Hi, this was a very pleasant cruise to the interior of Alaska after 7 days of the Island Princess. The entire trip sucked me into the "cruise" attitude...Kathy and I and the other couple with us will go on many cruises in the future. The only two complaints I had was the instant coffee on the boat and getting stuck in a "smoking" hotel room in Fairbanks when we requested Non Smoking.
All connections went pretty smooth from plane to busses and to boarding boats and trains. Long lines but all went pretty smooth. Everyone tried their best for customer service. I say "try" because most people on board the Island Princess were of a different nationality...and they were sometimes very difficult to communicate with...but all people on the cruise were absolutely doing the very best for customer service...no rude people there. Nice job to the "crew"!
As I said my "hang up" was the lack of a "Starbucks" standard of coffee. You ask for brewed coffee and they give you that instant stuff they call 'brewed" coffee...yuk...And of course no one understands what you want...and there was none on board anywhere...I was really surprised...I would gladly buy good coffee or some real good espresso...I did find a bar 1/2 way thru cruise that fixed some espresso...was good...but I could never get one w/my meal or at some entertainment...or any other place. I'm really surprised that no one demands a "Starbucks" standard of coffee on these cruises. At Starbucks I mostly get a real delicious decaf espresso...boy was I a disappointed camper on this trip!!