Comparing two May 2024 cruises

[cruisewiththekids]

I am looking at two cruises next May and would love some input.

 

Option #1   Celebrity Summit 7 nt northbound May 10, 2024.   Ports Vancouver, Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Icy Straight Point, Hubbard Glacier, Seward

Pros - Smaller ship.  Does it sail inside passage?    4 ports

Cons - No Glacier Bay.  No status with Celebrity.  Old ship.   Too early to access Hubbard?

 

Option #2   Royal Princess 7 nt southbound May 11, 2024.   Ports Whittier, Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, Sitka, Juneau, Vancouver

Pros - Glacier Bay.  Elite status with Princess.   Newer ship that we've sailed before and enjoy

Cons - Only two ports.   Can Royal Princess not sail inside passage?  Very early in season for pre-cruise land exploring

 

Thanks for any input on which you would choose.

[CruiserBruce]

Option #1...yes it sails Inside Passage. No, not too early for Hubbard.

 

Option #2...not sure if Royal Princess is one of the couple Princess ships that isn't allowed to sail the Inside Passage. 

 

In any event, I would take the Princess cruise.

[donaldsc]

Neither one - they are both bad.  On Celebrity the only glacier that you get is Hubbard and that early in the season you may not get in.  You only get 2 ports but you do get 2 glaciers.  Of the 2 Princess is less bad than Celebrity.  A lot would depend upon the port times which you have not posted.

 

DON

[cruisewiththekids]

I did a little more searching, and I was able to find an itinerary map for the Princess cruise.   It shows a route with a dotted line indicating Royal class ships going to the west of Vancouver Island and a solid line for non-Royal class ships to the east of the island, so no inside passage on the Royal Princess.

[cruisewiththekids]

donaldsc, what do you consider a good itinerary?    I've been to Alaska a couple times before, but my requirement this time is that it includes Sitka, so that eliminates quite a few cruises.    Port times on both itineraries are full days in port.  

[Northern Aurora]

@cruisewiththekids:  One of your cons regarding the Celebrity itinerary is that the Summit is an "old ship."  Two of the four Celebrity M-class ships were "revolutionized" before the pandemic.  I know the Millennium was totally reworked, and thought the other M-class ship also re-done was the Summit.  If so the Summit will not feel at all like an "old ship."

 

And Sitka is one of my favorite places in Alaska.  I have been there both on business and as a cruise port.  

[CCJack]

For me, a 7 night cruise with only 2 opportunities to get off the ship would be a dealbreaker, so I would go with #1.  However, it seems like there may be other cruises to consider....

[cruisewiththekids]

I think I will eliminate Royal Princess based on that ship not doing the true inside passage and only two port days.   

[Coral]

I think early May is too early for Hubbard Glacier. We were there May 15th of this year and did not get close.

 

Royal Princess can not sail inside passage.

 

I think smaller ships are better.

 

Surprisingly - our May 12th cruise this year had amazing weather. 70's and sunny for 11 days.

[Coral]

On 6/30/2023 at 11:24 AM, cruisewiththekids said:

I think I will eliminate Royal Princess based on that ship not doing the true inside passage and only two port days.   

This is a weird itinerary for Royal Princess:

 

https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=1411 

 

It spends the night in Vancouver at the end.

 

I would look for more sailings beyond these 2.

Edited July 2, 2023 by Coral

[cruisewiththekids]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

This is a weird itinerary for Royal Princess:

 

https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=1411 

 

It spends the night in Vancouver at the end.

 

I would look for more sailings beyond these 2.

I haven't been able to find any other cruises that include Sitka and Glacier Bay.

[Coral]

Here is an option though I am not a fan of cruises out of Seattle due to times in port;

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/find-a-cruise/a4e07a/d432-7-day-alaskan-explorer

[Ashland]

Definitely option #1. Summit has been refurbished it's like a new ship inside and the cabins are beautiful. That time in May has always been our favorite and have never missed Hubbard glacier. Northbound is also much preferred. I would rather sail north to Alaska than south away from it. The itinerary for the Summit is perfect.

[Coral]

6 hours ago, Ashland said:

Definitely option #1. Summit has been refurbished it's like a new ship inside and the cabins are beautiful. That time in May has always been our favorite and have never missed Hubbard glacier. Northbound is also much preferred. I would rather sail north to Alaska than south away from it. The itinerary for the Summit is perfect.

I can't say I have missed Hubbard glacier - I am just saying one doesn't often get close in May. Though several people have no clue as they have never been there before and don't know how good it can be.

 

I have probably seen Hubbard 15x - sometimes really far away and sometimes really close. It is not often in May to get close.

 

Glacier Bay can get pretty close in May.

Edited July 2, 2023 by Coral

[Ashland]

5 hours ago, Coral said:

I can't say I have missed Hubbard glacier - I am just saying one doesn't often get close in May. Though several people have no clue as they have never been there before and don't know how good it can be.

 

I have probably seen Hubbard 15x - sometimes really far away and sometimes really close. It is not often in May to get close.

 

Glacier Bay can get pretty close in May.

JMHO....Between the two choices given by the OP I certainly wouldn't base it on just the possibility of how close they might get to Hubbard glacier....you just never know from one cruise to the next.

 

And for what it's worth we have always gotten pretty close up in May...Just lucky I guess.

 

Again, I would still opt for option #1 overall vs option #2.

[Coral]

29 minutes ago, Ashland said:

JMHO....Between the two choices given by the OP I certainly wouldn't base it on just the possibility of how close they might get to Hubbard glacier....you just never know from one cruise to the next.

 

And for what it's worth we have always gotten pretty close up in May...Just lucky I guess.

 

Again, I would still opt for option #1 overall vs option #2.

I don't think either is great. Though they did state Glacier Bay was a desire. Thus, I recommended looking beyond the first 2.

 

I did get close once in May to Hubbard.  Most of the time, I haven't.