My review Sun Princess Alaska Southbound May 24

[Marie-Claude]

Here is my review of a great cruise to Alaska on the Sun. I also posted it on the Cruise Review board. Even if it rained most of the week, we still had a wonderful time. Hope this review can help in planning you future cruise. I apologize if it's a bit long!!

 

MC

 

SUN PRINCESS GULF OF ALASKA SOUTHBOUND – MAY 24, 2004

 

DAY 1

 

ARRIVAL AND TRANSFER TO SHIP

We arrived in Anchorage at 1:30 PM. A group of Princess reps were waiting for us in the baggage claim area. They quickly picked-up our luggage but we had to wait about 45 minutes for the coach for our transfer to Whittier. The driver was very informative and gave us lots of facts and figures on Anchorage. We had not been on the road for more than 10 minutes and I already spotted two moose in a field! This was good omen for the rest of the trip!! We were a bit too early for the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel to Whittier, as it only runs one way at a time: To Whittier on the half hour, and from Whittier on the hour. So the driver took us to a small park where we could see wildlife: moose, bison, bears, etc. Crossing the tunnel was an event in itself. This tunnel was dug in 1940s for the railroad, and was converted to a railroad-car tunnel in 1998. Construction lasted about 2 years, and it finally opened to traffic in July 2000. Constructed in a straight line it runs for 2 ½ miles, and serves for both the train and cars. The railroad tracks were welded without joints, in one long piece to avoid breakage due to expansion and retraction in extreme weather. There are 6 safe stations in the tunnel for evacuation in case of emergency. Also, the flow of air in controlled and flows with the traffic in case of an explosion or fire. This way the cars in front could go faster and escape, and the cars behind would not be affected by the fumes. The tunnel is extremely narrow – it feels like there are only a few inches on either side of the bus! The tunnel crossing took about 7 minutes and as we exited the tunnel we could see the Sun Princess at the pier. We were excited.

There’s a great website on the tunnel explaining the various stage of construction with pictures: http://www.dot.state.ak.us/creg/whittiertunnel/index.htm

 

EMBARKATION

Embarkation was fairly smooth, at least for us. Many people took the wrong line and waited in the security line before completing their registration and had to go back in line to register before waiting again for the security check. Princess should have some signage or at least a couple reps directing people – but this was the first embarkation in Whittier, so I’m sure they will remedy this and get it together quickly. But since we were in the proper line-up we got our cruise card within seconds, and within 20 minutes we were on board the ship. However, it was pouring rain, and we had a bit of a walk outside. They were installing a canopy on the walkway, but unfortunately, the covering wasn’t installed yet - so we were soaked.

 

STATEROOM

Once on board we went to our cabin C227 on Caribe deck 9. We had booked a guarantee F category and received a BF balcony stateroom. That’s an 8-category upgrade. We were thrilled!! The cabin is small but efficient. The balcony was small, with two chairs and a table, but we were so happy to have it. Watching the scenery from your balcony is absolutely unbelievable. I would absolutely recommend it for the Alaska itinerary. We even saw whales right from our balcony!! The Cruise Personalizer stated that this was a non-converting twin beds stateroom – but our room steward got that fixed right away and pulled the two beds together in seconds. Even though I travel with my mom, we like to have a queen bed as it provides more room to walk about the cabin. We asked for terry robes and we got them right away. The storage was adequate – with enough closet space and drawers to fit all of our clothes – and lots of clothes we had – with raincoats, fleece, sweaters, scarves and gloves on top of the evening wear… We were able to keep all ‘winter’ stuff in a duffle bag that we kept under the bed. We were also able to store all of our suitcases under the bed.

HORIZON COURT

As we embarked, they gave us a coupon for tonight’s dinner. Since the ship wasn’t sailing until 9 PM, dinnertime was a bit later. Our dinner was for 8:45 PM. So we went to grab some food at the Horizon Court, because we wouldn’t last til dinner.

I can’t really remember what we ate that day but our overall appreciation of the Horizon Court food was not good. The menu was very repetitive, and that would be fine if the food was great, which it was not. We’ve been on many cruises, many with Princess, and this was by far the worst food we’ve had. We’re not fussy, but I will not eat food that doesn’t smell good, and that happened a few times.

 

EXPLORING

After our light meal we went exploring the ship. I was surprised to see how well kept the Sun was. The lounges and public rooms were all clean and fresh looking. The Wheelhouse is very warm and inviting with leather couches and wing chairs all over. The gym is well equipped with 10 treadmills, and a dozen of other cardio machines, weight machines and a spinning room. There’s a lap pool and a couple Jacuzzis in the spa/gym area. This is probably the best spot for this itinerary as it is partially covered, and you can sit in the Jacuzzi and watch the mountains go by – amazing.

 

We did not get our luggage until 8:40 pm, just minutes before we left for dinner. So we quickly changed and went to the Marquis dining room for our first dinner. The food was good. Since we still had to unpack, we went straight to our stateroom to get settled after dinner.

 

We were exhausted so it didn’t take long after we were all unpacked for both of us to fall asleep – but before we did, we spent a while on the balcony looking at how bright the sky still was at past midnight!! The days are already very long this far North.

 

The ship did not sail until 10:45 PM as we were waiting for passengers that were delayed.

 

DAY 2 – COLLEGE FJORDS

 

Unfortunately, this day didn’t start too good for us. My mom woke up in the early morning feeling sick. We’re not sure if it’s something she ate, or if it was the virus, but she was pretty sick for most part of the morning. So we spent all day in the cabin – thank God for our balcony!! I didn’t want to leave her so the balcony was great as I could watch the scenery and listen to the commentary on the television.

 

The on-board naturalist commented as we sailed through the various glaciers of College Fjords. The day was extremely foggy and misty so we couldn’t see high up the mountains, but we could see the glaciers and their striking blue color. It was pretty neat to watch the small icebergs float by the ship!

 

Another disappointment from Princess: since my mom had been very sick, I went up to the Horizon court in the afternoon to get her something light to eat. I explained the reason for my special request and asked for some chicken broth and a slice of toast – No way… The chef said they did not have chicken broth (it was on the menu the next day and every other day after) and could not make toast in the afternoon – only in the morning… I find this a bit hard to believe. And when people are seasick, chicken soup and toast is a pretty basic menu to help recover.

So I went back to the cabin and tried Room Service – didn’t have more luck with the soup, but got a slice of toast delivered to the room.

Unfortunately, this was Formal night, so we missed it. Apparently many people missed it as well, as the ship was rocking quite a bit since we had entered the Gulf of Alaska and the sea was a bit rough. We were told the next morning that both dining rooms were half empty, and we found seasickness bag all over the ship!

 

 

DAY 3 – GLACIER BAY

 

Since we spent most of the day in the cabin yesterday, we woke up bright and early this morning and were up for breakfast by 5:15 AM. The day seemed pretty foggy again.

 

By the time we picked up the Glacier Bay Park Rangers at Bartlett Cove at around 10:30 AM the fog started to lift. We got a spot on Lido deck in front of the ship. They had brought in patio chairs for people to sit and watch, and we could get some warm wool blankets from deck 12 – we needed them! It was pretty cold and windy. As we watch the beautiful mountains go by, we saw some porpoises and killer whales. We slowly sailed to the northern end of Glacier Bay and arrived at Margerie Glacier at around 2:30 PM. By this time we had some blue patches in the sky and the wind was gone. It was absolutely amazing. We spent about 45 minutes at Margerie Glacier and were lucky to see several calvings – probably a dozen!! The crackling sounds, the thunder-like grumbling and the waves created by the huge chunks of ice falling into the water were incredible! As the ship turned around to set sails towards John Hopkins inlet, we went back to our cabin to watch some more calvings from the Margerie Glacier. The ship sailed right into the John Hopkins inlet and went up to the Glacier. This glacier is also interesting as it looks like a 3-step staircase. We passed by Lamplugh Glacier one of the bluest glacier in the Bay.

 

We went for our first dinner in the dining room that night. We had chosen traditional 2nd seating. This will probably be the last time we do traditional. We were alone at our table for all nights but one and the whole dining room was half empty. The ambiance wasn’t very good and service was slightly lacking. Also, at 8:30 every night we could hear quite loudly the music from the Starry Night discotheque one deck above.

 

We went to the Vista Lounge for Comedy Showtime with Jack Wilks. He was very funny and involved the public, which was really fun.

 

This was a wonderful day!

 

 

DAY 4 – SKAGWAY

 

We woke up to a wall of graffiti painted on the mountainside that borders the pier. The graffiti were painted by cruise ship crews over the years with the ship and captain’s name. Apparently, the higher they painted the graffiti the more they liked their captain!!

The Yukon White Pass Railroad train pulled right in front of the ship at around 8:00 AM. It was fun to watch the train engineer light up the small furnace in each of the wagon!

We had chosen to do the ‘Experience the Yukon’ excursion. We left the pier at around 8:15 AM on a coach. If you picked this excursion, make sure to sit on the right side of the bus – it’s definitely the good view side! We drove through the White Pass and stopped a few times for pictures. The scenery was again breathtaking. We crossed the Canadian border and passed though BC and into the Yukon. We passed the Carcross desert. Since we had left a bit earlier, our driver Blair took us all the way to Emerald Lake. It is not usually on the itinerary so make sure to tell him or her that you’d like to go – it’s definitely worth taking the extra 10 minutes to see this beautiful turquoise green lake. We then stopped at Caribou Crossing (formerly known as Frontier Land) for lunch. We had some barbecued chicken with a baked potato and coleslaw, and coffee and donuts for dessert. They have a small shop for gift shopping and a very interesting taxidermy museum – make sure to visit it.

On the way back we stopped at Carcross for a half hour. This quaint town can be walked in about 15 minutes. Make sure to stop by the Visitor Center located in the old train station. They will stamp your passport with a Carcross Yukon stamp!!

 

We were back into town for 3:00 PM, which gave us plenty of time to walk Broadway Street, have a coffee at Olivia’s, a quick tour of the Red Onion Saloon, and to do some shopping. Skagway Outlet at the far end of B’way has pretty good prices for souvenirs. They have some stuffed animals for 1/3 of the ship’s prices – 5$ for medium size Husky dogs and bears. If you’re looking for jewellery, 5th Avenue Jewellery had some pretty reasonable prices – probably the best in all 3 ports we visited. If you’re really tired, you can catch a shuttle back to the ship for 1.50$. You can catch it at every corner and it runs every 10 minutes.

 

We chose to go to Verdi’s Pizzeria tonight. Every ship we’ve been on had amazing pizza – this one was far from being extraordinary. The Caesar salad was rusty, and the calzone was not good – they forgot the tomato sauce so all I had was a chunk of dough with cheese and mushroom. However the Tiramisu was to die for. Again, there were only 3 tables occupied in the whole restaurant, so the waiters were playing cards behind the front desk… so much for ambiance and service. We always felt like we were disturbing the waiters when we needed something like… cutlery!

 

We went to the Vista Lounge for the production show ‘C’est Magnifique’. The lounge has a very small stage, so it was difficult for the dancers to manoeuvre on such a restricted area but it was still entertaining.

 

 

DAY 5 - JUNEAU

 

Again we were up early to grab some breakfast before heading out for our ‘Deluxe Mendenhall Glacier and Juneau Highlights’ tour. We had originally booked the combo tour Mendenhall and Salmon Bake but changed the day before to get the Juneau highlights instead – it turned out for the better as we really enjoyed this tour, and many people we met the next day told us that the Salmon Bake was a waste of money. We spoke with 3 different couples that said the food wasn’t good and that there was nothing to see except for a small waterfall.

 

Our tour started by a visit to the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery. It was very educative to learn about the various species of salmon, and to witness the whole process they go through to help preserve the quantity of salmon in the sea. After a short explanation and visit, they take you to their gift shop where you can buy canned or smoked salmon, gifts and souvenirs. They also have a very good aquarium with all different salmon species, octopus, and starfish.

 

Then we went to Mendenhall glacier. We had about 1 ¼ hour – plenty of time to walk up the pathway to the glacier and to spend time at the Visitor’s Center. They show an 11-minute film that is worth seeing. It gives a good history on this particular glacier but also great info on glacial formation. There are many Rangers on site with telescopes pointing out interesting things to look for on and around the glacier. If you’re fit, you could also take a walk up to the waterfall that’s on the right of the glacier. Many people did.

 

Next stop was at the Green Angel Garden. I wasn’t expecting much of this part of the tour but it turned out to be a great portion of this tour! The owner of the garden gave us a map of the gardens with all the various species of native plants to this area. Then we followed the pathway through a field filled with wild native flowers and plants, then through a rain forest. It took all of 15-20 minutes but was truly interesting and amazing. At the end of the walk, the owner and his wife were waiting for us in a covered picnic area where they served us some hot spice tea with fresh apple muffins! It was a perfect snack after all this walking.

 

Our last stop was back into town to the Alaska State Museum. We had about an hour to visit the various exhibits, which was just enough time. This was again a great addition to this tour as they had an exhibit on traditional native art, Alaskan history, the Russian years, and contemporary native art.

 

The driver left us downtown across from the Red Dog Saloon. By this time the rain had started again, so we did a bit of shopping and headed back to the ship. There’s a 1$ shuttle at the base of the Mount Roberts Tram to take you back to the ship. The ship departed Juneau at 4 PM so we didn’t really have time to go back into town after our late lunch. We also wanted to attend the conference given by Libby Riddles – the first women to win the Iditarod. She was truly amazing. She talked for a while and then showed a commentated slide show relating how she started as a musher, trained for the race and then the whole journey of the Iditarod race. She’s written a book on the race as well as some children’s books that she sells and signs at the end of the conference. The line-up to get the book was very long – and I bitterly regret not being more patient. I thought I could find the book in Ketchikan but I couldn’t.

If you miss the talk in the afternoon, it is broadcasted all though the evening on the television. Make sure to catch it.

 

After our dinner in the Dining Room we finished the evening in the Vista Lounge for the Crew Variety Show – not too many great talents but it was entertaining and funny.

 

DAY 6 – KETCHIKAN

 

We had not booked anything for Ketchikan not knowing what kind of weather we would get. It was pouring rain and very cold all day… So we went to the Visitor’s Center that is right on the pier where all tour operators are located. Being the only ship in town, everybody had ‘deals’ on their tour. We opted for a city tour on Dolly’s Trolleys ($25pp). Our guide Sean was a resident (for the last 15 years) and was very good. He took us to the cannery to see some bald eagles. Then we drove around town, saw the salmon ladders, City Park, and went all the way down to Saxman Village. Even though we could not go into the clan house (this is reserved for cruise ship tours) he gave us the stories of all the different totem poles. We were there for about 30 minutes. We had time to walk around and visit the gift shop as well as the native women coop shop. We drove back into town and got dropped off on Creek Street. Dolly, from her doorway, was inviting us in. Dolly’s House used to be a brothel and our tour included a visit of her small house. It was fun but I wouldn’t pay much money to see it. Then we walked Creek Street where most of the nicest shops are located. The pier abounds with shops but they’re mostly tourist traps and jewellery shops. The rain finally got to us and we returned to the ship for lunch. We really enjoyed the tour of the city. It is amazing to see to much greenery and flowers – they have huge bushes of rhododendrons all over town, with bright colors. All that rain (15 feet per year) sure makes for wonderful greenery.

 

Tonight was our second formal night, and since we had missed the first one, we were excited to get dressed up for this one. The Captains Circle party was early – 5:00 PM for all guests. So we went, had a very weak Martini in a highball glass (??) and because we arrived 15 minutes late, we missed the hors d’oeuvres…

After the party that lasted exactly 45 minutes, we had a few hours before our dinner, so we went to get our portraits done by the ship’s photographers.

It was lobster tail night! The food was very good, and the waiters very generous. Without asking, he came to our table with a plateful of tails already shelled. It was delicious!

 

 

DAY 7 – at sea cruising the interior passage to Vancouver

 

I woke up early to go to the Inventory Sale they had in the Marquis Dining Room. Everything was 75% off – they even had the Alaska Cruise Companion Book on sale for $5 instead of $20! Snapped that one quickly. I guess since a new edition is coming out in June they wanted to liquidate their current inventory. They also had loads of Tees for $2-$10, Fossil leather purses for $30, watches etc.,

 

After a good breakfast in the dining room we went up to the Theatre for a very interesting talk on bears given by the ship naturalist. He had many stories to tell and brushed a good portrait on the habitat and life of bears in Alaska.

 

Today was a relaxing day. The weather wasn’t great, with heavy clouds, occasional rain and some wind. We sailed alongside Vancouver Island and the scenery was absolutely fabulous. We spent most of the afternoon on our balcony just watching the shore and sea. We spotted pods of orca whales near Alert Bay and followed them for 15-20 minutes. It was fabulous to watch them play in the water right from our balcony! The naturalist commented on the scenery throughout the day, which made things even more interesting.

 

Tonight was our last dinner, and they had the Baked Alaska parade! It had a completely different meaning on this cruise than any other cruise!! It was fun and delicious. Tonight’s show was the passenger’s talent show. It was actually one of the best show we had all week! From poetry reading to opera singing and jive dancing – it was fun and very entertaining.

 

But the fun was about to end… we had to go back to our cabin to put out our last piece of luggage and get a good night sleep before our journey back home.

 

DAY 8 – DISEMBARKATION

 

We had decided to take a Vancouver City Tour with a transfer to the airport since our flight wasn’t leaving until 3 PM. So our color got called at around 9:00 AM. We sat comfortably in one of the lounge until they called us. It was fairly smooth, but a long walk to get to the terminal. We found our luggage quickly, and then proceeded to go though customs. Pretty smooth there too. Princess reps were all over the terminal directing people for tours or hotel buses. Our bus driver Don was unbelievably funny and knowledgeable about the city. We drove around the various neighbourhoods and then though Stanley Park where we stopped for a while. The tour ended at the airport at around noon – just in time for our flight registration. I’m glad we took that tour; it was a great way to end this fabulous journey!

 

 

FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS:

§ Obviously, bring warm clothes and don’t forget gloves

§ Make sure to bring good binoculars, and one pair for everybody. When there is something to see, you won’t want to share them…

§ The Alaska Cruise Companion Map is really fun to have as you can follow along

§ If you can afford it, get a balcony stateroom – it’s really worth it. If not, know the ship and make sure you know which decks have access to outside terraces (like deck 10-11 on the Sun)

§ Take lots of pictures!!

 

OVERALL RATING out of 5

 

Ship Cleanliness 4/5

Horizon Court Food 2/5

Dining Room Food 4/5

DR Service 3/5

Overall Service 4/5

Stateroom 4/5

Entertainment 3/5

Itinerary 5/5

 

Next up: 10/04 Star Princess Transatlantic;

Past: 05/04 Sun Princess Alaska; 05/03 Regal Princess Baltics Russia; 12/02 Constellation Celebrity Southern C; 10/01 Golden Princess Eastern C; 03/01 Sensation Carnival Western C; 04/00 Costa Romantica Western C

 

MC

[tadjr]

Thanks for the review. Sorry we didnt leave the nice weather we had for you. Luck of the draw I guess.

[nedo]

Hi Marie-Claude,

We're leaving for our land/cruise tour on the Dawn in a couple of weeks. I enjoyed your review. We want to tour Vancouver after the trip and want to know if you took the Vancour overview tour through Princess? If so, did your luggage stay with you or was it brought to the airport?

[Marie-Claude]

Hi Nedo!

Yes we did book the Vancoucer overview with Princess. You pick up your luggage at the terminal after disembarkation, go through customs with your luggage, then they put it o the bus used for the tour and give it back to you at the airport. So you can put all your luggage including you carry-ons right under the bus.

Hope this answers your questions!

 

Next up: 10/04 Star Princess Transatlantic;

Past: 05/04 Sun Princess Alaska; 05/03 Regal Princess Baltics Russia; 12/02 Constellation Celebrity Southern C; 10/01 Golden Princess Eastern C; 03/01 Sensation Carnival Western C; 04/00 Costa Romantica Western C

 

MC

[travelb]

Thanks for your review, especially all of the details about the tours you took. I'm glad you had a good time!

[nedo]

Thank you Marie-Claude for the Vancouver info.