Main--------Anchorage--------Boarding/Cabin--------Ship/Dining/Entertainment------Hubbard Glacier
----Glacier Bay ----Skagway------Juneau------Ketchikan------Disembark/Vancouver----10 Tips
Diamond Princess, 7-day Alaska, Voyage of the Glaciers
Anchorage to Vancourver, BC, June 26 - July 3, 1010.
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Itinerary – Southbound Voyage of the Glaciers.
Saturday, Day 1 Boarding in Whittier
Sunday, Day 2 – Yakutat Bay & Hubbard Glacier cruising (Formal Night)
Monday, Day3 – Glacier Bay Cruising
Tuesday, Day 4 – Skagway
Wednesday, Day 5 – Juneau (Formal Night)
Thursday, Day 6 – Ketckikan
Friday, Day 7 – Cruising
Saturday, Vancouver & disembark
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Click on photos to enlarge them.
Voyage of the Glaciers, Alaska Cruising, Diamond Princess. Cruise Review and Photos.
Our cruise reviews are detailed. We are cruise specialists, so we look for as much helpful information as we can find in preparing reviews. There is so much to do and see on an Alaska cruise! The review is divided into sections so you can jump to those areas of interest. There are also 10 specific tips included in our review.
This was a fun cruise on the Diamond Princess. Most days were rainy and/or foggy – which can be expected in Alaska. In spite of weather issues, the ship, the food and the service were all great and we enjoyed our cruise. This was our 8th cruise, our 2nd cruise on Princess and our 2nd cruise to Alaska. We booked a category I (Inside Cabin). Last summer, we sailed on the Norwegian Pearl to Alaska in a Balcony cabin and thoroughly enjoyed it. We had never cruised anywhere from an Inside Cabin. Our cruise clients sometimes want to save money and the inside category is typically the lowest price available. This cruise proved that an Inside Cabin is a great option, even in Alaska, if you want to save money and still have a great cruise.
The Diamond Princess is positioned in Alaska from mid-May to mid-September. She is scheduled for 7-day northbound and southbound cruises covering the 2200 nautical miles between Vancouver, British Columbia and Whittier, Alaska. Her Alaska cruise itinerary is the Voyage of the Glaciers which provides the most glacier visits available on a 7-day cruise. Glacier cruising includes the standard Inside Passage plus extra glacier viewing opportunities. Extra glacier visits include Hubbard Glacier, the longest tidewater glacier in Alaska, College Fjord in Prince William Sound with its 16 tidewater glaciers and Tracy Arm Fjord cruising southeast of Juneau. On the day we visited Hubbard Glacier, the fog was low and heavy and we were not able to see the glacier. That will give us an excuse to book this itinerary on a future cruise. Ports visited included Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan.
The Diamond Princess is in the Jewel class. She will accommodate 2,670 passengers. She has 740 balcony staterooms and includes an entire deck of mini-suites. She is 116,000 gross tons and is 952 feet long. There are 7 restaurants/dining rooms, plenty of bars/lounges, 5 pools, the Lotus Spa, a gym/fitness area, a jogging track, shuffleboard, the Princess Theater, the Skywalker’s nightclub and observation lounge, a Casino, a chapel, an art gallery, a 24-hour Internet Cafe with wireless access, a library and the kids and teen centers.
Onboard Activities include swimming, hot tubs, basketball, jogging tracks, exercise equipment, spa treatments, a beauty salon, shuffleboard, lectures, art exhibits and classes, art gallery and auctions, ScholarShip@Sea classes, a 24-hour Internet Café, and the library. The boutiques in the Center Court area include duty-free shops for designer clothing and gifts. The onboard entertainment includes song and dance performances in the Princess Theater, lounge acts, live music, feature-length movies, casino games, night clubs and dance floors. Kids have the fun zone, the splash pool and the teen center where they can hang out, play video games, foosball and board games, watch movies, make their own arts and crafts, listen to music, participate in kids' karaoke, pizza parties and pajama nights. On the Alaska itinerary, kids also get special classes and activities related to the Alaskan parks and culture. The kids, parents and grandparents we spoke to on the Diamond Princess were all very happy with the children’s activities.
Should you cruise from an Inside Cabin? We still love our balcony and we have already booked an aft-view balcony for our next sailing, but if you do cruise from an Inside Cabin, just look at all these exterior and window optons you have in the public areas on the Diamond Princess. Here is Janean on the Promenade Deck (deck 7). Also shown are the padded steamer chairs available on this deck.
Here are some views of the Skywalker's Night Club on Deck 17. This was one of our favorite hangouts on the cruise. Surprisingly, there are usually great seats available day and night during the cruise. You can get spectacular views, sheltered from the weather in this great lookout which is 150 feet above the sea.
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Another favorite hangout for use was the Wakeview Bar. The instructions for how to find this "secret" hidden gem on deck 6 of the Diamond Princess are outlined in the Ship/Dining/Entertainment section of this report. There were so few people in this quiet corner that Dan nicknamed the Wakeview Bar his own recreation room.
Here are a few more options for great public viewing areas. The photo on the left is the Internet Cafe - of all places! Want a great see - check out the Internet Cafe! The photo on the right shows the aft of the ship. There are four tiered-levels on the aft of the ship with great options.
Want another reason about why this cruise was great? The service! Here, Dan is pictured with one of our favorite servers. This is Rico from the Philippines. Rico was quick to serve, always smiling and a great example of the customer service commitment on the Diamond Princess. We were thrilled with the service we received onboard, with one minor exception - Dawn from England. Fortunately, she was the only bumpy crew member we found on this cruise. We outline our interaction with Dawn in the Disembarkation section - at least she added an element of interest to our report.
Main--------Anchorage--------Boarding/Cabin--------Ship/Dining/Entertainment----Hubbard Glacier
----Glacier Bay ----Skagway------Juneau------Ketchikan------Disembark/Vancouver----10 Tips