A couple of months late but have only just found this site ( Checking up on our next cruise with Princess ) This was our first cruise with Princess , having been with Cunard before. However as an ex seafarer I am no stranger to the sea - or ships !! Flight BA to Vancouver from Terminal 5., upgraded to World traveller plus. A very smooth, organised flight. On arrival at Vancouver met by Princess rep and the usual 20 minutes ++ Delay awaiting the inevitable straggler. Off to the Westin Bayshore for 1 night. Couldn't believe the room overlooking the water with balcony and 2 huge windows. What a room and what a start to a holiday - Txs Princess. Embarkation was a drag as we went through US cusoms and over an hours wait. The princess reps were getting all non US citizens to write out green cards as a variety of places for entry into States were used on peoples ESTA's. We used the first port - Ketchikan. Who would have thought Vancouver was to be used. In the end the immigration official never bothered !! What a waste of time and paper. Had a balcony cabin that was very clean and spacious. Thought the bathroom was a bit tiny though Food was very good in the main restuarant. Used freedom dining and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of meeting various people. Majority were US and occasionally experienced problems i.e. Gum chewing, baseball hat, jeans and loud - on the same table. Buffet food was fairly good and never experienced a problem getting seats for breakfast or lunch. Entertainment was good on the whole not top notch but adequate I would say. Port lectures were rather poor and mainly a sales pitch for the shops. Never used the internet but heard it was slow / unavailable a lot of time. No problems getting a lounger - Not suprising as cool most of time. However plenty of space on top decks for glacier watching. Amazing how few people were around at the glaciers whereas ship was full !! The running commentry by rangers was superb as was their approachability on deck. Apart from Skagway we did our own thing in Ketchikan and Juneau. The tour prices are horrendously expensive ( Probably due to low exchange rate of 1.40 ) THe one thing common to all the ports is the over commercialisation regarding the shops. Get past this and the places are a joy to behold. Plus we were very lucky with the weather having little rain and glorious sunshine on Glacier Bay cruising day Ketchikan we walked around and found the boardwalk interesting. The shop selling all items gold on this boardwalk is truly amazing. Went up the small funicular railcar, visited the salmon hatchery and had a good day Juneau we walked around, took the Mt Roberts cable car in the afternoon when the low cloud had disappeared and took the bus to the Mendenhall glacier. All very interesting and had lunch at the truly amazing crab shack. Loads of bald eagles around Skagway - Took our only ship tour with the White Pass & Yukon route train up past the old miners route and a coach back. Nice lunch at the oldest joint in town. Then onto gold panning and gold dredge tour - first part naff but second part was interesting. After the tour we went to the small town museum and that was interesting also. Glacier Bay cruising - Highlight of trip with plenty of marine life - whales, sea otters, seals, etc. To see and hear glaciers " calving " was what we came for. College Bay cruising - Was rather a disappointment as much further away from glaciers and couldn't make much out - but plenty of marine life again and good commentry from the rangers. Whittier - Pouring with rain but we were starting a Princess land tour and so it was straight onto a train.

The land tour is another story but well worth it and we finished off with 3 days B & B in Seattle which was very enjoyable.

Overall a very interesting, worthwhile cruise. Only slight nark is the amount of paperwork we seemed to have to fill out at every corner - suprising in this computer dominated society Read more