Our Alaska Vacation Sun Princess Vancouver to Whittier July 26 to August 2, 2004
What a fantastic vacation! We cruised from Vancouver to Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, College Fjord and finally to Whittier. We were busy from sun up to sun down (and that is a LONG time during an Alaskan summer) with activities. The scenery was amazing. We were pampered and stuffed with food. We saw LOTS of wildlife. And just had a wonderful time. A little about us: We are in late 20s and were one of only 4 couples I saw the whole cruise our age. We enjoyed it but if you are looking for a party this probably wouldn't be the cruise for you. (My husband says go Carnival for more of a "spring break" trip.) Mostly this is just an overview of what we did - what was great - what wasn't. Hopefully it will help you.
Vancouver Day 1: We drove to Cedar Rapids to catch our flight. Had to leave the house at 4:30 AM ouch! Princess arranged our flights. Took Northwest Airlines into Minneapolis and on to Vancouver. Easy and hassle free. Arrived around 11AM. The airport is very pretty. Not a lot of signs pointing you in the right direction but easy to figure it out. Headed to customs which didn't take long at all. They gave us the forms to fill out on the flight so you just had to show them your paperwork and ID. We didn't wait in line more than 10 minutes. Then we headed to the baggage claim area. We weren't SURE Princess would pick up our luggage because we had not purchased transfers thru them. We waited around at the luggage area and looked for a Princess representative. There was not one in site. Finally I asked one of the guys waiting to help with luggage. He said as long as you attached those bright colored princess tags that they gave you to the luggage they will take it. They send the tags along with your tickets. We had attached them and so we headed out to the exit. On the way we did pass a Princess rep. and guess what? Saw our luggage in a stack they were sorting thru so we knew they had it under control. One less thing to worry about. I think they should have had a rep at the baggage claim area considering how many people were waiting there. We walked to the exit and asked security what the best way to get to the dock was. They have taxis, limos, and buses. We took the bus. It was $24 Canadian. We gave them a $20 US and left it at that. The bus drove all around the city dropping people off. If you were in a huge hurry a taxi would be better but we had lots of time so enjoyed seeing a little bit of the city. Arrived at the dock/convention center (Canadian Place) around 11:45. It was a warm day and I was glad I wore shorts since it took awhile to get on the ship. Walked around and looked at a few things but we were loaded down with our carry on bags so we decided to get on the ship. 12:30ish Again there were no signs telling you where to go (since they prefer you buy your transfers thru them I guess.) We found it easy enough... followed the direction that a Princess buss went into the lower area of the convention center. Then the waiting began. You had to get in line to arrange payment for onboard purchases, that was fairly easy and the line was about 15 mins (this was at noon it gets longer later in the day). Then the LONG line thru customs. It did take awhile (1hr or so) and they said it gets worse. They do have chairs so you don't have to stand that whole time. Then they snap your picture (PLEASE NO I've been up since 4AM) and you are FREE! We bought a soda stamp right away. 22.50 for soda anytime for the whole trip was a good deal for us. Some people say to only buy one since they don't check the name when you go to get a drink. We bought two so we could both have soda at dinner and could get two sodas at once. It was worth it for us. We unpacked and went to get lunch at Horizon Court. Horizon Court is the Buffet and is open pretty much 24 hrs. We found the food there adequate and plentiful. It is not gourmet but any stretch of the imagination. Most of the time I tried a little of everything then found one I really liked and went back and got that. I am not a super picky eater but there was a lot I didn't like. The omelets at the breakfast bar were horrible and I can't figure out why. I think because they only offered one kind of stringy white cheese and they weren't generous with it. I like cheese. I should have asked for American or cheddar - they would probably go find you some - I was lazy and just ate what I found on the buffet. Again this is not the best food on the ship but then it is a buffet. There was at least one thing I really liked each meal so I was happy with it. And then.... embarkation. We watched the ship leave the dock and watched the scenery for awhile. The scenery was beautiful. After awhile it was time for dinner.... We went to the formal dining room all but one night. It is definitely the best food even for breakfast/lunch. We had wonder service when we were in the dining room - Flavio from Mexico and his assistant waiter from Poland. They were terrific! Ask your waiter for suggestions about the best food for the day. Flavio always gave us great suggestions. I guess after seeing people try stuff over and over they know what will be a hit. He also would bring us extra stuff to try - entrees, appetizers, desserts all the time. It was fantastic. Such wonderful service. We were very pleased. There were a few dishes I didn't like but just ordered something different! Dessert was terrific every day. We had fixed seating 8PM. We haven't tried the "personal choice" dining but feel the fixed was best. We had the same waiter every night and he quickly figured out what we would like. I talked to several people on board who were doing personal choice. Some loved it. Some did not. You have to make "reservations" for what time you would like dinner. There was still always a line when I walked past that dining room (it was not the same one as fixed seating) I would hate to have to wait in line on a cruise so I'm glad we decided to do fixed seating. We picked late dinner so that when we were busy with activities we could still eat. I think next time we would do earlier dinner. We were always too tired and full to do anything after dinner. Also if we wanted to eat later you could make reservations (before 5pm) for the other dining room. (although I heard it was hard to get in at the time you want). I still think fixed dining is best. After dinner we went off to bed. We paid for the cheapest inside cabin and got several upgrades. Still stuck inside but we got a room designed for three people. Not sure how much bigger it was since the third bed was a bunch. It was tiny as all cruise cabins are but we didn't mind since you don't spend a lot of time there. The bathroom was also ok and shower was adequate size. We had a small desk and dresser in our room. The desk was great since we brought our laptop (needed it for digital camera). Another note on the cabin - We brought a power strip. That was the best tip anyone gave me! The room has ONE plug (not a single outlet with two plugs.) just one! With laptop, two cameras and a video camera to charge as well as my curling iron we needed that power strip! And that was our first day. The weather for the whole week was supposed to be rainy. We did have a lot of rain but had fun anyway.