Best Alaska cruise

[tobymurph]

I am going to book my first Alaska cruise and would like to hear from you as to your experience on this cruise. I will be with my 23 year old daughter. Which cruise line did you take and what did you like or dislike about it? Which itinerary did you choose?  I know we all have different tastes and interests but it is helpful to hear form others all the same. Imm mostly interested in seeing glaciers and exploring the ports but my daughter would  like to see some good entertainment in the evenings.Do all ships offer broadway style shows? 

 

[CruiserBruce]

Some reading and research on the Alaska board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/33-alaska/

 

would be beneficial.

[Essiesmom]

People who think the shows on cruise ships are ‘Broadway style’ have never seen a Broadway show.  Only the largest NCL ships offer an almost Broadway show.  The others are more a Las Vegas review.  
  I have done Alaska twice, 14 days each time, in an inside cabin on Princess.  I chose them because of price and booked on short notice, maybe 5 weeks out.  
   I would advise a cruise that visits Glacier Bay, which is usually Princess, HAL, and NCL.  I would look for a ship with an open promenade deck,  very good for viewing wildlife.  You will get many recommendations from folks who won’t do any cruise without a balcony.  I’m not one of them.  It can be too cool or rainy to sit on your balcony and watch Alaska go by.  And chances are when the captain or naturalist announce wildlife sightings, it will be on the opposite side of the ship.  EM

 

 

 

 

 

[Shmoo here]

1 hour ago, tobymurph said:

I am going to book my first Alaska cruise and would like to hear from you as to your experience on this cruise. I will be with my 23 year old daughter. Which cruise line did you take and what did you like or dislike about it? Which itinerary did you choose?  I know we all have different tastes and interests but it is helpful to hear form others all the same. Imm mostly interested in seeing glaciers and exploring the ports but my daughter would  like to see some good entertainment in the evenings.Do all ships offer broadway style shows? 

 

We've been to Alaska twice on a cruise.  Both on Holland America.  

 

First cruise we picked based on the fact that I don't "do" cold well, so I knew I had to pick a cruise that would see as much as possible, since I thought it would be the only one.  Back then Alaska cruise either visited Glacier Bay or Tracy Arm.  HAL offered a cruise that visited both, so that's the one we chose.  

 

Second cruise (yes, second, they had me the first day in Alaska) we did a land trip/cruise combo - 21 days.  

 

Since there we've been back traveling in our RV.

 

HAL has been doing Alaska the longest and tends to have great itineraries.  Princess is good, also.  

 

HAL used to have great musical review type shows.  Now, not so much.  Princess does have a few such shows.  Disney has Disney Broadway style shows.  

[lenquixote66]

2 hours ago, tobymurph said:

I am going to book my first Alaska cruise and would like to hear from you as to your experience on this cruise. I will be with my 23 year old daughter. Which cruise line did you take and what did you like or dislike about it? Which itinerary did you choose?  I know we all have different tastes and interests but it is helpful to hear form others all the same. Imm mostly interested in seeing glaciers and exploring the ports but my daughter would  like to see some good entertainment in the evenings.Do all ships offer broadway style shows? 

 

We did a two week Alaska vacation from HAL.Week one was an escorted tour by bus ,train and foot.It was a visit to Danali National Park.The tour guide was a Professor from Oregon.He gave everyone 3 books about the park.The tour was supposed to be 2 hours .It was 4 and great.

We also went to a theatrical production and assorted day and evening tours.Week two was a cruise and it was a great experience.

[jsn55]

On the evening entertainment topic, it seems to me that the 'production shows' might not be ever coming back ... unless competition dictates that the ships do so.  Our cruise to Hawaii over Christmas had almost nothing ... one night it was a lady playing the violin in the main theatre.  Dreadful.  I keep reading that NCL is good for big shows; we're on the Epic in October so I am hoping for the best.   I love going to a live show every evening.

[Aquahound]

On 5/16/2023 at 10:52 AM, Essiesmom said:

People who think the shows on cruise ships are ‘Broadway style’ have never seen a Broadway show.  Only the largest NCL ships offer an almost Broadway show.  The others are more a Las Vegas review.  
 

 

I totally disagree with this.  IMO, Royal Caribbean is king of entertainment and some of the productions they put on (Mama Mia, Hairsray, etc) were every bit as good as landside shows I've seen including on Broadway.  On the Quantum Class ships that sail Alaska, the shows they provide in Two70 are amazing.  

 

To answer the op's question, I think Princess is an overall good mix of both Alaska itineraries and onboard entertainment.  Avoid HAL.  Entertainment is awful.  I also recommend avoid cruises out of Seattle since they don't cruise the Canadian Inside Passage and have to make an obligatory stop in Victoria.  Glacier Bay is amazing, but so is Hubbard Glacier.  

 

Good luck on your choice.  

[George C]

12 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

 

I totally disagree with this.  IMO, Royal Caribbean is king of entertainment and some of the productions they put on (Mama Mia, Hairsray, etc) were every bit as good as landside shows I've seen including on Broadway.  On the Quantum Class ships that sail Alaska, the shows they provide in Two70 are amazing.  

 

To answer the op's question, I think Princess is an overall good mix of both Alaska itineraries and onboard entertainment.  Avoid HAL.  Entertainment is awful.  I also recommend avoid cruises out of Seattle since they don't cruise the Canadian Inside Passage and have to make an obligatory stop in Victoria.  Glacier Bay is amazing, but so is Hubbard Glacier.  

 

Good luck on your choice.  

Have to disagree a little we definitely enjoy rccl broadway shows , have seen Cats, Mama Mia, Saturday night fever , but not as good as the real thing where you may see Oscar winning actors and actresses, I will see a couple of broadway shows next week but looking forward to seeing Grease on Harmony in November. One advantage on ships shows is you have better legroom than many of the broadway theaters . 

[XBGuy]

@tobymurph Bon Voyage.  You are going to have a great cruise.  I say that with some confidence.  We have taken six Alaska cruises, and the worst one was wonderful.

 

Our first AK cruise was in 1992 on a line that no longer operates.  In 2011 I retired and, so, we had more time to cruise,  The five AK cruises since then have all been on Princess. We have visited all the "standard" AK ports (Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway) six times, and a few of the less visited ones occasionally,  

 

Without debating about the quality, I do know that Princess does offer stage shows in a 600 (I think) seat theater and more intimate entertainment in smaller venues.  These seem to be musical revues or solo comedy/magic acts.  I have know idea how they compare to offerings on other lines.

 

I guarantee that you will see glaciers, and I can, pretty much guarantee that you will visit Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway although lately rockslides have caused some disruptions in Skagway, So, some lines may be looking at alternatives for that port.

 

Many insist that visiting Glacier Bay is a must,  The cool thing about Glacier Bay is that Forest Rangers board the ship early in the day.  They provide informative commentary as you cruise along, conduct an interesting presentation in the theater and set up a display and are available to answer questions in one of the lounges.  I, however, am not one who feels that if instead of Glacier Bay you visited College Fjord or Hubbard Bay or Tracy Arm Fjord, your experience would be diminished at all.

 

Your Cruise Critic profile indicates that you reside in B.C.  I take that to mean British Columbia.  Am I correct in assuming that your first choice for an embarkation port would be Vancouver?  If that is the case, you will have some choices for your cruise itinerary.  

 

First. you will find seven-day itineraries in which you travel north visiting various ports and enjoying "scenic cruising" for at least one day.  This itinerary terminates near Anchorage, AK.  So, you then will have to arrange air transportation back home.  OR, you can book back-to-back cruises and return to Vancouver on the same ship as it follows a southbound itinerary.  You avoid having to arrange air travel home, but in all likelihood you will be visiting the exact same ports.

 

Your second option. and, being the guy who hates airports and airlines, the one that would be most appealing to me. would be a roundtrip itinerary.  Different cruise lines have different offerings, but you could probably find different itineraries that range from seven to ten or twelve days.  All these cruises will include stops at Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway and will include a day of "scenic cruising."  The longer itineraries will include more port stops or additional scenic cruising days. At the end of the cruise you will be back in Vancouver where, presumably, it will be easier for you to return to your home.

 

Feel free to come back with more questions, @tobymurph,  We love to show off.  😁

[tobymurph]

Thanks for sharing your cruising experiences and thoughts  XB Guy. I ended up booking a Vancouver return with HAL and will go to Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm ( same cruise as a Shmoo here?) I was hoping for  a Princess cruise but there weren't any out of Vancouver and returning to Vancouver  for a 7 day time slot this summer. I'm sure it will be wonderful as you say. Was just looking for some good evening entertainment -  more for my daughter and dont think HAL is known for any big shows. !m sure they'll have something going on in the way of entertainment. .I also chose an ov cabin instead of a verandah so  I can spend more on excursions. I originally was  going to take my daughter to Vegas but I convinced her that a cruise would offer Vegas on the ship with similar entertainment - oops. Well there is a casino apparently. 

We did a repositioning cruise with HAL years ago coming back from Disneyland. I liked the feeling of all the wood and art on the walls. Feels like a ship!