Regrets: I wish we'd gone farther north into the northwest area of Alaska. That would have been a longer cruise but would have been very cool. I would also possibly do a land tour up there. We didn't see any glaciers up close, so that was a bummer. we could have and should have done a helicopter tour to a glacier but some in our party weren't up for that, and it was quite expensive. Surprises: We had amazing weather! It was quite warm and really beautiful. A huge boat can feel very claustrophobic. Spend as much time outside as you can.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Super easy, got into our room right away.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
Formal dining room food was not good. Our waitress was also not great. Zero personality, seemed to hate being there which I don't blame her, they work for 9 months straight without a day off, but some of them are still cheerful. She wasn't. I would definitely recommend the specialty restaurants. On other ships, I haven't wanted to miss the dining room because the food was so good. After 3 days in the dining room, we never went back. Did specialty dining after that.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Pools were ok but didn't use them. Kids used the jaccussi once. The fitness center was old, gross, stuffy and lots of the machines were broken.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We actually had quite a bit of fun with the game shows - don't miss the Yes/No game show! We did bingo, and went to a couple of the shows. The talent was a mixed bag. They also had a well produced "The Voice" that was amazingly good with cruiser contestants.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Stateroom steward was sooo good. Our room was alway immaculate. Most of the other staff were also really good with the exception of our Formal Dining room waitress.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Typical cruise ship decor. Overly ornate and dated. I didn't love how broken up the layout was with lots of small areas. Sometimes that was a good thing tho. You rarely felt like you were with a hoard of people.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Ship tip
Choose a mid-ship cabin for easier access to everything.
Ketchikan was OK. Mostly jewelry stores. We went fishing on a charter I booked myself with Experience One Charters. They were the only charter that could accommodate all 8 of us. Even tho the day started out very foggy, it cleared up and the water was like glass. We all caught a fish thanks to the expertise of the captain and his first mate.
More jewelry stores. We had an excursion booked through Princess that fell through so that was a huge disappointment. We waited around for 2 hours for the Mendenhall Canoe and Glacier Excursion meeting time and when we got to the meeting place we were informed that they weren't going out that day because it was too windy. Such a joke! We rented a car and went up there ourselves and there was NO wind! It was also a huge hassle getting our money back. It would have been hugely helpful if we had been notified beforehand. We would have been able to do several other things instead. Very disappointing! We had a good meal. Crab. Very expensive by so good!
Another port that we booked our own excursion. We did the full day tour of the yukon booked through Viator. It was awesome. I loved being able to stop and look at the different places. We saw bears, amazing scenery, a desert!, sled dog puppies, had an OK meal. I'm obsessed with Skagway and want to go back and kayak in the Yukon, ride ATV's in the desert and spend more time in the adorable town. Unfortunately it's very expensive to fly there.
Just had time to go to Butchart Gardens. The Fireworks show was weird and cool at the same time. The flowers were not super exciting but what can you expect from flowers?
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