Sapphire Princess Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,020 reviews

Alaska - Spectacular Cruise

Review for Alaska Cruise on Sapphire Princess
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ckellyne
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jul 2012
Cabin: Balcony

My wife and I have a number of friends or acquaintances we have met over the years in awe regarding the Alaskan cruise they took. This is a "big" destination for us, as we live in Atlanta and it is a long trip and major "investment" to take a trip like this. After reading the reviews from other cruisers and critics, we decided on a few "major" criteria items: 1) A balcony is a must, because of the spectacular views it was well worth the money to get the balcony for Glacier Bay National Park as well as each of the ports and while cruising at sea. It is far better than viewing through a window; 2) Start north, and cruise south - a read a critic review that the beauty is so incredible that if you start south and cruise north you end up having a let down as the beauty of the mountain / glacier landscapes is stunning and you have to "stop" and get off the ship. Cruising north to south (starting in Whittier, AK and cruising south to Vancouver (with a cruise day in Glacier Bay National Park) starts you off with spectacular views and then as you near civilization e.g. Vancouver, you are able to transition more easily; 3) select a cruise window of mid-July to mid-August since the cost of this trip was going to be high, we wanted to minimize the risk of "colder" weather as well as biting insects.

Our itinerary was fly into Anchorage and do a 3 day land package first. We stayed at the Captain Cook hotel for one night, we continued our land tour to overnight at the Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge and one night at Denali Princess Lodge in Denali via motor coach "bus". We then boarded a train from Denali National Park to Whittier, AK where our ship was a short walk away. The land tour went very smoothly and I would encourage anyone that has the time to take advantage of it. We did not take the extra day or two to go further to Fairbanks, and I'm glad we did not. We met several people on the cruise and I asked them the tell all question, "would you return to Fairbanks if given the opportunity?" Everyone we met that went to Fairbanks said "no", not worth the trip. Very small, not much going on, VERY rustic (more than Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge and Denali Princess Lodge. I would spend the time to go deep into Denali National Park on tours to see the wildlife vs. traveling to Fairbanks.

The train from Denali to Whittier was about 8.5 hours, yep - 8.5 hours! From Fairbanks, I believe someone stated it was closer to 12 hours. The train is very comfortable, you are assigned a train car and a table so no need to rush to get a seat as one will be assigned to you/your party and you are seated at table that has a bench seat on each side to accommodate 2 people each. The one thing I would suggest to you is to be sure you are seated in the direction the train is moving vs. watching the landscape pass you facing the back of the train. This is ESPECIALLY critical for anyone who suffers from motion sickness who must face forward when they travel. Thus, if this is important you'll want to board the train as soon as possible and claim your seat at the assigned table first. Keep your eyes open for moose, we say about 6 of them and you are more likely to see them within the first 2 hours of the train ride.

Cabin Review

Balcony

Cabin BA

Our Cabin was Caribe "deck 10" cabin 232 and was perfect, plenty of storage space in the closets, balcony was roomy, bed was fine and we had no external noise e.g. restaurants or clubs. I would book this cabin again if we had the opportunity.

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