Princess Cruises had a great reputation, and our travel agent recommended them for Alaska. Things didn't turn out as expected:

1. During the land portion of our trip to Alaska, we stayed in three different inns, one of which was the Mount McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge. We had many problems opening our room door with our room key at the lodge, for which we asked for assistance from hotel maintenance. When maintenance arrived, their master room key also failed to open our room door. The maintenance locksmith also had problems using his electronic tools (the batteries were insufficiently charged). When the door to our room was finally opened, we had very little time to gather our belongings in order to move to a new room, so some personal items were lost in the transfer. Further, the room to which we were transferred was not cleaned prior to our arrival: used towels were still on the bathroom floor, half-filled coffee cups were not removed, no clean towels were present. The maintenance people complained of being short-staffed and dealing with one issue after another at the lodge.

2. All three lodges reported insufficient staff, such as in the dining rooms. We had long wait times to be seated and receive service, and food orders were often incorrect when served. Additionally, some guests who were interested in off-site dining were sent to restaurants near the lodges (such as a steakhouse near the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge) which turned out not to be opened yet for the tourist season. Read more