Wonderful. Alaska is extremely beautiful and our family is blessed to have experienced it together.
Everyone we encountered was very friendly and the pace of life is slower so it was a nice break from our normal busy lives.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
This was our first time boarding a cruise ship in San Francisco and it was very smooth. No problems at all. The personnel were very friendly and helpful and we were on the ship sooner than we expected.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
The dining rooms were wonderful. The meals were delicious and had lots of variety. The wait staff was exceptional. We had two children (age 8 and 10) with us at dinner every evening and the staff went out of their way to know their names and treat them special from the very first dinner.
The buffet was great. We ate breakfast each day at the buffet and there was a great variety of food, all fresh, all delicious and a few times we had a late night snack at the buffet and again a great variety and all good food. The buffet staff were very helpful and friendly also.
We did not eat in the specialty restaurants due to the other wonderful options that were included in the price of the cruise and the specialty restaurants are an added cost.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We took advantage of the pool and hot tubs. Some of the hot tub jets were not working so it was more like a soaking tub, but we did find others that worked.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The entertainment was wonderful. The stage shows were great and the cruise director and his staff made the trivia, bingo and game shows lots of fun for everyone that participated.
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
The kids club was a great fit for the two kids we had with us. They did lots of fun activities and were open frequently so the kids could have a good time while the adults took advantage of the things on board.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Beyond exceptional. Our room steward knew our names from the time we boarded and asked us daily if there was anything we needed. He also left a card in our room with a phone number he could be reached at if we needed to contact him for anything. The waiters were wonderful and a lot of fun, the cruise director and his staff clearly love their jobs and go out of their way to make everyone feel welcome and kept us laughing. All ship personnel I interacted with were extremely polite, helpful and went out of their way to make your day wonderful.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
This ship is very beautiful and large. We had fun exploring all the decks and everything was always clean and well maintained.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Our room was very comfortable, clean at all times and had enough storage space for the two of us,
Ship tip
The ship is very large and if you have mobility issues you may want to use a walker or wheel chair to get from one place to another. For people without mobility issues, it is a great way to get long walks in everyday, We also really liked that they had a self-service laundry facility with 6 washers and 6 dryers. You paid for this service with your seacard and tokens came out to use to buy the soap and use for the washer and dryer. Not a big deal for a lot of people, but we prefer to bring home clean clothes :)
We loved San Francisco. We got to San Francisco two days before the cruise left and took advantage of an all day tour of San Francisco which went to Muir Woods and Alcatraz. We also spent a lot of time at Fisherman's Wharf and really enjoyed it.
We enjoyed Juneau. It was very relaxing. We did some shopping and enjoyed walking around the town. We had scheduled a helicopter ride excursion to a glacier but it was cancelled due to weather, which is no one's fault.
We really enjoyed Skagway. We took an excursion to the gold fields and panned for gold. We saw the sled dogs and petted and interacted with them and got to pet the newborn puppies. The whole family really enjoyed this excursion. Later in the day, two of us had scheduled the helicopter excursion to a glacier (since the one in Juneau was cancelled), but once again it was cancelled due to weather (again nobody's fault).
Ketchikan was a very fun port. We enjoyed the shops and then took the Deadliest Catch excursion. This is a very informative, hands-on excursion and we had a great time. We saw lots of bald eagles and the people on the ship were very friendly and knowledgeable.
This was a very pretty port. We did not walk into the town but we walked down the long pier with the lighthouse at the end of it and saw lots of flowers and beautiful homes right where the ship docked.
Very organized and efficient. We were off the ship sooner than expected and we took advantage of the bus transportation to the airport offered by the ship. They were waiting for us at the end of the pier and showed us where to go to wait for the bus. It was not a long wait and the bus took us to the specific terminal of the airport for our airline.
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