We just returned from our Great Alaskan Adventure as many in our family were referring to this trip and we had a wonderful time. Before I get into details, I thought I would just share some general thoughts. While this was my first trip to Alaska, it was the second for my Significant Other. We didn't have time to do a land tour on this trip and would love to do that sometime in the future but we wanted to see as much as possible in the 7 days we had while hoping to get some R&R time. We chose the Voyage of the Glaciers cruise because we really loved the ports and wanted to see Glacier Bay and College Fjord. It seemed like I spent more time trying to figure out what to pack on this trip then I ever have on any other vacation. Will it be rainy, cold, warm, sunny...who knew? And you had to plan for anything. It felt like we were over packing but honestly I think we wore everything we took. And yes the weather often changed about 3 times every day. Well onto some specifics...

Embarkation: Our flights from Pittsburgh to Vancouver were pretty uneventful and we got to Vancouver around 11am. We used US Direct to get to the ship and we were on board in our room by 1pm. This is a smooth process that you really should take advantage of if you can. We didn't need to touch our luggage or do anything after we landed. Just follow the US Direct folks, sign in and be bused to the terminal with almost immediate boarding of the ship. Our luggage showed up in our room by 3:30pm. This was a perfect start to our cruise, much unlike our previous vacation/cruise in Australia when our luggage ended up in India finally getting to us by day 3 of the cruise. Another story for another time.

The Ship: We have cruised on the Sapphire once before and loved the ship which is why we picked her again for our Alaskan cruise. We were not disappointed and the ship is in great condition. It was nice to be familiar with the layout and know where to go without getting lost. We like the large ships and how there are a lot of public areas to kind of "get lost" in when you want to get away from things. This ship holds 2,600+ people and it usually doesn't feel like it. There was one day at sea when the weather outside was bad and only on that day did it seem like the ship was crowded and that was because everyone seemed to be trying to do the same things at the same time with outdoor activities limited to the Promenade Deck and the Conservatory. Having an indoor pool is certainly an added bonus for cruises like this! We really did not use the spa but the exercise facilities are top notch. I actually preferred walking the promenade deck for my exercise (3 laps = 1 mile) and there were usually a lot of walkers. They have the smaller track up above the spa but it usually seemed more crowded with less space and it's not covered if It's raining. And yes if you haven't been told that it rains a lot in Alaska, let me be the first to say it rains a lot in Alaska. Come prepared and don't worry about it. Crew and Passengers: The crew could not have been nicer and everyone we met was fantastic. Our steward, Teddy, was great to talk to everyday and he was wonderful to have around. Service was exceptional everywhere and we had no complaints. As for passengers, everyone seemed on good behavior and it was a very mixed crowd as far as age. One thing I noticed is that there didn't seem to be as many photographers running around the ship trying to snap your picture at every waking moment. Yes, there were the usual opportunities and they were around the restaurants some, etc but it just seemed less obtrusive to us then in the past. Maybe we just managed to avoid it somehow. Veronica at the future cruise desk was very nice and we ran into her numerous time around the ship and the cruise directors (Neil and Paul) were a lot of fun. They both seemed to have a great "dry" sense of humor. Something we at least appreciated! Neil announced he would be getting married soon and taking a couple of months off before returning to the Emerald Princess. I'm not sure what that means for the Sapphire and the rest of its summer Alaskan schedule but there will obviously be some personnel changes. Neil actually hosted an informal Cruise Critic get together toward the end of the week and I thought that was a nice touch. We were not able to make it so I really can't report on how that went. Stateroom: We loved our stateroom and we are certainly spoiled now. This was also the first time we have gotten a mini suite and wow it was nice to have the large balcony and the extra space and the tub in the bathroom. No need to "spin around" in the shower to get wet! This is certainly the way to go if you can pull it off and certainly a step up from our fully obstructed view room that we had on our last cruise! To us it is certainly worth the added money to get more space. The room was always clean and there were no issues whatsoever. Read more