Reasons to take Princess' Alaska cruises vs. other cruiselines

[tbmrt]

We're thinking of booking a Celebrity cruise to Alaska, but have been told that Princess is the way to go since their train ride is great.

 

I was also thinking of taking one cruiseline northbound and another southbound.

 

I am so confused. Would appreciate your input and suggestions.

 

We would fly to Alaska from FL.

 

Ideally, about 12 days would be perfect for us, but we could extend the time if we need to.

 

Thanks.

Barbara

[Pam in CA]

Easy answer. Celebrity does not have permission to sail in the more spectacular glacier areas nor do they have as good an infrastructure on land.

 

If you want to just take a cruise, then Celebrity would probably be fine. If you're cruising to see and experience Alaska, then Princess and HAL are the best.

[OCruisers]

Agree with Pam on this.

 

Just saying ... the ONLY cruise lines we would even consider for Alaska are PRINCESS and HAL.

 

LuLu

[LoriPhil]

Princess goes to Glacier Bay (Celebrity doesn't) which we love. Princess also has Park Rangers on-board in the national park areas for commentary and demonstrations, Libby Riddles in Juneau for a presentation on her dog-sledding experiences, and a Naturalist for the entire cruise providing commentary on history and wildlife, which are all great fun. I know that many enjoy the land tours as well, but there is something about combining inside passage cruising plus excursions at the various ports which keeps us sticking with B2B out of Vancouver (particularly since you see College Fjord on the Northbound and then Hubbard Glacier on the Southbound leg). Be warned that Alaska cruising can be habit forming, and have a great time!

[Murray's Pop]

Agree with Pam as well. Princess or HAL.

[SteelMagnolia9]

My first cruise with Princess was this July to Alaska. I'm not one of the "loyal" Elite level cruisers who only sail with Princess, so I have no emotional attachment to this cruiseline in giving you my opinion.

 

My TA recommended Princess to me. My experience was outstanding. The enrichment and narration provided by the on board naturalist; the Park Service rangers as we cruised through Glacier Bay (Celebrity does not have a permit to be in Glacier Bay); special guests and lectures on board (Libby Riddles, first female to win Iditarod and the official Iditarod photographer, Jeff Schultz) really made this a special experience.

 

I was on the Anchorage-Vancouver sailing. Loved every minute of it.

[Colo Cruiser]

Agree with Pam on this.

 

Just saying ... the ONLY cruise lines we would even consider for Alaska are PRINCESS and HAL.

 

LuLu

 

Thats for sure! :)

[Thrak]

Sailed Princes round trip SF / Alaska in 2011. A wonderful cruise. Going back next June for 6 day land tour followed by 7 days southbound. Again on Princess. We are happy and satisfied with Princess.

[AKman2495]

We were coming back from the cabin yesterday and we passed a couple of Celebrity buses. The rented buses and put a Celebrity sticker on them.

 

Princess cruises have the Princess logo painted on them Big.

 

Holland America is my favorite. They painted their buss with wildlife scenes and forty colors. They really stand out on the highway!

 

FWIW....

[jagsfan]

HAL and Princess established themselves in Alaska way ahead of the other lines. They have the whole infrastructure to support cruises and land tours. Glacier Bay is not to be missed, so look at your itinerary carefully.

[caribill]

Holland America is my favorite. They painted their buss with wildlife scenes and forty colors. They really stand out on the highway!

 

 

[cvpends]

I have sailed Celebrity, Princess and HAL to Alaska. All had fabulous Naturalists on board, and we had a fabulous time in Glacier Bay on both Celebrity and HAL, and a disappointing time in Tracy Arm with Princess. My advice is if taking a cruise, any of the three would be good, and look carefully at the itinerary before deciding. If taking a cruise tour , however, select Princess.

Edited August 24, 2015 by cvpends

[Pam in CA]

I'm very surprised you sailed Glacier Bay on Celebrity as they have not had permission to sail there for years due to dumping waste water and environmental violations.

[more cruises]

We have done Norwegian /Tracy Arm (didn't make it in) Norwegian with Glacier Bay - beyond awesome, Princess, 14 days rt Vancouver w/ 2 trips to Glacier Bay and lots of whales on the southbound portion. We just finished HAL from Vancouver with a land portion that ended in Fairbanks. HAL was very nice but it just wasn't Princess and we only had 1 night at Denali, which wasn't enough time to see much of anything.

 

If doing a land portion I'd go with Princess. I think their Denali Hotel complex is nicer and since they port in Whittier it's only 1 hour to Anchorage (which is on the way to Denali). HAL ports in Seward, which is 3 hours from Anchorage. That makes for a really long day on the bus.

 

You might want to think about flying to Seattle from FL. You can get non stops from FLL, MCO and TPA on Alaska airlines. Then take Amtrak or quick Shuttle to Vancouver. We like to go up a day early. Vancouver is a great city and fun to explore by bus or Skytrain.

 

I'm looking at Celebrity for next May. They go to Hubbard Glacier instead of Glacier Bay but their prices are so much lower than everyone else's right now.

[HUNKY]

One real advantage of Celebrity is that their ships (Millennium for instance) have a covered pool area called the Solarium. Very nice after a chilly day touring. We took the train from Anchorage to Seward which was very comfortable and had great views. Arrived early enough to tour the Alaskan Sealife Center in Seward.

 

Princess does have exceptional land based lodges if that is in your budget.

[sprint180]

We have taken both Princess and NCL Both trips were amazing. The only difference was the older crowd on Princess.

[huskerc]

I am someone who has spent a lot of time on Celebrity ships, and I cannot emphasize enough how much better your experience will be, especially if doing a land portion, with Princess. I think Celebrity has a great product overall, but they do not excel in Alaska.

[cvpends]

I'm very surprised you sailed Glacier Bay on Celebrity as they have not had permission to sail there for years due to dumping waste water and environmental violations.

 

I went back and checked my records, and it turns out that my memory was faulty. In 2009 while on the Millennium, it was the spectacular Hubbard Glacier that we visited, which is not at all in Glacier Bay. My apologies for this misinformation.

[LoriPhil]

I think the Coral Princess also has a covered pool - don't know about the Island Princess as she is configured now.

[yardbird]

Island Princess has Lido Pool (outside) and it looks like Lotus Pool (inside).

That's looking at deck plans for after May 2016 so not sure if the pool configuration is currently the same.

[NavyVeteran]

If you have 12 days, you may want to look at a Princess cruisetour with a train from Fairbanks to Denali to Whittier followed by the southbound cruise. Princess and HAL are the ones with the infrastructure for the land portion. If you do this, I recommend the land portion first followed by the southbound cruise, since you would have the long flight and the more tiring land portion first and the more relaxing cruise portion and the shorter flight later.

 

If you want to cruise round trip from Vancouver, I would recommend staying on the same ship. It would be a lot easier than moving between ships on the turnaround day. Also it would not be that easy if you sailed into Whittier and out of Seward or vice versa. This would take 14 days.

 

If you have three weeks (and the budget to handle it), take a northbound cruise followed by a land tour followed by a southbound cruise on a different ship. In this case, I would recommend the Princess cruise tour (or you could try HAL) for cruise one way and land portion. You could take any other cruise line you like for the cruise the other direction.

[sawtooth]

We sailed the Star to Alaska from Vancouver and then did the land tour.

First, if you can, sail from Vancouver. That way you get the real Glacier Bay experience, and it is exceptional.

Also, they have many lodges in Alaska. We visited Kenai, Denali, Fairbanks and Anchorage with Princess. It was a very good experience.

[Nancyquilts]

In our experience, HAL seems to have more convenient docks in the three usual cities. If you can walk well, this is not important.

[IBsaved]

We've done 2 Princess cruisetours to Alaska and have loved them! The first time we did the cruise first and then the land tour and were a bit tired at the end. Second time we did the land tour and then cruise and loved it! We really enjoyed the relaxing week on the cruise. The lodges on the land tour were very nice and Princess does a great job of moving people and luggage from venue to venue. If you can, take the Kenai Fjords boat cruise excursion...it was amazing! :D

[cvpends]

In our experience, HAL seems to have more convenient docks in the three usual cities. If you can walk well, this is not important.

 

This may be generally true, but is certainly not a guarantee. When we ported while on HAL Noordam in Juneau this August 3rd, Celebrity Solstice, Crown Princess and HAL Westerdam were also there. As a result of four ships in port, one had to tender, and it was us. This would have been physically difficult for those with ambulation difficulties, and was inconvenient for us also. We arrived in Juneau at 1, and by the time we were cleared to tender, got our tickets, and waited for our numbers to come up, it was 3 before we got to shore. Got to Mendenhall Glacier at 4, and the last bus out was at 6. Not very relaxing, LOL! We wished we had been on the Crown, which arrived at 11 that morning and had a nice spot at the dock.