This was my 18th cruise and my husband's 14th. We had previously sailed on the Sapphire Princess on a similar itinerary but that didn't stop us from booking this cruise on a last minute deal. We had an obstructed ocean view stateroom. We could see out the window directly in front of us but the lifeboats obscured any lateral view. We missed the wildlife that one sees from a balcony as one is just sitting there enjoying the scenery but we did enjoy fantastic scenic cruising from the open decks.

Our sailaway was the worst we have ever experienced due to fog and rain. Oh well! We frequently experienced fog and rain on this cruise but it magically cleared up when we had scenic cruising scheduled and we felt we were very lucky.

The glacier viewing at Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay was astounding. We saw a large number of calvings including a spectacular large one, and by Hubbard Glacier we saw many harbor seals resting on icebergs. Whale sightings were common as were sea otters, bald eagles and occasional brown bears. All of this was, as usual, a function of where one happened to be on the ship at any moment. Read more