Up next in 10
I Experience The Highs & Lows Of CRUISING ALASKA
774 views
Jan 28, 2025
This video tells the story of my recent Majestic Princess Alaska cruise, looking at the highlights, what went well and less well – including me coming back off the cruise with much more than memories...... ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 93 cruises I have done to date. Links mentioned in the video: BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTs ————————————————- * Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS ————————————————————— * Become a Channel Member and get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join * Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=V9STJGYSEMGLJ * Buy my book “Cruise Traveler’s Handbook: USA Amazon https://amzn.to/2YVFmG4 and https://amzn.to/3tzIxBn UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3oXbzYc and https://amzn.to/3qawqIQ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA
View Video Transcript
0:00
before the pandemic shutdown i booked a
0:02
north to south alaska cruise on princess
0:05
cruises from whittier near anchorage to
0:07
vancouver first because i thought the
0:10
itinerary would be better than the
0:12
inside passage i'd done previously and
0:14
princess claimed to be an alaska expert
0:18
i did finally do that trip this year and
0:20
neither of those assumptions turned out
0:23
as expected i knew it was a different
0:25
world when i booked and would be a
0:27
different experience but i didn't
0:29
appreciate
0:30
quite as many differences and surprises
0:34
one of which was coming back from alaska
0:37
with more than memories a souvenir
0:39
unique to this time covered
0:42
i am gary bembridge and i want to talk
0:44
about the good things and bad things
0:47
about cruising alaska and on princess
0:50
these days
0:51
the trip started with an unexpected
0:53
highlight thanks to embarking the ship
0:55
in whittier as a triple closer i thought
0:58
it was a really bad idea choosing this
1:00
itinerary as i discovered that whittier
1:02
was not easy to get to
1:04
but my travel agent sarah bolton
1:06
suggested the glacier discovery train
1:09
that runs from anchorage down to
1:11
whittier
1:12
it's about a two and a half hour train
1:14
ride through the most phenomenal scenery
1:17
it was a brilliant way of setting the
1:20
scene and seeing parts of alaska that i
1:23
wouldn't see on the cruise and the train
1:25
arrived right next to the ship in
1:28
whittier i checked my baggage into the
1:30
train station in anchorage and they told
1:32
me the next time i would see it would be
1:35
in my cabin however
1:37
what they didn't tell me is that it
1:39
doesn't travel with the train they hold
1:42
all of the bags there and it comes down
1:44
when the other cruise line trains run
1:47
late in the day i was actually getting
1:48
really stressed because by 6 30 pm
1:51
despite arriving at noon i had no bags i
1:54
finally got them just before seven
1:56
checking in at whittier though was an
1:59
absolute breeze so much better than my
2:01
last trip in barking vancouver i was on
2:04
the ship within a couple of minutes of
2:06
leaving the train
2:09
there were some unexpected upsides and
2:11
pluses also cruising alaska right now
2:15
first although ports were busy as most
2:18
ships like ours were selling below
2:20
capacity none of the ports were as
2:22
packed as on my last trip we had four
2:25
ships in skagway six ships in juneau and
2:28
five in ketchikan that should have meant
2:30
over fifteen thousand plus passengers on
2:33
those days but it was not crazy busy it
2:36
was noticeably less busy wandering
2:39
around and when i was out on excursions
2:41
though the even bigger plus for me was
2:44
the itinerary i chose i did find it much
2:47
better than my inside passage one i got
2:50
further north to see the hub iglesia it
2:52
was an incredible incredible experience
2:56
adding to that was i booked a cruise
2:58
line offered boat excursion off the ship
3:00
this boat met us as we sailed into
3:02
yakita bay and took 150 of us right up
3:06
close to the glacier we saw many
3:08
incredible carving events the people on
3:10
the ship didn't get that close and
3:11
didn't see what we saw
3:13
glacier bay was another big highlight as
3:16
i mentioned the margaery glacier itself
3:18
was worth it but i did see several other
3:20
glaciers it is the most beautiful
3:23
memorable experience and with all that
3:25
expertise from the ranges it really was
3:28
a phenomenal day
3:29
skagway for me was another massive
3:31
highlight i went again on the white pass
3:34
and yukon train this is a historical
3:35
train built for the gold rush it is an
3:38
incredible excursion right up into the
3:40
mountains about two and a half hours
3:42
there and back
3:44
in juneau i did a helicopter ride to
3:46
walk on the mendenhall glacier it was
3:49
worth the 360 dollars the time before
3:51
i'd gone dog sledding on the norris
3:53
glacier which wasn't off at this time
3:55
but doing the helicopter ride and
3:57
getting above glaciers was worth every
4:00
cent that i coughed up also in juneau i
4:03
went up the gold belt tramway up mount
4:06
roberts this is a thrilling experience
4:08
not very expensive to do and you get a
4:10
phenomenal view of the area and all of
4:12
those ships in port
4:14
in ketchikan i went again to the great
4:17
alaskan lumberjack show which is always
4:19
great fun i went to the famous creek
4:21
street which is fantastic although it
4:23
did feel a bit more tacky visiting it
4:25
again the town of course is very
4:27
commercial and a bit of a tourist trap
4:29
in reality throughout this trip i was
4:31
reminded that alaska though is still
4:34
magnificent
4:35
the sites are just as impressive and as
4:38
memorable although there were
4:39
unfortunately quite a few businesses
4:41
that were closed and shuttered up still
4:43
that hopefully will re-emerge i need to
4:46
talk about princess and the ship as it
4:49
was very much a mixed bag
4:51
between booking the trip years ago and
4:53
going i'd gone off princess a bit after
4:56
my regal and sky princess trips last
4:58
year where food and service were pretty
5:00
average i'd booked an itinerary on
5:02
majestic princess not clicking that the
5:05
ship had been designed for the asian
5:07
market and i'd had several people
5:09
messaging me saying i'm not sure you'll
5:11
like the ship to add to my princess
5:13
reticence i was not having much joy with
5:16
the much touted princess technology and
5:19
their app i kept getting messages before
5:21
the cruise saying i had to reserve my
5:23
check in time but the app wouldn't let
5:26
me it also kept changing from saying i'd
5:28
submitted everything required
5:31
to board to saying that i hadn't the app
5:34
never got much better it kept telling me
5:36
for example i hadn't paid fully for my
5:39
cruise once i was on the ship so i
5:41
couldn't book dining times which we were
5:43
supposed to do eventually i gave up on
5:45
the app and used the big interactive
5:47
screens dotted around the ship which
5:49
actually worked really well my cabin i
5:52
loved and the ship itself i was fine
5:54
with but there are a few things that did
5:56
strike me as not ideal
5:59
onboarding you did have one thing i
6:01
think is a pity across the princess
6:03
fleet and that's the sense of sameness
6:05
the ships basically all look the same
6:07
the decor the layout they don't each
6:10
have a unique character to them so while
6:12
there is a huge advantage that i knew my
6:14
way around and where everything was it
6:16
lacked the excitement for me anyway of
6:19
exploring a slightly different ship
6:22
one thing many love is the focus of a
6:24
princess ship is on that atrium across
6:27
three decks so if i wanted a buzz find
6:30
stuff going on and access to most things
6:32
it was here there was the international
6:34
cafe restaurants bars shops photo center
6:37
and so on but as great as the atrium is
6:40
i find it very inward looking they're no
6:42
big views out of the sea and the
6:44
landscapes this was a pity for alaska
6:47
which is all about the outdoors and
6:49
scenery another thing which was even
6:52
mentioned by one of the alaska
6:53
enrichment lecturers is majestic
6:55
princess is possibly not the very best
6:58
chip for scenic sailing and sightseeing
7:01
in alaska
7:02
unlike the holland america new amsterdam
7:04
on my last trip the ship layout means
7:07
they can't open the bow when scenic
7:09
cruising takes place in glacier bay or
7:12
places like that nor does it have a
7:14
fully wraparound and covered promenade
7:16
deck so if the weather's not great which
7:18
it often isn't in alaska there were few
7:21
covered spaces to do viewing now this
7:24
didn't affect my trip as we had no rain
7:26
and not too much wind on our scenic
7:28
cruising days i was able to have great
7:31
viewing on the open promenade spaces up
7:33
on deck 7 and high up on deck 17 above
7:36
the pool deck as we had fine weather but
7:39
if it had been raining it definitely
7:41
wouldn't have been ideal so in glacier
7:43
bay when the weather turned later in the
7:45
day many people headed up to the
7:47
hollywood conservatory an indoor space
7:50
with large glass windows because that
7:52
was the best and most protected
7:54
alternative now i booked a mini suite
7:56
balcony cabin which i found really comfy
7:59
and it also ended up being a great place
8:01
to do sightseeing because the captain
8:03
alternated which side of the ship faced
8:05
glaciers when we stopped for viewing
8:08
i didn't think any of the differences in
8:10
majestic princess being designed for the
8:12
asian market were an issue or actually
8:15
really stood out all the signs of course
8:18
had both english and chinese there was a
8:20
harmony restaurant instead of sabatini's
8:22
the italian which i was actually really
8:24
excited about because i love asian food
8:27
the food though i felt was pretty
8:28
average and i booked to go more than
8:30
once but cancelled my repeat trips
8:34
they had things like a noodle bar the
8:35
casino was huge they even had a vip
8:38
casino area which for us in the west and
8:41
on our trip was operating just as a
8:43
lounge the hollywood conservatory i
8:45
mentioned earlier on other princess
8:47
ships is the sanctuary
8:49
but it was more designed with seating
8:52
and for game playing than lying around
8:53
on lounges but importantly it was free
8:56
unlike the sanctuary which normally has
8:58
a fee to use
9:00
i found the food and the service fine
9:02
across the trip neither exceptional nor
9:05
bad certainly for the premium category
9:07
they operate in it's probably a tad less
9:10
than i had on recent trips on celebrity
9:12
holland america and even virgin voyages
9:14
which are the other bigger players in
9:16
the category the premium category anyway
9:19
one thing i felt is the menu choices
9:21
felt smaller than i remember and
9:22
certainly versus the other lines and
9:24
this was something other passengers i
9:26
spoke to also commented on there is
9:29
though a range of choice on the menus
9:31
there were some little touches that are
9:33
important to me missing versus the other
9:35
premium lines that you may think are
9:37
important but for example they didn't
9:39
have any diet and caffeine free drinks
9:41
on the ship now i don't drink alcohol
9:43
caffeine and sugary drinks but i love
9:45
sodas now unlike other premium lions
9:48
including holland america and celebrity
9:50
they didn't have for example a diet 7 or
9:53
sprite option for me a diet spread
9:55
option they didn't have caffeine free
9:56
diet coke and so on so my options were
9:59
just water and juices it's a smallish
10:01
point but as a premium line having such
10:04
a reduced and smaller choice and smaller
10:06
menu choices kind of stood out a little
10:08
bit to me
10:09
one thing though that really stood out
10:12
is the passenger mix
10:14
people go to alaska because they want to
10:16
go there and seem much less focused on
10:19
what any specific line offers or is
10:21
positioned as doing our majestic
10:24
princess there were 2 260 passengers on
10:27
the ship which is around about 60
10:29
percent capacity it was a very different
10:32
passenger mix to i normally find on
10:34
princess cruises there were many
10:36
multi-generational families traveling
10:38
together and lots of families on both
10:41
sides of my cabin were for example
10:43
families of four the mix difference
10:45
showed up in things like the fitness
10:47
center much busier than usual and
10:49
boisterous kids took over the indoor
10:51
hollywood pool most days the usual dress
10:54
code was also thrown out of the window
10:58
it was almost impossible to tell when it
11:00
was formal night versus the everyday
11:03
smart casual nights i would estimate
11:05
probably less than a quarter of people
11:08
optimistically dressed differently on
11:10
former night i literally saw one person
11:12
in a tux and they looked uncomfortable
11:15
because they were so dressed up versus
11:16
everybody else
11:18
one big plus i would say about princess
11:21
is they did try to immerse me into
11:23
alaska there were many touches on board
11:25
which i thought were really good they
11:28
had two naturalists and region experts
11:30
mark harris and rachel moreno
11:33
who spent five months of the season on
11:36
board and they gave excellent and really
11:38
entertaining talks throughout the trip
11:41
the entertainment team wore lumberjack
11:44
style shirts there was a lot of high
11:45
quality alaskan merchandise in both the
11:48
shops and out on the deck there were
11:50
several books on the region and a couple
11:52
of specific books including one about
11:54
the cruise that the captain would refer
11:56
to each day
11:58
we went into glacier bay which is a huge
12:00
plus as only two large cruise ships are
12:03
allowed in each day and only them
12:05
holland america and some norwegian ships
12:08
usually have access that is a big plus
12:11
on that particular day they brought
12:13
three glacier bay national park rangers
12:15
on board one called ethan gave a moving
12:18
talk about the indigenous community and
12:21
they then ran commentary all day they
12:23
ran an information and merchandise
12:24
counter all day too
12:26
now i was warned by the cruise line that
12:28
covert was an issue in the region and we
12:30
should take care although we did have
12:33
masks on board some distancing and none
12:35
of the big group events were held once
12:38
out about on land that of course was not
12:40
the case in alaska
12:43
so when i got back home i did a test
12:46
several people i'd spoken to coming back
12:48
from my cruise and other alaskan
12:49
cruisers had tested positive i tested
12:52
positive two now i assume i picked it up
12:55
and had it on the trip because it only
12:56
took about three or four days before i
12:59
started testing negative once i was home
13:01
and i felt fine surprisingly to all of
13:03
this the memories and experience made
13:06
this trip despite that one of my most
13:09
memorable ever i'm not sure if i would
13:11
go back on
13:12
princess to alaska
13:14
they did give me to the places sites
13:15
they offered the excursions i needed
13:17
they did great immersion so time will
13:19
tell who i decide to go back with if you
13:22
want detailed tips on visiting alaska
13:23
though watch this video with my tips on
13:26
how to plan and make the most of alaska
13:28
starting with the single most important
13:31
thing that determines whether you'll
13:33
have a great time there see you over
13:35
there
#Adventure Travel
#Cruises & Charters
#Honeymoons & Romantic Getaways
#Transportation
#Travel Guides & Travelogues