3 Cruise Ships at Canada Place — We Weren't Ready for This
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Princess or Celebrity for Alaska? We finally made our choice—but our cruise began with a surprisingly chaotic embarkation day at Canada Place in Vancouver. For our third Alaska cruise, Princess was a serious contender because of its strong reputation, destination-focused programming, and long history in Alaska. But another option gave us a unique reason to return: we had previously sailed this exact ship in 2023 on a 12-night Vietnam and Thailand cruise. Since then, the ship received a reported $50 million refurbishment, giving us the perfect opportunity to make a true before-and-after comparison. In this video, we reveal which cruise line we chose, explain what influenced our decision, and take you through our embarkation experience at Canada Place—where three ships were in port, crowds were moving in every direction, and we realized we had forgotten to print our luggage tags. Thankfully, once we found the correct entrance and completed check-in and customs, the process became much smoother. We also share our first impressions after stepping back onboard, including: Why Princess was such a strong contender Why the overall Celebrity experience currently fits us better What we remembered from sailing this ship in 2023 Whether the refurbishment felt noticeable Which areas still appeared dated What we wanted to examine inside our cabin Whether we felt we had made the right decision This is only the beginning of our Alaska cruise series. Coming up, we’ll share the full cabin tour, dining, entertainment, refurbished spaces, Alaska ports, scenic viewing areas, and our honest opinion on whether the reported $50 million makeover was worth it. Tell us in the comments: Which cruise line would you choose for Alaska—Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, or another cruise line? And what matters most to you: the itinerary, the ship, or the onboard experience? Please give this video a thumbs-up and subscribe to K&R Travel Journeys so you don’t miss the rest of our Alaska series. 00:00 Princess or Celebrity? 01:02 Our Alaska Cruise History 01:37 Why Princess Was Considered 02:04 What Matters Most to Us 02:34 Returning to a Familiar Ship 03:19 Embarkation at Canada Place 04:09 Our Luggage Tag Mistake 05:01 Boarding Day 06:13 First Impressions 07:12 The Cabin Test 07:50 Did We Choose Right? 08:18 What’s Coming Next 09:21 Your Alaska Cruise Choice #AlaskaCruise #PrincessCruises #CelebrityCruises #CanadaPlace #VancouverCruise #CruiseEmbarkation #CruiseComparison #CelebritySolstice #AlaskaTravel #CruiseVlog #LuxuryCruise #KRTravelJourneys