Alaska Cruisetour

[kruzinkimmie]

Looking at Alaska 2021 doing a land tour first then cruise. Everything I have read says Coral is the go to for Alaska. Started doing some research and found a longer trip 12 nights instead of 10 nights Denali Explorer followed by cruise Whittier to Vancouver on the  Royal. Its two extra days on the land for about 1200$ less than the Coral, both balcony rooms. 

I feel like I have read so many things saying do not do Royal to Alaska. Is Royal really that bad for Alaska? I have read about the inside passage and how Royal goes west of Vancouver Island which not an issue since the cruise I was supposed to be on this summer did the same thing so not missing that. I have read most of the boards but am on information overload trying to replan the vacation. Has anyone done this exact trip that can shed some light?

[mevs904]

I haven’t done that exact trip but I have sailed on both ships and definitely agree with those who prefer the Coral.  We did an Alaskan cruise tour on the Coral and the quality and variety of viewing locations on that ship far surpass the Royal.  Based on our great Alaskan cruise we also booked and enjoyed a Panama Canal cruise on the Coral and were also booked to do a South America/Antarctica cruise on her in March 2921.  Sadly, we cancelled that cruise a couple of weeks ago and will probably not be cruising for a while.

     While we always get a balcony stateroom, we have found that the lack of a full promenade deck and the limited viewing opportunities on the Royal class ships to be a disappointment.  As far as the route is concerned, we were also very glad that our Alaskan cruise took the inner passage.  

[caribill]

52 minutes ago, kruzinkimmie said:

Looking at Alaska 2021 doing a land tour first then cruise. Everything I have read says Coral is the go to for Alaska. Started doing some research and found a longer trip 12 nights instead of 10 nights Denali Explorer followed by cruise Whittier to Vancouver on the  Royal. Its two extra days on the land for about 1200$ less than the Coral, both balcony rooms. 

 

I feel like I have read so many things saying do not do Royal to Alaska. Is Royal really that bad for Alaska?

 

To me, Royal is not the best ship to Alaska for two reasons:

o Limited outside places to stand for scenic viewing:  No public forward viewing area. Very limited Promenade deck outside viewing area.

o 1560 additional passengers (compared to Coral) in already overcrowded ports with multiple cruise ships at each port.

 

That said, 5 nights on the land part is much better than just 3 nights. (Even better would be an itinerary that gives you two nights on land in each of three locations, a total of six nights on land. One night at a location does not do it justice as much of each day will be spent traveling between locations.)

 

So if it were me, I would take the Royal option you presented over the Coral option.