Island Princess Review
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Do yourself a favor and spend 2-3 days before cruise in Vancouver! Such a beautiful city with very friendly people.
Embarkation was interesting. A long journey through the Convention Center. We were told to get there later due to Security and a few other ships in port. They could have easily taken out lots of steps by seeing that there were fewer people coming into building. The check-in process was done by a contractor, not Princess, so save all your cruise related questions until you get on the ship.
First day we had lots of questions, as did other passengers. They need to have more staff available to help, especially with "first time" cruisers, which I am not. We were told wrong information over the phone, as far as booking transfers on last day. We couldn't book these until 3rd day at sea? Other cruise lines, you book any time you want.
Cabin Review
Mini-Suite with Balcony
Cabins need to be cleaned thoroughly before next guests arrive.
Robes need to be available the first day, not the 2nd day.
Ask for fresh fruit, and they will re-stock it (no charge)
Cabins were very quiet!
Very spacious, and loved the big bathroom.
Port Reviews
Vancouver
Take the free shuttle from Canada Place and go to Capilano Bridge.So worth it to get good pictures. Fly Canada was cool too, which is right by Canada Place.
Go to Stanley Park for the best sunset pictures!
We stayed at Delta Suites which was within walking distance to Gastown. A lovely area to visit and shop. 2 local Cuban cigar shops were in this district. (yes, you can bring a small amount back to the US)
We supported some local artists, as they have galleries with reasonable prices.
We bought lots of locally, or Canadian made items. (very few "made in China" stickers) We loved how friendly the people were in all of Vancouver!
Ketchikan
Perfect port to walk around in.
You have to buy the salmon! Lots of sampling and we brought cans of the stuff back!
Again, try to support local artists. I bought a unique birch carved bowl, which I love.
We went into the part of town that you could see the salmon. Very interesting!
Juneau
We got lucky in that I have a friend who lives here. She took us to Mendenhall Glacier and it was spectacular. If you go down to the shore, you can get awesome pictures. We saw more salmon here, but no bears. There are plenty of park rangers here watching out for them. We also went to the Shrine of Old Therese. A beautiful church in the middle of nowhere. Quiet and lots of photo ops. We did see and hear some whales in the water close by!
Excellent shopping and great seafood everywhere.
You'll see lots of bald eagles in Juneau.
Skagway
We took the train up to Yukon (customs is very slow here) The views from the train are breath taking. Sit on the left for the train up. Always seems to be a group who don't respect other people want to take pictures. Take your pics, and out of respect for others, move aside.
Lots of narration, which I loved.
We booked our tour through Chinook and they were the best and cheaper.
We stopped in Carcross and had a great lunch and got to hold the adorable sled dog puppies.
The way back was awesome. Our tour guide stopped at Emerald Lake, which was one of the prettiest lakes I've ever seen! This is why it's important to go with a smaller group. The driver stops more and being a small group, doesn't take long to get on/off the bus. :)