Best cruise line to Alaska?

[hayesktrm]

We will be taking 2 kids (9 and 14) and my parents. Which cruise line would you choose? Why? I like Princess's itinerary, but not their staterooms (small). I like the configuration of NCL's staterooms, but I know nothing about them. We're also looking for a good kids' club, although we should be out sightseeing most of the time.

[lillabella]

We will be taking 2 kids (9 and 14) and my parents. Which cruise line would you choose? Why? I like Princess's itinerary, but not their staterooms (small). I like the configuration of NCL's staterooms, but I know nothing about them. We're also looking for a good kids' club, although we should be out sightseeing most of the time.

 

The Carnival kids club is great and my daugther (11) can't wait until she can get back in there. The first cruise we took as a family we had to drag her away from the club in order to spend time together! We are sailing on the Carnival Spirit to Alaska this June (We are taking our daugter (11) and both sets of our parents). We picked Carnival for several reasons A) the itinerary B) the price C) familiarity just to name a few - We really enjoy Carnival, it's a laid back atmosphere and we've never been disappointed.

[wrp96]

Honestly, for Alaska the best 2 lines are Princess and HAL. They've been up there the longest and have better access.

 

Look for itineraries including Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier as those will be spectacular.

[Ray-Barbara]

I think Princess has the edge in Alaska. They have the best inland tours (they have been doing it the longest) and have the greatest lodges. Also, they go to Glacier Bay which is a treat in itself. Princess cabins are slightly larger than Holland, but we have never complained.

Ray and Barbara

[BOAT N BOB]

:D We have been two times, both on Princess and loved it both times. We are looking into taking another one on Princess next year.:)

[Budget Queen]

The Carnival kids club is great and my daugther (11) can't wait until she can get back in there. The first cruise we took as a family we had to drag her away from the club in order to spend time together! We are sailing on the Carnival Spirit to Alaska this June (We are taking our daugter (11) and both sets of our parents). We picked Carnival for several reasons A) the itinerary B) the price C) familiarity just to name a few - We really enjoy Carnival, it's a laid back atmosphere and we've never been disappointed.

 

 

Carnival Alaska is NOTHING like Carnival sailings of the Caribbean or even New England. Frankly, very similar in passengers to all the other lines, a mix but the bulk of passengers middle aged and above. No pool activites and no party ship. :) This itinerary is great for those with a port priority, but lacking with the glacier viewing. Their round trip sailings are excellent with Glacier Bay.

[Budget Queen]

All Alaska cruises are great!!! You need to determine if you are looking at a round trip or one way. My opinion only, I never do one ways without at least another week for interior touring, take advantage of being all the way there. I also greatly prefer Seward vs Whittier. Again don't just pass though like most people, you are missing some great touring opportunities. :) Round trips pack a lot into 7 days and are very worthwhile. HAL has one of the best itineraries with sailing both Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm.

 

Overall, consider for your choice- ports, time in ports, glacier, ship naturalist, route, price. Then find the ship. :)

 

NCL does a great job and especially the freestyle.

[vfb2girls]

So BQ, do you think we will not be disappointed in sailing on the Spirit? we are looking into doing the southbound cruise and as you mentioned the glacier viewing isn't the best with Carnival but since we are adding 12 days of land touring on our own we will plan on doing the glacier tour out of Whittier like you suggested. Since we are not sailing until June 2007 we still have plenty of time to book with another cruise line but honestly we liked the itinery that Carnival offered on the Spirit and as others mentioned since it is a cruise to Alaska we should not have the same party atmosphere like sailings to other places. Not that we are old but neither myself or husband are into the party scene. I think if we were not cruising to Alaska but to another destination we would pick another cruise line simply to avoid the party scene.

[Budget Queen]

So BQ, do you think we will not be disappointed in sailing on the Spirit? we are looking into doing the southbound cruise and as you mentioned the glacier viewing isn't the best with Carnival but since we are adding 12 days of land touring on our own we will plan on doing the glacier tour out of Whittier like you suggested. Since we are not sailing until June 2007 we still have plenty of time to book with another cruise line but honestly we liked the itinery that Carnival offered on the Spirit and as others mentioned since it is a cruise to Alaska we should not have the same party atmosphere like sailings to other places. Not that we are old but neither myself or husband are into the party scene. I think if we were not cruising to Alaska but to another destination we would pick another cruise line simply to avoid the party scene.

 

I've sailed Alaska 3 times with Carnival, they do a great job. :) Michelle- the long time ship naturalist, whom I hope is still there, is just EXCELLENT!!

[cruisecookie]

We're planning an Alaskan cruise for the summer of '07. We are several couples in our 50's and 60's. No one has mentioned our first choice cruiselines -- Royal Caribbean or Celebrity. How are they in Alaska? I was considering the Summit for either a north or south bound cruise. That ship has Cirque De Soleil on board. Has anyone been on that ship or cruise?

[NancyIL]

We're planning an Alaskan cruise for the summer of '07. We are several couples in our 50's and 60's. No one has mentioned our first choice cruiselines -- Royal Caribbean or Celebrity. How are they in Alaska? I was considering the Summit for either a north or south bound cruise. That ship has Cirque De Soleil on board. Has anyone been on that ship or cruise?

 

I booked RCI's Radiance southbound for June 2007 based on the itinerary and the week we wanted to travel. I would've booked Celebrity Summit (identical itinerary) had that ship been the one traveling southbound on June 8th. Now - when the prices for the Cruise Critic group cruise on the Sapphire Princess are announced around May 6th, and HAL releases their prices mid-May, then we'll decide whether to stick with RCI or switch to Princess or HAL.

[Escrowgal]

We've booked RCI's Seranade of the Seas for ourselves, three girls (15,11,10) my FIL and his girlfriend. I haven't been on them before (previously HAL and Carnival), but it seems to have the right mix for all of us.

[katiel53]

We sailed NCL Star last year in Alaska. There are many pro's to the freestyle, but we had terrible food and service in the main dining room, so ended up in specialty restaurants every night. We had to make reservations, so it wasn't as freestyle as one might think, however, we could make reservations for 7PM which was our choice and not available on other ships.

 

So much for that, but now we are going to Alaska again next year and have booked Serenade. We live in Florida and it's a lot of airtime to get to Vancouver, but worse to get to Anchorage or some other port for a one way. Therefore, we opted to go to Vancouver round trip. We will probably go a couple of days early to see the city as we haven't ever been there before.

 

We are looking forward to seeing Icy Straight Point and Hubbard Glacier as we haven't seen them before. Any trip to Alaska will provide beautiful scenery and quiet moments that take your breath away.

[bdwyer]

If it is important to you (as it is to us) that you be able to eat whenever you choose with whomever you choose, but are disuaded by the bad report on NCL (never cruised on NCL, so I have no opinion), then choose Princess. Also, you need to look at the timing, ports and what works for you. Princess and HAL have naturalists onboard which we also thought was important. Will be reporting back on Princess Sapphire northbound once we return 7/1.

[Randi S.]

Not one person mentioned what they thought about Celebrity Infinity. We have sailed on her before, but to Hawaii (and loved it). Since no one mentioned Celebrity, should I be concerned? We are sailing May 20th and loved the itinerary.

The edge seems to go to Princess. What excursions and perks do they have that Celebrity won't? We went to Alaska on Princess over seven years ago.

[NancyIL]

Not one person mentioned what they thought about Celebrity Infinity. We have sailed on her before, but to Hawaii (and loved it). Since no one mentioned Celebrity, should I be concerned? We are sailing May 20th and loved the itinerary.

The edge seems to go to Princess. What excursions and perks do they have that Celebrity won't? We went to Alaska on Princess over seven years ago.

 

I really like that 12-day itinerary on Infinity! Too bad that in 2007, the only longer itinerary on Infinity (13 day) starts May 7th - which is too early for us because our daughter in college won't be home yet and we don't want to leave our high school son home alone.

 

If you've been looking at the roll call for your cruise, you'll see that there are quite a few repeat cruisers. I'm sure you'll have a great time!

[Hikini]

We have taken NCL to AK 4 times. We totally LOVE their freestyle cruising, and have had wonderful service and wonderful food. The standard cabins are pretty much the same on most of the ships.

 

Any AK cruise will be a good one!

 

Have fun

Hikini:D

[Coral]

Princess definitely has the edge over RCCL in Alaska. While I would do RCCL again in the Caribbean - I would not recommend them for Alaska.

[NancyIL]

Princess definitely has the edge over RCCL in Alaska. While I would do RCCL again in the Caribbean - I would not recommend them for Alaska.

 

Which RCI itinerary did you do in Alaska, and why would you not recommend them?

[Coral]

Which RCI itinerary did you do in Alaska, and why would you not recommend them?

 

I did RT out of Vancouver (Hubbard, Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau).

 

I wasn't pleased with them because they didn't seem to do anything onboard to show that they were in Alaska.

 

There was not a naturalist (Princess has them). The only talks on the ship were about shopping (the naturalists usually does talks most days). I really like that Princess always brings a naturalist plus they have people come onboard to do presentations (Libby Riddles has always come onboard in Juneau to talk about winning the Iditarod)

 

Princess has anytime dining which is great when you are in port late. We ended up paying $20 pp for Chops because we missed our dining time because we were in port late. Flexible dining is great in Alaska. Overall, the times in port were poor (arrive in Juneau around 1 pm and we had to tender). Princess always docks in Juneau (except on the 10 day when there can be a conflict, otherwise they have a dedicated dock in Juneau).

 

I like having 2 glacier days and having Glacier Bay. I really like glaciers and having College Fiord and GB was huge for me (on Princess I have done one ways).

 

It was like they stopped at the ports and that was in while on Princess - they do so much more. It was just obvious that Princess cares and want to provide a better Alaska experience compared to RCCL.

 

I thought the Coral Princess was just as beautiful as the Radiance - so the ship part didn't blow me away.

 

Just my opinion.

[NancyIL]

Thanks for comparing your experiences with RCI and Princess. My understanding is that sometimes RCI does have naturalists aboard, but not necessarily all the time.

 

I showed my husband the 2006 Princess Alaska brochure. He commented that he wasn't interested in spending all day looking at glaciers, so I think 4 hours at Hubbard Glacier and a 6-8 hour up-close glacier tour of Kenai Fjords or Prince William Sound will be plenty. My preference would be for an extra port town vs. an extra day visiting a glacier - but that's just me. I haven't ruled out Princess yet, but the CC group cruise would have to be at a comparable price to what we booked on RCI for me to choose it, because I prefer Radiance's itinerary.

 

Now, when HAL finally comes out with their prices for Alaska, I could be persuaded to switch to the southbound Volendam - which visits Hubbard Glacier, Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, and Sitka. If only HAL spent more than 6 hours in Sitka! (The Volendam goes to Sitka...Radiance goes to Ketchikan.) This is in spite of the fact that the Volendam is a sister ship of the Zaandam, and I wasn't too thrilled with my first HAL cruise on that ship.

[Coral]

He commented that he wasn't interested in spending all day looking at glaciers, so I think 4 hours at Hubbard Glacier and a 6-8 hour up-close glacier tour of Kenai Fjords or Prince William Sound will be plenty. My preference would be for an extra port town vs. an extra day visiting a glacier - but that's just me. .

 

In our case, instead of an extra port day, we had an extra day at sea. In that case - I would have preferred a glacier day verses just a day at sea. We also on our trip - missed Hubbard Glacier (we only got about within 8 miles) of it - so we ended up with no glacier days, two days at sea and poor time in ports :(. I wish I had researched the trip better because I would not choose that itinerary again. I definitely knew what I was looking for when I booked my next trip to Alaska. This is usually why I stress 2 glacier days because for many - Alaska is a once in a life time cruise and if you miss your only glacier day....

 

I have a friend who works for RCCL and she said they sometimes have speakers but it is not very common.

 

I hear good things about the Voledam. I have friends doing their first cruise on the Zaandam this June. I can't wait to hear what they think.

 

Good luck in your planning.

[NancyIL]

In our case, instead of an extra port day, we had an extra day at sea. In that case - I would have preferred a glacier day verses just a day at sea. We also on our trip - missed Hubbard Glacier (we only got about within 8 miles) of it - so we ended up with no glacier days, two days at sea and poor time in ports :(. I wish I had researched the trip better because I would not choose that itinerary again. I definitely knew what I was looking for when I booked my next trip to Alaska. This is usually why I stress 2 glacier days because for many - Alaska is a once in a life time cruise and if you miss your only glacier day....

 

I have a friend who works for RCCL and she said they sometimes have speakers but it is not very common.

 

I hear good things about the Voledam. I have friends doing their first cruise on the Zaandam this June. I can't wait to hear what they think.

 

Good luck in your planning.

 

I can understand your disappointment with your RCI cruise, when your only glacier day was cancelled. However, your experience of 2 sea days seems to be the norm for most roundtrip cruises because of the distance they have to travel. I like RCI in general, but I think Vision of the Seas has an awful itinerary in Alaska, and Serenade also visits one glacier and just 3 ports - but they're better ports than the ones Vision visits.

 

What I would LOVE to do some day - when there are no kids at home - is something like this: http://www.celebritycruises.com/search/vacationItinerary.do;jsessionid=0000isvf4UCOzSMS5PZbF33dgZ9:1028etot9?packageCode=IN13A005&backPageName=Itinerary+Search+Results

[Coral]

What I would LOVE to do some day - when there are no kids at home - is something like this: http://www.celebritycruises.com/search/vacationItinerary.do;jsessionid=0000isvf4UCOzSMS5PZbF33dgZ9:1028etot9?packageCode=IN13A005&backPageName=Itinerary+Search+Results

 

Looks great to me!

 

You are right about the RT and having 2 sea days. That is why I switched to doing one ways. I really regret not researching Alaska more before my first cruise. Glad I got it right the following year.

 

My Caribbean RCCL cruise was pretty good. My Alaskan cruise was disappointing and I haven't returned to RCCL since. I probably should try them again in the Caribbean. I now have pretty good perks with Princess (free internet, free laundry, minibar setup) - it would take a very good ship or itinerary to get me to switch. While I had an overall good experience with RCCL on a Voyager class of ship - I don't like the future with the really large ships on RCCL (or Princess for that matter).

 

Hope you have a great cruise!

[NancyIL]

 

You are right about the RT and having 2 sea days. That is why I switched to doing one ways. I really regret not researching Alaska more before my first cruise. Glad I got it right the following year.

 

Hope you have a great cruise!

 

Thanks! By the time our cruise rolls around in June 2007, I will have been planning it for almost 2 years!