Island Princess Review
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ANCHORAGE: First, please be there a day early if you are just doing the cruise. The ship leaves at 8pm, but you have to land at the airport by 4pm to make it thru the (one way every 30 minutes) tunnel. My sister was supposed to land at 1 pm, got delayed and landed at 6pm. She missed the ship and had to meet us 3 days later in Skagway. Now, Princess was wonderful. Helped her every step of the way and refunded her ship days, but plane hopping and hotels were absolutely not in the budget. We had trip insurance, but it doesn't cover mechanical problems with the plane, and the airlines have a 6 hr window before they comp you a hotel. Since she was only 5 hrs late, she had to do everything out of pocket. We are still irked at United for not putting her on a different airline which would have had her in Anchorage in time.
We were able to get there a day early. Stayed at the Captain Cook Hotel and had no complaints. In fact the beds were amazing! The black out shades were sufficient and we didn't need the sleep masks we brought. Dinner was at the Glacier Brewhouse. Highly recommend it! The food was perfect and I fell in love with the Denali Red microbrew. Drank it everyday of the land tour. All the Princess Lodges carry their beer. We also visited the Alaska Museum and enjoyed it very much.
FOOD: not that impressed with the sit down dinner. In fact, our last night we sent the steak back... It was tough, overcooked and had no flavor. The salmon was always good. My favorite was the pizza. In fact I ate it every lunch. The buffet had a good selection, but it was no better than other buffets I've eaten at. Not that impressed with the drink of the day either. Gave up after the second day. I purchased the kids soda card. Best thing ever. Now, I had to drink out of fish themed cup, but it was a double walled tumbler and came in handy. All you can drink soda, all you can drink milkshakes and malts, and all you can drink virgin cocktails which I enjoyed :). My sister purchased a coffee card. Not worth it. You basically got 1 drink free, but you had to drink 2 coffees a day and being in the ports all day, she just didn't drink that. She had 3 coffees left so she actually lost money.ENTERTAINMENT: we enjoyed the shows. Not the best singers, but the dancing was very good. There was a presentation by Shelley Gill on Iditarod dogs, Denali and other stuff. She was hysterical and very informative. Rangers came on board for Glacier Bay, and again.... Very informative.
Cabin Review
Balcony
Wonderfully view. Covered balcony was nice in the rain. I am so happy we got this room with the balcony. Beds were pretty comfortable, but the comforters need to be replaced. We used the third bed that pulled down from the ceiling. It was just as comfortable as the other beds but my pillows kept sliding thru the gap between the bed and wall. Getting up was no problem. Getting down the ladder took some practice, but by day 3 I was a pro. Tons of closet space for three people and enough hangers to go around. There were 3 shelves in the bathroom so our toiletries fit just fine. Luggage fit under the beds and in the closet. The shower is small. The curtain kept flipping out and we flooded the bathroom more than once. There is also 1 tiny shower shelf that will fit 1 body wash and the ships small shampoo and conditioner. Best tip I got was to bring the shower baskets that suction to the wall. And shaving your legs was challenging but doable if you turned the water off. Other than flooding the bathroom, LOVED IT! It's mid ship, so we had no traffic noise. Smooth sailing also. We didn't need the Dramamine we brought.