This was my first cruise. I chose Princess because I was told they are the best for Alaska cruises. Everyone I spoke to extolled how wonderful Princess cruises are. Well, I was really disappointed.

So the good stuff first: the staff was excellent, Alaska does not disappoint, all of our excursions were wonderful, the entertainment was great!

Now the bad stuff: the furnishings in our room were really worn out, the hallway to our stateroom smelled like sewer more often than not, twice I saw ceilings leaking in our hallway, the elevator area near our room smelled like insecticide frequently, the ship is not set up to accommodate wheelchairs - probably only 20% of public area doors had automatic wheelchair openers, I thought the food was awful - over cooked, tough, with no flavor. I was really surprised by the food. Everyone talks about how good the food is on princess cruises. I see other reviewers who sailed around the time I sailed commenting that the food was good. What?!?!? I live in the middle of Illinois and we have better seafood than a cruise ship in Alaskan waters. That's sad. Read more