Princess or RCL for Alaska?

[purplechic7106]

Any thoughts? We enjoy both lines, just wondering which one you all prefer for Alaska? RCL seems to have more "stuff" on their boats which is good since we won't be sunbathing, but does Princess have a route/port advantage? We also enjoy Princess' anytime dining a emmensly.

 

I figure we can't go wrong, just curious as to what others have experienced.

 

Thank you!

[Budget Queen]

What are you looking at, round trip or one way. Princess is great for their one ways with including Glacier Bay and College Fjords, but RCI is good for Seward- (makes no difference if you aren't taking advantage of being there however).

 

For round trips, the RCI round trip Vancouver can be superior for routing, I think the round trip Seattle Princess cruises lacking.

 

Princess does have a full time ship naturalist, which can really enhance an Alaska sailing.

 

IF the ship activites are important as well as the ship, then choose based on your preferences. For some Alaska is more important. Determine your answers. :)

[qiangf2]

many people choose seattle RT mainly to avoid the hassle of going through the custom and reduce the total cost. But the trip does get compromised somehow since it spent more time sailing on the open sea on the first day

[Toyz711]

another poster is asking the same basic questions, just down the page a couple of posts.

sailing out of seattle is great, maybe not as great as out of vancouver. we enjoyed that 1st day at sea, had time to relax and get into vacation mode. plus the views, as the day went on, just kept getting better and better.

[oakbriar]

I have done a cruise on Princess and two on RCL and strongly prefer RCL.

[NancyIL]

I would base the decision on the itinerary. RCI's roundtrip on Rhapsody of the Seas out of Seattle is, in my opinion, the least impressive of any that sail to Alaska. If you want a roundtrip on RCI, Serenade has the much better itinerary from Vancouver. I like Radiance's one-way itinerary, too.

 

The Diamond/Sapphire Princess (Saturday departures) and the Coral/Island Princess (Monday departures) have a great one-way itinerary, as Budget Queen mentioned. The Golden and Star Princess do roundtrips from Seattle, the Dawn Princess does 10-day roundtrips from San Francisco, and the Tahitian Princess will do 14-day roundtrips out of Vancouver.

 

I really liked my previous 3 RCI cruises, but read here that Princess and Holland America "do Alaska" better than the others. We ended up on the northbound Coral Princess, and it was a great cruise. Beautiful ship, terrific itinerary, and then we had 8 more days on land with a rental car. Fabulous!