Greetings everyone. Have cruised before with Celebrity (great) and RC (not so great). Off to Alaska with Princess in August 2008 on the Sapphire. We are doing a 5 night landtour and then the cruise. We have booked a Penthouse Suite, what experiences of A PH has anyone had? Also any land-tour tips?

Thanks a lot

Hi teejaybee, welcome to Cruise-Chat. We haven't had the pleasure of a penthouse suite, but have had balcony rooms on our Princess cruises. I hope you enjoy Princess as much as we do. So far, they are our favorite cruise line. Best wishes and have a wonderful time in Alaska. The posts I've read about the Alaska cruise experience have all been outstanding. I just can't handle being cold and we love to snorkel so have always done the Caribbean. Just wanted to welcome you aboard. I'm sure you'll receive some answers from our members, there are many that have experienced the Sapphire Princess. Best wishes!

Hi teejaybee,
My wife and I did the Alaska Cruise on Sapphire Princess two years ago. It is a gorgeous ship and I know you will have a great time. We had a mini-suite which was super. Can't imagine what one of the PH sites would be like, but wouldn't mind trying one sometime. Probably need to win the lottery first though.

In Skagway, there is a walking tour map that you can obtain from the Chamber of Commerce when you disembark. We very much enjoyed taking our time and finding all the historic buildings while reading about the events that took place there during Gold Rush days. Our pedometers said we logged over seven miles that day.

I believe it was in Ketchikan that there was a tram up the side of a mountain that overlooked the harbor. I remember that the view was spectacular and well worth the trip.

Hope you have a great time.

Thanks for the info, enjoy your up and coming cruise

Hi teejaybee

We did a similar cruise/land tour on Coral Princess last summer. Fantastic! We took a 6 day land tour including Fairbanks, Denali and Copper River and then sailed with Coral from Whittier. The land tour and it's excursions were great fun and the following cruise was just wonderful. I just wish we could do it all again this year.
Highlites? - river cruise from Fairbanks, Denali National Park, dinner theatre at Denali Lodge, seeing Mt Mckinley, Copper River and surrounding area on a nature walk, boat transfer from Valdez to Coral Princess, Glacier Bay (with Champagne Breakfast), Helicopter landing on glacier, the train excursion from Skagway.
Sorry, we haven't had a PH, but we did really enjoy our balcony. I am sure the service on Sapphire will be excellent just as it was for us on Coral.
You will have a great holiday.

Thanks for the info - safe sailing!

Wow I imagine it will be spectacular we travelled on the Sapphire Princess this year in April around New Zealand and Australia in a Mini Suite and it was lovely with a large balcony we really enjoyed the whole 12 days on board so you will really be living it up good on you happy cruising Anne in Aussie Land