Pleasant at sea, disappointing on land

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 43

Review summary

The overall rating listed for the cruise is 3.5, but I would rate it as a 3.0 at best. The cruise itself was fine, but the 3-day land portion was, at its very best, disappointing. A domed-sightseeing train trip into Denali was interesting. The narration was informative, but 8 hours of train travel and nearly 8 hours of constant narration was grating. The whole of the Denali experience was that of a lightly-prodded, very comfortable cow. We were transported en masse to a Princess-owned "resort"/jumble of apartments+restaurant, allowed to check-in to the room and go to a lodge or go an excursion, and wake up the next day and do the very same thing. The schedule of Denali transports and Princess-shuttling to the next Princess motel were incompatible, and several of the more interesting excursions were simply not possible. In addition, the Princess lodge was not located near anything that could be accessed WITHOUT a Princess shuttle or excursion package. So, I couldn't actually go into Denali or hike anywhere, which is a tremendous waste of travelling into the Alaskan wilderness, not to mention money and time. A better arrangement of scheduling between the shuttles and the excursion providers would be appreciated. My family agreed that we will certainly return to Alaska, but not through anything resembling a Princess-administrated package. A shame, too, since the cruise was fairly nice and well-organized.

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia

Ketchikan, Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

Cruise Glacier Bay

Cruise College Fjord, Alaska

Whittier (Anchorage), Alaska

Disembarkation