If I had it to do over again, I would save my money and not do the cruise. I would fly to Alaska and rent a car. I would spend a few days in Denali and Fairbanks. I would go to Skagway and do the white train pass and spend a few days there.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
A little disorganized but the line moved quickly. We got there 30 minutes before they opened.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
The food in the dining rooms was mediocre. We had the drink package and couldn't get a glass of wine with dinner. The wine showed up with desert. The ship seemed to be short staffed. The buffet was horrible people pushing and cutting in line. The food in the buffet was the same every day and not very good.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
I didn't find any on board activities that interested me except I wanted to see the champagne waterfall, but I had a dinner reservation for that time so I didn't get to see it.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
Most of the entertainment didn't interest me. I wanted to see the British Invasion but couldn't get in to see it was to crowded.
Children's Programs
Didn't have childern with me
Service and Staff
1 out of 5
Our steward Rolly was very good. I tried what seemed to be over an hour one night to get a drink in the casino I finally gave up and after 10 minutes at the bar got a drink. Next day at the casino I decided to time how long it would take to get a drink. After 2 hours I finally went to the bar and asked the bartender why we had not been waited on and she said the guy covering our area was searching all over the ship for cranberry juice. Don't get the drink package it is a total waste of money. On the ship and the land tour we kept getting the same lame excuse for the poor service. We were told it was the first cruise of the season and first land tour of the season and they are working out the kinks. If this is the case Princess should do a soft opening and discount the first one of the season because we certainly got screwed most expensive trip in my life and worst trip of my life.
Ship Quality
1 out of 5
The ship is very old. It was the first ship I ever cruised on 22 or 23 years ago. There was always a stall in the public restrooms out of order. Our faucet knob in our room kept coming off. The shower kept going from hot to cold. One morning I was soaped up and hot water went out and ended up having to take an ice-cold shower.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
The room was clean and the bed was comfortable. The crew came on our balcony one day and lacquered the top rail of the balcony. The smell about knocked you out all day. Luckily most of the smell had cleared by bedtime.
Alaska has always been the top of my bucket list and top thing I wanted to do in Alaska was ride the white train pass while in Skagway. I saved for nearly 3 years for this trip about $6,500.00 to do this once in a lifetime trip and we couldn't dock because the dock was being reconstructed. Princess refunded the train tickets, but I will never get to do my #1 bucket item. I cried the next 2 days over it.
Is this your first cruise? All your complaints sound like first time cruiser complaints. If you have a maintenance issue, let them know and it will be fixed, if goingbto the shows, get there early, cause there is no way 3500 people will fit in a 250 person venue. I've been on many Princess cruises, and never has the same food repeated every day. Yes, the side dishes, like mashed potatoes, vegetables, rice, ect, are repeated, but NOT the entrees. They don't always have servers in casino, just use Medallion or get yourself, it's nit that hard. I've never been on a Princess cruise, where my wine selection came at the end if meal. I'm thinking you had a issue on the first or second day which soured your judgment and now you're bitter. Another scenario is maybe you are hard to please and cruising just isn't for you and land based vacations are a better option.
Sorry you missed your port. Agreed, you shouldn’t cruise if missing an excursion will ruin your cruise and cause you to cry for two days. A land vacation is more predictable.
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