What I did on my Summer Vacation Pacific Princess 6/11-25 Live

[sunbird51]

Aw shucks! If all of us could we would send you all back out to just report back to us. Our very own eyes and ears in Alaska!

[Coolmama_1]

I am so loving this thread. I catch up every morning with my coffee. I too am sorry to see this trip end! Thanks for sharing

[pamwinn]

Lobster called so formal night won out. I can only hope it was my last formal night. Ever. The dressing and dining takes the entire evening and I really do not enjoy it as much as others do. It was somewhat easier to make my hair look decent since the trim but trying to hide the red, chapped face was impossible. Everyone except Keith went to bed after dinner. He went to the Broadway Review show and said it was very good.

 

Reverse Packing Frenzy Wednesday, June 24, 2009

 

It began as a rainy day as we sailed toward Victoria but we have no plans. We have been to Butchart gardens and explored the city so we will not be disappointed if the rain prevents us from getting off the ship on this our final cruise day.

 

Our plan was to be packed by noon and though we did not quite make that deadline, we were in pretty good shape by then.

 

We attended the passenger talent show. We tried unsuccessfully to talk Rex into doing a stand-up comic act. There was not a lot of participation. The karaoke kid, rock star wanna-be, sang Waltzing Matilda. There was a couple that danced, a guy who hoola hooped, and a couple of ladies who sang an Alaska Folk song and that was the show. We enjoyed it as always.

 

Keith got off the ship and the rest of us stayed onboard to enjoy our final day. The weather turned out to be gorgeous so we lazed around and enjoyed the balcony. Keith returned just in time for Karaoke and he and Diane did finally sing to an audience of three...Rex, me, and the Karaoke kid. I sang the final song of the cruise, a very poor rendition of Wicked Game. We stayed up for the late sailaway and spent our last night in cabin 6093.

 

It’s All Yours Thursday, June 25, 2009

 

Our cruise has come to an end so we are turning over the ship to the next group of lucky travelers. Disembarking was effortless and even though Rex and I were among the last to leave the ship, we were in our hotel room (once again the Sheraton) by 10:30 AM. Our plan for the day is to burn off a few calories and then gain then back by dining in one of the restaurants we choose through yelp.

 

In closing, we really enjoyed the unique 14-day Connoisseur Itinerary on this R class Love Boat. The small ship experience surpassed our expectations in every way and we would do it again in a heartbeat. We are already looking at the Royal for next summer. The crew and service is exceptional and we really can’t think of anything that we were not more than pleased with. It was a wonderful cruise.

[jagsfan]

Again, thank you so much for letting us cruise Alaska vicariously with you. It was a

wonderful cruise!

[margord]

Thanks so much for sharing and taking us along.

 

Marilee

[StahlLane]

Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful experiences with me! I am very new to posting comments to these boards but have been reading this thread with great interest each day. This will be our 1st crusie on Princess and we are very excited about trying out a different cruise line than the one we ususally book on. My DH and I are booked on the August 5th cruise and are so excited already that we can hardly contain our enthusiam.:D:D

 

I would like to extend very special thank yous to Mountainhouse, Pam, Pia and Karen for spending your vacation time communicating with those of us at home dreaming about our trip. If I missed anyone else that also contributed, my apologies and my thanks to you also!!! I look forward to seeing the reports and pictures that will be posted once some of you get home.

 

Donna

[dorothyh]

Thank you to everyone who posted in this thread - I loved coming along on your trip!

 

We will be sailing this fall on Pacific Princess and although it was a different itinerary, I enjoyed following your thread every day.

[StarTrkGeek]

Has anybody done the Photo Safari by Land and Sea tour in Juneau? Would appreciate any feedback on this. Thanks

The tour itself was great. The photographer/guide (George) was a 20-something who really knew his stuff.

 

However, there were only 2-3 whales in the area we visited. In contrast, we saw 20-30 whales with Glacier Wind out of Icy Strait Point. I highly recommend Glacier Wind.

[StarTrkGeek]

Thanks for all of the beautiful pics and very very useful info. My husband and I are on Pacific September 3rd. Can't wait. Had to respond to sea sickness problem. Very early on in my cruising, I discovered ginger because my first trip was on the Regal to Alaska and my second was on Pacific (The Love Boat) to Bermuda. I was sick on both cruises but only one day on each. Both ships were on the the smaller side and it was recommended by the cruise staff. It totally works for me. Since it is not a drug, I will take it just to play it safe. It is called Ginger Root and I buy it in health food stores. They also have gum which I will try for the first time. Ginger Ale also good. Drink it room temperature (no ice). Just had to put my two cents in.

THANKS AGAIN ALL.

Both my wife and I tried Ginger Root. We took it every day of the cruise, beginning several days prior to the start of the cruise. It did NOT work.

[Pia1913]

Both my wife and I tried Ginger Root. We took it every day of the cruise, beginning several days prior to the start of the cruise. It did NOT work.

 

In which form did you take it?

[StarTrkGeek]

In which form did you take it?

Capsule. 550 mg per capsule, taken two at a time.

[Pia1913]

Capsule. 550 mg per capsule, taken two at a time.

 

Capsules which are extended release seem to work well for us. Too bad it didn't work for you.

[cruzholic]

How many formal nights did you have on your cruise?

[California Native]

3, all on sea days...

i'm beginning to work on my full report but I have

mal de disembarqment right now..so give me a day or 2

it will be worth your wait..I promise

[Toto2Kansas]

3, all on sea days...

 

i'm beginning to work on my full report but I have

mal de disembarqment right now..so give me a day or 2

it will be worth your wait..I promise

 

Oh, you so have my sympathy with the mal de disembarqment. I used to get that all of the time when I had to use ear plugs to drown out my DH snoring (before that magical C-Pap machine he finally got :D). I had it once so bad, I honestly thought I had the flu. Went to the doctor and he just smiled and gave me a persciption for seasickness meds. I was so embarassed, I had not even thought of that. Since I have stopped using those darned ear plugs, haven't had it since. I really think it had to do with my inner ear, there was no other reason it would never happen again unless it was. Hope you feel better real soon. If it gets too bad, go for a ride in the car, it does help. ;)

[ShibaInuMom]

I wanted to share with everyone my top 6 to do list when cruising to Alaska. Since I thought it might be of interest to others, I posted it on the Alaska board. Here is the link

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1014138

 

Please visit the thread and add your comments. Even though several of us were on the same cruise - we probably have different opinions. Remember that future cruisers will have a better vacation with our input. Thanks for helping make our PP cruise a great experience that will have endless memories.:)

[Aussie Gal]

I too have enjoyed every minute of this cruise. We did a similar one last year on the Tahitian Princess. We left and returned to Vancouver and we went to Sitka instead of Icy Strait Point. It was a great cruise but unfortunately we had shocking weather, cold, wet, foggy and miserable. Apparently, summer didn't arrive into Alaska last year. Every day was grey so I did enjoy hearing about the sunshine you have experienced this year.

 

Thanks to Pam, Karen and Mountainhouse for the great instalments. It certainly brought back some lovely memories.

 

Jennie

[tennis]

It was wonderful to meet the Cruise Critic friends onboard. If you are ever on a cruise with ShibaInuMom, get her and Alan on your trivia team. She is great and we had a great time playing!

 

Mountain House - I love your pictures.

 

Where2next - thanks for all your information. Great to meet you

 

We did play bridge with Patty and she was very organized and very nice. I did Pilates with Ryan and he does a great job. I was the only one to show up for a couple of the complimentary classes and he did a super job for just one person. My muscles will eventually thank him.

 

Overall I thought the service on the ship was fantastic. Our dining room waiters (Rodolfo and Edrick) were well-trained and professional. They also save wines from dinner to dinner. So if you cannot finish a bottle in one meal or want some white and some red, you have them keep the bottles for another meal. We also ate at the steakhouse and had the bottle sent down to the main dining room. One negative was our first meal in the Steakhouse. They did not have enough staff and the the service was really, really bad. The next time we went, they had fixed it and the service was excellent. I do not think the food in the Steakhouse is any better than what is served in the main dining room. I thought they did an excellent job cooking the fish for the main dining room.

 

The cabin steward was unobtrusive but efficient. Everyone seemed to enjoy their jobs. On many cruises I've wondered what the Maitre d' and Head Waiter do. Not on this cruise. They were both very active in helping and elevating the dining experience.

 

We had cabin 6049 and the only obstuction is on the angle of view. There is nothing directly in front of the window. However, there is outside lighting that is just outside the window and the curtains do not adequately cover the window, so the room is very light at night. If that bothers you, bring eye shades. The cabin is well laid out.

 

The beds are very hard. We asked for an egg crate the second day and they were already out. If you want the egg crate, send a fax in advance of the cruise.

 

We love the small size of the ship. We took this cruise because we had been on the Azamara Quest last summer. In our opinion, except for the service, everything on Azamara is better. Better food, better linens, better decor, better buffet, better set-up in the show lounge. You pay for it, though. So it is kind of like comparing apples and oranges.

 

For me the biggest negative was the arrangement in the show lounge. The way they had chairs arranged it was hard to get in and out and many were at the same level so the sight lines were not good. We gave up on going to the shows because we never got there early enough to get good seats. Since we were not there early, I do not know how much problem there was with saving of seats. On the Azamara Quest, there were good views from all the seats and so there was no big advantage in getting there really early. In the minor detail category, one of the dryers in the self service laundry was out, creating a backlog waiting for dryers.

 

We booked the cruise very early and chose late seating. I wouldn't do that again. There was a 4 hour time zone change and I had a really hard time staying awake for the first week. My body thought we were starting dinner at midnight. Since early seating is so popular, it was not possible to change once we learned that late seating was too late for us.

 

Comments on ports:

 

Ketchikan: No salmon running in the creek. Liked the Totem pole museum and fish hatchery tours.

 

Skagway: We used Sourdough Car Rentals (sourdoughrental@yahoo.com) and they were great. They have a guide on where to go. He actually got to the rental place early, so we picked up the car early. He told us where to go to get picnic supplies and where to picnic. The Emerald Lake destination is crowded with tour buses and there were lots of mosquitoes, so we found a picnic area on another lake and there were almost no bugs there. We drove to Dyea and hiked around the area. Saw signs of bear, but no bears. Nice hike though.

 

Valdez: Took Shoup Glacier hike on our own. The bridge is out in one section so you can not go all the way to Shoup Glacier. Most of the way it is fairly level. It is definitely the road less travelled. I think we were the first ones on the trail this year in many sections where were going through growth up to our armpits. Someone in Valdez told us not to take the trail because there were so many bears (of course we ignored the advice). Again we saw fresh paw prints, but no bears. The berries were not quite ripe, so maybe in a few weeks . . .

 

Seward: Rented a car to drive to Anchorage. Although it was rainy on the coast, it was a sunny day in Anchorage. The scenery on the way to Anchorage is lovely and we saw white mountain goats on the roadside. Anchorage is another big city with better views. On the way back we stopped at an animal rescue center and there we saw all sorts of animals: Bear cubs whose mother had been killed, caribou, elk, etc. It is not like a zoo becuse they all have much bigger areas. There were not many people there. The gift shop had high quality merchandise, mainly made in Alaska, so it was not inexpensive.

 

Kodiak: Spent day with my cousins. One is member of Homeland Security so he took us on tour of Coast Guard base. We went to the aquarium and touch tank. I really liked the touch tank and would recommend it. You can pick up the sea creatures. We also went to their favorit lookouts - one is at Fort Abercrombie. We didn't go to the Chowder House which is one of their favorites, because the ship was in town, but went to a place called the Rendezvous instead. They had fresh salmon and halibut, have no idea how much it cost because my cousins had it all arranged. We saw eagles because they are nesting in a tree across the street from their house.

 

Icy Strait Point: This was surprisingly our favorite port. We saw wildlife on our walk through town and down to the small boat harbor in Hoonah. Beautiful scenery and we saw dozens of eagles. We had lunch at a "bar" called the Office. It is on the road on the way into Hoonah and has a wonderful view. They were steaming dungeness crabs. They charged $17 per crab (which is less than at the tender dock). We ordered one crab, but they kept bringing more. The owner said the soft shells were too small to sell. I think he brought my husband four extra crabs for free. They were extremely friendly and the juke box was playing oldies. Nice local charm. When we left the port, we saw a whale repeatedly breech.

 

Juneau: We took the float plane to Taku Lodge. It was a wonderful excursion. Beautiful views of the glaciers from the plane. We arrive at the lodge and they have a roaring fire, chai tea and coffee waiting. They were just starting the alder wood fire for the salmon caught the day before from Taku River. The salmon and the herb biscuits were outstanding. You could walk to a waterfall or down to the river (mosquitoes were overwhelming). The lodge faces the glacier. On the flight back the route is slightly different. From the air, the glaciers look different and you can really see the startling blue hues.

 

Victoria - Very charming city. We took the shuttle into Victoria but walked back. Beautiful rose garden at the Empress and lovely gardens in the public park between where the ship docks and town. We went to the Antique district, but not very many shops there.

 

Did not like the disembarkation procedure. They want you out of your stateroom by 7am, but the first don't get off until 8:30 am. On the Azamara cruise we took, you did not have to be out of your stateroom until many of the groups had already been called. I thought it was due to the smaller ship, but obviously not.

 

Overall, wonderful cruise with lots of great people.

[mountainhouse]

Tennis: Nice review! :cool:

[StarTrkGeek]

It was wonderful to meet the Cruise Critic friends onboard. If you are ever on a cruise with ShibaInuMom, get her and Alan on your trivia team. She is great and we had a great time playing!

 

Mountain House - I love your pictures.

 

Where2next - thanks for all your information. Great to meet you

 

We did play bridge with Patty and she was very organized and very nice. I did Pilates with Ryan and he does a great job. I was the only one to show up for a couple of the complimentary classes and he did a super job for just one person. My muscles will eventually thank him.

 

Overall I thought the service on the ship was fantastic. Our dining room waiters (Rodolfo and Edrick) were well-trained and professional. They also save wines from dinner to dinner. So if you cannot finish a bottle in one meal or want some white and some red, you have them keep the bottles for another meal. We also ate at the steakhouse and had the bottle sent down to the main dining room. One negative was our first meal in the Steakhouse. They did not have enough staff and the the service was really, really bad. The next time we went, they had fixed it and the service was excellent. I do not think the food in the Steakhouse is any better than what is served in the main dining room. I thought they did an excellent job cooking the fish for the main dining room.

 

The cabin steward was unobtrusive but efficient. Everyone seemed to enjoy their jobs. On many cruises I've wondered what the Maitre d' and Head Waiter do. Not on this cruise. They were both very active in helping and elevating the dining experience.

 

We had cabin 6049 and the only obstuction is on the angle of view. There is nothing directly in front of the window. However, there is outside lighting that is just outside the window and the curtains do not adequately cover the window, so the room is very light at night. If that bothers you, bring eye shades. The cabin is well laid out.

 

The beds are very hard. We asked for an egg crate the second day and they were already out. If you want the egg crate, send a fax in advance of the cruise.

 

We love the small size of the ship. We took this cruise because we had been on the Azamara Quest last summer. In our opinion, except for the service, everything on Azamara is better. Better food, better linens, better decor, better buffet, better set-up in the show lounge. You pay for it, though. So it is kind of like comparing apples and oranges.

 

For me the biggest negative was the arrangement in the show lounge. The way they had chairs arranged it was hard to get in and out and many were at the same level so the sight lines were not good. We gave up on going to the shows because we never got there early enough to get good seats. Since we were not there early, I do not know how much problem there was with saving of seats. On the Azamara Quest, there were good views from all the seats and so there was no big advantage in getting there really early. In the minor detail category, one of the dryers in the self service laundry was out, creating a backlog waiting for dryers.

 

We booked the cruise very early and chose late seating. I wouldn't do that again. There was a 4 hour time zone change and I had a really hard time staying awake for the first week. My body thought we were starting dinner at midnight. Since early seating is so popular, it was not possible to change once we learned that late seating was too late for us.

 

Comments on ports:

 

Ketchikan: No salmon running in the creek. Liked the Totem pole museum and fish hatchery tours.

 

Skagway: We used Sourdough Car Rentals (sourdoughrental@yahoo.com) and they were great. They have a guide on where to go. He actually got to the rental place early, so we picked up the car early. He told us where to go to get picnic supplies and where to picnic. The Emerald Lake destination is crowded with tour buses and there were lots of mosquitoes, so we found a picnic area on another lake and there were almost no bugs there. We drove to Dyea and hiked around the area. Saw signs of bear, but no bears. Nice hike though.

 

Valdez: Took Shoup Glacier hike on our own. The bridge is out in one section so you can not go all the way to Shoup Glacier. Most of the way it is fairly level. It is definitely the road less travelled. I think we were the first ones on the trail this year in many sections where were going through growth up to our armpits. Someone in Valdez told us not to take the trail because there were so many bears (of course we ignored the advice). Again we saw fresh paw prints, but no bears. The berries were not quite ripe, so maybe in a few weeks . . .

 

Seward: Rented a car to drive to Anchorage. Although it was rainy on the coast, it was a sunny day in Anchorage. The scenery on the way to Anchorage is lovely and we saw white mountain goats on the roadside. Anchorage is another big city with better views. On the way back we stopped at an animal rescue center and there we saw all sorts of animals: Bear cubs whose mother had been killed, caribou, elk, etc. It is not like a zoo becuse they all have much bigger areas. There were not many people there. The gift shop had high quality merchandise, mainly made in Alaska, so it was not inexpensive.

 

Kodiak: Spent day with my cousins. One is member of Homeland Security so he took us on tour of Coast Guard base. We went to the aquarium and touch tank. I really liked the touch tank and would recommend it. You can pick up the sea creatures. We also went to their favorit lookouts - one is at Fort Abercrombie. We didn't go to the Chowder House which is one of their favorites, because the ship was in town, but went to a place called the Rendezvous instead. They had fresh salmon and halibut, have no idea how much it cost because my cousins had it all arranged. We saw eagles because they are nesting in a tree across the street from their house.

 

Icy Strait Point: This was surprisingly our favorite port. We saw wildlife on our walk through town and down to the small boat harbor in Hoonah. Beautiful scenery and we saw dozens of eagles. We had lunch at a "bar" called the Office. It is on the road on the way into Hoonah and has a wonderful view. They were steaming dungeness crabs. They charged $17 per crab (which is less than at the tender dock). We ordered one crab, but they kept bringing more. The owner said the soft shells were too small to sell. I think he brought my husband four extra crabs for free. They were extremely friendly and the juke box was playing oldies. Nice local charm. When we left the port, we saw a whale repeatedly breech.

 

Juneau: We took the float plane to Taku Lodge. It was a wonderful excursion. Beautiful views of the glaciers from the plane. We arrive at the lodge and they have a roaring fire, chai tea and coffee waiting. They were just starting the alder wood fire for the salmon caught the day before from Taku River. The salmon and the herb biscuits were outstanding. You could walk to a waterfall or down to the river (mosquitoes were overwhelming). The lodge faces the glacier. On the flight back the route is slightly different. From the air, the glaciers look different and you can really see the startling blue hues.

 

Victoria - Very charming city. We took the shuttle into Victoria but walked back. Beautiful rose garden at the Empress and lovely gardens in the public park between where the ship docks and town. We went to the Antique district, but not very many shops there.

 

Did not like the disembarkation procedure. They want you out of your stateroom by 7am, but the first don't get off until 8:30 am. On the Azamara cruise we took, you did not have to be out of your stateroom until many of the groups had already been called. I thought it was due to the smaller ship, but obviously not.

 

Overall, wonderful cruise with lots of great people.

Great review Elizabeth.

Alan

[noj]

We have really enjoyed hearing your adventures and experinces so far on Pacific Princess. We have to wait until August 20th. But we had hoped that we would hear from some current Pacific Princess cruisers. Where are you all? Having too much fun???

 

Roll Call - 6-25-09 - Pacific Princess

 

**************************************************

pb7863 - Don & Pam - Bothell, WA

 

harrtchr - Glenn & Nancy - Hollywood, FL

 

Karatemom2 - Scott & Mary w/ Dylan & Katy - CA

 

OldGator - Rick & Norma - Enterprise, FL

 

broland - Rich & Bev - Austin, TX

 

donaldsc - Don & Carol - Las Vegas

 

HappiestWhenCruising - Jim & Janet - unknown

WeCanBe - William - Bloomington, MN

 

AirGunnerUSN - Roger & Lois - Everton, MO

 

FlaMan68 - Don & Midge - Florida Suncoast

 

Peanut1 - Mike & Lorie -New Port Richey, FL

 

2forTravelin - Cindy & Gordon - Highlands Ranch, COLO

 

Lorstamps - Lori & Azem - NW NJ

 

Doloresu - Dolores & Ted - Foster City, CA

 

Merlot101 - Carmen & Mike - Anthum, AZ

 

mcmiranda - Curt & Judy - Omaha, NE

 

Guy Lander - Guy - Long Island, NY :cool:

SWKnight - Steven & Liz - Carlsbad, CA

********************************

[mountainhouse]

Again, thanks for all the kind words.

 

Here's the link to my galleries. It was great fun doing photography in such an inspiring place!

 

[sunbird51]

I finally got back to finish the thread. Mountainhouse: I did check out your link. Great pics! Thank you for such an interesting thread.