Cruise Line for Alaska

[champagne123]

Hello my friends. I am not a newbie and have been on MANY cruises and all different cruise lines....BUT I have never been to Alaska.

Does one cruise line do it "better" than another to Alaska or are they all pretty much the same.

[karatemom2]

We have cruised on NCL, HAL and Princess in Alaska and in my opinion Princess definitely provided the best overall experience and itineraries. Be sure to look at port times and whether Glacier Bay is included when doing your comparisons. 

[champagne123]

3 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:

We have cruised on NCL, HAL and Princess in Alaska and in my opinion Princess definitely provided the best overall experience and itineraries. Be sure to look at port times and whether Glacier Bay is included when doing your comparisons. 

Thank you!!! 

[v3cruiser]

My parents have done NCL 1st time and princess twice after that including a land and sea trip with princess at one of their resorts in denali and were very satisfied and recommend princess. We are doing NCL next year and looking forward to it. I hear lots of good things about princess. 

[Coral]

I prefer Princess due to ports, port times and glacier days. I think their Alaska experience on the ship is excellent (speakers, naturalists, etc....).

 

Though there is some boutique lines lout there that do a much better experience such as Un-Cruise, etc...

[Aquahound]

I recommend Holland America for Alaska.  The reality of an Alaskan cruise is that the weather is not always perfect and IMO, HAL ships are designed very well for inclement weather.  Standard cabins are larger and have couches (unlike Princess), balconies are large, and all HAL ships have beautiful forward-facing lounges (called the Crows Nest) that offer 270-degree panoramic views.  More specifically, take a look at Koningsdam.  She's a beautiful ship.

 

Good luck on your choice.  

[Heidi13]

HAL & Princess have the most Alaska experience and have the best overall experience.

[edinburgher]

9 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

HAL & Princess have the most Alaska experience and have the best overall experience.

I am being lazy and copying/pasting a post I added yesterday to a very similar question although also wanting to know about NCL so I have tweaked a little.

 

I have no personal experience of NCL as we prefer smaller ships, but I am pretty sure I read threads at different times this year from pax stating that NCL have shorter times in ports than other lines, also that they have less favourable docking positions and sometimes have to tender.

 

Both Princess and HAL have much experience cruising Alaska as they have been doing it for many decades, and (someone correct me if I am wrong) they have more permits to sail Glacier Bay than NCL.My understanding is that they are the market leaders and also operate many of the domed rail cars.  And Princess own lodges in Denali.

 

 To get the most from your trip, choosing the right itinerary is important  and not all lines offer the same itineraries. And the ship is also important, although the emphasis is not so much on entertainment, more on cabin comfort, viewing opportunities and  informative lecturers.

 

We did a HAL 2 week north/south out of Vancouver first, thinking it would be a "one off" but returned 2 or 3 years later when a new HAL itinerary opened up out of Seattle. As it covered many of the places and scenic cruising spots our first one had not, and as we thought HAL did the first one so well, (and the ship was great for outdoor viewing)we booked and didn't regret doing so as the more we saw of Alaska, the more we wanted to see.

[donaldsc]

I would normally not recommend any of the mass market AK ships since I feel that any ship anywhere with more than about 1000 passengers is not for me.  That said - we take our grandkids to AK when they turn 10 as a coming of age cruise w/o their parents and we always do these cruises on Princess.  Not as good as a AK cruise on a 200 passenger ship but I do have to admit that Princess does a good job in AK.

 

DON

[edinburgher]

4 hours ago, donaldsc said:

we take our grandkids to AK when they turn 10

Older than ten years but would like to volunteer to be your adopted grandkids should you want a couple more additions!😀

Edited October 1, 2023 by edinburgher