Island Princess review continued

[RhondaPerr]

7/5/04

 

We are coming into Glacier Bay. Its cold, windy and raining. This is our first real chance to see whales, although some people saw them yesterday while we were in the shopping talk. Glacier bay was breathtaking but the weather was terrible. We saw whales both humpback and Orcas, but they were so far away that even with binoculars they looked liked blips. We saw an eagle floating on an ice piece, an otter floated by, and a whole colony of sea lions, on shore. As I look out the balcony now its so foggy that I can't see the water below. This is the 2nd place where we have a great chance of seeing wildlife and it is not going to happen. There is a choice of shows tonight.

 

Dinner was okay, The service as I have said previously was not the best. The comedian was fun although some of his material was a bit aged. They did not repeat the rock and roll show as promised. I won in the casino, thatw as nice ending to the night.

 

7/6/04

 

Skagway is quaint and so pretty. The mountains in the background are breathtaking. The ship docks along with many other ships about half a mile from town. The ship only backs certain stores, but our friends found stores that they liked better. Lots of jewlery buying here: a 5 carat tennis bracelet, 3 stone anniv necklace, 3 carat tanzenite men't ring, diamond earrings, gold nugget necklaces, pink tourmaline. to name a few of our groups purchases. We did not go on any tours here, but walked around and just enjoyed the town. Tonight is a production show and tomorrow horsebackriding, in the Tongass rainforest and then a bus trip to Mendenhall glacier. The weather today started out cold, warmed up and then got cold and windy...exposed ears hurt!

 

Dinner was okay. Italian night but we are still amazed at the lack of quality of service at our tables. Thsi is the first cruise ever where I won't be able to give excellents under the dining category. The show called Tribute was good.

 

7/7/04

 

We are in Juneau about to go on our horsebackride. It looks like rain and it is 57 degrees. The tour was excellent! Scenic, professional, and we got to trot a bit. Mendenhall Glacier was beautiful despite the rain! Juneau is a nice town, but we hardly had anytime there. Next stop Ketchikan. The show tonight is a mystery we have no idea what kind of of performer he is. The performer was a trumpet playing. singing, comedian type person...it was okay!

 

7/8/04

 

In Ketchikan we have to tender to shore. The town is cute...lots of shops. We did not do a tour, but part of our group did the jeep 4 wheeling tour and said it was a lot of fun... We are invited to the repeat passengers Cocktail Party, but both my husband and I are sick. My husband has only been sick about 4 times in 20 years and he has this bug bad. Thankfully it is not the stomach thing, but a cold sore throat and body aches. Several members of our group have this in one form or another, and many people seem to be walking around coughing. Tonight is the comedian and a Production Show, but we can see the how tomorrow. We have received all our debarkation information.

 

6/9/04

 

The production broadway show was excellent. We attended high tea, tonight is the final show at an early hour. Our luggage except for one bag ahs to be out before dinner..the other bag before midnight. Dinner was fairly good tonight.

 

7/9/04

 

We were off the ship by 9:45 am. It was a breeze getting our luggage and going through customs. The hard part was lugging the luggage to the bus. Once again Princess Land shined through. Our rooms were ready at the Four Seasons even though it was only 11am. We have a huge corner suite which has 2 bathrooms, 2 tvs and a livingroom. There is a 200 store mall attached to the hotel and the famous Robsen street with every type of food and shop you can imagine.

 

Most of our group is now down with the sore throat/conjestion thing..some have fevers, but mostly it makes you feel blah! Our flight leaves tomorrow at 11:40am.

 

Here are just some random obsevations or information to conclude this review.(We are now platnium members)

 

*The Horizion food court was much better this time then on any previous cruise.

 

* Our room steward was phenomenal

 

* The rules change on any of the "Special Blackjacks

 

* Alaska does not necessarily= wildlife

 

*Whalewatching tour in Juneau was apparently great according to some people we talked to.

 

*Make sure you have your binoculars with you even at lunch the days we are in the inlets.

 

* Listen to the naturalists talks

 

*Most stores will ship it to you if you want to buy larger items

 

*Menu is more regional (alaskan)

 

*Soda card is worth it if you ar your kids drink more than 2 sodas a day.

 

*2nd seating advantages (this was our first time ever on 2nd seating) not having to rush in the evenings, and being able to get a seat for all shows. Disadvantage, you miss some of the shows, and when you come out of the shows it is late.

 

*mini suites no longer have a wet or mini bar only suites do..Minis get a refrigerator.

 

* do your homework before you buy any big ticket items

 

* crusie staff far less visible on this cruise as compared to others.

 

*make your hair, nail and spa appts when you board

 

*take advantage of pre-cruise tour resevations

 

*smoothest water we have ever been on with the exception of one hour one night where we were rocking pretty good.

 

 

* if you have bad service somewhere when it comes down to allocating tips you can take away from the bad service and give it to the good service. We didn't know that so we just added money to our room stewards tip.

 

Any questions I will be glad to answer. I am still a little weak from that whole URI thing but will check back soon...

 

Happy cruising and be safe!

[lazylady]

Since I have been checking this site...you have given the best and most clear

review about the island. This is our first princess land/cruise. Sorry your weather was not the best and the sickness does not help. I was very impressed that your plane upgrade was $200, ours out of D.C. was $1500.00 for business class from coach. So...you got a good deal. I have been tracking the fires,

we are spending two nights in Fairbanks. Thanks again, really enjoyed reading

your postive review not spending the entire time on the low points.:)

[StellaRN]

Wow!! You answered so many of my questions. There hasn't been much about the Island and you covered so much. I'm sorry that the weather didn't cooperate more for your trip although it sounds like you had a good time despite everything. Are the jewelry prices good?? I'm a jewelry nut but I was more concerned about the cruise and land tour stuff. We have never cruised before and I'm trying to learn all I can before next July. We own 8 weeks of time share and we usually just fly were we are going and stay for 2 weeks. Off to Cabo San Lucas in 12 days. Just beach and Hubby fishes and we hang with the group we travel with. Would love to hear more about your cruise when you feel better.

Stella RN

[RhondaPerr]

I am used to the Caribbean so to me I didn;t think the prices on jewlery were great. I bought a 2 carat very simple tanzanite pendant. The color was deep purple and I liked the simplicity of it. I probably could have done better on the price somewhere else. We did have a good time despite everything. People even in our group complained about various things, but there was nothing even the service we received in the diningroom that was going to spoil our trip. We are seasoned cruisers and as such we had certain expectations, and for the most part they were met. Everyone that got sick is still sick but with hope in a few days we will all be on the road to recovery. Would I do this trip again...probably not, but I will definitely cruise again.. Please feel free to ask any questions that come up....and don't let any negative post sway you...it is a trip of a lifetime...something everyone should experience at least once...

[Target]

Thanks for the info Rhonda! We are cruising on the 24th on the Island and it is our first Princess Cruise. Only other cruise was with the kids to the Caribbean on Disney. Your information was extremely clear and very helpful. It has been hard finding reviews on the Island. I especially appreciate your upgrade info for your flight. We live in DC, but are flying United to LAX two days before the cruise. We are flying up the day before on Alaska Air to Vancouver. If we upgrade at the airport, it is only $50 per person. Before I read your comment, I never would have considered looking into this, expecting that the amount would be outrageous. Needless to say, we will attempt to get the upgrade. There are 7 out of 12 seats still available for our flight in first class, so I have my fingers crossed! Our flight from Anchorage to LAX is already bumped up to first class because we are using some vouchers my husband received when he travelled on them for business and they lost his luggage!!

 

This trip is for our 20th wedding anniversary (no kids!) and so the upgrade will just add to the experience. Thanks again for the info!!

 

Laura

[StellaRN]

Rhonda all your info is great. Did you book your air through Princess? We have but its for next July. We have enough miles to book 1st class on AA but they are not listed yet. TA said if I get my own air I can drop the Princess air. Can you only upgrade at the airport or before?

Laura looking forward to hearing your review when you return. Anxious about the cabins. I definitely want to be midship just in case it's rough. I hope the we made the right cabin choice. I'm new at this and want it to be right. Enjoy your anniversary. Next year will be our 35th. We will be traveling with 3 other couples so far. The other couples are in the deluxe balcony staterooms but my husband figured it was a special trip. I also think he wanted the bigger bathroom in the mini.

I'm learning so much from all of you I'll need an extra suitcase for all the must bring things!!!

Stella

[cindim]

I am just back from the same cruise! We LOVED the Island. My 2nd time on Princess (other time was Dawn) and have said Royal Carribean before, too. Our friends w/ us have done Royal Carribean and Holland America. We had Caribe deck rooms (port) and really enjoyed our rooms. Pretty calm voyage--the winds hitting the ship broadside made it a little bumpy the 2nd night--the seas weren't that bad.

 

We thought our service in the dining room was great! Even tipped more than what was "required". Our food was good too. We did early traditional seating. The 2nd nite, we got our "regular" table by the window (for 8). The one woman w/ us was getting seasick and there was no problem finding us another table. Who drank wine/tea/coffee was figured out quickly and our waiter always got it right! Extras wanted--NO problem! My hubby was talking about his state quarter collection one night and our waiter (waitress!) made sure she brought the state quarters she had with her the next nite and actually had 2 he needed! We always at breakfast in the dining room and enjoyed that too. The only thing about the early dinner that we didnt' like was the speed of service thru the dinner, but they never rushed us out. I understand they need to be quick to set up for the 2nd sitting!

 

We enjoyed all the ports. Since we were in a large group we did a variety of excursions but not much shopping. I loved our helicopter tour and walk on Mendenhall glacier. We enjoyed the train ride in Skagway. My least favortie excursion was the rain forest walk in Ketchikan, but still enjoyed it.

 

We were so lucky to not have had rain really interfere w/ any part of our trip knowing how rainy it could have been. When cruising Glacier Bay, we had a covered balcony and that worked out great! It started out foggy in the morning, but cleared up to view the main glaciers. It was cold and damp, but the rain didn't amount to too much.

 

We started out w/ 1 night in Fairbanks at the Wedgewood w/ adequate accomodations. Strong smoke smell and "hazy". The train trip to Denali was enjoyable even though we couldn't see as much as we would have liked to to smokey haze. At least it wasn't pouring down rain! Breakfast on the train was great.

 

We staryed in Denali for 1 night--enjoyed the dinner show there--got seated next to a couple who lived 20 mi from us and lived where I grew up--small world. Found the hotel rooms "ok". Had a toilet issue that was taken care of quickly. We did find the room noisy, but we were tired so slept OK anyway. Did a 3 hr tour in the park in the AM--couldn't see much, but driver was good and we made the most of the trip. Wish we saw more animals, but we did see some!

 

The train trip down to Mt McKinely lodge was much better! Comfortable ride once again but this time we could see better! We loved the McKinley lodge and stayed 2 nites. Nice accomodations. Enjoyed the fishing, horseback riding and trip to the Iditarod dog kennels (but the one at Denali was supposedly much better). Our bus trip down to Whittier was a good as could be expected for a bus trip! The driver was great and very entertaining. We stopped by an animal preserve and the Iditarod headquarters on the way down. The planned rest stops but timing needed to be good to get thru the 1 lane tunnel before Whittier. If you miss your turn you have to wait a long time (like 1 hour or more). We had to wait about 20 min and were the 3rd bus to go thru. We were the 2nd bus on the ship--that was great! Very quickly got processed and signed in. At lunch around 1 PM! Getting both on and off the ship was painless!

 

I am so glad we did the southbound trip! The land portion was more hectic and tiring. We really enjoyed being able to relax for the 2 cruising days before hitting Skagway!

 

I'd do the same trip again w/ only a few minor changes--maybe skipping the Denali Princess or doing more time there so we could do the longer trip into the park.

 

I forgot to mention. We flew out of BWI and all 8 of us in the group were able to upgrade for 1st class for the 2nd and longest leg of the trip for $100. Definitely worth it!

 

CindiM

[RhondaPerr]

Happy Anniversary..Ours is the 3rd of Nov and also 20 years...Please note the upgrade is only available for $100 a person if its Alaska Airlines..If your doc says Alaska airlines run by Continental you can't do the upgrade without paying Continental's outrageous prices.

[RhondaPerr]

Yes, we did our air through Princess...We try to do it through the cruiseline unless we can get a much better deal ourselves because if anything happpens you are covered.

[Target]

Happy Anniversary..Ours is the 3rd of Nov and also 20 years...Please note the upgrade is only available for $100 a person if its Alaska Airlines..If your doc says Alaska airlines run by Continental you can't do the upgrade without paying Continental's outrageous prices.

 

Thanks and congratulations to you as well! Our tickets are through Alaska Airlines. Did you have to wait until the day of flight at the airport to get the upgrades? They tell me on the phone that I need to do the upgrades at the airport, but I forgot to ask if I need to wait until the day of flight (next Thursday). Did you have to wait until the day of your flight? Thanks for the info!

Laura

[cindim]

We did our $100 upgrade on Northwest Airlines. American on the way back did not offer it

even though there were 1st class seats available!

 

Cindi

[RhondaPerr]

yes, we had to upgrade at the airport... We called the day before and there were 2 seats left and we never thought that we would get them :)