Alaska Cruise/Tour- Which curiseline is the best?

[StarWarsGal]

We went to Alaska on Princess in 2009. I was not impressed with the food, but everything else was great. I was wondering for those who may have cruised several times to Alaska and done a cruise/ tour package.

 

Which line is the best? We are late 40's traveling with 22 year old son.

[bbwex]

Generally speaking, most people think that HAL and Princess have the best cruise/tour packages. They have been at it the longest and have more experience than the others, though how much experience does it take to be able to do a good job? We took a HAL cruisetour last summer, and thought the tour was excellent.

 

In looking around, Gray Line does offer the same things for tours, so you can always book a tour that ends in time for your cruise, so I am really not sure if a cruise line's tour is mandatory. I would take this question to the Alaska boards on the Ports of Call section.

 

As for food, the food on HAL was decidedly mediocre, and DW and I, as well as many others, believe that even the extra-charge dining venues were fair at best. If food is important, my personal suggestion would be to sail on Oceania -- the MDR food is very good, and the special restaurants (for which there is no extra charge!) is truly exceptional. Their cruises are exceptional -- if you are not looking for night life. You trade all of the large ship entertainment possibilities on Oceania's small ships (670 passengers), as they cannot afford much. They have bistro-type entertainment, not the big production shows on the larger ships. The night life will also be fairly sedate as they tend to get an older crowd, they specifically do not cater to children, so young marrieds (and that age group) are not much in evidence. To that extent, your son might find Oceania less than perfect. They are just a tiny step below a luxury line, but there's not a lot of night life.

 

Disney is going back to Alaska and has better food than HAL, and lots of things going on for all age groups.

 

As I said, HAL and Princess are known for their tours, but since there are operations such as Gray Line that offer the same things (and will use the same tour buses in Denali since everyone does), I do not imagine they are indispensable.

 

Again, I would bring this up on the Alaska boards.

 

As a note, I would recommend the Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali, and strongly suggest the 5-hour Kenai Fjords tour in Seward.