Grand Princess Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Perfect weather, amazing food and service. The first week was so peaceful and relaxing which is EXACTLY what we needed. The second week large groups ruined our dining room experience; loud and monopolized wait staff. Those that had adjoining, or even close proximity cabins, were loud, shouting back and forth so our peaceful balcony time was gone. We saw eagles, Dall’s porpoise, otter, seals, whale. Temperatures ranged from 13 to 27 with the average being 22. The only place we had cold, with showers, was Ketchikan.
GRAND PRINCESS
2600 capacity: Week 1 – 1107, Week 2 - 1400
Cabin Review
Cabin B630
Quiet, port side cabin with a small fully covered balcony and new carpet.
Ample storage and plenty of outlets, even one for my iPhone in the base of the bedside lamp.
Comfortable bed/bedding and Velcro on the curtains was a nice touch.
Nice smelling shower gel and air fresheners on the ceiling but no fan in the bathroom.
Shower temperature a little hard to adjust. Shampoo/conditioner combo, bar soap, facecloths.
Hand held shower head requested prior to boarding wasn’t done; changed immediately.
Very quick to rectify issues; plugged toilet and rattles on the balcony after turnaround cleaning.
Appreciated the ability to listen to the Ranger/Naturalist presentation on cabin TV.
Handy for Horizon Court but I think the location of D430 would be ideal since we rarely ate in Horizon Court so the central elevators would be more convenient.
Deck 12 was for quarantine. First week the star of the lumberjack show lived upstairs and we smelled pot on our balcony.
Port Reviews
Glacier Bay
Cruising Glacier Bay National Park is impressive. Bundled up on the balcony and taking breaks indoor early then just sweatshirts when the sun was on our balcony. By dinner you could see nothing due to fog and the ships horn was blaring.
Second week it was cloudy. The scenery didn’t compare to last week when the water was smooth as glass with brilliant blue skies and amazing reflections. The water was choppy, low hanging clouds and no reflections but once the clouds cleared I got some lovely pictures by focusing on the clouds and blue skies instead of the water. We saw seals basking on the ice flows and a whale blowhole.
Juneau
Best option for a post office. Hanger on the Wharf for lunch. Blackened Alaskan halibut tacos and breaded halibut wrap. $40 plus tip. We were off the ship from 9:30 - 1.
Second week we walked from 8-10:30. Seeing the humpback whale statue at Overstreet Park was well worth the 45 minute walk and there were a few photo ops on the way, including eagles. We saw eagles from the balcony.
Ketchikan
2 hours (7-9) was enough for us to see what we needed without too much walking.
We saw our first eagles which, along with Whale Park with its incredible rhododendrons and azaleas, were our favourites.
Skagway
Not very scenic from the dock. SMART bus ($5 all-day) which was well worth it. Saw Grizzlies General Store; the Walmart of Skagway, tourist information building made up of over 8800 pieces of driftwood; the most photographed building in Skagway. We were back on the ship in an hour. 27 degrees!!!
I did the Princess Skagway Focus on Photography excursion at 8:30 am. I was the only one wearing a mask and the guide, Dale super nice guy with a great sense of humour, was coughing. I was sitting beside him. Dale extended our tour by 1 hour but the walk up to Lower Reid Falls was up a steep incline and the location of the sun was not conducive to good pictures. Wish we’d skipped it.