I am one of the few that had a horrible experience on an Alaskan cruise

[lwayneman]

My wife and I booked this cruise as our 25th wedding anniversary present to ourselves. We also threw in two birthdays as well. LOL ...

 

We could not wait. I expected the check in to be horrible, but it really was not as bad as expected. Traffic though YUCK!

 

When we got to our room... we found some one else's pills in our bed along with one of those sleeping blindfolds. My wife immediately went on the hunt for germs and found hairs in our bed!... I was trying to keep her feeling secure, but how do you do that. We called our room stuart who apologized and gave us clean linens.

 

The next issue which was minor was our ice chest... got it 5 hours later... but it arrived all fluids in tact.

 

We went to eat at the buffet and found it to be very sub par food. May be I am just used to the awesome food at the all inclusive resorts. I figured this was maybe just because of the first day.... however, the food never changed. It was always the same stuff, maybe wrapped a little different. Never felt fresh.

 

We had anytime dining... learned fast - call early morning or eat at 9pm. Never a relaxing moment. You could pay extra $25 per person per night for good food... ***. $5000 for a cruise and I still have to pay extra? oh and did I mention they were still trying to get you to buy cards for extra promotions at the start of the cruise? Sigh... Nickel here Dime there... everywhere we looked...

 

The food in anytime dining was decent.. but our table locations were always horrible! 3 times we were seated right behind the damn waiter area. dishes clanking and never any privacy, not to mention the view, and hearing waiters complain! AWSOME! Not really

 

We found the adult pool. Now this was nice. No kids... Wait people brought their kids in this pool. they snuck them in and no one provided any security over it. SIGH again. Luckily this only occurred one night. I was disappointed you could not order a drink here. It is the ADULT pool? But nope... go get your own drink at the adult pool. Even with the darn waiters above at the $40 a day private spa area (that was always empty) watching over us. they would stand on balcony and look over.. LOL uh how about a drink.

 

Needless to say that once it starts bad it was hard to adjust... We made the best of it and stayed as positive as possible. Neither one of us complained during our trip. We did not want to ruin it for the other.

 

Advice if you go to Alaska.... Rent a car in Juneau, Ketchikan, and Victoria. it will be cheaper than any excursion and you will have way more fun. Do the excursions in Skagway... No car rentals. I heard the train ride was awesome and the ferry ride to the excursions in haines is good. our excursion was ok here. Not great but ok.

 

I could type more but I can just add as we go along or if you need explanation.

 

Wayne

 

Hope this helps someone plan better or learn to complain!

 

trips:

 

All inclusives

4 times Mexico

2 times Jamaica

 

1 cruise to Mexico

[shredie]

Sorry it was bad. Sounds like cruising is not the vacation for you.

[san diego sue]

What ship? We just returned and loved our cruise on the Crown Princess.

Your advice to rent a car in Juneau, where would you go?

In Juneau,one should go whale watching, not much of that from the shore.Or a boat ride to Haines to go to the Eagle preserve etc.

In Ketchikan you recommended a car rental too. That is a port you can easily walk.

So, in your car, who guided you, explained the incredible sites, explained how to identify bear tracks, trails, to look up and see the 800 pound Eagle nests.

In Victoria with such a short time there. Get in a cab, go to town, enjoy the beauty of the city. Or better yet, why didn't you walk to town and back to burn up the calories of the food you possibly didn't eat.

So sorry that the cruise didn't meet your expectations. Cruising is not for everyone.

Edited July 13, 2015 by san diego sue

[paul929207]

Sorry you had a bad time. We have been to Alaska twice and both were wonderful

[lwayneman]

Where would you go in Juneau?? To the Mendenhall Glacier! It was AWSOME and way cheaper than a cab ride or an excursion.

 

In Ketchikan... There are awesome lakes 15 minutes from town with awesome trails for eagles bears etc....

 

Walk to town in Victoria?? A car ride got us first in line to the gardens. We had the entire gardens to ourselves to start the day. Was very nice..

 

We were on the Golden Princess. You are right.... Cruises are probably not for us. Confined on a prison with bad food... not my style. I do like the all inclusive resorts over a cruise. No nickel and diming us and great food. Maybe it was just the cruise line I took.

[lwayneman]

And I am not trying to ruin any one else's good time.... Just explaining my experience. Do not take it personal. I am glad you have fun on cruises. Shoot maybe I just need more experience at it... :)

[shredie]

I could type more but I can just add as we go along or if you need explanation.

 

 

Just noticed this--you are planning for this thread to "go along" so you can "type more"? That seems an odd way to describe a review. Perhaps you didn't want to "type" "confined on a prison with bad food" or "maybe it was just the cruise line I took" the first time around? " Or "do not take it personal" on post number three? Too much typing in one sitting, I guess.

[Potstech]

If you were rxpecting a all inclusive resort experience then I can see why you were disappointed with your trip. I see you had been on a cruise to Mexico. Did you enjoy that one and was it also a werk long? Maybe the Princess experience is not for you and you should try the line you went to Mexico on. Each ship and each line is a different experience. Sorry you had one you did not like.

[srpilo]

Welcome to Cruise Critic

 

 

Yes .. All inclusive's are great options for some

Srpilo

[lwayneman]

No the trip to Mexico was one of those 3 day cruises. I just do not think the cruise life is for us...

 

Again... do not take it personal... holy cow.. it is an honest review of OUR experience.

[Working 2 Cruise]

What ship? I just noticed it was the Golden Princess!!! My favorite ship!

 

First of all, you can't really compare all inclusive resorts to cruising... two very different things. For something similar, you should have tried one of the luxury lines, with less passengers and food prepared accordingly. Food definitely isn't the same as at an all inclusive resort but cruises usually are much less expensive.

 

I also had a fabulous cruise on Crown Princess. Food was great, our cabin attendant or steward (not Stuart) was great as well. Nothing like sipping hot coffee on your balcony watching the scenery unfold...

 

It sounds like you didn't do any kind of research (although you knew to come here with your complaints).

Edited July 14, 2015 by Working 2 Cruise

[Illyria]

The thought of an all-inclusive resort with nothing but a beach for entertainment and nothing new to see bores me to tears. I'll go back to Alaska any day, on any cruise line!

 

I agree that the OP didn't seem to have researched the ports of call very well.

 

Of course, the issues that they encountered with the stateroom not being properly cleaned on embarkation day - that's a legitimate complaint, and it's unfortunate that it became their first impression of a Princess cruise ship.

[ChiefBoats]

Cruising is not for everybody. Alaska is expensive to start with and if you want all inclusive than maybe you need to go to the all inclusive resorts. Also there is car rental in Skagway (Avis). We have rented a car there the last two time we have cruised in Alaska. There are cruise lines which are all inclusive but you will pay a lot more than you paid for your Alaska cruise.

 

Buffets are Buffets. We find them best for breakfast and lunch. As for as having to pay for the specialty restaurants that is normal for most of the cruise line.

_________________________________

Island Princess 2008 Alaska, Island Princess 2009 (B2B) Alaska, Royal Princess (Old) 2010 Alaska, Golden Princess 2011 Alaska, Coral Princess 2012 Panama Canal, Star Princess 2012 Alaska, Island Princess 2013 Alaska, Crown Princess 2013 Western Caribbean, Caribbean Princess 2013 Western Caribbean, Royal Princess 2014 Eastern Caribbean, Royal Princess 2014 New England, Emerald Princess 2014 Western Caribbean, Ruby Princess 2015 Alaska

[EightFurryPaws]

Rather than renting a car to go to Mendenhall glacier, there was a public bus

right at the port. Round trip was $12 and you can stay all day. Buses left from the glacier back to the port all day.

 

I'm sure I saw the same things you did, but for a lot less money.

[LoriPhil]

So sorry you had this experience - not the best first impression to start what is typically a wonderful cruise. Hope your steward was suitably embarrassed and did a better job for you for the rest of the trip.

 

Which ship?

[Cruisercl]

First of all thanks for your review and welcome to CC! :D

 

That said, most of cruising is a subjective vacation. You described it as a horrible but IMO nothing I read on your review classified it as horrible. Again, JMO.

 

I TOTALLY agree with you on the issue in the cabin; however we have all had that happen while traveling some where or another. Not that it makes it OK, but nothing is 100% and we all have it corrected or dealt with :cool:

 

Cruising is much different than an all inclusive vacation and not 100% perfect for everyone; maybe it is not for you.

We all really love cruising and hope you have a better cruise in the future. :)

 

Happy and safe cruising all!!

[mek]

OP - sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise and it didn't live up to your expectations. Perhaps Alaska just isn't your thing either - so different from a Caribbean cruise or a tropical all inclusive. MY DS loves to cruise, but you couldn't drag him on one to Alaska or anywhere cooler than 95 degrees in the shade.

 

Good luck wih your future travels.

Edited July 14, 2015 by mek

[ChiefBoats]

Sorry you had a bad cruise. We have cruised Alaska numerous times and will continue to cruise there. Everything is expensive in Alaska just because of the logistics to get things to the coastal towns. Most things come into Alaska by boat or air. Also if you do not take excursions in some of the ports of call you will not see very much. And by the way there is car rentals in Skagway (Avis). We have rented a car the last two times we have call on Skagway and driven up into the Yukon.

 

As for as having to pay for the specialty restaurants that is common on the vast majority of the cruise line.

 

If you want all inclusive than you need visit all inclusive resorts or some of the few all inclusive cruise lines (not many).

 

I feel that cruising is not for everybody.

________________________________________

Island Princess 2008 Alaska, Island Princess 2009 (B2B) Alaska, Royal Princess (Old) 2010 Alaska, Golden Princess 2011 Alaska, Coral Princess 2012 Panama Canal, Star Princess 2012 Alaska, Island Princess 2013 Alaska, Crown Princess 2013 Western Caribbean, Caribbean Princess 2013 Western Caribbean, Royal Princess 2014 Eastern Caribbean, Royal Princess 2014 New England, Emerald Princess 2014 Western Caribbean, Ruby Princess 2015 Alaska

[cb at sea]

Cruising isn't for everyone...and it's gotten less "special" as time has gone on....less and less quality...less and less attention to detail...

 

Now, it's a basic experience. Used to be an experience above what the majority of cruisers ever experienced in "real life"!

[fishywood]

It is easy for us experienced cruisers to tell this poster that they should have done better research, should have done this-or-that differently onboard, or should not make an issue out of what we believe should just be accepted as the norm. Also quite unfair.

 

Let me just add this: if the 10 day round trip Alaska from San Francisco had been my first Princess cruise--or even my first cruise at all--it likely would have been my last. It is an itinerary best taken by those who prefer (or at least rate as equal) sea days to port days. In time I have grown into a cruiser who on sea days doesn't care about the weather, about what time I eat, about what the other passengers and crew are up to. But fifteen years ago when I took this cruise (which was probably the second or third one chosen and paid for by me and not my family) I probably would have posted something similar had there been a Cruise Critic to do so on.

 

Claiming that the OP's reaction is his own fault for the very normal act of comparing the cruise to his past experience with AI vacations (what else can we make comparisons with but with what we actually know about?) and giving them the condescending finger-wagging "you didn't do your research" retort will not help them consider whether or not to take another cruise in the future.

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

No the trip to Mexico was one of those 3 day cruises. I just do not think the cruise life is for us...

 

Again... do not take it personal... holy cow.. it is an honest review of OUR experience.

 

I can't believe you didn't have any positive experiences.

[Thrak]

I have never been very impressed with the food in the buffet but... I eat it occasionally - usually for breakfast or for lunch. I rarely eat there for dinner. I find the food in MDR to be quite good but I regret the lack of anything spicy.

 

Hair, personal items, and medications in my cabin: NO. NO. NO. Sorry but the steward just lost my extra tip. That is totally unacceptable.

 

I agree that comparing a Princess cruise with an all inclusive-resort is likely a poor comparison. A higher end cruise line might have fared better in the comparison but it would have been accordingly more expensive.

 

I don't quite agree about boredom with an all-inclusive stay at a beach resort. I would love to be able to take my wife to Hawaii or some such place for a week (two would be better!) where we had a wonderful room with a wonderful beach and everything included. I am pretty certain my wife would absolutely love it. (And if she loved it I would be very happy.) I would likely be happy with a cruise to nowhere. Sea days are just fine with me. :)

 

When I was finally dragged onto a cruise I found I loved it. It was Princess and it was Alaska. It was in a tiny (Sea Princess) inside cabin way far forward and high up and we hit "weather" the first night and all the next day. For some reason it didn't matter that the buffet food didn't wow me. I was hooked.

 

I guess that cruising is for some folks and not for others. I appreciate the mini review from the OP and wish him well in the future. I would guess he will return to the all-inclusive resort profile and eschew further cruising. It's great that everybody isn't the same. If everybody was like me we would all be in huge trouble. :eek:

Edited July 14, 2015 by Thrak

[Matcodixon]

We did a cruise tour on the Diamond Princess with another couple and we did many things on our own. In Juneau we did rent a car. We took a taxi to the airport where we picked it up and we drove to the Mendenhall Glacier and then over the bridge to a very scenic and not well traveled part of Juneau. It made for an interesting day. We dropped the car back at the airport and it was another quick taxi ride to the ship. Of course the tram up to the top of the mountain by the port is also a good way to spend some times. In Ketchikan we walked to the museum and around town which is extremely interesting. Tours are great but not always necessary. sometimes the best stuff is right in front of you.

JMHO:rolleyes:

Dixon

[Cindy]

You are right.... Cruises are probably not for us. Confined on a prison with bad food... not my style. I do like the all inclusive resorts over a cruise. No nickel and diming us and great food. Maybe it was just the cruise line I took.

 

Sorry you didn't like the trip. I don't see things the same way, with the exception of the condition of your cabin...totally gross and unacceptable. :( Other than that, I think a week at an all-inclusive would be torture, but I'm an ocean person, not a beach person and I love my "hotel" taking me to different places.

 

If a cruise ship is a prison, I better commit a crime that will get me locked up!

[Woobstr112G]

My wife and I booked this cruise as our 25th wedding anniversary present to ourselves. We also threw in two birthdays as well. LOL ...

 

We could not wait. I expected the check in to be horrible, but it really was not as bad as expected. Traffic though YUCK!

 

When we got to our room... we found some one else's pills in our bed along with one of those sleeping blindfolds. My wife immediately went on the hunt for germs and found hairs in our bed!... I was trying to keep her feeling secure, but how do you do that. We called our room stuart who apologized and gave us clean linens.

 

The next issue which was minor was our ice chest... got it 5 hours later... but it arrived all fluids in tact.

 

We went to eat at the buffet and found it to be very sub par food. May be I am just used to the awesome food at the all inclusive resorts. I figured this was maybe just because of the first day.... however, the food never changed. It was always the same stuff, maybe wrapped a little different. Never felt fresh.

 

We had anytime dining... learned fast - call early morning or eat at 9pm. Never a relaxing moment. You could pay extra $25 per person per night for good food... ***. $5000 for a cruise and I still have to pay extra? oh and did I mention they were still trying to get you to buy cards for extra promotions at the start of the cruise? Sigh... Nickel here Dime there... everywhere we looked...

 

The food in anytime dining was decent.. but our table locations were always horrible! 3 times we were seated right behind the damn waiter area. dishes clanking and never any privacy, not to mention the view, and hearing waiters complain! AWSOME! Not really

 

We found the adult pool. Now this was nice. No kids... Wait people brought their kids in this pool. they snuck them in and no one provided any security over it. SIGH again. Luckily this only occurred one night. I was disappointed you could not order a drink here. It is the ADULT pool? But nope... go get your own drink at the adult pool. Even with the darn waiters above at the $40 a day private spa area (that was always empty) watching over us. they would stand on balcony and look over.. LOL uh how about a drink.

 

Needless to say that once it starts bad it was hard to adjust... We made the best of it and stayed as positive as possible. Neither one of us complained during our trip. We did not want to ruin it for the other.

 

Advice if you go to Alaska.... Rent a car in Juneau, Ketchikan, and Victoria. it will be cheaper than any excursion and you will have way more fun. Do the excursions in Skagway... No car rentals. I heard the train ride was awesome and the ferry ride to the excursions in haines is good. our excursion was ok here. Not great but ok.

 

I could type more but I can just add as we go along or if you need explanation.

 

Wayne

 

Hope this helps someone plan better or learn to complain!

 

trips:

 

All inclusives

4 times Mexico

2 times Jamaica

 

1 cruise to Mexico

 

Hopefully your next cruise will be better.....:):):)

 

Bob