My husband and I have narrowed down our choice for Alaskan cruises and I’m looking for input because there are pros and cons for each sailing and we just don’t know what would be best.
Slight background - we are in our upper 40s, this is our 20th anniversary trip. We have only cruised with Disney in the past and very much enjoyed those cruises. This will be our first time in Alaska and likely our only trip there (we live on the east coast and have too many other “bucket list” places to visit). While getting the Alaska experience is important, we also very much enjoy entertainment and food while on vacation. We aren’t really interested in being overloaded with lectures, I would say 65% Alaska (ports, scenic viewing, a couple educational lectures) and 35% Dining/Entertainment/Other would be desirable for us. We like dining but the food does not have to be “fancy” for us to enjoy it (I also cannot eat seafood).
With that in mind, these are the sailings that we have narrowed down to:
Choice 1: August 31 Royal Princess Sailing:
Start - Anchorage
Day 1 - Hubbard Glacier 3-8
Day 2 - Glacier Bay 9-7
Day 3 - Icy Point 6:30-7
Day4 - Juneau 6:30-4
Day 5 - Ketchikan 10-6
Day 6 - At Sea
End - Vancouver
(Notes: Does not do Inside Passage, goes to Icy Point Strait instead of Skagway, can only get balcony room on non-land facing side of ship, would fly in a few day ahead of cruise to explore Denali area)
Choice 2: Sept 3 Ruby Princess Sailing:
Start - Vancouver
Day 1 - At Sea
Day 2 - Juneau 1-10
Day 3 - Skagway 7-8:30
Day 4 - Glacier Bay 6-3
Day 5 - Ketchikan 10-6
Day 6 - At Sea
End - Vancouver
(Notes: Does not go to Hubbard Glacier, does do Inside Passage, round trip so if we wanted to go to Denali area we would need to fly into Anchorage and then fly down to Vancouver for the cruise
Choice 3: Sept 4 Grand Princess Sailing:
Start - Anchorage
Day 1 - Hubbard Glacier 3-8
Day 2 - Glacier Bay 9-7
Day 3 - Skagway 7-8:30
Day4 - Juneau 6:30-4
Day 5 - Ketchikan 10-6
Day 6 - At Sea
End - Vancouver
(Notes: Does do Inside Passage, Older and small ship so we are concerned it wouldn’t be as good a ship experience, only has “guarantee” rooms for balcony so cannot pick location)
Choice 4: Sept 1 NCL Encore Sailing:
Start - Seattle
Day 1 - At Sea
Day 2 - Juneau 2:30-11
Day 3 - Skagway 7-8
Day 4 - Glacier Bay
Day 5 - Ketchikan 7-1:15
Day 6 - At Sea
End Seattle
(Notes: Does not do Inside Passage or Hubbard Glacier, port locations not as good as Princess but ship entertainment/experience looks like it might be better?, Would need to fly into Anchorage and then down to Seattle for the cruise if we wanted to explore Denali area)