Alaska - Gulf of Alaska Cruise Reviews

The cruise did not disappoint in the least. The crew, entertainment, food and shore excursions were excellent.  The added plus, if you are Catholic, is that daily Mass is available.

Glacier Bay was scenic and a jewel to the eyes.

Skagway was fun, the train ride exceptional.

On board service was very good. 

In land passage very pretty

Wish we had more time in Vancouver.

We loved our trip from Whittier (Anchorage) to Vancouver onboard the Star Princess.  The boat is modern and well-designed with a huge variety of options.  The variety of bars, pool decks, lounges, and entertainment provided ample options for us to never feel like we were stuck on a boat with thousands of other people.  The staff were friendly and professional at all levels and truly went out of their way to ensure a stress-free/rejuvenating trip for us.  

While we were stuck in fog and low-lying clouds for most of the trip, the weather broke when it needed to.  The captain, pilot, and staff did a great job of navigating us all the way up to Hubbard Glacier despite challenging conditions.

We particularly enjoyed the flexible meal options so that we could maximize our time at ports of call.  We've been raving about this cruise to all of our friends/family since we got home and would definitely do it again.

This was a GREAT trip to celebrate our 40th Anniversary! We enjoyed the food, activities, and ports of call!  The rain and fog on the cruise was not in our original plan but the SUN and mountain views in Denali were a very pleasant surprise!! We would recommend this trip to anyone!!

All the staff was so helpful and friendly. I did feel that the first day some crew members were a little pushy with sales. Our cabin was spotless. The food plentiful and delicious. Entertainment was everywhere each evening. Top rated.  Unfortunately there was a sewer type odor in the atrium area and down our hallway.  I wish it had been taken care of during our sail. The naturalists on board and national park people were awesome. And Mother Nature put on the best show!

What an adventure! 

Despite some overcast weather the cruise great.  Staff was friendly and food choices were plenty.  If younger cooler weather in the summer this is perfect.  

The destinations and port schedule were great, so was visiting Alaska at this time of year. The Radiance of the Seas was a very tasteful, clean and modern ship (except for the jungle pool area which could use some fresh air).

Food was okay but not exceptional. The ship has a lot of private dining experiences which is unfortunate because we had a nearly empty table of 10 every night in the formal main dining. If cruise lines are going to promote restaurant dining packages so heavily, then they need to implement impromptu or mixed seating. So many tables around us were only partially full all nights. The atrium entertainment was great to watch, and the theater shows were okay. The onboard daily schedule pages were not the easiest to read of the several ships/cruise lines I've sailed with, so pay attention to the small print and read everything. Also, they say they have Starbucks coffee but they're definitely not trained baristas, even at a la carte pricing.

The Luminae Restaurant and Staff were incredible. There was confusion about whether I was to receive a free included meal in a specialty restaurant. I wasted hours going back and forth. My Butler kept saying we had a free specialty restaurant and the concierge and restaurant said no. I finally went to a lunch in the Tuscan Grill and was it was barely average compared to Luminae. Also I had the most comprehensive drink package but the bars were without Macallen Scotch on three occasions. I also wasted over 5 hours on the phone with aa. to get my packages and people correct and there were only 3 people.

Found entertainment OK, but inferior to recent Royal Caribbean cruise.  Singers/dancers very good, enjoyed comic and aerial duo, but Jessie music was not appropriate match with predominant older audience.

And "Frisky Family Feud" got a bit too raunchy with director Ben not helping (repeating some of the more vulger stuff . . ie. a c--k ring,etc).

 good stops, enjoyed the excursions

food was disappointing - we were in Alaska, I expected salmon on the menu every night. it was once and it wasn't very good

trip was mostly spent on cruising will little to see at stops.  in general we stopped at ports that were gateways to the gold fields but I didn't get any sense of what it took or the path taken.  guess this was the wrong trip fro what I was looking for.

second time that we cruise to Alaska and with Princess.  We can say we have seen the two faces of Alaska.  Two years ago in july the sun was out on the glacier with an amazing experience.  White mounds of ice crushing into the water.. This time in august the ice was almost black, with overcasted sky and

cloudy.   But we had a terrific time anyway!!

This was my favorite vacation in recent memory. I was so relaxed, and there were plenty of interesting things to do.  I enjoyed the naturalist lectures, the sled dog talk, the shows, the Sudoku and Trivia challenges, the excursions, the stretch and abs classes, and the pools.  The Island Princess is a glorious ship, with an alert, friendly, and helpful staff.  The wait staff in the dining room was superb, and the menu choices and presentations were out of this world.  Fabulous buffets too.  The included excursions in Denali and Fairbanks were perfect and gave us thorough and fascinating introductions to the state and its history.  Princess is expert at moving great numbers of people in a very organized way, without making us feel like sheep.  I felt that we were all treated with respect and courtesy at all times.  

What makes this different from other cruises is that the scenery is awesome every step of the way. On other cruises, you enjoy the ship and ports of call. On this cruise it is all about what you are seeing as you cruise.  It was truly incredible and I think a cruise is the best way to experience Alaska. We did also enjoy the land portion as well. 

Hard to pick a favorite so - food, friendiness,service. General atmosphere ! There were more activities than we could get to - great selection of options. ALL the crew were helpful and knowledgeable !!

The trip was very much like a dream.

Beautiful and peaceful, met nicemail people.

Enjoyed the activities and food.

Traveled with my 20 year old daughter.

Great activities for kids

Beside the wonderful ports of call, our onboard experience was fantastic. Our veranda stateroom was well maintained---the first night we asked for ice & never had to ask again---thank you Asta! Meals were great & so accommodating. Our waiter Jimmy, his assistant Ananda & sommelier Agnelo were the best. We were part of "Jimmy's family". We love, love loved the Martini Bar--Leroy, Gemy, "Boom Boom" & the rest are the best! Tasty drinks & an amazing show---we all loved them!! We hated to go home......

The improvements would be with BJ's we were a group of 14 and we were separated on everything in the trip, flights, rooms, bus tours etc. we don't understand why that would happen when we all booked together, also several calls were made to Lynette by several in this group and calls were not returned promptly. Also when the Delta crash happened we would have appreciated a call to help us find a place to stay and get rebooked for our flights etc. we had to get it taken care of ourselves.

As far as the cruise itself we don't have many complaints, the food was good, plenty to choose from, the wait staff was very pleasant and courteous, the stateroom could have been a little better kept but was ok, excursions were easy to book, the shows were entertaining.

activities very well planned.

kids had special activities and were able to see some family activities. food was excellent: always an indian dish available.

tours were great offshore..

the performances by the band, dancers, Jamie were fabulous.

the rooms were always cleaned. maintenance group did follow up quickly, on my call for fixing problem.

what more can I say? it was a lifetime experience to see the Glacier so close. the ship cruised without any turbulence whatsoever making our stay comfortable throughout. thanks for the whole team, including the travel agent from and the travel agent on the ship.

Our cabin was on deck 3, ocean view.  I highly recommend an ocean view cabin over an interior cabin.  We often watched the sunrise and porting from our cabin and enjoyed the comfortable quiet time.  The food was always delicious, serving sizes were perfect, and service was excellent.  Only down comment was the hard sell for on-board purchases for future cruises and shore excursions.  We found the same excursions at half the price ashore at virtually every stop.  High price to pay for the convenience.  Knowing that ahead made for a good journey.  Sights were great in spite of cloudy weather and occasional drizzles.  If you don't do a land portion ahead, you should definitely do the tour bus between Seward and Anchorage for the stop at the wildlife conservancy.  Sights are great on the train, but the conservancy and sights on the tour bus make this a better choice IMHO.