Alaska-Golden Princess Review (7/31-8/7)- LONG and DETAILED!!!!

[Paradisefound619]

Background: This vacation was my husband, my mom and myself. My husband and I are in our early 30's and my mom is in her early 60's. My husband and I have cruised once before in the Caribbean on a different cruise line. My mom has never cruised before and was a bit apprehensive of traveling since she hadn’t been on a plane for 10 years. We had any-time dining and two balcony rooms on the Baja deck, towards the back of the ship.

 

Pictures from this cruise: http://alaskancruiseaugust2010.shutterfly.com/

Click on the title Alaskan Cruise- August 2010 under "Recent Activity" to view all pictures.

 

Day 1: Seattle- We began our trip on Friday, July 30th by flying from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Seattle. When we arrived in Seattle a friend picked us up from the airport and took us on a tour around town. We visited the Public Market and the Seattle Space Needle. It was a gorgeous day in Seattle, not a cloud in the sky….so the views from the Space Needle were amazing!!!!! We could see the cruise ships in port and got very excited for our departure the following day. In the evening we had dinner at Anthony’s in Kirkland which was delicious. Fresh fish and seafood…can’t beat that! After dinner, our friend drove us back toward the airport where we stayed at the Quality Inn Sea- Tac. This hotel was okay….nothing fancy by far but it was cheap and just what we needed for a one night stay. They did have a decent breakfast in the morning and free internet in the lobby so I could check my e-mail and Facebook one more time before the cruise:)

 

Day 2: Embarkation and Sail Away- We left the hotel via taxi around 11:00 on Saturday morning and headed to Pier 91. We arrived around 11:45 and were able to check in right away. Embarkation was SOOOOO easy. We didn’t have to wait in any lines and were on the ship by 12:15! We dropped off our carry-on luggage in our staterooms, checked out our balconies very quickly and then went to lunch in the Donatello dining room. Lunch was yummy and fun! We were able to look out at the pier and see everyone boarding the ship. I was so happy we had come early and gone into the dining room to eat. Only about 3 other couples/families were eating in the dining room at the same time, nice and quiet and no crowds. We were also able to get our soda tumbler and sticker here. Very convenient!

 

After lunch we toured the ship a bit and signed up for our special dinner at Sabatini’s. Then we decided it would be a good idea to go back to our rooms and check them out more and lucky us…our luggage was there! So, we unpacked and got ready for the muster drill and sail away. The muster drill was quick and comfortable (unlike the other cruise I have been on). After we put our life jackets away it was up to the Sun Deck for sail away. We had great views of Seattle and also had the yummy sail away drink :) We signed up for any time dining which worked really well for us and after sail away headed to dinner in the Donatello dining room. We had another delicious meal and enjoyed the views. Beginning at 8:00 each night the ship offered some great drink specials. We enjoyed a drink each in the Wheelhouse Bar, went to the Welcome Aboard Show in the Princess Theater and then did some more exploring of the ship as the sun set. My husband and I also got a cheeseburger and hotdog at the Trident Grill on the Lido deck. Very good food!!!!!

 

Day 3: Day at Sea- After a great nights’ sleep we had breakfast in the dining room….only way to go! It’s very good. I enjoyed the smoked salmon and bagel every day. My mom was amazed at the variety of breakfast choices. We then all walked around the ship together and tried to figure out where things where. The ship is easy to maneuver and very well laid out. We thought that for all the people on board it never felt crowded. There was always a quick place to relax. We then had the pub lunch at the Crown Grill. This was only offered twice on our cruise and was delicious. Do not miss it!!!!!! Mom and I were not super hungry so we split the fish and chips. My husband had the bangers and mash and loved it! The scenery was pretty neat already although it was a bit foggy so we were not able to see too far. We sat out on our balconies for a while and then it was time for dinner. It was Captain’s dinner and Champaign party so we enjoyed dinner at 6:00, then viewed the pouring of the Champaign and then went back into the dining room for dessert. Such a great benefit of any-time dining!!!!! After dessert we went to the Cinematastic show in the Princess Theater. My mom and husband really enjoyed this. I am not too into production shows but it was good. Then my husband and I watched The Marriage Game Show in the Explorer’s Lounge while my mom went to the casino. Afterwards we changed out of our fancy clothes and headed up to the Lido deck for some yummy pizza at Prego Pizza. So good!!!! So good!!!!

 

Day 4: Juneau- We were up early today! It helped that we left our balcony curtain open so we could have the sun wake us up. We got out of bed at 5:50 and headed to the bow to look for whales. My husband had been to the naturalist, Michael Modzelewski, presentation the day before and got a heads up that it would be possible to view whales the morning of the Juneau arrival between 6-8 am. So we thought we would check it out. Beautiful scenery from the bow but very windy. We then headed back to our balcony and sat out to watch the sights. The naturalist was on the bridge and did spot some whales. He would announce what side the whales were located and we could hear his announcements outside on our balcony…..but not inside in the cabins as to disturb those that are still sleeping. Nice touch by Princess!!!! We were on the starboard side and plenty of whales came our way. Even though they were in the distance they were still awesome to see. Some did come quite close and I was able to get a few tail shots from our balcony. Way cool!!!!!

 

Before docking in Juneau we ate breakfast in the dining room, bagel and smoked salmon for me…..so yummy! Then we participated in TV Theme show trivia. This was so much fun but a longer trivia game since you listened to a few seconds of the 25 TV show theme songs. We were pulling into Juneau at this time and I was anxious to get a good look outside but I was also too into the trivia to leave. We didn’t win….came close though.

 

Juneau Excursion- We did whale watching with Orca Enterprises. This was an AWESOME excursion and I would recommend it to everyone! Orca was easy to get to from the pier, just a short walk, and once we checked in there was still some time for shopping before boarding the shuttle. After about a 15 minute shuttle ride we arrived in Auke Bay to load the whale watching boat. Very nice, enclosed area for those chilly or rainy days (our weather was sunny and in the 60’s) and there is a bathroom on board if needed. The boat is handicapped accessible and had a range of all ages of people. There is also an outside viewing area and a top viewing area, which is only accessible when the boat is in a slow cruising mode. Within minutes we were to a view area and were seeing humpback whales. All I can say was that this was amazing and something I will never see again. We observed about 8 humpback whales “bubble netting” to get food. It was quite the sight! Our guide, Terry, kept telling us how rare it was to see whales bubble netting and how lucky we were. The whales went thought this process about 5 times. Everyone was able to get up top and have a full 360 view. It was breathtaking!!!!! Captain Larry moved us around to a few other sites where we saw some seals, sea lions, and a few more lone whales.

 

When we returned to Juneau we really wanted to see the Mendenhall Glacier. We opted not to do this through Orca Enterprises, although you could add it to your tour for an additional $18 (I think?). Instead, we stopped at a street vendor stand (Juneau Tours) and paid $7 to ride in a school bus to the glacier. We arrived at the glacier around 5:40 pm. The last bus was to arrive to take us back down at 6:00. So, it was a short trip. We saw the salmon stream first and a small black bear eating some salmon on the banks of the stream….very cool. Then we hoofed it up to the glacier, snapped some quick pictures and got in line for the 6:00 bus back to town. Once we arrived in town we were spent. We had planned to shop and fine something fun to eat in Juneau but we could hardly make it to the docks. We were so tired, hungry and in need of a bathroom. So, we decided to skip the rest of Juneau (it was already 7:00 anyway…ship left at 10:00) and went back on the ship to eat in the dining room. After dinner my husband and I went to the Lido deck for some hot tube time while my mom enjoyed watching the ship leave Juneau with her ice cream cone :)

 

Day 5: Skagway- When we woke up this morning we were already docked in Skagway. The view from our balcony was BEAUTIFUL! We had breakfast in the dining room and then got off the ship ready for our day of fun! My mom and I spent a few hours shopping in town and found lots of fun deals and souvenirs. My husband did a bit of shopping and then walked around town a bit. He had enough time to kill before our excursion that he want back to the ship to eat lunch. Mom and I opted for some dt. Cokes and chocolate ;)

 

Skagway Excursion- White Pass Railroad! We boarded the train at 12:45 for a 3 hour round trip to White Pass Summit. This was an excursion that my mom had heard about and really wanted to do. She grew up in Montana, road the train back and forth to St. Paul a lot and knew this was something that would interest her. I wasn’t too sure about it, knew it would be fun but thought it might get boring after a while. Boy was I wrong. This trip was AMAZING! The scenery was something I have never seen before. We had a wonderful sunny day, clear and in the upper 60’s…maybe even 70’s. We could see for miles and miles. The ride was comfortable and there was a bathroom aboard. We were also given bottled water and a handle booklet with the history of the railroad and a map of our journey. I enjoyed the 14 mile view back down to Skagway and seeing our Princess ship way in the distance. I also thought it was neat how we crossed into Canada and changed our seats around so we could view the other side going back down the mountains. Great Great trip! This is something everyone should see at least once. However, I do not know if I would go on a foggy day…..we were very lucky with a clear sky.

 

Upon our return to Skagway we ate at the Skagway Brewery and tried some delicious nut brown ale. Yum! My husband headed back to the ship and my mom and I did some more shopping before making our way to the shuttle stop to get taken back to the ship. Oh, I forgot to mention the shuttle…..$5 per person for all day riding. Totally worth it if you have anyone, young or old, that cannot handle a lot of walking. When mom and I got back to the ship we headed to the International Café for a treat and a drink. We had a Beverly Hills Tea…..like a Long Island but very smooth. It went down nicely! Then we joined my husband on our balconies for sail away and some yummy room service hot taco dip. So good!!!! Mom hit the casino again and my husband and I went to the hot tub. We always were able to find a hot tub that was either empty or only with one or two other people by the Neptune Pool and MUTS. So, it was fun to watch the selected movie for a while.

 

Day 6: Scenic Sailing in Tracy Arm Fjord- We woke up around 7:30, got dressed in our warm clothes and headed out to the balconies for some awesome scenery and views of Tracy Arm. We had moved our chairs and table over to my mom’s balcony and that is where we spent most of our day. It was nice to have our balcony open to head over to occasionally to view the sites with a bit more room. Mom treated us to a Champaign breakfast on the balcony, which was awesome! Princess offers a Champaign breakfast for two from room service but since there were 3 of us we made up our own breakfast. We ordered Champaign, coffee, rolls, orange juice and some bananas from room service. Once that arrived my mom and husband went up to the buffet (2 floors directed above) and brought back a variety of eggs, breakfast potatoes, and French toast. It was such a fun and nice breakfast and the scenery was unbelievable. All the while we were cruising Tracy Arm the naturalist, Mike, was telling us about various hanging glaciers, waterfalls, and ice bergs. It was such a wonderful day!!!! Once we got close to the opening of where the ship turns in to view the Sawyer Glacier we had to wait for a few minutes while the Sapphire Princess exited that area. It was super cool to see that ship up close and wave at the passengers. I got some awesome shots of the Sapphire! Soon it was our turn to head into the bay and view the Sawyer Glacier. It was truly remarkable. A bit hard to see and take pictures off because of the haze but wonderful none-the-less. I really couldn’t believe how close we got! Our captain did an amazing job manuvering our ship and giving both sides some time to view the glacier. AWESOME!!!!!

The Alaskan buffet began around 11:30 on the Lido deck, so while we were leaving Tracy Arm my husband went up and got us a place of sushi and fresh crab salad. It was soooooooo good! Once we were out into the sea and sailing at full speed again my mom went out and about on the ship to gamble and shop while my husband and I went on the Lido deck to watch The Frog Princess on the MUTS. The sun was shining and the weather was beautiful. I enjoyed the movie but did fall asleep for a while. It was so relaxing! We also enjoy some more sushi here and view a few whales that were swimming by.

 

It was then my husband’s turn to nap in the room:) While he did that, my mom and I went to Afternoon tea in the Donatello dining room. The tea was delicious and there were many cakes, cookies, sandwiches and breads to choice from to have with the tea. Toward the end of our tea time my mom spotted a whale out the window. We stood up to check it out and another table joined up. The whale did a dive down below and showed its tail. Very cool!

 

Before dinner I had a little bit of time to read on the balcony. It was SO nice that I ended up putting on my shorts and a tank top. No joke! It was awesome :cool: We had dinner in the dining room which was good and then my husband and I bundled up to go watch Avatar at the MUTS. My mom was off to the casino again where she was actually doing well and having fun!

 

Day 7: Ketchikan- What beautiful weather!!!!!! Since we didn’t have an excursions planned I decided to wear a t-shirt and shorts. We ate an early breakfast in the buffet and then headed off the ship for our quick stop in Ketchikan. What a cute town!!!! My husband decided to go off and explore using the walking tour map while my mom and I shopped for a while. We also stopped at Eagle Park and Whale Park. My husband met us in the Whale Park and took us to Creek Street and then to the Salmon Ladder. The salmon were spawning so this was quite a site to see. So amazing and awesome. The salmon were everywhere!!!!! There is a great free shuttle that we rode back down to the pier and then enjoyed lunch at the Crab Cracker Seafood Bar. This was some of the BEST food we ate all cruise. My husband was dying to have some fresh crab and he definitely got it here!!!! I had a crab melt which was also to die for and so yummy! We didn’t have a lot of time here though since we had to be back on the ship by 12:00 so it was a hurried lunch. We enjoyed it very much though!!!!

 

Once back on the ship we went up to the Skywalkers Lounge to watch the ship leave port. This was so neat and the views were incredible. Then it was off to the Lido deck for some soup from the soup bar they had set up. It was very good but spicy!!!! My husband requested extra spicy and it was almost too much for him to handle. The soup bar was a lot of fun though. You were able to put just about anything you wanted in your bowl, pick your broth and then give it to the chef to cook up. He added some other things…including spice and then poured it back into the bowl. Delicious and quick. Hardly anyone was doing this fun event!

 

After soup I went with my mom to gamble some and won $45 on a penny machine. I cashed out…figured I better stop while ahead and then my hubby and I played some trivia in the Wheelhouse Bar. The seas were a little rough so it was neat to check out the waves but we hoped they would calm down for our dinner at Sabatini’s. The seas did calm down after a few hours and our dinner was AMAZING! There were so many courses and everything was so good. You only choose your main course and then get a sample of everything else in the other courses. Great idea and very very fun!!!!! After dinner we watched Sherlock Homes on the MUTS from the hot tub and then changed quickly to take in the comedian, who was actually pretty funny! His name was Steve Moris. Then we found mom in the casino and headed to the party in the .

 

Day 8: Victoria- We started the day off slow. Breakfast late in the buffet with Bloody Mary’s from the Calypso bar. Then mom and I did some shopping and chilling out at the International Café bar area while my husband went to the cooking demo and galley tour. He really enjoyed this and got some awesome pictures for our scrapbook. We played trivia, watched ice carving, learning about sea navigation and listened to the finalist for the Princess Pop Star. Since we were coming up to Victoria we voted for the Princess Pop Star we enjoyed and then went to eat dinner in the dining room. Everyone else were there too since we were to get off the ship at 7:00. Since there was a line (first time the whole cruise for us with any-time dining) we decided to go up to the buffet instead. Right after we got our food and sat down there was an announcement that it was too windy and dangerous to dock in Victoria so we were not going to make it into that port. We were disappointed at first but then excited because this meant one more night on the ship to enjoy our favorites. We each got a drink and then went down to the Explorer’s Lounge for Fast and Furious Trivia. After an awesome game of trivia Mom and I stayed to listen to the band Temperature while my husband went to get a treat at the international café. Later we went up to get one last piece of yummy pizza and then were off to bed. The wind was CRAZY and we had to call for someone to lock our balcony partition which separated our balcony from mom’s because it was blowing back and forth and making so much noise.

 

Day 9: Disembarkation- We had a 9:00 disembarkation time so we got up around 7:15, finished packing anything left for our carry-on’s (checked bags were taken the night before) and then went to breakfast at the buffet. We then went to the Vista Lounge and got off the ship at 9:00  Our checked bags were waiting for us at the Pier in a nice row. We found our bags, stowed our toiletries and then headed outside to get on the Princess shuttle to take us to the airport. The weather was cool and damp so we were happy to be leaving to head home. We were all ready for our own beds and homes at this point. We arrived at the airport and got through security fine, although there was quite the line. Then we found the S terminal and had some lunch. Read for a bit and it was time to board our plane at 1:45. Got home to Minneapolis about 7:30 (time changed sucked!) and then picked up our car at the EZ Park and we were off to home!

 

This was a FABULOUS cruise and vacation. We were so happy to be on this trip with my mom. My dad passed away a year ago so this was something fun that we have been looking forward too. My mom is all about going out and living life and that is what we did!!!!!

 

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments and don’t forget to check out my pictures on shutterfly: http://alaskancruiseaugust2010.shutterfly.com/

[genevieve7000]

wow, great pictures!! I should have gone to bed a while ago but kept looking through all your beautiful pictures!! Glad you loved the Sapphire, we were on her last December on the Mexican Riviera itinerary. This lloks like a great trip!

[nurse@sea]

Fabulous review and fabulous pictures. Looks like you had great weather, even in Ketchican! My daughters and I are gearing up for our trip this september and this review and pics just up the excitement! Thanks for sharing and so glad you guys had a great time. Vickie

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for providing your detailed review.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Coolmama_1]

Great review. Thanks for sharing.

[NRG]

Thank you for the wonderful review, I want to do this cruise next summer. Did you have the better views with a starboard balcony? I want to make the right choice when we book.

[Paradisefound619]

Thank you for the wonderful review, I want to do this cruise next summer. Did you have the better views with a starboard balcony? I want to make the right choice when we book.

 

Our views were excellent with the Starboard balcony but I think they are the same if not better on the Port side??? We were totally happy with what we saw from our balcony and at times would go to the Lido deck or elsewhere to check things out and we always saw similar views on the port side. Especially in Tracy Arm. You will see both sides very well no matter which side you have a balcony because you go in and come out the same way.

 

Glad everyone has enjoyed the review and pictures so far. It definitely takes some time to get it all organized.

[atlanta_living]

Loved, loved, loved your review and pictures!! My husband and I will be on the Golden to Alaska on 6/04/11 and I enjoyed going thru all your pictures. What a beautiful place!

 

I noticed how you guys were bundled up in the early morning & evening and it was the end of July/first of August. Hard to imagine that here in Atlanta where it's normally 100 degrees at that time of year! Wonder how cold it will be the first week of June?

 

Thanks for the great review!

 

Helen