Whittier to Vancouver.

 

In 2008 we couldn't stand it and we had to take her brother and my boyfriend so we could share the incredible beauty... so we boarded the Coral and sailed from Vancouver to Whittier.

 

Now we have the urge to return again so we're heading in 2011 back to the incredible beauty we have all fallen in love with. We're not sure which ship or which itinery... but we've decided to get married in Ketchikan while we're there.

 

When will I start to see prices come down? I remember referring a girlfriend and her husband on a Princess cruise to AK after I received an email in January for big discounts. Anyone know when the best time to purchase those? It makes a big difference when you have to buy 4!!

 

Thanks,

Lisa

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Dani24

Dani24

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Great review! And it was really great to meet you guys on board! Jonathan and I enjoyed having dinner with you guys and seeing you around the ship.

 

BTW, I owe you an email (with some pictures)! :)

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utseabee

utseabee

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Great review! Did you book a future cruise while on board? It is nice to read a review with all good things in it for a change. :)

Oh yeah, the Future Cruise deposit is down! I remembered right after the show on the last night, so I ran to drop my form in the box right after the show, so I was a little worried. But I was worried for nothing, I had the confirmation in my inbox before I got home!

To be honest, I was really, really stressing in the last few weeks before we left, just reading other reviews of Princess, and of the Sea Princess. I found everything to be wonderful.

Thanks for your review. The pictures were beautiful.

 

I took my daughter on the Sapphire to AK when she graduated from high school and we said, "This is a once in a lifetime trip." That was in 2006, we sailed from Whittier to Vancouver.

 

In 2008 we couldn't stand it and we had to take her brother and my boyfriend so we could share the incredible beauty... so we boarded the Coral and sailed from Vancouver to Whittier.

 

Now we have the urge to return again so we're heading in 2011 back to the incredible beauty we have all fallen in love with. We're not sure which ship or which itinery... but we've decided to get married in Ketchikan while we're there.

 

When will I start to see prices come down? I remember referring a girlfriend and her husband on a Princess cruise to AK after I received an email in January for big discounts. Anyone know when the best time to purchase those? It makes a big difference when you have to buy 4!!

 

Thanks,

Lisa

i can't wait until my kids are old enough to behave in public to take them up to see Alaska, it really was magical. We booked ours right at the 60 day mark, and got a pretty good deal ($1000 off of our balcony stateroom)

 

Great review! And it was really great to meet you guys on board! Jonathan and I enjoyed having dinner with you guys and seeing you around the ship.

 

BTW, I owe you an email (with some pictures)! :)

I loved that the ship was so small that by the 3rd or 4th day, there were no new faces.

Thanks again for putting together our meet, it was great to meet you guys. It was great to hear your perspectives on your other cruises. Next time I'll have something to compare it to also. And it was SOOO wonderful to have dinner with someone in our demographic at least one night!

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