Best Princess ship for Alaska?

[pondhome]

WE are planning a 2020 cruise to Alaska, and I was wondering which Princess ship is the best? And which month is really the best?

Heard May is drier but not everything is out or open. Middle of June-Aug too many tourist. August very rainy. Need the help of your experiences.

[JMorris271]

We had a wonderful time with the Coral.  Small enough to get up close. and had blue sky on all but 2 days

Edited March 10, 2019 by JMorris271

[Essiesmom]

You should be asking this on the Princess board here.  but you will find that nearly everyone will recommend Coral Princess.  But it will also depend on your itinerary and departure port.  EM

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/119-princess-cruises/

[rkacruiser]

Based upon my research, I have booked Coral Princess.  I believe she will have sufficient outdoor deck areas for sightseeing without having to deal with too many people in too small of a space at the same time.

 

I disembarked Royal Princess in early January and, from my experience, she lacks sufficient outdoor deck space for sightseeing without the potential for too many people in too small of a space at the same time.  She is a very comfortable and a beautiful ship.  But, I question Princess' decision to place her on an Alaskan itinerary.

 

I have sailed on Star Princess, but it was too long ago for my memory on her outdoor deck space to be accurate.  Other Princess ships that sail in Alaska:  I have no experience.

[CruiserBruce]

I would be looking at itinerary first. Does the route include Glacier Bay?

[XBGuy]

1 hour ago, pondhome said:

WE are planning a 2020 cruise to Alaska, and I was wondering which Princess ship is the best? And which month is really the best?

Heard May is drier but not everything is out or open. Middle of June-Aug too many tourist. August very rainy. Need the help of your experiences.

 

We were on the Emerald Princess last year departing Los Angeles on April 27 and, so, we were visiting the AK ports the first week of May.  We were the second or third cruise ship of the season in each of the AK ports, and the only ship in port on the days of our arrival.  I can report that the only closed businesses that we saw were one restaurant and a candy shop in Skagway, and it looked like both of them would be open within a few days,

 

We also hit rain and fog in Ketchikan--not, particularly, surprising for that stop.  My wife and I enjoy encountering weather when we cruise, but that one was disappointing.  The only excursion I had booked for that cruise was a flightseeing tour on a De Havilland Beaver.  All float plane excursions were cancelled, that day.  I am going to try again on the Ruby Princess this April.  My De Havilland Beaver excursion is already booked.

 

😁

[fattydodo]

We were on the Star last year and discovered that the all around best viewing area was the Skywalker lounge.  We took our coffee and breakfast up and found ourselves mainly alone most of the morning and afternoon.  Although the bar is closed until later in the afternoon, the lounge is open. With the fantastic 180• window viewing, we never went wrong!  And we strayed warm!! It was beautiful!

[Aquahound]

57 minutes ago, fattydodo said:

We were on the Star last year and discovered that the all around best viewing area was the Skywalker lounge.  We took our coffee and breakfast up and found ourselves mainly alone most of the morning and afternoon.  Although the bar is closed until later in the afternoon, the lounge is open. With the fantastic 180• window viewing, we never went wrong!  And we strayed warm!! It was beautiful!

 

This is one reason I do not recommend Princess' newest class of ships for Alaska.  They have no viewing lounge.  In fact, other than in the buffet, you don't really see out at all.  That's why I suggest Grand Class for scenic cruises.  

[wheezedr]

The Royal is a beautiful ship which I have cruised on three separate occasions, but like others I question her use in Alaska.  Too big for some ports, no promenade, not enough viewing areas.  It will be interesting to see what others have to say this season.  Love the Coral for Alaska.

[Kartgv]

1 hour ago, Aquahound said:

 

This is one reason I do not recommend Princess' newest class of ships for Alaska.  They have no viewing lounge.  In fact, other than in the buffet, you don't really see out at all.  That's why I suggest Grand Class for scenic cruises.  

 

Completely agree - the lack of Skywalkers is a deal-breaker for us for Princess ships.   If having a comfortable indoor space where you can relax and see everything around the ship is important to you then make sure to check the deck plans for the ship.   Many of the older ships still have it.     

Edited March 10, 2019 by Kartgv

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, fattydodo said:

We were on the Star last year and discovered that the all around best viewing area was the Skywalker lounge.  We took our coffee and breakfast up and found ourselves mainly alone most of the morning and afternoon.  Although the bar is closed until later in the afternoon, the lounge is open. With the fantastic 180• window viewing, we never went wrong!  And we strayed warm!! It was beautiful!

 

Skywalker's is a great viewing area.  But, being enclosed:  when one is sailing in the area of the glaciers, if there is calving taking place, can the sounds of that be heard in Skywalker's?  Sailing most recently by Hubbard Glacier:  my goodness!  Calving took place frequently and the sounds of such resound in my memory.  I heard/saw such because I was on an open deck of the Amsterdam.

[rkacruiser]

5 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

I would be looking at itinerary first. Does the route include Glacier Bay?

 

If it includes Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier, the itinerary is a winner.

[Heidi13]

Of the Princess ships, our vote is for Coral

[budindia]

Northbound coral princess includes Glacier Bay and College Fjord. While southbound have Glacier Bay and Hubbard. 

[rkacruiser]

14 hours ago, budindia said:

While southbound have Glacier Bay and Hubbard. 

 

That's why I chose Coral Princess.

[MCC retired]

It is unfortunate that the latest  and greatest Princess Royal Class ship designs omit 

comfortable sea view areas of the older ships.☹️

IMO , bigger is not always better for scenic itineraries.

[LibertyGirl7]

We did the Sapphire Princess a few years back and it was the perfect size and lots of outdoor space for Alaska.  This year we booked the Golden Princess and I hope it's the same.  I've been on the Royal Princess, she is a beautiful ship but as many have already said here, I agree that she is too big for Alaska.  NCL has their two big ships in two of our port days which I am not happy about.  It's going to be very crowded.

[Heidi13]

19 hours ago, LibertyGirl7 said:

We did the Sapphire Princess a few years back and it was the perfect size and lots of outdoor space for Alaska.  This year we booked the Golden Princess and I hope it's the same.  I've been on the Royal Princess, she is a beautiful ship but as many have already said here, I agree that she is too big for Alaska.  NCL has their two big ships in two of our port days which I am not happy about.  It's going to be very crowded.

The Golden is about 3 or 4 years older than Sapphire and was built in Italy, rather than Japan. However, they are very similar ships, with minimal differences. 

[RRFan]

On 3/10/2019 at 1:01 PM, pondhome said:

WE are planning a 2020 cruise to Alaska, and I was wondering which Princess ship is the best? And which month is really the best?

Heard May is drier but not everything is out or open. Middle of June-Aug too many tourist. August very rainy. Need the help of your experiences.

I have to agree with everything others have posted about the Royal and Coral.  Unless you physically can't stand outside, you'll want to be outside while at the glaciers and Royal isn't good for that.  But I'd recommend going either early (Apr or May) or late (Aug or Sept) in order to maximize your experience with minimal crowds.  We're going on the Ruby Princess Apr 23 of this year.  This makes our 30th Alaska cruise I think (both PCL and HAL).  HAL has the best itineraries because smaller ships can go to other ports besides Ket-Jun-Skag.  HAL's Maasdam is doing a fabulous 21-day AK out of San Francisco this year if you can be gone that long.  HAL's Amsterdam is also doing a great 14-day out of Seattle which spends the day in Anchorage (not Whittier or Seward) and Kodiak and others.  Just my two cents worth.  It all depends on what you want to do and/or see. 

 

Oh, and don't think that anyone can tell you it will be dry in May or it will rain in August.  In AK it can be cold, hot, wet or dry on any given day any time during the cruise season.  You just have to go prepared for any/all of it and hope for the best. When someone says that in Alaska it will be warm/dry in July, Alaska says, hold my beer and shows you the opposite! 😉

[rkacruiser]

5 hours ago, RRFan said:

HAL's Amsterdam is also doing a great 14-day out of Seattle which spends the day in Anchorage (not Whittier or Seward) and Kodiak and others.  Just my two cents worth.  It all depends on what you want to do and/or see. 

 

Oh, and don't think that anyone can tell you it will be dry in May or it will rain in August.  In AK it can be cold, hot, wet or dry on any given day any time during the cruise season.  You just have to go prepared for any/all of it and hope for the best. When someone says that in Alaska it will be warm/dry in July, Alaska says, hold my beer and shows you the opposite! 😉

 

I have sailed on the Amsterdam doing the 14 day itinerary and it is the best Alaskan itinerary on which I have sailed.  Only thing missing is Glacier Bay, but Hubbard Glacier more than makes up for it, in my opinion. 

 

Also agree with this poster's comment about the weather.  Expect the unexpected!