My Review of Sun Princess 5/23-5/30 First Cruise. LONG

[MCManders99]

Embarkation

 

We arrived at Canada Place from the Hyatt around noon. Everything went smooth. We were onboard within a half hour. We even got our luggage before dinner (first seating traditional). We were late leaving the first night due to maintenance but that did not spoil anything.

 

Our Stateroom

 

We had a balcony room on Caribe Deck (C617). We liked our room. It was not small to us (as others may think it is). The balcony was perfect also. DH and I sat out there comfortably often. Hey we were honeymooners, we stayed in the room/balcony and sightsee from there. We even left the door open (it wasn’t bad.. not cold for us). Our cabin steward was the best. Very friendly and talked to us on a daily basis. He even gave us balloons outside our door that said “just married” That was cute.

 

Dining/Food

 

Everything was excellent. We had 1st seating. At time of booking I requested a table for two (since it was our honeymoon) and when we arrived and I checked on our table, we had a table for 2. That’s a plus to us. We wanted to be alone for dinner.

Our waiters were excellent. No problems there, I loved the desserts. Between the two of us we ordered 5-6 desserts a day. And ate every last bite. I love the soufflé. Especially the hazelnut one, it was to die for.

All the food was excellent. I am a very picky eater but everything I ordered I liked. I even tried new dishes I would not normally try at home. I ate breakfast by myself twice in the main dining room. DH slept in. The other times we ate in the horizon court. I loved it and frequented often. We had no problems eating there. We went there at least once every day if not twice. We also ordered room service almost every night after midnight. After the shows and gambling we wanted a bedtime snack. Everything was good there. It came quickly. We did both wine tastings. Loved them both. I liked trying different wines without having to buy the bottle/glasses. I would hate to order a glass, not like it and waste that $. We ended up buying a couple bottles for home. Food/ Dining Service Excellent.

 

Entertainment

 

We attended the welcome aboard show. I thought it was very good. A taste of what’s to come. We also saw National Treasure in the Vista Lounge one night. We saw the Ventriloquist Dan Horn, Mike Price a juggling comedian, Comedian Jack Wilks, and a Comedian/Magaician. All the entertainment was good. I went and saw the Piano Man. I enjoyed it. The singing and dancing was excellent. We were kept very busy on the ship. Did not go to the dance clubs, etc.. not our thing at that time.

The cruise staff had a get together for honeymooners and we attended. We got free champagne and we even got to take a bottle home for free! We were the shortest married couple. Went to the Casino, did the slot tournament. (did not win). Played Bingo ( did not win either) Played slots, won $20 bucks on a nickel slot, but lost it the next day in the Casino.

 

Ports and Excursions

Our first and shortest stop was Ketchikan. We started with walking around town just browsing stores and getting ideas of things to buy after our excursion. We booked all excursions through the ship. Being our first cruise, I wanted to stay safe. We took the New ziplining tour in Ketchikan. I loved this excursion. They were still doing some construction on the walkways but the overall ziplining course was finished. Everybody was fun and courteous and was always around to help when needed. We started with safety stuff. Then showed us how to get around the course. We went onto a beam then onto a rope bridge. From there another beam to a swinging log. Then our first Zip. It was FUN! After that a second zip. Once everyone completed that we started again sort of at the beginning. We went onto that first beam, then onto a rope swing with wooden steps. Then back over the swinging log from the opposite end and onto the third zip. That was the fastest and longest one. After that we did some tight rope work. Then back on the second zip and finished. After the tour we went shopping and walked creek street. I loved Ketchikan. I wish we had more time there, there was a couple other excursions we would of loved to do.

 

Next onto Juneau. I went shopping in the AM. Then we went on the Taste of Juneau. Toured the Mendenhal Glacier, Brewery and the Taku Smoke House. Got to drink free beer and eat smoked salmon. We even got to try a salmon patty burger that they were trying out. It was good. Loved the beer though. Going to have some shipped home. In the evening we went on a whale watching excursion. Saw some humpbacks, seals, eagles. Worth it!

 

In Skagway we went on the StreetCar tour. That was comical in a sense. Also went Dogsledding/Glacier Flighseeing. That was worth the $$$. I love the dogs. I got to meet the dogs and spend time with them before sledding. After the ride I held a 12 day old husky. The helicopter ride was fun. Our pilot was very knowledgeable of the area.

 

I know I spent a lot of time explaining the ziplining but because it was new, I figured I would go more detailed.

 

Disembarkation

 

We got our luggage tags but were told we would get new ones since we were doing a kayaking excursion in Whittier. When we got off the ship nobody knew where we needed to go. We stood around for 15 minutes until the excursion coordinator came up to us and asked us if we were going kayaking. We did that. It was raining but all was good. Once the excursion finished we went back to the pier where we waited to get on the bus to Anchorage. We waited about 45 minutes. The ride to Anchorage was good. Once we arrived at the Egan Center we had to wait again for an hour to go to our hotel. The captain cook. One thing I was not happy with was the tour personnel at the hotel. They seemed very unorganized. We booked a tour and if I didn't check with it... the tour would not of happened. The girl sold me the tickets but didn't record it so the bus didn't think anybody was touring. When I asked questions, I got a couple different answers. We toured Anchorage Museum and the guide they gave us never did the tour. We also went to the sourdough mining company and viewed the chocolate waterfall. But the guide got lost on his way. It wasn't the best, but it didn't spoil our evening.

 

Well the Cruise was excellent. We already have an open booking for another Princess Cruise (not sure where yet). But I am hooked and hooked on Princess. Oh one thing that was not mentioned… no trace of the virus! (at least from what we heard). Salt/Pepper and Butter stayed on tables. :)

[Totally Addicted]

Glad to hear there was no virus!! :D Isn't Princess wonderful!!!