Alaska Princess Cruise and Beer.

I recently went on a cruise in Alaska. Princess shows their beer menu choices online. It's not pretty. The menu listed the usual light beer swill. The best I could hope for was Dos Equis. I was distraught. I grumbled when I got up in the morning just thinking about it. A whole week surviving on light lagers. I wasn't sure I could do it. "It was only the room service menu" became my mantra.

I dug around on the internet and found one blog, just one, that mentioned they may have Alaskan Brewing Company beer. I was hopeful but dubious. I had it in my mind that these cruises were a cash cow that they milked with rough hands. Every drink you get that isn't juice, water or coffee, you pay for. Beer, wine, soda, you pay for it. About, $4 to $6 dollars per beer. So naturally, they would only have beers they could make the most money off of.

Well, the fact that you have to pay for them all is true. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see a few other beers on the menu that I hadn't expected. One was Franziskaner Weissbier. I usually had to point to it on the menu. Either I wasn't pronouncing it correctly (I did well enough), or it doesn't get ordered very much. The wait staff generally stared at me like I was trying to get them in trouble.

The other beer I was somewhat happy to see on the menu was Guiness. This was much easier to order. They'd heard of this. They'd seen commercials. It was real.

Not on any menu that I saw were, indeed, the Alaskan Amber and Summer ales. Pretty generic by microbrew standards, but more than sufficient to keep me from a light beer induced fit. These were generally found on the decks during certian times. There would be a staff member behind a large bucket of ice with drinks in it, among them were the Alaskan beers. I didn't think to order an Alaskan beer while I was at dinner. I'd bet it was available, but I have no proof.

All in all, the cruise was a very enjoyable trip. I don't mean to pan the waitstaff, they were outstanding on all accounts. They just weren't familiar with the beer list.

Another way to beat the light lagers was to trek to one of the several brewpubs in various places. I recommend the Skagway Brewing Company. They had a really nice IPA, stout, and porter. The fries were fantastic and came with a side of ranch dressing.

So fear not fellow beer-o-file, it can be done.