Do Princess do Alaska well?

[woodmill100]

Hope you can help!

 

We were looking at HAL from Vancouver but we also want to see Las Vegas and San Francisco (more than we want to see Vancouver) so we are now looking at a SF roundtrip with Princess.

 

I am sure I read that the 2 lines that do Alaska particularly well are Princess and HAL but I have spent so much time researching these boards, I am blowed if I can find the thread again!

 

Please can you tell me I won't be making a mistake when we book with Princess? The cabins look great, they seem to have good dining options (better than HAL). I know the crowd with HAL can be older - what's Princess like? We're inour late 30s. Our cruise would be on Dawn in late May.

 

Thanks for any help you can give.

[sadiwest]

Hope you can help!

 

We were looking at HAL from Vancouver but we also want to see Las Vegas and San Francisco (more than we want to see Vancouver) so we are now looking at a SF roundtrip with Princess.

 

I am sure I read that the 2 lines that do Alaska particularly well are Princess and HAL but I have spent so much time researching these boards, I am blowed if I can find the thread again!

 

Please can you tell me I won't be making a mistake when we book with Princess? The cabins look great, they seem to have good dining options (better than HAL). I know the crowd with HAL can be older - what's Princess like? We're inour late 30s. Our cruise would be on Dawn in late May.

 

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

I did Princess Alaska in 2001 and it was awesome. Since I figured I'd probably never get back there, I opted to do a land package with them too. They have a few lodges near Denali National Park....it was amazing. My timing wasn't the best (September 2001) but the trip itself was awesome, and so was Princess. When I got stuck in Anchorage-Princess stepped up and helped me with the hotel room (which they didn't have to do) for 5 nights.

 

I would absolutely give Princess the thumbs up for Alaska. Great trip, great line.

Sandi

[woodmill100]

Hi Sandi

 

Thanks for this. We really need to be sure. Coming from the UK, we are spending lots of money on this holiday and most of it is based around seeing Glacier Bay!

 

Hubby just has this thing about being on the deck sailing out of San Francisco.

 

I was pretty sure it would be HAL but now I am starting over with Princess. No more "are you happy with this" conversations with him! Planning a cruise can be so overwhelming!

[spongerob]

We took the 10-day itinerary out of SF last fall. I liked the cruise, and enjoyed having sea days to begin and end the trip. We went very late season, in September, and I have to say that the crowd on board was generally older. We did meet some good people on board.

 

San Francisco is a great port to start your cruise. I wish we'd taken time to do a little more before the cruise. One day wasn't enough.

[Druke I]

I certainly agree about sailing from San Francisco. Quite thrilling to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge out to the Pacific.

 

Both HAL and Princess do Alaska very well, but I think Princess has the edge in pricing, plus San Francisco Bay is a huge plus.

[woodmill100]

I think I also like the idea of a couple of quiet days at sea, especially when we will be doing Vegas and SF before as well as New York on the way home. It will be lovely to relax.

 

Actually, one further question - cabins! If going from San Francisco, do we want a port or starboard balcony cabin? I know it is a roundtrip so from an Alaska point of view we will see everything but if we are in our cabin coming back into SF, what side is best?

[Druke I]

Port or starboard is argueable.

 

Leaving San Francisco, on portside will be Fisherman's Wharf, The Marina, The Presidio, and Fort Point (which is under the South side of the GG Bridge). On starboard side is Alcatraz Island (the former penitentiary), and the Marin Headlands. Both sides are pretty - I prefer port.

 

Once the ship stands out to sea, you can't really see the coast, so it is moot.

 

In the Inland Passage up North, there is abundant scenery on both sides.

[CruisinCadie]

Hi Sandi

 

Thanks for this. We really need to be sure. Coming from the UK, we are spending lots of money on this holiday and most of it is based around seeing Glacier Bay!

 

Hubby just has this thing about being on the deck sailing out of San Francisco.

 

I was pretty sure it would be HAL but now I am starting over with Princess. No more "are you happy with this" conversations with him! Planning a cruise can be so overwhelming!

 

If seeing Glacier Bay is important to you, you may need to sail one way from Vancouver to Whittier or Seward. I don't think either Princess of HAL goes to Glacier Bay on a round trip voyage. I may be wrong, but I'd suggest you double check to make sure.

 

KD

[NancyIL]

If seeing Glacier Bay is important to you, you may need to sail one way from Vancouver to Whittier or Seward. I don't think either Princess of HAL goes to Glacier Bay on a round trip voyage. I may be wrong, but I'd suggest you double check to make sure.

 

KD

 

In 2007, the Dawn Princess goes to Glacier Bay on its May 11th (10-day), September 8th (10-day), and September 18th (11-day) cruises. The rest of the roundtrips from San Francisco go to Tracy Arm.

 

HAL has a number of ships that go to Glacier Bay on roundtrips from both Vancouver and Seattle.

[woodmill100]

According to Princess in the UK, Dawn will again be going from SF to Alaska including Glacier Bay on 21 May 2008.

[margord]

We did Princess last year and it was great. We also did a Canadian Rockies cruisetour through Princess and it was just awesome.