First Timer on Princess to Alaska

[cruisekitty22]

What is the Adults sanctuary? How much does it cost to use it? Is there a pool or hot tub there? I am trying to decide between Golden, Star and Island Princess ships for my 7 day Alaska cruise preferably from Seattle. How formal are these ships? Suit and tie every night? I hope not! Can we be casual at all in the MDR?

[moki'smommy]

All three ships have a "smart casual" suggested dress on most nights. That translates into "don't look like a slob, but certainly do not need to dress up."

 

Ships....Island had a bunch of public areas removed and replaced by guest cabins. That means more people crammed into fewer spaces. I'd need a good reason to choose this one. I'm on the Golden for my next cruise, so hope her "post dry dock" issues are fixed before we cruise. I'm a little worried.

 

Sanctuary is a private area to hang out on loungers. You go the first day and reserve your spot. $40 for a full day, $20 for a half day, $30 per day if you book the entire cruise. There are people who will basically wait on you--getting you food, blankets, etc. as needed. The price will go up on the glacier days, and it isn't a good place for viewing!

 

You'll see more on the Vancouver to Whittier (or other direction) cruise, but the air fare to Seattle is less.

[Thrak]

What is the Adults sanctuary? How much does it cost to use it? Is there a pool or hot tub there? I am trying to decide between Golden, Star and Island Princess ships for my 7 day Alaska cruise preferably from Seattle. How formal are these ships? Suit and tie every night? I hope not! Can we be casual at all in the MDR?

 

My thought is: Any Princess ship other than Island. Been there, done that. Nope, nope, nope. No flip flops in MDR. Every non-formal night is a "smart casual" night. Wear something appropriate for a nice restaurant at home and you will be fine. Never used the Sanctuary and don't intend to do so in the future. My wife uses the Spa pool sometimes and, while it is right by the Sanctuary, it isn't actually part of it so is open to all adults. (No children allowed.)

[moki'smommy]

As a first timer, look at the various sources for onboard credit. Examples include shareholder (own 100 shares of Carnival Corp stock), military (veteran or active duty), refer a friend (someone who has cruised refers you...you get an e-mail with your Captain's Circle number. Use this number when you book. If you cruise within 2 years, both you and the person who referred you will get $25. That's for each person referred. If you don't have a friend to refer you, I'll do it!) OBC can also come from your TA, from particular Princess deals, etc. This can go a long way to minimizing on board costs.

[skynight]

What is the Adults sanctuary? How much does it cost to use it? Is there a pool or hot tub there? I am trying to decide between Golden, Star and Island Princess ships for my 7 day Alaska cruise preferably from Seattle. How formal are these ships? Suit and tie every night? I hope not! Can we be casual at all in the MDR?

Go to the Sanctuary after you board on the first day to have a look see. It is a place with comfy lounge chairs and some special attendants. Personally I don't believe the Alaska itinerary is what you would call sanctuary necessary. To me the sanctuary is more for tropical weather cruises.

I would not take the Island. I would select the Star or Golden. They are sister ships and pretty much the same. Both or these ships have the Terrace Pool and Lap Pool ( no Laps there) which are adult only. These ships also have great forward and aft viewing areas plus Skywalker's which is a windowed lounge high up and aft. There are more benefits to these ships for example the International Cafe, Vista Lounge, Vines, more DR space and tables in the 3 DR's.

My only comment on the MDR is that it is not dress up every night.

[idahospud]

I did a live from on the Island Princess last week. This week I'm doing a live from on the Golden Princess. I'm posting Patters too, so take a look if you want to see some of the activities on each. Remember, though, as entertainment directors change so do onboard activities.

The live from for both are on my blog here: http://www.debsdays.com/

[Coral]

I would never do the Sanctuary in Alaska.

[sherryf]

I am trying to decide between Golden, Star and Island Princess ships for my 7 day Alaska cruise preferably from Seattle.

 

None of these ships are currently sailing from Seattle. They are all sailing one-way Vancouver/Whittier.

[JC in CA]

We just got back from Alaska on the Grand. It was really quite cold on deck most of the trip, and definitely too cold on sea days. I doubt the Sanctuary was used much!

I'm guessing warm weather cruises get a lot more Sanctuary business.

[moki'smommy]

I certainly wouldn't pay for the Sanctuary in Alaska, but OP wanted information about it, so....

 

Also, OP referenced it as the "Adults Sanctuary." While it is an "adult only" area, that concept is totally different on Princess ships than on Disney, Royal Caribbean, etc. Princess, even at mid summer, has a much lower percentage of children than some other lines. We found the children on Princess to be much better behaved and better supervised than the children on those other lines. We did not need "adult only" areas to escape from bratty children! There were, of course, a few ill behaved kids on the Princess cruises we did, but they were quite few and their stupidity didn't bother us. We saw such things as a tween stepping over the rope closing a pool during rough seas repeatedly after being spoken to by staff. That's not my problem and didn't bother me. We had no issues with kids being obnoxious in the dining rooms, blocking halls, etc while on Princess.

[BigGuy25]

We did Alaska (roundtrip from Seattle) in both Sept '15 and August '16 and found the voyages to be among the most "casual" that we've ever encountered. Not sloppy dress, but a far more relaxed environment than most other cruises. It was great.

[Hobbes67]

I did a live from on the Island Princess last week. This week I'm doing a live from on the Golden Princess. I'm posting Patters too, so take a look if you want to see some of the activities on each. Remember, though, as entertainment directors change so do onboard activities.

The live from for both are on my blog here: http://www.debsdays.com/

 

Thanks for the update on the Golden. We will be on June 9th, with the land portion first. How was the condition of the ship?

[idahospud]

Thanks for the update on the Golden. We will be on June 9th, with the land portion first. How was the condition of the ship?

As others have reported, there are leaks. I've seen four in the last three days and I'm not even searching them out.

[divot33]

As others have reported, there are leaks. I've seen four in the last three days and I'm not even searching them out.

 

Might want to rephrase that ;)

[rma2001]

For “smart casual” are jeans and a collared shirt ok? Not sure I want to pack khakis to Alaska

[neverbeenhere]

For “smart casual” are jeans and a collared shirt ok? Not sure I want to pack khakis to Alaska

 

Debate, debate, debate, debate, etc.

 

Yes, you will survive in your jeans by Kirkland. :D

[satxdiver]

This summer like last summer only the Emerald and Ruby sail out of Seattle on a r/t AK cruise. We were on the Ruby last August and it was warm. When we visited the glaciers, I was wearing shorts and a tshirt on the outside of the Sun deck. It was warm in all four ports and dry. Luck of the draw.

 

Don't get hung up on the dress code. Formal nights for men can be dockers and a button shirt (suits, ties etc not required). Non-formal nights jeans and a shirt with collar will suffice. You may of course dress more formal if you wish. AK is an outdoors place and people up there wear rugged outdoors clothing. We were lucky this last cruise but do bring rain gear as it does rain particularly Ketchikan which gets over 200" of rain/year.

 

I love AK (in the summer!) when the sun is out 18+ hours a day and the beautiful scenery unmarked by human hands.

[Coral]

For “smart casual” are jeans and a collared shirt ok? Not sure I want to pack khakis to Alaska

Yes- you will be fine.

[EastBay Cruisers]

From the Princess website regarding dress code for "smart casual' nights in MDR:

 

 

In the dining room, items such as cutoff T-shirts, shorts and halter tops are not permitted; shoes must be worn at all times. Jeans are permitted as long as they aren't fraying and don't have holes.

 

Sometimes, posters will tell you that "the MDR staff never enforces the dress code", but in my experience, the staff does enforce the dress code.

[donswife]

None of these ships are currently sailing from Seattle. They are all sailing one-way Vancouver/Whittier.

 

The Star and the Ruby will be doing round trip Seattle in 2019.