Very Disappointed with Dawn Princess/Alaska Itinerary

After spending months researching and choosing our multi generational family reunion cruise (10 people ages >1 to 80) and weeks hanging around these boards gleaning information and building anticipation, I was totally broadsided and am still reeling from our very disappointing trip.

The biggest shock of all was what we saw... or didn't see. To quote from the Princess brochure: "Thrilling sights at every turn..." Um, guess my head must have been turned the wrong way... pine trees, thrilling? "Watch as the Sawyer Glaciers release their tenuous grip on the land and crash into the waters of Tracy Arm Fjord..." Maybe if you had a telescope... we saw no white thunder, didn't even get within a mile of the glaciers I don't think. A few dinky icebergs floating by. Some an especially pretty blue color. That's it. I'm embarassed to admit that I fell for such hoo-ha, given that I actually have a degree in advertising and worked for several years as a copywriter - shame on me!

In retrospect, I guess we should have chosen an itinerary which included Glacier Bay, I can only assume that it was better. But I am thoroughly disgusted that Princess would hype this itinerary as anything more than just "Pretty". And the glaciers were only one day, anyway.

Was it the weather (overcast and foggy every day)? The season (late August)? Global Warming? Or am I just impossibly jaded?

The ship itself was mediocre at best. Definitely has seen better days. I felt like we payed for the Ritz and got the Holiday Inn. The activities were virtually non-existant. The entertainment dismal. C'mon, 6K for the week for our family of four (two outside cabins) - I really think I paid for more.

Either I totally missed the boat here (sorry, couldn't resist that one:D ) or people are really being taken advantage of by these cruise lines. My parents, also on the cruise, Husband and I have travelled all over the world - sometimes luxe, sometimes bummin' so I feel I know what money should buy.

On the bright side, the food was decent and the experience of the dining room was quite enjoyable at any time of day. My 4 year old son loved the kids club. Our Steward was wonderful, He completely made my day every day, I miss him!

First and last cruise for me.

I'm really sorry that your trip sucked :(

It's often said here that ships seldom get within sight of the Sawyer glaciers, so that shouldn't have been a surprise, but the common weather problems with late sailings was compounded by the fact that the weather this year has been record-breakingly cold and wet. Sometimes all the planning in the world can be undone by Murphy's Laws of Travel.

Sorry, but if you had done months of research you either wouldn't have chosen that itinerary or wouldn't have been surprised by not getting too close to the Sawyer Glaciers. Did you consult your experienced travel agent? They might have told you that while Tracy Arm is beautiful, it is not the best for glacier viewing. If that was your priority you would have chosen a Glacier Bay, College Fjord or Hubbard Glacier itinerary. Or you would have booked a glacier landing excursion in Juneau perhaps.

What made you choose that ship in the first place? And then you complain about the price you paid. Come on, you researched for months. You could have put the kids in an inside cabin and saved maybe $800-$1000. Have you priced a week in Hawaii, Europe or the Med lately? Don't forget to budget for food, entertainment, kids camp, etc. $1500/person during the summer won't look so high. I'm sorry you didn't appreciate your first cruise more. I could go to Alaska every year, it's so beautiful.

Princess does NOT win with their round trip Seattle sailings. Frequently noted as so so at best for the itinerary. I am surprised this was not noted by your research??

As for the advertising- I post - Alaska travel is NOTHING like the enhanced sales brochures- the moose clearly seen right on the side of the road, the humpback breeching- again crystal clear close up etc etc etc. Very very rare. A great many people sailing Alaska see NO wildlife.

I agree you grossly overpaid, but there may have been cheaper options that were not a consideration at the time??? (I haven't paid over $750pp in years), but I assume this was your total costs???

Sorry for the disappointment. Do consider a next time and look at another glacier option. They certainly are spectacular.

I am a huge Princess fan and I would NOT recommend the Princess Seattle sailings to anyone. Many of us on this board have mentioned this several times. There are very few sailings out of Seattle I would recommend but none from Princess. I also stress to have 2 glacier days - because one could easily be missed. And you are right - Glacier Bay (and Hubbard) are much better then Tracy Arm's glaciers (Sawyer). If glaciers were a priority - you definitely picked the wrong route.

I also would not have choosen the end of August for a trip to Alaska either (for weather reasons).

I think it may pay to do some added research next time.

I also would not have choosen the end of August for a trip to Alaska either (for weather reasons).

 

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I have to disagree, this season was the exception on the poor August weather. I have traveled Alaska EVERY August for over the past 10 years- mid- late, into Sept. and never had anywhere near what it was this year. Never over 10% of my trip was it rain. Far worse in my experince were my mid Sept trips. always poor weather- extensive. But my worse so far out of 21 trips- this years beg. of May- 6 out of 7 days of hard rough sailing, rain.

It pays entirely to be well prepared in your attire and attitude, there are NEVER any guarantees on Alaska weather, if it's that importation, this isn't the destination for you. :)

I also have to agree with the above posters in that I would not recommend a r/t out Seattle. The only glacier you see is Tracy Arm and while it is a beautiful route it is very hard to see the Sawyer Glacier. I would highly, highly recommend the cruises that go out of Vancouver. The very first thing I look is the route. When you see a description of the cruise they always put what towns and glaciers you see in order. As soon as I see Seatle they go outside of Vancouver island and not the route that goes between Vancouver Island and the mainland of B.C. As for the ship the sun-class(Dawn) are one of my favorites. Just the right size(1950 passenger).

Sorry you did not have a great time.

Marilyn

I have to disagree, this season was the exception on the poor August weather.

This is one of those things I disagree with you on. When I started researching Alaska - my friends who used to live there all told me to avoid August and September because it rains more then compared to May and June. If you look up the charts - August has more rain compared to May, June and July. Sometimes triple the amount.

I'm sorry that your cruise wasn't what you thought it would be. We just returned from the Serenade r/t Vancouver and had a wonderful time. It was cold and rainy, but still very beautiful. We lucked out to have amazing weather at Hubbard and to see a huge pod of orcas on our last day sailing the inside passage(which had gorgeous sceneary also).

I hope you consider giving Alaska another try on another ship or itinieary. Or perhaps do your own land tour and see Denali park, etc.

When I started researching Alaska - my friends who used to live there all told me to avoid August and September because it rains more then compared to May and June. If you look up the charts - August has more rain compared to May, June and July. Sometimes triple the amount.

Absolutely correct - the historic weather charts make that very clear. That's precisely why I cruise from mid May to mid June - regardless of what many people experience, it's the driest period on average.

Murray

Absolutely correct - the historic weather charts make that very clear. That's precisely why I cruise from mid May to mid June - regardless of what many people experience, it's the driest period on average.

 

Murray

Ah, Murray - I could've used your backup on a thread a few weeks ago!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=400777

Sorry your trip was not as anticipated.

Did you do any excursions or just stay on the ship?

Ah, Murray - I could've used your backup on a thread a few weeks ago!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=400777

There are a LOT of threads that I don't reply to because it's obviously a waste of time - that was one of them. Some people aren't going to alter their opinions just because historic facts don't agree. Those folks are welcome to head North on September 19th or whatever - just don't come back here and post about what a lousy cruise you had...

Murray

Personally, I think people who just do the inside passage miss out, no matter where they leave from. IMO, the mountain scenery is much better north of Glacier Bay to Seward or Whittier.

First and last cruise for me.

Cruising isn't for everyone. Now you know it's not for you.

Good luck with future vacations.

-Monte

I'm not blaming Alaska, or any of you who live there and/or love it. I still think Alaska is awesome - I just wish I would have seen more of it! And I'm not blaming the weather, it was pretty mild and I was prepared for it (though I suspect the low clouds and fog obscured some of the views, just bad luck). Mostly I blame myself - And I'm still holding quite a grudge against Princess.

The point of my post was not only to complain, but also to clarify for myself, as well as others planning a future cruise, just exactly went wrong.

Which your responses have done, as well as validated my experience - it was not a good itinerary, thank you.

As for why we chose it, well, for financial reasons other members of our party really wanted a RT out of Seattle. I understand now that this is where we fundamentally went wrong. And it all came about rather short notice, as my Mother decided she wanted to do this to celebrate her 80th birthday. Our TA was not very experienced, though I didn't know this in the beginning, but was a friend of one of our group members. And I thought Princess had a good reputation.

We did limited shore excursions, and I enjoyed them all: Whale Watching with Captain Larry, thanks to this board. Bike trip down from White Pass Summit to Skagway. A little nature walk, suitable for my 4 year old, plus the Lumberjack Show, in Ketchikan. Unfortunately, opted out of any flightseeing due to having small children with us. I'm sure that would have been great.

I will go back to Alaska some day when the kids are older, but not on a cruise. I hear the ferries are awesome, and obviously there's MUCH to be seen inland as well. Ultimately, I think Monte is right, cruising just isn't for me. I wish it was - you all seem to have so much fun!

 

The biggest shock of all was what we saw... or didn't see. To quote from the Princess brochure: "Thrilling sights at every turn..." Um, guess my head must have been turned the wrong way... pine trees, thrilling? "Watch as the Sawyer Glaciers release their tenuous grip on the land and crash into the waters of Tracy Arm Fjord..." Maybe if you had a telescope... we saw no white thunder, didn't even get within a mile of the glaciers I don't think. A few dinky icebergs floating by. Some an especially pretty blue color. That's it. I'm embarassed to admit that I fell for such hoo-ha, given that I actually have a degree in advertising and worked for several years as a copywriter - shame on me!

 

I'm sorry you were disappointed with your cruise experience. But as much as you were disappointed with your itinerary, it could've been worse: Vision of the Seas dropped Tracy Arm from its itinerary in the beginning of the year, so that ship visited NO glaciers!!

I'm sorry you were disappointed with your cruise experience. But as much as you were disappointed with your itinerary, it could've been worse: Vision of the Seas dropped Tracy Arm from its itinerary in the beginning of the year, so that ship visited NO glaciers!!

I was on the Vision in May (I had a specific reason for being there depite the itinerary), and was amazed at how many people had NO IDEA what they'd bought. The most common misperceptions were thinking that the ship would go to Glacier Bay "because all ships go there" and that Icy Strait was a glacier day. Compounding the bad itinerary was a captain who was a dud - as well as being The Invisible Man, he sailed much further out to sea than he needed to - we could see the Zaandam several miles closer to shore as we went up Vancouver Island. :(

Murray

I'm sorry you were disappointed with your cruise experience. But as much as you were disappointed with your itinerary, it could've been worse: Vision of the Seas dropped Tracy Arm from its itinerary in the beginning of the year, so that ship visited NO glaciers!!

See, that is amazing to me. Obviously, there is so much more to Alaska than just glaciers. But isn't that what the average traveler (present company excluded) expects to see?

Well, I have to disagree with everyone, I guess. ;)

We went on the Dawn on out of Seattle on August 19-26 and had a fantastic time! The scenery was beautiful everywhere we went, ESPECIALLY Tracy Arm Fjord. We got close enough to see the two glaciers, but, no, we saw no calving, though we saw lots of beautiful icebergs in the water. We saw Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau as well as whale-watching with Orca Enterprises (which, frankly, was a dud,) rented a car in Skagway and drove to the Yukon; hiked in Skagway and had quite an adventure, and did the floatplane for just the two of us with Michelle of Island Wings in Ketchikan. We even enjoyed the evening we spent in Victoria and the day we spent in Seattle before we left. The ship also passed through several pods of whales, making us regret even more the couple of hundred dollars we spent with Orca!

I can't believe there is more beautiful scenery than what we saw, both from the ship and on all of our great excursions. If we go again, I'm sure we'll heed the advice here and try a different route but we are not at all unhappy with the trip we did take. :)

Well...I hope Longneck has the right experience...I am booked on the Golden out of Seattle next May...I hope it is a good cruise...hope I see a lot of scenery...if not...at least she has an indoor pool to pass the time!!!:D

Longhorn, I am genuinely happy that you had a great time - as much as misery loves company, I'd hate to think that everyone was as miserable as me;)

I'm wondering if we were on the same Orca trip - 2:30? I agree that it wasn't brilliant, but we had fun anyway.

This is one of those things I disagree with you on. When I started researching Alaska - my friends who used to live there all told me to avoid August and September because it rains more then compared to May and June. If you look up the charts - August has more rain compared to May, June and July. Sometimes triple the amount.

Gee I guess all my August trips weren't reality based???

Gee I guess all my August trips weren't reality based???

Come on, BQ, why take offence to a comment like that? Do you now think that your visits are more valid experiences than those of residents and the weather office's historical records?

Murray

To BQ and Yukon-

You two are the main reasons that most people use this Alaska site. I credit you with making my summer trip so successful. I'd hate to think that one or both of you would be offended and quit contributing to so many people's upcoming experiences. I hope you realize how much you're appreciated. Your information to me was more accurate than my relatives -whom have lived in Alaska since the mid '70s. (They don't get out much.)

I've spent two summers in the Ketchikan/Juneau area. The first summer was warm and dry with temps in the 70's. We seldom saw rain until August. The second was cold, wet, and dreary with temps seldom out of the 50's. Conditions can vary tremendously-as the recent weather has shown.

My daughter and husband returned last Saturday from the Princess Dawn and had the time of their lives. They did not have a complaint with anything-and she's four months pregnant. This points out what I learned when I started using this site-two groups on the same cruise can have completely opposite opinions. It's always wise when reading reviews to learn as much as possible about the person submitting the review-their age, home area, likes and dislikes, etc. Many of us have unrealistic expectations when we visit Alaska or any other port.

As is often mentioned, make the most of the experience. Personal attitude towards your trip often makes the difference. If something doesn't work out, try an alternative plan. There's so much to see and do on a trip-plan ahead and have options.

And finally-thanks again to BQ, Yukon, and everyone else that makes this site so helpful to those of us with less knowledge and experience.