My husband and I traveled to Alaska this July with my sister and her husband; my second trip/cruise and their first. Our vacation started out in Anchorage on July 15th. We flew from Sacramento to Seattle then on to Anchorage and arrived in the early afternoon. The airport was quite busy as people were arriving for several different cruise lines and all checking-in close together. After a short wait, the Princess outfitters were very helpful and got us on the correct bus to the downtown hotels. We stayed at the Captain Cook hotel and were pleased with the accommodations. We had time to explore the city a little, see a film about the Northern Lights at the Community Center, and eat dinner at the Brew House. The next morning we took a one hour trolley tour of the city (very informative) and saw a mother moose with her calf off the side of the road. Around noon we left on a bus for the Kenai Princess Lodge. The two and a half hour coach trip was comfortable and scenic.

We stayed two nights at the Kenai Princess Lodge. Our adjoining rooms were very comfortable. The wood burning stove is a quaint touch. We fired it up the first night but the fan was noisy and we were warmer than I prefer, so a fire for one night was enough. Our only complaint was that they did not provide coffee makers in the rooms; having said that, the staff was pleasant and accommodating. The lodge does provide, though, transportation around the grounds. All we had to do was to call the front desk for a van that would take us to/from our building (a little bit of a hike up a hill) or down to/up from the river (a rather steep road). Having the choice to either ride or walk was a nice luxury. The lodge itself is rustic and beautiful. We enjoyed the game and book selection, free internet, and the coffee bar. And we had dinner both nights at the informal bar (great music). We chose not to take any excursions at Kenai, but next time I would choose to take the Kenai Fjords tour because of the abundance of wildlife that can be seen from the boat.

The two and a half hour coach ride to the ship (July 18th) was pretty and the tunnel was fun. Embarkation in Whittier was smooth and quick. There was no-one there taking embarkation photos which was fine with us since it was rainy and we were anxious to board and get settled. The Sapphire Princess is as beautiful as the Diamond (the sister ship), but I did notice a couple of small differences in the layout especially in the placement of the restaurants (dining rooms) and the casino. The similarity helped me keep my bearings (most of the time). We had side-by-side balcony rooms on the Caribe deck (10), mid-ship on the starboard side. We used our balconies a lot! Our room steward, Ronaldo, opened the door between our balconies, brought us fresh fruit, ice for our coolers, plush bathrobes and slippers, egg crates for the beds and deck blankets. He was attentive to our coming and going and made up the rooms while we were out. Read more