Alaska cruise best views from which side of the ship??

[Hoof Hearted]

We are planning a land sea adventure on Holland America to Alaska and we’re wondering which side of the ship has the best views on a cruise first cruise. We will be starting in Vancouver and ending in Fairbanks. (This is the D5C cruise) 

We are too early to book excursions so we are up for suggestions on which ones to consider when offered (not too adventurous but beauty and food is a must).

[CruiserBruce]

Doesn't matter a bit. There are great views on all sides. You aren't locked in your cabin...you will be out and all over the ship.

[Hoof Hearted]

3 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Doesn't matter a bit. There are great views on all sides. You aren't locked in your cabin...you will be out and all over the ship.

We are planning on Neptune suite so we want to enjoy our balcony for the scenic parts of the cruise. Public areas tend to be crowded especially for the best views. I made the mistake of being on the wrong side of the ship while cruising past the Napali coast in Hawaii and had to fight for elbow room to see the best views while my balcony had a view of the open ocean……😝

[CruiserBruce]

Just now, Hoof Hearted said:

We are planning on Neptune suite so we want to enjoy our balcony for the scenic parts of the cruise. Public areas tend to be crowded especially for the best views. I made the mistake of being on the wrong side of the ship while cruising past the Napali coast in Hawaii and had to fight for elbow room to see the best views while my balcony had a view of the open ocean……😝

Not as crowded as you think. And, as commonly discussed on the Alaska board, where this question is asked daily, if you are going get a Neptune, get an aft Neptune.  That satisfies your desire to stay on your balcony,  and get a wider angle view.  If you stay one side or the other, you miss what is going on on the other side. Alaska is big picture scenery.  There is no one magic spot to be to see the sights.

[Hoof Hearted]

2 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Not as crowded as you think. And, as commonly discussed on the Alaska board, where this question is asked daily, if you are going get a Neptune, get an aft Neptune.  That satisfies your desire to stay on your balcony,  and get a wider angle view.  If you stay one side or the other, you miss what is going on on the other side. Alaska is big picture scenery.  There is no one magic spot to be to see the sights.

Unfortunately my wife gets seasick so an aft cabin is out of the question. Since we are traveling north, I was thinking that the land side (starboard) of the ship would be the most scenic.

[zgscl]

2 hours ago, Hoof Hearted said:

We are planning on Neptune suite so we want to enjoy our balcony for the scenic parts of the cruise. Public areas tend to be crowded especially for the best views. I made the mistake of being on the wrong side of the ship while cruising past the Napali coast in Hawaii and had to fight for elbow room to see the best views while my balcony had a view of the open ocean……😝

Looking at Hawaii in 2023 - I will have to check this! 

 

For Alaska I have a preference for port side if going to Glacier Bay. You sail into Glacier Bay with views on the port side. When viewing the Margerie Glacier you also start on the port side. Outside of that I haven't noticed much of a difference but we have not sailed out of Vancouver so hopefully others will comment on the sail through Johnstone strait and up north. 

 

What ship will you be on? If you are doing a Neptune Suite, consider an aft wrap. They are farther from the lounge and the room but you get almost 270 degrees of viewing and an enormous balcony. I highly recommend especially for scenic places like Alaska unless you are very sensitive to motion. 

[Hoof Hearted]

1 hour ago, zgscl said:

Looking at Hawaii in 2023 - I will have to check this! 

We did Hawaii on NCL aboard the Pride of America. Our cabin was on the starboard side of the ship. The Napaili cruise started on the Hanalei bay side of Kauai to the end of the Napali coast line. This made the views from the Port side the best because they cruised by slowly so the passengers could enjoy the views which were beautiful. They then turned around and went the other direction but at full speed which was not as enjoyable. During the slow cruise portion, everyone was on the port side of the ship which I’m sure made the ship list to that side.

1 hour ago, zgscl said:

For Alaska I have a preference for port side if going to Glacier Bay. You sail into Glacier Bay with views on the port side. When viewing the Margerie Glacier you also start on the port side. Outside of that I haven't noticed much of a difference but we have not sailed out of Vancouver so hopefully others will comment on the sail through Johnstone strait and up north. 

We have booked the port side already, we will keep it for now unless there is a better suggestion for the northbound sailing.

1 hour ago, zgscl said:

What ship will you be on? If you are doing a Neptune Suite, consider an aft wrap. They are farther from the lounge and the room but you get almost 270 degrees of viewing and an enormous balcony. I highly recommend especially for scenic places like Alaska unless you are very sensitive to motion. 

We are doing the Niue Amsterdam in 2023. The Aft Neptune suite looks very nice, but my wife has motion sickness, so that is not an option.

[zgscl]

36 minutes ago, Hoof Hearted said:

We did Hawaii on NCL aboard the Pride of America. Our cabin was on the starboard side of the ship. The Napaili cruise started on the Hanalei bay side of Kauai to the end of the Napali coast line. This made the views from the Port side the best because they cruised by slowly so the passengers could enjoy the views which were beautiful. They then turned around and went the other direction but at full speed which was not as enjoyable. During the slow cruise portion, everyone was on the port side of the ship which I’m sure made the ship list to that side

 

Thanks for this, great information! We did Pride of America years ago - hands down our worst cruise although the scenery was great. This was back when they first launched and had a large number of service issues. To make matters worse NCL decided a few weeks before that they would no longer do the automatic gratuity and you should just tip crew members as they helped you throughout the cruise (of course no assigned tables or servers). Most pax were confused or just didn't care to bring around money and hand it out everywhere and as a result most crew were not getting tips at all which did not help matters. I do remember the scenery being amazing and seeing the coastline was just fantastic. 

 

39 minutes ago, Hoof Hearted said:

We are doing the Niue Amsterdam in 2023. The Aft Neptune suite looks very nice, but my wife has motion sickness, so that is not an option.

Great ship! We really enjoyed our cruise this August. I absolutely agree that if motion sickness is a concern you really do not want the aft wrap then. You probably already know this, but try to avoid the Neptune suites immediately before or aft of the midship elevators. The balcony can be completely viewed by the glass elevators so you have zero privacy and will get to see people riding up and down the elevator all day. I took the below photo from the elevator. Any other Neptune should not have this issue. You really can't go wrong otherwise. 

[DaveOKC]

7 hours ago, Hoof Hearted said:

We are planning a land sea adventure on Holland America to Alaska and we’re wondering which side of the ship has the best views on a cruise first cruise. We will be starting in Vancouver and ending in Fairbanks. (This is the D5C cruise) 

We are too early to book excursions so we are up for suggestions on which ones to consider when offered (not too adventurous but beauty and food is a must).

 

7 hours ago, Hoof Hearted said:

 

On this cruise I would go with a Starboard.  First, leaving Vancouver is very scenic through the Inside Passage.  Second, since you will be headed Northbound, much of the cruise your Starboard cabin will be facing land (but often you are out far enough not to see much if anything.  Third, in most of the scenic cruising days, you are going in and out of an area, so you will see the same views eventually.

[GeezerCouple]

17 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

 

On this cruise I would go with a Starboard.  First, leaving Vancouver is very scenic through the Inside Passage.  Second, since you will be headed Northbound, much of the cruise your Starboard cabin will be facing land (but often you are out far enough not to see much if anything.  Third, in most of the scenic cruising days, you are going in and out of an area, so you will see the same views eventually.

 

I would second "starboard" on a northbound Alaska cruise.

In Glacier Bay, they'll turn the ship, even if the viewing time is uneven.

 

But the views of the land/mountains/snowtops on the starboard side as one heads north after Glacier Bay... that was the most magnificent stretch for us by far.  We had spectacular weather (despite forecasts of rain every day).  

 

The shorter but dramatic highlight was getting a bit up close and personal with Hubbard Glacier.  That dwarfed the glacier views in Glacier Bay, at least for us.

(And leaving Hubbard Glacier, the captain took the ship through a narrow channel, different from how we sailed in... and as we approached, it really looked like "this ship simply can NOT fit through there...!"  But of course, it did. 🙂 )

 

GC