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This was my 3rd Alaska cruise but my first on Princess. The cruise itinerary was fantastic as was the food and the on-board activities. The only negative aspect of our cruise was the dinner service in the Rigoletto Dining Room. The food was wonderful, but 8 nights out of 10 the service was mediocre at best. We often waited at least 15 minutes just to place our orders and one evening we waited nearly 30! Another evening we waited nearly 30 minute after our plates had been cleared before our server returned to take our order for coffee and dessert. The wait staff was generally cordial but did not go out of their way to be friendly and we were often treated almost as if we were interfering with their duties.
We had requested and received anytime dining but it did not work as well as it had on previous cruises on different ships. If we did not want to wait to eat we had to be in the dining room by 5:30. If we arrived between 6:00 and 6:30 then we knew we would be waiting until at least 7:15 to be seated. It was usually closer to 7:30 or 7:45. The first night of our cruise (before we had any of this figured out) we waited 1 hour and 40 minutes to be seated! On other cruise lines we have never waited more than 10 minutes to be seated with any time dining.
The on-board activities were varied and plentiful. A nicely equipped, though somewhat small, gym was well maintained and several fitness classes were offered on most days (some of them were extra expenses). Zumba and line dancing classes were also offered most days and were well run. A 1/3 mile walking track was marked on one of the outside decks.
Many audience participation game shows were also offered. The shows were entertaining and well presented. We particularly enjoyed the trivia games offered at least twice on most days with prizes awarded to the winning teams.
We really enjoyed the evening entertainment. The productions shows were good as were most of the musicians and bands performing throughout the cruise. There was always something to do even for those of us who aren't normally night-time activity type people.
All in all we had a very enjoyable cruise experience and already have plans to cruise with Princess again.
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