Alaska - Gulf of Alaska Cruise Reviews

We had a very nice trip. All staff on the ship treated us very well. We enjoyed sharing a table during meals with other guests and having nice conversations.

Based on other passenger comments, food was below par but service good. We really enjoyed our time even with the weather being poor most of the whole trip. Overall very nice.

I had read a lot about the overhang above many of the rooms (including Aqua Class) on deck 9 - these pics. kind of show what it's like. It's really only an issue if you are trying to take a wide angle photo or if something is close up and very high. For 98% of the time it is not a problem - in fact if it is raining or if the sun is really out and baking things, you'll be glad it is there. If you really want a true full view veranda - the suites on level 6 Aft (a bit spendy) are nice but you can be seen from rooms above. The only other problem with this room is the shower - it is great with wall jets and rain head etc.. but the nice glass doors they have don't seal well and you tend to get water on the floor. (poor stateroom attendant kept it up as nice as possible) . To Aqua Class or not: we did it on a whim and at a good price - mostly for the access to dine in Blu - much nicer experience than the MDR. Other than the last night (there must have been some staff issue) , the service was impeccable. Also enjoyed breakfast on 3 mornings in Blu - a really calm, luxury dining experience. We also took advantage of the free access to the spa's Persian Garden (2 steamrooms + 1 dry and really nice heated lounge) - they sell a week access to others for $109 or $20 /day . These two perks make the Aqua class worth it if you can get a good price. The priority embarkation saved us 15-20 min. The sparkling wine comp is a bottle of their house sparkler (sells for $35 aboard) - not bad - it is what you would expect from a basic house wine. The other listed perks of Aqua are not much to worry about. Th itinerary was really good - it gave a good sample of what coastal Alaska is like. They get in really close to the Hubbard Glacier which is spectacular -great viewing from the room and even better up on deck 11. The ship remained at 1/4 - 1/2 from the face (turning a few times) for about 40 minutes . Juneau was great - we were there from 7am to 9pm so there was ample time to see things. The best was the "Mendenhall Glacier paddle and trek" excursion - where we paddled across Mendenhall lake to the glacier and put on crampon spikes and hiked the glacier ice for about an hour. ( expensive, limited availability, small group but worth it - they provide all the gear needed) . Ketchikan is a really cool little city - the Alaskan Riviera ! Icy Straight (Hoonah) is a small little village with a very small cruise port and a shuttle to take you 1 1/2 to the village. They have a zip line (world's largest ?) but watching those who did it, it didn't seem that cool ~ $175 pp.

Ports of Call: The ports were well chosen with numerous excursions available. My wife and I along with our friends, the McGinnis’, took advantage of several excursions, including the train ride in Skagway, the 5-glacier float-plane excursions in Juneau, and the Totems & Eagles boat sightseeing in Ketchikan. Each of these was superbly organized by the onboard excursions desk. Each exceeded our expectations. Customer Service: It was the shipboard customer service that came up substantially short. Most ship employees seemed to have a minimalist effort work ethic, with most of them unwilling or incapable of solving the smallest of problems. Their attitudes were not something I would expect even at a Hampton Inn (Hilton property), much less a 1st rate cruising company like Princess Cruises. Everyone in our party (4 adults) remarked that it appeared as though an employee morale problem existed… or perhaps the employees really were not capable or authorized to solve even the smallest of customers’ problems. I am not a stranger to complex systems and complex organizations. I full-well understand the complexities of managing customer service and the myriad of logistics challenges on a ship. What I don’t understand is why the majority of onboard employees were unwilling to go 1-inch out of their way to assist in little problems. Please understand that there was NO ONE large problem on this cruise… just a never-ending series of little problems… little problems that on one was empowered to solve without someone else’s authorization

Excellent in every way. Princess does not disappoint.

Not worth the price I paid, everything was not organized, no formal nights, not many things to do, was boring.

Great ship. We had no time to explore Seward after bus ride from Anchorage. Entertainment was either great or poor. Hoped for more musical entertainment besides the bars. Good food. Great staff! Excellent cruise.

The scenery was awe inspiring with many of the places we missed 20 years ago. Hubbard Glacier was much larger than the last visit but Tracy Arm Fijord had a blue iceberg recently calved from the Sawyer Glacier. Weather was outstanding.

Overall great. We’ve been on Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival and Holland America was our favorite. Older more conservative crowd. We liked the Lincoln Cemter stage entertainment and of course Alaska speaks for itself.

A good cruise thanks to the scenery. Had it not been for the fact that we were travelling with younger children, I doubt if I would have selected Princess for the cruise. Much prefer smaller shops like Azamara, Oceana or Viking. Also did not appreciate that you were "nickeled and dimed" for everything; to be charged for a soft drink at lunch or dinner was not good. Also, the price of tours booked through Princess were extremely high; went on our own and booked tours, many with the same companies the Princess uses, for much less. Seriously doubt if I would book another cruise with Princess.

This was our first cruise and we had a wonderful experience. Only disappointed that there was not a free water and soda area for us that did not drink alcohol!! Great staff and entertainment.

This is our second cruise with Celebrity, and Lord willing, there will be other cruises in the future - but if not, we've thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

the $10 to message others on the ship never worked! We both paid for it and not once did a message go through to others in our party - except each other. Other than that, it was fantastic!

I recommend this trip to anyone it was one of the best if not the best cruise I have taken

Yohanes is the best...............................

All the ports were great. The side adventures were easy and exciting. The zip line land was incredible!

Staff very friendly really nice people although ports were very nice and we had a lot of fun

We are retired and we do not travel in the summer time. But only cruises to Alaska is summer time. Most passengers are young family with kids.

The trip was good with a number of nice historical sights to visit. It was a nice way to experience Alaska without the bother of traveling yourself from point to point. The ship was comfortable with good service and night-time entertainment. Activities on sea days were a little sparse. The number of children made life on the ship more frantic.

Loved our cruise. The only complaint is the food in the specialty dining. It wasn’t very good. The main dining was the best.