Princess naturalist onboard Alaska cruise?! 2023 sample naturalist schedule 🏔 Alaska cruise travel blog

Hi there!

On Alaska cruises, there is a “naturalist” on Princess cruise ships.

So you can expect a naturalist during the Alaska cruise season on the Discovery Princess, Royal Princess, Majestic Princess, Crown Princess, Ruby Princess, Sapphire Princess, and Grand Princess.

These naturalists on Alaska cruises hold talks throughout the cruise, usually on sea days, to teach you things about Alaska.

So by going to the naturalist sessions, you can have a greater appreciation and better understanding of the nature that you are seeing in Alaska!

One of the things that makes Princess one of the best cruise lines for Alaska is their Alaska-specific activities onboard the cruise ship.

And that includes learning about Alaska from a naturalist!

It also includes puppies in the piazza and… watching TV in your room… yes really! 😆

A Princess naturalist is different from the Glacier Bay National Park rangers who get on the cruise ship and are also there to make your Alaska cruise better on Glacier Bay sea day.

The specific topics given by the naturalist will be different on every cruise ship, as it will depend on what each individual naturalist wants to talk about.

But, as an example, I will show you below what the naturalist topics were during my Alaska cruises!

Aside from the naturalist speaker sessions, the naturalist might also get on the cruise ship PA system to provide commentary about what you’re seeing as you’re sailing.

This type of thing would happen on glacier sea days.

It may or may not be listed on the schedule.

If you are interested in knowing whether or not the naturalist onboard your cruise ship will be doing any ship-wide commentary, you can try to catch them after one of their talks and ask them about it.

Although chances are that if they have plans to do ship-wide live commentary, they will mention it during their talk!

But in general, they like talking to people and sharing their Alaska knowledge!

So if you see them out and about on the cruise ship, feel free to stop to have a chat with them!

They will tell you that they are there to help make your Alaska cruise even better!

👆 Wildlife watching in Alaska from a cruise ship: The Princess naturalist is in the yellow jacket pointing out wildlife.

👆 One topic you can expect every Princess naturalist to talk about on an Alaska cruise is glaciers! You can look for the time the naturalists will talk on the “journeyview” of the Princess app. You can “bookmark” the event for your own reference. It’s not necessary to make reservations to attend naturalist sessions.

👆 Princess naturalist speaking about Alaska glaciers.

👆 You may hear Princess naturalists speaking over the public speakers. When I was on the Majestic Princess, after the park rangers of Glacier Bay National Park had left the cruise ship, the naturalist started talking over the public speaker system as the cruise ship was sailing out of Glacier Bay and towards the Gulf of Alaska.

You can look for the naturalist sessions on the daily schedule of activities.

You will get this daily schedule of activities as a paper version onboard the cruise ship every evening.

Or, you can look through the Princess app for the daily schedule of activities under journeyview.

👆 You will get a daily schedule of activities every evening for the next day’s activities. You can also check the Princess app to look ahead for more than just the next day’s activities!

See below for more about the Princess naturalist activities during an Alaska cruise!

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Majestic Princess naturalist schedule

Mark Harris was the naturalist onboard the Majestic Princess in May 2023.

👆 On day 2 of the cruise, the Princess naturalist talked about Alaska glaciers.

👆 Also on day 2 of the cruise, the naturalist talked about whales in Alaska. When there are minimal sea days, the naturalist may do 2 talks in one day.

👆 On day 3 of the cruise, the Princess naturalist provided live commentary over the public speakers as the cruise ship was sailing through Snow Pass after leaving Ketchikan cruise port.

👆 On day 6 of the cruise, the Princess naturalist talked over the public speakers as the cruise ship was sailing away from Glacier Bay National Park and towards the Gulf of Alaska.

👆 On day 7 of the cruise, the Princess naturalist talked about climate change and oceanography.

👆 On day 7 of the cruise, the Princess naturalist talked about dolphins. During this talk, he also mentioned what time he will probably start talking over the public speakers, which was before the time listed in the schedule for the live commentary.

👆 On day 7 of the cruise, the Princess naturalist provided live commentary over the public speakers as the cruise ship was sailing away through College Fjord. If you are in your cabin, have your stateroom TV on the bridge camera 30 minutes to an hour before the listed time in the schedule in case the live commentary starts sooner so you won’t miss anything!

👆 What Princess naturalist Mark did prior to working on cruise ships. There is the the famous Alaska-based TV show the Deadliest Catch. This is the “Deadliest Data.” Watch the video.

If you are a Deadliest Catch fan, you can do a Deadliest Catch excursion in Ketchikan cruise port!

Sapphire Princess naturalist schedule

Sandra Schempp was the naturalist onboard the Sapphire Princess in May 2023.

👆 On day 2 of the cruise, the Princess naturalist talked about the wildlife of Alaska’s coastal waters.

👆 On day 3 of the cruise, the Princess naturalist talked about more wildlife in Alaska.

👆 On the Hubbard Glacier sea day of the cruise, the Princess naturalist talked about Alaska glaciers.

👆 On another day, the Princess naturalist talked about the flowers, trees, and plants of Alaska.

The Princess naturalist that was onboard the Sapphire Princess during my cruise also announced during her talks that she would be out at the front of the ship looking for wildlife at certain times during the cruise.

She also had extra binoculars available to share.

👆 The front of the cruise ship can be a good spot on the Sapphire Princess to spot wildlife! This spot can be accessed by going outside on deck 7, and then continuing to walk forward. You’ll take the stairs up. The Princess naturalist onboard the Sapphire Princess was sometimes at the front of the cruise ship to help spot and identify wildlife. That said, wildlife watching is a team activity!

Where are the naturalist talks held on the cruise ship?

The location of the naturalist talks will be listed in the daily schedule of activities.

It will probably happen in the Princess Theater.

You can watch a recording of the naturalist sessions.

If you miss seeing the naturalist live, or you just want to go back and hear something that was said, you can also watch the naturalist from your cabin after the session is over on your stateroom TV!

You can’t watch it live from your TV, but the sessions are recorded.

So after the speaker session is complete, a recording is uploaded to your TV.

It seems to depend on the cruise ship how quickly they will get the sessions up after they happen.

It might be up just a few hours after the live session, or you might have to wait until the next day to see it.

👆 You can watch a recording of the naturalist talk on the TV in your cabin. It will be under “my cruise” and then either “enrichment and port lecture” or “entertainment and events.” See more of what to watch on TV during your Alaska cruise!

And that’s a bit of what to expect from Princess naturalists!

My Alaska cruises with naturalists were in May 2023. Your experience may vary!

More onboard Alaska-specific cruise things:

• Puppies in the piazza
• Dining room food on an Alaska cruise

HAPPY GOING TO A PRINCESS NATURALIST TALK ON AN ALASKA CRUISE!