Trying to Narrow Down Alaska Cruise

[LynnTH]

Trying to narrow down and Alaskan Cruise for June 2020.  It will be DH and I and another couple.  All in early 50's.  Have cruised Carnival and RCCL but never Princess so don't know much about them.  Below are the 4 Ships/Itineraries we have narrowed it down to. Pricing is for inside cabins  (as I have 3 other trips booked for 2020).  They all go to Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan and Glacier Bay.  Any preferences on these?    These are all using pricing from the Big Box Store with non refundable deposits (does Princess do Refundable deposits?).  I see we just missed the $25 deposit.  Wondering if they may have any good sales  for Memorial weekend.

 

1.  Royal Princess – Whittier to Vancouver.   June 20-27.  $2378.  $190 OBC plus Free Gratuities.  

   Pro’s – Decent Price, Largest Ship,  Full Days in Ports

   Con’s – Flying into Alaska and Out of Vancouver may be spendier and not as many options. 

    

2. Grand Princess – Whittier to Vancouver June 13-20. $2218.  $170 OBC plus Free Gratuities

   Pros – Same as above

   Con’s – Same as above

    

3. Grand Princess – Vancouver to Whittier June 20-27.  $2218.  $170 OBC plus Free Gratuities

   Pros – Same As above

   Con’s – Same as above and longer flight home – time change makes getting home late in the evening.

    

4. Ruby Princess – Seattle to Seattle.  $2888 - $215 OBC plus Free Gratuities

   Pro’s – Airfare much cheaper  and more flight options.  More convenient from Airport to Port. Stops in Victoria Canada last night 7pm to midnight.

   Con’s – Ketchikan Day is only from 7am to 1pm.  (The rest of the ports are full days and even into the evening),  Cruise is more expensive but in the long run may be cheaper when adding in Flights and Transfers. 

 

Thanks for any input!!

 

[droundtheworld]

There have been concerns about the Royal Princess ability to navigate all of Alaska's waterways.  Passengers on this weeks cruise north from Vancouver have reported that they did travel the inside passage as advertised and went into the open water west.  If this happens on every Royal Princess sailing you would miss out.  It was truly gorgeous traveling the inside passage last year on Ruby Princess.

[rbrad3]

we did ruby loved it had no problems with glacier bay 

 

[jasbo49]

I would lean toward either of the Grand cruises, even though the ship is the least impressive of the three. The Seattle round trip doesn't include much real Inside Passage as it goes into the ocean west of Vancouver Island.

 

The Royal lacks good viewing decks up front and is likely to also sail west of Vancouver Island from what I've read. The Grand, one of Princess' older ships, will probably give you the best Inside Passage experience.

 

P.S.: I would avoid any Vancouver departure. We cruised out of there once and it was a disorganized nightmare. I believe others have had the same experience.

 

Jim

Edited May 14, 2019 by jasbo49

[AF-1]

I have done Roundtrip out of Seattle on Emerald last year.  You can still see quite a bit right in downtown Ketchikan; so being there six hours will still be enough time.  I did Seattle roundtrip because airfare for four people was way less than flying into Vancouver and out of Anchorage.

Edited May 14, 2019 by AF-1

[fishywood]

I would jump at either of the Grand Princess sailings. A bit fewer passengers than the other two, indoor pool area, nicer more intimate venues for music and entertainment than the Royal. And when researching air fares for my two Alaska cruises last year, found it easier to get to/from Vancouver than Seattle. Routed through MSP, front cabin on Delta was same price or less than cattle class on American. Worth any air fare premium and the travel time to get two days of Glacier cruising and longer hours in Alaska ports without the needed "service call" in Victoria to satisfy the PVSA. 

[Jeremiah On a Cruise]

It's personal preference, and you can't go wrong.

 

If you want a nice ship with top-end finishes, but don't plan to do a lot of outside viewing from the ship and only get outside at the ports, I'd lean heavily towards the Royal.  If you plan to have the wind in your hair and binoculars in your hand from the ship, I'd go with another option.  With any southbound trip, you will also need to travel into Anchorage the day prior to the cruise (and this is often a very long flight).

 

If you do plan to spend a lot of time looking outside from the ship and want to get the best viewing, I would do one of the Grand cruises (I prefer southbound, but that's a small preference).

 

If you want the most convenient option in terms of travel, go with the Ruby.  You will likely miss a lot of inside passage, but the San Juans out of Seattle aren't a bad consolation prize.  Depending on where you're coming in from, you can also save a full day by choosing this option.

[vicd1969]

15 minutes ago, tillys mom said:

LynnTH, I just have to ask where your prices are coming from? They are across the board outrageously too expensive

 

Big box store’s quotes normally include taxes and fees and are for 2 passengers. So not that unreasonable when you divide the amounts by two but still maybe worthwhile to wait for sales.

 

That said, I would vote for Grand Princess from Whittier to Vancouver. The Seattle round trip won’t include Hubbard or College Glacier. While outside viewing isn’t as good, the Royal is the closest in size and features to your typical RC or Carnival mega ships. The Grand has fewer bells and whistles but Alaska is all about the outside experience. 

Edited May 15, 2019 by vicd1969

[oskidunker]

Prices are out of line. Hard to understand who would charge you that much. 

[tillys mom]

Did not realize it was for 2 passengers, but the price still seems high.

[fishywood]

While the normal convention when discussing prices on Cruise Critic is to post the per-person fare before Taxes and Fees, it should be pretty clear that the OP has supplied us with the "all in" price. Those prices are right about what I paid in total for going solo to Alaska under last years' anniversary sale (but with higher OBC and a free specialty dinner as well as prepaid grats). Big Box is upping the OBC a bit (Princess is only currently giving $25 pp for insides) but making the deposit non-refundable in exchange.

 

4 hours ago, LynnTH said:

These are all using pricing from the Big Box Store with non refundable deposits (does Princess do Refundable deposits?).  I see we just missed the $25 deposit.  Wondering if they may have any good sales  for Memorial weekend.

 

If you book directly with Princess the deposit would be refundable, and only 10% deposit is currently required rather than the normal 20%. But the OBC your Big Box is offering is pretty good incentive to go with them. The current sale is running through June 4 so there won't be any further fare difference over Memorial Day. But you never know about perks.

[fishywood]

7 minutes ago, tillys mom said:

Did not realize it was for 2 passengers, but the price still seems high.

It is the peak of Alaska season during school vacations. Subtract the $210/pp Government Taxes and Fees and they are paying around $129/pp/pd. Plus saving $203 on gratuities. If they could sail just a few weeks earlier fare would be $20-25/pp/pd less. Those are the going rates for Alaska, unless you chose to gamble on last minute deals (and lose much of the savings by paying last minute air fares)

[knbcruisers]

I wouldn’t rule out flying home from Anchorage on the late night flight. Take the bus from Whittier to airport get a rental.  You will have from noonish to around 7 pm to explore around Anchorage. It’s like having another vacation day and there is lots to do in Anchorage.   Not sure where you are from but the late flight gets you to the east coast pretty early.

[LynnTH]

Thanks everyone for all the info. So much to think about. We are flying from MSP. If we don’t do RT Seattle it seems more people recommend starting in Alaska then ending in Vancouver so the flight won’t be as long coming home. 

 

Yes the prices are for 2 people with all taxes and fees. I do see rates for this year that seem much cheaper but assuming because they are trying to fill the last minute cabins. Its hard to compare airfare as we would book air as soon as it is released which I am sure will be cheaper than what am seeing for this June.

 

From what I can tell the ships are pretty similar or am I wrong on that??

[knbcruisers]

Just an FYI we flew home from Anchorage on  Sun Country with a connection in MSP.  It was a reasonable flight length for that leg (then on to Orlando)  Keep in mind that many people say that doing northbound the “oohs and aaahs and Amazing!! “ get better every day😉

I’ve not been on the Royal but I’d pick the Grand, as noted in other posts the outdoor viewing areas appear to be better on the Grand. Class ships.

Are you not able to add on any days in Alaska before or after?   

[capriccio]

5 hours ago, AF-1 said:

I have done Roundtrip out of Seattle on Emerald last year.  You can still see quite a bit right in downtown Ketchikan; so being there six hours will still be enough time.  I did Seattle roundtrip because airfare for four people was way less than flying into Vancouver and out of Anchorage.

We did the same thing on our 3rd Alaska cruise last year.  Our first two Alaska cruises were Vancouver to Whittier on the Coral (our favorite ship on that itinerary).  Last year it was round trip Seattle on the Ruby.  We did that itinerary for the same reason:  we were paying for 7 round trip Washington, DC to Seattle air fares plus we were able to get non-stop flights.  It was a great cruise and I've heard absolutely no complaints from our 2 adult kids, their spouses and our granddaughter.

[LynnTH]

15 hours ago, knbcruisers said:

Just an FYI we flew home from Anchorage on  Sun Country with a connection in MSP.  It was a reasonable flight length for that leg (then on to Orlando)  Keep in mind that many people say that doing northbound the “oohs and aaahs and Amazing!! “ get better every day😉

I’ve not been on the Royal but I’d pick the Grand, as noted in other posts the outdoor viewing areas appear to be better on the Grand. Class ships.

Are you not able to add on any days in Alaska before or after?   

It does seem that Sun Country has decent flights. We will be flying in the day before no matter where we go out of. Cruise is Saturday to Saturday so would prefer flying home that day but could come home on Sunday if needed.  Dont want to add on any more days. Limited on vacation days as we have some other vacations next year also. 

[BuckeyeMark]

Here's a thought: if you're going to Glacier Bay do all you can to get a balcony.  IT'S SO WORTH IT.  You'll be at the main glacier for an hour.  If you have an inside cabin you'll have to go up top with the crowds.  And that's great.  It is.  But everyone is talking, a lot of noise, narration over the speakers, etc.  And I say again: Glacier Bay is incredible.  

 

But if you have a balcony...

 

It's you and the glacier.  AND YOU CAN HEAR EVERY LITTLE CRACK.  you can hear SOME cracking up top but there's a lot of noise up there.  Get a balcony and you get to hear everything.  The experience is like night and day.  AND TOTALLY WORTH IT.

 

After 30 min the captain will spin the boat and you'll have to go up top because you're on the "wrong" side but wow oh wow is that half hour great.

 

GET A BALCONY.  For me that would be a decider.  I'd do what it took to get a balcony.

[crystalspin]

I'm with knbcruisers - northbound from Vancouver for your first trip to Alaska. It just keeps getting better and better! 

 

I do not know the ships as I am new to Princess, with two bookings in 2020. But I would rule out the Royal bc not a fan of the big ships. 

[LynnTH]

I think we have decided on the Grand Princess on June 13th, 2020.  Leaving from Whittier and ending in Vancouver.  Is there any deck you would recommend on here.  We are not getting a balcony - just an inside cabin.  They have a few cabins next to each other on Deck 14 Lido is this good or too high up?  What decks are you on for viewing? 

[Coral]

5 minutes ago, LynnTH said:

I think we have decided on the Grand Princess on June 13th, 2020.  Leaving from Whittier and ending in Vancouver.  Is there any deck you would recommend on here.  We are not getting a balcony - just an inside cabin.  They have a few cabins next to each other on Deck 14 Lido is this good or too high up?  What decks are you on for viewing? 

Lido is a good deck for getting outside easily. Also quick for the pizza, burgers, etc...

 

I like Aloha cabins aft. You can quickly get outside also near the aft pool.

 

For viewing - I like Deck 7 Promenade. It is covered in case there is rainy weather and you can easily go from side to side. Everyone goes up to the top and I think viewing is better lower. Many go to top decks for viewing.

 

 

Edited May 21, 2019 by Coral

[LynnTH]

31 minutes ago, Coral said:

Lido is a good deck for getting outside easily. Also quick for the pizza, burgers, etc...

 

I like Aloha cabins aft. You can quickly get outside also near the aft pool.

 

For viewing - I like Deck 7 Promenade. It is covered in case there is rainy weather and you can easily go from side to side. Everyone goes up to the top and I think viewing is better lower. Many go to top decks for viewing.

 

 

 Thanks for the info. That helps a lot!!

[capriccio]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

For viewing - I like Deck 7 Promenade. It is covered in case there is rainy weather and you can easily go from side to side. Everyone goes up to the top and I think viewing is better lower. Many go to top decks for viewing.

 

 

The Promenade deck is great until the captain announces there is a grizzly bear on the opposite side of the ship from where you are standing/sitting!  So make sure you know where the front and aft doors are for easy movement to the other side.  That isn't a problem on the viewing decks.  This actually happened on our first cruise (we've been on 3) in Glacier Bay.  A couple thousand people (this was on the Coral Princess) all went to the same side of the ship.  It was quite memorable!

Edited May 21, 2019 by capriccio

[Coral]

25 minutes ago, capriccio said:

The Promenade deck is great until the captain announces there is a grizzly bear on the opposite side of the ship from where you are standing/sitting!  So make sure you know where the front and aft doors are for easy movement to the other side.  That isn't a problem on the viewing decks.  This actually happened on our first cruise (we've been on 3) in Glacier Bay.  A couple thousand people (this was on the Coral Princess) all went to the same side of the ship.  It was quite memorable!

There are enough doors that allow you to move (through the interior) from side to side - it has never been an issue. Plus you have forward and aft viewing. One never needs to fight for space on Deck 7. I think I have been probably 10-12x and it seems to work the best. I tell friends and they always come back thankful as they didn't have to fight crowds on Deck 7.

[crystalspin]

I don't know this ship, but the Sun deck, one up from the Lido, would be the best glacier viewing. The only thing I see wrong would be you are high and forward if anyone is prone to seasick you may experience motion in the bay of Alaska. An alternative would be midship insides on the Plaza deck. P318+19, P322+23, P326/7, P330/1. Low and central is lower motion.

 

Lido +++s: Close to Sun deck and the Lido bar and buffet

Plaza +++s: Not to far from Promenade (the other no-glass viewing area). VERY close the the International Cafe! and the wine bar, and the Piazza bar...