Non-Princess/Non-HAL/Non-Luxury Alaskan Cruisers: What Made You Select Your Sailing?

[sherryf]

On 1/22/2024 at 12:47 PM, rnr4thatsme said:

I'd love to see more Carnival Alaska reviews!  I know it's not the most popular line, but there must be some pros as people are obviously sailing there!

My first cruise to Alaska was on Carnival back in 2001.  We chose it because it was a group family trip with lots of young children, and their kids clubs seemed best suited to our needs.  It was fine.  There was no "party atmosphere" as one might think you'd find on Carnival.  That said, I have never been back on Carnival and probably never will.  I love Princess and HAL is a close second for me.

[Nikita4]

We have the same problem:
We are a european family of 4 with 2 teens (15 and 17 next year) and want to do an Alaska southbound cruise in July 2025.

I found the Norwegian Jade, the Radiance of the seas and the Caribbean Princess Itinery for us, but wich is the best?

We will stay same days before in Alaska on your own, so no need of an organized group tour or so. And we have a lot of experience in landtravelling around the world on your own.

Princess we know from a Panama cruise, NCL and RCCL are on the program for this spring and summer. So we don't know the lines really.

[wolfie11]

Princess has naturalists onboard and lots of Alaska-related activities, such as Puppies in the Piazza and the first woman to win the Iditarod.

[Northern Aurora]

Princess is not the only cruise line to have naturalists on board during their Alaska sailings.  For example, Celebrity also has them.

[2BACRUISER]

I see nobody has mentioned Cunard on these pages we have booked to go on Queen Elizabeth June 2025 out of Seattle having cruised with them previously in Europe. A huge lump of OBC also helped in the choice. It will be our first trip to Alaska. Now just to get flights from the UK organised when they come available on the airlines timetable. Exciting times ahead cannot wait. 😊

[Coral]

54 minutes ago, 2BACRUISER said:

I see nobody has mentioned Cunard on these pages we have booked to go on Queen Elizabeth June 2025 out of Seattle having cruised with them previously in Europe. A huge lump of OBC also helped in the choice. It will be our first trip to Alaska. Now just to get flights from the UK organised when they come available on the airlines timetable. Exciting times ahead cannot wait. 😊

Cunard has the best Naturalist IMO in Alaska with Rachel Cartwright. She was on my Princess cruise last year before she joined Cunard. She wrote the Princess Alaska Cruise Companion. Her team has done some amazing research on whales (featured on National Geographic). She showed us aerial footage of whales mating last year and she hinted as having the birth of a whale calf in Hawaii that ultimately was shown on National Geographic recently.

 

https://www.caringforcalves.org/meet-the-team 

 

 

Edited March 12 by Coral

[Coral]

12 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

Princess is not the only cruise line to have naturalists on board during their Alaska sailings.  For example, Celebrity also has them.

Brent Nixon is actually really good, excellent actually. Celebrity just doesn't have the amount of speakers as Princess per cruise. 

[wolfie11]

15 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

Princess is not the only cruise line to have naturalists on board during their Alaska sailings.  For example, Celebrity also has them.

Princess hires their naturalists for the season.  Celebrity gets their naturalists from a speaker’s bureau, usually only for one cruise.

[wolfie11]

3 hours ago, 2BACRUISER said:

I see nobody has mentioned Cunard on these pages we have booked to go on Queen Elizabeth June 2025 out of Seattle having cruised with them previously in Europe. A huge lump of OBC also helped in the choice. It will be our first trip to Alaska. Now just to get flights from the UK organised when they come available on the airlines timetable. Exciting times ahead cannot wait. 😊

I sailed on Cunard in Alaska. One of my best cruises ever.

[Coral]

3 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

Princess hires their naturalists for the season.  Celebrity gets their naturalists from a speaker’s bureau, usually only for one cruise.

I think the exception on this is Brent Nixon. He seems permanent with Celebrity. He used to be with Princess. He is a gem.

[wolfie11]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

I think the exception on this is Brent Nixon. He seems permanent with Celebrity. He used to be with Princess. He is a gem.

He is quite good and has been around for many years.  I’d forgotten he moved to Celebrity.

[fmrlkr]

5 time Alaska cruiser here.  6th is booked for later this year.  The first two were on Princess, the rest are NCL.  We loved Alaska, did not love Princess, but it was fine.  We also cruised the Panama Canal on Princess.  Coming from Alabama it was a little too "fancy like" for us.  We cruised NCL (also Carnival) out of New Orleans like other people booked beach homes, 3-4 time a year.  Once we started achieving latitudes status, it was hard to give up the extra perks to start as newbies on another line, and the prices let us put extra into excursions.

 

All this being said, pick the cruise that suits your needs and has the itinerary you want.  Alaska is really about the scenery and the excursions.  Standing on the balcony looking at the glory that is Alaska is awe inspiring.  

 

[Crazy planning mom]

It seems that HAL is geared toward an older audience and is quieter.  RCL, NCL, and Carnival have a more lively environment.  Where does Princess fall?

A friend is debating between NCL and Princess.  She has sailed NCL multiple times and likes their product.  However, Princess is more Alaska centered.

[jannray]

Six years ago we Norwegian Jewel on an 11 day itinerary. Its good sized ship for Alaska.  The balcony rooms are good sized and there is great deck space available and a nice forward deck.  On Norwegian you will get poorer docking position resulting in longer walks,but if you are fit it wont matter. ( We were in our 70's)  The dinner is open seating and casual.  Food is mediocre at best.  Entertainment is generally good, if you even have time for it, because in Alaska the days are looonnnnng and the scenery is non-stop. Best of all NCL is affordable if you watch sales.  We paid the same for our 11 day cruise as we would have paid for a 7 day on other lines. To make up for the mediocre food we splurged at a couple of ports on great seafood and spent our vacay dollars on fantastic shore excursions. We had a second one planned on Norwegian Sun for 2020.  It was cancelled by Covid!  I strongly recommend late May for best weather.

[jannray]

I selected this cruise because it had a great itinerary and RT Seattle for ease and affordability.  Again, more $ for top notch shore excursions.  I would do it again the same way in a heartbeat.

[MistyRo76]

On 1/13/2024 at 10:05 AM, MississippiMom said:

It is very clear on these boards that Princess and HAL are the Alaska specialists.  It’s also obvious that the majority of posters are Glacier Bay itinerary cheerleaders.  From a financial and available vacation days perspective, we are really, really struggling with what to book for August or September 2025.  We have completely ruled out HAL (sorry, HAL lovers), because we do enjoy a more party atmosphere than it appears we would find on their ships.  We have priced some Princess itineraries with the Princess Plus package in a balcony stateroom and are getting around a $300 a day (per person) price tag BEFORE we even add in airfare and excursion costs. 

 

I would love to hear from the cruisers who saw Alaska on NCL, RCCL, Carnival or Celebrity?  Those seem to be better for our budget, plus we are familiar with those lines, since we have sailed all but the latter. A non-obstructed balcony is a must for my husband.  I need indoor space and indoor activities, because I don’t love standing outside in the cold.  Both of us would prefer more casual attire in the dining rooms, since we need to pack clothing layers in our suitcases and do not want to waste space on formal wear.  We are accustomed to driving to ports, so airline weight limitations will be a concern this time around.  We love a fun piano bar, trivia, karaoke, and the silly cruiser participant shows.  We have zero interest in a casino or in a sports pub.
 

From a flight expense perspective, round trip Seattle sailings would be the most cost-effective for us.  We would also consider round trip Vancouver or, maybe, a one-way Southbound 7-day.  
 

Decisions . . . Decisions . . . Decisions . . .

I didn't go through the whole thread, so you may have already made your decision. But I was in the same boat (no pun intended) as I looked into planning our first Alaska cruise. My initial research, like yours, was pointing more to Princess. We will have our 10-year-old daughter with us, and HAL did not seem like the best fit for traveling with children. We are typically Carnival cruisers for our Caribbean/Bahamas sailings, so that is very much my comfort zone. I initially wasn't even going to look into Carnival based on the recommendations for Alaska being so skewed toward Princess. I was also initially looking at one-way cruises (Anchorage to Vancouver, etc.) based on what I'd read here. 

 

After much back and forth in my brain, we ended up booking the Carnival Spirit, 7-day, round-trip from Seattle....exactly everything that I was leaning away from in the beginning. Here is what swayed our opinion: 

 

1. Cost - I narrowed my search down to two similar itineraries/dates on Carnival and Princess. We decided on early August as the weather seems to still be more favorable, but prices start coming down after July. We also need to be back before school for the kiddo starts. I also decided against the one-way itineraries mainly due to the added expense/time for traveling there via the airlines. As mentioned, we will have our daughter and my in-laws may travel with us as well. My MIL has severe restless leg syndrome so we wanted to minimize the air travel as much as possible for her. Comparing as close of apples to apples as I could, the Princess itinerary round-trip from Seattle was about $1100 more just for the basic fare than the Carnival cruise. Additionally, we may have a larger group of family/friends join us for this cruise. Booking Princess may be too expensive for others to consider. 

2. Traveling with our daughter - she loves Carnival! And their children's offerings are great for her. I want to make sure she has plenty to keep her entertained for the times we are on the ship. I think there is also a better chance of having more kids on the Carnival itinerary since the lower costs makes it more affordable for larger families. 

3. Given this is our first trip to Alaska, I think it will be a great introduction to all this beautiful state has to offer. I think the hubby would very much like to book another trip to Alaska in a few years just the two of us. We can splurge more then. 

4. With the cost savings by choosing Carnival, we can easily spend more on our excursions. 

 

Hope this helps! Don't feel forced into something that feels right. I'm learning there is NO wrong way to see Alaska! If you want to see more after your first trip there, you can always book another or do a land trip! 

[MississippiMom]

On 3/13/2024 at 12:15 PM, MistyRo76 said:

I didn't go through the whole thread, so you may have already made your decision. But I was in the same boat (no pun intended) as I looked into planning our first Alaska cruise. My initial research, like yours, was pointing more to Princess. We will have our 10-year-old daughter with us, and HAL did not seem like the best fit for traveling with children. We are typically Carnival cruisers for our Caribbean/Bahamas sailings, so that is very much my comfort zone. I initially wasn't even going to look into Carnival based on the recommendations for Alaska being so skewed toward Princess. I was also initially looking at one-way cruises (Anchorage to Vancouver, etc.) based on what I'd read here.  .  .  .

No final decision made, yet.  I definitely appreciate you sharing the details on how your selection was made to book with Carnival.  We are pretty confident that HAL and Princess are definitely not our thing.

[2BACRUISER]

This may be of interest on the last page are the daily programmes from Alaska on Cunard QE

 

 

[Northern Aurora]

On 3/12/2024 at 9:19 AM, Coral said:

I think the exception on this is Brent Nixon. He seems permanent with Celebrity. He used to be with Princess. He is a gem.

 

I suspect there is some confusion between Celebrity's Beyond the Podium speakers and their naturalists.

 

 There are a number of naturalists who seem to be permanent with Celebrity.  For example, I just looked up the spelling of Milos Radakovich's name, and according to his website he has been a naturalist with Celebrity since 2005.  We have had him on South American, Pacific Coastal, Alaska and South Pacific sailings.  The first time we met Celia Garland was on a South American series of cruises; we were in SA on a B2B in 2018 and a B2B2B in 2019, and quite frankly, I don't remember which series was the one on which we met her but she had already done an Alaska season and continues to be a Celebrity naturalist in both Alaska and SA.  There was a very tall Canadian naturalist who had worked at the Vancouver, B.C. Aquarium before working for Celebrity, we had him several times on various itineraries.  And I can visualize others as well.

 

But the Beyond the Podium speakers do seem to be recruited via a speaker's bureau.  

[NE John]

I’ll be on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth this June for a 10 night Alaska Vancouver round-trip. First time for Alaska. I’ll be glad to give a report here on the Cunard experience to keep up with the theme of this topic. 
I look forward to being outdoors a lot up there!

[nordicacres]

We chose NCL due to Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier itinerary, time in port, cost, and end destination. We are very much looking forward to it! Docking at Ward Cove in Ketchikan is not a dealbreaker to us. 

[Nikita4]

We booked today on the Noordam von HAL for an Alaska cruise in July 2025. So no Princess, NCL or so.
 

[Jnsplace1]

10 years ago, I booked a one way cruise through Celebrity with my Mom.   We booked them because at the time, they had the best value for what we wanted with inside passage and cruisetour on the other end.   I've cruised through various ships from HAL, NCL, Carnival, and Princess prior to for EU, or Carb but it was my first time through AK.

We loved it.  We enjoyed the foods, the inside passage, and the service we encountered.   It wasn't cheap. In fact, we felt at the time, it was more spendy then our EU cruise but we really did  enjoy every moment, and wished we had spent more time in Denali. 

 

This year, hubby and I are doing AK cruise through Princess.  Initary was sole focus.   We've had 3 cruises canceled on us ranging from work, Covid to weather.  So we didn't want to fly LOL....we're trying so hard not to get excited due to our poor luck.   He's never been on a cruise, and it's a SEA to VAN route.  I wish we could go one way but time was not meant to be in this case.   I really feel that if you do one way, you should go inland.  It's so worth it.  

 

Frankly, i completely understand route and cost are major considerations for many. Each line has it's "feel" and how they provide you services.  Everything has a cost, the choice is up to you where you spend it.

Edited March 29 by Jnsplace1

[sr71_1]

1st Alaska "makeup" cruise coming up in June.   Had a previous cruise planned and cancelled during Covid.   At that time was not interested in a huge ship... wanted a 1-way for more port stops and longer time at each port; cruising to the east of Vancouver island felt like it offered the potential for a smoother sail versus open ocean to the west.  Traveling with kids and wanted a 2- bedroom suite.  Ended up choosing the NCL Jewel / Havan.   To get the trip kicked off... arriving a few days early and will take small plane from Talkeetna around Denali/glacier landing (weather permitting); train from Anchorage to Seward and 6-hr boat ride to Kenai Fjords before boarding.  Have fun with whomever you choose

.  

[Hayflinger]

I'll admit that I'm sailing to Alaska on Princess this summer.

 

But when a family member and I decided to take an Alaskan cruise, I did look at Carnival because of the prices.  I've only ever been once on RCL and once on Carnival so no loyalty to a brand of any kind.  Carnival would probably have been my choice because I did enjoy the one trip I took almost 10 years ago (won ship on a stick at a trivia so extra feels there).

 

But Princess ended up having the one thing that sold me... Jeff Corwin.