Coral Princess or Radiance of Seas in Alaska?

[JP96]

Hello,

 

I'm considering a one way cruise in Alaska on either the Coral or the Radiance in late July/early August. I have an 8 year old and 11 year old. The Coral does Glacier Bay/Hubbard and the Radiance only does Hubbard but adds in Icy Strait Point. I'm really struggling with whether to give up Glacier Bay and add in Icy Strait. It will give us another day to do an excursion versus more glaciers for the kids and days at sea, which I'm not sure will be exciting after a while (which would be fine with me). I have done HAL cruises twice already and have seen glaciers. Also, I'm hearing that the food on RCL is much better. All around I have been told that Princess is "fine," w hich is not exactly what I want to hear after making the trip from the East Coast and spending a lot for the trip. We will not be going to Denali as we don't have the time.

 

Has anyone done both the Princess and RCL who can give me feedback? It is hard to find any recent reviews from people traveling with kids.

 

Thanks!

[JimAOk1945]

We have taken two Alaska cruises so far. Both times we were there in mid August. The first one in 2009 was a round trip from Seattle on the Star Princess. Our ports of call were Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway.

 

We had a great time but wanted to go back again, which we did in mid-August of 2012. We sailed on the Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas on the southbound route. We loved it! We had four ports of call, Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Icy Strait Point located in the Alaskan town of Hoonah.

 

When we booked the cruise, we arranged to have transfers through RC and I'm glad we did. We didn't have any trouble at all.

 

When we flew into Anchorage, we asked for the RC representative. We were directed to a kiosk where the friendly RC staff checked us off their list, and then told us when the next bus was leaving for Seward. I think we had about a one hour wait.

 

We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the food court, then went back to the waiting area at the RC desk. When the bus arrived, we got in along with several other people and the driver loaded up all the baggage.

 

I'm not sure how long the drive was but it seemed to pass quickly. The scenery was fantastic and the driver gave information about what we were seeing from time to time.

 

Before we knew it, we had arrived at the Seward terminal. The Radiance was the only ship there! Check in at the terminal was a breeze. We walked right in, went up to the counter to check in, and went right on to the ship!

 

The quickest embarkation we have ever had.

 

The ship is fantastic and the cruise was the best we have ever had. The itinerary includes 4 ports of call. Icy Strait Point was and still is our favorite. We went on the Bear and Whale watch combo excursion through RC. We saw two bears catching Salmon and countless whales! It was absolutely breathtaking!

 

When we went through the Hubbard Glacier area, we witnessed numerous "calving" which is when great chunks of ice break off with loud cracking and rumbling then fall into the water.

 

I could go on and on. As you can see, even now I get excited just thinking about it and trying to describe what we saw.

 

At the end of the cruise, going through the Vancouver terminal was no trouble at all. We also had a transfer through the cruise line that took us to the Vancouver airport.

 

You might be interested in seeing my wife's picture slideshows. Here is a link to the page where you will see slideshows about the different ports of call as well as the ship. The slideshow will start when you click on the link, but you can also go through the pictures if you want to by clicking on the thumbnails one at a time.

 

2012 RC Radiance of the Seas ~ Alaska Southbound

 

HAPPY SAILING! It's a great way to explore the world!

[mapleleaves]

Hello,

 

 

 

It is hard to find any recent reviews from people traveling with kids.

 

Really? There are at least a dozen reports with kids in the 2014 trip report list. See the STICKY near the top of the page. Such as this one from mollanjake who did a SB cruise with RCI:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2070945

 

The only Coral review that comes to mind is from AryMay, no kids. You can read her photojournal to find comments about the ship.

 

p.s. another important itinerary consideration when comparing the 2 cruises ... look at the port times. The length of time AND the time of day.

Edited February 12, 2015 by mapleleaves
p.s.

[JP96]

Wow, your pictures are amazing! Thank you for your feedback. It sounds like you had a great time on RCL as well as Princess. Do you have a preference now? Did you get to see Glacier Bay on your first cruise? Do you think one ship would be more suited for a family than the other?

[Aquahound]

I've been on both cruise lines and I've done both Glacier Bay and the one way Radiance itinerary. Based on what you said, first, I recommend the Radiance itinerary. Second, I recommend RCI over Princess in general. Radiance is one of the most beautiful ships sailing Alaska, plus it has a great kids program for the youngsters.

[JP96]

Thank you! I was not even considering this itinerary at first but the extra port sounds great.

 

Interesting that RCL appears to be more expensive than the Coral. I was surprised by this. I priced out both and a mini-suite on the Coral is less expensive by about $600 than a balcony room on the Radiance. There is only a difference of about 30 sq. feet. I would think that a Glacier Bay cruise would be more expensive in general.

[Coral]

Thank you! I was not even considering this itinerary at first but the extra port sounds great.

 

Interesting that RCL appears to be more expensive than the Coral. I was surprised by this. I priced out both and a mini-suite on the Coral is less expensive by about $600 than a balcony room on the Radiance. There is only a difference of about 30 sq. feet. I would think that a Glacier Bay cruise would be more expensive in general.

 

I have done both, within 1 year of each other. There were the same amount of kids on both lines. I found both ships similar in beauty - they are both the same size, both have a lot of glass. They both cater to families.

 

I much preferred the Coral Princess. I honestly thought Princess did a better job in Alaska. They have more enrichment programs, they always have a naturalist onboard (RCCL only sometimes does) and they have 2 glacier days. This is important! On my Radiance cruise, we missed Hubbard Glacier. So my first cruise to Alaska, we missed the only Glacier. Huge disappointment! The following year, I booked the Coral Princess and had 2 glacier days. Glacier Bay is rarely missed. I have not read anyone in the past 10 years who has missed Glacier Bay. The combination of Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier or Glacier Bay and College Fiords is awesome! I seriously thought RCCL did Alaska poorly. It was more of going through the motions. The only "Alaskan talk on the ship" was about buying jewelry at Diamonds International in port. I love the talks the naturalists on Princess have. I love the Rangers who come onboard during Glacier Bay.

 

For me, it was night and day between RCCL and Princess. Princess was that much better in Alaska. I did like RCCL on the Caribbean cruise I took.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Coral

[JP96]

Thank you for comments. Missing Hubbard Glacier would also be a huge disappointment to me as well. Was there too much ice to get close that day? Did you do a cruise tour on Princess?

[Bizziecruzer]

We couldn't decide :eek: so we are doing Coral Princess Northbound and Radiance Southbound!:D

[Coral]

Thank you for comments. Missing Hubbard Glacier would also be a huge disappointment to me as well. Was there too much ice to get close that day? Did you do a cruise tour on Princess?

 

We were 9 miles away which meant we could barely see it. I could see something white and that was it. Yes, the area was blocked by ice. Hubbard glacier is often missed though the year we were there (2002), there was a unique situation which blocked ships for a long time. If you google 2002 and Hubbard Glacier, there is a long explanation which I don't fully understand.

 

No, I have not done a cruise tour. I have spent a few days pre or post cruise but not a cruise tour.

[JP96]

Great idea! Wish we could take two weeks off. The snow is so bad in Boston, I'm starting to think it might be a better idea to go somewhere warm...

[Casey12]

First - - we prefer Glacier Bay. We also agree with Coral that Princess does a better job in Alaska. Our RCCL cruise in Alaska was disappointing after our Princess cruise.

 

There are not many kids on cruises in Alaska compared to the Caribbean. There will be kids on both lines but nothing like cruises out of Florida. Your kids will be fine on either line.

 

RCCL does not have permits to get into Glacier Bay. They wish they did.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Casey12

[JP96]

I hope the captain substituted something else for the passengers.

[Coral]

I hope the captain substituted something else for the passengers.

 

Not on our cruise. It became a day at sea.

[JimAOk1945]

Wow, your pictures are amazing! Thank you for your feedback. It sounds like you had a great time on RCL as well as Princess. Do you have a preference now? Did you get to see Glacier Bay on your first cruise? Do you think one ship would be more suited for a family than the other?

 

I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. Our cruise on the Star Princess was round trip from Seattle and did not include Glacier Bay. We saw Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm.

 

Our second cruise on the Radiance of the Seas included Hubbard Glacier which was a fantastic experience with lots of calving.

 

On both cruises our ships got close enough to get really good views of the glaciers. Since we were there in August both times, the time of year may have played a factor in being so close to the glaciers. We were fortunate to have warm weather (70-80 degrees) on both cruises.

 

You asked about our cruise line preference. We prefer Royal Caribbean over Princess. It's the full suite perks and high degree of overall service that keeps us going back for another cruise.

 

I'm sure you will have a wonderful cruise on whichever cruise line you book.

Edited February 13, 2015 by JimAOk1945