Sea Princess to Alaska 8/20-8/30 -LONG

[PonyPair]

This report is from the prospective of two Californians (myself and my DH) who both still have full time high stress jobs, are traveling alone, are relatively new to cruising (4 total cruises with 3 on Princess) and who are both food and wine snobs.

 

It was wonderful to be able to just drive the 1.5 hours to the port the morning of embarkation. It was very cool to not have to worry about packing too much or how much our bags weighed. We parked in cruise parking across the street from Pier 35 and were able to wheel our bags the block to what looked like quite a mess of passengers disembarking. Though it looked like a zoo, we quickly found a porter to take our bags and plenty of nice folks directing us to waiting areas. We were a bit early arriving at 10:30, so had a few minutes to wait before the check in opened at 11:00. Check in was quick and pleasant and we were walking on the ship by 11:30. I really liked that we did not have a long zig zag ramp to hang out on, but just walked a few steps from the pier to the ship. Very cool.

 

We entered the ship right by the passenger services desk, so stopped and signed up for the UST (since hearing about it here on Cruise Critic). We were the first two on the list, but were told that there would be a lottery if more than 12 people signed up. We found that there was no waiting for the stairs, so hoofed it up to our balcony room C741. Our room door was open showing a cleaned and prepped room. We dropped our carry on bags and were greeted by our very pleasant cabin steward, Rolando. We made a quick call to the dine line and asked for a spot at the Chef's Table (another CC insight). All starting details were handled smoothly with lots of smiles and upbeat greetings from all staff members we met along the way. We Took a quick tour of the ship, which we found to be easy to navigate and attractive. Since we were some of the first passengers on board, the decks were almost deserted, which was kind of fun.

 

Our room was a bit smaller than others we had on the Sapphire and Star, but it was comfortable with ample storage and always kept spotless. The balcony was also small, but very private which we liked. The ship looked to be well maintained and the public areas to be clean and in good order. We tried to start acquiring our treasure hunt stamps, but were so early that not all the stations were manned. Our early breakfast had worn off so we headed to the MDR where were immediately seated at a table for 6. My salmon and my DH's chateaubriand were both truly wonderful, which helped me maintain a pleasant demeanor as the woman across from me pontificated on how to handle those lyingcheatingstealing French, whether they were found in France proper of just Canada. Thanks to the chef who provided me with marvelous melons, succulent salmon and a stupendous souffle, all of which kept me smiling and more importantly kept my mouth shut.

 

We returned to our room to find our requested wine glasses and luggage waiting (including two magnums and 4 bottles of wine). We put a bottle of champagne in the fridge to chill and unpacked. 15 minutes later we were settled in and ready for the muster. After about a half hour of safety instructions we were back in our room and truly free. We shared a glass of champagne and headed to the Lido deck for the sail away party. It was windy and cold, but passing under the Golden Gate bridge with the ships horn blaring was a complete thrill for me, and seemed to be for those around me as well. I snapped pictures, took video and waved wildly to pedestrians on the bridge. It was with a real sense of adventure that we sailed off into the sunset.

 

Having seen the bay turn gold with the sun low on the horizon, and almost feeling I could touch the underpinnings of an iconic bridge, after two great meals and a breakfast that at least I didn't have to cook, with cheerful people serving me while others performed beautiful music I couldn't imagine where the less than great reviews of this ship had originated. Then I met him. At lunch on the first sea day we were seated at a table for 8 and there he was. A retired tour guide and apparently still active curmudgeon, answered my smiling question of "so, how do you like the cruise so far?" with rolling eyes and heavy sighs. It didn't stop there, he started to outline the fall of Princess starting with the hunk of junk were were floating on. He had a complaint for everything, the food, the service, the maintenance, the perks for elite members, the coffee, the rooms, the casino the upsell... I couldn't believe we were on the same ship! I finally understood the complaints about the unhappy staff, if I had to put up with many guys like him, I'd be unhappy too. After that we most often sat at a table for two. :-)

 

Overall our trip was really excellent. We found happy attentive staff who fulfilled our few special requests quickly and nicely. There was quite an array of activities listed in the patter each day, which we mostly did not participate in (we were on the cruise to do a lot of nothing), but really enjoyed the events we did attend. Topping the list was the UST and the Chef's Table, both were really cool and well worth the extra bucks. We were lucky to meet some fellow CC members at the Chef's Table, which was an added perk. We watched karaoke a couple of nights, saw a pretty funny comedian, and watched the chef and maitre-d' do a cooking demo which was a lot of fun. We enjoyed reading in the library, which was a very pretty and quiet place, with comfy chairs.

 

We had excellent wait staff in the MDR and found the food to be very good to quite excellent. We took our own wine and paid the corkage fee. We mostly ate in the MDR but sampled every venue I think. DH liked to grab a burger from time to time and I had room service one afternoon (nice club sandwich and flan). The little cafe Corniche had good margherita pizzas. We attended afternoon tea and thought it was a lot of fun. DH was not thrilled with all the breakfasts, but I enjoyed my daily berries and cream and flaky croissant very much. We bought coffee cards and enjoyed the espresso drinks, though I thought the regular coffee in the MDR to be OK too.

 

Our ports were; Victoria BC, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Tracy Arm. In Victoria we went on our own to the Royal BC Museum (highly recommend) and spent some time walking around town. We tried a little wine tasting, but were unimpressed. We went on a Princess Duck tour in Ketchikan which was just OK as the rain on the Plexiglas made for obscured sight seeing. I saw a very interesting exchange in Ketchikan where a man was apparently asking for a refund for his rainforest excursion - because it was raining. The tour operator was not thrilled and I could tell he'd just about had enough of tourists when I heard him say, "It's just ludicrous to book a trip into a rainforest and expect it not to rain!". In Juneau, we bought Mt Roberts tram passes and at the top did a day hike up the trail. The several hours we spent hiking in the clouds was the highlight of the trip for me. We had not planned any excursions for Skagway, but found the M & M tour office right on the dock and DH booked us a Scenic Cruising and Wildlife Adventure. We walked into town to do a little shopping but with 5 ships in port it was packed and I was feeling a bit cramped to enjoy looking for souvenirs. After our nice Scenic Cruise a couple of ships were getting ready to sail so the shops were much less crowded, and I got to shop in comfort. We did not go into Tracy Arm as there was too much ice at the entrance and Captain Foster had, for safety reasons, decided to go to Endicott Arm as an alternative. We've been up Tracy Arm and felt we were lucky to see a new area. Endicott Arm is not as dynamic as Tracy Arm, lacking the shear cliff walls, but we were able to get much closer to the glacier in Endicott Arm, which we liked better.

 

We loved the several days at sea on the way back to SF and found that the 10 day trip was much more to our liking than the 7 day trip. I think the only thing better might be a 14 day trip, or maybe even 28 days.... Ah, someday when we get to retire.

 

In the beginning of the trip I was annoyed by several very crabby passengers, but by the end of the trip everyone seemed content and I heard many people saying they would like the trip to last another 4 days. I don't know if I just relaxed and became more tolerant, of if the crabby people relaxed and became happy, I think either way is good. We really enjoyed the sea and the Sea and are already looking to book our next trip with Princess.

[RickEk]

Thanks for the great review. Our sentiments exactly. And it is interesting to meet people who, certainly, seem to be sailing on a different ship. :p

[Elequieu]

Thanks so much. I enjoy getting a pre-cruise feel for the ship.

[FishinChris]

Great and Thorough review.

[Woobstr112G]

Great review, Thanks for posting.....:):):)

 

Bob

[willyguy]

What is UST?

[andio2of5]

Thank you for the lovely review. Where did you have your CC meet and greet? At the Seaview Bar area? We leave on the 19th and that's the place that I picked for our group.

Andi

[dazee8]

UST-Ultimate Ships Tour. Visit back areas of the ship like the kitchen, stage, laundry, and the bridge. You get a chef coat and terry robe. Costs $150 per person.

What is UST?

[dtagirl]

Thank you for your post...we have all met the downers of the ships, I just don't let them get to me anymore!

[SweetpeaOne]

Very nice review. Thanks for sharing..

[dfields1814]

Thanks for the review. We will be on the Sea Princess on the 19th..... in about 12 days but who is counting. I was really interested in your comments on cabin size. I am a little concerned about that. I heard the size is quite a bit smaller than say the Grand class ships. And I learned something... it rains in a rain forest. Imagine that. Our cabin will be very close to yours.

[PonyPair]

Thanks for the review. We will be on the Sea Princess on the 19th..... in about 12 days but who is counting. I was really interested in your comments on cabin size. I am a little concerned about that. I heard the size is quite a bit smaller than say the Grand class ships. And I learned something... it rains in a rain forest. Imagine that. Our cabin will be very close to yours.

 

The cabins are a bit smaller and our balcony was quite a bit smaller (by several feet I think), but we were still comfortable in our room. The only thing we did not do, because of the room size, was the Ultimate Balcony Dining. I just didn't think there was enough room on the balcony for a bunch of food trays and us. The other thing that I found different was the metal railing, no Plexiglas. This limited our view somewhat, but on the other hand, offered a nice place to set a glass of wine while reading on the balcony. It is also nice to be able to look straight down into the water, not gaze on another balcony.

 

I hope you have a most excellent cruise!