PurpleTraveller

Tuesday June 6 - Skagway Part 5 We left Carcross at 3.00pm driving through gorgeous scenery at every turn. At 3.30pm we stopped at the Yukon sign for five minutes. As we got closer to Skagway the clouds returned but the scenery was still beautiful. At 4.30pm we stopped at the Alaska sign for five minutes. We got back to Skagway at 5.05pm after a wonderful day. We had time to pop into a couple of shops before returning to the ship at 5.30pm. At 6.00pm we were able to get our tender tickets at the Captain's Circle Desk on deck 7, for the following day in Juneau. Information for where and when to get tender tickets for Juneau was in the previous nights patter. Dinner was at the Michaelangelo Dining Room. We left Skagway one hour late at 9.45pm. The sail away was lovely. When we had got to our cabin after returning from Skagway we found a Canadian Customs Declaration Card and instructions of how to complete it. We had to complete the form for our arrival in Victoria and could give it to our steward to collect.

Tuesday June 6 - Skagway Part 4 At 2.10pm we stopped at Emerald Lake for five minutes. It was so beautiful and the colour of the water was stunning. We then turned back towards Skagway and at 2.30pm we stopped at Carcross for thirty minutes. We walked through the small town past the train station and to the river. We walked to the pedestrian bridge where we had a view of the rail bridge and over the river to the mountains. We then went to the General Store which was full of interesting items. We had a quick walk around town before heading back to the bus.

Tuesday June 6 - Skagway Part 3 At midday we arrived at Caribou Crossing, our lunch stop, where we had two hours. As well as lunch there was also animals such as alpacas, donkeys and horses to see, husky dog rides, gold paning, puppies to cuddle and see, a Taxidermy and Royal Canadian Mounted Police Museums and a gift shop. Our first stop was to see the puppies and I was lucky enough to have a cuddle with "Jersey". The puppies were not huskies but rescue puppies who were waiting to be rehomed. They were very cute! We watched the husky dogs take a group for a ride and people gold panning. The other animals also had to be visited. We then went for lunch which was a large leg of chicken, a roast potato and coleslaw. There were bread rolls and donuts that you could help yourself to. Water was available to drink and also coffee. After lunch we visited the Taxidermy Museum and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Museum. Out the front were wagons where you could sit at tables and a welcome sign. At 2.00pm we left Caribou Crossing and a few minutes later we passed a large brown bear on the side of the road. Unfortunately the bus wasn't able to stop and I didn't get a photo but I saw a bear!

Tuesday June 6 - Skagway Part 2 At 9.50am we arrived at the Suspension Bridge and had a one hour and ten minute stop. There was time to walk over the suspension bridge, read the information boards and visit the gift store without being rushed. We left the Suspension Bridge at 11.00am and continued up the mountains, driving through gorgeous scenery. It had been overcast in the morning but later in the morning it had started to clear and we now had beautiful blue sky and sunshine. At 11.55am we had a quick five minute stop at the Carcross Desert. The Carcross Desert is actually the remains of an ancient lake where the silt and sand that had been trapped in a glacier that melted, settled to the bottom of the lake about 10,000 years ago. It was quite strange to be standing on a sand dune in the mountains!

Tuesday June 6 - Skagway Weather Forecast - Clouds, High 46°F/8°C, Low 44°F/7°C This morning we were in port with Royal Princess who was tendering their passengers, Celebrity Solstice, HA Konigsdam and a small ship Columbio. We got off the ship at 7.45am so we could have a quick walk into town before our excursion. We walked past a White Pass Train and along the main street before returning to the dock. We had booked the Princess "The Yukon and Suspension Bridge" tour and the meeting time was 8.15am at the end of the dock. It was very cold and windy while we were waiting so were very glad we had our wind/rain jackets on. While we were waiting for the bus we could clearly see where the landside was last year. When the bus arrived we got on and left at 8.30am. There were 43 of us on the bus. We drove through town and up the road where we were soon amongst beautiful snowcapped mountains. At 9.05am we stopped at a viewpoint overlooking the mountains and the Captain William Moore Bridge for five minutes. At 9.30am we stopped at the Canadian Customs Border where we had to hold our passports up to our faces for the officer who came onto the bus to check. The stop took about ten minutes but we were able to watch a White Pass Train while we waited. As we continued the scenery we could see from the bus was beautiful.

There seems to be some issues with the dining system and to be honest I don't know what the solution is. I found on my cruise that the tender tickets were in alphabetical order as the first four groups of tickets issued were animals starting with "A" then the next four groups of tickets were animals starting with "B" and so it went following the alphabet. When in Juneau the first two "A" animal tickets were on the first non Princess excursion tender and then the other two "A" animal tickets were on the second tender. The third tender was "B" animal tickets and so on. When passengers were asking when they would get on a tender the crew would ask them what animal they had and could tell them if they had a long or short wait depending on the first letter of the animal on their ticket. I don't know why they changed from numbers. Maybe with a set number of each animal tickets it is easier to control numbers on each tender. I agree it would be good to have the tender or gangplank information on the electronic display boards. In Juneau many passengers were crowding the Piazza area leading down to the tenders asking what tender tickets were loading or when they would be able to get on a tender. It was so crowded that it was difficult to get through the crowd to get to the stairs to go down to the tender when our ticket animal was called.

To be honest I had to google to see what a Devil's Club plant is and I'm a horticulturist, though in my defense we don't have these plants in Australia. I don't remember seeing any of these plants in Sitka but I think I did actually see some in San Francisco at the Salesforce Rooftop Garden. Is this some? If so, I definitely didn't see any in Sitka because I would have remembered them as they are so distinctive. We didn't go on a tour in Sitka but just walked around by ourselves. It only took about ten minutes to walk to the Sitka National Historical Park from where we were dropped off by the shuttle bus that took us in to town from the ship. Hope you have a great cruise!

I can understand that. We usually eat in the buffet a few times during each cruise because we sometimes like a quick and easy dinner. This was the first cruise that we didn't eat in the buffet for dinner once. I hope you enjoy both of your future cruises.

Monday June 5 - Hubbard Glacier Part 2 The glacier was a sight to behold! The captain turned the ship so that both sides got a good view of the glacier. We spent all the time at the glacier on the Sun Deck so we had a great view. Whilst it was overcast and the cloud cover was low the glacier was a magnificent sight to see. After both sides of the ship faced the glacier we waited for the return of the small boat excursion then sailed away from the glacier at 12.30pm. We left Yakutut Bay at 1.30pm. We got lunch at the Salty Dog Grill and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in our cabin. Dinner was at the Michaelangelo Dining Room where it was Italian night.

Monday June 5 - Hubbard Glacier Weather Forecast - Clear, High 50°F/10°C, Low 48°F/9°C This morning we had breakfast in the Horizon Buffet. We entered into Yakutut Bay at 9.00am and we went to Skywalkers to wait for our arrival at the Hubbard Glacier. At 10.00am we arrived at the Hubbard Glacier. The ship slowly approached the glacier. It was overcast and quite cold with low clouds but there was no rain. We waited for a while for the small boat excursion to be loaded and set off. We then sailed closer to the glacier. The surrounding scenery was lovely. There was a lot of ice in the water of all different shapes, sizes and colours.

That's the joy of cruising! You can speak to three different people and they've all done different but equally great things in the same port. We loved Sitka and would definitely chose it to be on another Alaska cruise itinerary.

Thank you! As our introduction to Alaska we loved our day and the beauty in Sitka.

Sunday June 4 - Sitka Part 3 When we had finished our walk through the forest we then walked back towards the town centre. As it was a Sunday there were little stalls set up by the local children outside their homes selling cookies, lemonade and other drinks to raise some money for their particular cause. We stopped to buy cookies from a lovely boy who was saving to go on his summer vacation. The cookies were delicious! We walked through town and visited the Russian Blockhouse which is a replica of a wooden Russian fortification from the 1800's. Next we went to the grave of Princess Maksoutoff who was the wife of Alaska's last Russian governor. Just up the road was the Russian Cemetery one of the most atmospheric cemeteries, I have been to, with the graves amongst the trees. We walked back into town to Castle Hill, the historical site where Tlingits and Russians had fortifications. It is where Alaska was formally transferred from Russia to the United States in 1867. There were views across to the lighthouse. We made a quick stop at the "Prospector" statue in the grounds of the Sitka Pioneer Home. Lastly we walked past St Michael's Cathedral which was unfortunately closed. There was a very long queue for the shuttle back to the ship but fortunately the sun had come out so it was pleasant standing in the sunshine chatting to people in the queue and enjoying the view. We waited 30 minutes in the queue to get on a shuttle and we were back on the ship at 4.30pm. At 6.00pm we went to the Michaelangelo Dining Room and spoke to Maddela. Maddela had been informed of our experience the previous night and after apologising for what had happened, he assured us that he would personally look after us for the remainder of the cruise, which he did. He took us to a lovely four top table by a window and we sat there each night for the rest of cruise. Each evening Maddela personally greeted us on our arrival at the dining room and ushered us to "our" table. We were treated to excellent service from our waiters Allan and Chiril every night and I was able to preorder my meal with Prahran each night for the following night. As I usually ordered sorbet for my dessert each night as it was an easy option with my food allergy, occasionally Prahran would order me something extra that he thought I would like and be okay for me to eat. He was always right and the flambe pineapple was divine! Ten out of ten to the team at the Michaelangelo Dining Room!

Sunday June 4 - Sitka Part 2 At the Sitka National Historical Park we walked along the Totem Trail looking at the Totem Poles and watching the many bald eagles soaring above us. The walk through the very tall trees, past the beautiful scenery and towards the Indian River was just lovely. We saw bald eagles flying over the river and managed to photo one that landed in a tree near us. It's a terrible photo but the best I could get on full zoom on my phone. We continued walking along the trail until we arrived at the river. We crossed the river and walked along another trail and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves walking through the lovely forest.

Sunday June 4 - Sitka Weather Forecast - 60% Chance of Rain, High 54°F/12°C, Low 46°F/8°C After breakfast at the Horizon Buffet we sat on the Sun Deck to watch the scenery. We arrived at Sitka at 11.00am which was one hour later than the itinerary but one hour earlier than the captain had announced that we would be arriving. We were in port with Ovation of the Seas. The weather was cool and overcast but it was not raining despite the forecast for rain. We were off the ship at 11.30am and as we left the ship we passed passengers arriving with their luggage. We were soon on the free shuttle which took about 15 minutes to get to the town centre. The road in the centre of town was closed to traffic so that the main street was pedestrianised. We made a quick stop at the outside of the Russian Bishop's House, admired a nearby shop and then walked past the marina to the Sitka National Historical Park.

Ewww! That is unpleasant. I think that occasionally things don't go as well as they should in the dining rooms but in my case it was handled well and I was very happy with the outcome. I have never had an issue on any other cruise. I would recommend that you try dining in a dining room to see if you enjoy it or not, maybe at a shared table. The food was very good and service excellent in the Michaelangelo Dining Room on Crown Princess.

Strange indeed! The afternoon tea we had did not cost any extra and was in the Da Vinci Dining Room on each sea day from 3.00pm to 4.00pm. We went to line up at about 2.50pm and the line grew very long behind us. When we left at about 3.30pm there was still a very long line of passengers waiting to get in. We only went once on the first sea day so maybe that was why the line was so long.

So very pleased to hear that you are home and on the mend. I was very concerned when I heard that you weren't well and thank you to Carol for keeping us up to date. Take care of yourself as your health and wellbeing is of the utmost importance. By the way I have been thoroughly enjoying your review and beautiful photos and hope to get to Iceland one day. Allison

When I was speaking to the manager on the phone about what had happened she said that she had checked our medallions and she could see that we had ordered drinks from the Tradewinds Bar on deck 16 at about 6.30pm and said that we obviously hadn't left the Botticelli Dining Room to go up to deck 16 to order drinks, so they can see some things via the medallion.

What are the chances that you also had table 89! 😀 Interesting to hear that it was a good table location as we never did get to see where it is. Glad that you enjoyed the table and great food. Also interesting that they didn't have a hotel manager and are bringing back crew early from their vacations.

My sailing was completely full so I could only peek in when a cabin door was open when the steward was cleaning. Good to hear that they were taking the opportunity to clean the carpets while they were empty.

Fortunately this was the only crew member that we had an issue with. Every other crew member we came across was great, especially those in the Michaelangelo Dining Room. We had a fantastic experience there and excellent service. It seems to be dependent on who you happen to deal with and no-one should have to struggle with their dining on a cruise.

The whole conversation was totally bizarre and very surreal! We thought the food in the dining room was very good and just as good if not better than we have had on previous Princess cruises before the shutdown.

The next time I'm on a Princess ship I'm going to check the carpet in every cabin I get to look into to! I'm glad that you bed was comfortable but a pity about your duvet. Sydney and Vancouver are very similar and the sail in and out of both ports are beautiful (though I could be a bit biased towards Sydney 😀)

Thank you, that's really good to know. $10 is very reasonable and worth every cent!