Complete 7 Day Alaska Cruise Experience and Highlights - Princess Cruise

This video offers a walk through of an Alaska 7 day cruise, itinerary suggestions, and tons of tips. We were on the Royal Princess ship and went on this cruise in May of 2023.
Whether you're looking to do a Princess cruise of Alaska, or another line like Royal Caribbean or Norwegian, this video offers a ton of insights that will help give you an overview of what to expect. A lot of the 2024 Alaska cruises are also on the Discovery Princess, which would have a lot of similarities to the Royal Princess.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
1:00 Alaska Cruise Itinerary
1:30 Seattle Departure
1:50 Juneau
2:00 Juneau Tram
2:51 Mendenhall Glacier
3:15 Nugget Falls
4:02 Juneau Shopping
4:45 Skagway
5:18 Skagway Scenic Railway
6:12 Glacier Bay Scenic Cruising
7:18 Ketchikan
7:30 Ketchikan Lumberjack Show
8:15 Victoria, Canada
8:30 Fisherman's Wharf
8:55 Butchart Gardens
9:55 Disembark Seattle
10:20 Bonus Alaska Cruise Tips
10:38 Whale Watching
11:20 Things to do in Seattle
13:50 Cruise Terminal Overview Pier 91
14:45 Inside Stateroom Tour
15:20 Medallion Class Tips
15:50 How to Cancel Gratuities
17:15 Food & Drink Tips
19:25 Formal Nights Tips
20:15 Shopping
21:00 Ivory Unique Alaska Souvenir
21:28 Casino
22:00 Review Papers
22:10 Alaska Cruise Weather
22:45 Outro
23:00 Top things to do on an Alaska Cruise on each port

[@conciseisnice]

I'm a bit amazed at the strong opinions about tipping vs. not tipping. If people want to keep gratuities, go for it. I'm glad many people can afford to tip generously. I have no doubt it is appreciated by the employees and the cruise line. I sometimes tip myself and recently tipped $20 to a local swimming pool employee for some snow cones because she stayed a few minutes late to serve me and my kids. I am just really against "expected" tips. I do hope there is some understanding and compassion that saving $100+ per ticket is a big deal for a lot of people who are traveling on perhaps a more restrictive budget or who prefer to not contribute to the tipping culture phenomenon. Although I don't appreciate the comments of "cheap", "disgusting", or "gross", I'm trying to not take it personally and I respect your opinions and thank you for sharing. For every comment in favor of keeping gratuities I do believe there are many more who appreciate the advice on how easy it is to cancel them and save some money. I don't mind taking a hit on viewership if people aren't able to watch the video beyond the comment about tipping. Thank you for taking the time to watch the video and interact in the comments as you feel you'd like to. I very rarely remove comments, even if it is contradictory to an opinion I share in one of my videos, and every comment is appreciated.

[@joanevans3872]

Am going to Alaska in Sep2024, so your tips were invaluable, thank you

[@aqnguyen08]

Great video thank you

[@conciseisnice]

You're welcome, thank you for watching!

[@cake6399]

This is very helpful 😎

[@conciseisnice]

I'm glad! :)

[@allisonroorda7937]

Thank you for taking time to make this video! Even though we will be there via Royal Caribbean next week, we found this very helpful. :)

[@conciseisnice]

I appreciate the comment! :)

[@conciseisnice]

I hope your trip is wonderful!

[@derekbrown6832]

Hi, from the UK, brings back memories of my bucket list cruise to Alaska, way back in sept 2012. I had exactly the same Princess cruise itinerary as yours, but way back then, i was on the Golden Princess. It was awesome, did the White Pass Scenic Railroad, and helicopter, onto a glacier, in Skagway, Seaplane, over the Misty Fjords, in Ketchikan, and the Lumberjack show, and whale watching, and Mendenhall Glacier, in Juneau. I would go back in a heartbeat, if i could afford to do it all again, ha.

[@conciseisnice]

Hello! I'm glad to hear you had a great experience. I would do this cruise again as well! Definitely a good time.

[@PeachyAenne]

Canceling gratuities? Noooo, like others have said - those tips go to a lot of people you don't even see, who help make your vacation amazing! Tip extra on top of the gratuities to the people your interact with. And for those who think "tipping culture" is bad - it's not, companies use tips as a way to underpay people and most people can't really afford to make a living from their wages without tips. It's not a culture its just how the system works and if you aren't tipping - that could mean some families could go without a meal or utilities. So ALWAYS ALWAYS tip.

[@conciseisnice]

Thank you for sharing your opinion. That's an understandable viewpoint and I'm glad you can afford to tip generously. I'm very much against tipping culture and expect employers to pay fair wages. Tipping on a cruise ship or anywhere emboldens employers to pay less. It's a systematic issue, in my opinion. Canceling gratuities is an excellent way to save money on a cruise and I'll stand behind that.

[@blkmamba]

I am headed to Alaska in August on an identical itinerary on the Discovery Princess. This was a very informative and helpful video. Thank you.

[@blkmamba]

I must note that the gratuities is shared for the staff you see and you don't see. So canceling your gratuities is kind of a crappy thing to do, just my personal opinion. Still a very informative video.

[@conciseisnice]

Thanks for the comment. I'm actually surprised at how many people feel this way about gratuities. It is eye opening. I am very much against tipping culture, myself.

[@ju1417]

Great video! Thank you so much for making this. It was really nicely done. I always like to check out the KZbin videos from people who visit places I am going especially, the cruises. However, I do not agree with canceling the gratuities. I agree with you that tipping has gotten out of hand and I do try to stay firm in tipping for service after I have received it rather than giving beforehand. Additionally, for me, the gratuities given on a cruise ship are different. I do not believe that the employees get paid what they’re worth especially when they give, outstanding service. They depend on those gratuities. They are working hard and doing their best trying to earn those gratuities. They know that you have the right to take them off. That is just something I would never do. I personally, always make sure to budget those gratuities in. Thank you again for your video, I enjoyed it.

[@conciseisnice]

Thank you for watching the video and I'm glad you found it useful :). I appreciate your insightful comment about gratuities. It's a hot topic I think and it's good to hear other opinions about it and reasoning for keeping gratuities. Makes a lot of sense what you've described. For me, and I think a lot of travelers, removing the optional gratuity is a great way to travel on a perhaps tighter budget, which is why I include that in the video. I think a lot of people don't know it's even an option and would be grateful to save some money. I also don't like how the cruise adds the charge automatically and it's up to passengers to take initiative to cancel if they elect to do so.

[@robertk4552]

Thank you. We always cancel the automatic gratuities and tip ala cart the first full day of the cruise. We see this only as a means for cruise lines to track the tips received by the wait staff to control their pay. We will be taking our first Princess cruise on June 15th with the Premier Package that includes those gratuities.

[@conciseisnice]

This is an innovative solution.

[@rooroo43]

I said June 1st. Discovery princess. I’m hoping the ship is fun. 🤩

[@conciseisnice]

That's the ship I sailed on! Loved it! I hope you have a great trip!!

[@pamrocks5098]

Enjoyed your video-we will be hitting the same cruise stops in mid June (on NCL). We are excited for all our excursions-Mendenhall Glacier, Private VIP Car in Skagway & horse powered trolley in Victoria, BC. Did you have lots of rain?

[@conciseisnice]

That's awesome! Those sound like great excursions. We had some rain but I wouldn't say a lot. Maybe every other day or a little bit of rain each day. I took a light rain jacket around but only used it a little bit when it got cooler in the evenings, or when it was raining. Or sailing on the ship with the wind it got pretty chilly. Most of the time at port I was in a t shirt or long sleeve shirt.

[@johndevore9895]

Don't cancel gratuities. If you can't afford the gratuities you cant afford the trip so wait until you can afford it. The tips go to cabin stewards, waiters, laundry personnel people you never see who work behind the scenes and if you were only to tip stewards and waiters you would be shorting the hundreds of support people who work very hard to give you a luxurious trip.. Please research this to better understand. This is how these people support themselves and in many cases send money back to family members. Even when factoring in gratuities cruising can be a great value but consider it part of the cost of the cruise not an option.

[@conciseisnice]

Thank you for sharing your opinion, John. Very insightful.

[@BerryinHI]

I agree! The employees work hard! All the food is included (except for extra dining menu options), so you don't get a bill where you can tip. You can't tip all the staff individually in person in the dining areas, staterooms and employees throughout the ship, so the gratuity set by ship goes to them! We also left a big tip for our stateroom attendant went we left. We also tip if we bought drinks that were charged to our room/account. Concise Is Nice, please don't tell people to cancel the gratuity! You are short-changing all the employees involved in providing people a wonderful cruising experience!!!

[@claressparke7710]

Hi what was the temperature for the length of your cruise.?

[@conciseisnice]

It was between 40 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit when we were there (5 and 15 degrees C). I found myself wearing a light/medium jacket much of the time in the morning and evening, but during the day I was usually in a T-shirt.

[@vk8753]

which month was this?

[@conciseisnice]

May of last year.

[@oldgoat50]

When was your cruise? I am on the RC Quantum of the Seas on 5-20 and they cancelled the Skagway port and put in Icypoint straight.😡

[@conciseisnice]

Aw man sorry they canceled Skagway. Did they say why? My cruise was actually last May.

[@oldgoat50]

​@@conciseisniceI guess the hill or what caused the road to the road to the closed. I went on the train in 2012. It was great.

[@groovypotato]

I would be so embarrassed canceling the gratuities. Gross.

[@conciseisnice]

Why is that?

[@groovypotato]

@@conciseisnice The gratuities go to multiple people, not just your room steward. Over 1000 people work on that ship. Princess doesn’t keep them. I gladly pay them, plus generously tip the folks I interact with on top of that. It’s definitely a hotly debated topic, but I definitely wouldn’t call it a “travel tip”. Sorry, but It’s cheap, and trashy.

[@conciseisnice]

@@groovypotato thank you for sharing your opinion on that. You make good points. I can see why you'd want to pay gratuities and I'm glad you can afford to. I stand by cancelling gratuities myself because it's a great option for me and it's a great way for a lot of us to save money and be able to make a cruise like this work for our budget. Personally, I'm not a proponent of tipping (or gratuity) culture--it's gotten out of control--, and I feel that large corporations should pay their employees fairly instead of expecting customers to compensate for their lack of fair pay. I'd much rather tip for exceptional service instead of by default. That is just my personal opinion.

[@oldgoat50]

​@@conciseisniceLet me tell my story, my mom was a waitress for 40 years and if she made a tip of .25 or more she was happy. I asked her years ago what her biggest tip ever was,? She got a $100 for Christmas from a regular. I pre pay my gratuity and add a little more if they are special. I am going to be 74 in 5 days and never held back my tips. Not sure if you know this, TIPS stands for? To insure prompt service. She told me that years ago.🥴

[@debosewter8442]

Cheap, innit, not to tip. Once you said you cancelled you measly $100 or so gratuities I lost interest and respect. Those people work so hard and spend months away from families just trying to make a living. You can afford pricy vacations off their hard work. Shameful.

[@AdventuresAhead]

The gratuities go to people you may not even see or be able to tip. How terrible to take away gratuity. 👎🏼 Stopped watching as soon as I saw you explain how to do that.

[@conciseisnice]

Understandable. I'm very much against tipping culture and expect employers to pay fair wages. Tipping on a cruise ship or anywhere emboldens employers to pay less. It's a systematic issue, in my opinion. Canceling gratuities is an excellent way to save money on a cruise and I'll stand behind that.