HAL vs. Princess to Alaska--2021

[Italy52]

For those of us that like to do early Alaska planning I wanted to pass along the following information and see if anyone has any updates on Princess.  Just found out that HAL has already posted their 2021 cruises to Alaska.  Just curious if anyone has heard if Princess will be jumping in soon.  HAL will be dropping Seward and replacing it with Whittier for north and south itineraries.  The only thing I don't like about the revision is that the HAL ships will be leaving Whittier at 5 PM.  Not sure how the new time will work with 26 Glaciers. Lots of itinerary choices for Alaska with the various lines --- things just got a little more interesting.

[Jeter02]

5pm seems like a bit early for departure from Whittier. I sailed out Whittier this past summer on the Golden. Departure I wanna say say was 8pm. They have to bus in a majority of the passengers through that one way tunnel. Or passengers can take the train. Therefore the 8pm departure sounded conducive. 5pm will be interesting.

[Italy52]

Just now, Jeter02 said:

5pm seems like a bit early for departure from Whittier. I sailed out Whittier this past summer on the Golden. Departure I wanna say say was 8pm. They have to bus in a majority of the passengers through that one way tunnel. Or passengers can take the train. Therefore the 8pm departure sounded conducive. 5pm will be interesting.

We have sailed out of Whittier quite a few times and 5 PM is too early in my opinion.  Hopefully, HAL has thought it all out and has worked with all those concerned to make cruising worthwhile for people.  We were thinking of a HAL/Princess combo but not sure it will work --- will have to wait until Princess schedules come out.

[Jeter02]

Just now, Italy52 said:

We have sailed out of Whittier quite a few times and 5 PM is too early in my opinion.  Hopefully, HAL has thought it all out and has worked with all those concerned to make cruising worthwhile for people.  We were thinking of a HAL/Princess combo but not sure it will work --- will have to wait until Princess schedules come out.

If HAL is smart they will change departure to a later time. In some locations a 4pm departure is fine, for example FLL. So many flights coming and going from there. Anchorage, I feel like flight choices are limited. Grant you I fly in the day before when traveling out of Whitier, but I'm still trying to figure out how they're going to fuss a ship full of passengers down there in time.

[voljeep]

50 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

We have sailed out of Whittier quite a few times and 5 PM is too early in my opinion.  Hopefully, HAL has thought it all out and has worked with all those concerned to make cruising worthwhile for people.  We were thinking of a HAL/Princess combo but not sure it will work --- will have to wait until Princess schedules come out.

does HAL also do cruisetours ??

[Italy52]

By "cruisetours" do you mean land tours?  If so, yes.  Can you do tours through the ship?  Yes, however, none are posted right now for 2021.

[Coral]

The train would need to leave for Whittier earlier for 26 glacier cruise to move their time up. Those are timed very closely to work together. 26 Glacier tour can't move the time up unless the train arrives sooner.

Edited July 31, 2019 by Coral

[Coral]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

does HAL also do cruisetours ??

HAL has had a larger presence in Alaska compared to Princess (in the past). They owned Greyhound buses and owned more hotels in Alaska. Now - it is the Holland America Princess group that runs both HAL and Princess operations in Alaska (so they are run by the same people/same office). They are also the ones who has purchased the Whit Pass railroad and dock in Skagway. My friend recently booked a Princess hotel in Denali and was put in a HAL hotel.

 

https://www.alaskatourjobs.com

 

Italy - thanks for posting.

Edited July 31, 2019 by Coral

[Italy52]

47 minutes ago, Coral said:

HAL has had a larger presence in Alaska compared to Princess (in the past). They owned Greyhound buses and owned more hotels in Alaska. Now - it is the Holland America Princess group that runs both HAL and Princess operations in Alaska (so they are run by the same people/same office). They are also the ones who has purchased the Whit Pass railroad and dock in Skagway. My friend recently booked a Princess hotel in Denali and was put in a HAL hotel.

 

https://www.alaskatourjobs.com

 

Italy - thanks for posting.

Your welcome.  Have you heard anything as to when Princess will be posting Alaska 2021?

[Coral]

1 hour ago, Italy52 said:

Your welcome.  Have you heard anything as to when Princess will be posting Alaska 2021?

No I don't know. My TA is in Alaska at the moment. 

[Italy52]

10 hours ago, Coral said:

No I don't know. My TA is in Alaska at the moment. 

Thanks.

[Alaska05]

Can more than one big ship dock in Whittier?  If not, Whittier will be busy more days.

[Jeter02]

10 minutes ago, Alaska05 said:

Can more than one big ship dock in Whittier?  If not, Whittier will be busy more days.

No. Only can handle one ship at a time. It's great for those who are seasonal workers in Anchorage and Whittier. Woohoo on supporting the economy.

[Near PDX]

We have already booked our May, 2021 Alaska cruise in the Sun Princess. It stops in Seward rather than Whittier. But I do t think that’s the AK schedule you’re asking about. 

[Italy52]

35 minutes ago, Near PDX said:

We have already booked our May, 2021 Alaska cruise in the Sun Princess. It stops in Seward rather than Whittier. But I do t think that’s the AK schedule you’re asking about. 

If I might ask, how did you manage to book a May 2021 Alaska cruise when the schedule is not public?  Was it through an onboard booking?  We will be looking at the May 2021 timeframe.

[BarbinMich]

If Whittier only has one dock, how can it possibly handle the additional "heavy" traffic from HAL cruises?  Or can the dock handle 2 ships at a time?  Thanks!

[bemis12]

4 hours ago, Italy52 said:

If I might ask, how did you manage to book a May 2021 Alaska cruise when the schedule is not public?  Was it through an onboard booking?  We will be looking at the May 2021 timeframe.

 

There are 17 and 21 day options for Alaska in 2021 on the website.  They are from Japan to Vancouver or LA.

[Coral]

5 hours ago, Italy52 said:

If I might ask, how did you manage to book a May 2021 Alaska cruise when the schedule is not public?  Was it through an onboard booking?  We will be looking at the May 2021 timeframe.

The ship hasn't been in North America for awhile. I think it has been in Australia for awhile. I wonder what Princess has plans for it if they are bring it back here. 

[Italy52]

3 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

If Whittier only has one dock, how can it possibly handle the additional "heavy" traffic from HAL cruises?  Or can the dock handle 2 ships at a time?  Thanks!

Looks like there will be two HAL ships going to Whittier; their arrival will be on a Sunday (not on the same Sunday).

[Italy52]

3 hours ago, bemis12 said:

 

There are 17 and 21 day options for Alaska in 2021 on the website.  They are from Japan to Vancouver or LA.

Got it.

[Italy52]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

The ship hasn't been in North America for awhile. I think it has been in Australia for awhile. I wonder what Princess has plans for it if they are bring it back here. 

Guess we will have to wait until Princess publishes itineraries. 

[geoherb]

Phillips Cruises has some shorter excursions that finish at 4:45. They'd be a possibility for the people on HAL doing back-to-back cruises.

[Italy52]

Won't work if the ship departs at 5 PM --- you need to be back on the ship at least 30 minutes before sailing.

 

[Britboys]

If they are combining a 5.00pm departure from Whittier with pre-cruise land tours, it will mean a very early departure from the likes of Denali if going by train.  We were collected from the Princess Lodge at 7.30am for an 8.15 train, which arrived in Whittier after 5.00pm.  I believe the bus journey is quicker though.  It was obvious last month that Princess & HAL have combined their operations.  We were often using a HAL Bus and a couple on Coral Princess had been in the Westmark in Fairbanks, a HAL hotel.