Overall this was a quiet and relaxing time. If you're looking for top notch entertainment and activities I would recommend a larger ship. Alaska was beautiful and well worth the experience.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was a breeze, we did have to wait to board the ship and our rooms weren't ready for several hours.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Overall the ship was average. This is a smaller boat, the offerings in the main dining room and buffets was not great with dietary restrictions (my husband is celiac) we were promised all kinds of foods that the staff never actually delivered on. In the teppanyaki restaurant they did have gluten free soy sauce and yet my husband watched the chef use the regular and when questioned the chef denied the mistake. The buffet offerings got tired by the end of the ship. I would have liked more variety.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
The pool was not used by anyone and only a few people braved the hot tubs. The fitness center had a few people but I never saw as single person in the sports court. It was the end of October and on the chilly side to be outside.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
We were disappointed by the offerings. By about the 4th day we didn't go out of our way to go to any of the shows. The performers were average, the music was geared for an older audience, the comic was offensive and only mildy funny.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
All the staff we encountered were caring, king, courteous and professional. We were treated very well.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
No complaints about the design or layout. It was easy to get around. Some of the elevators were narrow but it was not an issue. It is an older, smaller boat.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We loved the layout of our stateroom, it was oriented to be wide over being deep and this made it feel much more spacious. We brought 4 suitcases and had plenty of storage/closet room to fully unpack. We would choose this room/layout again.
Ship tip
More of the food and activities were in the back of the boat. Our room was in the aft and we were grateful to not need to walk the length of the boat multiple times a day to get to food and shows.
Having to tender was a bit annoying mainly because they passed out tickets and although we went down when tickets began we were on boat #6 which was about a 90 minute wait to get off the boat. Once off the town was beautiful and quaint. We did a hike around the totem pole area and the trees with their cavernous roots were so cool to see.
It was a beautiful clear day and the crew had drinks and snacks set up in the Spinnaker Lounge. Everyone loved the viewing of the glacier and the captain spun the ship around 4 times to let us all enjoy the views. A tip was to eat in the dining room this day to see the amazing views.
This was our coldest day. Because we were there at the end of the season most of the shops in town were closed. We did walk into town but there wasn't much to see or do. We heard the train ride was worth it but did not experience it ourselves.
We walked to then rode the gondola up to the top. The views and the hike were amazing. We enjoyed the film presentation about the local Alaskan people up at the top of the gondola.
The lifts weren't running and the only thing to do here was to zipline. There were a few shops but this felt like a waste of a stop. It was nice to get off the boat but there was really nothing to see or do here.
Ward Cove is a nightmare, Ketchikan was cute. There was a second boat in port the same day and the line to get on a shuttle to get into town (20+ minute drive) was about an hour. We had heard to get off with plenty of time and we did make it to the lumberjack show on time but it was frustrating and annoying to get into town. Ward Cove itself felt undeveloped and disappointing. Ketchikan was cute but again most things were closed. We walked up to creek street and the history was interesting. We did the lumberjack show and it was popular and fun but a bit contrived - more for kids in my opinion.
Victoria was beautiful and pleasant. We did not make it to the gardens as it was quite a distance. I did walk into downtown and appreciated the architecture of the parliament building and nearby hotels. There was a street faire downtown and much more to see and do than in any of the stops in Alaska.
Quick and easy. We used port valet which picked up our bags from our room and delivered them to our airline, we didn't see them again until we got to our home airport which was a great free service.
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