Alaska - Celebrity versus Princess?

Thinking about Alaska in June 2019. Probably a Cruise-tour. New itinerary for us. Never been to Alaska. We are Elite on Celebrity. Is it the time to try Princess or is the Celebrity Cruise-tours on par? Thinking about 3 days for the land portion.

Princess goes into Glacier Bay, in addition to Hubbard Glacier. Celebrity can't do Glacier Bay. So even though I much prefer Celebrity in general, for this one itinerary I chose Princess.

Princess for Alaska although I prefer Celebrity as a cruise line. You have to go with the better itinerary. Get one with Glacier Bay

Holland America is the other cruise line that goes to Glacier Bay. I chose them for an upcoming trip.

Another vote for Princess, even though we are elite on Celebrity.:)

Holland America is the other cruise line that goes to Glacier Bay. I chose them for an upcoming trip.

We did too. We are Elite with Celebrity and when considering Alaska only considered HAL and Princess.

Although Celebrity is our preferred cruiseline, for an Alaskan cruise Princess is the recognized leader in the field. In addition to the Glacier Bay sailing, they own multiple lodges in Alaska and have the more options for the land portion than any other line.

Like many others, we chose Princess for our Alaska cruise and we've recently completed a Norway coastal cruise on Princess as well We chose both because of the itinerary.

We find Princess and Celebrity very comparable..... and aside from Perks you may have earned on one of the cruise lines, it's almost hard to tell the difference. If I was forced to rate....food is about the same although depending on the ship, the buffet setup is much better on Celebrity. I'd give the vote to Princess on entertainment...and the stock benefit on Carnival lines (Princess) is applicable even if you get some other perk....of course, on celebrity, it's very rarely combineable.

Holland America is the other cruise line that goes to Glacier Bay. I chose them for an upcoming trip.

NCL also has some that go to Glacier Bay.

NCL also has some that go to Glacier Bay.

If they were the only cruise line that went there, I would skip Glacier Bay ;)

If they were the only cruise line that went there, I would skip Glacier Bay ;)

40 years ago in May 1978 I met my wife on the NCL Starward and we married in October that year. Never been on NCL since. :evilsmile:;p

How would you compare-- Princess vs Celebrity vs NCL

Thanks for this thread. Following to hear comments as I've never been to Alaska and have recently started reading up on it...

Princess, Celebrity, and Holland America are considered premium cruise lines. They offer very similar products.

NCL is considered mass market, similar to Royal Caribbean.

For what it's worth...

When we do Alaska again, we'll definitely revisit Glacier Bay....

and most likely with Princess (even though we like Celebrity).

For Alaska because of Glacier Bay I would go with Princess.

Otherwise I would sail Celebrity.

No one knows for sure what your experience will be like in Glacier Bay. I've sailed it many times including back in the days when Celebrity could sail it (2 times on Celebrity) but I would really try to pick a cruise that includes it.

Keith

No one knows for sure what your experience will be like in Glacier Bay. I've sailed it many times including back in the days when Celebrity could sail it (2 times on Celebrity) but I would really try to pick a cruise that includes it.

Having never been to Alaska, but planning to go one day down the road, could you (and others) comment on what the experience of Glacier Bay is like, and how it is different from other parts of an Alaska cruise. Of course I will spend much more time researching, but it would be really nice to have comments from cruisers' who have "experienced" Glacier Bay. [i am seeing many comments on how it shouldn't be missed, so I would just like to have more opinions on "Why not?"...]

Thank you....

So the common concensus is to avoid Celebrity for Alaska, and stick with Princess?

And Glacier bay is the main reason?

So the common concensus is to avoid Celebrity for Alaska, and stick with Princess?

 

And Glacier bay is the main reason?

Glacier Bay was definitely the highlight for me. I'd say if you've been before, then lids off, pick a line that you like. Celebrity has some itineraries that go to Hubbard Glacier which I've heard is impressive. I think in the case of the question asked above, they were also doing a land trip. Princess is definitely better for that. They own the better lodges.

Glacier Bay was definitely the highlight for me. I'd say if you've been before, then lids off, pick a line that you like. Celebrity has some itineraries that go to Hubbard Glacier which I've heard is impressive. I think in the case of the question asked above, they were also doing a land trip. Princess is definitely better for that. They own the better lodges.

Thanks, I'm just starting to research.

So you can book a lodge for a few days ? I didn't know that.

If they were the only cruise line that went there, I would skip Glacier Bay ;)

Where's the twenty thumbs up button??

NCL stands for neveragain cruise line.

Holland America is the other cruise line that goes to Glacier Bay. I chose them for an upcoming trip.

HAL and Princess are best in Alaska . We enjoy HAL.

Their cabins, food, and service are great. Never sailed Princess.

We chose Celebrity for our Alaska cruise last year and loved it. No we did not see Glacier Bay but we did choose a northbound itinerary that stopped at the Hubbard Glacier and despite the early AM fog and ice in the water our captain put us right up to the one half mile limit from the glacier and it was incredible. The sights, the sounds were just amazing. We are now Elite with Celebrity and have never been on Princess so I cannot compare the two but we really enjoyed our trip. Rather than doing Celebrity's post cruise tour I rented a car and we did three days on our own up into Denali and even stayed in a Princess Lodge. We really enjoyed being able to go where we wanted when we wanted rather than riding buses and trains. We used 907 Tours for our transfer from Seward to Anchorage and it was an all day tour of the Kenai Peninsula and more chances to see glaciers and wildlife and real Alaska up close.

Thanks, I'm just starting to research.

 

So you can book a lodge for a few days ? I didn't know that.

When you book your cruise you book a land portion as part of it either before or after the cruise . I think you are bussed in and taken on excursions as a group.

So the common concensus is to avoid Celebrity for Alaska, and stick with Princess?

 

And Glacier bay is the main reason?

Here is a helpful link:

http://www.alaska.org/advice/best-glaciers-on-an-alaska-cruise

On some itineraries you can combine both Glacier Bay and Hubbard.

As I mentioned in my previous post, if you are planning to do the land portion, Princess has many more options. They own and poperate five custom built lodges in Alaska and are considered a notch above X and HAL for their Alaskan experiences.

If you are Celebrity loyalist and need to be talked into Princess, you should probably stick with X. If you want the best possible Alaskan expereince, this is where Princess excels.

FWIW - I have only been on one Princess cruise, which was not the best. X is my "go to" line. That being said, we are planning a return trip to Alaska (our first was with X) and we are only considering Princess.