This was my 8th cruise but my first on Princess. The itinerary was great! I really loved having the long days in the ports. This allowed for my mom and I to explore the area and do excursions. The ship was fine. I know some people didn't like the renovations they did on the boat but they didn't bother me. I found that there were lots of open decks to see everything. I especially loved the cushioned chairs on the deck that has the retractable roof. I didn't love the layout of the theater. You had to get up to let anyone in. On other lines they have plenty of room for people to get through and tables for food and drinks. The cabin was great. I loved the "walk in closet" I thought that allowed extra versus the amours the other cruise lines have. However, we booked an obstructed ocean view room and I wouldn't do that again. It was just as it says but it wasn't worth the extra money from an interior room. The food was the most disappointing. The buffet was not good sometimes downright terrible. The coffee is no good. Even the pizza was even terrible, it tasted like fake cheese. I know the buffet is usually not were the best food is but I've always found things I could eat. Here it was a different story. The dining room was much better but still not great. Especially when compared to Carnival. I found that there weren't many choices and some where not wonderful. The food portions are also much smaller than other cruise lines, though that didn't bother me. By the end of the cruise I ended up ordering two entrees because one would be edible. Anything that you asked to be cooked a certain way was never done correctly. I always order steak on cruises and love it. Here i did twice and it was terrible both times. They were different cuts so I stopped ordering them. I also didn't like that there weren't many things open late night. I wish the ice cream was open all the time! Shore Excursions - don't do the tram ride in Icy Straight - not worth the money. I would recommend walking to town. It was a little bit of a walk but it was wonderful. We even saw a whale very close to us during out walk. Juneau - The plane ride was expensive but so worth it. If you can afford it I would recommend it. You will never see anything like this. We also did gold mining not connected to princess. This was awesome. The best part was the natural scenery. Skagway - The train ride was great. We got to see some wonderful wilderness. Read Less

I chose an Alaskan cruise because I am an outdoors type of person and wanted to see the sights before climate change and such make a lot of it disappear. Princess cruise did not disappoint! The Island Princess was beautiful, clean and had many nooks and crannies to get away to, read a book or sip a drink quietly as well as constant live music in the Atrium. You could be as busy or as lazy as you wanted. Our cabin was pristine and very well taken care of the entire trip. We had a balcony and I feel that is a must on an Alaskan cruise. We sat and sipped our wine while watching the glaciers, animals and various ports that we stopped at. The food was good. We did the Anytime Dining and that was the perfect choice for us. The only disappointing thing in the dining room was the night we had Alaskan king crab legs. Surprisingly enough, the were terrible. Chewy and strong tasting. I told the waiter and he brought a different meal very quickly. Also, the lobster was not good. The Horizon Court served it's purpose for breakfast and occasionally lunch. The fruit was always fresh and the pastries yummy! We had a great time on our shore excursions and saw many amazing sights! On every tour our bus driver or tour leader was both interesting and fun to spend the day with. I am already planning an Alaskan cruise with my grandson in a couple of years and would definitely go with Princess again! Read Less

It was a last-minute decision to come on this cruise - we booked two weeks before departure (so GREAT rate!! Honestly we paid $100 a day each for this cruise - where else can you get housing AND three meals a day for that? not even at home based on where we live, ha ha ha). I therefore didn't do much research at all other than looking at dates and prices - this was the best value so I went with it. We had outside staterooms, no balconies. We were a party of four - me, my son (turned 12 on day of embarkation!) and my parents (age 80 but not old 80). Just as background I live in Washington DC and they live in New York City...so we are big city people. We departed from Whittier (Anchorage) - flew into Anchorage the night before which i was glad we did. We both had flight delays. I would have liked more time in Anchorage itself to go to one of their museums - i thought we had a couple hours in the morning but was misinformed by "Princess En-Route" about the transfer times from downtown. Princess has bus transfers shuttles that leave from downtown Anchorage to the port (very very convenient!) but it leaves ONLY at 12 noon, whereas shuttles from the airport leave every hour until 5pm (the folks on the phone didn't get it right, luckily the great folks at check-in at the downtown departure point set us straight). The transfer ride from anchorage to Whittier was interesting even though the driver talked WAY too much. It was just under a two-hour ride from Anchorage to Whittier. The itinerary itself was great. the scenery is amazing and honestly I had no idea how breathtaking it would be. one stop was Glacier bay - WOW. just WOW (note, the ship goes into this bay and eventually stops right in front of the Margerie Glacier. You don't get off the ship.) My understanding is there are very few ships which can go into this area bc of environmental and size requirements. I'd highly recommend it if you're trying to decide. You'll never see anything like this! The Holland America Volendam was on the same itinerary, FYI, if you want to compare the Island Princess itinerary to something else). Our port stops were Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan. Enjoyed them all. In Skagway we did a horseback ride in the forest. It was fun and we chose it because my son likes to ride. Most of the ride was thru the forest - then we got out to the flats which was breathtaking. I'd have loved to do the train ride - my parents did that and really enjoyed it. Skagway was a cute town, literally one strip of shops. In Juneau we did a whale watch and a glacier trail hike which was really quite nice. My regret is we didn't do an excursion where you actually hiked on the Mendenhall glacier (i think i misread the description of our excursion and thought we WERE hiking on the glacier - i was wrong). I believe I will wish we had done one where we actually got on the glacier (there are many) that for the rest of my life if i don't go back. In retrospect I should have picked the canoe trip and glacier trek. I guess I'll have to go back. Ketchikan had the busiest town and the most shopping (PLEASE do yourself a favor and first go up to the Creek street shops before going elsewhere). If this is your last stop i suggest holding out to buy stuff here as everything they had elsewhere was also here -but more. We did the float plane flight over Misty Fjords which was absolutely incredible. HIGHLY recommended. The food was great - we did traditional dining. There were some real winners and some so-so but of course all better than one could make at home. The staff was amazing - exemplary customer service! The pizza on board was pretty darn good - thin and crispy crust like us New Yorkers like (ha ha). There were fun and kitchy activities like one would expect on a cruise. We enjoyed them. the production shows were pretty over the top cheesy (we are from NYC and DC please remember) - however we were entertained - the production aspect (costumes, set) were pretty impressive. The one negative on the trip was the spa. The manager was rude all around - the way she spoke to her staff and the way she handled a bad experience i had. The lack of customer service was astounding. Rude and dismissive. Another highlight was Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the Iditarod (ok back in 1985) came and did a talk. Very cool! Overall I'd go back on this same itinerary in a heartbeat! Read Less

I have cruised Alaska before on Carnival and found it it to be beautiful. I think the inside passage is worth seeing more than once. This time we chose Princess because we had sailed on Princess in Europe the year before and found the boat to be very nice. That was not really our experience this time. First, the food on the buffet was not up to snuff. I mean it wasn't bad, just the same thing, over and over, very little variety. I also found the boat crowded. When you go to eat and there are no seats, that means the buffet area is not big enough or they booked too many people on the cruise. I have sailed on about seven different boats and five or so different cruise lines and have always been able to find a table to eat at. The crew was very nice and the seated dining in the evening was good. Wait staff was very accommodating. Work out room was small and in the bottom of the ship, no windows. It was always hot and stuffy. No place on deck to run or walk for exercise. The promenade deck was altered to make more balcony rooms, so the walking track was not all the way around the ship. The boat was not horrible, but it is time for an upgrade/remodel. Especially in the bathrooms in the cabins. Again, not horrible, but they always looked a little dirty and I do not think that was a steward issue, I think it was a wear and tear issue. The best thing about Princess is that they provide self help laundry rooms for passengers. I hate to say it, but that was the best thing about this cruise, in comparison with other cruise lines. Not sure I will sail with them again. It wasn't horrible, but for the price I was hoping for better than, "not horrible". Read Less

We chose this cruise for price and timing only. It was a good cruise, not a great cruise. The buffet was way to international. The mini-suite was surprisingly large, but had a lot of empty unusable space due to no furniture. The online picture does not reflect the actual mini-suite. There is no free public space in the aft area. You have to pay for this area. The miniature golf area was not maintained and should have been repaired long ago. We found the smaller size of the ship to be very comfortable and there was always open tables in the buffet and lounges. The main dining room service was mediocre but the room steward excellent. The choices for the soda and mock-tails drink package were very limited. The free drinks only included coffee, hot water/tea, iced tea, and water. There wasn't any lemonade or other juices available as have been on other cruises. Read Less

“You gotta go to Alaska” We have heard this many times. At 64, I couldn’t wait another year. It is not a walk in the park, however, Princess made the voyage extremely easy. They handled our two 50 lb. checked bags with care and precision. We lived out of our luggage for 12 days. Through two airports, 5 ports of call, one 9.5 hour glass-domed rail ride, two lodges, a night’s stay in Anchorage, too many tour buses to remember, my wife and I experienced this great land together. Daily itineraries on our smart phones gave us options to select our every waking moment. We especially liked the on-board seasoned experts who lectured on subjects ranging from whales and glaciers to photography and cooking salmon and baking chocolate forest cake for 2000 guests. Whatever cares we might have had were quickly and completely replaced with the awe and wonder and beauty of Alaska. Read Less

We arrived in Whittier on June 6th, my grandson age 8 and myself, grandmother. Since I am an ELiTE member and have been in the last 2years one of the most 20 traveled passengers I was able to invite my grand son as my guest on 11 cruises, 3 ships and 5 different captains. Once again I made the 20 most traveled passengers list on this Island Princess cruise June 6th to June 13th, but was informed due to a new policy? my grandson could not be my guest, only children age 12 and older were permitted. I ask the Captain Circle host to request an exception from the captain but he denied the request and forwarded the issue to the Customer Service Director. He turned out to be clueless about the new policy, could not provide me with a copy of such unknown to me new policy and was confused about being a member of the Captain Circle program ( 18 years of age) and the issue of age discrimination of my grandson being 8 compared to a 12 year old to be allowed. Needless to say I was upset and did not attend the SPECIAL PARTIES in my honor. The second week of my cruise, same ship, I was the number 1 Most traveled passenger and once again could not take my grandson, so I did not attend that party either. I have called Customer relation and the Captain Circe department at Princess headquarters from the ship but no one could give me an answer why and when this conflicting new policy was implemented. I feel Princess, the Captain and the Customer Service Director have failed in providing me with the servile I expected and I was ignored by the Customer Service Director through the 2 weeks cruise, when meeting a various times, he did not even greet me but looked the other way like I did not exist. Both the Captain and Customer Service Director need training in PR and customer service which they apparently do not have. My 2 weeks cruise was ruined and I returned home not "COME HOME NEW" ( their slogan) but "COME HOME UPSET!! Thank you Princess !!! And then there is a "new policy" regarding their coffee cards. In the past you would buy a paper coffee card with 15 coffees ( 20% discount at 35.65? ) and any unused portion could be used on your next princess cruise. Now princess uploads the 15 coffees onto your cruise card and any unused portion is being void at the end of the cruise. Use it or loose it. Thank you Princess for reducing the benefits of a coffee card over purchasing individuals premium coffees. The Island Princess has some other issues which make your cruise uncomfortable.The chairs in the Internet Cafe are old, bulky, hard to move, worn out and sit so low off the floor that one barely can reach the keyboard. For the prices Princess charges for the use of their computers and paying for internet use, new adjustable chairs should be in their budget..Also on deck 8 ( port as well as starboard side), when needed to go from mid ship to the front of the ship in order to take an elevator up to the Horizon Court buffet restaurant, the floors are warped, very uneven, have holes under the carpet so it is very hazardous when walking. I almost fell three times. So be cautious when using deck 8. On the other hand , the island Princess has far more superior food than other Princess cruise ships. The Executive Chef Dirk had so many different dishes prepared in the Horizon Court I have not seen on other Princess ships and with 62 Princess cruises I have sailed on almost all of their ships. Also the quality of the food was outstanding. The dessert display and variety of their desserts was the best I had ever seen. The scenery and the beauty of Alaska, this made up for all of Islands Princess shortcomings. But the staff at the coffee bar, my cabin steward, internet manager and the staff in the Horizon Cafe were all outstanding. I certainly will go back to Alaska but not on the Island Princess. Read Less

I chose this cruise to see glaciers and to go on a land tour to Denali National Park. The food on the boat was outstanding. The service, outstanding as well. This was our first cruise, so we have nothing to compare to, but we would go on this cruise tour all over again. The entertainment was phenomenal, as was the live music all over the ship. The amount of time we spent at Glacier Bay was perfect. The excursions we chose were great. The naturalist that was on board was AMAZING. He gave lectures about all kinds of things, and narrated over the PA system several times. We left the cruise knowing SO much information about nature and the wildlife I Alaska. We had a little incident, at 3 am one morning we woke up to the smell of burning rubber. They quickly resolved the issue, called our room to report the cause, andDelivered a plate of chocolate covered strawberries to our room, and an apology. Read Less

We chose this cruise as almost a last minute decision. Since we are from Vancouver, so the only travel arrangement we needed to make was to fly home from Anchorage. We have done over a couple dozen cruises around the globe, including being a loyal customer of Princess. I must say that the food and service of this cruise far exceeded our expectations. The layout of the ship was good, with sufficient open space and much better than mega ships. More importantly, the quality of food at Bordeaux Restaurant was much better than we experienced with other Princess ships. The staff at Horizon food court was courteous and did a phenomenal job in delivering what I considered to be top notch service in a buffet setting. We also like the sinks for washing hands outside of the Horizon food court rather than using the sanitizer bottles. Because the food was good enough, we cancelled our plans to dine at specialty restaurants. The Secret Silk was an awesome production. We enjoyed it very much. The naturalist Mark Harris was an added touch to the glacier experience. He is both knowledgeable and personable. We wish he could give more presentations on other subjects aside from glaciers and bears. Read Less

I chose Princess due to friends advice and their successful experiences with this cruise line. The Island Princess is an older ship and is showing it’s wear. Overall we enjoyed the ports and glacier viewing. It was awesome! The naturalist (Mark), on board who narrates and provides mini presentations on the Alaskan land and wildlife to enrich your experience with excursions and what you see was superb!! Embarkation, transfer to lodge and hotel without having to worry about luggage was perfect. The only concert was onboard activities and shows. These seemed to cater to a specific age level and though others could participate, these onboard activities were very sedintary and not relateable to ALL on the ship. Inside of the ship is dreary. All employees were beyond terrific with each and every interaction. I might consider Princess in the future but will critically look at the details of the ship before booking. Read Less