Our family group of 16 just got off the Grand Princess after ten wonderful days in Alaska and Victoria. This was my second time to Alaska and it was just as fun as the first. This time we went to the newer port, Icy Strait Point, and Tracy Arm Fjord (although too much ice prevented us from going there so we went through Endicott Arm instead). We had warm weather and sun in all of our Alaska ports, which was weird since we were expecting cloudy rainy weather. We finally got cooler cloudy weather in Victoria. Our raincoats, umbrella, hats and gloves that we had packed were never used. Coming from 100 degree weather in the Sacramento area, we were hoping for cool weather but it was definitely easier on our shore excursions to have clear weather, and the sun made for nice pictures.

Boarding in San Francisco was easy. We arrived at the port at around 11am after parking in the 55 Francisco Street parking garage (on the Princess website). We were able to get one of the self parking spots on the first floor and keep our key (otherwise it is valet parking only). It is a short walk to the ship from there. We are Elite so we were able to fly through the boarding lines and waited until noon in the preferred boarding lounge. My teens were happy to see donuts and muffins in there - they had already gone three hours with no food. During the cruise my sixteen year-old son in particular ate enough for all 16 of us. We definitely got our money's worth with him.

Originally I had booked balcony cabins, but eventually decided that a tub and sitting area would be better for my parents, who were booked next door to us. My husband, three kids, and I had two connecting mini-suites on Dolphin deck and they had the one by us. We loved the mini-suites, they are worth the upgrade cost. The balconies are uncovered but here is where the sunny weather was again a bonus because we could sit out there anytime during our cruise. I didn't really notice the other balconies looking down on us, and they were looking at the views anyway. If you need your balconies connected, ask your steward when you board and they will do it first thing. The door does bang around in rougher seas so we propped it up with the deck furniture. Our steward was Alan and he was great. We don't ask for much, just extra towels once in awhile. We never used our free laundry (I did a few loads in the laundromat at the end of the cruise) or shoe shine or appetizers on formal nights (we are picky eaters). We did enjoy the free mini-bar set up, which we swapped out for 36 bottled waters that lasted us the whole cruise. My daughters liked the upgraded bathroom amenities (hair conditioner, loofah, sunblock stick, etc.) and we really lucked out with the priority tendering in Juneau and with priority disembarkation at the end. Read more