Avoid the jewelry scams. More on that later.

Took the light rail,($9 for 4 people) from Sea-Tac airport to west lake station on third and pine. Walked(with 8 bags) a few blocks to our hotel. Seattle was nice. These people really like their smokes. Went to the pike market. I don't know what the big deal is. Oh look, some guy throwing a fish to another guy and I hate eating over priced food whilst standing and walking around bumping into people. Monorail to the space needle for a sunset dinner, yes pricey, but outstanding. The view, the food. They have a kids menu. Order the Jupiter desert I think it's called..A way cool dry ice presentation. It was a clear day with excellent views of Mt. Rainier. Took a cab next morning to pier 91. Cab driver tried to charge me $30 for a $11 cab ride. Watch them. At the pier everyone got a coupon book. Beware the jewelry scams. Embark very slow because they force you to pose for that cheesy photo before you board. We said no and jumped ahead. They only sell 20% of all the photos they take. At $25 for an 8x10, I wonder why. Some suckers bought the photo package. Princess also sells photos of Alaskan nature scenes. People actually bought these. I've never understood that, buying someone else's photographs. Take enough of your own and some are bound to be good and it's artwork you created.. Princess immediately hits you with the hard sell over and over. Soda card, "no thank-you", coffee card "no thanks I've no problem getting a morning bowel movement", Beer special, "no I only like draft beer";.the internet cafe special, no we don't do face book, because my wife an I are grownups and any people we've lost touch with was for a reason and any e-mails can wait. It lets up the next day.

There are mainly 3 types of people who cruise. Newlyweds, the nearly dead, and the overfed. Plenty of seniors. It was almost impossible to get an elevator, they were always tied up with all the wheelchairs and scooters.. The comedians were very good and family friendly especially Steve Moris. The magician and dance shows were standard. Didn't see any other shows. Got a Baja balcony because they were covered and you need covered. We told our travel agent to refuse any upgrades because most suites were uncovered. The kids beds swung down from the ceiling! And yes the had a lot of movement to them, My oldest get woozy the first night and had to switch to my wife's floor bed O.K. Here goes. The kids see a thing on princess T.V. were your get a free Alaskan bracelet for showing up for a jewelry talk/presentation in the princess theater. There was some drawing too. We really tried to talk them out of it because I thought we were smarter than that. Well, we weren't. It was deception from the start. The speaker/used car salesman was smooth. She said the talk would be less than an hour. It was 1.5 hours. We didn't get a bracelet, we got a certificate for a bracelet to redeem at one of the cruise ship connected stores at the next port. The talk was so insulting. She actually told the audience "ladies your husband probably bought your engagement ring on a budget when he wasn't making much money and this is your chance to upgrade!". "You can trade in your old ring and buy a new one".Yeah, the hell with sentimental value. She also touted those gems that have a recently invent name, like black diamonds which aren't diamonds at all and many others. Ammolite, like many other gems, is stone that can be natural, imitation or treated. Buyer beware! Early into the talk she hawked this savvy traveler coupon book with some trinkets for $30. But she only had 200 of them and you had to raise your hand to buy one quickly or you would be left out. You should have seen the stepfords raising their hands. They did sell out but the staff came back with more books for purchase. What a surprise! They had these books for sale throughout the rest of the cruise. I don't know what this means but, most of the people buying the book were heavy women. Just an observation. The coupons were to be redeemed at various ports. We met a lady whose coupons were turned down at some of the stores. Read more