Which ship Golden or Island Princess would you choose for Alaska??

[DimSum]

I'm looking for a cruise to Alaska.  Would you choose Golden Princess or Island Princess?

 

TIA

[bemis12]

Uh oh.  Get ready.

[DimSum]

11 minutes ago, bemis12 said:

Uh oh.  Get ready.

I know.  I'm helping Aunt figure out which boat is better.  She wants to do a round trip Alaskan cruise so I'm trying to figure out her options

[fishywood]

What the above response is warning you about is that Island Princess considered by many the least desirable ship in the fleet due to its having added more than 100 additional cabins a few years ago--at the expense of the second showlounge, the aft viewing areas, and the fitness center being moved to a windowless room below deck.

 

Last year I sailed Island Princess northbound and Golden Princess southbound (with three days driving around Denali on my own in between). The short answer is that while I would happily repeat either segment on either ship, I would lean to recommending Golden simply because there is (to me) something unique about the first generation of Grand-Class Princess ships, and since two of the three (including Golden) will be leaving the fleet early next decade I hope to get one more chance to cruise one of them.

 

Admittedly there are caveats about Island: I would not sail her without confirming fixed seating dining--but on late port days they will have anytime dining for all so you can dine at your leisure when returning onboard. While the lack of an aft lounge means that some activities will be in odd locations, all the same ones key to Alaska were held on both Island and Golden: puppies in the Piazza, the guest lecturers/entertainers coming on board in the hour before sailaway giving presentations on the Iditarod, Deadliest Catch, and a really corny musical history of Skagway.

 

Island will still have 400-odd fewer passengers than Golden and to me is very easy to navigate with the dining rooms and buffet forward rather than the more traditional aft. And the smaller cabins on Island (inside or obstructed oceanview) do have a larger closet and bathroom area than on Golden. Though many (like me) will prefer Golden for having two venues Island lacks: Skywalker's nightclub at the top of the ship (great for viewing the first and last days at sea) and the International Cafe for 24 hour munchies. 

 

But the bottom line is that, having sailed two different ships in Alaska last year (just coincidentally the two you are inquiring about) I have prattled on way too long here. Because doing so confirmed 100% what is often said: that Alaska is all about the destination, not the ship. You are wise to be considering the open jaw cruise between Whittier and Vancouver rather than the round-trip Seattle or San Francisco; the more important decision will be to choose between Northbound or Southbound depending on your preference of time on land before or after cruising. Itinerary comes first, then let the ship choose you.

 

ETA: guess you can ignore what I said about choosing an open jaw route; judging from your second response you are contemplating one of the round trip Vancouver cruises at the start of the season this May (Golden sailing two, Island one). And the events referred to in the 3rd paragraph above may also be specific to the Vancouver-Whittier route.

 

 

Edited April 1, 2019 by fishywood

[Coral]

Golden.

[bemis12]

Yes, that's the case.  I've not sailed her, so I am not capable of giving an opinion, but I'm confident that there will be zero votes for the Island.

[DGSFlorida]

Definitely the Golden.  We have sailed both and the changes to the rear decks plus the overloaded dining rooms on the Island make her last choice.

[Colo Cruiser]

We have done Alaska on the Golden a couple of times.

I would pick the Golden easily.

[frugaltravel]

I have been on the Island.  Never again.  More staterooms (as mentioned above), less public areas = a very overcrowded feel.

 

I would definitely choose the Golden.

[Potstech]

Hands down the Golden.

[Thrak]

Golden. No question about it. In fact, we're booked on Golden for May. 😁 We sailed on Island once right after the "conversion" (massacre) of the ship. Nope, nope, nope. Don't want to do that again unless it's the only possible ship.

[hydrodriver831]

We have done Alaska on both the Island and the Golden and I would go with the Golden. 

[TM]

We did a B2B on the Island last year in Alaska.  I had heard many negatives.  But quite frankly we didn't really notice any problems.  We did have traditional late seating so didn't experience any crowds waiting for anytime dining.  My only problem with the traditional dining was that I believe 4 or 5 nights over the course of 2 weeks they did open seating which we hated.  Just because the ship is late in port doesn't mean everyone should have dinner plans interrupted because of a few that can;t make it.  I did miss the full wraparound promenade walking deck but not a big deal to walk through the back lobby or just do U-turns on the deck.  We also did not experience huge crowds for the later shows.  I would not hesitate to sail on the Island again.

[Busy Mum]

Fantastic, we are cruising on Island to Alaska on the 8th May.  So much negativity about the Island, wait and see I guess. 😞 

[momK]

I've been on the Golden and liked it. I will be on the Island for BTB Alaska. I haven't been on it or the Coral, so can't compare the before/after structure changes of the Island.

 

Something you may want to consider is the itinerary difference between Island and Golden. Island sails Wednesday to Wednesday, with visits to ports on  FSS on northbound and SSM southbound. Golden sails Saturday to Saturday and visits ports MTW northbound and TWTH southbound. Also, Island visits Icy Strait Point on NB rather than Ketchikan. We specifically chose Island so we could go to Icy Strait Point; we love it there, as it is less tourist-y and more like Alaska really is. In addition, we wanted to attend church on Sunday and will be able to do so in port.

 

We don't really have a favorite ship (we've been Caribbean, Crown, Diamond, Emerald, Grand, and Ruby) and have been content with each of the 14 Princess cruises we have taken. It is hard for us to disappointed, as we are pretty easy to please---we're on a cruise!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[satxdiver]

We have sailed on both ships.  However our Island cruises were before Princess butchered the ship rendering it the least desirable in the fleet.  The Golden is far better even with more pax aboard.  So I would go with the Golden. 

[jsglow]

We sailed Golden southbound last year.  One of my top 2-3 cruises, lifetime.  She's a wonderful platform for Glacier Bay.