Princess Cruises Alaska Trip Report

Essentials to bring

You definitely need a very wide variety of clothing on an Alaskan cruise as the weather can be unpredictable. For example, in Ketchikan there was a "heat wave" and it was 73 degrees and sunny, whereas the very next day in Juneau, it was pouring rain and cold. I suggest packing:

• 3–4 pairs of jeans/leggings (leggings for port days and jeans for more casual dinners)

• 3–4 long-sleeve shirts for layering

• 2–3 pairs of short-sleeve shirts

• One waterproof jacket/coat

• 3–4 sweaters and/or sweatshirts

• 2–3 formal outfits (on a 7-night cruise there are two formal nights)

• One bathing suit for the hot tub

• One pair of waterproof boots

• Two pairs of comfortable walking shoes/sneakers

• 1–2 warm hats/beanies

• Handwarmers

The ship

Dining: There are three formal dining rooms on the ship. We ate at the Concerto dining room every night and were very impressed with the food. You can make reservations or walk up. With 17 of us, it was definitely necessary to make reservations, and we also preferred the same table and servers every night. The service was a little slow. But on nights when we had a show we wanted to catch, we would just let our servers know and they would serve us in time to catch our show. Unfortunately, they were not able to do a table for 17. However, we had two tables right next to each other, one for 10 and one for seven guests. You can have unlimited appetizers and desserts and up to two entrees, including in your cruise fare. I always had 1–2 appetizers, 1–2 entrees and a dessert. The menus changed daily, and there were some staples that they always had. We also had a vegan onboard and they even had an entirely vegan menu to choose from with really great options! We never ate formal breakfast in the restaurant because the breakfast buffet was so good! I have sailed on several other cruise lines and I must say that the breakfast buffet on this cruise was fantastic. We often ate lunch at the buffet, too, and I can say there was always something yummy to eat. I wasn't always impressed with everything. However, the great thing about a cruise buffet is that if there is something you don't like, there are ten more other things to try out. There were also two casual dining options on the pool deck, and a burger joint and a taco place, both were pretty good but not spectacular. Standard ice cream (vanilla and chocolate) is unlimited and included in your fare. There are also several specialty dining options that are at an additional cost. However, we did not try any of them out as the included dining was so good! We did not purchase the alcoholic beverage package. I will say that the drinks were a little pricey, but if you are not drinking at least 7–8 drinks per day, it probably isn't worth it to purchase the package.

Layout: The Piazza is the main part of the ship, located on deck five and three stories tall. This is where a lot of live music happened and it was a great spot to just hang out. It was absolutely gorgeous with colorful glass decor and gold banisters. This is also where you can disembark the ship. The Lido deck has several pools and hot tubs and was never super busy. I did enjoy a dip in the hot tub one morning and there was nobody there! There were three main performance areas, Princess Theater, Princess Live! And the Vista Lounge. The Princess Theater is where the main productions were put on, and it did fill up fairly quickly. For a group of 17, we did need to arrive 20 minutes before the show started to find seating together. Princess Live! is where many of the game shows, trivia and karaoke took place. The Vista Lounge didn't seem to have as much going on. However, we did see one naturalist show and a comedy show at this venue.

Entertainment

I found the entertainment on the ship to be hit or miss. Some things were absolutely amazing and some really fell flat for me. All of the main theater performances were spectacular. The singing and dancing we amazing and I truly enjoyed all of them. I enjoyed one of the comedy shows, however there was a magic/comedy show that was really not very entertaining and felt like it dragged on. I thoroughly enjoyed the naturalist shows we got to see. The ship has a resident naturalist with decades of experience working with animals, and you can tell he really enjoyed what he did. We learned so much about whales and dolphins and he was very engaging. I did not spend much time in the casino, but it looked to be a pretty standard casino, not too big but also not too small, and there were always people in there playing away.

Port calls

On our cruise, we stopped in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Victoria. I was impressed with all of the stops! I will say, Princess has one of the best docking locations in all of the ports, especially Skagway. Norwegian specifically, is far away at some ports. This can be a shock to some sailing on that cruise line because you are not right in town when you get off the boat.

Ketchikan - This is a great place to do some shopping, hiking, and go to The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. We absolutely loved the show. It was a little kitschy and silly but great fun for the whole family.

Juneau - Juneau is a great place for shopping, but be aware, it is expensive! There are tons of jewelry stores and native Alaskan art shops, so if you are looking for those kinds of souvenirs, this is the place. The weather in Juneau was really windy and rainy, so it wasn't the most enjoyable stop, but I thought Juneau was incredibly cute.

Skagway - This was one of our favorite stops. The town is small but has tons of character and great, more affordable, stops. My favorite thing we did on the entire cruise was the brothel tour at Red Onion Saloon. I would not recommend bringing children, but as an adult, it was absolutely amazing. We also did a little hike to Yakutania Point. The trailhead started about a 15–20 min walk from the cruise port and it was a quick hike, only about 30 minutes roundtrip. Fairly flat and easy and you got an amazing view of the ocean!

Victoria - We were only here from 7 pm — midnight so it was quick but I am so happy we got off the boat. Victoria is incredibly beautiful and you must visit the Parliament and The Empress Hotel, right across the street from each other. The shops here were a little pricey, but overall we loved this stop.

The best time to visit Alaska on a cruise is between May and September. If you are hoping to see whales, June–August is the best time. I think this is a great cruise for couples and families with older children. I highly recommend flying into Seattle the night before the cruise for peace of mind. Seattle has a lot to offer, so you could even stay the night after as well and visit the Space Needle, Pike Place Market and the Chihuly Glass Museum.

This trip report is part of our ongoing series on travel to Alaska. In need of further inspiration? Check out Chelsea Kavcic's guide, 7-Day Alaskan Cruise.