Our vacation began on 9/1/07, we flew from San Diego to Vancouver on U.S. Air. We arrived at 2:00 p.m. and took a Limo from the airport to Downtown Vancouver ($65) where we checked into the Blue Horizon Hotel on Robson Street. Beautiful hotel, best beds I have ever slept in and every room have a corner balcony. I would suggest paying the few extra dollars to get on one of the top 10 floors. We adventured out on Robson Street where there is endless amount of stores and a Starbucks on just about ever corner, yeah! We had dinner at Ciao Bella, Italian Restaurant and it was fantastic, small but food was excellent and affordable. On 9/2, woke up to cloudy skies and sprinkles and we purchased a ticket ($34) for the Hop & Go Shuttle or Dbl Decker bus, which was right outside our hotel. This is the most economical way to see Vancouver and have the freedom to see as much as you want. We headed for Stanley Park where we jumped off and bought another ticket ($18) for the Stanley Park Shuttle. This is another great way to see Stanley Park. We toured every section in Stanley Park and especially enjoyed the Aquarium. Plan on spending at least 6 hrs. in Stanley Park. After spending about 7 hrs. in Stanley Park we jumped back on the Hop & Go and visited more sections of Vancouver. Arrived back to our hotel around 5:00 p.m., changed clothes and grabbed a cab and went to The Fish House by Stanley Park for dinner (came highly recommended by Locals and Frommer's Alaska book.). The food was good but the service was not what I would of expected for the pricey food. Glad we went but probably would not go there again. My only regret is I wish we would of allowed more time in Vancouver.

We woke up on 9/3, excited about boarding the Island that day. We arrived at Canada Place about 12:00 p.m. I was extremely impressed with the ease and speed of getting onto the ship. We were in our cabin by 12:30 p.m., way to go Princess! Our cabin was nice and a balcony is a must for the Alaska Cruise. I had heard the beds were poor but we had a egg crate placed on our bed and it was just fine, pillows could of been better. The Island set sail promptly at 4:15 p.m. and of course, the rain started as we were leaving. I had planned on meeting a few of the CC members that were on my Roll Call and we met up on the Sports Deck at sail away. It was great putting a face to the people I had been communicating with for months.

We had late seating in the Provence Dining Room. The food in the dining room was good but the selection could of been better compared to our other cruises. We ate at the Horizon Court breakfast and a few lunches and it was O.K. but it seemed they repeated the selection of food too often. Overall, I would say I have had better food selection on other cruise lines. The waiter staff however, was excellent as well as, the other staff members. Read more