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Thank you for posting such a wonderful review. Although we will be on the Grand next year I am soaking up all info I can on Alaska, and your review is very helpful with the planning process of our first Alaska trip. Thank you.:)

Looking forward to your review. We will be on the Grand next year to Alaska so all information will be very helpful. Thank you.

The light rail was really easy and cheap, though I'm no means an expert. We took a cab from the hotel to the downtown station and it was like $10-15. This could be accomplished using the bus system but the busses always looked crowded and we didn't feel like doing them with the luggage. Once at the station, you just purchase a ticket from the automated system for $2.75 cash or credit. It basically works on the honor system so hang on to your ticket, because if they catch you getting on the rail for free the fine is relatively high and I did see some transportation employees walk through the train, although I was never asked for my ticket. The stops are clearly marked and SeaTac is the terminus station, takes about 20 minutes or so. Pretty comfortable and there were many others with luggage so no one will look at you funny for bringing it.

Thank you very much have put this info with my travel folder.:)

Here's a quick review of our Crown Princess Alaska southbound sailing. We drove down from Fairbanks the night before and stayed at the Anchorage Hilton. The hotel was fine especially if you get it online for a decent rate. We did see lots of wildlife on the drive down and Denali was not hiding behind clouds so it was a nice drive. Saturday morning, we drove to Whittier with various stops along the way. The weather was fantastic: blue skies and well into the 60's. The first two days were glacier cruising, the first was Hubbard and the second Glacier Bay. The captain, pilot, and staff did an outstanding job getting the Crown Princess so close considering how early in the season this cruise was. It was overcast both days, but lots of glacier activity and wildlife. In fact it seemed wildlife was in an abundance during the entire trip. We saw many whales, including a group of orcas, seals, and eagles.

 

The ports were Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan. I'm no fan of Skagway, but it was a nice day and we did some hiking. Juneau was a fantastic day so we took the tram up Mt. Roberts for the views and hiking and returned to the ship early to lay out on the decks. Ketchikan, well lets say the town showed us why its a rain forest. I heard someone say they got 10 inches of rain that day.

 

We found very few flaws with the Crown Princess. The cruise was not at capacity, I think the captain said 2700 or 2800 passengers, so the ship seemed quite deserted and I don't recall waiting in a single line. In my opinion, the major drawback with sailing the Crown Princess in Alaska is the lack of an enclosed pool. I was very envious the two times I saw the Golden in port with her solarium. I knew this going in though, and picked the Crown because it worked best with our schedule. If I had a choice I would definitely make sure a covered pool was available. We thought the crew and food were both very good. The entertainment was very blah and there wasn't a great deal of passenger participation. Embarkation and Disembarkation were flawless. We arrived at Whittier about 12:30 pm and were onboard no later than 1:00.

 

We spent two days in Vancouver after, staying at the Sylvia Hotel. It is very old, but it is very unique and has a fantastic location. We caught the Amtrak from Vancouver to Seattle yesterday and stayed at the Marriott Waterfront. We are doing the light rail to the airport this morning so I'll report on that if anyone is interested.

I would be interested in the light rail since will be staying in Seattle after our cruise in June 2015. Any info regarding Seattle will be very helpful. Don't know what hotel we are staying at yet....Still researching. Thank you.

I too am a bit concerned about choosing the Grand for our Alaska trip next year after reading reviews on her. Hopefully, all will be OK by the time we board. This is our first Alaska and also first for Princess. Cruised HAL, RC, Celebrity and also Carnival previously.

Looking forward to your review. Going next June so I am soaking in any info on Alaska.

Thank you for all the tips. Will be sure to save in my travel folder. :)

So excited. We are going to Alaska on Grand Princess 6/3/2015. Doing 13 days Connoisseur Escorted trip. Also, at end staying in Seattle for a few days. So looking forward to this bucket list trip.... This will be a trip of firsts, first time in Alaska, first time on Princess, first time in Seattle! :)

We will be on her July for birthday celebrations. Thank you so much for sharing. So looking forward to boarding her. :)

Ours is December 2015. So looking forward to see what she has to offer since we are less then 2 hours away from PC, and did not care to much for the Sunshine. Not that I would not sail the Sunshine again, just would not be my first choice. Hopefully the Liberty will become our home away from home. :)

We will be sailing on Summit in July for a group birthday celebration. It has been awhile since we sailed Celebrity and so looking forward to this trip. Have not been to Bermuda in years. Looking forward to touring the island and all it has to offer. I too am looking for any information on this ship as well as Bermuda. Caught a glimpse of the Summit 2 weeks ago when she was docked next to us in the islands. Don't want to rush time, but very anxious to board her.

I did want to say one other thing. There were some bottlenecks in terms of traffic flow. But you know what? I found that if you are stuck in a bottle neck, just look up and smile at a person. Say something nice like, 'love your shirt' or 'if I keep eating like this, no one will get through this tight spot'. It REALLY makes a difference. We are all there to have fun - to escape whatever real life throws at us every day. I have found that given the chance, it is a lot easier to smile and joke than to grumble about the bad stuff. I had such wonderful chit chats with people while waiting for an elevator or waiting in line. I'm not a Pollyanna by any means - I work HARD not to be grumpy (see some of my last posts) but I was hell bent on sucking every bit of happiness I could out of those 8 days. And you know what? It made such a difference. Smiling is like the most contagious case of Noro anywhere. You start one and it spreads like wildfire. And what a nice thing to spread amongst your fellow vacationers, eh?

I agree. My husband and I were on this Easter cruise and what we did was adapt to the ship. As you said there were bottle necks and what we did was avoid times and places when this would happen, or if we were stuck in it worked with it and meet some great people. We made every second of our cruise count and we enjoyed ourselves. No problems with service nor our cabin. Crew was friendly and always had a smile. We are both retired and cruise often so one day we did not get off the ship and just spent time enjoying the pool. Since we cruise often out of PC we did enjoy the space on the Dream over the Sunshine (our opinion only). Although Guys on the Sunshine was fantastic. We have booked the Liberty for 2015 since it will be in PC and we are less than 2 hours away from port.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your last cruise-- do you mind sharing what it was about the Sunshine you didn't like? I'm curious... I have heard others say that the layout was not good at all. Very chopped up and hard to get around? Hopefully you will enjoy your next cruise much more! We loved the Liberty... we have also thought about maybe trying the Western out of PC for 2015.

Yes it is very chopped up and not enough space for all to enjoy. More people and less area....hard to find tables at lunch in the Lido...Lounge is to small. Comedy club too small. I felt all I was doing was standing on line and living indoors since we could not find tables outside. My husband was upset he did not upgrade to balcony cabin because then for sure I would have had my own outdoor space...he felt we were in ocean view on Dream so it would work out on the Sunshine wrong. Glad this was free cruise from Carnival. I know the kids on the ship enjoyed the waterworks area and also club carnival, they were always happy....Oh and today we did book the Liberty for 2015......right after I read your review.... Thank you.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write your review. We just recently got off the Sunshine and both my husband and I felt we will not be returning on that ship unless the price was too good to pass up. We are both retired, live in FL, and cruise a lot since the ports are so close. Since we prefer to cruise out of PC and know that the Liberty will be moving to that port I was very excited to see your review. Also, about the Cabana....We prefer the Dream over the Sunshine, but the Dream has its new home in New Orleans. Sadly after sailing the Sunshine I so will miss the Dream. We sailed on the Destiny so that is why we tried the Sunshine to see the changes...I so miss the Destiny....but I would not tell anyone not to sail on the Sunshine, we just know that it would not be our first choice. Thanks again for the review since we will be trying the Liberty in the near future. You have a beautiful family and I am glad you enjoyed your family vacation.....:)

I also was on this cruise. Had cabin 2299 and no smells... for those that are concerned. The shelves in the closets are very narrow. The bathroom sink area is small and the shelves in there are not as big as when the sink is on the other wall. Do not like the fact that the TV is not interactive as checking balance, seeing menu, ordering excursion tickets, etc. Both my husband and I agree we like the Dream much better. The Dream did not feel as crowded to us as the Sunshine made us feel. Guys Burgers were great. We would not rush to sail on her again, unless the price was too good to pass up. Service was good and the crew was very friendly. No problems there. The color tones are very light and airy, but the lights in Lido over the tables were in the way when you stood up and some hit their heads on them. All in all we enjoyed ourselves since we adapt to any ship. I would not tell anyone not to sail on her, I would tell them to try it for themselves.

Its gonna REEK... of VACATION!

 

lol Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you and you are correct! LOL :)

A general tip that I post whenever the question of a smelly cabin comes up, regardless of ship or line;

 

The bathroom will have a floor drain (not the shower drain)(sometimes a long grill right by the door). A combination of ship's motion and the a/c tend to dry out the trap in this drain. Since it does not see much water (usually only drips from after shower, or splashes from shower), it can dry out the trap completely, and then the "sewer" smell (actually only water from sinks and showers, not toilets) can back up in your cabin. A glass of water down this drain daily usually will keep the stink gremlins away.

Tip noted. Thank you :)

We just got off of the su shine Sunday we never had smells in the cabin but deck 4 did smell really bad all the time.

Thank you! So looking forward to this trip...

Lol

 

I was going to say, if your DH is like my DH, then it's quite possible there are going to be times it'll get a little ripe.

 

Or...

 

You should be fine if y'all stay away from the burrito bar...

 

 

Harhar

 

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OK Thanks I will keep DH away from the burrito bar. Forgot they had one.:)

Absolutely not. We had a large group a few months ago on the Sunshine on all decks including a few in the 2260's. No one encounterd any smells in their rooms or anywhere else on the ship. Enjoy your trip. Most smelly remarks are from people that never stepped foot on the Sunshine.

Thank you. We are looking forward to our trip on the Sunshine. We sailed on her when she was the Destiny and look forward to see the changes.:)

That is the question? My DH and I will be sailing on the Carnival Sunshine in Cabin 2299. Can anyone who has had this cabin tell me will it smell or not. After reading all the negative reviews about stink on this ship I have to wonder if this cabin is included in the smell issue. Right now we cannot pay the extra $ to upgrade to a balcony so we have to stay put unless the upgrade fairy calls....

Something I have always wanted to do. Enjoy!:)

Got the tervis on the Dream last week. I am so glad since we live in FL and those cups really come in handy. Got the beach bag on the Freedom in December. I would rather have the tervis now and so glad we got them. :)

Apples and Oranges. Two different ships. Been on the Oasis of the Seas as well as the Dream. The Dream felt very crowded as the Oasis crowd flowed better since it has what the call neighborhoods (central park, boardwalk, etc). Shows - no comparison the Oasis has the best I have seen. Everyone talked about how big the Oasis is but I found it not to be big at all. We had the very last balcony on deck 11 and enjoyed watching shows at the aqua theater from our balcony. Loved our Oasis cruise and also liked the Dream. On the Dream never got to get those hamburgers that they grill on the side of the ship because of the crowd. Don't need to be bumped and pushed just for a burger and whatever else they have grilling. As far as food goes on either ship always found something I liked. Will be on the Dream this coming Saturday, but have not yet booked another Oasis since the Dream is our free cruise from Carnival. :)

OMG one that can finally fit into your suitcase LOL!:)