Sea Princess - SF to Alaska Aug 20-30, 2010

[malteaser]

I also just posted this in the Member Review section. If you have any questions, ask away! We really enjoyed this cruise.

 

Sea Princess – SF – Alaska – Aug 20-30, 2010

 

Cast of Cruisers: My husband and I, and my mother – sharing an ocean view cabin. My husband and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and have taken 13 cruises (6 on Princess including this cruise). This is my mother’s second cruise (1st on Princess).

 

Pre-Cruise: My mother is from the Midwest and flew in a couple of days ahead. The day of her arrival the fog finally broke so we went to Pier 39 and walked along the waterfront for a beautiful afternoon. In the evening we ate at Capp’s Corner restaurant (corner of Powell and Green Streets in Little Italy). They have old- fashioned family style Italian dinners. They are next door to Club Fugazi where we saw the fabulously unique San Francisco show – Beach Blanket Babylon. I highly recommend Beach Blanket Babylon to out-of-towners (or locals) looking for a unique San Francisco experience. Be prepared to laugh until your sides ache.

 

Bon Voyage: On cruise departure day, we took a taxi and arrived around 1:00pm at Pier 35 cruise terminal, and as Platinum members were escorted to the Platinum/Suites line where we waited about 2 minutes in line. Check-in was very quick. As soon as we boarded we were advised that cabins were available. We dropped off our carryon-ons in the cabin, then went to the Traviata dining room for lunch. We had a fabulous lunch of salmon with a béarnaise sauce to start things off nicely. Most people went to the buffet, but we figured it would be a madhouse there on the first day. The dining room was nice and quiet and definitely the way to go. I met a few people that had done the Bon Voyage Experience. I believe it was $39 pp for lunch and wine and a ship tour. They were very happy with the program.

 

We were very pleased with our cabin location E335 on Emerald deck 6. We had 8:00pm main dining in the Traviata dining room on the same deck. One deck up on Promenade deck 7 were the Princess Theater, Wheelhouse Bar, Crooners lounge, the photo gallery, internet room, library and Vista lounge. We were near the forward elevators so had easy access to all decks. I usually have the layout of the ship figured out by the first evening, but my husband and mother each have a more difficult time learning their way around. So from our cabin location we had a very easy time getting around to the restaurant, buffet, and the majority of the entertainment venues.

 

Our passageway all seemed to be 3-4 berth cabins as we saw lots of families. In the cabin, the lower 2 beds stay against the wall and the upper berths are pulled down from the ceiling and are accessed by a ladder. The upper berth was left in place, rather than being put up and down each day as it looks like a major undertaking, and this was no problem for us. They do not have rollaway beds as an alternative to the upper berths on Sea Princess. Of course if we had one, I don’t know where we would have put it. We found the lower beds and the upper berth to be very comfy.

 

Ports of Call – used Princess shore excursions in all ports

Victoria – took a whale watching cruise – only saw 1 whale, but it was an enjoyable afternoon.

 

Ketchikan – we got off the ship early and did a little shopping as we knew we wouldn’t have much time after our shore excursions. It rained a bit in the morning, and the temps were in the low 60’s. Mom took the Wilderness Exploration and Crab Feast. She enjoyed the boat ride, the beautiful scenery, and the crab feast at a lodge. I found my inner daredevil for the first (and probably only) time and took the Rainforest Canopy and Zipline Experience. Altogether there were 7 ziplines and 3 suspension bridges. The speed I felt on the ziplines was both scary and exhilarating, but always felt safe and well-secured. While we crossed a suspension bridge, we saw a black bear below us. He caught 2 salmon in the rushing stream. The Tongass National Forest is just gorgeous and if I return on another Alaska cruise to Ketchikan I think I would do the Nature walk tour through the same area.

 

Juneau– this was the only tender port for us – I believe we had to tender as there were so many ships in port – 5 or 6 altogether. However the short tender ride took us to a pier right in the center of town, while some of the other ships had to use shuttle busses to get their passengers downtown. Mom and I took the Mendenhall Glacier Helicopter tour. We booked the 12:15pm tour. The 10:00 am tour was cancelled due to fog, so they joined our tour. Being from the SF Bay area, I assumed it might be foggy there in the morning, so that is why I booked the mid-day tour. We were bussed to the Temsco helicopter building at the Juneau airport. We watched a safety video, and were given boots to put on over our shoes. The helicopter ride was a first for both mom and I and it was great. The views were fabulous. It was great taking off with 3 other helicopters and travelling in formation to land on the glacier. While down in Juneau the weather was low 60’s, the glacier was breezy and mid-40’s. At least everyone seemed well prepared with jackets, hats, gloves, etc. We enjoyed the tour of the glacier by the guides. Some people even drank running water from a “stream” on the glacier – on their hands and knees. The beauty of the glacier is magnificent – the variety of colors, whites and blues of the ice/snow. We had another smooth flight back to the airport – I took tons of pictures on the glacier and from the air. It was another fabulous experience.

 

Skagway – we took a shuttle bus from the ship to the downtown shopping district. It is $2 each way (you pay when you exit the bus), or for $5 they stamp your wrist for an all day pass on the shuttle. We chose that option. We did a little shopping and looking around, and then headed back to the ship for a mid-day tour on the White Pass Scenic Railway, which boards right next to the ship. We took the 3.5 hour tour up the mountains to around 2100 feet and crossed the Canadian border before starting back down. As we did not get off the train, we didn’t need to take passports. The train follows the route taken by the miners to the Yukon gold fields. We really enjoyed the train ride and the beautiful scenery, the narration, and the amount of time for the tour was just right. The return trip gave us the option of being dropped off at the depot in downtown Skagway, or to return to the ship. As we wanted to do a little more shopping we hopped off at the downtown stop. When we were finished shopping we rode a shuttle bus back to the ship.

 

Tracy Arm Glacier Cruising – replaced by Endicott Arm

We were told by the Captain that due to the tide and lots of large pieces of ice rushing out of the narrow inlet to the Tracy Arm glacier area, we went into the Endicott Arm glacier area right next to it instead. Lots of people were outside watching the beautiful scenery, including my mom. It was pretty chilly out there. My husband and I watched through our window and also were watching the bridge cam TV channel.

 

Service

Our cabin steward, Luis Diaz, was great. With 3 of us we were in and out of the cabin at different times, but Luis always managed to get in and take care of everything. We always had plenty of towels and ice. We saw him every day and he always had a smile and greetings for us.

 

We sat at Table 170 (by a window) in the Traviata dining room at the 8:00pm main seating. I had originally chosen Anytime dining, but due to comments on this website about long waits, I switched us to the main seating shortly after making our booking a couple of months ago. Our waiter Jojo and his assistant Luis did a great job, and were always there to fill our water glasses and to check to see if were happy with the food. JoJo also had a few fun tricks with wine corks and toothpicks. The food and service was excellent in the dining room. We definitely indulged ourselves.

 

We ate breakfast a couple of times in the dining room, with open seating, but found it took too long as they brought everything in courses. For us that is fine for dinner, but we preferred the buffet for breakfast. We didn’t eat lunch, but in the late afternoon usually managed to find our way to Sundae’s on deck 12 aft by the pool for a soft serve ice cream cone.

 

We found service to be good in buffet, and in the lounges. If you wanted a drink, there were plenty of servers. If you didn’t want a drink, the first server would put a napkin upside down on the table, so that way none of the other servers would bother us.

 

Entertainment

We found the Sea Princess singer/dancers to be very good. We enjoyed all of their shows. We also saw a couple of comedians and especially enjoyed ventriloquist Dan Horn. We also enjoyed the bands Elua and Deringer in the Wheelhouse Bar. Jackie Woods is a great pianist/singer in the Crooners lounge and it was standing room only there most of the time. We did manage to snag seats there a couple of times. The cruise director, Billy London, stopped by for about 30 minutes or so and sang several songs with Jackie. I believe he is the best cruise director I’ve seen. He is very funny and a great singer too.

 

The String Quartet that played in the atrium during dinner times also did a concert in the Vista Lounge one evening. They gave an excellent concert of well-known classical pieces. I enjoy classical music so it was nice to see them in an actual concert setting.

 

We also found Captain John Foster to be well spoken and very entertaining at the Captain’s Welcome party in the atrium. On the final formal night we attended the Captain’s Circle cocktail party in the Vista lounge. Captain Foster also came and spoke to us there. He mentioned that he had to switch the glacier cruising from Tracy Arm to Endicott Arm due to the large amounts of ice. He said he had seen a movie about that once and didn’t think it was a good idea to try it with this ship!

 

 

On-Board Activities

My husband and I enjoyed the morning and afternoon trivia games and our team won a few times earning Princess Cruises playing cards and hats. My mother enjoyed the ballroom and line-dancing classes, and bingo. Mom went to the gym every morning, and had to wait a couple of times to get on a treadmill as that seemed to be a busy time and the gym is not large.

 

Disembarkation

On arrival in San Francisco, we had to be out of the cabins by 8:00 am. After an early breakfast in the buffet, we grabbed our carryons from the cabin, bade farewell to Luis, our cabin steward, and headed to the Platinum/Elite disembarkation lounge in the Wheelhouse Bar. It was very comfortable there. They had coffee, water, orange juice, pastries and some newspapers. One of the staff would announce the bag tag colors/numbers so we knew when to disembark. We waited in a short line to punch out with our cabin cards for the final time, and then quickly found our bags in the terminal. There were lots of porters and we were able to get a cab right away. It was the smoothest disembarkation we’ve experienced.

 

Miscellaneous

Previous reviewers have mentioned sewage smells in some areas of the ship, however we never encountered any.

 

We did not purchase any of the coffee, soda or drink cards, and never felt excessively pushed to buy them. We did not use the spa.

 

Internet service was very slow but workable for checking email. In Skagway the internet was “not available due to the mountain”.

 

We met lots of nice people on the cruise, and found that the majority of the passengers were also from the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

In Conclusion

We really enjoyed this cruise. Our main reasons for going were that it was out of San Francisco and my husband and I didn’t have to fly to meet the ship, plus my mother really wanted to go to Alaska. Alaska really exceeded our expectations with the beauty of the land and the nature. I would love to go on another Alaska cruise sometime. I highly recommend this cruise to everyone.

[hobo1937]

Great review...we board the Sea Princess this Thursday 9/9...can't wait!

 

Was there any mention if the Captain and Cruise Director you had on your sailing would be onboard for a while? Sure hope we have them onboard our sailing.

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. Sounds like you had a great cruise.....:):):)

 

Bob

[RickEk]

Great review...we board the Sea Princess this Thursday 9/9...can't wait!

 

Was there any mention if the Captain and Cruise Director you had on your sailing would be onboard for a while? Sure hope we have them onboard our sailing.

 

I would assume that Captain and Cruise Director will be there for awhile. The Cruise Director apparently changed right before our 7/21 cruise and the Captain's changed in mid-cruise.

 

To the OP... thanks for the review. We found the ship and cruise to be about the same as your experience. btw, we were in E338 on the other side of the ship.

[Coral]

Thanks for the review. I have friends who were on your sailing and haven't heard from them yet about their cruise.

[Druke I]

Thanks for the review.

 

Love sailing in and out of San Francisco!

[panoramaofthepast]

We did this cruise a year ago. If you haven't tried the Chef's Table, it is worth every penny! You cannot book it on-line and they only take 12 people, but it is an incredible experience. The head chef designs the menu, so it can vary from crusie to cruise. We got to be in the kitchen while they were serving early seating - had appetizers and other goodies - and champagne - in the kitchen [in our little white coats, of course!] before we went to our table. From then on the food just kept coming - salad and soup and sorbet and then main course of lobster thermador and beef tenderloin. Since I don't eat fish, I received double on the beef! I was also given alternatives for any fish dish offered and there were a lot! Make sure you mention it in advance if you have an allergy. The wines flowed with each course. The tenderloin was flambed right at the table, flames shooting several feet in the air!. Quite a show. The meal ended with dessert, cheeses, coffee etc and the head chef joined us at the table to talk about the meal. If you are at all into cooking, this is a blast. Each couple got a signed copy of the Princess cookbook, Courses, group pictures and the ladies received a rose.

 

I was standing outside the main dining room when they opened the doors to sign up. I don't know how much in demand it really is - at $70/person, it is not cheap. This was our splurge activity of the cruise. Since the cruise director was overseeing all this, we got to know him as well - first time I had ever been on a cruise where the CD knew me by name - kinda cool! According to the CD, other ships in the fleet are beginning to do this as well, so you might want to check.

[Elequieu]

Appreciated all the comments. We leave on the 19th!

[jamespmc]

$75 a person but still worth it.

[sabai]

We were on the same cruise but have a different opinion of things! First it is a poorly designed ship with the card room in of all places the casino with no windows! Since there are only 2 dining rooms they are noisy and I strongly object to early dining at 5:30. That is way too early! It used to be 6 or 6:15 but 5:30 makes it hard to get back from tours. Laundry facilities have been discussed elsewhere but with the limited days and only 2 washers assume you need enough clothing to last the whole cruise.

The pool was either freezing or hot tub temperature. They just could not get it staight.

Still I loved the shows. The dancers and singers were excellent.

The cabins are very small if you want a balcony. Just remember the cabins are the same size so if you want a balcony it comes out of the room!

[CruisinKLB]

We did this exact cruise last May and LOVED it! Glad you had as great a time as we did! We are planning on the the Glacier Bay itinerary in 2012 out of SF if they are still offering it by then!

[willyguy]

Thank for the review.

[malteaser]

Great review...we board the Sea Princess this Thursday 9/9...can't wait!

 

Was there any mention if the Captain and Cruise Director you had on your sailing would be onboard for a while? Sure hope we have them onboard our sailing.

 

I received an email a few weeks before sailing recapping our booking and it listed the Cruise Director and the Captain's Circle rep. I booked on-line directly with Princess. Not sure if you will receive this if you book thru other sources.

[malteaser]

We were on the same cruise but have a different opinion of things! First it is a poorly designed ship with the card room in of all places the casino with no windows! Since there are only 2 dining rooms they are noisy and I strongly object to early dining at 5:30. That is way too early! It used to be 6 or 6:15 but 5:30 makes it hard to get back from tours. Laundry facilities have been discussed elsewhere but with the limited days and only 2 washers assume you need enough clothing to last the whole cruise.

The pool was either freezing or hot tub temperature. They just could not get it staight.

Still I loved the shows. The dancers and singers were excellent.

The cabins are very small if you want a balcony. Just remember the cabins are the same size so if you want a balcony it comes out of the room!

 

We never tried the casino, but it didn't seem very big. I agree about the early dining. My mom had a pair of slacks she needed to wash which worked out fine by using the laundry prior to arrival in Alaska. Never tried the pool since it was cool outside. Hope you enjoyed Alaska as much as we did.