My wife and I traveled to Alaska with our two sons, ages 16 and 17, on a 7-night cruise round-trip from Seattle. The itinerary included Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, cruising Tracy Arm, and Victoria, British Columbia. We lucked out getting absolutely perfect weather for the entire week. It was sunny, clear skies, and in the mid 80's.

OVERALL RATING: Overall, the cruise was great and an excellent bargain for the money.

WHY CHOOSE THIS CRUISE? In deciding which cruise to book, my wife and I primarily wanted to cruise on a quality ship at a reasonable price. Also, we wanted to visit nice ports. We got everything we were after with this itinerary on the Sapphire Princess. I had previously visited Ketchikan and other spots in Alaska on business so I had an idea what to expect. This was our 1st cruise to Alaska. We previously sailed to Bermuda and the Caribbean.

GETTING THERE. We opted not to purchase Princess airfare and had no problem getting good fares. We flew America West into Seattle from Baltimore. We got in a day early and took a limo from the airport to the hotel. The limo was an inexpensive option for 4 people with lots of luggage and it cost only $30 + tip. We stayed at the Vance Hotel in downtown Seattle. We paid $75 + tax by booking through Priceline.com and bidding $75 on a 3-star hotel. I=ve had good luck with Priceline. it didn=t work out this time. The Vance Hotel is historic (or just plain old, depending on your point of view). Being in downtown Seattle though allowed us to walk to the Pike Place Market and that was ok. We only had to walk about 6 or 7 blocks to the waterfront but in the evening Seattle can get kind of rough. I=d personally recommend staying at an airport hotel and taking a taxi into town if you want to look at the sights.

EMBARKATION/DEBARKATION. We arrived to the ship at 11:00am and got on quick as we are Platinum members and don=t have to wait in the same lines as all others. We disembarked around 9:30am and were at the airport by 10:00am. Princess disembarks based on your cabin location (top down). For the return, we decided to just take 2 cabs to the airport. The cost of each cab was $26 ea taxi + tip.

ROOM. Inside Quad, Caribe Deck, Cabin C-411 (10th floor). Most of the inside activities (dining rooms, show rooms, etc.) on the Sapphire are down on Deck 6 or Deck 7 so I personally wouldn=t worry about spending more to stay higher on the ship. We were impressed with the rooms which we found to be large for a cruise ship and laid out well. There is adequate closet space. The room also has a hair dryer, a safe, a refrigerator, and television. Television channels though were very limited. I've always opted for an inside room but would go for an outside room with a balcony if I did the cruise again. Much of the trip is spent close to shore and there is a lot to look at.

THE SHIP. This was only the 2nd full week cruise the ship has taken and of course everything on the Sapphire was brand new. The Sapphire Princess is beautiful. I've previously traveled on the Dawn, Golden (twice), Grand, and Pacific (the old) Princess and well as the Norwegian Wind. The Sapphire Princess is very similar to the Golden and Grand Princess. For those who have been on one or the other before, the primary differences between the Sapphire and the Golden/Grand is in the rear of the ship and with the Vista lounge. The Sapphire is supposed to be longer and narrower than the Golden/Grand. This accommodates changes to the back of the ship. The large nightclub that sat over the rear pool has been moved forward and this opens up sunlight into the rear of the ship. There is also now a standing pool in the rear in addition to the regular swimming pool. Princess has also added seating to the Horizon buffet by connecting-up the two sides in the rear of the ship and this makes it a lot easier to find a table. The Vista lounge has been dramatically updated to Club Fusion and it=s a whole lot nicer. Other differences include a larger Wheelhouse bar on the Sapphire Princess which is also a nice place to gather. The kids areas have also been upgraded although I don't think my kids liked the area as much because the Sapphire does not have an arcade. Otherwise, in many of the places on the ship, you won't notice much difference between the Sapphire and the Golden/Grand.

FOOD. Overall, we enjoyed the food but it was not sensational. I wasn't impressed with the choices for dinner. We actually skipped a few dinners opting for the 24-hour Horizon Buffet instead. We had traditional, second seating, served in the International Dining Room. There are alternatives for people going freestyle. The Sapphire Princess has several restaurants with various themes, i.e., steakhouse. I didn't personally see a whole lot of theme going on. The alternative dining rooms looked pretty much like the others. The alternative dining rooms do offer a few extra selections which are offered throughout the week in the traditional dining room as well. Service was slow and just ok. Elsewhere, I thought the food in the Horizon Court (buffet) was just ok. Variety also suffered as offerings in the buffet were frequently left-overs from dinner. The coffee and iced tea in the Horizon Court were good. The desserts in the Horizon Court unfortunately were rather tasteless and I=m not sure why, but are usually all filled or topped with fruit. Burgers and Pizza seemed better on this ship than on the others I have sailed on previously. Princess must have worked out something to keep the buns fresh as I have found them to be rock-hard in the past. I think one of the best alternatives is to order room service, even if you just order dessert and take it up to the buffet for a late night snack. Room service has options that aren't available elsewhere on the ship and I found them to be better than what is served elsewhere, especially dessert.

SHORE EXCURSIONS. If you like to just get off the ship and walk around or shop, these ports are great. Overall, the excursions in Alaska are expensive.

In Ketchikan, we just walked around the town. There are lots of shops and going through Creek Street is a nice stroll. I've previously been to the Totem Village and didn't see it worthwhile for a return visit.

While Cruising Tracy Arm, the scenery is fantastic. We cruised Tracy Arm early and the ship had announced we'd see Glaciers at 7:00am. Well, that was true but when you see the Glaciers, you are already all the way up into Tracy Arm. So, plan on getting up earlier than when you are scheduled to see the Glaciers or you might miss them. The Glaciers here are ok but I personally don't think they are as awesome as what I had previously seen in another trip to the Kenai Fjords.

In Juneau, we privately booked a sightseeing trip with Capt Larry of Orca Enterprises. This was definitely worthwhile and the highlight of the entire trip! We saw many humpback whales up close, lots of bald eagles, and a few sea lions. A note on spotting whales ... you will see whales if you watch for them from the Sapphire Princess but they will be a ways off in the distance. Instead of looking for whales on the surface, look for their blow holes spouting water 20 foot in the air. Once you find a spout, you just watch that area and the whale will come up briefly. It is significantly different seeing these 40-50 foot creatures up close in a small boat though. Also, the Princess-run excursion boats were packed. The Orca boats, while still crowded, were much easier to move around in. We also walked the town but there really isn=t a lot there for tourists. We were tendered into Juneau and that cut down our time considerably … we had to forego a visit to Mendenhall Galcier.

In Skagway, we went on the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad. Instead of booking through the ship, we went up to the railway station and booked it ourselves. I don't think the price was any different but we were afraid to book the trip in advance in case the weather was bad. We paid $89 ea. In rain or even overcast weather, it wouldn't be worth the price. The train is pretty high up and even the conductor mentioned how lucky we were to see so well because of the great weather. As a word of caution, I wouldn't recommend booking the trip at the pier because it was offered only as a one-way trip with bus return for the same price as we paid for round-trip rail all the way and back. If you book it yourself at the rail station, you'll have to walk an extra 10 minutes up the street to board as only Princess excursions board directly across from the ship.

In Victoria, we just took a taxi into town (at a cost of about $8 CAN + tip). It could conceivably be walked but would be at least a mile. Most of the tourist stuff is on Government Street. It's worth a visit but there's not much to do here.

ENTERTAINMENT. Good, and the Princess Theater offers all a great view with its stadium seating. Various musicians played elsewhere throughout the ship.

MISCELLANEOUS. Binoculars are a must on this cruise. My son spotted a bear on the shore with them and we all saw mountain goats. Early in the trip, the binoculars allowed us to see bald eagles up close. Later in the trip, you=ll see bald eagles all over though. The ship offers HIGH TEA everyday (which I admit might not sound too exciting... but, it actually is a lot of fun). I highly recommend you try this activity at least once during your cruise. The CASINO is large and offers a lot of choices. Table games, like roulette, had reasonable minimum bets ($1 inside/$5 outside). There were higher minimums on the Grand Princess. There were a modest number of kids on-board. Even though the ship was full, there didn't seem to be many people around, especially at night. The mix of young vs middle-aged vs old was balanced. There was a modest number of kids on-board.

SUMMARY. You get excellent value for your money on this cruise. The Sapphire is a magnificent ship, the service was ok, and the food was generally good. Having cruised several times before, I could have picked out several things to nag about that Princess could have done different but overall I was very happy to have taken this cruise.