Bit different for us, but worth it
Coral Princess Cruise Review to Alaska - Gulf of Alaska
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 44
7 Night Voyage Of The Glaciers Southbound (Anchorage To Vancouver)
Sail date: July 15, 2017
Ship: Coral Princess
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: A522
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
Overall, glad we took the cruise since Alaska is a special experience, though admittedly we prefer the tropics. We were impressed with the ship and crew. Although we did no excursions on the sea portion of the cruise, we did take a couple of excursions at Denali National Park. The first was simply a ride on a bus into the Park. We saw little wildlife (though we'd come very close to a moose grazing when hiking it the day before), but could have seen anything at any second (it is Alaska, after all) but was an interesting tour that went well above the line that personal vehicles are allowed to go. We also took a flight to the Arctic Circle that I would not recommend. It cost us approximately $1,000 to fly plus $24 to be given the materials to make 2 sandwiches on a bumpy bus ride (if you do it, don't get something sloppy like tuna). Not the fault of Princess or the tour operators, but going to a 75 degree place is something that can be done anywhere. The presentations at Coldfoot and Wiseman pretty much just reinforced what we already knew. Although there were some beautiful scenes visible from the plane, we never saw Denali due to haze from fires in Canada and the temperature in the plane was hot enough that it was hard not to sleep (plus it was 1am when we returned). It was also pretty hot in the cabin where the presentation was given so, again, sleep was pretty likely.Embarkation
First time we've done a land-sea cruise and the embarkation couldn't have been better. The last of the land portion was a train ride from the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge to Whittier for boarding. We had given Princess two suitcases to deliver directly to the ship when we left the Captain Cook in Anchorage 3 days earlier, just keeping what we needed for the land portion. Our pre-boarding was accomplished quickly on board the train prior to arrival and we simply walked onto the ship, went directly to our room and all 3 of our suitcases were waiting for us in the room.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Pizza was excellent at the outdoor pizza restaurant. We didn't try any of the restaurants that came at an additional cost. The buffet was adequate with typical buffet fare so we ate there most breakfasts (tried the dining room one morning and preferred the buffet as there was a very limited menu). The anytime dining was good with their nightly specials.
Onboard Activities
An Alaskan cruise isn't done for onboard activities (at least not for us). Too cold for the pool (except for kids) and didn't want to face the outside temperature coming out of the hot tub. We didn't try the fitness center but confined our activities to looking at the scenery and hiking when on shore.
Entertainment
Great comedy show and both bands were very good. Our only problem with the entertainment was the timing of the bands breaks. Generally, they both stopped performing at almost the same time so it was virtually impossible to see a long performance by either or to bounce back and forth from one location to the other to continue listening to music or dancing. Breaks were dinner breaks so they were long.
The karaoke was inadequate. An hour isn't enough time to have very many people perform and on our boat kids signed up first so the same kids sang multiple songs while others who signed up weren't able to sing at all.
Service and Staff
We had chosen anytime dining but, for the first evening, we were assigned a time to limit congestion. We really liked the waiter (Alfredo) and his assistant. She was sick the 2nd night and was assigned to rove when she returned 3 days later but invariably came by our table to check on us and make suggestions when appropriate. From that day through the end of the cruise, we always requested Alfredo and were fairly quickly seated with him except for one day when we opted to go to the next available table.
We finally isolated the Crooner Lounge as a great place to hang out during downtime and Karen quickly became our favorite waitress.
Ship Quality
The ship could probably use a quick time in dry dock as there was a little exterior rust showing. The common areas were all kept quite clean and we didn't run into anything that wasn't working as it should.
Cabin / Stateroom
The cabin was quite roomy and comfortable. Although we saw much less of our steward than in previous cruises, the bed was always made and the room cleaned. I don't think that there was extra effort put into room cleanliness since some some trash items were on the balcony when we arrived and were never removed, however, the room itself remained clean for the entire trip. Only downside was the design of the shower. It was small, which makes sense, but the placement of the soap/shampoo dispensers directly in the path of the water flow wasn't great as you'd have to squirt 10 times to get a usable amount by the time it washed out of your hand. Also, the handicap bar extended far enough it was difficult to even turn around.
Ports of call
We actually stayed in Anchorage for a few days prior to beginning the land portion of the cruise, staying at the Hotel Captain Cook (that is basically unavailable if not booked through Princess). I'd stayed there 20 years ago and it hasn't changed (I enjoyed it the first time and enjoyed it this time). Anchorage hasn't really changed much in the interim period so I was able to take my wife to the haunts I visited in my first trip (definitely stop by Humpy's Alaskan Alehouse for king crab and beer). The Native Alaskan Cultural Center was interesting (it's outside of town but there is a free shuttle that stops by the Hotel Captain Cook. We weren't impressed with the Museum that is a few blocks from the hotel.
Thumbs Up
2
As with most ports, there are a million gift shops, excursion operators and jewelry stores (not bad for a city of 1,000 residents). We spent all morning going through the stores, returned to ship for lunch, then went out and hiked a couple of trails located behind the airport near the boat docks. Scenic hiking and we're glad that we did it.
Much larger city than Skagway, but that really just meant more gift shops, excursion operators and jewelry stores. We did ride the trolley to the top of Mt Roberts where we were able to do some sightseeing as it overlooked the bay in places. Since Juneau is the capital, we were also able to walk around the city to see the capital building, etc. but this was our shortest time at port, so we didn't explore everything.
Again with the shops, etc. Ketchikan lived up to it's reputation as one of the rainiest places in the world but fortunately it was an intermittent drizzle so we were able to get out. To us, the highlight of walking around Creek Street including the Fish Ladder and Married Man's Trail. Saw some kids pulling large salmon out of the creek with regularity (and throwing them back) and it was a very picturesque part of Ketchikan.
Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia
Other than the traffic (narrow lanes, walkers and bikers everywhere and irregular parking apparently randomly carved out of what was a right lane or left lane), Vancouver was very nice and a good return to civilization. We intended to just spend a night and fly out late the 2nd day but missed our flight (climbing Grouse Mountain turned out not to be the 2 hour hike I expected but is the strenuous climb as they mention at the trailhead - it can be done by people used to it and extremely fit in 1 hour but was more like 6 hours for us including an hour spent stopped and calling to change our flight to the next day). The day of arrival we went to Capilano State Park with its suspension bridge but didn't get there until after 5 due to traffic and spending time in Chinatown so the visit was a little rushed as they close related trails at 7pm (on the other hand, there was a 30% off deal if you arrived after 5 so money was saved). Beautiful views from both Grouse Mtn and Capilano.
Disembarkation
Not in a hurry as we weren't flying out, so we waited for the Silver 7 time at 9am and simply walked off the ship with no fuss or problems. Immediately caught the shuttle to the airport where we picked up the rent-a-car. As easy a disembarkation as we've had.
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