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We've been on Princess twice - the northbound Vancouver to Anchorage (Coral Princess July 2003) and the southbound Anchorage to Vancouver (Sun Princess May 2005). Loved it both times. Probably preferred the northbound a little better - they cover the same itinerary, just in reverse order., but the schedule seems a little better on the northbound. Glacier Bay and College Fiord are both spectacular, but on the southbound cruise we entered College Fiord about 5 am, so a lot of folks missed out because they didn't know to get up early.Also, be sure your balcony is covered and private - some ships have "staggered" decks and the people above you can look down on your balcony and/or the people below you can look up. I guess some people don't mind this, but it was important to us. As you cruise the inside passage, the views are great from either side of the ship. From your cabin it won't really matter whether its fore or aft - you'll still get a great view. Cabins toward the front tend to feel the motion a little more, although the inside passage is generally pretty calm water. We found that we usually went up to one of the upper observation levels to see the glaciers so that we could have more viewing time. As for Princess and formality, we found that most people really got dressed up on the two formal nights, although we did not but went to the dining room anyway. They have a buffet that is always open and it's very informal. On our 2003 cruise I think we only ate in the dining room twice and opted for the buffet the rest of the time. Princess food is ok, but not spectacular.Hope this helps!
We've been on Princess twice - the northbound Vancouver to Anchorage (Coral Princess July 2003) and the southbound Anchorage to Vancouver (Sun Princess May 2005). Loved it both times. Probably preferred the northbound a little better - they cover the same itinerary, just in reverse order., but the schedule seems a little better on the northbound. Glacier Bay and College Fiord are both spectacular, but on the southbound cruise we entered College Fiord about 5 am, so a lot of folks missed out because they didn't know to get up early.
Also, be sure your balcony is covered and private - some ships have "staggered" decks and the people above you can look down on your balcony and/or the people below you can look up. I guess some people don't mind this, but it was important to us. As you cruise the inside passage, the views are great from either side of the ship. From your cabin it won't really matter whether its fore or aft - you'll still get a great view. Cabins toward the front tend to feel the motion a little more, although the inside passage is generally pretty calm water. We found that we usually went up to one of the upper observation levels to see the glaciers so that we could have more viewing time.
As for Princess and formality, we found that most people really got dressed up on the two formal nights, although we did not but went to the dining room anyway. They have a buffet that is always open and it's very informal. On our 2003 cruise I think we only ate in the dining room twice and opted for the buffet the rest of the time. Princess food is ok, but not spectacular.
Hope this helps!
