Royal Princess Review
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Our first Princess cruise did not disappoint. We had a club class suite ob deck 12 with a wonderful balcony and a beautiful suite. Huge closet with many hangers and drawers with a safe. The bathroom was big and very nice. There was a long shelf under the sink for all your extra things and bags. The tub was deep and really nice as was the shower. Our new luxury bed was exactly that. Wow it was so comfortable after a long day it was a joy. The ship was bigger than I thought and beautiful. Many things to do every day. The food was great but we also had a club class dining room with our own menu. We had lobster several times, filet mignon, beef wellington, lamb chops, king crab and more. The pizza on the pool deck was amazing as were the burgers, hot dogs and fries. For these you had to wait in a long line as they only cook a few at a time. The free ice cream was very good and they have an attendant that fixes you ice cream for you so that kids don't fool around with the machines. I thought this was excellent ! The service was impeccable. Some of the entertainment was great. The first night with the "Encore" singers was mostly opera and not to my taste. The games were fun and the cruise director Matt O was fun to work with. The International Cafe was open 24/7 and the service was excellent. Many coffee drink, hot and cold plus pastries and food for every meal time and late night. We took a Princess Whale excursion along with Mendenhall Glacier visit which both were fabulous. The walk to the ports was a bit long and long long walk ways . We had very good weather all week too. The ship was sold out so it was very busy and active. Lots of kids running around unsupervised, which I disliked. The photo's we got turned out good. we did not get the pkg. All in all we liked the ship very much and thought the crew was good. Some spoke others didn't. We also had the land sea pkg with Princess and they did our air as well called EZAir. The took care of changing luggage on other planes and it was always where it was suppose to be when we needed it. Princess tour and sea pkg was very good and we didn't have to wonder what we were doing. Each day you got a letter in the eve telling you what was ahead and where to go and what time. I think they did a fantastic job for 14 days of flying, buses, trains, trolleys, and shuttles. I would recommend this type of pkg for a first visit to Alaska on land then cruise. We did land first since it is more moving around and much more tiring. The land portion is very busy if you want to see a lot of wildlife and Park. There is a lot of transportation from one place to the other then the train takes you from the last place to your ship. We were on the new Medallion cruise and ours worked very well as did the medallion internet service.
Cabin Review
Mini-Suite with Balcony
The cabin was nice size with 2 area's. One was for sleeping and had a wonderful large bed and 2 bed tables with drawers and over head lights and sconces on either side also.There ARE NO OUTLETS by the bed at all. They are across the room on the vanity/desk. About 10 feet. The other area is a nice sleep sofa with an end table with drawers and a oval cocktail table. There is a large desk area about 6 feet with drawers on the one side and door with a fridge on the other side. There is a narrow glass shelf under the mirror that runs the entire length of the desk.Across the front is all mirror. The hair dryer is wired into the first drawer of desk. It can't be removed and has a short cord. You also have to hold down the button to keep it on. Take a rubber band. There is also a nice upholstered chair on the same side as the desk. Then glass wall with door to the balcony. Which had 2 chairs with ottomans and a small table. The bathroom was long and narrow with a long vanity with a small sink at one end and glass shelves on the other. Underneath there is a long shelf for extra's or your travel bag. A large deep tub and nice shower head and shelf in there too. The cabin was quite lovely and plenty of room for the 2 of us. We were very pleased with it and the bed was awesome indeed. The club class I think is worth the extra money. The dining room alone is worth the money. We walked past lines for the other dining room and were seated every night with out ever waiting ! We also had a special menu the other dining room didn't have. We had embark and debark priority and more.
Port Reviews
Anchorage
Anchorage is a very busy crowded town . You can go to the visitor center and get info and shuttles to zoo and other things. There are shops on both sides of the street and food. However at night most restaurants were booked up and had a long wait. If you can , make a reservation early. The Hotel Captain Cook where we stayed was also booked up and had waiting lines for all the eateries.
Glacier Bay
This was a sea day and watch the glaciers go by. It was beautiful to sea the massive ice glaciers and the blue colors running through. You can watch for seals, otters and bears and goats.
Ketchikan
This was our last port and we didn't do any excursions. We walked around the town and bought some last minute shirts and books. It's a small fishing town where you can walk the entire town.