Our group of 24 had a great week on the Island Princess. The ship was beautiful and very clean. This was the first cruise for most of us and we all are ready to go again! We used the Princess transportation and we met the representative at the baggage claim and they directed us to the bus to Whittier. We quickly boarded and were on our way.

Some of our group had done their own land tour before the cruise and it took them quite awhile on the bus to get down to Whittier. We visited the Wildlife Park and saw moose, eagles, etc. Our bus driver was great and was very informative. We got to Whittier around 5 pm and made it thru check-in quite quickly and then boarded the ship. We found our cabins and did a little exploration of the ship. Then we headed to dinner as we had the first seating. (We highly recommend the first seating as the second seating was always waiting to get in and the personal choice dining seemed a little hectic.) Only in Skagway do you stay in port during the dinner time and we did get a dinner reservation for that night that was later.

Our room steward was Merlyn and she was fabulous. She knew all of us by name and would always let me know when my son was in his cabin or if she had seen him lately. She even took a pair of his shorts that had ripped and sewed them. We had numerous tables at dinner near each other as we had such a large group. Both sets of wait staff were very good. They always were helpful on menu selection and kept bringing the food that we enjoyed. There was a 10 month old baby in the group and they would bring the jars of baby food on a silver plate for the parents to select. The crab leg night was awesome, they came ready to eat and we enjoyed the lobster night as well. We did eat one night in Sabatini's and had an excellent meal. Almost too much food. Be sure to let Princess know ahead of time if you have a birthday or anniversary in the group. The chocolate dessert you receive is excellent. Read more