Recommendation for Alaskan cruise line?

We've just returned from our first ever cruise and enjoyed Oceana on a Med flycruise. Now we think we might go further afield to Alaska as well as taking another P&O cruise next autumn.

We know there are people on this board who cruise on other lines as well as P&O and wonder what the main differences are that we'll come across on cruise lines that go to Alaska.

We didn't bother much with the entertainment on our cruise and spent a lot of time on our balcony on sea days enjoying the view. We explored independently on port days. We also enjoyed being able to bring a local bottle of wine on board to have on our balcony...we know some things will be different in Alaska!

Any comments or advice most welcome from you experienced cruisers.

We've just returned from our first ever cruise and enjoyed Oceana on a Med flycruise. Now we think we might go further afield to Alaska as well as taking another P&O cruise next autumn.

We know there are people on this board who cruise on other lines as well as P&O and wonder what the main differences are that we'll come across on cruise lines that go to Alaska.

We didn't bother much with the entertainment on our cruise and spent a lot of time on our balcony on sea days enjoying the view. We explored independently on port days. We also enjoyed being able to bring a local bottle of wine on board to have on our balcony...we know some things will be different in Alaska!

Any comments or advice most welcome from you experienced cruisers.

It was 2007 when we did our Alaska Cruise so this may be a bit out of date. We used Princess and combined it with a Rockies land road and rail tour also organised by Princess (not sure if they still do the Rockies bit anymore) They do however do land tours in Alaska and these trips are typically 7 days on each or you can do a 14 night cruise starting and ending in Vancouver. Personally I would do the Land Tour bit and the 7 night cruiser.I would recommend picking an Itinerary that cruises in one of the Glaciers such as College Fjord or Glacier Bay as the scenery is stunning. Most cruises go to to Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan as well. Still the best cruise holiday we have done and very well done by Princess, organisation on the Land Tour bit was first rate and all the hotel stops had the rooms with the best views.

As I say it was a while ago but if you want anymore info please ask.

I had a great Alaskan cruise on the Celebrity Millenium back in 2012

It would be Celebrity for us, we preferred them over Princess, but neither were Alaskan cruises.

We've just returned from our first ever cruise and enjoyed Oceana on a Med flycruise. Now we think we might go further afield to Alaska as well as taking another P&O cruise next autumn.

We know there are people on this board who cruise on other lines as well as P&O and wonder what the main differences are that we'll come across on cruise lines that go to Alaska.

We didn't bother much with the entertainment on our cruise and spent a lot of time on our balcony on sea days enjoying the view. We explored independently on port days. We also enjoyed being able to bring a local bottle of wine on board to have on our balcony...we know some things will be different in Alaska!

Any comments or advice most welcome from you experienced cruisers.

We did an Alaskan cruise in 2009 with Holland America from Seattle good cruise but we were the only Brits on board, apart from one family from Sweden all the other passengers were American and the cruise was very much geared to them so quite different from p&o If I remember they did allow wine to be brought in but no spirits

We traveled with Royal Caribbean Radiance of the seas and it was a beautiful ship, but honestly Alaska is the star of the show. We did the southbound trip. We flew into Anchorage a few days ahead and rented a truck. We drove to Denali State Park and saw Mt. McKinley in full view. The trip ended in Vancouver where we spent a couple more nights exploring. Most of the ports we did our own exploring, hiking, biking etc. I can say it is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to.

Thank you for the helpful replies.

Scottishgolfwidow...how is the cruise style different from P&O if it is geared for Americans? Is it more informal? How about the dining? Is there still entertainment/shows on board and how do they differ? Our only cruise experience is a P&O fly cruise.

Thank you for the helpful replies.

Scottishgolfwidow...how is the cruise style different from P&O if it is geared for Americans? Is it more informal? How about the dining? Is there still entertainment/shows on board and how do they differ? Our only cruise experience is a P&O fly cruise.

This spring we had an Alaska cruise on Holland America from Vancouver. Despite the ships being registered in the Netherlands and having mainly Dutch officers, it is indeed an American line. On this voyage, though, about a third of the passengers were British, almost a third from Australia, with mainly Americans and Canadians making up the balance.

Getting a decent cup of tea, not surprisingly, was almost impossible. Having expected this, we brought our own Tetley tea. But getting suitably hot, let alone boiling, water can be a problem. Tea-pots were in short supply but occasionally we and some British passengers managed to persuade the stewards to find one or two.

One doesn't go on an Alaska cruise for the entertainment, which is just as well - at least from my point of view. Our last 10 cruises/crossings have been on Cunard and they have spoiled us by catering to all tastes. HAL's entertainment is fine for those with a fondness for painfully over-amplified pop-type music or blues. The only entertainment we enjoyed was a violin/piano duet. Other than one talk from a ranger in Glacier Bay, the only lectures/talks were about shopping.

Food is subjective, of course, but having "compared notes" with other passengers our opinion is by no means unusual. We do not eat in cafeterias at sea, so all our meals were taken in the main dining room except one excellent dinner in the extra-charge Pinnacle Grill. Breakfast was very good, lunch very poor, afternoon tea was a joke and dinner fairly good. We eventually gave up on lunch so this was the first time we did not gain weight on a ship.

There were two formal nights in the one-week cruise. Those of us in dinner jackets were much in the minority, but most men wore a suit and tie and a few wore military mess dress. Despite the definition of formal, some men wore neither a jacket or tie and two young chaps were admitted to dinner wearing T-shirts and baseball caps. Since our cruise, formal nights have been reclassified as gala nights. In theory, the minimum standard for men on gala nights is a collared shirt and trousers. Baseball caps, I assume, are optional.

We did, however, enjoy the cruise and we would cruise with HAL again - but only on a short cruise in an area of outstanding scenery, never on a long voyage. (P&O and Cunard haven't done Alaska cruises in decades.) HAL does some things very well and the staff, despite some inefficiencies, are uniformly charming.

We did Alasks with HAL and the last reviewer got it right. Very American . But Alaska is the star. Beware of excursions. You must do them to see some fabulous sights but they do not come cheap. Even by cruise company standards , and they all sting their passengers for excursions, the cost can be prohibitive. We did a simply fantastic trip which involved a float plane trip to a deserted island where we were led across the island by an armed guard and guide to see the Bears catching salmon in the river. We ended up no more than 20 yards away from 3 bears tucking into the fish. But that afternoon trip was $370 each. We ended up paying more for our excursions than the cost of the cruise. But to see Alaska properly there is no choice. These are must do trips.

We will be going back soon and are planning to use Princess with one of their part land based holidays as well as the cruise bit.

Enjoy.

This spring we had an Alaska cruise on Holland America from Vancouver. Despite the ships being registered in the Netherlands and having mainly Dutch officers, it is indeed an American line. On this voyage, though, about a third of the passengers were British, almost a third from Australia, with mainly Americans and Canadians making up the balance.

 

Getting a decent cup of tea, not surprisingly, was almost impossible. Having expected this, we brought our own Tetley tea. But getting suitably hot, let alone boiling, water can be a problem. Tea-pots were in short supply but occasionally we and some British passengers managed to persuade the stewards to find one or two.

 

One doesn't go on an Alaska cruise for the entertainment, which is just as well - at least from my point of view. Our last 10 cruises/crossings have been on Cunard and they have spoiled us by catering to all tastes. HAL's entertainment is fine for those with a fondness for painfully over-amplified pop-type music or blues. The only entertainment we enjoyed was a violin/piano duet. Other than one talk from a ranger in Glacier Bay, the only lectures/talks were about shopping.

 

Food is subjective, of course, but having "compared notes" with other passengers our opinion is by no means unusual. We do not eat in cafeterias at sea, so all our meals were taken in the main dining room except one excellent dinner in the extra-charge Pinnacle Grill. Breakfast was very good, lunch very poor, afternoon tea was a joke and dinner fairly good. We eventually gave up on lunch so this was the first time we did not gain weight on a ship.

 

There were two formal nights in the one-week cruise. Those of us in dinner jackets were much in the minority, but most men wore a suit and tie and a few wore military mess dress. Despite the definition of formal, some men wore neither a jacket or tie and two young chaps were admitted to dinner wearing T-shirts and baseball caps. Since our cruise, formal nights have been reclassified as gala nights. In theory, the minimum standard for men on gala nights is a collared shirt and trousers. Baseball caps, I assume, are optional.

 

We did, however, enjoy the cruise and we would cruise with HAL again - but only on a short cruise in an area of outstanding scenery, never on a long voyage. (P&O and Cunard haven't done Alaska cruises in decades.) HAL does some things very well and the staff, despite some inefficiencies, are uniformly charming.

Completely agree with everything you said we DID enjoy the cruise, the day we were in the glacier which is a national park they brought on a ranger who gave very informative talks on board and made it much more interesting, and the staff were wonderful customer service fantastic on the second night in our letter box instead of the New York Times news sheet we had one entitled British news tailored right down to Scottish sports results which was a nice touch but I agree the entertainment was pretty awful we spent every evening in the piano bar with a fantastic singer/ pianist from Canada just the three of us until the last night when the bar was crowded and he played his last song which he knew was one of our favourites for his "Scottish Friends" who had supported him all week. Every night when we went back to the cabin just about every other cabin had room service trays outside so they obviously preferred to eat in the cabin rather than come out to play. The cabins by the way are very comfortable and we got our one and only visit from the upgrade fairy for this trip.

The formal night was quite well observed on our cruise but again after dinner few people around I did speak to one lady on one of the tenders who said the Alaskan itinerary for them was mainly to buy diamonds as they are considerably cheaper than in the US I can vouch for that. Watches are also much cheaper and they have a shopping advisor on board who gave numerous talks on diamonds,furs and watches with advice on where to buy them .I asked him a question about something I had bought but when he found out it wasn't bought from one of the shops on his list he refused to answer and it was a very simple question.

Finally the food wasn't what we expected other than the very expensive a la carte restaurant which was excellent the main dining room was average and the buffet restaurant where we were served rather than self service had paltry portions We ate most nights in the Italian restaurant in a closed off part of the buffet which I suppose you would compare to the Beach House on P&O around $5 dollars a head

I know this sounds a negative review but the itinerary in Alaska is indeed what is important and the scenery is spectacular making the trip worth it , we did a Norwegian Fjords cruise with P & O which is also beautiful and which we enjoyed more but everyone has different expectations and priorities for a cruise so I have just given MY honest opinion and no we probably wouldn't cruise with HAL again.

Finally we sailed from Seattle which is a beautiful city well worth a visit although we only had a couple of days either side of the cruise we loved it.

We did Alasks with HAL and the last reviewer got it right. Very American . But Alaska is the star. Beware of excursions. You must do them to see some fabulous sights but they do not come cheap. Even by cruise company standards , and they all sting their passengers for excursions, the cost can be prohibitive.

...

The one exception to the over-priced excursions is the White Pass & Yukon Railway from Skagway. The price charged by Holland America was a mere $3 more than booking it from the railway. There is an advantage of booking it through the cruise line: the trains are backed on to the piers (there are three in Skagway). If you buy the ticket from the railway you have to board and detrain in town. It's not a long walk, but many passengers prefer the convenience of having the train at the ship's side.

By the way, the WP&Y is a fabulous excursion - similar to the Flam - Myrdal train that we have enjoyed on our two Norway cruises. It has one advantage over the Flamsbana: the carriages are either ancient or new ones built as a replicas of 120-year-old carriages. As such they have open platforms and passengers are permitted to stand outside, which is an exciting experience not available on almost all other North American trains. When there is more than one ship in Skagway, each ship will get its own train. The conductor told me that on days when there are four ships in port it is necessary to operate five trains on the excursion to "Summit", the fifth one being for passengers who book direct with the railway. Some excursions go into Canada and usually offer a one-way by motor-coach.

If you like to enjoy your own wine, are not bothered about the entertainment and organise your own excursions have a look at Oceania Cruises.

We "discovered" them last year and they are now our cruise line of choice. We went to Alaska with them in May this year. Somewhere above your post another poster (Simonpjd) is comparing Oceania with P&O

I love HAL and IMO have the best Alaska itineraries. The tours are expensive but we joined the CC roll-call and booked private excursions with others before leaving home. They worked like a dream.

Less formal than P&O but smaller ships and more personal in many ways.

Celebrity Millinium was great for Alaska

We did Alasks with HAL and the last reviewer got it right. Very American . But Alaska is the star. Beware of excursions. You must do them to see some fabulous sights but they do not come cheap. Even by cruise company standards , and they all sting their passengers for excursions, the cost can be prohibitive. We did a simply fantastic trip which involved a float plane trip to a deserted island where we were led across the island by an armed guard and guide to see the Bears catching salmon in the river. We ended up no more than 20 yards away from 3 bears tucking into the fish. But that afternoon trip was $370 each. We ended up paying more for our excursions than the cost of the cruise. But to see Alaska properly there is no choice. These are must do trips.

We will be going back soon and are planning to use Princess with one of their part land based holidays as well as the cruise bit.

Enjoy.

HAL have the best Alaskan itineraries IMO. However their excursions are expensive and when we sailed with them to South America and Antarctica (loathe to do Alaska now after that spectacular cruise) we almost exclusively booked private shore excursions which worked brilliantly.