Alaska -RCL vs Holland Am

[mountbiker]

Looking at an Alaska cruise in 2015. We are a small group of 55+. Currently diamond with RCL but would consider HAL also. My question is - does HAL have better docking privileges -ie docked instead of tendered. Also interested in the Denali train - do they use the same trains or are they brand specific. Thank you for any insight you could share.

[OBX-Cruisers]

There is only ONE train from Anchorage to Fairbanks that stops in Denali. The different lines attach their specific cars to the train. Therefore if you book HAL everyone in the car will be on a HAL cruise or cruisetour and same for RCL and Princess

[xxoocruiser]

Looking at an Alaska cruise in 2015. We are a small group of 55+. Currently diamond with RCL but would consider HAL also. My question is - does HAL have better docking privileges -ie docked instead of tendered. Also interested in the Denali train - do they use the same trains or are they brand specific. Thank you for any insight you could share.

 

A big consideration in selecting an Alaskan cruise is if you want to go to Glacier Bay or not. RCCL does not go to Glacier Bay. HAL does as well as Princess. FYI- Recently read that overall Princess is the best cruise line for Alaska.

 

As far as tendered ports. The ports in Alaska that require tendering are pretty much the same for all cruise lines so there's no benefit with one or the other in this regards.

 

HAL and RCCL each own a separate train car . The train will be the same.

Edited July 10, 2014 by xxoocruiser

[Texas Tillie]

I've done 4 Alaska cruises (so far :D), 3 on HAL and 1 on Princess. From my experience HAL does seem to have better docking locations than Royal Caribbean. I believe that is due to their having more ships that have been sailing Alaska for a longer time. What specific ships are you considering? I ask as some of the HAL ships are smaller than the Royal Caribbean ships and that makes getting on and off at the ports easier. Also I highly recommend Glacier Bay - so that means Holland America. Just my 2 cents!

[mountbiker]

Thank you all for the quick replies,

 

I have heard from several others that Glacier bay is a must see. So looks like HAL it is.

 

Now the question is, how formal is HAL on an Alaska Itinerary ?

[geoherb]

Men can get away with wearing sport coats, dress shirts, and ties on the formal nights. On other nights, they can wear khakis and polo shirts.

[WisconsinFan]

We did a HAL Alaska a few years back and enjoyed it very much. We picked HAL because of Glacier Bay. Dress code was more relaxed then other cruises we had been on as another poster had said.

 

Service was outstanding and our entire extended family had a ball! From the 70 year olds to the 12 year olds.

[kimmergal]

We went on Princess last summer to Alaska. Only 2 ships a day are allowed in Glacier Bay. Out of 14 spots a week - Princess gets 8 of those spots. Glacier bay can only be seen from the water. It is an incredible jaw dropping experience. If you do this on whatever ship you go on make sure when you enter the bay - we entered around 4:30 am you are in the front outside of the ship. The whales are at the mouth of the bay to feed and we saw hundreds of whales, whale spouts, tail fins, breaching. It was a memory I will never forget. There were maybe 200 of us up at that time to witness this. It was a magnificent morning!