We've been on several Princess cruises, this was our second trip to Alaska, but have not gone this far north. The extra days to go to Whittier and Glacier Bay was a better Alaska experience. I say that because you just aren't seeing the typical tourist town. You are seeing miles and miles of wilderness, we were so lucky to see a lot of sea life. This was our first time with a balcony. It was wonderful having the balcony, we had our ocean breezes and star gazing on demand. Getting away from the crowds and being able to enjoy fresh air and sunshine was great, even if you didn't feel like getting dressed. The six days crossing the Bering Sea was a very relaxing time and we loved being on the water. We both felt that the cruise directors office did a poor job of preparing the cruisers on what to expect on each port of call. We had days of talks on Japan, almost the entire 6 day crossing. Then on the day before Russia there was a very dry, read from script, talk of Russia. Albeit, history is fantastic for the most part, however, when you have a few short hours to see a port, speaking to that port and what it has to offer would have been a valuable asset. Instead we get a boring, monotone history lesson on what the Czars did and why. I wanted to know about the port, what it had to offer, what was significant, what should be avoided, like being in a bus all day because of traffic. Also, there should have been a seminar to cover all of the tours offered. It would have been great to know that the City Tour and the Historic Tour of Russia were almost exactly the same tour. Also, if we would have been informed that the traffic is so horrible in Russia, maybe it would be a good idea to take maybe one tour and do a walking tour for the rest of the day. There was no shopping talks, like we had on a previous Princess cruise to Hawaii.

I don't know what I expected, fishing villages in So. Korea and China? It would have been great for someone to say, "Hey, these are big cities with everything to offer, shuttle buses, shopping, walking tours, and oh, here are the tours we are offering, pros and cons, if you are looking to see a Temple, these tours are fantastic, if you are looking to see the country side, these tours are great, etc. Since this was the first time to Asia it was a real shock to see that there are no western toilets! On the tour papers, in small print on the back, it stated you had to supply your own toilet paper and hand cleanser. No mention that you had to squat over a porcelain urinal. I never saw a local carrying a satchel with their toilet supplies, do we want to know that they have no need for toilet paper or hand cleanser?

The air pollution in Russia and China was absolutely terrible. There should have been a warning by the ship if you had breathing problems or sensitive to air quality you should take notice and take precautions accordingly. After several days of terrible air, I got really sick when I got home. Read more