Pre-Cruise Preparation:
We book the cruise through travel agent. I spend some time on cruisecritics.com to learn more about the cruise since this is my first time. We had a list of thing to pack. We book our offshore excursion for
Embarkment: We got a ride from one of our friend to Pier 35. We were there by 10:30 and check in. The porter were ready to pickup over baggage. The check in process was smooth. 
We were on the ship by the lunch time and had lunch on board. We explore the cruise and gathered all the information. Our baggage was arrived little later. The cruise was little late for Embarkment. We passed the
Rooms and Facilities: The ship in general was good. The room is spacious than I thought. There was a enough space in the closet. The TV size was small and selection of the channel was horrible. No CNBC or major News channel except CNN Headlines, few movie channels and some channels for kids. On the ship, they had a decent library, computer center, four heated swimming pool, 5 hot tubs, fitness center, two theaters, casino, art gallery, shopping stores, 24 Hour Buffet, Grill, Ice Cream Center, Pizzeria, various bars and lounge to relax and couple of fine dining rooms. The internet connection was slow and expensive (75c/min). Fitness room and 24 Hour Buffet was in very good location with a view of the ocean. Theaters were nice too, they used it for the show and movie and the seats are very good. They also had a kid’s center divided by the age; one with 3-7 and other with 8-18. They have a big area on the top deck to tan your skin under the sun. They also have a Spa, nearby there was a Sauna and Steam Room. On Deck 7, they have a walking/jogging trail around the ship; three laps makes one mile. They had a night club for dance as well.
People and Program: You always get a warm welcome wherever you go. The staff was highly professional. The steward was very nice and can do whatever you ask him to do. They always want to make you happy. They have a variety of programs in various places going on. We had a five days on the sea and never felt “what do I do now?”. There is always something going on. There is free as well as paid seminar in the fitness center about your health. They have a exciting programs for the kids, one day kids has a dissection of the fish. Every night they have entertainment on Princess Theater, it could be song, dance, comedy show, bingo, magic, information, seminars, knowledge session and movie. There were two formal nights where they take the pictures; you have to buy to get it though. They have 3-4 Art Auctions where they draw for free art, and give drink and appetizer free. The entertainment show, comedy show and magic show was best, they are very talented in what they do to entertain you. Most of the staff are Canadian, Indian, Philippians and East European. I guess they pay less to them in terms of salary, so they highly rely on the tip. Princess charges the tip everyday 10.50pp/day. If you do not want that way, you can tell them and give the cash to the people who served you most. We have 75% of passengers were 60year and old. So lot of programs, food and facilities were based on that age group.
Food: In general I was not impressed with the food, but the other people was praising. The food is more American rather than continental.
They have a Japanese, Mexican, Alaskan day to make the food based on theme. Pizzeria has one of the best Pizza I had. Fin
e Dining food is same as Buffet. We use first seating most of the time. In the fine dining, they have a choice of Indian and
Shore Excursions:
The only difference was the bus, we got school-bus and they had a hi-fi bus. But we enjoyed very well. The guide took us to the important places to see in the town. We saw Eagles, their 100 year old nest, lot of Salmons, sea lion. The Eagle is a truly represents Unites States. We had on of the best lunch there, Burger Queen, very old restaurant with fresh food. If you want to do shopping this is the town to do so.
we saw bears. To see the bears sometimes you have to wait for 2-3 hours. We were lucky we saw two times one on the creek and second they were on the Road! In the afternoon, it was raining, so our tour to Mendenhall Glacier was cancelled. It was disappointing. There is also skyline you can go. We eat lunch on the ship and dinner in the local restaurant. The ship stops at very close by to everything. We didn’t bother to see the Governor House (Now he is contending for Vice President with McCain!). Some other folks took a tour for Whale Watching and Wildlife Quest and they saw lot of wild life.
Tracy Arm: Before the cruise I had no idea what it is. They had a information session couple of day before we go to Tracy Arm. That session excite me most. We wake up 5am in the morning to see 
this beautiful place and it was the absolutely blast. The captain took all the way to the North Glacier, if you see the route you would think how he is going to turn around. But he did a fantastic job handling ice-berg and cursing. We saw glacier from about 500 feet distance. This is the first time in 15 year some big ship like Dawn Princess went there; according to them. We saw both North and South Glacier. The valley was amazing, it is the most beautiful place in the earth, or at least I think that way. We went to 11th deck to see this. This is a best place to see, not many people knew about this place. The 5 hour experience you get in Tracy Arm was mind blowing. After couple of hour, we were in the hot tub on the top deck and we saw these beautiful mountains from the hot tub. While returning from Tracy Arm, we saw lot of Whale doing their show, the one you see it in the Sea World.
Disembarkment: They give enough information about this.
They divided the people into batch, we were on the last batch, we request to go on first batch and they honor it. Since we were the first it was each to find the porter to take our baggage out.
Conclusion:
The ship ride overall was good, lot of shaking first 2-3 days. This vacation was the best one so far. If you love Mother Nature, wild life you should go to
PS: More Pictures
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