My DH and I left Cleveland for our 4th cruise, 1st on Princess to the great state of Alaska for 7 nights aboard Star Princess. Because we were flying across the country and the airlines can be unpredictable, we left the day before the cruise and spent the day and evening exploring Seattle. Upon arrival, we found helpful members of the Princess staff who pointed us to the Gray line and for $10.50, we were off to the Seattle Sheraton. The hotel was nice, but the best part of it was that because of its location, we were able to get to any attraction at little or no cost. The only time we needed to pay for transportation was to the port, and for the 2 of us it was $12.00, with tip. It you are in reasonable, middle aged shape, you can walk to practically everything Seattle has to offer. We strongly recommend Pikes Place market for the flying fish and Bill Spidel's Underground tour. Both were extremely entertaining!

On the morning of the cruise, we left the hotel at 10:30am. It's a 10 minute ride to the port, but we were so excited to sail that we thought it better to stand in a long line near the ship rather then looking at the walls in the room. We arrived in line at 10:45, met the nicest couple from Minnesota with whom we spent most of the week and as we got to the check in counter they opened the doors to begin boarding the ship. The entire process was smooth as silk and took about an hour. The ship is beautiful and in great shape. Our cabin was clean and bright, although a bit smaller then previous cabins on other lines. The bathroom and shower was significantly smaller then we are used to, and we are comparing balcony cabins to balcony cabins. I was ok but DH is 6'4". He managed but it was tight. The public rooms on the ship are very nice, although different in light of sailing to Alaska rather then the warm waters of the Caribbean. It was very odd to wear winter gear on deck. The rest of the ship was closed up tight so there were plenty of warm places for everyone to hang out. The upside of this was that you could enjoy the magnificent scenery Alaska affords in comfort. Personally, the downside was that I never got used to wearing winter gear on a ship. It just didn't seem right, but I'll go into that on the boards. While sailing, DH got to see killer and humpback whales which made his entire trip. They have a naturalist on board who will point out wildlife as well as give facts about the area. We had a balcony and could tune in a channel that had the information from the naturalist as well as classical music, which was really nice. We especially appreciated this while sailing in Tracy's Arm to the South Sawyer Glacier. Our agent sent us a champagne breakfast that morning, and while I am a warm weather girl, it truly was a morning I will never forget. It was amazing! The scenery, the commentary, the wildlife, it all took our breath away. One check off the bucket list!

The Cruise director Lee and his staff had plenty of activities on board so you can never say you are bored. The CD staff is friendly, although I found them more approachable on other lines. The CD himself wasn't very visible at all during the week. He did do a morning program that was informative about the days events, but short of that, he was just ok. The staff, from out Cabin Steward to our dining room wait staff were top notch. We cannot say enough about how friendly and great each and every one of them were. These hard working people made the cruise outstanding for us. We started with traditional dining and got stuck with an older couple (we are late 40's/early 50's) who proceeded to tell us about every ailment they have, (I didn't know so many things could go wrong and a person could still be vertical) all before we finished out entree! We skipped dessert, (quite frankly, we couldn't get out fast enough and we weren't so hungry after the explanation of gastric bypass) and spoke to the Maitre d' the next morning at breakfast, who promptly moved us to anytime dining. Since we had met great people in line, our meals from then on were perfect. The food is very good but seriously, we cannot say enough about the staff. They make the Princess experience spectacular. Read more