Picture Review September 2023 Alaska CruiseTour Majestic Princess

[alrichards4003]

14 minutes ago, maggieq said:

@alrichards4003 thanks for doing this. Alaska is on our radar for 2025.   
Curious on your experience with getting back on keto after a cruise. How long does it take to drop the lbs and get back to weight before cruise?

I don’t mind being strict on Keto, but go completely off during vacation. I go back on my first day back home. I will gain between 8-12 pounds. I normally lose all except 2 pounds within 10 days. 

[rockraiders]

Enjoying your review. We are doing an Alaska cruise tour in September this year. I haven’t been able to find many reviews on cruise tours especially one with pictures. Thanks. 

[alrichards4003]

On 2/23/2024 at 7:41 AM, rockraiders said:

Enjoying your review. We are doing an Alaska cruise tour in September this year. I haven’t been able to find many reviews on cruise tours especially one with pictures. Thanks. 

Thank you. We have been to 2 Alaska cruises in September and this CruiseTour. We always had great weather in September. Hope you have a great time. 

[Outerdog]

On 2/18/2024 at 3:00 PM, alrichards4003 said:

You put your luggage inside your front door and it is picked up around 6. Once I heard the door open, I was awake.

 

I'm sorry, do you mean to say that your luggage intended to be transported from the hotel to McKinley sits INSIDE your hotel room door and someone opens that door around 6AM and takes your luggage? Please clarify!

 

[alrichards4003]

8 minutes ago, Outerdog said:

 

I'm sorry, do you mean to say that your luggage intended to be transported from the hotel to McKinley sits INSIDE your hotel room door and someone opens that door around 6AM and takes your luggage? Please clarify!

 

Yes, that is exactly what happens. I thought it was crazy too. They open your hotel door. In all of the other places, you place the luggage outside the door. 

[Outerdog]

5 minutes ago, alrichards4003 said:

Yes, that is exactly what happens. I thought it was crazy too. They open your hotel door. In all of the other places, you place the luggage outside the door. 

 

Wow. Thank you. That is very, very strange. Gotta be a better way....

[alrichards4003]

3 minutes ago, Outerdog said:

 

Wow. Thank you. That is very, very strange. Gotta be a better way....

I guess the idea is that the hotel in Anchorage is not a Princess property and if the suitcases are left out any person could grab it, whereas, the other properties are strictly for Princess. Quite honestly I would have rather brought my own luggage to the bus. We were asked to put it out quite early no matter what time we were leaving. Everything we needed had to be put in our backpacks. 

[Outerdog]

1 minute ago, alrichards4003 said:

I guess the idea is that the hotel in Anchorage is not a Princess property and if the suitcases are left out any person could grab it, whereas, the other properties are strictly for Princess. Quite honestly I would have rather brought my own luggage to the bus. We were asked to put it out quite early no matter what time we were leaving. Everything we needed had to be put in our backpacks. 

 

Thanks for your insights on logistics. Gotta say the luggage thing is the most mysterious part about booking the Cruse Tour so far. We're doing it in May 2025. These are the little details I'm interested in. They have that guidance document, which is helpful, but nowhere does it say someone will prowl into your room at 0600 to nip your luggage!

 

[alrichards4003]

We arrived at the port around 6. I had made reservations in the app for the Specialty dining and main dining room for the week. I made the MDR reservation for 7:20 and we still didn’t make it. It was almost 90 minutes to get on the ship. We then did our muster drill and went to dinner around 8:30. We didn’t have an issue getting a table after missing the reservation. Dinner was very good and included versus the cruise tour. The only issue was my husband telling me he was sick. Ugh!
 

 

After dinner, we went to the room to unpack. One of the best parts was having a Milky Way martini delivered by Ocean Now while unpacking. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[alrichards4003]

19 minutes ago, Outerdog said:

 

Wow. Thank you. That is very, very strange. Gotta be a better way....

 

7 minutes ago, Outerdog said:

 

Thanks for your insights on logistics. Gotta say the luggage thing is the most mysterious part about booking the Cruse Tour so far. We're doing it in May 2025. These are the little details I'm interested in. They have that guidance document, which is helpful, but nowhere does it say someone will prowl into your room at 0600 to nip your luggage!

 

I think they could have improved the communication pre-cruise. There was a comprehensive video our last night in Denali, but by then it was a little late.

[alrichards4003]

 

[Outerdog]

Sorry to interrupt, but another question: were you able to pre-book excursions for the Lodges? For example, the ATV excursion your husband did... was that pre-booked or booked there at the lodge?

[alrichards4003]

2 minutes ago, Outerdog said:

Sorry to interrupt, but another question: were you able to pre-book excursions for the Lodges? For example, the ATV excursion your husband did... was that pre-booked or booked there at the lodge?

Yes, we prebooked all of the excursions, for land and cruise. I would book as soon as you are able as they fill up quickly. Sometimes there are cancellations. That is how I was able to get my Juneau excursion as it had been sold out, but about two weeks before the cruise there were a few cancellations. 
 

They also have excursions at the lodges as well, but that is subject to them being sold out. 

[Yehootu]

21 minutes ago, alrichards4003 said:

We arrived at the port around 6. I had made reservations in the app for the Specialty dining and main dining room for the week. I made the MDR reservation for 7:20 and we still didn’t make it. It was almost 90 minutes to get on the ship. We then did our muster drill and went to dinner around 8:30. We didn’t have an issue getting a table after missing the reservation. Dinner was very good and included versus the cruise tour.

What dining room was that and do you remember table #. Looks like a stand alone 2 top, just the type we really enjoy.

Mahalo

[alrichards4003]

3 minutes ago, Yehootu said:

What dining room was that and do you remember table #. Looks like a stand alone 2 top, just the type we really enjoy.

Mahalo

I don’t remember. I had booked all three of the MDRs. I got notifications a few times that they moved my reservation to another dining room. We never had an issue getting a table for 2. 

[alrichards4003]

2 hours ago, Yehootu said:

What dining room was that and do you remember table #. Looks like a stand alone 2 top, just the type we really enjoy.

Mahalo

I don’t remember. I had booked all three of the MDRs. I got notifications a few times that they moved my reservation to another dining room. We never had an issue getting a table for 2. 

[alrichards4003]

I did not get up in time for yoga. We went to breakfast. Afterwards I did Zumba in the piazza. It was a good time and a great workout. 

[alrichards4003]

We were only supposed to have one sea day. Today late afternoon we were supposed to see Hubbard Glacier, which would have been new for us. It rained almost nonstop. Being the beginning of football season, we watched football in the room. My husband ordered room service and I walked around, had the champagne Cosmo at the Crown Bar before lunch. Fried calamari is one of my favorite dishes. The lunch was very good. 
 

[alrichards4003]

We are elite, so I got free entry to the grapevine wine tasting. If I had not, I would have paid the $12. It was interesting an a nice way to spend an hour. 

 

I went back to the room and my husband and I went to the Hollywood Conservatory to see the Hubbard Glacier. 
 

 

After awhile they announced the weather was too bad and we would not be able to see the glacier. I was still hopeful we would be able to see Glacier Bay the next day. 

[alrichards4003]

It was formal night and they had delivered some canapés to the room. My husband didn’t feel like going to dinner. He had room service and I watched the champagne waterfall, then had dinner in the dining room before walking around for a few minutes before going to bed.

[alrichards4003]

 

[alrichards4003]

Glacier Bay Day.

 

Our third Alaska cruise and our third time to Glacier Bay. My opinion is to take a cruise to Glacier Bay if you can.  First Breakfast and Coffee.

 

[alrichards4003]

They begun setting up in the Hollywood Conservatory and posted a schedule for the day. On other Alaskan cruises, including Princess, they had specialty coffee and hot chocolate so people could sip and watch the views. For some reason they didn’t do that on this cruise. 

[Celandine]

I am loving your review! Alaska is my favourite cruise destination! 

[alrichards4003]

13 minutes ago, Celandine said:

I am loving your review! Alaska is my favourite cruise destination! 

Thank you!