Puppies in the Piazza on a Princess cruise ship in Skagway?! 🏔 Alaska cruise travel blog

Hi there!

Princess offers a number of Alaska-specific onboard cruise activities on its cruise ships in Alaska.

Puppies in the Piazza is one of those Alaska-specific activities!

This happens while the cruise ship is in the port of Skagway.

The cruise ship will still be docked in Skagway when this happens.

So if you want to catch the puppies in the piazza, you will need to make sure you aren’t doing anything during this Princess cruise onboard activity!

You won’t know exactly when the puppies will be coming on the cruise ship, but puppies in the piazza usually happens in the afternoon or early evening.

Puppies in the piazza is always in Skagway.

Once you are on the cruise ship, you can look through the daily activity schedule on the Princess app (aka journeyview) for Skagway!

You can look at journeyview a few days before your cruise and there may be a few activities listed, but know that it’s likely not a full schedule of activities until your cruise actually begins. And, things can change. So you can look at it for your curiosity, but don’t take it as an absolute until your cruise begins.

So you can expect the puppies in the piazza activity during the Alaska cruise season on the Discovery Princess, Royal Princess, Majestic Princess, Crown Princess, Ruby Princess, Sapphire Princess, and Grand Princess.

Puppies in piazza is when puppies come onboard the cruise ship and you have a chance to cuddle with sled dogs in training.

The exposure to lots of strangers is part of their training to become the best sled dogs and future race champions!

According to Princess:

Some of Skagway’s newest sled dogs come aboard with Puppies in the Piazza.

Snap a picture with these lovable canines and meet their dog handlers, who will be training them for a life of dog mushing.

Omg, what poor puppies having to be touched by and passed around to tons of complete strangers aka cruise passengers aka YOU! …Right?!

Well, the puppies that are on Princess cruise ships aren’t just any puppies.

They are sled dogs in training.

I watched a Wake Show episode where the cruise director said that this activity of being handled by tons of people is actually good for the puppies.

The Wake Show is something you can watch on your stateroom TV every morning. The cruise director will go over what’s going on around the cruise ship that day. Actually, each day’s episode is recorded the day before and it’s uploaded to the TV the night before, so you can watch it before you go to bed! That’s just one reason to watch TV during your Alaska cruise!

But, I had my doubts if the cruise director was just saying this puppies activity was beneficial for them in defense of a super popular Princess activity.

Was that was just the company line?! 🤪

So when I did a dog sledding tour, which was guided by a musher with his own sled dogs, I asked about the puppies in the piazza activity that happens on the cruise ship.

And the musher did confirm that this kind of activity is good for the sled dogs in training (aka the puppies) because it helps them with socialization.

As the cruise director explained, during the 1,000 mile iditarod sled dog race, during various stages of the race, sled dogs can be handled by complete strangers, so it’s important to get the dogs used to being around different people.

So by being a part of puppies in the piazza, you can consider that you are helping with the training of future sled dogs!

And, you can expect a LONG line for puppies in the piazza.

Where does Puppies in the Piazza take place?

It is called puppies in the piazza because the puppies will be in the “piazza” area of the ship, which is the atrium of the cruise ship.

The piazza is basically the main indoor area of the cruise ship where a bunch of activities are held that are hosted by the cruise director and entertainment staff.

👆 The piazza of a Princess cruise ships without puppies. (Majestic Princess)

Another dog sledding related thing to do during your Princess cruise to Alaska:

In the Princess activities schedule (either on the Princess app or the paper version called the Princess Patter), look for “Libby Riddles”! Libby Riddles was the first woman to win the 1,000 mile iditarod race, and she goes on cruise ships for a live speaker session about her experience training sled dogs.

And then, you can have a small real dog sledding experience by going dog sledding in Alaska as a Skagway cruise excursion!

When is puppies in the piazza during your Alaska cruise?

Puppies in the Piazza takes place when the cruise ship is in Skagway cruise port.

The exact time will depend on your cruise, so you’ll want to look at the Princess activities schedule for the exact timing, but it will probably happen in the late afternoon or early evening.

The best way to find out what time Puppies in the Piazza might be before your cruise starts is by looking at “journeyview” on the Princess app.

If you are still months away from your cruise, there will be no activities listed.

But once your cruise starts getting closer, like within a couple of weeks, you can start checking it more often to see if onboard cruise activities have been added.

It’s also possible that the schedule won’t show until just days before your cruise starts, and even then, activities can continue to be added and/or changed.

But, there might be a tentative time for puppies in the piazza listed, so it’s worth checking it out!

👆 On my Alaska cruise from Vancouver on the Sapphire Princess, Puppies in the Piazza was at 5pm when the cruise ship was still in Skagway. As seen on the Princess app in journeyview.

👆 On my cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage on the Majestic Princess, Puppies in the Piazza was at 4pm when the cruise ship was still in Skagway. As seen on the Princess app in journeyview.

In true cruise ship style, there will also be photographers at puppies in the piazza to take pictures of you with the puppies.

If you like the picture that they have taken, then you can buy the picture.

And that’s a bit about puppies in the piazza on a Princess cruise ship!

I was on a Princess cruise to Alaska in May and September 2023. Your experience may vary!

More Alaska-specific things during your Princess cruise:

• Princess naturalist during an Alaska cruise
• Alaska-specific TV on the cruise ship
• Alaska-specific cruise food

More for your time in Skagway:

• Things to do in Skagway
• Best Skagway excursions
• Best dog sledding in Alaska
• Best helicopter tours in Alaska

HAPPY SEEING PUPPIES IN THE PIAZZA!