DevilsFan38
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Posts posted by DevilsFan38
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On 8/1/2022 at 3:24 PM, DGeers said:
What a wonderful review. Which Company did you use in Ketchikan for the floatplane excursion? I don't see it offered thru Princess.
We used Island Wings.
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I just posted from trip report from 2 weeks ago on the Majestic
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I've appreciated the time others have taken to report back on their trips, so here's my trip report. It's VERY LONG! I'll first comment on general things Princess cruises and about the ship in particular, then move on to a day by day description of activities and ports. I'm also cross-posting this on the Princess forum as well as the Alaska forum, since I wasn't sure of the best place to put it. For some background there were four of us on this trip, myself and my brother (mid 30's) and our mom and aunt (late 60's). Planning was a bit challenging since all four of us have somewhat different interests and levels of activity.
First, my thoughts on Princess and the ship. We don't cruise a ton (my last cruise was on Celebrity about 3 years ago, pre COVID), but have been on I think about 8 cruises in the past. We had done one prior Princess cruise, but that was over 15 years ago so not much for comparison. This ship (Majestic Princess) was the biggest any of us had been on, so we were hoping for some good entertainment.Overall, I can't say I'd rush back to do a Princess cruise. We certainly enjoyed ourselves, but that was more a function of the ports/scenery, rather than the ship and amenities. We picked Princess because my mom wanted a cruise that did Hubbard glacier and Glacier Bay, so that limited our options significantly. The crew on the ship was great, all very helpful and our room steward (Emerson) was especially great. But all of us felt the food was mediocre, entertainment was lacking, and I personally did not like the layout of the ship itself.Firstly, the food. The buffet was fine, no complaints there. Pizza from Alfredo's was good (and we're from NJ, so picky about pizza!). We ate in one of the main dining rooms (Allegro) 5 out of the 7 nights - the other two were Alfredo's and Harmony. None of us were overwhelmed with the main dining room food. The last night everyone said the food was quite good (trying to leave us with a good last impression?) but we mostly felt it was just okay. I'm a vegetarian, and I was especially underwhelmed. Once or twice I ended up in the buffet after dinner because I really hadn't liked my main (the night of vegetarian Turkish meatballs with grilled vegetables comes to mind). Mostly, the food seemed to lack flavor. There was generally one vegetarian dish of the night (and about half of them were fairly heavy on cheese, which I'm not a huge fan of), so if you're vegan I'm not sure what they'd do. Food in Harmony was also mediocre, and certainly not worth the upcharge, though I will say that my Mai Tai was quite good.Other than food, for most of us the nightly entertainment is probably the other big thing we looked for, and that was even less impressive than the food. Of the 7 nights, 4 were comedians (2 comedians, each doing 2 shows), then there were 2 production shows, and one night a solo singer with the orchestra. One comedian was not funny at all (my mom and I slept through the first show, and none of us went back for his second show). The other comedian was quite good, his 2 shows were probably the best entertainment of the week. The two production shows were mixed. The first one (Sweet Soul Music) was enjoyable, nothing amazing but lots of good songs. The second one (Encore) was rather odd. They had added a soprano for that show (and she had an amazing voice), but the show didn't flow. At all. It started with a few songs in English, which were okay. Then it switched to Italian opera (at least, that's what it sounded like, I only speak English so couldn't really say). The soprano's voice was amazing but you had no idea what was going on. There were some songs in Italian, then it kind of switched back and forth between some English and more Italian for the rest of the show, with no songs seeming to relate or flow together at all. Other than the one singer's voice it was rather boring. The other night's entertainment (solo singer) could have been good. He'd been on Broadway, and also had a great voice. But I didn't think the song choices were great - lots of slower songs, and not much excitement (for example, one song I recall was Bring Him Home from Les Miserables - a beautiful song but not very exciting/uplifting). So overall, definitely not impressed with the entertainment.Lastly, the ship itself. It's very pretty, and I had no complaints about cleanliness. However, it was not one of my favorite ships I've been on. On sea days I enjoy finding a comfy chair (ideally not just a pool lounger, something with some actual cushion) with a view of the water going by, and relaxing with a good book. That was something I struggled with on this ship. We had what I'm told was typical Alaska weather that week (50's and rainy) so you didn't want to be out on the open deck. They allowed kids into the Hollywood conservatory area, so that pool space had screaming children in it, not what I wanted for peaceful reading. The actual conservatory space at the front of the ship could have been perfect, except that for some reason they felt the need to do obnoxiously loud activities there. Two mornings I tried to sit there and read (along with other like minded people, or some people quietly playing cards), only to be interrupted by loud cruise staff hosting line dancing. There were also some potential reading areas in the Piazza, except that area is also quite loud, usually with cruise staff games going on or loud music playing. My other complaints about the ship is that there is no jogging track, and gym had no ceiling fans, and no fans built into the treadmills/bikes/etc, like many brands do. On the plus side I did appreciate that they have laundry rooms! (bring a few detergent pods and dryer sheets to save a few bucks).So, now for a day by day summary, with more commentary on the ports:Day 1 (flight into Anchorage).We flew into Anchorage (2 from Florida, 2 from NJ) and our flights landed between 7 and 8pm, so it was a long day. We got the shuttle to our hotel (Comfort Inn Ship Creek) and dropped our bags, then got a taxi and went straight to dinner (for three of us we could have walked from the hotel to downtown, probably taking about 10 mins at an easy pace, but one member of the group can't walk distances and it was uphill as well). We had dinner at Glacier Brewhouse, which overall was very good. The other three in the party were very happy with their dishes (2 had fish and 1 had chicken). I had a pizza which was not great (Alfredo's on the ship was definitely better). Drinks were excellent and we were happy with our meal. You can make reservations online and they're open late, which is nice for those coming in on late flights. Then 2 of us walked back to the hotel (just to see the town a little) and 2 took a taxi, and it was time for bed.Day 2 (Anchorage to Whittier, boarding the ship).The other 3 slept in, but I got up early. I'm generally very active (I'm a triathlete) and in looking up Anchorage prior to the trip I read about the Anchorage Coastal Trail, an 11 mile (one way) trail along the coast. It looked beautiful and had great reviews, so I decided to bike it. I used Downtown Bicycle Rentals (they opened at 8am, which gave me enough time to do the ride). I tried a few bikes, we found one that fit, they gave me a few directions and a map and I was on my way. I biked the whole trail and it was gorgeous, probably actually one of my favorite activities from the whole trip. Sometimes it's nice to get away from crowds and tours. There were certainly other bikers and walkers/runners, and it did seem to get busier as I was heading back, so I'd recommend going early. It took me about 2.5 hours to do the 22 miles, with some stops for pictures and to watch the planes take off overhead. I also saw a black bear crossing the trail (thankfully just ambling along, with no interest in us cyclists), so that was a great way to start the trip.Got back to the hotel and showered, then it was time to check out and get our transportation to Whittier. We used ACT (Alaska Cruise Transportation), and they were solid. Bus pickup was on time, then on the way we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Refuge. We all enjoyed seeing that, could have used a little more time (though we were meant to have more time, there was road construction which delayed us). Driving through the tunnel was interesting as well. We arrived in plenty of time in Whittier and boarded the ship.Day 3 (At sea/Hubbard glacier).Had a relaxing morning, since we didn't arrive at the glacier until mid afternoon. Hubbard glacier is absolutely stunning. Glacier Bay National Park the next day was gorgeous, but if you could only pick one I'd pick Hubbard, because the glacier itself is massive and gorgeous. I'm not sure how close we got, but I certainly didn't feel like we didn't get close enough. It was beautiful and we did see some calving. There was plenty of time for everyone to view the glacier and get all the photos they wanted, as the captain slowly spun the ship. It definitely gets much colder on deck when you're near the glacier - was very glad I brought ear warmers and gloves!Day 4 (Glacier Bay National Park).Beautiful scenery, all day long. When we got close to the glaciers we spent a lot of time up on deck. Otherwise if it's cold and rainy (like it was much of the morning for us) a good place to be was actually a window seat in the buffet - get there very early for lunch and you can spend an hour or two watching the gorgeous scenery while you slowly munch your way through lunch. Disappointingly none of us were impressed with the park rangers we had on board or the talk they gave in the morning - the talk seemed more designed to sell us on the idea that conservation is important, rather than talking in specifics about the National Park, it's history, features, wildlife, etc.Day 5 (Skagway).We docked at the Railroad dock, so they had cleaned it up enough after the rockslide, thankfully. All four of us did the bus tour into the Yukon with Chilkoot Charters, and we would all highly recommend the company. Our guide and driver, Mike, was excellent. They met us close to the cruise ship, then we got on the small bus and drove down the one main street in Skagway, with Mike pointing out a few things along the way, before we headed out of town. This was probably the worst day weather wise (anywhere from drizzling to raining hard and cold), so it was a good day to be on a bus tour. We made numerous very scenic stops on the way up the pass. Getting into Canada was a breeze, no one wanted our arriveCAN, the customs officer just walked up and down the aisle of the bus while we held our passports up by our faces. It took about 30 seconds. Then we arrived at Caribou Crossing. Lunch was solid (my vegetarian option was lentils over rice, which was quite good), the donuts were excellent! The exhibits there were good, I could have used more time (I'm one of those people who like to read everything). The husky puppies were cute, but unfortunately they were all curled up together napping so not very exciting. On the way back we stopped at Carcross by their little general store and had some excellent ice cream, and we also stopped by Emerald lake for some photos. Then they dropped us back in downtown Skagway, and we had some time to wander there (they would also have taken us back to the ship, if we'd wanted). I enjoyed the wander in Skagway, could even have spent a little more time there before we needed to get back. On a side note, our guide told us they only get fresh fruit/vegetables one day a week in Skagway (and even then, it's been on a boat for a few days, no that that fresh), and they're very expensive. I gave him the banana I had brought from the ship's buffet that morning, in case I didn't like the lunch, and he was thrilled! So you may want to nab an apple/orange/etc from the buffet in the morning to give to your guide, if you're going on a tour.Day 6 (Juneau).Today we split up, My brother and I did a canoe trip and glacier hike, and mom and aunt went whale watching. We did the canoe trip with Above and Beyond Alaska, and they were great. Our guides (Ben and Cash) were fabulous. They picked us up by the cruise ships, then we went back to their headquarters to get kitted out (rainboots, rain jacket/pants, and dry bags for our bags). They we drove out in a small bus and parked close to Mendenhall Lake. It was about a 5-10 minute scenic walk to the canoe site, and then we got a briefing on launching and paddling the canoe (one big canoe, with I think 11 of us tourists and the 2 guides). Paddling out on the lake was amazing, so serene and quiet, and the scenery was gorgeous. First we paddled across the lake to get close to Nugget Falls, and then paddled up to a beach not too far from the glacier. It's sad to hear how much Mendenhall glacier is receding. Because of this we couldn't do any hiking on the glacier itself, or right up to its face, but we got fairly close and again the views were stunning. After an hour or two hiking around the area and having some snacks (provided by the company, they were good) we then got back in the canoes to paddle back. It was I think 5-6 miles of canoeing across the lake, so you need to be semi fit. Then we bused back to headquarters, changed out of our gear, and they dropped us downtown so we had some time to wander again before heading back to the cruise ship. I found some delicious huckleberry ice cream in the town.Day 7 (Ketchikan).We split up again today, with my aunt and I doing a floatplane excursion, and my brother and mother doing a rainforest walk. Since our plane was later in the day my aunt and I started with a wander in Ketchikan. We went to the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center downtown, and enjoyed a walk through there and a very good film about salmon. Then we had a wander down Creek Streek, and stopped in a diner for lunch (Pioneer Cafe, we hoped it would be good since it seemed to have lots of locals in it, but food was just okay). Then it was off to meet our bus for a quick transfer to the plane! We did our floatplane excursion with Island Wings, and they were excellent. Our pilot was Adam/Wiley. His commentary was great and I felt completely safe with him at the controls. This was my first time in a floatplane, it was amazing and flying over the Misty Fjords National Monument was beautiful. Then we landed on a lake and pulled up to a tiny island, where we got out for 20 mins or so and took more pictures. Again, very serene and completely stunning. Then the flight back, and they dropped us back by the ship since it was getting fairly close to all aboard time.Day 8 (At sea).Not too much to say here, it was a nice relaxing day after three days of ports. Scenery isn't as stunning as it is further north, with all the coastal mountains.Day 9 (Vancouver).Docked in Vancouver. Getting off the ship and into Vancouver was very smooth (no one even looked at passports?). The line for taxis looked long but was extremely organized and moved quite well. We got a taxi to our hotel (Blue Horizon) and of course were too early to check in, but they kept our bags. We then took a taxi to Granville Island. We began by doing a sightseeing cruise on the False Creek Ferries (no need to book in advance, just walk down to the dock), which was a relaxing way to get a look at Vancouver. We were back at Granville Island 40 minutes later and ready for lunch, so we headed into Granville Public Market. I'm pretty sure I could spend days in this place alone quite happily, all the food looked absolutely delicious. Tons of little stands of food to eat right away, or things to take home for later (nuts, chocolate, tea, fresh fruits/veg, etc). I'd kill to have this in my hometown! I got some lentil and bean salads as well as some pierogies for lunch, along with a freshly brewed ice tea. I also picked up some croissants for later. Also, Lee's donuts are fabulous! (the line does move quickly). After that we wandered through many of the shops, before getting a taxi back to the hotel. We then chilled for a little while. We had a tour booked for that evening (Lost Souls of Gastown walking tour, with Forbidden Vancouver). My brother and I went down to Gastown first and had a little wander. Water St is picturesque, but if you wander even a block or two off it you get into areas with a lot of homeless people, one street had dozens of tents. Then we went back and met mother and aunt at Steamworks Brewpub for dinner (would definitely recommend, all food and drinks were good and the fries with parmesan, garlic, and truffle oil were amazing!). After that the walking tour departed right across the street from the brewery. The tour was interesting, talked about Gastown/Vancouver shortly after its founding, and about the great fire. The tour was not scary. Unfortunately my aunt had to bow out quite early as she discovered the walking was a bit too much for her.Day 10 (Vancouver).Started the day getting up early, and my brother and I did a tour of Stanley Park on bikes with Cycle City Tours. Our guide was Mark and he was great. It was a very easy bike ride, a few minutes through the city (all on dedicated bike lanes) to get to the park, then around the seawall and through the park. The scenery was beautiful, we made lots of stops to talk and Mark was a very interesting guide. Also stopped for a few minutes to see the totem poles, and we biked out through the rainforest to Beaver Lake. Then it was back to the shop to drop off the bikes and back to the hotel. Then the four of us took a taxi to Cardero's for lunch. That was a recommendation from Mark and it was spot on. It was right on the waterfront and all the food and drinks were absolutely delicious. After that we went back to Stanley Park because mother and aunt hadn't been there yet and wanted to see it. Unfortunately they hadn't really made any plans as to how they wanted to see it or what they really wanted to see (and it's a 1000 acre park, so kind of hard to just wing it). We ended up deciding to go to the aquarium there, which turned out to be great. Arrived in time to see them feeding the sea otters, which was of course adorable, and all the exhibits were good. Then we went back to the hotel and organized a bit before going out to dinner (Earl's Kitchen & Bar, it was good but the other two places in Vancouver were better), then had a relatively early night because we were leaving at 5:30am the next day for our flight home!-
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I've appreciated the time others have taken to report back on their trips, so here's my trip report. It's VERY LONG! I'll first comment on general things Princess cruises and about the ship in particular, then move on to a day by day description of activities and ports. I'm also cross-posting this on the Princess forum as well as the Alaska forum, since I wasn't sure of the best place to put it. For some background there were four of us on this trip, myself and my brother (mid 30's) and our mom and aunt (late 60's). Planning was a bit challenging since all four of us have somewhat different interests and levels of activity.First, my thoughts on Princess and the ship. We don't cruise a ton (my last cruise was on Celebrity about 3 years ago, pre COVID), but have been on I think about 8 cruises in the past. We had done one prior Princess cruise, but that was over 15 years ago so not much for comparison. This ship (Majestic Princess) was the biggest any of us had been on, so we were hoping for some good entertainment.Overall, I can't say I'd rush back to do a Princess cruise. We certainly enjoyed ourselves, but that was more a function of the ports/scenery, rather than the ship and amenities. We picked Princess because my mom wanted a cruise that did Hubbard glacier and Glacier Bay, so that limited our options significantly. The crew on the ship was great, all very helpful and our room steward (Emerson) was especially great. But all of us felt the food was mediocre, entertainment was lacking, and I personally did not like the layout of the ship itself.Firstly, the food. The buffet was fine, no complaints there. Pizza from Alfredo's was good (and we're from NJ, so picky about pizza!). We ate in one of the main dining rooms (Allegro) 5 out of the 7 nights - the other two were Alfredo's and Harmony. None of us were overwhelmed with the main dining room food. The last night everyone said the food was quite good (trying to leave us with a good last impression?) but we mostly felt it was just okay. I'm a vegetarian, and I was especially underwhelmed. Once or twice I ended up in the buffet after dinner because I really hadn't liked my main (the night of vegetarian Turkish meatballs with grilled vegetables comes to mind). Mostly, the food seemed to lack flavor. There was generally one vegetarian dish of the night (and about half of them were fairly heavy on cheese, which I'm not a huge fan of), so if you're vegan I'm not sure what they'd do. Food in Harmony was also mediocre, and certainly not worth the upcharge, though I will say that my Mai Tai was quite good.Other than food, for most of us the nightly entertainment is probably the other big thing we looked for, and that was even less impressive than the food. Of the 7 nights, 4 were comedians (2 comedians, each doing 2 shows), then there were 2 production shows, and one night a solo singer with the orchestra. One comedian was not funny at all (my mom and I slept through the first show, and none of us went back for his second show). The other comedian was quite good, his 2 shows were probably the best entertainment of the week. The two production shows were mixed. The first one (Sweet Soul Music) was enjoyable, nothing amazing but lots of good songs. The second one (Encore) was rather odd. They had added a soprano for that show (and she had an amazing voice), but the show didn't flow. At all. It started with a few songs in English, which were okay. Then it switched to Italian opera (at least, that's what it sounded like, I only speak English so couldn't really say). The soprano's voice was amazing but you had no idea what was going on. There were some songs in Italian, then it kind of switched back and forth between some English and more Italian for the rest of the show, with no songs seeming to relate or flow together at all. Other than the one singer's voice it was rather boring. The other night's entertainment (solo singer) could have been good. He'd been on Broadway, and also had a great voice. But I didn't think the song choices were great - lots of slower songs, and not much excitement (for example, one song I recall was Bring Him Home from Les Miserables - a beautiful song but not very exciting/uplifting). So overall, definitely not impressed with the entertainment.Lastly, the ship itself. It's very pretty, and I had no complaints about cleanliness. However, it was not one of my favorite ships I've been on. On sea days I enjoy finding a comfy chair (ideally not just a pool lounger, something with some actual cushion) with a view of the water going by, and relaxing with a good book. That was something I struggled with on this ship. We had what I'm told was typical Alaska weather that week (50's and rainy) so you didn't want to be out on the open deck. They allowed kids into the Hollywood conservatory area, so that pool space had screaming children in it, not what I wanted for peaceful reading. The actual conservatory space at the front of the ship could have been perfect, except that for some reason they felt the need to do obnoxiously loud activities there. Two mornings I tried to sit there and read (along with other like minded people, or some people quietly playing cards), only to be interrupted by loud cruise staff hosting line dancing. There were also some potential reading areas in the Piazza, except that area is also quite loud, usually with cruise staff games going on or loud music playing. My other complaints about the ship is that there is no jogging track, and gym had no ceiling fans, and no fans built into the treadmills/bikes/etc, like many brands do. On the plus side I did appreciate that they have laundry rooms! (bring a few detergent pods and dryer sheets to save a few bucks).So, now for a day by day summary, with more commentary on the ports:Day 1 (flight into Anchorage).We flew into Anchorage (2 from Florida, 2 from NJ) and our flights landed between 7 and 8pm, so it was a long day. We got the shuttle to our hotel (Comfort Inn Ship Creek) and dropped our bags, then got a taxi and went straight to dinner (for three of us we could have walked from the hotel to downtown, probably taking about 10 mins at an easy pace, but one member of the group can't walk distances and it was uphill as well). We had dinner at Glacier Brewhouse, which overall was very good. The other three in the party were very happy with their dishes (2 had fish and 1 had chicken). I had a pizza which was not great (Alfredo's on the ship was definitely better). Drinks were excellent and we were happy with our meal. You can make reservations online and they're open late, which is nice for those coming in on late flights. Then 2 of us walked back to the hotel (just to see the town a little) and 2 took a taxi, and it was time for bed.Day 2 (Anchorage to Whittier, boarding the ship).The other 3 slept in, but I got up early. I'm generally very active (I'm a triathlete) and in looking up Anchorage prior to the trip I read about the Anchorage Coastal Trail, an 11 mile (one way) trail along the coast. It looked beautiful and had great reviews, so I decided to bike it. I used Downtown Bicycle Rentals (they opened at 8am, which gave me enough time to do the ride). I tried a few bikes, we found one that fit, they gave me a few directions and a map and I was on my way. I biked the whole trail and it was gorgeous, probably actually one of my favorite activities from the whole trip. Sometimes it's nice to get away from crowds and tours. There were certainly other bikers and walkers/runners, and it did seem to get busier as I was heading back, so I'd recommend going early. It took me about 2.5 hours to do the 22 miles, with some stops for pictures and to watch the planes take off overhead. I also saw a black bear crossing the trail (thankfully just ambling along, with no interest in us cyclists), so that was a great way to start the trip.Got back to the hotel and showered, then it was time to check out and get our transportation to Whittier. We used ACT (Alaska Cruise Transportation), and they were solid. Bus pickup was on time, then on the way we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Refuge. We all enjoyed seeing that, could have used a little more time (though we were meant to have more time, there was road construction which delayed us). Driving through the tunnel was interesting as well. We arrived in plenty of time in Whittier and boarded the ship.Day 3 (At sea/Hubbard glacier).Had a relaxing morning, since we didn't arrive at the glacier until mid afternoon. Hubbard glacier is absolutely stunning. Glacier Bay National Park the next day was gorgeous, but if you could only pick one I'd pick Hubbard, because the glacier itself is massive and gorgeous. I'm not sure how close we got, but I certainly didn't feel like we didn't get close enough. It was beautiful and we did see some calving. There was plenty of time for everyone to view the glacier and get all the photos they wanted, as the captain slowly spun the ship. It definitely gets much colder on deck when you're near the glacier - was very glad I brought ear warmers and gloves!Day 4 (Glacier Bay National Park).Beautiful scenery, all day long. When we got close to the glaciers we spent a lot of time up on deck. Otherwise if it's cold and rainy (like it was much of the morning for us) a good place to be was actually a window seat in the buffet - get there very early for lunch and you can spend an hour or two watching the gorgeous scenery while you slowly munch your way through lunch. Disappointingly none of us were impressed with the park rangers we had on board or the talk they gave in the morning - the talk seemed more designed to sell us on the idea that conservation is important, rather than talking in specifics about the National Park, it's history, features, wildlife, etc.Day 5 (Skagway).We docked at the Railroad dock, so they had cleaned it up enough after the rockslide, thankfully. All four of us did the bus tour into the Yukon with Chilkoot Charters, and we would all highly recommend the company. Our guide and driver, Mike, was excellent. They met us close to the cruise ship, then we got on the small bus and drove down the one main street in Skagway, with Mike pointing out a few things along the way, before we headed out of town. This was probably the worst day weather wise (anywhere from drizzling to raining hard and cold), so it was a good day to be on a bus tour. We made numerous very scenic stops on the way up the pass. Getting into Canada was a breeze, no one wanted our arriveCAN, the customs officer just walked up and down the aisle of the bus while we held our passports up by our faces. It took about 30 seconds. Then we arrived at Caribou Crossing. Lunch was solid (my vegetarian option was lentils over rice, which was quite good), the donuts were excellent! The exhibits there were good, I could have used more time (I'm one of those people who like to read everything). The husky puppies were cute, but unfortunately they were all curled up together napping so not very exciting. On the way back we stopped at Carcross by their little general store and had some excellent ice cream, and we also stopped by Emerald lake for some photos. Then they dropped us back in downtown Skagway, and we had some time to wander there (they would also have taken us back to the ship, if we'd wanted). I enjoyed the wander in Skagway, could even have spent a little more time there before we needed to get back. On a side note, our guide told us they only get fresh fruit/vegetables one day a week in Skagway (and even then, it's been on a boat for a few days, no that that fresh), and they're very expensive. I gave him the banana I had brought from the ship's buffet that morning, in case I didn't like the lunch, and he was thrilled! So you may want to nab an apple/orange/etc from the buffet in the morning to give to your guide, if you're going on a tour.Day 6 (Juneau).Today we split up, My brother and I did a canoe trip and glacier hike, and mom and aunt went whale watching. We did the canoe trip with Above and Beyond Alaska, and they were great. Our guides (Ben and Cash) were fabulous. They picked us up by the cruise ships, then we went back to their headquarters to get kitted out (rainboots, rain jacket/pants, and dry bags for our bags). They we drove out in a small bus and parked close to Mendenhall Lake. It was about a 5-10 minute scenic walk to the canoe site, and then we got a briefing on launching and paddling the canoe (one big canoe, with I think 11 of us tourists and the 2 guides). Paddling out on the lake was amazing, so serene and quiet, and the scenery was gorgeous. First we paddled across the lake to get close to Nugget Falls, and then paddled up to a beach not too far from the glacier. It's sad to hear how much Mendenhall glacier is receding. Because of this we couldn't do any hiking on the glacier itself, or right up to its face, but we got fairly close and again the views were stunning. After an hour or two hiking around the area and having some snacks (provided by the company, they were good) we then got back in the canoes to paddle back. It was I think 5-6 miles of canoeing across the lake, so you need to be semi fit. Then we bused back to headquarters, changed out of our gear, and they dropped us downtown so we had some time to wander again before heading back to the cruise ship. I found some delicious huckleberry ice cream in the town.Day 7 (Ketchikan).We split up again today, with my aunt and I doing a floatplane excursion, and my brother and mother doing a rainforest walk. Since our plane was later in the day my aunt and I started with a wander in Ketchikan. We went to the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center downtown, and enjoyed a walk through there and a very good film about salmon. Then we had a wander down Creek Streek, and stopped in a diner for lunch (Pioneer Cafe, we hoped it would be good since it seemed to have lots of locals in it, but food was just okay). Then it was off to meet our bus for a quick transfer to the plane! We did our floatplane excursion with Island Wings, and they were excellent. Our pilot was Adam/Wiley. His commentary was great and I felt completely safe with him at the controls. This was my first time in a floatplane, it was amazing and flying over the Misty Fjords National Monument was beautiful. Then we landed on a lake and pulled up to a tiny island, where we got out for 20 mins or so and took more pictures. Again, very serene and completely stunning. Then the flight back, and they dropped us back by the ship since it was getting fairly close to all aboard time.Day 8 (At sea).Not too much to say here, it was a nice relaxing day after three days of ports. Scenery isn't as stunning as it is further north, with all the coastal mountains.Day 9 (Vancouver).Docked in Vancouver. Getting off the ship and into Vancouver was very smooth (no one even looked at passports?). The line for taxis looked long but was extremely organized and moved quite well. We got a taxi to our hotel (Blue Horizon) and of course were too early to check in, but they kept our bags. We then took a taxi to Granville Island. We began by doing a sightseeing cruise on the False Creek Ferries (no need to book in advance, just walk down to the dock), which was a relaxing way to get a look at Vancouver. We were back at Granville Island 40 minutes later and ready for lunch, so we headed into Granville Public Market. I'm pretty sure I could spend days in this place alone quite happily, all the food looked absolutely delicious. Tons of little stands of food to eat right away, or things to take home for later (nuts, chocolate, tea, fresh fruits/veg, etc). I'd kill to have this in my hometown! I got some lentil and bean salads as well as some pierogies for lunch, along with a freshly brewed ice tea. I also picked up some croissants for later. Also, Lee's donuts are fabulous! (the line does move quickly). After that we wandered through many of the shops, before getting a taxi back to the hotel. We then chilled for a little while. We had a tour booked for that evening (Lost Souls of Gastown walking tour, with Forbidden Vancouver). My brother and I went down to Gastown first and had a little wander. Water St is picturesque, but if you wander even a block or two off it you get into areas with a lot of homeless people, one street had dozens of tents. Then we went back and met mother and aunt at Steamworks Brewpub for dinner (would definitely recommend, all food and drinks were good and the fries with parmesan, garlic, and truffle oil were amazing!). After that the walking tour departed right across the street from the brewery. The tour was interesting, talked about Gastown/Vancouver shortly after its founding, and about the great fire. The tour was not scary. Unfortunately my aunt had to bow out quite early as she discovered the walking was a bit too much for her.Day 10 (Vancouver).Started the day getting up early, and my brother and I did a tour of Stanley Park on bikes with Cycle City Tours. Our guide was Mark and he was great. It was a very easy bike ride, a few minutes through the city (all on dedicated bike lanes) to get to the park, then around the seawall and through the park. The scenery was beautiful, we made lots of stops to talk and Mark was a very interesting guide. Also stopped for a few minutes to see the totem poles, and we biked out through the rainforest to Beaver Lake. Then it was back to the shop to drop off the bikes and back to the hotel. Then the four of us took a taxi to Cardero's for lunch. That was a recommendation from Mark and it was spot on. It was right on the waterfront and all the food and drinks were absolutely delicious. After that we went back to Stanley Park because mother and aunt hadn't been there yet and wanted to see it. Unfortunately they hadn't really made any plans as to how they wanted to see it or what they really wanted to see (and it's a 1000 acre park, so kind of hard to just wing it). We ended up deciding to go to the aquarium there, which turned out to be great. Arrived in time to see them feeding the sea otters, which was of course adorable, and all the exhibits were good. Then we went back to the hotel and organized a bit before going out to dinner (Earl's Kitchen & Bar, it was good but the other two places in Vancouver were better), then had a relatively early night because we were leaving at 5:30am the next day for our flight home!
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In case anyone else cares it looks like port time is changing. Just got this email back from our seaplane tour company:
”We did confirm with multiple companies that have tours sold on the ship that they received word that your ship had changed its port times at 9am arrival and a 4pm departure (3:30pm all aboard)”
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We leave on Saturday. We're sailing Whittier to Vancouver, I'm guessing maybe you're going the other direction?
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Is anyone else hearing this? We were scheduled to do a Duck tour in Ketchikan, and got an email today from them saying that Princess had contacted them and advised the ship was now going to be in port from 9-3:30, rather than 10-6 as scheduled. Currently on Princess website it's showing as 10-6, and when one of our party called and spoke with someone at Princess they said they had not heard of any changes. I certainly hope not, as that would probably mess with our seaplane tour?
Also, if the ship's schedule says in port from 9-3:30, what time normally is all aboard? Is it the 3:30 time, or something like half an hour or an hour before?
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I haven't been to Alaska yet, but I'm planning a trip for this coming summer and it sounds like we have similar interests (I'm active and mid 30's), so here's what I've found so far. For Skagway going to do the railway/van back with Chilkoot charters. In Juneau I'm looking at canoeing and glacier hiking (https://beyondak.com/trips/glacier-canoe-paddle-trek/), with fingers crossed that conditions on the glacier cooperate. In Ketchikan I'm looking at a floatplane, or possibly a bike and hike tour I found (https://www.ketchikankayakco.com/activities/e-bike-hike/) - not sure I'd have time for both.
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I recently returned from a Columbia river cruise on the Pride, and thought I'd write a detailed report for those who might be interested. I'll start with a big overview, then do more details by port. First off, I'm not your typical river cruise passenger (I'm in my mid 30's). The trip was with my brother (early 30's) and mother (mid 60's). The three of us shared a cabin (cabin 113), which actually worked fairly well, and was much more cost effective than having one person in a single. Three twin beds fit fairly well into that cabin (I understand it's slightly bigger than some of the others on that floor). The first floor doesn't have balconies, so that allows more room for beds, and we didn't miss the balcony at all (we'd never done a river cruise before, usually on ocean cruises we do a balcony). There were always plenty of chairs available up on deck when I wanted to sit outside with my book.
The food was very good. I'm a vegetarian so that was a bit more of a challenge on a smaller ship. They were able to accommodate me, but often times dinner was whatever the side dishes were for the main dishes on the menu (which most nights was fine, I had some nice risottos and veggies, and I certainly didn't go hungry!). Overall the wait staff was very good, despite being short staffed, but they all worked very hard. We all enjoyed the open seating and meeting different people almost every meal, it made for interesting meals and made the ship seem very friendly as you kept seeing people you'd already met.
The entertainment was okay. We obviously weren't expecting fabulous shows, but the musicians ranged from good to mediocre at best. After the evening show ends at about 9:30 there's not really anything to do. I'm a morning person so that was fine with me, but my mother and brother are night owls so they were a little bored at night. The gentleman (David Miller) who did the educational talks on Lewis and Clark, the Columbia river, etc was fabulous - I'd say his talks were better attended than the nightly entertainment.
Excursions were well organized, and it was very easy to add or cancel them (I made a last minute change one evening and the excursion director was very helpful). The Pride has three buses for excursions/around town shuttles that follows the ship from port to port, so you had the same three bus drivers in each port. The three drivers (Joni, Mike, and Deidre) were all fabulous, they didn't just drive from point to point but gave lots of information about each of the stops, which very much enhanced the excursions.
I thought the ship did a good job with COVID-19. Every single passenger we talked to was vaccinated. Mask wearing was required except when eating or drinking (so sitting down to meals, or when drinking/snacking in the lounges), and that was generally very well adhered to by the passengers. Sometimes people wouldn't have their mask on all the time when on deck (I admit, myself included), but if you're outside and socially distanced I don't see that as a problem. Crew was overall good about wearing masks, but I don't know what the vaccine requirements were for them.
Generally I thought the ship itself was good, though I wish there was a deck were you could walk a complete circuit around the ship for some extra activity. There was a TINY exercise room, which I don't think a single person used. There was a washer and dryer on the ship with complementary use, which was nice, though I didn't use it.
Overall all three of us enjoyed the trip, and I think all three of us would do a river cruise again. However, I don't think my brother and I would rush to do another one - not because we didn't enjoy it, but because vacation time and money are limited, and I think we'd prefer more active vacations at our stage of life.
Now for more day to day/port details. We did the west to east itinerary, so started in Portland and ended in Clarkston. We ended up staying an additional two nights in Spokane after the cruise, and actually stayed at the hotel the cruise line uses for the pre trip hotel stay when you go east to west (the Historic Davenport, in Spokane). There is a VAST difference between the Davenport hotel in Spokane, and the Red Lion you stay at pre cruise in Portland. The Davenport is a gorgeously restored historic hotel right in downtown Spokane, easily walkable to restaurants/stores/Riverfront park. I would stay there again if I visited Spokane. The Red Lion Jantzen beach that the cruise uses in Portland is acceptable, but it's nothing special, and the only thing it is conveniently located near is the cruise ship dock. It's about a 20 minute uber ride to downtown Portland. There is a shopping center with a Target and some other stores not too far from the Red Lion (I actually visited it, and bought a two sweaters for the trip, since I didn't pack enough cool weather clothes!), about a 5-10 min walk. The walk is easy but there is a pedestrian underpass below the highway to get to it, and I think after dark it would be a rather sketchy walk though there.
So we arrived in Portland the day before the cruise departed, and took a taxi from the airport to the Red Lion to check in. After that we got an uber and went to Washington Park in Portland, and spent probably 2-3 hours viewing the Rose garden (free) and Japanese garden (paid, with timed entrance slots). All that was excellent. Then we took another uber to a brewery for dinner, and then another uber back to the hotel.
Breakfast the next morning at the Red Lion was fine. We got our rapid COVID-19 swabs done, and then boarded the ship. FYI, they wanted your large luggage ready to go by 8am if you wanted them to take it aboard the ship (otherwise you could drag it on yourself, it wasn't far at all). Lunch was good, then the afternoon was cruising up to Astoria, with some lovely scenery along the way. We docked late that night in Astoria.
The next day we were in Astoria. Since we docked the night before you could get off the ship very early, which I took advantage of. I had brought my running clothes with me, and I got off the ship at 6am and went for an 8 mile run. There is a paved path right along the riverfront that goes for miles (my entire run was on that), and at sunrise with fog over the river it was gorgeous. I got back in time for a quick shower and breakfast, and then we headed off to the Fort Clatsop excursion. The fort (though it's not the original) and museum were interesting, and I think they spent an appropriate amount of time there - enough to see everything, but not too long. We got back to the ship about 11am, so we decided to go straight into the Columbia maritime museum, which is literally right where the ship is docked. Admission is included with the cruise and the museum was excellent, I think maybe the most interesting museum of any we went to on the trip. After that we had lunch on the ship, then it was back aboard the tour buses to go to Cape Disappointment. The views from there were beautiful, and we saw a bald eagle in a tree nearby. The exhibit was good as well. Then back to the ship for dinner after a very full day of exploring.
The following day we "docked" in Kalama. I say "docked" because the ship doesn't actually dock, it literally just beaches the bow of the ship on a small beach there, and the gangway goes off the front of the ship on to the sand. There is a riverfront pathway there as well but it only goes about a mile. I went for another walk there when we got in around 8:30am. We then had a leisurely morning since the only excursion that day was the drive to Mt St Helens, which left after lunch. There was really nothing of interest to see in the port. The drive to Mt St Helens is long (and on windy/hilly roads, FYI, if you're prone to motion sickness), and I didn't think we had enough time there. There was certainly enough time to walk around, take pics and stop in the gift shop, but there were also some trails where it looked like you could have gone on a much longer walk, and there were multiple other people I talked to who wished we had time for that. I did suggest to ACL that they should have one bus that left the ship earlier (all three buses went, since it was the only excursion of the day) for those who are more active and wanted additional time to do some hiking. Hopefully they take that into consideration. We lucked out on weather (actually the whole trip) because we had perfectly clear views of Mt St Helens. The bus drivers also played a very good informational video on the eruption on the bus ride there.
The next day we docked in Stevenson. We went to Multnomah Falls in the morning, which is a beautiful waterfall. If you want there is a path to hike up to the top of the falls, which my brother and I did (I'd say about a half dozen others from the cruise did as well). It's a little over a mile hike to the top, with an elevation gain of nearly 800 feet (wear your sneakers). It took us 33 minutes to get to the top (moving at a steady pace, but not hurrying), and actually a little longer going down since we stopped for pics on the way down. The falls view isn't any better from the top, but what is beautiful is the fabulous vista looking out over the Columbia river. Then when we got back to the bottom we browsed the gift shop (which is enormous!). I felt for us we spent the right amount of time at the falls, but if you just wanted to walk to the bottom of the falls and look up you probably felt like we were there too long. In the afternoon they had a hop on/off bus around Stevenson. The first stop was the Bonneville dam. If you have seen dams and fish ladders before, this probably is not interesting (but the center has some fabulous orange shag carpet from the 70's!). If you haven't it's worth a stop, but you won't need to spend much time - you can catch the next bus. The next stop is the Columbia Gorge INTERPRETIVE Center (note: different from the Columbia Gorge DISCOVERY Center you'll go to the next day). For me, this was not that interesting, and I could have skipped it. I do love a good museum, but this seemed like a rather eclectic conglomeration of exhibits that just didn't speak to me. If I remember correctly (I'm already forgetting!) the last stop was in Stevenson, and you could easily walk back to the ship from there if you wanted (or take the bus all the way back).
The following day we were in The Dalles. There was a hop on/off bus going around both in the morning and afternoon. In the morning there was also an excursion to the Maryhill Museum of Art (we didn't do that) and in the afternoon there was an excursion to the Maryhill winery (we did that). We did the shuttle bus in the morning, and stopped at the Columbia Gorge DISCOVERY Center. That was interesting, the exhibits were good, and we actually didn't have enough time there. We caught their raptor presentation which was very good (they have it twice a day), that day they brought out a red tailed hawk to talk about. I found out later that there is actually a paved path that starts along the river, goes right past where you are docked, and leads up to the Discovery Center. It's about a 5 mile walk from the dock to the Center (slight uphill), if I'd known about it I'd have gotten off as soon as we docked and walked to the Center. I forget what the second stop on the shuttle was, but we didn't have time for it in order to get back in time for lunch and our winery tour. The final stop again was in downtown, and again was an easy walk back to the ship from there if you wanted to. Or of course, you could just get off the ship and wander around downtown. The winery excursion in the afternoon was good, there was a little talk on the process of making the wine first, and then of course there was tasting.
The following day we docked in Richland. Those doing the Pendleton excursion actually went off the boat earlier (we docked briefly just to let them off, then continued underway), and we docked midday. I went to the REACH museum, which I thought was excellent. It had two main exhibits, the first about the formation of the area (geologically speaking) as well as the flora/fauna of the area. The second was about the Manhattan Project and the plutonium enrichment that went on in Hanford, which I knew nothing about so I found that quite interesting. Again the ship was docked so that you could easily walk right into town, and there was also a riverfront walk (not sure how far it went, I didn't have that long after the excursion to walk before I had to get back to the boat).
The next day we were in Clarkston. We did the Hells Canyon jetboat excursion (the "long" one). You don't need to worry about getting wet, or thrown around much (just a little bit of bumpiness when we went through some small rapids). It does get a little cool when the boat gets going 30-35 mph. You stop for lunch along the river, which was very good. I wish I'd known in advance that you stop for 90 minutes at the lunch spot, and there is a little beach there. If you wanted to (and were dressed appropriately) you could even have gone for a little swim in the river. But none of us were in bathing suits or had towels or changes of clothes, so we had to content with just a little wading. Then of course we were docked in Clarkston overnight, and off the ship there the next morning. I didn't see that much to do where we docked, though there was a large Walmart close by if that's important to you. We took the free shuttle to Lewiston airport, and rented a car from there to drive to Spokane. The drive to Spokane was easy. Make sure you rent a car in advance if you're planning on doing that, it is a tiny airport with not a lot of rental cars on site.
If anyone actually made it this far, thanks for reading! I hope this was helpful, and if anyone has other questions I can try to answer them.
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This might not be something to see, but to me, it's something to do. I had the best gelato there in town (civi that is)! The main street you come to at the top of the port, the street you'd walk down if you wanted to get to the train, there's a Mc Donalds....to the right of that mcdonalds there's this small Gelato place. OMG. It was the best gelato I've ever had, and I made sure to sample it as often as I could last year and the year before :-) I'd highly suggest stopping there on your way to or from sightseeing. You won't be disappointed! I hope to return to that port just for that LOL
Thanks!!! We both love gelato, we'll have to find some way to work that in :D
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Thanks for the link to the old thread Eileen, it's very helpful!
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Thanks for the suggestions so far, I'll have to start reading up on them. We'd like to DIY in this port so hopefully we can find something that doesn't require private transport or a guide.
If anyone has more ideas, keep them coming! I know almost everyone flocks to Rome from this port so it may be hard to find other ideas.
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I just found these forums and so far everything I've read has been very helpful. I tried to search for this but didn't have any luck.
What to do for a port day in Civitavecchia if we don't want to go to Rome? Is there anything else to do, or other places nearby to go see? Both my friend and myself have been to Rome multiple times before so we'd rather not make the trek in to the city with thousands of other cruisers if there are other places to explore.
We're sailing on RCCL in early June if that makes any difference. We'll be in port from 7 to 7, so plenty of time. Thanks!
Trip report: Majestic Princess Whittier to Vancouver July 9-16th (LONG!)
in Princess Cruises
Posted
Yes, children were allowed in the actual conservatory area, but I never had problem with loud/rowdy kids there.
Very slow and connection spotty.
The onboard naturalist was very good, I enjoyed his talks more than many of the nighttime shows.
I didn't know that about bringing food off the ship, thanks for the note. I did make a note in the app that I was vegetarian, but no wait staff ever brought that up to me. And I'm not a super strict vegetarian (I'll eat onion soup with a beef base, caesar dressing, etc, just not a piece of meat/fish) so I try not to make too much fuss.