Alaska on Crown Princess June 2, 2023

[Coral]

Oh man - I wanted to do Peak to Peak when in Whistler. It was shut down for 3 weeks and I was there during the 3 weeks when it wasn't operating!!!

 

I loved your post cruise plans. I would love to do all of those places you went to in Canada.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed your review! Thank you!

[PurpleTraveller]

2 hours ago, Ramblergirl said:

Thank you very much for your detailed reviews. We will be on board soon, and doing similar excursions as you. Therefore I enjoyed even more about your writings and photos. 🤗

 

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a wonderful cruise, great weather and enjoy every moment! Happy Sailing! 🛳️

[PurpleTraveller]

2 hours ago, TM said:

What an amazing trip you had!  Thank you so much for sharing with us.  We will be sailing on the Crown to Alaska toward the end of August and your review has certainly enhanced our excitement for it.

 

We had a wonderful trip and loved everywhere we went. The scenery in Alaska and Canada is spectacular! Hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did and get great weather. Thanks for reading the review. 😊

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by PurpleTraveller

[PurpleTraveller]

2 hours ago, gottagoacruzn said:

That goes for me too.

 

Virginia

 

Thank you for following along and hope you have a great cruise!

[PurpleTraveller]

1 hour ago, SuzieQ521 said:

Thank you for the wonderful review! We sail the Crown in November so your review gave me a good preview.

 

We were just on the Royal in May--No Skywalkers and full Promenade but a wonderful ship nonetheless. The staff and dining room food were great and it also has an Alfredos--amazing pizza and antipasto (included in cruisefare)!

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

We last went on Royal in 2016 we had a great cruise so it is good to hear that you had a good cruise on her in May. I love Alfredo's and that is probably the only thing I missed on Crown.

 

Thank you for reading the review and hope you have a wonderful cruise in November! 🛳️

[PurpleTraveller]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

Oh man - I wanted to do Peak to Peak when in Whistler. It was shut down for 3 weeks and I was there during the 3 weeks when it wasn't operating!!!

 

I loved your post cruise plans. I would love to do all of those places you went to in Canada.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed your review! Thank you!

 

What a shame the Peak to Peak was closed but now you'll have to go back to go on it! We had such a great day in Whistler going on the gondola. The ticket is valid for the entire day so we actually went back and forth five times. The views were fabulous and we even saw a black bear beneath us on the last ride. We also went for a walk while up there and had lunch at the Roundhouse. Luckily we got down just before an electrical storm that closed down all the lifts and gondolas and the people who were still up there had to be rescued by a convoy of trucks!

 

 

 

 

We had an amazing time in Canada and think the spectacular scenery is some of the best we have ever seen, including in the Alps in Europe. We were so lucky with the great weather we had throughout our entire trip.

 

Thanks for reading the review and following along!

 

[AZjohn]

4 hours ago, PurpleTraveller said:

Seattle

 

After visiting friends we then spent a day in Seattle so DH could revisit the Museum of Flight.

 

We stayed at a hotel close to the airport as we had an early flight the next morning. We walked from the hotel to the Tukwila International Boulevard Station which took about 20 minutes. There we caught the 124 bus at 9.47am and it cost USD2.75 each.

 

We got to the Museum of Flight just after opening at 10.05am. Entry cost USD26.00 each. My DH had assured me that we would only be at the museum for two hours or so. More than six hours later.......

 

To be fair the museum had expanded since we were last there in 2004 with a huge new gallery with WW1 and WW2 displays. We were also pleased to see that the planes displayed outside are now under a massive roof to protect them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At 4.30pm we left the museum even though we still hadn't seen everything. DH now has an excuse to go back again! We caught the 4.47pm 124 bus back to Tukwilla International Boulevard Station and walked back to the hotel. It had been a very warm 89°F/30°C day so the 20 minute walk was very hot and sticky.

 

We met a friend and had a great dinner with him at Wally's Chowder House.

 

Boys will be boys and by the looks of it I could spend the entire day at that air museum 😁

[AZjohn]

Thank you very much @PurpleTraveller for your review!

 

You rekindled some of our own memories we had on several Alaska cruises. Our next cruise is on the Crown (for the first time) so I was happy to hear she is still in great condition (excluding the mattresses which is a big issue to me).

 

Cheers,

John

 

[nasa1974]

Thank you for the review and your experience. Took me back to some of the cruises Sue and I took.

 

Thanks again.

 

Marty

[caribill]

4 hours ago, PurpleTraveller said:

Others such as no nightly chocolates, no bars of soap, no individual tubes of body lotion, no blue bag, no note pad, no cruise summary, no flowers on the dining tables and reduced size of the Princess Patter were noticed and missed but not to the detriment of our cruise.

 

Thanks for your great trip report.

 

a) On our two Princess cruises this year on different ships, we asked the cabin stewards for the soap bars and they were able to get them for us.

 

b) You can get a note pad by asking your cabin steward for one or by asking for one at the Guest Services desk.

[PurpleTraveller]

1 hour ago, AZjohn said:

Boys will be boys and by the looks of it I could spend the entire day at that air museum 😁

 

DH worked for an airline for 42 years and loves anything to do with aircraft so this was a day for him and to be honest I enjoyed the museum too, even if I couldn't wait to sit down on the bus. I drag him around to look at gardens wherever we go so it was good that he could enjoy himself. I would like to go back and look at the WW1 and WW2 gallery in more detail as it was very interesting. 

 

1 hour ago, AZjohn said:

Thank you very much @PurpleTraveller for your review!

 

You rekindled some of our own memories we had on several Alaska cruises. Our next cruise is on the Crown (for the first time) so I was happy to hear she is still in great condition (excluding the mattresses which is a big issue to me).

 

Cheers,

John

 

 

Thank you for reading the review. Hopefully you get a decent mattress and have a wonderful cruise!

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by PurpleTraveller

[PurpleTraveller]

56 minutes ago, nasa1974 said:

Thank you for the review and your experience. Took me back to some of the cruises Sue and I took.

 

Thanks again.

 

Marty

 

Thanks for reading the review. Glad that it brought back some memories of your previous cruises. 😊

[PurpleTraveller]

29 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

Thanks for your great trip report.

 

a) On our two Princess cruises this year on different ships, we asked the cabin stewards for the soap bars and they were able to get them for us.

 

b) You can get a note pad by asking your cabin steward for one or by asking for one at the Guest Services desk.

 

Thank you!

 

We asked our steward for a bar of soap but he told us that the ship had run out and would not be getting anymore. We will bring our own bar of soap on our next cruise.

 

We didn't think to ask him for a notepad but will remember to ask if we need one on our next cruise. 

 

I only mentioned those items as examples of small reductions in what Princess provides. Individually they are small but added together it shows that Princess is reducing the small niceties that used to be provided, I assume as cost saving measures.

 

Thanks for reading the review.

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by PurpleTraveller

[CruzeQueen2]

13 hours ago, AZjohn said:

Thank you very much @PurpleTraveller for your review!

 

You rekindled some of our own memories we had on several Alaska cruises. Our next cruise is on the Crown (for the first time) so I was happy to hear she is still in great condition (excluding the mattresses which is a big issue to me).

 

Cheers,

John

 

@AZjohn I am concerned about the mattresses as well. I will soon find out - for myself. My countdown is on. Hoping that I get 'lucky". The trip itself - for 11 days- will be great. 

[PurpleTraveller]

6 hours ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

@AZjohn I am concerned about the mattresses as well. I will soon find out - for myself. My countdown is on. Hoping that I get 'lucky". The trip itself - for 11 days- will be great. 

 

I really hope your mattress is one of the good ones! Even though our mattress was terrible we still had a wonderful cruise and I hope you do too! Happy Sailing! 🛳️

[PurpleTraveller]

Here are the Princess Patters for the first five days.

 

Embarkation - Day 1, June 2

 

 

 

Sea Day - Day 2, June 3

 

 

 

Sitka - Day 3, June 4

 

 

 

Yakutat Bay (Hubbard Glacier) - Day 4, June 5

 

 

 

Skagway - Day 5, June 6

 

 

 

[PurpleTraveller]

And here are the Princess Patters for the rest of the cruise.

 

Juneau - Day 6, June 7

 

 

 

Icy Strait Point - Day 7, June 8

 

 

 

At Sea - Day 8, June 8

 

 

 

Ketchikan - Day 9, June 10

 

 

 

At Sea - Day 10, June 11

 

 

 

Victoria - Day 11, June 12

 

 

 

[PurpleTraveller]

And this is the disembarkation information.

 

 

 

[CruzeQueen2]

@PurpleTraveller Thanks again! Thanks to you, I see a new event that I am going to check out. I have never seen an Alaska salmon /wine tasting event at Sabatini before. I'm going to look for this when I board in less than two weeks.

Thanks for posting these patters. You just keep giving and giving such great information.

Back in the days of SHARE - on Ruby Princess, I attended a wine pairing event there. It was one of my favourite wine presentations; lovely setting on deck 16 as well. Thanks for the patters. Appreciate it!

Edited July 23, 2023 by CruzeQueen2
revision

[dave_k58]

I honestly think this is the best travelogue for a cruise I have ever seen.  Like a good book - I almost hated to see it end. Looking forward to our 11nt cruise on what looks like the same itinerary on the Crown, but we're not going till August 25 - that's only a month away now, because we are spending several days in Vancouver.  Looking forward to that. PS - forgot to mention - I'm old and the last time I went to Vancouver was about 50 years ago. 

[PurpleTraveller]

3 hours ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

@PurpleTraveller Thanks again! Thanks to you, I see a new event that I am going to check out. I have never seen an Alaska salmon /wine tasting event at Sabatini before. I'm going to look for this when I board in less than two weeks.

Thanks for posting these patters. You just keep giving and giving such great information.

Back in the days of SHARE - on Ruby Princess, I attended a wine pairing event there. It was one of my favourite wine presentations; lovely setting on deck 16 as well. Thanks for the patters. Appreciate it!

 

Thank you and you're very welcome!

 

When I write a review not only does it help me relive my cruise but I try to give others the sort of information that I would like to know when planning a cruise and to give ideas of what is possible to do in ports, either DIY or excursions. I hope I've managed to help you a little in your planning of your cruise.

 

The Alaska salmon I ate on my cruise was delicious and I tried to have seafood most nights in at least one of my dishes. The Alaska salmon/wine tasting event sounds interesting and if you go to it I'd love to know how it was.

 

Have a wonderful cruise! 🛳️

[PurpleTraveller]

3 hours ago, dave_k58 said:

I honestly think this is the best travelogue for a cruise I have ever seen.  Like a good book - I almost hated to see it end. Looking forward to our 11nt cruise on what looks like the same itinerary on the Crown, but we're not going till August 25 - that's only a month away now, because we are spending several days in Vancouver.  Looking forward to that. PS - forgot to mention - I'm old and the last time I went to Vancouver was about 50 years ago. 

 

Wow, thank you so much for your lovely words! I'll be doing another review in December after my New Zealand cruise so you can look out for that one.

 

Not long at all until your cruise and I'm sure you will enjoy it as it is on a great ship on a great itinerary. We really enjoyed our time in Vancouver so I hope that you also enjoy it. I'm sure it will have changed a lot in 50 years!

 

Happy Sailing! 🛳️

[dave_k58]

12 hours ago, PurpleTraveller said:

 

Wow, thank you so much for your lovely words! I'll be doing another review in December after my New Zealand cruise so you can look out for that one.

 

Not long at all until your cruise and I'm sure you will enjoy it as it is on a great ship on a great itinerary. We really enjoyed our time in Vancouver so I hope that you also enjoy it. I'm sure it will have changed a lot in 50 years!

 

Happy Sailing! 🛳️

THank you - PS - was the new Crab Shack on the Crown open on your latest cruise? If so - did you like it? 

[PurpleTraveller]

5 hours ago, dave_k58 said:

THank you - PS - was the new Crab Shack on the Crown open on your latest cruise? If so - did you like it? 

 

To be honest I don't know if there was a Crab Shack on my cruise as I didn't look for it as we were so happy with our dining in the Michaelangelo Dining Room. Sorry!

[caribill]

5 hours ago, dave_k58 said:

was the new Crab Shack on the Crown open on your latest cruise?

 

If it was, it would be listed in the posted Patters, so look at those Patters to find out.