Royal Princess Review
Very Deceptive advertising of Route - Don't sail this ship to Alaska
Rating by category
Additional details
My wife and I were on the Referenced sailing from Anchorage to Vancouver. While the amenities and service were ok, the itinerary compared to the marketing materials were very deceiving. We were looking forward to our first cruise vacation but came away very disappointed. Princess hasn't had the courtesy to respond to this issue I presented to them in writing (Princess if you are out there...this is Ref File 147). Bottom line is that this ship is TOO BIG to sail this passage as shown in the itinerary. Chose another ship or better yet, another cruise line.
Item 1
The Princess book '2019 Princess Cruises Alaska' map on page 18 clearly shows the route being the Inside Passage. Page 19 Southbound shows "Cruising the Inside Passage" on Day 7. If there was no intent for the Royal Princess to do that route, it should have it's own map and itinerary. I specifically chose this route because it was to sail the inside passage. Wow, what a disappointment. This was my day to sit on the balcony and see & follow the route of the inside passage on my map. Not to be on the open ocean.
Cabin Review
Balcony
Clean but small. Beds are very comfortable. I paid for a balcony, but due to the route changes I didn't get much use of it. I would have liked to use the balcony more on the last day coming into Vancouver.
Port Reviews
Glacier Bay
We got to see Hubbard Glacier on day 2 FROM 7 MILES AWAY. It was barely visible even with binoculars. We were mostly waiting for the $300+ excursion to come back. Very Disappointing.
Anchorage
Smokey when we were there so didn't get to see the surrounding mountains.
Whittier
Pretty, but we were bussed in so didn't see much.
Juneau
We rented a car so had a lot of freedom. Time was still tight as the ship left at 4pm. We would have liked to have more time in Juneau. Going to the Glacier was the best part.
Vancouver
The bike and walking paths around the Vancouver waterfront are excellent. No Excursion needed. Catch the train to the airport.