We chose Princess Cruise Lines because our travel agent told us they had the best reputation for Alaska cruises. The scenery was fantastic, the shore excursions were pleasant, the steward for our cabin was GREAT. The ship seemed to be older, but clean. At one point, there were whales off the starboard side and there was an announcement made to that effect. The casino was a blast. The only real shipboard activity we experienced were several trivia tournaments (We were terrible!), and they were a lot of fun.

We did a shore excursion in each port except Victoria. The Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau was gorgeous and well worth the money, as was the aerial tram. In Skagway, we took the bus tour over the White Pass, and the driver was great. He told us about the history of the area, and stopped lots of times for picture taking. The scennery was fantastic. In Ketchikan, we took the duck boat tour, and really enjoyed that. The captain was funny, and the tour guide let us know all about the town, then answered any questions we had.

Our only real complaint was with Princess definition of the term "anytime". We took the anytime dining option because we didn't want to be tied down to eating at the same time everyday, or eating with the same people if we didn't care for them (Or if they didn't care for us). EVERY TIME went went to eat in one of the two dining rooms that were supposed to be serving food for anytime dining, we were told we would have to come back after 7 pm. In the leaflet they gave us daily, informing us of what would happen the next day, one of the dining rooms was listed as "anytime dining from 5 pm-9 pm". When we went down there at 6 pm, we were told they couldn't seat us until after 7. There were plenty of empty tables, but, according to the hostess they were full until after 7. If you called to make a reservation for the next day or later in the same day, they always "had nothing until after 7." We ended up eating in one of the dining rooms TWICE in seven nights. Now, we WERE allowed to eat in the buffet, but that was NOT the same food we had in the dining room. For some reason, the people who had traditional dining were placed ahead of we people who had so-called anytime dining. We paid the same price for the cruise as the traditional diners, but were refused the same service. Read more