We really enjoyed this anniversary cruise. The wildlife and natural beauty of the areas we visited were truly amazing.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was smoother than we expected, with much of the check-in done via the app prior to arriving at the port. The crowds were much lower than we anticipated, due (we found out later) that our sailing was at less than half capacity.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
The food was excellent, plentiful, and varied. We liked that there were dishes using local Alaskan ingredients. Because the ship had less than half its capacity of passengers, one of the three main dining rooms was closed and our reservations for that restaurant were automatically transferred to one of the other two main dining rooms.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We enjoyed some of the trivia contests/shows. We thought the comedian was decent, but not the funniest that we have seen. The UK Invasion musical stage show was very good. Many of the activities on the ship catered to the majority clientele, which were a couple of decades older than my wife and I (so, we skipped the knitting, arts and crafts, and '50s and '50s music and trivia events).
Entertainment
4 out of 5
These were highly variable. We really liked the UK Invasion musical production and several of the musical acts around the ship were entertaining and quite good. Others were marginal, including the comedian.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
We have nothing but positive things to say about the service and staff. The stewards, waiters, bartenders, security, naturalist, and entertainment staff were polite, friendly, and welcoming.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Ship tip
The Grand Princess' Promenade Deck (Deck 7) goes all the way around the bow. This enabled us to look for wildlife which cruising from a very advantageous viewpoint. Other larger ships do not have this feature and so require wildlife viewing from the bow on the upper deck (which would have been Deck 15 on the Grand Princess). This was a real positive for wildlife spotting.
We did a personal zodiac boat tour and saw eagles and harbor seals. It was fun to drive our own small, fast boat. At about 2 hours in length, it was a good amount of time.
This was a larger port with more shoreside activities. Our pre-booked excursion was cancelled with about 12 hours' notice because of a problem with the whale watching boat. That required us to book an alternate excursion the day we arrived (and learned of the cancellation), at a higher price. The whale watching was decent (we saw three humpbacks and some sea lions), though we had seen more from the bow of the Grand Princess the day prior. We also went on a Hike and Float excursion in the afternoon. The hike was nice, though very slow given the varied levels of fitness in the ~11 person group.
We took the White Pass railroad to the summit and had great views. We highly recommend it. The rest of the town was quaint, but we did not need 12.5 hours in this port.
This was the highlight of the trip. We saw humpbacks, orcas, sea otters, harbor seals, coastal brown and black bears, and the glaciers. It was simply stunning. We specifically selected this itinerary because it visited Glacier Bay National Park and it did not disappoint!
We disembarked and immediately departed on a bus to Anchorage. There appeared to be little to do in Whittier, which was fine for us as we did not intend to remain there for any amount of time. Those doing the 14- day cruise (northbound then southbound) likely didn't have much to do ashore on the turnaround day.
It was remarkably smooth, likely partially because the ship was less than half full of passengers. We were placed in a disembarkation group earlier than we needed to be (6:45 disembarkation when our bus boarded at 7:50 for a 8:00 departure).
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