DIAMOND PRINCESS ALASKA CRUISE

September 13th TO 20th 2008

By Michelle Fitzgerald

I took a 7 night Alaska Northbound cruise on the Diamond Princess, from Sept. 13-20. I flew on Frontier from Minneapolis to Vancouver, had transfers from the airport to the ship, and boarded the ship all on the same day. Yes, this was risky, but thankfully, everything went well, and I arrived on time. The transfer in Vancouver from the airport to Canada Place (the cruiseport) was long. It took me nearly 40 minutes, because of it being city driving. So keep this in mind. Once I arrived at the Port, check-in was a little long. But, I arrived during the busiest time around noon. Once through checkin, getting on the ship was quick.

I was very lucky and got upgraded to Jr. Suites on the ship on the Dolphin deck. My cabin was amazing. It was 358 sq feet including a huge balcony. I quickly got orientated with the ship, and got on the main deck for bon-voyage. I did have a quick musher station drill prior to the bon voyage deck party.

Before departing on my cruise, I had decided that I really liked the anytime dining option. And I was very glad to have made this choice. There were 4 resturaunts on the ship that you could go to anytime during dinner. No reservations were required. I rotated through each of the dining rooms so I could see them all. They each had a specialty dish, but the menu was then the same each night in each resturaunt. The ship also had two ala carte resturaunts that had a cover charge. On was the Sterling Steakhouse ($15/pp), and the other Sabatini's Italian ($20/pp). Both were well worth the extra money.

Being an Alaska cruise and the middle of September, it was cool. The temperature was near 50 degrees by day, and 30 by night. If you wanted to be out on the balcony to watch for whales or seals, a coat, hat and mittens were very helpful. Several Alaskan's said that they had the coldest summer on record in 40 years.

I visited 3 ports, and also cruised through Glacier Bay and College Fjord. My first stop was Ketchikan. Here I did a tour called Bering Sea Crab Fishing Tour. This was $120 and an excellent choice. We boarded a boat, and got to go crabfishing. Along with catching TONS of crabs (all realeased), we caught an octopus, shrimp, king crabs, rock crabs, and a few other fun little things.

On to Juneau, here I had planned a helicopter tour called the Helicopter Glacier Walkabout. Planned being the keyword, my trip was cancelled due to dense fog. Juneau is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and therefore they could not fly helicopters that day. I was very sad, but glad to have been safe. I was going to get to land on a glacier and hike around for an hour. This trip would have cost $365. I did walk around Juneau, and I took the Tram to Mount Roberts, for $25. It was kind of a waste of money, again, because of the fog. But, I had to say that I did something in Juneau.

Skagway was my last real stop on the cruise. Here I had pre-planned a tour called Wilderness Kayaking Tour. Cost was $125. This tour began with a ride throught the Fjord from Skagway to Haines. This was about a 20 minute ferry ride, and the waves were a bit much since it was windy, they said about 7 ft waves. Once in Haines, I was met by a nice lady and taken to a county park where the kayaks were. Ok, so here is where I tell you that I will never, never, never, in my entire life, be in a 3 person kayak again. Kayaks are great, but just get a single kayak. At least when you are by yourself, you know if you are going to flip over, but when someone else is in that kayak with you, there is a good chance that you might go over, and have no idea that it is happening until it is too late. No, I didn't flip, but many times thought I was going to. Outside of that, the tour was great, our guide took us out across this body of water, that opened to the ocean, and as soon as we got ready to turn around, a storm started coming over the mountain, and the wind picked up. It was a bit more interesting getting back, but we did make it.

The last 2 days of my cruise was sailing through the glaciers. You really have to see the glaciers. I would be sad to have never been there. The glaciers are truly amazing, and you get very close. I have been told that Princess ships get the closest to the glaciers. I did get to see one of the glaciers "calf", also an amazing sight.

The captain turned the ship completely around so everyone could see before he left. They did an awesome job of pointing out whales and seals as we were sailing.

The ships final port was Whittier. I did have transfers to Anchorage. There is a 2.5 mile one way tunnel that you have to travel through to get between the two places, so prepare your customers for that. There was a lady on our bus who did not know this and was very upset.

Once in Anchorage, I had the entire day to sightsee, as my flight didn't leave until 11:30pm. I took the city tour, visited a museum, and just walked around. I wish I would have rented a car for the day to have more mobility, but I will save that for next time.