Can you believe it’s 40 years that Princess Cruises has been sailing out of the port of San Francisco? The cruise line just celebrated its 40th anniversary on June 3, 2009.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom declared it Princess Cruises Day and bigwigs fro the cruise line met with Rodney Fong, president of the San Francisco Port Commission.

The ship that first set sail from Princess Cruise Lines out of the City by the Bay was the Princess Italia. She was bound for Alaska, still a top destination for Princess today. The image is a successor ship–this is the Sapphire Princess that travels to Alaska right now.

According to people who keep track of this kind of thing, Princess has called on the port of San Francisco about 1000 times and taken over one million passengers from that scenic city to a Pacific cruise.

Princess Cruise lines has just announced that Golden Princess is ready for her close-up. Actually, the ship has been in drydock for the past three weeks for a renovation and update. This is a pretty normal thing for cruise ships every now and then, but Golden Princess did this “in public.” You could see shots of the facelift every day on Princess.com and get the full story at http://www.princess.com/goldendrydock.

Passengers might be interested at the updates: a new atrium, a new Sanctuary (an updated, adults-only lounge area), a poolside movie theater (called “Movies under the Stars”), and a new steak and seafood grill restaurant. But hardcore cruise fans might have liked to see the ship’s hull with propellers out of the water and silicone underwater painting. And neat-freaks might like to know that in those three weeks, hundreds of pieces of furniture were reupholstered.

The Golden Princess will be back in service on September 12 to Alaska.

Wildlife is a big drawing card for Alaskan cruises

If you’re new to cruising, you should know that one of the premier destinations for cruise lines is Alaska. Alaska and cruise ships are a unique combination in that it brings people up close to difficult-to-access regions and allows people to observe wildlife and unbelievable natural scenery from the comfort of a cruise ship. Most cruise lines are actively working to preserve rather than negatively impact the Alaskan environment. And when it comes to Alaska, you can only cruise there in the summer months. Even at the peak of summer, it can still be a chilly destination.

Anyway, Alaskan cruising has begun. And it’s a very important time for the great state of Alaska, too. This is the 50th anniversary of Alaskan statehood.

Princess Cruises features some unique dining experiences for Alaskan cruisers including smoked salmon and Alaskan crab quiche for a “Glacier Bay Champagne Breakfast.” Since Alaskan fishing is renowned the world over, expect a lot of seafood, including crab, salmon, trout. But you can also find game on the menu, like Princess’s “Alaskan Dinner” which features seafood soup, salmon, and loin of venison. If you’re not much of a fish fan or find fish boring, wait till you get to on-deck fish barbecues and rockfish chowder cook-offs, also included on Princess cruises to Alaska.

In case you didn’t know it, Alaskans are also great fans of bear. Expect to find things like Alaskan Amber and Alaskan Summer Ale on menus.

Alaska season generally runs from May to October. It’s not too late to book! I’ve never met anyone–not one person–who cruised to Alaska and did not come home recommending the cruise to others.

Blue Exit Glacier in Alaska

Princess Cruise Lines, headquartered in the Los Angeles area, has announced its 2010 Alaska season with a total of 112 Alaskan sailings on seven ships with 4 itinieraries. The Alaska season runs from May to September, and it continues to be one of the industry’s most popular destinations. Princess cruises there on its Diamond Princess, Coral Princess, Island Princess (this is the Voyage of the Glaciers ship), Golden Princess, Sapphire Princess, Sea Princess, and Royal Princess. The latter is a smaller ship offering a more exclusive 14-day package to some of the less frequently visited ports.

The main itineraries are the Inside Passage, which leaves from Seattle or San Francisco, the Voyage of the Glaciers, and the new Connossieur Voyage on the Royal Princess.

Those who want to extend their stay have some new options with “Direct to the Wilderness” (go by rail from the port city of Whittier into the Denali wilderness), “Explorer” (Denali and other options are available, including an opportunity to cross the Arctic Circle and venture to Prudhoe Bay), and “Deluxe Escorted” which offers three options for those whose idea of wilderness includes a warm place to view it from.

Alaskan packages can start at around $749 per person at Princess.