My Thoughts About My Princess Alaska Cruise

 

I’ve done a CI Living TV segment, three stories, and nine blogs on my Princess cruise and there are a few more articles to come, but I wanted to put together a summary for all of those thinking about going on a cruise to Alaska.


Here’s a breakdown of my opinions:

The Ship

I have always preferred small ships and my previous two cruises on American Cruise Lines and Seabourn were just that. Alaska didn’t work out with those, and I was anxious to give Princess a try. A mega ship was out of the question, but the Royal Princess, a mid-sized ship with about 3,500 guests, seemed doable.

It turned out to be just that. The ship was spread out enough that I never felt crowded, and we didn’t really wait for much (except at the Gelato Shop where there was always a big line). The only times I wished I was on a smaller boat was when we were waiting a long time for an elevator.

The embarkation and debarkation went better than any of the other large ships I have been on.


The Cabin

We had cabin D302, and it was an accessible balcony cabin. It was much bigger than I expected, with plenty of room for me to get around it my scooter. The bathroom was also fully accessible. I did not get to tour any of the other cabins so I can’t compare.

My only complaint is a common one: a huge shortage of outlets. There is nothing to use in the bathroom and only two outlets (one European) by the desk. There are no outlets by the beds. I had brought a power strip (without surge protection) so that helped. (See more of my tips on what to bring here.)


The Food

We only went to the buffet once and found the cold food warm and the warm food cold. In my opinion, they had way too many options to keep up with all the food. We didn’t go back and there was no need to because food in every other dining option was great.

Most of our meals were in the main dining room, though we loved the International Café for a quick morning breakfast. We ate at Sabatini’s once and everything was absolutely fantastic. We also loved Alfredo’s and ate there twice. We were lucky enough to be invited to the Chef’s Table and that is an experience you must do if you can get in.

The Nightlife

I can’t tell you much about the nightlife because we didn’t get to experience much. This cruise had us up very early in the mornings and we were just too worn out to go to any shows.


The Itinerary

If you are going to Alaska for the first time, I highly recommend the Inside Passage itinerary. It gave us a nice sampling of the state. The biggest draw for me was the day sailing around Glacier Bay National Park.

My only issue with the itinerary was that we didn’t get into Victoria, Canada, until 9:00 pm and were only there until just before midnight. I know there was an issue with slowing down after Ketchikan because of the whales, but I hope Princess is able to adjust the cruise for more time in this beautiful British Columbia city.

Wheelchair accessibility

I did not have any issues with accessibility on the Royal Princess. They could use some more automatic doors—the ones they had worked well---but opening some doors was the only issue. I loved the Medallion app to use the bracelet to open my cabin door and to be able to order room service anywhere on the ship.

There was an area in the main dining room to put scooters and wheelchairs if you wanted to sit in a chair (I was able to at the time), and tables were accommodated for those who pulled their chairs in. I saw a good selection of handicapped bathrooms. There were also accessible tours at every port.

 

 

Final Thoughts

Would I do this cruise again? Probably not for a few years, but I would certainly do another itinerary on the Royal Princess.

 

Blogs on my trip on the Royal Princess to Alaska

(from first day to last)

 

Visiting Seattle Before Going Aboard My First Princess Cruise

 

All Aboard the Royal Princess to Alaska

 

A Day on the Pacific Ocean with Royal Princess

 

Finally in Alaska: A Day in Juneau

 

Discovering Skagway with Princess Cruises

 

Royal Princess Sails Through Glacier Bay National Park

 

Exploring Ketchikan, Alaska

 

Victoria is the Last Stop on the Royal Princess

 

Leaving Our Princess Cruise and Back in Seattle

 

A big thank you to Princess Cruises for hosting us on this adventure.

Brittany and I had an unforgettable time.

Leaving Our Princess Cruise and Back in Seattle

After a week on the Royal Princess, it was time to leave. Sometimes I am anxious to get off a ship—especially in hot weather when my only escape is a too cold ship. This was not the case during our voyage to Alaska.

Everything had gone pretty much according to plan and Princess Cruises had treated us very well.

We had to get up very early to have breakfast and get the last of our carry-on packed up and ready to be off by about 9:00 am. We had decided, instead of rushing to the airport, we’d take an 11:30 pm flight home and explore more of Seattle.

The Hilton Motif had generously agreed to let us spend the day and have dinner before heading to the airport. I had taken advantage of Seattle’s excellent Port Valet program, so we didn’t have to worry about our luggage.

 

Brittany and I went to the dining room for our final breakfast. The food and service were as good as usual, even though it was clear the staff needed to get everything turned around quickly for the arriving passengers on the next cruise.

I also pre-arranged an accessible van to pick us up and take us to the hotel. It was running late so we did have to wait outside for a while, but there was no rush. The Hilton Motif was only a few minutes away from the pier.

The hotel had a modern feel, and we were welcomed and invited to breakfast at their Frolik restaurant. By this time, it had been about four hours since our light meal on the ship, so we gladly accepted. We both had the pancakes with banana puree, and they were delicious.

Hilton Motif is just a couple of blocks from Pike Place Market, and then a short walk from there to the Seattle Aquarium, harbor cruises, the Great Wheel, and Miner’s Landing, a popular spot for restaurants and shops. We decided to start at the market.

We left our carry-on luggage at the hotel and Brittany walked aside me as I rode my scooter. It was a Saturday and it got quite crowded as we approached the market, especially where the original Starbucks was located. It didn’t seem to make sense to wait an hour to get the same cup of coffee we could get at home, so we headed across the pedestrian street to the actual market.

If you’ve never been to Pike Place Market (this was my third time), it can be overwhelming, especially on a crowded day. There is so much to see, and it goes off in various directions. We had more planned for our day, so we just went through the basics.

We purchased some souvenirs and watched them toss the fish at one of the vendors where you can see the freshest seafood you ever imagined. There are also vegetables that look just picked, flowers, arts and crafts, and small businesses selling just about anything you could imagine.

We still had more attractions left on our Seattle CityPass and decided to go to the Seattle Aquarium. It’s actually one of the smaller aquariums I’ve been to, but we saw exhibits on marine life that call Seattle home, including salmon. I was impressed with how many hands-on experiences they had for kids—and adults—to participate in.

After the aquarium, we decided to have lunch a block away at Miner’s Landing. To be honest, we were so hungry and ready to get out of the heat, we didn’t pay much attention to where we ate, but Wing Dome turned out to be very good. It was nice to be on the water with the breeze too.

We did some more shopping for gifts before heading back to the hotel. We were both really tired and I thought I might be coming up with a flare from a long week of activity. There was time to rest before our dinner.

Frolik Kitchen at Hilton Motif is on the rooftop. It is indoor and outdoor. We started with cocktails inside and then went outside to have dinner.

The menu was impressive, and we had plenty of time to enjoy it because our 11:30 pm flight had already been delayed until 12:30 am. We started with one of the biggest hot soft pretzels I’d ever seen. The Tavern Pretzel also came with a beer cheese fondue. I decided I’d better take most of it to go if I was going to eat any dinner.

 

I had a cranberry brie sandwich with homemade chips and Brittany went with the seafood pasta. We both loved our dishes. The dessert menu sounded great, but we weren’t hungry for more. We knew we had a long night and took a bread pudding and warm chocolate chip cookie sundae to go. Mine only made it about 15 minutes before I decided I couldn’t wait to eat it!

We got changed into comfortable clothes for our red-eye flight and waited for the accessible van to pick us up. We were understandably exhausted, but we also didn’t feel great. By the time we got to the airport, sick was a more accurate term.*

We managed to rest on the plane and get out of the airport for our two-hour ride home. As exhausted as I was, it was well worth the experience Brittany and I had over the previous nine days. She was hooked on cruising after her first time.

I want to thank Princess for all of their hospitality. I hope to be back on board with them in the near future.

 

 

I was hosted on this trip, but opinions are my own. 

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*It turned out we both had Covid. I got right on Paxlovid since I am immunocompromised and recovered in a few weeks, without major complications.

Exploring Ketchikan, Alaska

It was another early day as we arrived in Ketchikan. Brittany and I had a quick breakfast and coffees from the International Café before we got off the ship in this Alaska city.

We were once again going on separate excursions. I was doing the Historical Ketchikan & Creek Street Walking Tour, with my scooter. Brittany was doing Ketchikan Safari with a Local Photographer. We both learned a lot about this unique city and its history.

 

My guide was of Tlingit descent. They are one of the Indigenous peoples in the Pacific Northwest, mostly in Alaska and Canada. They are one of 229 recognized tribes in Alaska. He had lived in Ketchikan all his life. As we walked, he told us all about the colorful life of the city built on water. The streets are all built on trestles and stairs, with a 274-foot-long tunnel in the middle of town.

 

During the Gold Rush, this town was Alaska’s center of fun, with bars on every corner and legal prostitution. Many of the bars are still there and 18,000 cruisers, on an average day during the season, help support the 8,000 residents.

 

We walked along Creek Street. It was the former red-light district and now has the city’s only heated sidewalk. We saw the creek with salmon and harbor seals, and the houses built on stilts over the water. Then we went through the park and into the center of town. We saw Totem Poles in each place. They were beautiful, so delicately carved. He explained the meanings within them to us.

 

Some of the ground in Ketchikan was a little rough, and curb cuts weren’t in every place I wanted to cross the road, but I did get to see everything the rest of the group did with my scooter.

Brittany saw a lot on her tour of the downtown, where she got closer to the stream to see the salmon spawning. She also went to Totem Bight State Historical Park.

 

When our tours were done, we met at Jellyfish donut shop. I could easily say it’s the most popular spot in Ketchikan. The line outside continued throughout the day. It wasn’t accessible so Brittany went inside and picked us up a smoked salmon donut and a Reese’s donut. Both were delicious.

When we got back from Port, we decided to go up to The Sanctuary for relaxation and lunch. We had been invited to spend an afternoon and it seemed like the perfect time as we left the state of Alaska.

There was a pair of lounge chairs by the windows, and we sat down. It was a bit cool, but the staff brought us blankets and we wrapped them around us as we waited for our drinks and the lunch menu, which was different from any other food spot on the Royal Princess.

I chose a selection of fruit, granola, yogurt, and cottage cheese. Brittany had a chicken sandwich and fries. We watched the ship sail out of Ketchikan from our lounges.

We could not resist when they came around with Afternoon Tea an hour later. It was a daily tradition on the ship. The tiny sandwiches and pastries looked delicious, and they were. The tea was comforting as the wind was still blowing and it was a bit chilly.

 

It was Italian Night in the main dining room. We had still not opened the bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne we received the day we boarded, and we decided to take it with us for dinner. After everything we ate at The Sanctuary, we weren’t overly hungry, but as with most cruisers, which changed when we saw the menu.

I started with prosciutto and melon, while Brittany had a seafood antipasto. For the main course, it was risotto for me and chicken parmigiana for Brittany. Dessert was baked Alaska and cheesecake.

 

The night finished with a walk on the deck to see a beautiful sunset as we sailed away from Alaska. It was as fitting as the whales greeting us when we entered the state.

 

We would be at sea all the next day before an evening stop at our last port: Vancouver, Canada.

 Photos by Marcia Frost & Brittany Lambright.

I was hosted on this trip, but opinions are my own. 

 

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Royal Princess Sails Through Glacier Bay National Park

 

The main reason I chose this Inside Passage cruise with Princess was the full day exploring Glacier Bay National Park by ship. Glacier Bay is one of the least accessible national parks in the United States. With this itinerary, I would be able to see a lot of it from the Royal Princess.

Only a few cruise lines are able to spend a day going through Glacier Bay. It starts in the early morning when a boat arrives with park rangers. They stay on board until late in the afternoon, telling us about the park and everything we are seeing.

Brittany and I got up at 5:00 am. We had decided to start out with as much as we could see from our balcony. We pre-ordered breakfast and coffee delivered to our cabin, so we didn’t need to get out of our pajamas, but we did need to bundle up. We put on our sweatshirts and the warm blankets Princess Cruises supplies to take outside.

After enjoying 70+ degree temperatures in Alaska the previous days, we were starting this day in the 40s. It was also a cloudy so we were afraid we wouldn’t get to see everything. None of that upset us as we set ourselves up for the scenery in front of us. It did not disappoint.

There are no words to describe what we saw, which included whales, sea lions, sea otters, glaciers, waves, and mountains. We also saw some of these breaking as ice melted and went into the water. This has been happening a lot the last decade as our planet warms.  

As we went through the glaciers it continued to get colder. We put on layers and even took out hats, scarves, and gloves. When it got colder and the ship was in a quiet area, we decided to take a break to get pizza from Alfredo’s.

We were still able to watch Glacier Bay from the window and listen to the ranger. The warm, fresh pizza was as delicious as it was on the first day of our cruise.

After we ate, we went up to the theater where the rangers had set up information and were on hand to answer questions and stamp National Park Passports. They also had some merchandise for sale.

We left Glacier Bay National Park around 3:00 pm and it was time to shower and get ready for a very special night. We were honored to receive an invitation to the Chef’s Table Lumiere dinner. You can request it before you sail, but the odds are not good. It is something only done once a cruise and only a half dozen people on the ship are invited to join.

When we arrived in the bar area of the Crown Grill, Executive Chef Fabrizio Fazzini and Director of Restaurant Operations Paul Ciobanu were waiting for us. They had an amuse-bouche of an Alaskan Crab Margarita with avocado and mango waiting along with glasses of one of my favorite champagnes, Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label.

 

The chef then took us on a tour of the kitchen, which is actually an entire floor. He told us about the thousands of dishes prepared for each meal. Everything was sparkling clean throughout.

We then headed to our seats. The table setting was magnificent. Wine was poured throughout, including more champagne, Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, Nikiara by Le Vigne, and an Oremus Late Harvest at the end.

Here is the menu of courses:

Salmon Gravlax and Caviar

 
Fois Gras on Toasted Brioche
 
Seafood Bisque with Brandy Cream
 
Entremet of Lemon Sorbet & Champagne

 
Roast Salmon Fillet (for Brittany)
Veal Oscar  (for me)

 
Lemon Mousse
Chocolate box

See more details about our special dinner on this video I put together…

The gluttony continued when we returned to our room to find a note from Chef Fazzini and Director Cioubanu with petite fours and more wine. We didn’t get too far with it as we were so full from the exquisite meal.

It took a while to fall asleep after all that food, but we knew we needed rest for another busy day as the Royal Princess sailed to Ketchikan, Alaska.

 

I was hosted on this trip, but opinions are my own. 

 

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Discovering Skagway with Princess Cruises

Our first day in Alaska was special, but I thought about the one we were going to have as the Royal Princess pulled into the waters of Skagway early in the morning.

We had coffee, breakfast sandwiches, and pastries at the International Café. Brittany was heading out early for her Animal Planet Exclusive Kroschel Wildlife Refuge excursion. I had a few hours and was anxiously waiting to see if my scooter could be repaired in time for me to go. The one the ship had let me borrow was too big to go on the tender.

I did use the loaner to take a ride in the scooter to the upper deck pool area.  It gave me a stunning view of Skagway despite the cloudy day.

I was told the scooter was ready and I took the tender to town. I knew it would be close and I did just miss my bus tour, however, a contingency plan was worked out. I would drive the scooter into town and spend the time looking around—and shopping for souvenirs—while I waited to catch up with my tour group.

Skagway is picturesque, with mountains peaking throughout the city. It also offers a lot to do just in the downtown, with small museums, many kinds of shops, and restaurants, including the infamous Red Onion Saloon. It was crowded and I didn’t have a lot of time to wait since I was going to meet my tour at the Days of 98 show.

I met the group at the theater downtown. The Days of 98 show was so much fun! There was a lot of comedy and some audience participation. Even the songs were hysterical. I could see why this show has been around since 1923.

When it was over, I got on the bus with my scooter and we took a short tour of Skagway on our way back to the port. 

                      

I took the tender back to the ship and rested for a bit. Brittany had been on a completely different Princess excursion. She took a boat to Mosquito Lake and then a bus to Haines, Alaska, to visit the Kroschel Films Wildlife Center.

At the refuge, Steve Kroschel homes orphaned wildlife, most of which are indigenous to Alaska and Canada. Creatures there include a snowy owl, silver and red foxes, a brown bear, and a lynx. They are accessible for guests to get up close with in small groups, while Kroschel tells them about each one.

She had stopped for lunch and a tasting at the Skagway Brewing company and some shopping before coming back to the ship. We arrived at about the same time.

We weren’t back on the ship long before it was time for a fun Princess Cruise exclusive, Puppies in the Piazza. A trainer comes onboard to explain mushing, which is more commonly known as dog sledding. He brought some of the puppies in training with him. Passengers were able to pet the dogs as they learned more about them.

As soon as the puppies left, the Royal Princess pulled out of Skagway. It was a short day and there was so much more that we didn’t get to do there, including the White Pass Railroad ride (Brittany got a  photo of it going by while she was in town) and Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park. I would definitely want to go back there on another trip to Alaska.

We were hungry and early for a special dinner. I had heard a lot of good things about Sabatini’s, the specialty  Italian restaurant on the Royal Princess, but it went beyond my expectations. Every dish was perfection, and that comes from a woman who is very particular about her Italian food.

We started with some bruschetta and cheese, arancini, and fresh warm rolls and focaccia, with glasses of Prosecco.  Then we went on to a four-course meal.

Antipasti
I had the Burrata and Brittany had Calamari and Shrimp

First Course
I had the Pappardelle Bolognese and Brittany had Lobster Tortelloni

Second Course
I had the Osso Bucco Milanese and Brittany had Lasagna Bolognese

Dessert
I had the Chocolate Bomb and Brittany chose an after-dinner drink

After we left Sabatini’s we spent a little time in the casino. There were no big wins, but we were too tired to play long. We were back to the cabin to crash early once again. We were both excited for our upcoming day going through Glacier Bay National Park. It was going to start bright and early, at 6:00 am. 

*Specialty restaurants are an extra charge unless you have the Premier Package, which includes two specialty restaurants per cruise.

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I was hosted on this trip, but opinions are my own.