New onboard offerings will debut this May and are designed to help immerse guests in Alaskan culture
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Princess Cruises has launched a series of new North to Alaska! onboard offerings for guests cruising in Alaska from May 2015.
Created in partnership with local experts, North to Alaska! features a variety of traditional culinary, educational and entertainment experiences designed to immerse guests in the culture of Alaska.
“From world-famous Alaska seafood, to learning about life as a lumberjack, to Midnight Sun deck parties and more, we’re bringing the last frontier onboard Princess ships to make the number one vacation experience in Alaska even better,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises’ president. “The new programme also demonstrates Princess’ ongoing innovation in cruise vacations and our commitment to super-serving our guests with highly engaging and memorable experiences for the vacation of a lifetime.”
Programme highlights include an expanded menu featuring signature Seafood dishes from local chefs and restaurants, which has been developed in partnership with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
Each night, guests can choose authentic Alaska cuisine, prepared by Princess chefs that have been rained by Alaska seafood chefs. The specialty restaurants will also offer a regional Alaska cuisine menu on select evenings.
In addition, Princess has partnered with local restaurants to offer guests crab cakes from Tracy’s King Crab Shack in Juneau, fish tacos from Ketchikan’s Alaska Fish House, and Mermaid Burgers from the Skagway Fish Company. The winning dish from the 2014 Great Alaska Seafood Cook-off, which was created by local chef Travis Haugen of Southside Bistro, will also feature on the menu in the main dining rooms.
Local experts will also be welcomed onto the ships to educate guests about the area and provide entertainment. For example, Captain David Lethin and his shipmates from the Aleutian Ballad, who star in Discovery Channel’s ‘The Deadliest Catch’, will board the ship to share their experiences of hunting crabs in the Bering Sea. Guests will also learn about the history of logging from a local lumberjack and participate in an axe-throwing competition, while author Nick Jans will share his story ‘A Wolf Called Romeo’.
Younger passengers will be able to participate in activities such as a Junior Ranger programme, panning for gold, ‘The Deadliest Catch’ crab-sorting game, an interactive green screen game and more.
Guests can also participate in an onboard Klondike Gold Rush festival, which will include activities such as Alaska icon and sled-racing presentations, penny whistle classes, traditional dance performances, an arts and crafts show, and more. The festival day will culminate with a celebration of the Midnight Sun, during a top-deck party with entertainment, games and speciality drinks.
In total, seven Princess ships offer more than 120 Alaska cruise departures between May and September, originating from San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver British Columbia, and Whittier (Anchorage), Alaska.
Princess also offers cruisetours, which range from ten to 15 nights and combine land and sea excursions. All cruisetours include a seven-day Voyage of the Glaciers sailing, a visit to Glacier Bay National Park, plus up to four nights in the Denali National Park area with accommodation at Princess’ riverside wilderness lodges.