Regent Seven Seas Explorer or HAL Noordam Aft for Alaska

[SLSDenver]

I'll be traveling with my 83 yr old mom who has limited mobility—she uses a walker and we'll need an accessible cabin. My first cruise, and her first in many years. We are looking at northbound Alaska. We look forward to great views, fine dining and great service, minimal crowds and a smaller ship. Entertainment not a consideration. So...

Noordam Neptune  AFT stateroom or RSSC Explorer concierge starboard room. Take cost off the table for now...we've priced both.

I like the all-inclusive concept so we can enjoy all of the fine dining on the Explorer. How are Regent's shore excursions?? 

 

Would love to hear first hand experiences. We are looking for a lovely, relaxing beautiful Alaska experience and would like to make it  special. Thx!

[CruiserBruce]

Have sailed Noordam several times, and had a great time. But Holland America is not the same type of cruise line as RSSC...a little bit apples and oranges comparison.

 

Most of the excursions should be pretty similar, I would think, as there are only some many vendors for excursions in Alaska.

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, SLSDenver said:

I'll be traveling with my 83 yr old mom who has limited mobility—she uses a walker and we'll need an accessible cabin. My first cruise, and her first in many years. We are looking at northbound Alaska. We look forward to great views, fine dining and great service, minimal crowds and a smaller ship. Entertainment not a consideration. So...

Noordam Neptune  AFT stateroom or RSSC Explorer concierge starboard room. Take cost off the table for now...we've priced both.

I like the all-inclusive concept so we can enjoy all of the fine dining on the Explorer. How are Regent's shore excursions?? 

 

Would love to hear first hand experiences. We are looking for a lovely, relaxing beautiful Alaska experience and would like to make it  special. Thx!

 

Based on your requirements, of the 2 options you mentioned, Regent would be the best option, as HAL are not a luxury/premium cruise line.

 

For your requirements, I suggest comparing Regent to Viking and Silversea, who both have 1-way Northbound departures from Vancouver. Both those options are superior to HAL, as they are premium/luxury lines.

 

You also have Oceania, but next summer they are R/T Seattle, which isn't a great option to see Alaska, and Seabourn that does a 14-day R/T from Vancouver. The Seabourn option doesn't go up to Prince William Sound/College Glacier.

[Coral]

I would base the decision of the itinerary. Look at lines @Heidi13  suggests and look at itinerary. Not all itineraries are equal.

[SLSDenver]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

I would base the decision of the itinerary. Look at lines @Heidi13  suggests and look at itinerary. Not all itineraries are equal.

Thanks all. Some info about how I narrowed it to these two after reviewing itineraries... We are looking at a 7-day one-way cruise. We eliminated Viking because they only have a 10-day option in our timeframe (mid-June to mid-July). While not mentioned, we ruled out Seabourn because it ends in Juneau, leaving us with a long day of travel  back home. We also would like to see Glacier Bay or Hubbard, so that rules out Oceania (it also only offers round trip, as mentioned). Silversea has a similar itinerary to Regent, but it stops in Sitka; Regent stops in Icy Strait Point. I'm hearing that Silversea is more formal (we prefer less formal), thus we narrowed the luxury options down to Regent. Holland was recommended by a friend and is still smaller than many (not the luxury lines of course) and we  like that it goes to Glacier Bay.

 

We are very much leaning toward Regent. 

[riffatsea]

Funny that you don't think Sitka would be interesting?

We are really looking forward to that stop!

I agree that for a first cruise v to Alaska Glacier Bay would be a m u st!

[Crew News]

I have sailed in a Noordam aft Neptune Suite several times and would do so again without hesitation.  There is no wind so you can spend a lot of time on the balcony enjoying the scenery, taking photos of both sides of the ship, and even having a dinner service through the Neptune Lounge Concierge.

 

You can enjoy Glacier Bay from your balcony and not have to fight the crowds on the public decks.

 

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by Crew News

[islandchick]

Regent hands down. If you can afford it then this is probably the best choice. Make sure you book early as excursions and dining reservations will fill up quickly.