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Friday, 01 April 2011

An Anniversary for the ages

Pre cruise: We flew into Seattle a day ahead of time and stayed at the Executive Pacific Hotel. Transportation from the airport to the hotel was easy. We had planned to take the light rail but once we arrived we decided that we are on vacation and need not work that hard. So we jumped in one of the many shuttles and $32 dollars and 25 mins. later we were at the front desk of our hotel. It was early so our room was not ready yet, the desk clerk checked out bags and off to Pikes market we went. As promised it was a rather easy walk down (coming back is another story). We were told that the best chowder was at pikes chowder house. WOW !!!! I have been to San Francisco and I have to say that the chowder at Pikes gives any chowder house in San Francisco a run for it's money. We walked around and got excited even more when we saw the ship at pier 66. We decided to look for a bottle or 2 of wine to take on board. There was a nice little local market at the end of Pikes that had a great selection. We headed back up to the hotel and like I said this was a whole different story. The walk up was strait up hill. I kept looking for a petty cab but there were none to be found. When we got back to the hotel our room was still not ready. We sat for about 45 mins. waiting for a room before one came ready. The room was small, about the same size as our room on the ship but without the great view. The hotel is rather dated and you can tell from the staffs attitude that they know it. I don't know if we are insane or just looking for punishment but after dinner we went back down the hill to what I think was called pier 56. We looked around and did some shopping. My wife and I both had to have the most tourist jacket you will ever see. Then back up the hill we went. Wow those hills are huge.

Embarkment: We checked out of the hotel at 10:30 and headed to the pier with a shuttle the hotel set up for us. It was $20 for my wife and I. It took about 1o mins. to get to the pier and another 20 to wait in the row of cars to get out of the shuttle. The driver said that the boat had come in late and that they were still unloading. Once we were dropped off it took about 5 mins to find a valet to take our bags and off to check in we went. My wife described it like waiting for a ride at Disneyland. I think Disney land could learn a thing or two from Princess. As we got into the terminal we were greeted and directed up the escalator to security. The standard check for things that go Boom. As soon as we passed that check there was another agent welcoming us and asked us to fill out the 2 question health questionnaire. Then off to the real check in. We waited a whole 13 seconds before we were offered and agent that scanned our passport, ran our credit card, and gave us out cruise cards. Then she directed us to the line to her right and told us they would begin boarding shortly. By the time we go to the line, they were boarding. We went outside and had a brief moment to wait before the line began to move again. I was barely able to get a picture and on to the Ship we went. I think there must have been 37 people that welcomed us to Princess. So up the gangway we went and onto the ship where we had our first picture taken then onto the elevator and up to the Baja Deck. As we got off the elevator there was another person welcoming us and directing us to our cabin. From the time we found the valet to the time we got to our room was a total of 23 mins.

The ship: The best way to put it would be, WOW !!! Our room was perfect. I know that I have read about how the rooms are small and that the bathrooms are tiny. I felt that our room was just right. It did get a little tight when my wife and I would try to both get in the closet at the same time but for the most part it was fine. I spent plenty of time on the balcony and that had ample space. Within the first 30 mins our room steward introduced himself and asked if there was anything we needed. I asked for an ashtray and 2 wine glasses and before I was able to thank him they were in the room and he was gone. Our room attendant was like a ghost, He was there all the time but yet we never really saw him. Since we go on early my wife and I decided to go check out the buffet. It was good but not great. I now understand what others had said about the set up being a bit of a mess. I think more than anything it was just small for that many people. While in line we were approached by a server selling wine tasting for the next night. We declined and he moved on. I had been expecting to be battered by the individuals pushing things but I did not see that the entire trip. After lunch we wonder the ship trying to make ourselves familiar with the layout. In the early afternoon we met up with the formal tour and wander our way through the ship. We sailed our right on time and began our journey.

First full day at sea: We woke up way to early and our bodies did not get the memo stating that we were on vacation. I had read on here that one of the must do's is to see a sunrise and a sunset at sea. WE did both EVERY single day. We began our day with a trip to the buffet to get our first 2500 calories in. This is where I have to gripe for a min. sorry. Of all the things that Princess does so well breakfast is not one of them. I have read how bad the coffee is and OMG it was even worse than I had expected. Second, the food on the buffet was hit and miss on whether it was hot or cold. Let me go on to say that the worst part of the cruise was the breakfast so needless to say the cruise was awesome. Sadly, Princess just does not do a good breakfast buffet. Later in the week we went to the international dining room for breakfast and it was a 150 times better. Even the coffee was better. Moving on, we had a great time at sea. My wife had been seasick in the past and was afraid that she would be ill again. The ship was so smooth that we barely ever felt the boat rocking. We did some shopping, the casino, a nap, and some trivia (I think my brain did get the memo about us being on vacation). Dinner tonight was fabulous. The service was second to none and we were both amazed at how everything was just flawless. We went to the dance show in the Princess theater and well it was good but not our cup of tea. The comedy shows on the other nights were great.

Ketchakan: We arrived right on time, (Let me just get this out of the way, we were always on time) and had booked our shore tour through Princess. We did the Lumberjack show and Totem Bights. I know it sounds cheesy but the lumberjack show was great. We enjoyed to informative ride to the totems and the tour around the park. After the tour my wife decided that she needed some jewelery. We popped into a few stores to see what they had to offer. By the way, the on ship "shopping guide" it is a hour and a half long infomercial. Back to our shopping. We for the most part avoided the shops that the "shopping guide" recommended and went to the smaller shops. You could tell that it was the end of the season. The selection was still good but they were willing to deal. We were able to get a $1100 pendant for $300. After shopping we headed over to Creek Street and had a nice authentic meal at Alaska's finest chinese restaurant. After that we caught the salmon running upstream and then headed back to the ship. We headed out for Tracy Arm and the wife and I enjoyed yet another amazing dinner. We ate way tooooooooo much but it was oh so good.

Tracy Arm / Juneau: We pulled into Tracy Arm as the sun was coming up. The views of the Glaciers were awesome. I am not sure if we got as close to the glacier but I know we were as close as the captain was going to take us. There was a naturalist on board that gave a talk as we sailed in the Arm. We had out TV on listening to her while we sat on our balcony and watched the ice float. I can't imaging Alaska without a balcony, We must have spent 25 percent of our cruise out there enjoying the scenery. When we arrived in Juneau we did the Mendenhall Glacier and Whale watching quest. The Glacier was amazing to get so close up and walk the path to the waterfall. We were only there for about an hour before we headed out to the dock to meet Allen Marine. The boat was not too small and not too big. It could hold about 70 people but there were only about 45 on our tour. We started off slow and were getting a little worried that the whales were going to be hard to find. We would see on off in the distance and when we would get there for a closer look it was gone. The captain pointed out a few eagles and we went by this island that was full of sea lions (hundreds). Then he took us to this spot where we found 3 whales and boy did they get close. The captain turned off the boat while we were floating there enjoying and all of the sudden a whale came up right next to the boat. It was amazing. On the way back to the Sapphire Princess we came across our first experience of Alaskan rain. (oh yeah, Ketchikan was 67 degrees and sunny) It rain long enough for the driver to turn on his windshield wipers for 2 cycles then it was done. We got back on the ship about 9 and had another great meal. A hot dog from the grill, I know you are cracking up right now but I have to say it was the best hot dog I have ever had. It paired very well with the wine we brought on board.

Skagway: We met the train right next to the ship and up the hill we went. This was a nice tour but I would recommend taking the later train as the clouds were still low and it blocked some of our viewing. After the train ride we had lunch at the Skagway Fish company. We had some very nice Alaskan king crab that had been flown in and a great Alaskan beer. Then off to find some more jewelery. My wife decided that she needed some earrings to match her new pendant. Once again we were able to bargain with the shop keeper and got a $700 set of earrings for $175. As a treat for negotiating my wife bought us a block of fudge and back to the ship we went.

Full Day at sea: We slept and we slept and well we slept some more. It was so nice to get 3 naps in on the same day. We did get up in time to do the formal dinner. We had to have our pictures taken but the photographers were not pushy at all. We had to come to them instead of them following us all around. At dinner we had an amazing lobster tail and prawns followed by baked Alaska. It was so nice to see most people dressed up and then there were the few that thought a Hawaiian shirt and jeans was the right attire for formal night on an Alaskan cruise. We did spend a lot of time in jeans and sweaters just not at dinner. To each their own.

Victoria: My wife and I elected to stay on board and pack versus go ashore. After packing we rewarded ourselves with a nice bottle of wine followed by a trip to the bar to enjoy another 4 or 5 drinks. Let's just say we had a good time.

Overall I would rate the cruise a 9.8. We saw everything we had hoped to, enjoyed some of the finest food out there. We bought the pictures from the formal nights and they had a great package that when you buy 5 they give you the 6th free and a online story book that you can upload your own picture in. I forgot to go more into our room steward, sadly I don't know his name. He is awesome, one day my wife and i took a nap, after we woke up we went out on the balcony for a smoke. When we came back in the bed was made and he was gone. Another time we walked away from the room for 10 mins to go look at the pictures, when we came back the room was made up. All of the staff on the ship did everything they could to make this the cruise of a lifetime. We got home on Monday and are already starting to plan our next cruise.