Island Princess Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,228 reviews

Great AK Cruise

Review for Alaska Cruise on Island Princess
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krennen
First Time Cruiser • Age 2020s

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Sail Date: Jun 2009

Just back from a wonderful trip to AK—a 7 day cruise from Vancouver to Whittier and a 6 day land tour on our own. Flew into Seattle on Sat morning and caught Quick Shuttle to Vancouver. Nice bus, friendly driver and the time went fast. Arrived at the Grand Residence at Sutton Place. A great hotel in the heart of downtown, close to everything with a very helpful and friendly staff. Our one bedroom condo was very nice but we could hear a lot of hall noise as people got off the elevator. (This might have been because of our location.) Got some dinner at the IGA one short block away. They have a eating area right inside or carryout if wanted. Walked down to China Market and on the way back stopped at the Christ Church Cathedral when we saw someone walk in about 9pm. We were able to catch the last half of a Joyful Noise Choir concert. Very good and a great way to end the day. Sunday we rented bikes at Spokes for 6 hours and biked in and around Stanley Park. . Beautiful sunny weather. A great green space in the city with separate bike and pedestrian paths around the perimeter. The north and east shores of the park where the water level was low, it was kind of stinky. The rhododendrons were blooming and very lovely. We continued to English Bay (nicer beaches) and down to Granville Island. Ate lunch at Granville Island at the food courtquick and easy as time was short. Took the $3.00 Aquabus back across to return the bikes. Back at the hotel we swam in the nice indoor pool at the hotel and then went to the service of Compline at the Christ Church Cathedral at 9:30 pm.a very nice and peaceful service with women singing. Monday morning we walked to the Chinese garden park (free part) cute but very small. We walked back to our hotel via the east end of English bay. Now it was off to the ship. We walked with our luggage 8 blocks to the Canada Place docks. It wasn't bad as the trip was all downhill ?. We arrived about 12:30 and check in was a breeze. It was the fastest check-in of any of our 6 cruises. We were in our rooms immediately and up to the buffet by about 1pm. The Island Princess is a nice, (could use a few paint and railing touchups) and very easy to navigate. It is more subdued in dEcor than the ships of the Carnival line. At 3 pm we went to the Wheelhouse Bar and met up with 2 fellow cruise critic members. I was hoping to see more but we did enjoy our visit with those that showed up and ran into them many times that week. We ended up being friends with one couple, Sue and Pat, in particular and had dinner with them several times. Set sail on time with sunny weather. Dinner with 4 other nice couples and then the comedian show and off to bed. Tues. Sea day and occupied myself with dance classes and trivia games and of course eating. Never had lines to wait at the buffet or our anytime dining. If there were people waiting at night at the "anytime" Bordeaux, the maitre d' from the Provence dining room took us up there for dinner. Good food the entire trip and always nice servers. It was formal night and I would say a lot of people dressed up. Adrian Zmed was the show—pretty good for his age, as I remember him from his younger days.Wed. A glorious sunny day in Ketchikan! Walked around town for an hour and then sea kayaking with Southeast (Toursaver coupon). Guides Carly and Lauren were great and took us to Snow Island. Both girls were very sharing with their knowledge and would recommend them. We saw starfish, sea cucumbers, jellyfish and an eagle. Paddling across the Tongass Narrows was as smooth as glass. I know we were very lucky with the weather. Walked around town more and then back to the ship for departure. Tea at 4pm with my CC friend, Sue, and then dinner with her and her husband.Thurs. Juneau. Cooler temps than yesterday and a little cloudy but it turned sunny soon. Went whale watching with Harv and Marv (Jay). Had 6 on our boat so not crowded at all. Two outside areas to photograph from and an enclosed inside with big windows if you didn't want to be outside. He had blankets if you were cold and drinks and some snacks for the passengers. We saw 2 bald eagles and sea lions frolicking in the water. Then it was off to hunt for whales. We saw several but they didn't do much deep diving so not much big tail action. No breaching either—boo hoo!. Pete's boat later had a calf breach right next to his boat so it is definitely a luck kind of trip. Jay tried very hard to make our trip as nice as possible. Would certainly recommend them. We were then dropped off at Mendenhall Glacier. We walked around the viewing area and then off to the waterfall next to the glacier. It was a pretty good trail but the last bit was over many large boulders—not for the disabled!! There were men working with heavy equipment that looked like they were going to eventually make the last part easier. Took the bus back (just paid the driver our $7.00 one way) and up the Mt Roberts tram. Great views and we hiked some of the trails up at the top one section still had snow. A nice trip up and worth it with the Toursaver coupon! Fri Skagway. It was Dyea Dave day! He met us at the end of the docks and off we went to rather cloudy skies. Part of the group of 10 went on the train on the way up. The rest of us saw the national park movievery good and gives the history of the town and the goldrush time. We then went in his little bus with big windows for great viewing and off on our journey. Never felt crowded and easy to get on and off. Dave is quite a character and very entertaining. The weather up the pass was rainy but on the other side it cleared. We picked up our passengers at Frazier and continued on. In Carcross we got our passports stamped. Stopped at the smallest desert and then on the Emerald Lake. Climbed part way up the hill to take pics with Dave leading the way. He is such a nice and accommodating man. On the way back we saw a juvenile bear along side the road eating dandelion heads. Dave got up right next to him to get great pics through the windows. The bear didn't seem to mind the bus. We also stopped at the Cinnamon Cache for a snack. Nice lady who owns the place. Stopped again for some good waterfalls and then Dave dropped us off in town to catch the 4pm free ranger led talk around town. Dave was never concerned about rushing us and his sister leaves at 3pm each day if he is not back to make sure passengers would not miss their boat. He is a great host for Skagway. We walked some more around town and then back to the boat.Sat Glacier Bay. Up early to a very cloudy and cool day out on the Baja front deck. We were in a inside cabin but this deck was only about 30 feet from our room. It was never crowded and just below the bridge. Could see some otters and porpoises from the ship. Our friends even saw a whale dive right outside their cabin balcony. As the day progressed it cleared and the glaciers were neat. Marjorie calved for all to see—a couple of small and one larger chunk broke off. It was formal night again so we met up with our CC Friends for dinner and then to the Motown show which was good and then to the juggling comic.Sun Cruising and College Fjord. Rested a lot today as it has been a busy week. Weather was the worst of the trip, cloudy and slight drizzle. Couldn't complain as overall it has been wonderful. Took some film and pictures and then off for our last dinner. Had a great time with our friends again and another couple we met on the ship. It was time to pack up for tomorrow. BOO! Overall this was the smoothest cruise we have ever been on. The seas were so still you would hardly know you were on a ship. The inside passage is the way to go. Only crossing toward College Fjord was there ever any movement. The staff was wonderful all the way around and were amazed how un-crowded the ship seemed. Passengers seemed especially friendly, maybe because of the ageslittle older crowd not busy with small children. The entertainment was pretty good and certainly enough to keep passengers busy. Many lounges had hardly any people in them at night. A covered pool and hot tubs were good as the temps are not tropic in AK.

Cabin Review

The inside cabin was OK but we did get noise that sounded like ship workingssporatic and kind of clunking noises.  We soon got used to it as we were so tired from activities.

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