Alaska

[time4u2go]

5 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

Time4u2go’s post reminds me that there is another reason to go royal caribbean-royal caribbean sails the scenic inside passage out of vancouver while princess has very few roundtrip vancouver cruises. Note i didn’t say none, just very few. For my first cruise i sailed holland america which sails glacier bay but also has more vancouver roundtrip sailings. Still i’m not familiar with northbound or southbound routes-princess sails those from vancouver.

I'm not sure how you define "very few", but I just counted 19 roundtrip Vancouver inside passage cruises on Princess for next year.

[latebuyer]

Thanks. They must have posted more since i last looked. Holland america is also a good option though. Also i know some people just recommend going to seattle the first time but i’m from vancouver so biased.

[latebuyer]

Just a note right now holland america has a special where you can get the railway excursion for free. OP seems to have left the thread though.

[Aquahound]

40 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

Also i know some people just recommend going to seattle the first time but i’m from vancouver so biased.

 

Vancouver sailings that sail the IP are definitely better not only because of the route but also because they're not obligated to waste a day of an Alaskan itinerary in another Canadian port.  

[Host Carolyn]

14 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

It sounds like Glacier Bay is the "must see" of Alaska, I wonder why RC doesn't go there.

Only so many permits to sail in to protect environment. Princess and HAL been sailing there the longest. Been to Glacier Bay 3 of my 12 Alaska cruises and its never the same.

 

Alaska is about the destination,  not the ship imho

[reallyitsmema]

4 minutes ago, Host Carolyn said:

Only so many permits to sail in to protect environment. Princess and HAL been sailing there the longest. Been to Glacier Bay 3 of my 12 Alaska cruises and its never the same.

 

Alaska is about the destination,  not the ship imho

 

True, but Royal Caribbean also got fined for dumping in protected waters of Alaska and were not allowed to even apply for any of the permits for ten years.  A couple years ago, they once again became eligible to apply for the permits and actually had itineraries scheduled that included Glacier Bay.  They then changed their minds and released all the permits they had and changed the itineraries.

[latebuyer]

Are permits expensive? Could that be the reason?

[lynncarol]

7 minutes ago, Host Carolyn said:

Only so many permits to sail in to protect environment. Princess and HAL been sailing there the longest. Been to Glacier Bay 3 of my 12 Alaska cruises and its never the same.

 

Alaska is about the destination,  not the ship imho

Unfortunately, Royal Caribbean was banned in 2002 from sailing in Glacier Bay NP because of illegal dumping. Once its penalty time was up, there were no more permits available.