R. Mraz

Age: 58
Occupation: Retired
Number of Cruises: 2
Cruise Line: Princess
Ship: Sapphire Princess
Sailing Date: August 15th, 2004
Itinerary: Alaska

EMBARKATION - Went very smoothly. Princess rep met us at airport and took charge of our luggage. All bags caught up with us within 2 hrs. of boarding. Going through processing and customs was a breeze - could not have taken more than 15 minutes once you were in line. We had Princess take care of all transfers and made it to ship in plenty of time.

SHIP - "What a boat!" Took a couple of days to get accustomed to where everything was because of the size of the ship but after that it wasn't too bad. Ship was brand new so there are no complaints as to cleanliness or anything else. Staff is professional in every manner and will bend over backwards to assist. Seas were relatively calm on our cruise so there was absolutely no problem with motion sickness at all.

ENTERTAINMENT - Not too bad. Stage production of Piano Man was very good and worth seeing at the encore performance. Comedian was pretty good but I'm biased as he was from Cleveland (our home area).Other acts were ok as it gave you a place to go to spend some time after dinner.

FOOD - Not much to compare to since this was only our second cruise but all in all I'd have to rate the food as very good to excellent. We chose traditional dining at the 8:30 seating and had no complains at all. Our group of four were seated with some very nice people from Wyoming and Florida and we enjoyed their company very much. Every meal seemed to be a culinary adventure with numberous appetizer,soup,salad, and entree selections. The only meal that didn't live up to expectations was the Beef medallions. I asked for them to be prepared medium and they were given medium well but they tasted good so I decided not to send them back. King crab legs were on the small side but split and tasty. Lobster tails (2) were fairly small but you could have all you wanted so our table took advantage of that. They also didn't seem to mind if two (2) entree's were ordered so some of our table also took advantage of that. Our head waiter seemed to come up with and extra appetizer that was especially prepared for us on almost a daily basis.It was very nice to know that the wait staff took such good care of us. Baked Alaska and Cherries Jubilee were prepared at tableside. Horizon Court cafeteria was pretty good. They seemed to have a better selection of breakfast food than the main dining rooms but they were also much more crowded.To each his own.

CASINO- No negatives here.I personally walked away with a lot more than I put into the quarter slot machines. Also saw two other individuals hit pretty good on the Quarter machines but I guess it's just being at the right place at the right time.

ROOM - Because my wife doesn't care to see the moving water, we opted for inside cabins. They were very nicely furnished with plenty of closet and shelf space for clothing. The small in- room refrigerator that was stocked with ice twice a day really came in handy. Cabin attendant kept the room spotless. Lockable safe was well used as you could leave your valuables in room with no fear of them disappearing. Bathroom was small but aren't they all.

PUBLIC ROOMS - Although we didn't frequent the bars too often, they were very nice and spacious. My wife really liked the Atrium shopping areas as it seemed she spent half the cruise there. The theater was decent size but really filled up quickly depending on the entertainment. It was more that big enough to fit the amount of people that were there. Pools always seemed to be filled with people especially the whirlpools. Didn't participate in any sport activities so cannot comment.

PORTS - Ketchikan - kind of drizzly but it stopped before we got to shore. Opted for the Lumberjack show as the ladies in our group are not the adventurous type. Show was ok and kept our interest. Walked the town after and shopped for souvenir's. TRACY ARM/JUNEAU-arrived at Tracy Arm at 6:30AM but it was worth it to get up early. Cool on deck but the scenery more than made up for it. Got fairly close to a glacier and the ship was dodging small floating ice bergs. Naturalist said it was 1000 feet deep in this narrow fiord - unbelievable! Juneau was ok. Went to the Mendenhall glacier and saw the salmon hatchery.

The glacier was awesome. It's really a shame that it's receding at such a fast rate. Had a great glass of Alaska lager at the Red Dog Saloon. Skagway - went on the Whitepass Scenic Railway. What a trip - 30 miles of unbelievable scenery with numerous places to take some great photos. Would highly recommend this trip. More shopping in town.

DISEMBARKATION - since we opted to stay overnight in Seattle, we were the last group to leave the ship at 10:30AM. Transfers to the hotel went smoothly and we were on our way within 1/2 hour. We stayed at the Marriott Waterfront and our luggage arrive with us. Rooms were ready within one hour of arrival.

Seattle is an experience unto itself. Only bad thing about this part of the trip was the transfers arranged by Princess from the hotel to the airport. Called for shuttle in what we thought would be plenty of time to get to the airport. WRONG!! Shuttle made seven stops in downtown Seattle and we just made it to this very busy airport in time to just make boarding the plane. We were fortunate that our liggage was on the plane. Should have taken a cab.

All in all - a great cruise, a great ship, a great time - would do it again!

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