Late Season Emerald Princess Alaska Trip Report (1st time Princess Cruisers)

The following is a brief overview of our recent 7 day RT to Alaska on the Emerald Princess from Seattle. 9-2-18 - 9/9/18

Pre-Cruise

This trip was booked sort of last minute in late July.

We arrived a day early in Seattle. Stayed at the Residence Inn on Terry St. in town. 41 dollar Uber fare from SeaTac. The hotel was nice and clean, with a good breakfast the next day. We could walk (about 15-20 minutes) to Pike Market and other local attractions. The Market was packed when we arrived around lunchtime. We toured the Market, got something to eat and then took a ferry to Bainbridge to see the Seattle skyline from the water.Tickets were under 9 dollars each – for a round trip. It was a nice way to relax and take in the views after a long travel day.

Embarkation

We arrived at Pier 91 (20 dollar cab ride w/tip) around11:45. We were on the ship in about 20 minutes. Very smooth and easy.

The Ship

This was our first time on a Princess Cruise (8th cruise overall) and our first trip to Alaska. I must say service from the crew was always good and often outstanding. Many smiles, happy greetings and a desire to make the trip enjoyable. The ship seemed in good condition with no obvious issues.

Ports.

The weather for this cruise was amazing. Sunny and 60’s to 70’s for nearly the entire trip. There was some fog heading to our last stop along with a brief shower. Other than that the weather was great.

Ketchikan –

We walked around town in the morning. Went to Creek Street and watched several salmon being chased by a seal. We bought a few souvenirs and then met Island Wings for a Misty Fjord float plane trip. What a great excursion. We flew into the Misty Fjord National Monument area and landed on a pristine lake. We walked around for about 20 minutes or so, took pictures and then took off and returned to the ship. Beautiful scenery, pilot was friendly and informative. Definitely consider Island Wings if you are contemplating a float plane trip in Ketchikan.

Tracey Arm-

Tracey Arm was blocked by ice so we took the Endicott Route instead. While not Tracey Arm, it was a scenic journey to eventually see the Dawes Glacier in the distance. There were several smaller vessels there as well. Saw several deep blue large chunks of ice and some very nice waterfalls and other scenery from our balcony.

Juneau –

In Juneau we booked Coastal Helicopters for a helicopter trip to the Herbert Glacier. Another terrific experience. We took off after a brief van ride to the Juneau airport. Walking on the glacier was amazing. We had special boots that gripped the ice. What a different perspective seeing the hills and deep crevices on the glacier. It looks so much different up close then from afar. Drank some glacier water and took a lot of pictures. Again, highly recommend this experience as well. After that we returned to town and went to the Red Dog Saloon for a couple of drinks.

Skagway –

In Skagway we had scheduled a bike tour “The Summit to the Sea”. About seven of us were driven up a mountain to near the Canadian border in the Yukon and we biked approximately 15 miles (mostly downhill) back to Skagway. It was a little hairy at times riding hard on the disc brakes as we came down the mountain. We stopped several times at waterfalls and other scenic overlooks to take pictures and hear stories about the surrounding area. Scenery was very nice and the experience of riding the bike down the mountain was fun. Sockeye Bikes in Skagway provided the tour. Our guide was very informative and made sure everyone was comfortable and got back safely. After that we hiked on our own up the Lower Dewey Lake trail located near the cruise terminal. It’s a rigorous ascent for about a mile then it levels off. There are several options for longer hikes but we stopped and returned after we arrived at the lower lake.

Victoria BC-

As we approached Victoria the surrounding waters were filled with whales. We saw at least 12 from our balcony in the early afternoon. We got off the ship around 7:15pm and discovered you either had to pay 13 dollars each for a shuttle or walk about 20-30 minutes to get to the downtown area. We chose to walk. This is the first port I’ve ever been to where there was not either a free or an inexpensive shuttle to town. After walking through a neighborhood we arrived in town. The town is very nice. Flowers everywhere, pretty architecture, a variety of stores. Wished we had longer, we arrived as it was getting dark. Purchased a few more souvenirs. If you pay in US dollars you get Canadian money back for change. We used a credit card to avoid that.

Misc-

Food – Overall the food was good to excellent with only a few misses. For us, the food in the dining room was better than the buffet. The flow of the buffet was hard to navigate at times with strange combinations next to each other. For example a dessert next to a soup. That being said, you could always find something and you won’t go hungry. The Main Dining room food ranged from ok to very good. We had any time dining so we had a different serving team each night. Service ranged from professional and efficient to truly outstanding on a couple of nights. The biggest miss was the coffee. It just tasted really bad throughout the trip.

Internet – Signed up for the Princess@Sea Surf package to check emails etc. Found it to be a little slow but usually worked as expected for being on a ship. Did not work when surrounded by mountains. Overall the service was adequate. The Princess@Sea app worked well to check ship events and your onboard accounts. The app is free to download and use throughout the trip.

Entertainment – We enjoyed the Irish band in the WheelhouseBar. We also liked listening to a duo of violin players who played a widerange of music in the Piazza. We tried to attend a show or two but the theater was packed so we explored other options.

Port Valet Disembarkation –

We used the Port Valet service offered by the Port of Seattle. What a great service. The Port Valet application was received Monday night and needed to be returned by mid morning on Tuesday. Our boarding passes and luggage tags were delivered on Friday night. Our luggage was put out Saturday night and we never saw it again until we picked it up at our home airport. Wish every port had this service. Walked off the ship at 7:45. Got a cab (40 dollars fixed rate) to SeaTac and easily made our 11:50 flight with plenty of time to spare. We did have TSA-Pre Check. The regular security lines were very busy. We were at our gate by 9:20.

Overall, we enjoyed our first Princess Cruise. The other passengers were friendly and the vibe was laid back. We especially liked Alaska. We did splurge on our “flightseeing” excursions and did have a balcony. Seeing whales and other wildlife along with experiencing the beautiful scenery was well worth it. We also lucked out with great weather. We had brought rain gear but happily never needed it. We look forward to sailing with Princess again in the future.

So glad you had a great cruise. Thanks for your review!

Great review. Thanks for sharing!