Live From the Grand Princess, 22-Day Alaska B2B, Apr 30 - May 22

[Ken the cruiser]

It’s time to start getting super excited about our upcoming cruise to Alaska on the Grand Princess! We have cruised to this part of the world a few times before and are looking forward to visiting this awesome place for the first time with Princess. We have booked some pretty cool wildlife excursions and will be visiting Glacier Bay National Park three times! 

 

 

              8-Day Inside Passage                                    14-Day Voyage of the Glaciers

Date	Destination	Arrive	Depart		Date	Destination	Arrive	Depart
4/29	Fly to Vancouver BC	10:30 PM			5/8	Port of Vancouver	7:30 AM	4:00 PM
	Fairmont Hotel				5/9	Inside Passage
4/30	Port of Vancouver	9:30 AM	4:00 PM		5/10	Ketchikan AK	6:00 AM	2:00 PM
5/1	Johnstone Strait				5/11	Juneau AK	8:00 AM	9:00 PM
5/2	Sitka AK	10:00 AM	6:00 PM		5/12	Skagway AK	7:00 AM	8:30 PM
5/3	Juneau AK	8:00 AM	9:00 PM		5/13	Glacier Bay NP	6:00 AM	3:00 PM
5/4	Skagway AK	7:00 AM	8:30 PM		5/14	College Fjord	6:00 PM	8:30 PM
5/5	Glacier Bay NP	6:00 AM	3:00 PM		5/15	Whittier AK	12:30 AM	8:30 PM
5/6	Ketchikan AK	9:00 AM	6:00 PM		5/16	Hubbard Glacier	3:00 PM	8:00 PM
5/7	Inside Passage				5/17	Glacier Bay NP	9:15 AM	7:30 PM
5/8	Port of Vancouver	7:30 AM	4:00 PM		5/18	Skagway AK	7:00 AM	8:30 PM
					5/19	Juneau AK	6:30 AM	4:00 PM
					5/20	Ketchikan AK	10:00 AM	6:00 PM
					5/21	Inside Passage
					5/22	Port of Vancouver	7:30 AM
						Fairmont Hotel	3:00 PM
					5/23	Fly Home		9:15 AM

 

Some of the wildlife we are hoping to see along the way includes migrating Gray and Humpback whales & resident Orcas, various seals & sea lions, a wide variety of birds to include Bald Eagles, and if we’re lucky maybe even a bear or moose, all the while surrounded by awesome scenery everywhere! 

 

Reference links:

  -  Grand Princess Current Location

  -  Alaska Current Weather Forecast

  -  Northern Lights 2 Day Forecast

  -  Northern Lights 30-90 Minute Forecast

 

As always, please feel free to follow along and if you have any questions, let me know and we will try to find the answer.

 

[LACruiser88]

Enjoy your voyage!!!

[cr8tiv1]

It's too early for the pigeons.  Looking forward to your live on one of my favorite ships.  Envious...

 

Please report on Assistant Manager for Reserve Collection and staff at breakfast.  Also Maitre d'.  HA HA...all food related!

[Ken the cruiser]

3 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

It's too early for the pigeons.  Looking forward to your live on one of my favorite ships.  Envious...

 

Please report on Assistant Manager for Reserve Collection and staff at breakfast.  Also Maitre d'.  HA HA...all food related!

It appears the closest we will come to seeing a “pigeon” might be if we are lucky enough to see a Rock Dove. However, it appears there are plenty of other birds flying around up there to keep us entertained! 😂  

 

https://www.alaska.org/expert-advice/birds

 

We will be in an aft-facing VS on this cruise, so our breakfasts will be in Sabatini's. But I have no doubt the service as well as the menu options in both dining areas will be awesome as usual! But if that’s not the case, I’ll let you know. But as with my other blogs, don’t expect any food or drink pictures! 😁

[cr8tiv1]

Not interested in food...interested in who your servers will be.  It's been a while since I was on the Grand.  Fond memories of those that worked the dining rooms.

 

Sorry about the pigeons. Maybe you will see eagles teaching eaglets how to do touch and go landings on the water.

[phabric]

I will be following along.  I have cruised Alaska 4x.  Enjoy you cruises.

[no1racefan1]

Oh YES, I need this in my life! Headed to AK in 3 weeks.

[CruisingSandgroper]

 

We'll see you on board as we are also doing a B2B, our first. We will be getting on in San Francisco and staying on for the 8 day Alaska.

[Nikulai]

59 minutes ago, CruisingSandgroper said:

 

We'll see you on board as we are also doing a B2B, our first. We will be getting on in San Francisco and staying on for the 8 day Alaska.

Me as well. So looking forward to it.

[catspaw1]

Ken, please let us know how you like Princess compared to Celebrity. Have a great time & have fun. Will be following along.

[abbydancer2003]

I've done Alaska 8 or 9 times, 2 on Celebrity and the rest on Princess.  When it came time to select a family trip with my mom (her last as it turned out), I selected Princess because, although for mini suites Celebrity has a better product, Princess is best for Alaska.  

Have a blast.

[Host CJSKIDS]

So looking forward to following along!  Enjoy!

[Nattyg1723]

Hello! Following along. Love all your Lives and am looking forward to this one! (long time CC lurker, first time Princess cruiser in 2025)🙂

[Ken the cruiser]

12 hours ago, catspaw1 said:

Ken, please let us know how you like Princess compared to Celebrity. Have a great time & have fun. Will be following along.

Thanks! We like both Princess and Celebrity, but for different reasons. It also helps that we’re now Elite on Princess, Elite+ on Celebrity, and 4-star on HAL, as we love free laundry!
 

In the case of Alaska cruises like the one we're getting ready to embark on, Princess was our number one choice not only for the variety of cruising destinations, but also because of the reasonable fare we paid for one of their aft-facing Vista Suites. However, HAL has a new Alaska 28-day “single-itinerary” cruise that includes going up the Bering Strait to Nome as well as a bunch of other stops at ports off the normal beaten path!
 

But I will say our first Alaska cruise back in 2013 was on the Celebrity Solstice, and we had an awesome time on their 7-day RT cruise out of Seattle. We’ve also been on Disney and HAL cruises to Alaska, and had a great time on their 7-day cruises as well. But this time we’ll be cruising around up there for 22 days and are super excited, even though it’s forecasted to be a little chilly on embarkation day in Vancouver as well as for most of the cruise! 🥶
  

 

Edited April 22 by Ken the cruiser

[catspaw1]

Ken, AK is awesome so I'm glad you are going for a longer time than just 7 days. For me, 7 days is just too short as AK is just too huge to see in 7 days. Free laundry sounds great as I usually have to do hand laundry. On a HAL cruise we took 30 years ago they had self serve washers & dryers which was great. You don't see that much anymore. Have a wonderful time & I will be following you along. Hope you have great weather!

[Ken the cruiser]

4 minutes ago, catspaw1 said:

Ken, AK is awesome so I'm glad you are going for a longer time than just 7 days. For me, 7 days is just too short as AK is just too huge to see in 7 days. Free laundry sounds great as I usually have to do hand laundry. On a HAL cruise we took 30 years ago they had self serve washers & dryers which was great. You don't see that much anymore. Have a wonderful time & I will be following you along. Hope you have great weather!

Thanks! FWIW I was stationed at Elmendorf AFB back in the early 70s when there was only around 100,000 people living in Anchorage. Now there is almost 300,000 and homes are starting to be built on the nearby mountain sides. But I still remember seeing the underbelly of a moose walking along the streetside as I was "slowly" driving by in my VW minivan. Ah yes, Alaska can definitely leave some lasting impressions, that's for sure! 😊 

[voljeep]

20 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

driving by in my VW minivan. Ah yes, Alaska can definitely leave some lasting impressions,

in a minivan in the 70's - yeah, I bet you've got some memories ... heck, I've even got memories from my vw bug in the 70's😈

 

have a great trip - Alaska was our 'first' in 2007 on Diamond P ... and you never forget your first🥂

[Ken the cruiser]

3 minutes ago, voljeep said:

in a minivan in the 70's - yeah, I bet you've got some memories ... heck, I've even got memories from my vw bug in the 70's😈

 

have a great trip - Alaska was our 'first' in 2007 on Diamond P ... and you never forget your first🥂

Ah yes. The memories coming rushing back, especially when driving around in sub-zero temperatures waiting for the air-cooled engine to start producing warm air through the heat vents! 🤣

[voljeep]

5 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Ah yes. The memories coming rushing back, especially when driving around in sub-zero temperatures waiting for the air-cooled engine to start producing warm air through the heat vents! 🤣

defroster??? stick up your hand and wipe ...  good times! - NO a/c, but we had plenty of tunes with the 8-track

[Ken the cruiser]

6 hours ago, voljeep said:

defroster??? stick up your hand and wipe ...  good times! - NO a/c, but we had plenty of tunes with the 8-track

Here's a fun Alaska memory to look back on. While I was stationed there in the early 70s, a small amount of marijuana in your home became legalized through the court system because in Alaska "your home is considered your castle", which includes your personal space such as the clothes you are wearing, and you can pretty much do what you want in "your castle". What triggered it was a lawyer purposely got pulled over for speeding with an ounce of MJ on his person and wouldn't sign the ticket causing him to be searched and subsequently arrested. Like I said, the memories have come rushing back, especially when we tested that law in my barracks room! 🤣

 

Ravin v. State - Wikipedia

Edited April 22 by Ken the cruiser

[SECdawg]

We will be joining you on the 8th. Can't wait. Our second time to Alaska.

[catgirl411]

8 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks! We like both Princess and Celebrity, but for different reasons. It also helps that we’re now Elite on Princess, Elite+ on Celebrity, and 4-star on HAL, as we love free laundry!
 

In the case of Alaska cruises like the one we're getting ready to embark on, Princess was our number one choice not only for the variety of cruising destinations, but also because of the reasonable fare we paid for one of their aft-facing Vista Suites. However, HAL has a new Alaska 28-day “single-itinerary” cruise that includes going up the Bering Strait to Nome as well as a bunch of other stops at ports off the normal beaten path!
 

But I will say our first Alaska cruise back in 2013 was on the Celebrity Solstice, and we had an awesome time on their 7-day RT cruise out of Seattle. We’ve also been on Disney and HAL cruises to Alaska, and had a great time on their 7-day cruises as well. But this time we’ll be cruising around up there for 22 days and are super excited, even though it’s forecasted to be a little chilly on embarkation day in Vancouver as well as for most of the cruise! 🥶
  

 

One our favourite cruise experiences was the day we spent in Glacier Bay. We were on Royal Princess in an aft facing suite and we had breakfast served to us out on the very large balcony. It was magical!

[Ken the cruiser]

FWIW for those that may not have noticed on my initial post, I added a link to some of the entries to provide more information (e.g., detailed wildlife information, excursion description, etc.) regarding that particular underlined entry. 

[abbydancer2003]

On 4/22/2024 at 8:03 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks! FWIW I was stationed at Elmendorf AFB back in the early 70s when there was only around 100,000 people living in Anchorage. Now there is almost 300,000 and homes are starting to be built on the nearby mountain sides. But I still remember seeing the underbelly of a moose walking along the streetside as I was "slowly" driving by in my VW minivan. Ah yes, Alaska can definitely leave some lasting impressions, that's for sure! 😊 

I went to a meeting with the IT team at Elmendorf back in the mid 80s.  They were nice people.  At the time, I was visiting a friend in Alaska, and Elmendorf was a client.

[Ken the cruiser]

I just took a sneak peek at the NOAA Northern Lights forecast for the next 2 nights and wouldn't it be awesome if there was a similar forecast while we were on the cruise!

 

NOAA Aurora Viewline for Tonight and Tomorrow Night