Why is everyione saying thet Princess or HAL is the way to do Alaska?

[PCHENG]

I keep hearing people say that Princess and HAL is the way to go for Alaska. What excatly makes Princess and HAL so ideal for Alaska cruising? I mean, the ports, the scenary and the excursions are all identical regardless of which line you took. I understand that Princess has the tourist train, but my schedule does not allow me to do a land tour, so I am strictly comparing the 7 day cruises out of the east coast ports. Would love to do Alaska right, but right now the price for four in a balcony cabin on Princess is almost a thousand more than what Carnival is asking.

 

For those who had cruised Alaska on multiple lines. Is the Princess and HAL products really more superior and worth the higher price tag?

[MeAgain2222]

One reason I heard to consider the Princes (especially the Coral Princess and her sister ship, which I think is the Island Princess) is that they are smaller ships and therefore get a bit closer to the icebergs.

[MilliesMom]

I've cruised to Alaska twice on Princess. LOVED it.

 

Have cruised on Carnival, RCCL to other destinations ... LOVED it

 

We are booked on HAL next May 2013 to Alaska and I'm sure we will LOVE it too.

 

What made our decision was the itinerary, the dates, cost, and the cabins that were available. After weighing all the pros and cons, we booked HAL for next year. Glacier Bay was a MUST be in the itinerary item. We had never been there before, and not all cruises go there. HAL had the most cruises/choices that included Glacier Bay AND we could sail from Seattle rather than Vancouver. Flying into Vancouver added a much larger expense for us rather than flying into Seattle.

[CruiserBruce]

OP- you are sailing out of east coast ports, to Alaska?

 

HAL and Princess have been doing it the longest, and have the most ships in Alaska, doing the largest variety of routes. That is why you hear things like "they do Alaska best". Both have 7 or 8 ships there. Nobody else has more than 4.

[CruiserBruce]

One reason I heard to consider the Princes (especially the Coral Princess and her sister ship, which I think is the Island Princess) is that they are smaller ships and therefore get a bit closer to the icebergs.

 

 

Smaller than HALs R and S class ships (like the Volendam) at 1300 pax? I don't think so.

[p_mori7]

We did Alaska with Carnival on Spirit in 2010...LOVED IT.

 

It is true that our ship did not get very close to the glacier in Tracey Arm fjord (would guesstimate the range to about 1/2 mile, still plenty visible). Those that got the best views of the glacier hopped onto another smaller 2 level boat from Allen Marine, and they got really close...would do that for sure next time.

[MSMcDuffy]

HAL and Princess have been doing it the longest, and have the most ships in Alaska, doing the largest variety of routes. That is why you hear things like "they do Alaska best". Both have 7 or 8 ships there. Nobody else has more than 4.

 

Add to this - Princess & HAL (and NCL) are the only lines with permits into Glacier Bay, which is extremely highly recommended on these boards, if you haven't noticed yet;)

 

HAL is the only one to offer a RT Vancouver that sails Glacier Bay & Tracy Arm and Princess offers one-ways between Whittier & Vanvouver that have 2 glacier sailing days.

 

I almost booked a RCCL to Alaska for this season but then we had 2 newbie Alaska cruisers join us and I just couldn't have them miss out on Glacier Bay so we're going with Princess. If I go again without newcomers, then I'd love to try one of the other lines. You really can't go wrong with an Alaskan cruise but some itineraries are better than others and HAL & Princess have the best ones IMO.

[MSMcDuffy]

We did Alaska with Carnival on Spirit in 2010...LOVED IT.

 

It is true that our ship did not get very close to the glacier in Tracey Arm fjord (would guesstimate the range to about 1/2 mile, still plenty visible). Those that got the best views of the glacier hopped onto another smaller 2 level boat from Allen Marine, and they got really close...would do that for sure next time.

 

Very few cruise ships get all the way in to see the Sawyer Glaciers. You pretty much need a separate shore excursion in Tracy Arm to get close.

[donaldsc]

Glacier Bay. IMHO, if you do not go to Glacier Bay, you may as well not go. Been there 3 times.

 

Also, I think that Princess does to go to Icy Point Strait. Again, just my opinion but I have been there once and it was one time too many.

 

DON

[flyorange]

Add to this - Princess & HAL (and NCL) are the only lines with permits into Glacier Bay, which is extremely highly recommended on these boards, if you haven't noticed yet;)

 

HAL is the only one to offer a RT Vancouver that sails Glacier Bay & Tracy Arm and Princess offers one-ways between Whittier & Vanvouver that have 2 glacier sailing days.

 

I almost booked a RCCL to Alaska for this season but then we had 2 newbie Alaska cruisers join us and I just couldn't have them miss out on Glacier Bay so we're going with Princess. If I go again without newcomers, then I'd love to try one of the other lines. You really can't go wrong with an Alaskan cruise but some itineraries are better than others and HAL & Princess have the best ones IMO.

 

I'm booked on the inside passage cruise on Carnival and it says in the itinerary that we will cruise glacier bay on one of the days. Is that not the same glacier bay that Princess & HAL go to ?

[Chenega]

I'm booked on the inside passage cruise on Carnival and it says in the itinerary that we will cruise glacier bay on one of the days. Is that not the same glacier bay that Princess & HAL go to ?

 

Other cruise lines have access to Glacier Bay than Princess & HAL. Entrance is based on permits approved by the National Park Service vs. the state of Alaska.

 

What Princess and Holland America has up here is experience along with a well-established infrastructure to support the summer tourist business. Princess owns several hotels throughout the state while HAL works with local outfits like Aramark, CIRI, and others. They also have a large fleet of buses for transportation as well as dedicated private cars on the Alaska Railroad (Celebrity/Royal Caribbean also has their own set of cars).

 

Both have been here a long time and are very influential in the tourist business.

[chipmaster]

As others said do the research but if you want Glacier Bay/Hubbard the options are more on HAL/Princess. Do other ships/lines sail it, yes, but far fewer selections.

 

You want to add a cruisetour which lines have the lodge and train and all that to make it turnkey?

 

I reject the premise that more ships makes for more experience. Just more selection, thus start there. All ships have experienced crew and their service has nothing to do with the fact they have more sailings.

 

Now if you find another line that does the ports and scenic and has the atmosphere you like slight better, than it is best. But I'd not take a ship/line over scenic cruising anytime.

[dmwnc1959]

I reject the premise that more ships makes for more experience. Just more selection...

 

Agreed. There are cruise lines with as few as three ships in Alaska and offer just as good of an Alaska experience as cruise lines with seven or eight ships.

 

I have cruised Alaska five times; twice on Princess (N/B and S/B), and once each on Celebrity (LA-VAN via Inside Passage), Holland-America (VAN r/t), and Cruise West (Juneau-Victoria). As far as I am concerned the itinerary takes precedence over cruise line.

 

And no, Glacier Bay is not the 'end all' of the glacier destinations. Some, myself included, think Hubbard Glacier is far better. But that's not to say that Tracy Arm is bad, because it is quite spectacular in it's own right. And yes I have been to all these glacier sites, some more than once.

 

And all itineraries are not the same. Not all ships go to Petersburg, Sitka, Haines, Metlakatla, Icy Strait, Wrangell, or Prince Rupert.

 

Since you are not considering a Land Tour in the interior of Alaska all of the rail cars and hotels won't matter in your decision.

 

Do your homework; use the internet and 'Google it', go to the library or local bookstore, and look at pictures of all of these places. Read up on them, and see what there is to do at these places that interest you. Determine what is best for you, what you want to see based off your homework, and choose the cruise line and itinerary that is best for you, not what a stranger on a cruise forum says is 'best'.

[bonvoyagie]

Princess opened the Alaska to mass market cruise lines - yes the old Love Boat was one of the first to visit Alaska. They were the first to do cruise tours and one way trips. HAL has been doing it second longest. RCL and NCL, and the rest all came later. Each offers different size ships - I believe that HAL has the oldest ships and NCL has the newest.

 

In terms of size and passenger capacity

Princess 1900 - 2600

HAL 1300-1900

NCL 2400

X - 2400

RCCL - 2400

Carnival - 2100

Disney - 2400

 

Lots of people choose HAL due to the smaller ships and Glacier Bay and they are the only ones to visit both GB and Tracy Arm on the same cruise.

 

Others go with who ever has the best prices, departure date, docking preferences Vancouver or Seattle, one way or RT, there are some tours that don't run every day of the week - the White Pass RR in Skagway is one - the Carcross train does not run on Sun or Mon so ships that arrive there on those days have one less tour they can do. There may be others. As you can see there are way more variables just cruise line.

 

If you are just out for the scenery - that can be found on any cruise.

[dmwnc1959]

I'm booked on the inside passage cruise on Carnival and it says in the itinerary that we will cruise glacier bay on one of the days. Is that not the same glacier bay that Princess & HAL go to ?

 

Yes. It is the same one.

 

 

Add to this - Princess & HAL (and NCL) are the only lines with permits into Glacier Bay, which is extremely highly recommended on these boards, if you haven't noticed yet;)

 

Not true. Carnival Cruise Lines was also awarded permits in 2012. There are also the small ship cruise lines that are routinely awarded permits into Glacier Bay.

 

P.S. Hubbard Glacier is as highly recommended as Glacier Bay by those who have been to both. ;)

 

.

[gymjudge55]

We chose Celebrity by recommendation by our TA. It will be our first Alaska cruise and actually our first cruise! We are doing a cruisetour, did not want to visit any touristy areas and liked the itinerary best on Celebrity. It will go to Hubbard Glacier and we will visit Mendanhall and Tracy Arm on our own during the port days.

[smilealot1882]

OP- you are sailing out of east coast ports, to Alaska?

 

HAL and Princess have been doing it the longest, and have the most ships in Alaska, doing the largest variety of routes. That is why you hear things like "they do Alaska best". Both have 7 or 8 ships there. Nobody else has more than 4.

 

This is exactly what my TA told us and why we booked HAL.

[dmwnc1959]

We chose Celebrity by recommendation by our TA. It will be our first Alaska cruise and actually our first cruise! We are doing a cruisetour, did not want to visit any touristy areas and liked the itinerary best on Celebrity. It will go to Hubbard Glacier and we will visit Mendanhall and Tracy Arm on our own during the port days.

 

I hope you have a wonderful time on Celebrity Cruises. My last three cruises were with them and I am looking at them again in 2013 for a back-to-back Alaska (my 6th time) and Pacific Coastal/America's Cup cruise. In the meantime I have a little Bermuda cruise with Princess to look forward to this year. ;)

 

Enjoy Alaska! :D:D:D

[Budget Queen]

I HAVE sailed Alaska on all the regular lines that sail, except for Disney. I find these "Princess/HAL" being there the longest crap hardly of any value. It makes it sound like the other lines, get lost every week, can't dock, are late etc etc. Simply, what importance is it? The permits for Glacier Bay is a valid point, it indeed is excellent. HAL, has superior cruisetours, with good use of time and well organized itineraries. Princess has way too many poor cruisetour itineraries, with many people clearly not knowing what they are booking- vague descriptions etc.

 

Important for some- may be- looking at what you are wanting to do in Alaska?? Ports, time in ports, ship naturalist, route, glacier. The ship is just transportation for me. I'm going on cruise number 75 next month, so yep, I'm jaded and couldn't care less about any ship. But, Alaska is more costly then other areas, so it may be worthwhile to benefit from the whole package of a great ship and it taking you where you want to go.

 

I am actually sailing Princess, HAL, and RCI this year to Alaska, and have NCL's Sun booked for next year.

[TallinnGirl]

The ship matters a LOT to people like myself since we will be living on it for a week! It is not just a means of transportation for many cruisers...

[EllieinNJ]

We knew we wanted to go seattle to Seattle. From these boards we learned that Glacier Bay was far superior than Tracy Arm. That left us with Princess, HAL and NCL. Then we saw that NCL docked back in Seattle at 8am instead of 7am which was not good for our return flight home. Then we heard that HAL had a very much older crowd. Unfortunately, we never researched Carnival or Disney so that left us with the Golden Princess and we are so looking forward to our second ever cruise in May.

[narsibvl]

I keep hearing people say that Princess and HAL is the way to go for Alaska. What excatly makes Princess and HAL so ideal for Alaska cruising? I mean, the ports, the scenary and the excursions are all identical regardless of which line you took. I understand that Princess has the tourist train, but my schedule does not allow me to do a land tour, so I am strictly comparing the 7 day cruises out of the east coast ports. Would love to do Alaska right, but right now the price for four in a balcony cabin on Princess is almost a thousand more than what Carnival is asking.

 

For those who had cruised Alaska on multiple lines. Is the Princess and HAL products really more superior and worth the higher price tag?

 

Not me :)

 

We booked on RCL but we had our reasons. HAL was simply out for us as we had young uns. Between princess and RCL, RCL was deemed more kid friendly so we went ahead with that.

 

To answer your question though, HAL and princess has long been doing alaska. If you compare itins. you will notice, the ships have more favorable time during glacier cruising and port timing. Also Princess has its accomodation and rolling stock of their own that aids in cruise tours.

[Budget Queen]

The ship matters a LOT to people like myself since we will be living on it for a week! It is not just a means of transportation for many cruisers...

 

There are ships you haven't liked? What would you say is the feature of priority for you with a ship??

[Cruise_More_Often]

Glacier Bay. IMHO, if you do not go to Glacier Bay, you may as well not go. Been there 3 times.

We're taking our second cruise in May. We didn't get to Glacier Bay last time, and we won't be going this time, either. Maybe some day, but it's definitely not the only thing worth seeing in Alaska, and that's my opinion.

 

Also, I think that Princess does to go to Icy Point Strait. Again, just my opinion but I have been there once and it was one time too many.

 

DON

And, this is one of the reasons we chose the itinerary we did --so we could see the last authentic village in Southeast Alaska. Hooray! No Diamonds International or other hokey shops. And from reading this Board, Icy Strait Point is one of the best places for whale watching, which we plan to do there.

 

Why do you need to use the word crap? I think this takes away from the board. You know what they say about opinions. I would think the longer a cruiseline has been at a certain location, the more experience they would gain. Geez.

Well, if you read past that word, Budget Queen told you exactly why she felt that way -- she has personally cruised, numerous times, on all the lines, except for Disney, that cruise Alaska. I would rely on her opinion before any travel agent's opinion.

 

When we chose our May cruise, we wanted a one-way cruise. We plan to tour Alaska for three days on our own before the cruise, and we do independent tours while on cruise. For that you do not need to consider how great a cruiseline's tours are. Our favorite cruise line wasn't doing one-way cruises this year, so we chose RCI, our next favorite. We have cruised HAL and Princess, and based on our personal experience with those lines, we didn't care to cruise with either again. To us, the ship we sail on is one of the first things we consider, along with itinerary.

[TallinnGirl]

There are ships you haven't liked? What would you say is the feature of priority for you with a ship??

 

Well I have only been on 1 cruise but I still did my research about the ships and cruise lines before booking. We wanted to book with Carnival originally when we were planning our first sailing but decided completely against it after doing research.

 

Some of our priorities are having a balcony, entertainment on board for sea days (we like the movies under the stars), food, of course the age of the ship...