Newbie questions regarding Alaska and Grand Princess

[Cruizen Susan]

We have taken four cruises to AK--three on Princess--and have numbers five and six booked for next year. We have cruised in April, August and September. Twice we have taken the 10-day round-trip out of San Francisco--both times on the Grand Princess and, most recently, last September.

 

I think the 10-day cruise is awesome. I guarantee that you will see wildlife from the ship. If you don't see whales, eagles and seals, you just aren't trying. If you take certain port excursions, you will see more, and will probably get closer. The only time I've seen bears was Icy Point Strait, which I do not believe you are visiting. As you have already read, many other people have seen bears.

 

Take binoculars.

 

One of my favorite aspects about the Grand Princess has been mentioned, previously--Alfredos. This is a no extra charge restaurant off the Piazza on Deck 5. It is open from about noon through the evening. Many people enjoy it for lunch. We like to have one or two dinners per cruise there. I just want to give you a heads up, though, about a few things. They seem to have only one server most of the time. So, service can be a bit slow. This is never a big deal for us, but if you are in a hurry to get to a show or something, keep that in mind. Secondly, the only menu items are various pizzas. They are very good, but you may want a salad or something to round out your meal. So, what we do is walk across the Piazza to the International Cafe, grab one of their salads and walk it back to Alfredos.

 

You're going to have a great cruise.

 

I have been around cruisecritic for quite a few years, not always posting but often lurking. I have to say that this thread has been the. most. helpful. one I have ever asked a question on! Your post and many of the others are not only helpful, but reassuring, with the addition of great tips. I am so looking forward to cruising with my west coast friends for a (very) nice change!!

[timetobook]

But no snow around Glacier Bay when I was there in Sep. Just bare except for the glacier face itself plus it was a gray, wet day (as were other days on the 7-day cruise). This cruise was a in early retirement gift to my sister so it was quite disappointing knowing how much better it looks in the spring when my husband and I have been there multiple times.

 

I'll bet that was disappointing!

Glacier Bay in early June still had a lot of snow and floating ice. It was beautiful!

[Mademypoint]

I'm going on her Thursday from San Francisco! I can let you know how she is.

[Nonnie1975]

August will be a great time. it will still be warm and the flowers will be blooming. If you are interested in whale watching I highly recommend the Marv and Harv (Harv and Marv) whale watching company, they have been in the business for many years. Just do a search for them, they are easy to find. We have been to Alaska twice and just used them again this last August. They will pick you at the port and take you to the small boat. They are a lot cheaper and the boat is a lot smaller. We had only 4 people on our boat and the Princess boat is a huge boat with 100 plus people. Liz was our driver and has been doing this for 7 years. She was able to zip around and find lots of whales, we saw at least 15 on our tour. It is amazing!!

[moki'smommy]

We just returned from 2 weeks on the Golden Princess in Alaska. It was our second trip. We had been warned prior to both trips that August was "rainy season." On this trip, we did have rain--ONE afternoon out of a 14 day cruise. On our previous cruise, also in August, we had one "misty" day--it didn't really rain, but it was sort of heavy fog with intermittent droplets. August will be warmer than earlier months, and as we do the end of August, many kids will be back in school. I would do it again in a minute.

 

We'd read all sorts of horrible things about the Golden. None of them proved true. We had no leaks, no bad smells, etc. We did have crappy water pressure in the shower and some sudden changes in shower temperature while using it. I've never been on the Grand.

 

Comparing this Alaska trip to our previous trip, I'd highly suggest Glacier Bay. Both the scenery and the Park Service personnel were different than our previous trip, and well worthwhile.

[villauk]

We have just returned from The Grand and posted a mini review on Blondilu’s thread, together with their review. Unsure if you have seen it, OP, but here is the link: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2675902

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our time on The Grand ;).

[Cruizen Susan]

Oops, as the OP, I didn't know that suggestions continued to post!! Thank you one and all! I'm grateful and excited!!

 

Happy cruisn'

 

Susan

[BarbinMich]

. . .

I do have one question--sailing from San Francisco' date=' you are going to spend many of your days going up the coast of the US, not in Alaska. You do realize that, right?[/quote']

We did a similar cruise on the Star out of SF in May 2014 and there were only two days at sea before Ketchikan. Considering the distance that didn't seem like too many. The late afternoon on the first day (or maybe it was the second) was magical--sea perfectly calm, the sun was getting low and there was a pink "glow", and some kind of sea birds/ducks were along side us diving into the water and then coming up, presumably after a bit of fishing. There was an island off to our west and Vancouver Island to the east to add to the scenery. And, of course, nothing like sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge, standing on an upper deck all the way forward--windy, but well worth it!