Nicest Princess ship to Alaska

[Chiefdog]

2 minutes ago, land lover said:

I would totally pick Ruby  cruised on her April on a Pacific Coastal and then May to Alaska last Year. April was when she tweaked her menu, May they were still tweaking...then in March of this year the menu was different again as this was after her Nov.  dry dock and we really enjoyed  the physical changes. New Carpet etc......The Salty Dog grill...love those street tacos, coffee and cones nice to get a "real" specialty coffee on deck 16.

 

This year we happened to be gng to Alaska again guess what ship I picked Coral...we cruised on her 12 years ago to the Panama canal.

Have only cruised Majestic but I must agree that class of ship does not have the viewing, however if she would have fallen into my time frame I might have picked her just for the medallion.

 

 

I am calling Princess tomorrow to inquire. I usually have my room and ship picked by then to make the booking go fast. Airfare first of course.  But now I am really confused about the month!  Would it be wise to book a Coral next summer price wise? If the fare drops, will the company give an adjustment for the drop? Thank you everyone for so much helpful info! 

[Chiefdog]

9 minutes ago, Chiefdog said:

What month was that photo? Ok, I see May on top of pic and I see down coats, too. Really close to the glacier! What ship?

 

4 minutes ago, BarbinMich said:

https://www.graylinealaska.com/blog/top-spots-in-alaska-for-fall-foliage/  Just found this link; however, it doesn't mention SE Alaska (the panhandle where Juneau, Ketchikan are) at all.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you. He was up north on land tour and maybe some towns were turning colors along the way. Maybe Coral for next year when I have more time to plan car rental and train south from Denali to Seward or Whittier. Hopefully they will not cut the ship in half to add rooms! 

[katisdale]

We went in September (on Island before the refit) and were quite pleased with out choice. There was beautiful color on the ground plants as we traveled between Denali and Copper River. We had good weather and dressed in layers so we were comfortable by adding and subtracting clothes. We saw lots of animals, and especially loved the ptarmigans. We did see the mountain while we were at Denali. I would definitely go again in September.

[disneyochem]

Any comments about the Grand in Alaska?  We are sailing on her this May out of SF.  Have cruised to Alaska numerous times.  We’re taking the Grand to see if we like her in Alaska—have a 17-cruise tour booked for June 2020.  We still have time to change ship/tour if we don’t like the Grand but I love the 17-day tour.

[Chiefdog]

2 hours ago, disneyochem said:

Any comments about the Grand in Alaska?  We are sailing on her this May out of SF.  Have cruised to Alaska numerous times.  We’re taking the Grand to see if we like her in Alaska—have a 17-cruise tour booked for June 2020.  We still have time to change ship/tour if we don’t like the Grand but I love the 17-day tour.

If the price goes down, will the cruise company also lower your fare? I know it is best to book early to get the best staterooms. 

[Chiefdog]

12 hours ago, katisdale said:

We went in September (on Island before the refit) and were quite pleased with out choice. There was beautiful color on the ground plants as we traveled between Denali and Copper River. We had good weather and dressed in layers so we were comfortable by adding and subtracting clothes. We saw lots of animals, and especially loved the ptarmigans. We did see the mountain while we were at Denali. I would definitely go again in September.

I hear different things about the weather. It seems to vary. I thought September was the best for color up north. I guess you just wear layers. Did you do the cruise tour with the ship or rent a car and use the trains and buses on your own?  😊 Thank you. 

[katisdale]

We did our tour with Princess. We had our grandchildren with us and did not want to bother with schlepping our luggage and making arrangements. It was very well organized. We did the tour before the cruise and took the last sailing offered.

[Chiefdog]

11 minutes ago, katisdale said:

We did our tour with Princess. We had our grandchildren with us and did not want to bother with schlepping our luggage and making arrangements. It was very well organized. We did the tour before the cruise and took the last sailing offered.

Did you take the beautiful train south to the port? Did you feel you had enough time in Denali and how many total days was the land tour? 

[LessWorkMoreTravel]

1 hour ago, Chiefdog said:

If the price goes down, will the cruise company also lower your fare? I know it is best to book early to get the best staterooms. 

My limited experience has been that they will lower the fare as long as they still have cabins for sale in your category and you haven't made final payment yet.  I booked an Alaska cruise in March with a sail date in July and received 3 price adjustments totaling over $1300.  

Edited April 18, 2019 by LessWorkMoreTravel
type

[katisdale]

We flew into Anchorage where we had one night, and took the train to Talketna and stayed at the lodge there for one night; then we rode the train to Denali where we stayed 2 nights. After being at Denali (highly recommend the longer Wilderness tour) we took a bus to Copper River lodge. We also had two nights there. Then we took a boat from Valdez to Whittier where we boarded the ship for the southbound cruise. We really enjoyed our time on the tour. We did not go to Fairbanks.

[XBGuy]

Chiefdog, let me assure you that you will have a great experience.  Too often, people come here on Cruise Critic and ask about the "best" ship, the "best" itinerary, the "best" excursions, the "best" food" the "best" cabin, . . .

 

Do you know what FOMO is?   If not, Google it.

 

Too many Cruise Critic posters have FOMO.

 

I really think you are taking the right approach.  I like your idea of taking the round-trip out of Seattle.  Your budget is very important, and the air flight cost is a significant part of a cruise travel budget.

 

I have take four Alaska cruises.  I have cruise number five scheduled to leave, next week and cruise number six is booked for September.

 

To me, once you decide that you are going to cruise in Alaska, the itinerary is insignificant.  I cannot say that one of my previous itineraries was significantly more memorable that any of the others.  Alaska has tremendous natural beauty,  You will see amazing things regardless of the itinerary.

 

My four previous AK cruises were on three different ships.  I really do not think that our experience was influenced by the ship.  I loved every cruise.  I mentioned that we are leaving next week on our fifth AK cruise.  We will be on the Ruby Princess.  Our cruise in September will be on the Royal Princess.  I am, very much, looking forward to both of these.

 

As multiple people have indicated, you have to be ready for any kind of weather in Alaska.  The worst storm we ever encountered--and, believe me, it was a big one--was in early August.  I also have been sunburned in AK--in Ketchikan, one of the wettest spots in North America. in September.  Regardless of when you cruise, you should expect to encounter rain.  It may be while you are at sea, which is, usually, inconsequential, but if it is on a port day, you have to be prepared for it.

 

You mentioned your down coat.  My wife travels to AK with her "puffy coat." It keeps here warm.  She does not have to ask anybody's permission to wear it. 

 

A couple previous posters have reported that if you book a cabin and there is a subsequent fare decrease, you can be re-fared.  In fact, two days prior to final payment, I re-fared next week's cruise.  The thing I want to mention here is that you (or your travel agent) must take the initiative to call Princess and request a lower fare.  Princess is a for-profit company, and they are not going to give back money if you don't ask.  Also, there are varying reports about people getting any re-faring after the final payment date.  Final payment is due 75 days before the cruise date.  After final payment date, I quit checking the fares.  Also, keep in mind that any promotional "spiffs" that were a part of your original booking will, probably, be lost if you re-fare.  So, let's say that the original booking was under a promotion that included, say, pre-paid gratuities, and that promotion expired, but the current passage fare is $500 less with no promotional extras.  If you decide that the $500 decrease is better than the pre-paid gratuities, then getting re-fared makes sense.

 

As somebody has also mentioned, "change of colors" doesn't really happen in Alaska.  A vast majority of the trees are evergreen conifers.

 

If you are interested in seeing wildlife, I can, pretty much. guarantee that you will be happy, although, I can't guarantee what you will see.  Every cruise I have been on has had a naturalist on board, who provides good information on wildlife that might be near by.  Bring binoculars.  They don't have to be terribly sophisticated.  Something that is easy to pack should be fine.  As you are leaving Ketchikan, scan the tops of the (evergreen) trees.  You will see bald eagles perched on several of them.  A lot of people want to see bears.  I'm one of them.  On our very first cruise, the ship's naturalist provided a guarantee that we could see bears at any port--find the city dump.  I've never tried that approach, but I guess it makes sense.  You will, probably, see whales--humpbacks, mostly, but, also, there is a good chance of seeing greys and orcas.  If you are really interested in seeing whales I would not recommend going early in the season--April/May.  Most greys and humpbacks have not finished their migration from places like Mexico and Hawaii, that early.  That being said, we did see a few last May.  There was one very exuberant humpback about two hundred yards off our balcony as we left Ketchikan.

 

It sounds like you are already planning your second AK cruise.  That is awesome.  As you can see from many of the responses, above, one AK cruise is not enough.

 

Bon voyage.

[Crystal04]

I was recently faced with this decision for my trip this July.  I ended up picking Ruby because I have sailed on Royal in the Caribbean and knew it wouldn't be a good ship for Alaska due to the lack of viewing areas.

[TheRabbit]

3 hours ago, LessWorkMoreTravel said:

My limited experience has been that they will lower the fare as long as they still have cabins for sale in your category and you haven't made final payment yet.  I booked an Alaska cruise in March with a sail date in July and received 3 price adjustments totaling over $1300.  

There are times you can refare after final payment. We did it twice for our coastal next month a. Did we give up perks, Yes. First time we gave up S&S for almost $600 reduction. Less than two weeks later we took another $120 off. Both were refunded to our credit card.

Did Princess advise us of the reduction? No heard about both on CC. Was the reduction on all rooms? No, only minis in certain categories and I thing a few other types/categories. Did we loose our cabin? No, never was a problem. We also did this ourselves as we were not able to transfer the reservation to our TA.

[XBGuy]

7 hours ago, disneyochem said:

Any comments about the Grand in Alaska?  We are sailing on her this May out of SF.  Have cruised to Alaska numerous times.  We’re taking the Grand to see if we like her in Alaska—have a 17-cruise tour booked for June 2020.  We still have time to change ship/tour if we don’t like the Grand but I love the 17-day tour.

 

We've done the 10-day AK roundtripper out of San Francisco on the Grand Princess.

 

We loved it.  One of my favorite things about the Grand Princess is Alfredo's--a no-charge sit-down pizza parlor on Deck 5.  The only minus about Alfredo's is that the only things on the menu are Pizzas.  If you want a salad while you are waiting for your pizza, I suggest that you walk across the Piazza there on Deck 5, pick one up at the International Cafe, and walk it back.  They do offer wine in Alfredo's, and, in fact, it is right next to the Vines wine bar.

 

I do recall, however, that in Vines on the Grand Princess, their tapas are pretty pathetic and sushi is nonexistent.  Not a deal-breaker for me.

[Coral]

7 hours ago, disneyochem said:

Any comments about the Grand in Alaska?  We are sailing on her this May out of SF.  Have cruised to Alaska numerous times.  We’re taking the Grand to see if we like her in Alaska—have a 17-cruise tour booked for June 2020.  We still have time to change ship/tour if we don’t like the Grand but I love the 17-day tour.

I would go on the Grand. It is older and some don't like it because of that but it is not as crowded as some of the newer ships and it has great decks for viewing. 

[Chiefdog]

2 hours ago, XBGuy said:

Chiefdog, let me assure you that you will have a great experience.  Too often, people come here on Cruise Critic and ask about the "best" ship, the "best" itinerary, the "best" excursions, the "best" food" the "best" cabin, . . .

 

Do you know what FOMO is?   If not, Google it.

 

Too many Cruise Critic posters have FOMO.

 

I really think you are taking the right approach.  I like your idea of taking the round-trip out of Seattle.  Your budget is very important, and the air flight cost is a significant part of a cruise travel budget.

 

I have take four Alaska cruises.  I have cruise number five scheduled to leave, next week and cruise number six is booked for September.

 

To me, once you decide that you are going to cruise in Alaska, the itinerary is insignificant.  I cannot say that one of my previous itineraries was significantly more memorable that any of the others.  Alaska has tremendous natural beauty,  You will see amazing things regardless of the itinerary.

 

My four previous AK cruises were on three different ships.  I really do not think that our experience was influenced by the ship.  I loved every cruise.  I mentioned that we are leaving next week on our fifth AK cruise.  We will be on the Ruby Princess.  Our cruise in September will be on the Royal Princess.  I am, very much, looking forward to both of these.

 

As multiple people have indicated, you have to be ready for any kind of weather in Alaska.  The worst storm we ever encountered--and, believe me, it was a big one--was in early August.  I also have been sunburned in AK--in Ketchikan, one of the wettest spots in North America. in September.  Regardless of when you cruise, you should expect to encounter rain.  It may be while you are at sea, which is, usually, inconsequential, but if it is on a port day, you have to be prepared for it.

 

You mentioned your down coat.  My wife travels to AK with her "puffy coat." It keeps here warm.  She does not have to ask anybody's permission to wear it. 

 

A couple previous posters have reported that if you book a cabin and there is a subsequent fare decrease, you can be re-fared.  In fact, two days prior to final payment, I re-fared next week's cruise.  The thing I want to mention here is that you (or your travel agent) must take the initiative to call Princess and request a lower fare.  Princess is a for-profit company, and they are not going to give back money if you don't ask.  Also, there are varying reports about people getting any re-faring after the final payment date.  Final payment is due 75 days before the cruise date.  After final payment date, I quit checking the fares.  Also, keep in mind that any promotional "spiffs" that were a part of your original booking will, probably, be lost if you re-fare.  So, let's say that the original booking was under a promotion that included, say, pre-paid gratuities, and that promotion expired, but the current passage fare is $500 less with no promotional extras.  If you decide that the $500 decrease is better than the pre-paid gratuities, then getting re-fared makes sense.

 

As somebody has also mentioned, "change of colors" doesn't really happen in Alaska.  A vast majority of the trees are evergreen conifers.

 

If you are interested in seeing wildlife, I can, pretty much. guarantee that you will be happy, although, I can't guarantee what you will see.  Every cruise I have been on has had a naturalist on board, who provides good information on wildlife that might be near by.  Bring binoculars.  They don't have to be terribly sophisticated.  Something that is easy to pack should be fine.  As you are leaving Ketchikan, scan the tops of the (evergreen) trees.  You will see bald eagles perched on several of them.  A lot of people want to see bears.  I'm one of them.  On our very first cruise, the ship's naturalist provided a guarantee that we could see bears at any port--find the city dump.  I've never tried that approach, but I guess it makes sense.  You will, probably, see whales--humpbacks, mostly, but, also, there is a good chance of seeing greys and orcas.  If you are really interested in seeing whales I would not recommend going early in the season--April/May.  Most greys and humpbacks have not finished their migration from places like Mexico and Hawaii, that early.  That being said, we did see a few last May.  There was one very exuberant humpback about two hundred yards off our balcony as we left Ketchikan.

 

It sounds like you are already planning your second AK cruise.  That is awesome.  As you can see from many of the responses, above, one AK cruise is not enough.

 

Bon voyage.

Wow, this is a lot to take in. Thank you so much for taking so much time to respond to my questions. Actually, we have never been to Alaska, so I have been doing much research. I have never met anyone who took an Alaskan cruise who disliked it.  Everyone responds that it is the most spectacular experience. Once I make final payment I don't check the fares again. I only book what I feel is worth paying to begin with. So I guess it would be wise to book months in advance and to check the price up until final payment is due. Seems like late August and September will be fine. So I guess bring binoculars, the down coat, insect repellent, leather shoes on wet days, and rain gear. Once again thank you for this information and have 2 wonderful vacations! 😊🐳🚢

[Chiefdog]

3 hours ago, katisdale said:

We flew into Anchorage where we had one night, and took the train to Talketna and stayed at the lodge there for one night; then we rode the train to Denali where we stayed 2 nights. After being at Denali (highly recommend the longer Wilderness tour) we took a bus to Copper River lodge. We also had two nights there. Then we took a boat from Valdez to Whittier where we boarded the ship for the southbound cruise. We really enjoyed our time on the tour. We did not go to Fairbanks.

Hi Katisdale. Your trip sounds exactly suited to us! I think we will do the train south because I have read the scenery is beautiful. I am not planning on Fairbanks because the trek would be too long. Save it for another time, maybe. I will look into the Wilderness tour and decide between that or renting the car. What wonderful people you are to take your grandchildren on such a spectacular adventure! Best wishes on your next trip. Linda

[disneyochem]

7 hours ago, XBGuy said:

 

We've done the 10-day AK roundtripper out of San Francisco on the Grand Princess.

 

We loved it.  One of my favorite things about the Grand Princess is Alfredo's--a no-charge sit-down pizza parlor on Deck 5.  The only minus about Alfredo's is that the only things on the menu are Pizzas.  If you want a salad while you are waiting for your pizza, I suggest that you walk across the Piazza there on Deck 5, pick one up at the International Cafe, and walk it back.  They do offer wine in Alfredo's, and, in fact, it is right next to the Vines wine bar.

 

I do recall, however, that in Vines on the Grand Princess, their tapas are pretty pathetic and sushi is nonexistent.  Not a deal-breaker for me.

Thank you for this information!  Much appreciated.

[disneyochem]

7 hours ago, Coral said:

I would go on the Grand. It is older and some don't like it because of that but it is not as crowded as some of the newer ships and it has great decks for viewing. 

Thanks—even though we have a balcony, I enjoy the public viewing areas on a ship in Alaska.  

[sskate]

On 4/18/2019 at 7:30 AM, TheRabbit said:

As the OP has ask Royal or Ruby, we did the  Ruby (Alaska with Glacier Bay) last June and viewing was outstanding (we stayed on our balcony when glaciers were on our side).

Went up to the bow were you can get great views entering and leaving Glacier Bay as far as watching for birds, sea life and bears. It was very cold though.

 

Did the Med in the Royal. Other than off your balcony, areas to take pictures can be limited by the high plexiglass rails on top. There are a few areas to get around this, but I imagine they will be crowded. My vote, Ruby, though I do like the Royal as a ship.

Where are the areas to get around the high plexiglass rails, please?

[Lucky TGO]

Anyone that your on. 😁

Tony

[fishin' musician]

9 hours ago, disneyochem said:

Thanks—even though we have a balcony, I enjoy the public viewing areas on a ship in Alaska.  

Agreed, a balcony is great, but only offers a very limited field of view.  We once had a back corner balcony on the Coral; we could hop out the door turn right, out the other door and be on the aft deck.  It worked out amazingly well.  But, there are times when the scenery and/or sea critters are best viewed from the upper decks where with a few steps you are afforded 360 degrees.

[HS2BS]

We are on the Coral in July, southbound.

Alaska Airlines has a promotion for their credit card which we took advantage of.

You get 40,000 miles, a companion ticket(must pay fees of about $100) and need to spend $3000 during the first three months. So for three of us from EWR(Newark) to ANC(Anchorage), SEA( Seattle) to SFO(San Francisco) back to EWR the total cost was just over $1200. We'll wort it!!

 

Hal