Star Princess Review

4.0 / 5.0
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rainydelight

Review for Alaska Cruise on Star Princess
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seaskag01
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Aug 2008

We live in the Seattle area so it was a quick 20 min trip to be dropped off at the terminal. We arrived at 1:45 pm for our Aug 10 departure. We decided to check our bags ourselves rather than tip the longshoreman. About a 5 min wait for this and another 15 min getting through the main checkout. Another 5-10 min getting through the scan machine and we were on the gangway. By 2:30 pm there was literally no wait for baggage check in as seen from our balcony. We booked in late June and got a balcony room on the lido deck. Typical room, no surprises, clean smelling, absolutely no hint of cigarette smoke. Very quiet except when someone closed their cabin door too hard. Loved the fact that we were on the same deck as the buffet and pools. Our female cabin steward was extremely pleasant and helpful as were most of the crew members we came in contact with. We left Seattle on a sunny note but this would be the last sun we would see until Victoria. Spent the first day at sea just walking the ship. We booked too late to get early dining, our usual choice. We ended up with any time dining. We ended up really liking this choice. We could still eat at 5:00pm but with a different group of people every night. Had some great conversations this way. We also requested the same table in the Portofino dining room and were able to get it 3 nights. On a comical note, twice I ordered a bottle of wine and had it corked for later use. Both times they couldn't find it until after a 10-15 minute search. They were very apologetic. The food was first rate. We were always offered more crab and lobster on those nights. A table companion had 3 helpings of crab, eating the last helping, while the rest of us ate desert. We arrived in ketchikan on a very wet and cool morning. My girl friend used the new restroom on the north end of the main downtown dock. She said they were very clean and nice. These are new since our last cruise 2 years ago. We took the Ducktour. Very entertaining and sure glad it had a roof. After the cruise we got a latte and walked up to Creek Street. We got a little wet but not too bad. Nice to get back to the warm dry ship for lunch. Next day, Tracy arm in the rain, very beautiful with lots of waterfalls. We didn't get close to the glacier like my last cruise 2 year ago. Way too much ice in the water. Arrived in Juneau, another wet and misty day. We went on the Gold mine tour. Very informative and the mine itself was super neat. Bus driver took us back through downtown, where several of us got off. We directed one couple to take the Mt Roberts Tram as we have done it twice. We walked through rainy downtown Juneau. I stopped at the public restroom outside the library and was impressed by how clean it was. Took a shuttle back to the ship and I do tip all the drivers. Saved us a long walk in the rain. Next stop Skagway. We booked too late to go on the bicycle tour we wanted. Last trip we took the bike tour from White Pass back to Skagway. I highly recommend it, just an awesome experience. This time we walked into downtown among spits of rain on a very cool day. After shopping we hiked over to the airport where we walked the foot bridge over the river where it linked up to some nice trails. The cold wind was kicking up so we turned around for the long walk back. On the ship we played bingo, enjoyed the shows, and sampled new cocktails everyday. We find the cocktail prices very reasonable, I had a terrific Mudslide in the Skywalkers night club. Celebrity sighting, several times on the cruise I saw Biff Henderson of the David Letterman show. Arrived in Victoria on a hot 85 degree day, which for them feels about 95. Decided to do our usual 30 min walk into town. By the time we got to the Empress Hotel I was sweating like crazy, didn't stop there but went up Govt Street looking for an Iced Americano. Got them and walked about 5 blocks to Chinatown. By then the hot weather and the rich food of the past 3 days was making my stomach rumble, so I was anxiously looking for a restroom. It just so happened that a big event had taken place that day and there was a row of portapotties by the waterfont. Thank god for portapotties. We later strolled along the harborwall enjoying a sunny evening in one of our favorite cities. Back to Seattle for the easiest disembarkations ever. Met in the Explorers lounge at 930 am and was off the ship minutes later. They did keep our room card which I normally like to keep as a souvenir. Customs guy glanced at our passport and that was it. Off to claim our bags and we were in the pick up area within 20 minutes. I was kicking myself for not buying more liquor on board. Saw one guy with 2 boxes which he was smart enough to bring duct tape to tape the boxes. This was my third Princess cruise, previous Diamond and Sapphire, and it won't be my last!

Cabin Review

Great balcony, quiet room, great location close to pools and buffet.

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