Welcome to Your Favorites, where you have the opportunity to share your travel experiences with fellow Internet Travelers around the world.

Princess Cruise Line

TSS Sky Princess

Your Rating:
Reviewed by:Richard L.
# previous cruises: 2
Date of Trip: August 17, 1997
Itinerary: Alaska

We took the 8 day Sky Princess Alaska Inside Passage cruise, going from north to south. We flew into Anchorage, took a 3 hour bus ride to Seward, and sailed on the Sky Princess the same evening. The first two days at sea we observed the various glaciers, then stopped at ports of Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan. The final days we cruised into Vancouver BC. We took the short version Gray Line city tour of Vancouver while waiting for our flight home. We wish we had more time to spend in Vancouver.

Allow lots of time for airport check-in, as the new security measures make the traveler jump thru lots of hoops. You will need your birth certificate or passport in Canada, and your drivers license at every airport. If Princess bought your ticket, rather than you, there are special hoops waiting for you! Note: we wish that we had flown into Anchorage the day before, so that we could have seen some of the city. Princess met us at the airplane, and took care of everything in a well organized manner. By the time we had a bite to eat on the ship, our luggage had appeared in our stateroom.

Our ship, the Sky Princess, is the last steam ship ever built. As a result, it is more quiet than most. We found it to be very clean and in excellent condition. Staterooms were fine for our needs, although we spent very little time there. They are said to be a little larger than average. Service by our cabin steward was excellent.

Try to book a room slightly forward of amidships, as the Gold elevators (fore) go more places than the Silver (aft). During our cruise, they had periodic problems with the toilets refusing to flush! (Fixed within an hour each time, thank goodness!)

Meal service consists of 4 meals a day, including the midnight "snack". Everyone at our table for 6 found something to like for each meal, as for example, they feature about 6 different main courses, 3 salads, 3 appetizers, and 5 desserts at dinner. Portions tend to be modest (thank goodness) but waiters gladly bring you more of anything upon request. There is a section of the menu called "Healthy Choice" which features low fat, low cal dinners. We especially liked the escargot, caviar, and baked Alaska. (You can always get chicken or a steak upon request, but we did not. We can get that at home!). Service by waiter and busboy was excellent.

Due to limited time in port, we took only one excursion, but it was fantastic! We took the helicopter ride at Juneau, and flew over the city, Mendenhall Glacier, & the icefields. Our pilot landed us on the glacier, and we walked around and took pictures until we got cold. I highly recommend this excursion to everyone. We used Coastal Helicopters of Juneau , a local company, and it was less expensive than the firm used by Princess. (We found Coastal on the internet, and made our reservations thru them directly!). In other ports, we took the self-guided walking tours, or just wandered about shopping and looking at the sights. Bring your walking shoes.

There is a full health club setup on deck 11 Gold, with many varieties of treadmill, bicycles, weights, etc. Also, spa and sauna. There are 2 jogging tracks as well. They offer massages there, too, but they get booked up early in the cruise. here are 3 swimming pools.

There were only 7 children on our cruise, out of 1222 passengers. They have the forward section of deck 7, with their own pool, a playroom for little kids, a room with electronic arcade games for teens, and another room for general teen activities. There are 2 paid employees who plan and supervise the children's activities.

Send an e-mail the author of this review.