backheidi

Just did it in June and my husband and brother in law loved it. I am not into crabbing but did love seeing the eagles. Well done tour!

My sister and I were invited to a cocktail party with the Captain on our recent Alaskan cruise and this was only our second time sailing with Princess. First time invited on any of my cruises, and probably should have went but had others with us not invited!

Just off an Alaskan cruise and on 1st formal my husband wore dress shirt, dress slacks, and a tie. 2nd formal he wore dress shirt, dress pants, and no tie. Saw suits, dress shirt pants and tie, pants and dress shirt, and pants and polo shirts. Only person that was refused entry was a guy that had on dingy jogging pants! Others in our group had on suits, and all of us women had on floor length dresses. My husband looked very handsome and in our group pictures, everyone looked great! Relax, be comfortable, and enjoy!

Seattle Express was very dependable!

We (10 family members) will be on the Golden in less than 2 weeks. I'm so happy to read your positive comments. I feel reassured and am looking forward to a great Princess cruise (I have more than 600 cruise nights but this is my first Princess cruise).

 

THANK YOU so much for taking the time to tell us Princess newbies the GOOD things you experienced on the Golden .:)

BTW, my husband and I are very easy to please but not buffet people either.

I hope you have great weather. Also, thought I would mention a few excursions I really liked. The first is Mendenhall Glacier. It was the second part of our whale watch excursion which left us short of time. You get up close with a good size Glacier, there is a nice visitor center which you can see the Glacier from as well, and there is a nice Falls you can walk to (this I really wanted to do but it takes 45 minutes there and back and we did not have enough time). Also, take the Tram up the mountain and hike up a ways. The higher you go, the more beautiful the views are. Both Mendenhall and the Tram are in Juneau. Also, the little town of Juneau is really nice to walk through and a little stop at Red Dog Saloon was a lot of fun! We were in Juneau the longest amount of time and really liked it.....could have spent a lot more time there. At Skagway we took the train ride (the basic only) and walked through the little town. Both were really nice but we still had plenty of time at that stop and so wished we had done a more extensive excursion (or did two). Ketchikan looked like a really cute little town but our excursion (which my husband loved)....the Deadliest Catch Crab fishing tour took up all of our time. I really wish we had much more time at this stop because I would have loved to have gone through the town and gone to the Totem Park. But maybe next time. Anyway, just thought I would share. Have a wonderful time!

You order the omelet at the counter where you saw the other egg items already made.

 

Oh my, now I really feel foolish, LOL! I guess the fact that it always seemed crowded did not help. I just took what I easily saw and got out of everyones way! Won't next time though, love my omelettes! But even without my omelettes, I always found plenty to eat and really enjoyed the Golden Princess and our cruise!

How does the RCCL omelet bar differ from the Princess buffet where you can order an omelet made the way you want it at breakfast time?

Okay, I must have missed the Princess omelet bar. I only saw fried and scrambled. I guess I should have asked! Thanks for letting me know!

What wrong? Food? Rusted Balconies? What? The food is definetly not as good as a few years ago and the selections are quite limited. Normally only one desert per night unless you want sugar or gluten free.I will probably try another line after my upcoming British Isles cruise in august. The reviews of Celebrity seem to be up and down. Seaborn, Oceana and crystal would definetly be better but the cost is about 50% higher.

Just off of the Golden Princess to Alaska and our 6 person table had two desserts almost every night! Also, if someone did not like their entrée, the waiter was quick to get that person another one. Also, did not see rusted balconies (we had three balcony rooms). The whole ship seemed to be in good shape! Do I think you get as much for your buck as you did 25 years ago, No (I remember when there were Grand themed buffets...chocolate...ice sculptures, etc. every night). But a cruise is still a great vacation and value!

Just off the Golden last week (6/7-6/14 sailing). The ship was in great shape and as a person who usually prefers RC, I really enjoyed the staff, entertainment (the comedian, Sol Play band, Billy the Piano Player, and British Invasion), and Movies under the stars. I believe the Cruise Director's name was John Loney? We had great weather and Alaska is absolutely beautiful. Honestly, you will be so busy (hopefully) enjoying Alaska, that enjoying the ship will just be a pleasant surprise. Have a great time!

Wow, I was on the same cruise as you and as a person who prefers RC, I was pleasantly surprised because we really enjoyed the ship much more then we thought we would. The embark was a little crowded but I do not blame Princess, I blame the fact that people did not come at their appointed times! Therefore, the staff said everyone came all at once. I had read that the ship was run down but I saw no wear anywhere. I thought it was in great shape. The brass and wood rails were like brand new! As for entertainment, the comedian was funny and I loved Sol Play (the lead singer was one of the best I have heard) and others must have agreed because people always seemed to be dancing. I also thought British Invasion was good. Was it Broadway....no....but the music, costumes, lightshow, etc. were good and fun. And we loved, loved Billy the Piano player. Also, really enjoyed the staff (which on recent cruises has not really been noticeable). Several nights some of the staff joined the Piano player and not only had great voices, but were charming and funny! Also enjoyed the on ship stores and specials much more then recent cruises.....had some great buys and I did buy, LOL! Since I am not a buffet person to start with, I only find them okay anyway (though I did miss RCs omelette bar). But I still always found plenty that was quite good (Danish, fruit, etc.). I do agree though that it is not set up well, just too tight a spot and makes it crowded BUT they had a lot of good seating areas. Our room was clean and comfortable as was our balcony. Also, loved the outdoor movies....just wish they constantly had a show or movie playing....at least on our final day. I would not hesitate to take this ship again! Really nice, fun ship, great weather, and Alaska was absolutely beautiful! Hope to do it again in the very near future!

Thanks to all for your comments. And Budget Queen no uncertainty here except whether having a Bahama Mama on a cold deck is going to be as refreshing as it was on my way to St. Thomas, LOL!!

Are you genuinely looking for an answer or are you trying to criticize those who criticize? I haven't noticed any Seattle bashing but most people ask which is preferred and why and people tend to answer with their preference and why. If their preference doesn't happen to be Seattle then I don't think anyone should take it personally.

I am being very sincere as it does sometimes seem to border on Seattle bashing yet I seldom have read reviews where a trip to Alaska is disliked (whether one way or RT from Seattle or Vancouver...the complaints seem to be more about the shape of a ship, ship staff, entertainment, etc.). Yet on these forums, which route you take seems to have harsh criticism.....I am just baffled by it (and land and ship versus RT seems to take some hits too).

So often people seem to criticize any cruise that is not inside passage from Vancouver. Since it is only a small part of the cruise (with RT Seattle ships visiting the same cities) I am just wondering why so much fuss about this. I have been on many cruises from NYC and Florida where you are often on open waters (with no land in sight). But I have never not enjoyed these cruises because for me it was about the ship and the islands we would be visiting. As for rough seas, the Atlantic from NYC in particular is sometimes very rough (so rough that when we went to Bermuda, we had to stay inside and you could hear glasses from the bar falling off and breaking.....and my husband and daughter got a kick out of it...well not broken glasses...but watching the huge waves). Are the waters from Seattle a lot rougher then those from NYC or Florida? It seems ships from Seattle are rated just as high as from other locations and again visit the same cities in Alaska....so just confused why so many anti Seattle RT comments.

Thanks so much for the comments and good advice!

Cool Cruiser, are you familiar with the Sleep Inn by the Airport? Highly rated on Trip Advisor but some of the comments on these boards are making me a bit nervous. They have a shuttle from the airport and it will also take us to the rail if we decide to go downtown. There are two other couples going with us, so no decision yet, we just always fly in the day before a cruise so there is no stress or problems.

Thanks!

Again, I chose this hotel mainly because Trip Advisor has it rated very highly (third best out of all the Seattle Airport hotels). The hotel picks you up at the airport and has a shuttle that will take you and pick you up anywhere within 5 miles (including the rail). I am okay with it being in a commerical area just want it to be safe (we will probably venture no further then the Ihop next door except by shuttle). Two things important were whether they had a shuttle from the airport and whether they were on the list for Seattle Express (which they are) to take us to the Pier the next morning. But safety is important, so if anyone has had a negative experience there or in the area, please let me know. I don't go until June of 2014 so have time to change.

Thanks again to everyone. These boards are very helpful.

Found a really good price for a room precruise at the Sleep Inn near the Sea Tac Airport? Anyone stay there? If so, opinions please. It definitely is no frills but rated very well on trip advisor. Also, we can easily get a shuttle to the pier (shuttle express $12 pp). It is literally half the price to do my hotel and shuttle this way compared to what Princess offers precruise. But though I like to save money if possible (and spend it on good excursions), I want safety and a clean bed and room. Thanks in advance for your help.

Thanks everyone. I did get my own hotel but have plenty of time to change and probably will do so through Princess. I looked on their website for precruise hotels but did not see anything. I will call them though. I like ease and as little stress for my vacation travel...this sounds great. Love these boards. Again thanks!

For a R/T June 2014 cruise from Seattle, we have transfers booked with Princess for a prehotel and transfer and a postcruise transfer TO the airport. My DH has asked me when they will take our bags from the ship and when will we see them again. DH would be very happy to set them outside our door and see them again when we arrive to our home airport.

 

We are not buying CruiseAir through Princess, but we are getting the transfers. Can anyone advise?

 

Oh, the prehotel is Doubletree Seatac, if that makes any difference.

How do you set up transfers to and from your precruise hotel through Princess. We ordered transfers and are planning on flying in the day before and staying at a hotel. We figured we would have to take the hotel shuttle to our hotel, spend the night, take the hotel transfer back to the airport where we would then take our Princess transfer to the ship. It would all be easier if we could be transferred to the ship right from our hotel. Is there a place on the Princess website to purchase a precruise hotel they would transfer us from? Thanks!

Thanks to all for your comments. And thank you Peety3 for letting me know which pier we would be going to. Though we have paid for transfers through Princess to the pier, we will still probably fly in the day before and stay in a hotel. We have all taken Caribbean cruises from NYC so we are used to sea days with no scenery and rough seas but agree having scenery all the way there would have been nice. We will use the sea days to settle in and explore the ship. Again, thanks for the input, nice to hear from those who have taken the same ship and route but any info. on this board is so helpful.

After reading a lot and many thoughts, we still chose a Round trip Alaska cruise via Seattle, WA (though Vancouver has many fans). Our biggest reason was time, ease, and expense. I like to get to my destination (the ship) with as much ease as possible. Therefore, the thoughts of plane, train, bus, etc. to get to Vancouver just for a little better viewing of the inside passage was not a priority. Our biggest priorities are seeing Glacier Bay, whale watching, the Deadliest Catch excursion, and the White Pass train excursion. So for those who have taken the Seattle round trip, could you please share? We are going on the June 7, 2014 cruise on Golden Princess (which we chose because of good reviews). There is a small group of us (8) and none of us have ever been to Alaska. I have never heard of anyone NOT having a good cruise to Alaska regardless of what ship, port, time of year, etc. so I am hoping it is the same for us. Again, thank you to all in advance.