Alaska - Gulf of Alaska Cruise Reviews

Favorite - Train excursion on White Pass Train from Skagway was very scenic.

Needs improvement - Food quality; has deteriorated from previous Princess cruise of few years ago; entertainment had high points and some mediocre (the musical performances of Encore and Bayou Nights was very good while the Billy Joel impersonator was pathetic.)

Completely unacceptable - The disembarkation process in Vancouver was a failure. We (along with others) missed our flights. From the time we got off the ship until we boarded the Princess arranged transfers (busses) was over 90 minutes - just standing in line.

The Alaska 9 day voyage was my first experience on a cruise ship.  It could not have been a better vacation!  Eat, drink, sleep, repeat.  If you want a relaxation experience, take a cruise!  The service was impeccable, the staff friendly, courteous, helpful and always smiling.  I'm sure the people in the know can rattle off newer, faster and snazzier cruise ships, but as a first time sailor, I'm on cloud 9!  Permanent smile on my face from Day 1 to Day 9.  Fantastic scenery and so many things to see and do.  Highly recommend!

We did enjoy the food, it was well prepared and the wait staff was kind and courteous.  The shows were on the most part good to very good.  What we did not enjoy was the very loud noise coming from the walls of our room.  It sounded like engine noise and after calling and complaining about the noise they agreed it was loud but did not have an empty room to move us to a better location.  So we spent 7 nights without sleep.  They did knock off $450 from our bill but that did not compensate for a ruined vacation,

This was our first cruise. My husband and I were not sure we'd like vacationing on a cruise ship but ALL our doubts were washed away with this wonderful cruise. What amazed us most is the staff; always helpful and always in a good mood. How could that be? But it was and it made our time aboard so nice. I will say upfront that you have three stars that really shined and made sure we were taken care of daily. First, Igede (Dee) Wikansu was the stateroom attendant for 7676. The first day, he came by and introduced himself, helped us get familiar with our stateroom and told us he would gladly answer any question, concern or issue we had, any day, any time. And as first time cruisers, we did have questions and Dee always made sure we got answers. He kept our room in immaculate order and clean!! Dee was always helpful, upbeat, friendly, professional and a pleasure to know!  Two others that exceeded in taking care of us were waiter Jose and assistant waiter Imade (Cascade Restaurant, stations 445). We checked out several of the specialty restaurants but kept coming back to Cascade specifically for the incredible service Jose and Made gave and every meal was so delicious: 5 Star treatment with a smile. 

We look forward to another cruise with Royal Caribbean!

Pro:

- Irish Bacon and United were absolutely great in setting up this cruise for us.

- As a first time cruiser traveling with a second time cruiser, this cruise was simply spectacular; Glacier Bay and the John Hopkins glacier, on a clear, blue sky day have to rival the best views on the planet; if you want to see glaciers, this is the cruise to take; the art auctions and art staff were fantastic; the room, steward, dining, and dining staffs were 5+ star.

Cons:

- Princess threw a twist into the mix by moving us from the Capt Cook for no reason to the Sheraton. The Sheraton is a well used hotel that is well removed from any activities.

- Putting handicapped and wheel chair cruisers in front for boarding excursion boat and for disembarkation from the ship bogged down logistics significantly; boarding these folks last would have sped up both processes and caused us not to have had an excursion to Misty Fjords cut short

We had the time of our lives. Everything worked as planned. The ship needs to have it's makeup touched up but in no way affected our cruise. The ship's crew maneuvered us around so all could get up close and as personal as we could with multiple Glaciers. The tours were smooth and enjoyable. Our room steward Jacinto Baptista) was such a great guy. My wife had special needs and he attended to this forthwith. The food was delicious and the entertainment was impeccable. The stage productions are some of the best we have seen off Broadway. All in all a splendid time indeed.

This Alaskan cruise was the best ever yet mainly because it cruised along the Alaskan passage instead of cruising the middle of the ocean.You can see ice covered mountains and glaciers, and sometimes, small towns on the mountain sides as you do your daily walk around the ship. You will never get bored as you look out the windows for you will always see many different glacier formations. What a way to appreciate nature!

FAVORITE PART OF THE CRUISE WAS THE SCENERY.  THE STAR PRINCESS IS IN NEED OF UPDATING.  THE SHIP DOESN'T HAVE A LOT OF THE FUN FACILITIES THAT A LOT OF OTHER SHIPS DO.  THE STAFF IN THE RESTAURANTS ARE GREAT AS WELL AS THE ONES FOR THE CABINS.  

The cruise was great! Food very good! The art auction is fun; we did not plan on buying any but did and it looks great at home. Wifi was terrible and expensive. I received a partial refund; thought I deserved a full refund but did not push it. If you should book a southbound cruise and plan to stay in Fairbanks or Denali before the cruise, remember, planes into Fairbanks generally arrive between 10.00 pm and 2.00 am, then you board a bus or train very early the next morning. Plan to stay in Fairbanks for a couple of extra nights, rent a car and explore a little. Might even have to do this one again. The Zaandam is a smaller ship; make is much nicer.

Excellant service and the best view of Alaska. The land/sea tour is the only to really know and see Alaska. Seeing wildlife in Denali is a lifetime experience not to be missed.

WE just got sick on the last day but everything is amazing. The veiw and the crew are very nice, Especially the captain who took time and made some exceptional stops for us to enjoy more of alaska

Nice cruise overall.  Lunches were a little chaotic on the Lido deck and disembarkment was awful.

saw lots of whales and the food was amazing.

my cabin was very nice, little dated but the ship is 10years old.

most of the crew was very friendly and the blues club was outstanding.

The cruise was wonderful, great service, friendly stuff, great food. 

The only problem that I had was with the booking of the cruise:  I have asked for the ocean view room, so that I could have the view from my room. So I got a fully obstructed view, I could not see any ocean at all from our room.  And the booking agent did not tell me about this.  So it was not a pleasant suprise. 

I have taken four Carnival Cruises before and decided, based on the food, I would take another Princess Cruise because the food was wonderful.  Big mistake and sorry I talked it up to my friends.  I was very disappointed in the food on this cruise.  I will be going back to the Fun Ship because of the variety of international food offered in the buffet and the menu in the dining rooms.

Horizon waiters mostly unhappy & reluctantly waited on passengers. Other than the nightly sing/dance productions, almost no other activities & entertainment other than trivia, ect. Experienced cruisers mostly want excellent food & good comedy/entertainment on ship.

The cruise was a great experience but had its limitations being the last cruise of the year to Alaska. The ship and cruise itself was good, food is always great but the entertainment was mixed. Some was very good and some just  average. The movie night was mostly a bust outside due to weather, next ship I would like to experience and inside theater.

The land part was very very limited. Most things at the towns were already closed. The tours except for the one on the 21st were very disappointing. Would not do this part again. We were very disappointed on this part of it. We did like the accommodations, the lodges were very nice and we liked the luggage handling.

The itinerary was excellent and we saw everything we'd hoped to, even some whales in the distance. The train ride at Skagway up the White Pass was very exciting, only topped by the float plane excursion from Juneau. We flew low over ice-fields, glaciers and mountains. The Island Princess was a very comfortable ship and the restaurant arrangements good. Our only slight criticism was that when disembarking for excursions it was difficult to find a representative and to see which queue to join or where to go. On board there were some interesting talks from a wildlife expert, and other entertainment.

The sights and sounds of Alaska are always worth the trip. The buffet seems to have too much salmon. The drinks in la Patisserie were never made the same way twice, and not in a good way. Ordered tea based drink, got carbonated flavor water. They need to get this fixed. Often the linens were showing wear or stained. Not up to Princess standards.

I enjoyed Glacier Bay  the most aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

great cruise just enough stops  beautiful scenery we had a balcony I wouldn't do anything less than that because the beauty of the wildlife and glaciers