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The Alaska Cruise on Discovery was exceptional - itinerary Whittier to Vancouver. September 5-12, 2026 For those who don't know me, I'm very much a go-it-alone type of traveler, air travel to excursions. I enjoy having control and getting into the nooks and crannies of ports of call. That's not to say that I don't partake in Shore Excursions, as I do when the it is something that piques my interest. I've divided this review into two parts - Alaska the ground portion and the Sea portion A week before we were to sail, we get an inquiry from Princess as to our interest in canceling our land portion of our trip - it was voluntary and adequate compensation was offered. We accepted the offer and were now facing three days in Alaska to plan out - see how we faired below. Getting to Anchorage - we are eastcoasters so we flew from Philly via Portland (an overnight) and then the next morning on to Anchorage. Anchorage - arrived, a few days early and while waiting for our luggage made contact with the ground transport folks at ANC - a delightful crew. We got the 411 on when and where to be on embarkation day. Proceeded to our rental car (Hertz) and our adventure began. I will put our Ground portion at the end for those interested, and get on to the Discovery Princess review. Embarkation Day We got up early, and planned to hit the car rental turn it at 0900, turn-in was a breeze and we walked our luggage via cart from Car Rental building to the Baggage area using the underground connector tunnels. Princess crew was waiting for us, took our marked checked luggage for transport to the ship and gave us a ticket for the bus to embark - time 1000 -- we visited an open eatery at the airport had a light breakfast, and waited the 90 mins. A bit of hurry-up and wait was experienced, but on the bus we were and the driver gave a running tour commentary from ANC to Whittier -- the single lane 2.5 mile tunnel to Whittier is amazing. Arrived at the port, and I will say it was the most pain-free embarkation we've ever experienced - from passport check to security to welcom aboard less than 20 mins (tops). Welcome Aboard It was 1130 rooms not ready, we headed up to the 16th deck, grabbed a table near the aft and had a proper lunch. 1PM rooms were ready and we found our without difficulty -- Aft - Balcony room. We did purchase the Princess Premier package. Room Steward Eric introduced himself, asked if we needed anything and we gave him our requests and he took care of it. We find knowing what you like saves everyone time. Eric spoiled us daily. Once we dropped off our bags we called reservations for Specialty Dining and were told only times unattractive to us were available - we thanked the rep and took a walk to the restaurants. The rep was accurate, so we adjusted our optics and grabbed three reservations for the trip - 2 at Crown Grill and 1 at Rudi's Catch. Our shipboard routine - we rise early - we go to the gym and then breakfast at the buffet - early we find is less crowded. Dining Room - Our evenig meals are in the main dining room - we requested a 7:30pm seating same table, same waiter and were accomodated in the Juneau dinning room. Our waiter Carlos and assistant Jessica were top notch, anticipatory, and knew the menu (and what was avail off menu). FOOD: Main Dining room - Uniformally good to excellent - We laughed as the only complaint I had was that the "fish chowder" should have been called "fish bisque" the taste was amazing, there were no pieces of vegetable or fish within. Hot foot came hot, cool food cool, pacing was excellent. Crown Grill - each experience was good-to-excellent - from the hostess to the waiter we had a seemless experience. First visit we had lamb and ribeye - second visit we did a plus up and got the Tomahawk Ribeye for $40+20%=48. We were more than pleased. Rudi's Catch - the meal was exceptional - I opined that the staff may have been stretched thin, yet service did not suffer. We noted staff literally running with orders. Bars: I am a creature of habit. Crown Grill Bar (Larry and Boogy) and Wake View Bar (Edgar and John) -- these gents tended to our needs. Entertainment: The entertainment was well above average and enjoyable. We managed to make it to three shows and into a few locales for the roving performers. The Piazza always had something cooking and going on to engage those who wanted engaging - from line dancing to disco. The Glaciers -Strongly recommend taking advantage of all the National Park Ranger presentations (they are piped into your cabin btw)-- The Glaciers are getting smaller - having been up and down the inside passage numerous times over the past 20 years it is evident the glaciers are receding - my recommendation, if you're putting off a trip - DON'T - get that bucket list checked off as soon as possible. Hubbard and Glacier Bay and Mendenhall Galciers did not disappoint, they just aren't what they used to be. If you go to Mendenhall make the hike to Nugget Falls - its worth the hike -- you can walk up to 20 feet from the crecendo of the water crashing next to you. Ports: Icy Strait Point - we opted to head into town - and took the $5 shuttle down town. We wandered the town, visited town hall where lovely totem poles stood tall, visit the local brew house and walked along the coast back to the ship. Had the day been clear, I may have been convinced to take the zip line (it looked like a breathtaking experience - next time. Juneau - We took the Ship Excursion to Mendenhall - the bus drops you at the park and takes you back downtown to the ship - you do what you want - we walked to the see the Glacier up closer at the falls and enjoyed the ranger station/exhibits prior to returning. We then walked ourselves about the town -- head up to the Russian Orthodox Church (it was open and had beautiful icons within) we also were alone there -- then on to the State Capitol - the local security guard there gave us a mini tour (the building is open to the public) then on to the musuem across the street. Wandered down front street and poked our head in Red Dog Saloon for a looksee and then back to the ship. Ketchikan: Four large ships were coming into port on our day (that's roughly 10000 folks). We headed into town and walked straight up the hill to the Salmon Walk - plenty of signage - on the way we stopped at the salmon ladder and watched salmon jump the rapids - this is where 99% of folks stop ... we walked the salmon walk and it dropped us out 300 meters from the Salmon Hatchery (a good potty stop too) -- the hatchery was closed but the river/creek wasn't -- we walked along the creek fruther up river and found thousands of salmon spawning, so thick it seemed you could walk across the water on top of them. We then crossed the creek and visited the Totem Pole musuem, which was quite educational, we ended up spending about 90 mins learning more than we thought possible about totem poles. We then walked back down toward the ship, stopping at totem poles in town, shops and the obligatory walk on Creek Street which at this time was empty. We thought we might be dock-runners, but made it back with time to spare. Sea days - I must say i was hoping the voyage would have taken us along the Candian inside passage, as I have cruised it before and it is magestic, alas, we went out to sea and around Vancouver island. Gratuities: They are included in the premium package. That said, we like to write thank you notes to those who were largely responsible for our having a delightful message and crafted notes and dropped an additional something in each for these individuals which we presented during our last visit with them. YMMV. Disembarkation: It was a snap - Night before we put our bags out at the appointed time, exited the cabin at 0820, our group was called at 0830 and we had our bags at 0900. To be honest we kind of felt like we were in a mosh pit at luggage reclaiming, but we managed - we had a Princess bus tix in hand to Vancouver Airport, but saw the taxi line was short and opted to take a cab. It was a quick 35 mins about $40CDN plus tip. We made it through baggage check and security for our flight to Seattle in a jiffy and found a place to sit and wait -- for flights to the US you clear customs and immigration for the US in Canada. Global Entry lanes exist. Bottom line: Princess did not disappoint, we had a delightful voyage, we are looking forward to sailing again with Princess in the future (hopefully sooner rather than later) Alaska Land - Self guided tour Day 1 -Arrival day: Given it was late morning, we headed down the highway toward Seward, stopping at Potter's Marsh and took an hour and walked the park. At the culvert we saw Salmon spawning, not too many , yet just feet away. From their we continued south to Beluga Point and looked for Beluga whales which from a distance can be mistaken for white caps we werent disappointed. Back up to Anchorage and checked into our hotel (Residence Inn). All in order, we headed down town and visited a few eatiers/pubs -- 49th State Brewery (in the summer get to the roof) and then on to Glacier Brewhouse. 49th State caters to the tourist exceptionally well, Glacier Brewhouse is where the locals eat - we had good eats! Day 2 Our monster day - we were heading to Denali National Park - via Talkteetna for a flighseeing trip to Grace glacier at the foot of Denali. We headed out early (0730) and caught a spectacular sunrise on the Alaska range. Talkteetna is a small town (really small) and our flight was scheduled with K2 -- we got there and sadly the rain arrived with us ... the flights to the glacier landing were canceled - we were given the option of a full refund or alternative trip - we took the refund and headed into town. Off to Denali NP - we stopped at the South View point and the North View Point on the way to the NP -- we saw the jewel in the crown, Denali at the North View point, and never again during the trip. We arrived at the national park, inside to the exhibits and then drove as far inland as permitted in a private vehicle. We opted not to take the bus tour deeper into the park. Headed back home and stopped at the McKinley View Inn - Mary Carry's place - it's a diner, it's a charmer, and it's got a history worth reading. Had a light dinner and headed back to Anchorage. We rolled into our beds about 8:30pm (still light out) and were spent. Day 3 Off to Independence Mine (worth a visit and about a 45 min drive from Anchorage) - gold panning is permitted and gear can be rented at the State Park for $10 per hour. Then we drove up the "primative roads" to the summit of Hatcher Pass (3800+ feet) and literally were standing in the clouds. With a spectacular view of the valley down to Anchorage. Left the park, and drove down to Palmer, AK - host of the Alaska State Fair - oh what fun we had. Good eats, lots of interesting displays, great music and the icing on the cake - the weigh-off for the largest Cabbage - 122lbs brought the prize ($1000) to the farmer who grew that jewel. Day 4 Embarkation day.

This was our first Princess cruise. We have cruised with Royal Caribbean but primarily cruise with Celebrity. We chose Princess for Alaska because we wanted to see Glacier Bay. The Discovery was a larger ship than we usually like but it never felt crowded. The room was very nice and the service was consistently good. The main dining room food was alright - about the same as Celebrity. We ate one evening in Catch by Rudy and it was outstanding. However, the reason to take this particular cruise is for the itinerary. It was outstanding. Glacier Bay was beautiful. The on-board naturalist, Rob, gave several entertaining and educational lectures and narrated the College Fjord tour. There were a number of great options for the stops in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway, and for Juneau and Skagway, the port days were long enough to get done what we wanted to do. We also did a post-cruise extension to the Kenai Peninsula and then to Denali, which was fantastically beautiful and run with military precision. I wish we had done this trip with our kids when they were teenagers. I can't wait to go back. Re the ship, specifically, the fitness center was too small, but that's our only beef.

An Alaska Cruise and Land tour review Following is a review of my experiences planning, booking and experiencing an Alaska “Cruisetour” on the Princess Discovery in August 2026 with my family: my wife, two adult children, their wives, and two school aged grandsons. Overall, most of the experience itself was wonderful, despite some negative opinions. Planning: I began planning in July 2025 but did not manage to book passage until Thanksgiving 2025. That was too close to June 2026 to get accommodations in June on Princess, so I had to settle for August. Since the weather was the most negative aspect of our trip I would advise others to start planning very early. For our whole 14 day trip from Vancouver and ending in Anchorage, we had 2 sunny days, 2 rainy days, and the rest cloudy and foggy at sea. The glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park, a trip highlight, available only to Princess and Holland America, were considerably obscured. Fortunately, the following day in College Fjord was sunny. My advice is to try for June whose average climate is better. However, do plan on some cloudy, rainy and chilly weather. The amount of rain jackets and warm outer ware, both in the stores and on the other tourists attests to that. The best aspect of our trip was family. We got the opportunity to spend lots of time together and see our children really enjoying new experiences. We booked the trip and excursions directly with Princess, and paid for most of it so the others were free of that concern. This trip to Alaska is very popular with families and there were many along with us. I reserved a table for eight in the main dining room for all nights onboard; so we all got to spend some time together then. I also involved everyone in selecting excursions so we did most of those together as well. My wife and I had cruised with Celebrity in the Caribbean twice and Holland America in Norway once, so we had some experience, but not since 2020. We chose Princess because the route included Glacier Bay National Park, we could book a young ship, and the age range was very broad, including lots of children, and Princess offered the greatest variety of excursions. I did look at reports from other cruise lines on Cruise Critic, and concluded there was no clear standout in the middle price range. Then there is the matter of choosing staterooms. Suites might be a high priority for some, but was not for us. More important to me were rooms somewhat close together; that requirement did make it harder to book with only a 9 month advance. My older son’s family with the two grandsons were accustomed to travel and to cramped rooms, so a standard balcony room with two sets of bunk beds worked for them. My wife and I took a standard balcony room, and our younger son’s lady partner, concerned about sea sickness, wanted an inside room. On advice from more experienced cruisers we chose to book directly with Princess. As you will see below, the lack of a very conscientious travel agent caused some uncertainties. Experience on route: Overall we had wonderful times on board and on land. Our rooms were very well designed and quite comfortable; no complaints from the room with four. Aside from a couple of cold infections, little time was spent in the rooms, there was too much other stuff to enjoy. The trip involves the ship, excursions, one tender, a train ride to Denali, and a return to Anchorage by bus. Princess handles all those logistics well. We might have save a little money by not booking the excursions with Princess, but then had yet one more planning chore. My older son’s family extended their trip with a few days visit to the Kenai peninsula they arranged themselves. Most breakfast and lunches on the Discovery were in the buffet and main dinning room. The food ranged from average to pretty good, like an excellent diner in the Northeast or better national chain; lots of variety in the buffet and enough options in the main dining room. Service in the main dining room is exceptional, but watch out for substantial delays caused by the kitchen’s attempt to accommodate allergy or digestive issues. I finally had to tell the staff to ignore my difficulty with garlic and manage it myself. We did not use any of the drink packages, specialty restaurants or meal upgrades, but made occasional use of pay as you go drinks. You have to learn what’s free and what isn’t. Soft ice cream and pop corn are free by the pool, as are hot dogs. A slice of pizza is free at “slice”, but a custom made pizza in the pizzeria isn’t. Many food options are covered by the “packages”. You will learn to navigate the Discovery in a day or so, but eventually give up on long waits for an elevator, often 5 min or more, and use the stairs. The elevators are often crowded and unhealthy; two of us contracted COVID and three common colds. The ship has 3500 passengers and about 1000 staff, and seems overcrowded most of the time. One cannot find a window table at breakfast in the buffet, nor find a quiet place to just relax with a book inside, anywhere, anytime, since most lounge areas are attached to a bar or presentation venue. That was not our experience on earlier cruises on smaller ships. Entertainment was in several varieties. Two different musical reviews in the packed auditorium, ongoing music in the central “piazza” and the bars in the evening, various game show like contests, and two different entertaining comedians. Most of the music was loud and contemporized (ie rock) versions of whatever it was. Though even for someone with different tastes in entertainment, it was enjoyable. Little or no dancing, at least before 10 PM. There were also lectures in the auditorium. The two I attended were entirely about shopping on shore – a waste of time; my kids said the naturalist was better. Contrary to our expectations, our grandsons participated in and enjoyed the younger persons’ clubs; even made friends. The Alaskan scenery is the star of the show, and wildlife sightings add to the fun. As I mentioned, the weather often detracted from the experience. Vancouver to Whittier: Ours was not, strictly speaking, an “inside passage”, since the Discovery is too large to go between Victoria island and the mainland. So, we had one very foggy day at sea, and first port in Ketchikan, where it rained most of the day. We went for an excursion to the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary with an excellent guide who provided detailed information about the forest and wildlife. This rainforest is beautiful and unique. .Returning to town, one can walk the board walk called creek street and follow it up to a salmon ladder to watch the fish trying to get upstream. Ketchikan, like the other two coastal towns dates from 1900 or so, picturesque, and converted entirely to tourist shops and restaurants. The next day in Juneau, we took the Princess bus out to the Mendenhall glacier. Weather cloudy, but no rain. At the visitors center, there is a 1 mi trail out to a spot at the base of a striking waterfall and where the foot of the glacier ends in a lake that frequently floods. Our kids took a whale watching excursion with the good luck to see an entire pod of whales, including babies. Returning to town, we spent about 2 hours in an excellent, new Alaska State museum. Here are extensive, well curated exhibits of indigenous cultures as well as some historical material about the purchase and settling of the state. We found this museum to be better than the one in Anchorage, which we also visited. The Anchorage museum is a confusing conglomeration of exhibits, and those dealing with the indigenous are too poorly lit. At the third port, Skagway, there is a glass top train ride along a cliff hanging route that follows the trail of the gold prospectors up into the mountains. Not to be missed. Very Alaska and crowded with tourists. Finally, there are two days on the water visiting Glacier Bay National park and then College Fjord. Both are inlets from the ocean and bordered by many glaciers, high hills, and mountains in the background. As I mentioned earlier, our day at Glacier Bay was cloudy, and the upper parts of the glaciers obscured by fog. College Fjord was spectacular in the sunlight. The ship sails straight into the inlets to the glaciers at the end, then turns 180 very slowly and sails out. For the best views one should try to get a spot on the railing forward on decks 16-18 on the way in and deck 16, aft, on the way out. Plan on a chilly wind, and bring binoculars. Denali: At Whittier, there are some luggage logistics that are explained in the Princess “Cruisetour Answerbook”, and again with material distributed on board. Note that some passengers are going back on board, returning to Vancouver, some to Fairbanks, some to the Princess Denali Wilderness Lodge (where we went), some to the McKinley Lodge, some to the Anchorage airport, and some to combinations. A large suitcase stays in Anchorage, a carry on size suitcase goes by bus north, and a backpack goes on the train. There is a glass topped train ride north to the Denali Wilderness Lodge, where we stayed 3 nights. The train ride is long and very scenic, with occasional wildlife, but in our case cloudy. The train trip provides a preview of just how extensive the Alaska wilderness is, complete with burnout from wildfires. The Wilderness Lodge is a small village with a main lodge without rooms, about 7 two story log cabin style structures with rooms where we stayed, and two 4 story hotel like structures. There are also 4 shops, 3 restaurants, and 2 cafes. Across the road is a ramshackle assembly of small shops and cafes. Our room was adequate, basic, clean motel room; really, just the essentials. As for food, one is trapped with few decent options. The café in the main lodge will do for breakfast so long as you like yogurt and poor pastries. A place called the Black Bear across the street is better, but very crowded. We did not eat dinner in the King Salmon restaurant because it was quite expensive and poorly reviewed. We ate twice in the Grizzly and once in the Saloon. Princess should be embarrassed with how low the quality, variety, and loud the noise. Of course, we did not come for the lodge. We came for Denali National Park. On our first afternoon we went out on the Tundra Wilderness tour – that is the longer of the two offered – it goes all the way out as far on the park road as possible climbing several thousand feet up into the mountains. The scenery is indeed spectacular mountain scenery, with some snow at the highest points. Much of the route is above the tree line. The bus makes every effort to stop for wildlife, so you will surely see caribou, ground squirrels, likely a moose, and horned dall sheep at a distance. We did not see bear. Passengers are requested to yell out when they see something, and the bus driver activates a camera with a long distance lens connected to TVs inside the bus. The road is gravel and hugs sides of high hills; there are a couple of rest stops. Our younger son had been sick with a cold the day of the Tundra tour, so the second day he and my wife and I went back to the park with him. The hotel operates free shuttles every 30 min and the national park operates free shuttles from the visitors center to various places within the park. We took the bus to the Savage River loop trail and did that 2 mile loop along side the river. A wonderful, though rocky, walk. It is not crowded, but with enough other people that one feels safe from bears. My older son and his outdoors accustomed family did the much longer Savage River Alpine trail that goes up onto the ridges above the river. They were high enough that at one spot several dall sheep dashed across their path and my grandson was overjoyed to take photos. And high enough to get a glimpse of Denali. If you have read all this you no doubt know that the namesake mountain is seldom visible. They also got to the see the park’s sled dog demonstration. These experiences are the reason we came with our family. Early the 3d morning we took the bus back to Anchorage where Princess put us up in the Captain Cook Hotel, an excellent hotel in the center of downtown. One arrives around lunch time, and our plane did not leave until 8pm the following day. We spent 2 hr at the Anchorage Museum, that is large and new, but not our favorite, as described above. We had an excellent final family dinner at a fish place called Orso. Our last day we spent walking around downtown and visiting the many galleries – more actual art than we had seen elsewhere, but still lots of tourist shops. The Princess of nickels and dimes and confusing communications: Following are some remarks about the Princess operation. As you begin using the Princess web site, you will find it looks like lots of advertisements and difficult to locate the detailed information you want. Where are the different itineraries identified so you can evaluate them ? Where to find all the excursions for your chosen itinerary ? Eventually you will locate that information. Then you might want to know about how to communicate with fellow travelers while on board if you did not purchase a WiFi package, or how much various drinks actually cost if you did not purchase a drink package, or how much soda or wine can you bring on board with you ? Can I get a complete itinerary list showing all the stops, excursions and times ? (No) I found the Princess web site contains lots of information, but it is fragmented and not clear where to find things. Some things, like the actual cost of drinks or specialty restaurants is not available at all, and you will need to rely on the good graces of “Cruise Critics” who posted photos. And do be sure to check your on board expenses before leaving at the end. The amount on my Princess app was only the total, not itemized, but correct. Over the course of my planning work, I had to call the Princess “Vacation Planners” 50 -60 times, after I had booked the cruise for all 8 of us. The central Princess number is 800-774-6237, the vacation planners are at 800-901-1172, though they may not talk to you until booked, and dining services at 833-895-3463. The vacation planners can answer or find an answer to most questions, but it pays to check. I did not bother to play phone tag with one planner, but used them as a pool of experts. A good example is communication with others in your party. The Princess cell phone app, a necessary item, has a chat interface with them that uses WiFi even if you did not purchase a WiFi package. One of three planners denied that, but two confirmed it. What none of them told me is that there is a feature in the app that will show the actual location of a “shipmate” on the ship, but that feature is located in a different spot in the app from the chat ! A different good example was my request to switch our Denali park tour from Natural History (default) to Tundra. Got different opinions about the cost of doing so (modest), and to make sure it was recorded properly for all 8 of us. Finally about nickels and dimes. Princess makes every effort to sell you something. We chose to not take either the Princess Plus ($65/person/day) or Princess Premier($100/person/day) that cover some number of drinks, uses of specialty restaurants, the final crew gratuity, WiFi, etc. Since we are only limited drinkers, did not plan to use the specialty restaurants, and did not need WiFi, I chose to save the money. Of course, you probably know that mobile data is available in port and other places where there is cell phone service at all. Princess sends repeated messages suggesting you place a bid to upgrade your room for some better unknown room. There are a bunch of shops on two decks, and the amount of sale items on tables in the corridor increase as you get closer to the end of the trip. The number of watches for sale is really amazing. And, as I mentioned, several of the lectures cover places to shop in port. That’s it. Still recovering from the cold I got onboard. Glad to answer questions.