While Alaska is amazing, this ship is large, and crowds took away from the onboard experience. This cruise attracts a lot of people on opposite ends of the age spectrum. For many seniors this is a bucket list trip, and it wasn't uncommon to be stuck behind them as they struggled to move through the ship. There were also a large number of wheelchair bound passengers that made catching elevators difficult sometimes. Our cruise also had over 1,000 kids. This did not bother us at all, but something to note. Because this cruise attracts a lot of large, extended families, people often arrived at the buffet in large groups - which made seating extremely limited. We did feel that everything was of slightly lower quality than our previous Princess Cruise last year, despite costing us more.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was quick and easy, with friendly staff at the port
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Breakfasts were packed, and while there was a lot of food available, none of the buffet cuisine was particularly appetizing. Dinners were OK, but less impressive than my previous Princess cruise. We only ate at one specialty restaurant, and it was generally pretty good.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Activities were generally packed due to how many people were onboard, but we did enjoy several of them. I had wished there'd be a general music/dancing gathering each night in the ship's foyer, but this was not available.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Saw several of the shows/performers, and they were generally very good - good variety, and energy.
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
Ship had good family oriented events and kids/teen clubs.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Overall the ship's staff were very friendly and helpful, to the extent they could be. There were times where we received incorrect information, or a language barrier prevented full resolution of an issue.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
The ship was very clean, but there were a few issues. We had no idea that our stateroom on Deck 13 had an overhang over our balcony that extended about 15 feet from the 14th deck. This ended up obstructing our view from our balcony, and was not mentioned. Also, using elevators was next to impossible given how many people were on the ship, and how many of them were wheelchair bound.
Cabin / Stateroom
2 out of 5
While the cabin was clean, the deck that extended over our balcony on the 14th floor obstructed our view ... despite this not being an obstructed view room, or us being given any indication at booking that this would be an issue. We were also led to believe during booking that our room would have a pullman bed - it did not.
Ship tip
Book a deck halfway up the ship - it's nearly impossible to use the elevators on this ship due to crowding and the number of elderly/wheelchair bound passengers on an Alaskan Cruise. Halfway up means you're only climbing 5-6 flights to go up or down.
Seattle is an excellent place to visit, and we stopped a few days early to explore. Yes, there is a homeless problem, but the city clearly invests in security/other resources to remediate this as much as possible. Much to see and do in Seattle.
Excellent other than how difficult it was to secure an elevator to carry our luggage down. We carried our own down, family who had their luggage taken for them waited quite a while.
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