Want to take Alaska Cruise! Which is best, Carnival or Princess?

[LuvTheSea14]

We want to do an Alaska Cruise and since we are only doing this once we want to do it right. We love Carnival but heard Princess was the way to go to Alaska But isn't Carnival good in Alaska too? We would like to do cruise and go to Denali. Anyone have ideas or suggestions on how we should do this? All thoughts would be really appreciated. thanks

[klmorg]

For me - although I have LOVED every Carnival cruise I have been on - we are planning a Southbound Alaskan Tour of the Glaciers from Whittier to Vancouver next year on the Coral Princess.

 

My research showed Princess to be AWESOME for an Alaskan cruise. Plus the dates & itineraries we wanted were more restrictive with Carnival than with Princess. We cannot wait!

[DarthGrady]

I have not been on Princess yet, but my wife and I had an excellent Alaskan cruise with Carnival back in 2009. We had an aft wrap suite on Spirit and loved every minute of it. The pictorial is linked in my signature if you want to have a look.

[DragonMouse]

Haven't tried Princess but...I'm going on our first trip to Alaska on Carnival. I priced them and well...the Spirit is a gorgeous ship and we got an "aft wrap" for the price we would have paid on any other line. I couldn't pass that up. I figured I to go for "bang for my buck".

 

There are so many scenic routes to take to Alaska I had to accept that it was one place where we couldn't say it's a "once in a lifetime" trip. I've already accepted that we're going to have to do it again before we've even done it the first time.

 

I say check prices and check itinary. Weigh the pros and cons of each side and go from there.

[chipmaster]

No question Princess and HAL offer the best sailings. Carnival really has a limited sailing schedule.

 

You want to have Glacier Bay, Hubbard and Canrival selection is limited to no-existent. As to ports that is the same on most lines its the scenic cruising you need to watch and schedule.

 

We want to do an Alaska Cruise and since we are only doing this once we want to do it right. We love Carnival but heard Princess was the way to go to Alaska But isn't Carnival good in Alaska too? We would like to do cruise and go to Denali. Anyone have ideas or suggestions on how we should do this? All thoughts would be really appreciated. thanks

[firefly333]

Actually I would say its between HAL and Princess with Carnival a overpriced 3rd.

 

HAL has the most ships and the best prices. .. though Princess does a good cruise.

 

I would be looking at HAL. RCL also has better prices than Carnival for Alaska .. everyone has better prices than those last summer I saw for Carnival.

 

I had wanted a cruise to Alaska, is why I was comparing prices. I say look around.

[mrpayroll]

We did a 12 night land / sea cruise with Princess and it was GREAT...spent 5 nights before cruise on land, then 7 nights from Whittier to Vancouver.

[Pineapple Princess]

The Princess southbound from Whitter gives you both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier. For Denali I would choose a Holland America cruisetour. If you want to take the train to Denali, compare the rail cars of the McKinley Explorer (Holland America) to the Princess rail cars. For an Alaskan cruise I would choose Princess or Holland America. Carnival only does RT from Seattle. You would not be able to do Denali with Carnival.

[elcuchio24]

The Princess southbound from Whitter gives you both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier. For Denali I would choose a Holland America cruisetour. If you want to take the train to Denali, compare the rail cars of the McKinley Explorer (Holland America) to the Princess rail cars. For an Alaskan cruise I would choose Princess or Holland America. Carnival only does RT from Seattle. You would not be able to do Denali with Carnival.

 

Correct. And the rail trip up to Denali is not to be missed. Add it as a land excursion of a couple days before/after the cruise is you can. Denali really is awesome, spend as much time there as you can.

[MikeM]

Did trip when Carnival went to Whitter. We did the whole thing. Flew into Fairbanks over night x 2, train to Denali over night x 2, train to Ancorage/Whitter over night and a 7-day Southbound to Seattle on the Spirit.

We will do the same trip again (best vac. we ever had) on Princess as Carnival at this point does not go to Whitter, Just does a circle out of Vancover/Seattle.

[elcuchio24]

Did trip when Carnival went to Whitter. We did the whole thing. Flew into Fairbanks over night x 2, train to Denali over night x 2, train to Ancorage/Whitter over night and a 7-day Southbound to Seattle on the Spirit.

We will do the same trip again (best vac. we ever had) on Princess as Carnival at this point does not go to Whitter, Just does a circle out of Vancover/Seattle.

 

That train trip is just....epic.

[Eimmat]

The only time I cruised Alaska was on the Princess Sapphire. It was absolutely fantastic. It was a totally different type of cruise than the ones I've been on with Carnival. Personally I like the food better on Carnival, but the Princess ship was elegantly decorated, and the captain would make annoucements for people that wanted to whale watch and alert folks where they were so you could stand on that side of the ship and see them, etc. Princess was a lot more "calm" and it seemed like folks went to bed earlier, but that also could be just b/c it was Alaska. Make sure you take coats even if it is summertime and you really should splurge and get a balcony! Unbelievable beauty!! I was up at 4:00 am (it was light) b/c I was afraid I'd miss one minute of the scenery!

[Jenbo57]

On the Carnival boards, people are obviously going to be pro-Carnival; you should probably go over to the Alaska boards and just start reading reviews, etc. I'd say the first thing you need to do is some research on the ports, and then figure out what's most important to you. Then, see whose got the itinerary that best fits your needs.

 

I've done Alaska on Celebrity and HAL; next year we're going up on Princess. I'll be taking my fifth Carnival cruise later this year, with a sixth booked for next year, but I wouldn't even consider them for Alaska...

[Yurita]

My friend from work is back from Alaska and said Princess is the best way to go to Alaska. She has sailed to Alaska with Carnival before but advised us to go on Princess.

[PROCRUISE]

My friend from work is back from Alaska and said Princess is the best way to go to Alaska. She has sailed to Alaska with Carnival before but advised us to go on Princess.

 

Currently planning a trip to Alaska for 2012. It will be with HAL or Princess: CCL isn't even in the running with what they currently offer. :(

[Wendy_M]

we looked at both the saffphire princess and the carnival spirit and decided to go with the spirit. The saffphire is an older boat and its not scheduled to go into dry dock for rennovations until next year and the CCL spirit had great reviews and it had the pool slide which when traveling with kids, I think is a great feature. Plus the spirit also had the indoor pool which the saffphire did not. I guess its just a matter of preference.

[evandbob]

Land/sea combination with Princess seems to have more dates, flexibility and excursions than CCL. For a once in a lifetime trip (we may never pass this way again) I would go for the most inclusive experience. For example: When we went to Bora Bora, it just had to be in a horizon overwater bungalow, I didn't want to book a regular cabin on the beach and come home regretting the choice, saying I shoulda listened to my heart and senses and booked the best cabin/hotel room. There should be no regrets on a trip of a lifetime.

[kelzbelz77]

There should be no regrets on a trip of a lifetime.

 

I agree completely! :p

[lillian marie]

We've taken both lines for Alaska cruises and we really liked the Spirit-CCL best. We did 10 days out of SF on Princess to Alaska.

[chipmaster]

If the scenic cruising was matched than a good trade off. If you didn't get Glacier bay than a very poor tradeoff, pool/new boat over Glacier Bay.

 

we looked at both the saffphire princess and the carnival spirit and decided to go with the spirit. The saffphire is an older boat and its not scheduled to go into dry dock for rennovations until next year and the CCL spirit had great reviews and it had the pool slide which when traveling with kids, I think is a great feature. Plus the spirit also had the indoor pool which the saffphire did not. I guess its just a matter of preference.

[comfortcat]

We took cruise on Princess in 2001 from Seward to Vancover. It went to College Fjord then to Glacier Bay and then South. Just incredible. When we spoke to Travel Agent she said Princess owns Alaska and she was correct at that time. In fact some of the other lines were leasing Princess busses and equipment.

 

Princess beat NCL cruise hands down when we went on Canada cruise.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We have sailed AK three times - once on RCL, NCL and Princess. All were wonderful, however, I would recommend Princess, particularly their one way routes that include the College Fjords.

 

Docking space is alotted cruise ships based on the length of time the line has been calling on a port and that gives Princess the edge. If you have ports that are pier and tender, Princess is most likely to have the pier.

 

We did the Princess trip northbound but were I to do it again, I'd do southbound. The flight from Louisiana to Anchorage was sooo long and with the flight home going against the clock, it was very tiring. I would do the longer flight leg when I was all energized about the trip, as opposed to worn out by vacation! :D

 

AK is a magnificent place, you will enjoy it no matter whom you choose.

 

Enjoy!

[SF Cfan]

Here's one more vote for considering HAL for an Alaska cruise. HAL's Crow's Nest and upper level open decks make for great scenic cruising. And HAL takes on Park Rangers going into Glacier Bay, who then conduct the narration.

 

I agree with an earlier poster, I like the food a little bit better on Carnival. But, HAL really does Alaska well.

[Pee-ah]

Having done Alaska on the Spirit, with the route from vancouver return to Vancouver (so we sailed through the isndie passage both ways) then were in Glacier Bay IMO i would go for the IT. I would not pick an IT that went around Vancouver Island both ways as you miss so much wild life.

[genegri]

This is one of few choices that I would say it's a no brainer.

 

Princess! :D

 

Princess for best itineraries and ok prices.

HAL for best prices and good itineraries.

Celebrity has some decent routes.

 

I suggest you go to the Alaska board to get expert opinions. They are all about Princess and HAL. CCL is rarely mentioned there. ;)