There were a total of six of us traveling--four of us (me, husband, daughter 13, and son 9)in one room, and my parents in another. PrincessAir provided the travel to/from the cruise. We flew in on NWA the day of the cruise (I don't recommend this!) Our first flight was cancelled, so NWA bumped us to First Class (I do recommend this!) We arrived in Anchorage around 3:00 to find one of our suitcases missing due to NWA using someone else's luggage tag on our garment bag (with all our formals, of course!). The Princess agent at the ANC airport was very helpful and explained we'd get the suitcase in Skagway, which we did. The transfer to Whittier was long--the tunnel really slows down the trip. Our busdriver was cheerful and gave good info about the area during the drive. She also drove us through a wildlife preserve along the way to pass the time til we could get through the tunnel. Embarkation was relatively painless--a long line, but moved along fine, and in about 15 minutes we had our stateroom keys and were on board by about 6 p.m.! Our room was a balcony stateroom on Baja, portside. There were four of us. I definitely don't recommend squeezing four into a regular stateroom. When the beds were down, the room felt tight. Kids enjoyed their bunks, though, and I found the beds to be quite comfortable. We each had two pillows and there was no need for the eggcrate toppers. The duvet was heavenly. We used our balcony a lot--especially in the mornings while sipping room service coffee and taking in the scenery. BTW, my husband and I enjoyed the coffee very much--but we did doctor it up with cream and sweetner. We thought the Princess service to be overall fantastic. Our dining staff (Mario and Javier) were personable, friendly, and attentive to our every need. Very professional, yet warm. Passenger Services was great--Ana provided a tux and a dress shirt for my husband and me free of charge when we told her our suitcase with our formals had been delayed. Our cabin steward Mark was efficient and hardworking--and he provided a couple of towel animals for the kids upon request! Overall, we enjoyed the food. Some dishes were just okay (sorry, I really can't think of any off hand), and others were amazing (scallops, tiramisu, crab legs, seafood and sushi buffet, chilled pear soup, chocolate buffet, afternoon tea...) There probably wasn't anything I'd rate 5 star, but I'm very happy with any meal that I don't have to prep, cook, or clean up after! We didn't use the soda cards--and it seemed that some wait staff weren't overly concerned as we weren't always charged for the sodas we did order. We enjoyed the entertainment venues we visited, which included the juggler, the stand-up comedian (very funny), Duncan Tuck (great guitarist!), and the lounge singers in the Wheelhouse bar.

A rough idea of our itinerary: July 30--Sailaway. We checked out the kids' centers--staff were friendly and helpful. My kids spent a lot of time in Shockwaves and Remix. They made friends and had a lot of fun. July 31--College Fjord. Got up early (thank goodness for room service coffee!) to enjoy the scenery. Enjoyed the views from our balcony. This was our first formal night--and although Princess loaned us formalwear as our luggage had been delayed, it didn't fit my tall husband. We weren't sure whether we should go to dinner wearing just our smart casual outfits, so we talked to the head waiter who was most accommodating--he invited us into the dining room and told us to enjoy ourselves. Aug. 1--Glacier Bay. Amazing. The day started off cold and blustery (spent some time on the front deck off the Baja hallway--brrr!) but ended up warm and sunny. My son was able to swim in the outdoor pool while icebergs and glaciers surrounded us. We had a table on the Lido deck and enjoyed beers and the seafood buffet while watching the beauty of nature pass us by. We also spent a good deal of time on our balcony. I was able to spot (with my binoculars) two bears on the shoreline this day. Aug. 2--Skagway. We did the Sled Dog/Musher's camp in the morning. Toby was our driver/guide--he was delightful. We enjoyed the quick but thrilling ride on the dog "sled", and the puppies were adorable! Best of all, we were able to get up close (okay, about 100 feet away) with a grizzly bear cub. And another black bear crossed our path on the bus. Later that day we took the Evening Wildlife Expedition, where we saw bald eagles and went on a nature hike in a lovely state park. We also had time to do some shopping and wandering around this interesting little town. Aug. 3--Juneau. We did the Mendenhall Glacier/Salmon Hatchery/Salmon Bake tour. Mendenhall is not to be missed. The salmon hatchery was interesting, but some might be disturbed by the sight of near-dead salmon being clubbed. And then to follow that up with a salmon bake is a bit disconcerting! This was our second formal night--had some wonderful pictures taken. All those expensive photos really shot up our cruise charge! Aug. 4--Ketchikan. We enjoyed the Lumberjack show--got tickets ourselves instead of through Princess (we used Princess for all other excursions.) Ketchikan was my favorite town--quaint, great shopping--just seems like a fun place. Aug. 5--At sea. Overall, the sailing was very smooth--but we felt a little bit of choppiness after we left Ketchikan. I was looking forward to this last day of nothing--but really, there's so much to do onboard that I sometimes felt it hard to relax. Aug. 6--Disembarkation. No big deal--we had booked a tour of Vancouver for the morning, so we were off the ship by 8:45 after our last breakfast in the dining room. The bus tour was informative--I'd like to go back to Vancouver to really explore the city. The tour ended at the airport, where we boarded our plane around 3:30.

Overall, Princess impressed me with their service and attention to detail. Most Princess employees seemed to enjoy their jobs and more importantly, seemed to enjoy doing their job well. Alaska is a beautiful, wild and remote state. The cruise was a great way to see these towns that are otherwise not connected (by road, anyway) to the rest of the state.