Favorite ship for Alaska??

[jellytheory]

I'm leaning towards the NCL Pearl, since it's new and I like the free-style and specialty restuarants. However, I am new to cruising and am wondering how NCL would compare to say, Royal Carribean (Radiance of the Sea)...just saw that ship on a travel channel...

 

Is NCL the right choice and will May 11th be way too cold???

 

Thank you!!!!

Denise

[Onessa]

RCCI Radiance class ship! It is almost as though they designed that ship for an inside passage cruise. The glass assures you of a great view anywhere and any time. It is a very thoughtfully laidout ship and is a nice balance between the large ships and small ships as far as eminities are concerned. I've always liked the RCCI ships just a bit better than NCL because RCCI tend to be just a bit more "finished" -- RCCI goes out of there way to get the right art piece for the right spot, where NCL might just let that spot go bare.

 

As to the temps, I like it a bit cooler, so I might not be the best choice for that question!:)

[lovesublime]

I think what you'll find here is most people will advise to choose based on itinerary rather than ship. We took the Pearl last May and had a fabulous time. The ship is new and beautiful and freestyle completely suits us. Having said that, RCI Radiance and NCL Pearl have vastly different itineraries. The Pearl does a roundtrip out of Seattle and visits Glacier Bay. Radiance does one way trips either north or southbound from Vancouver or Seward. A lot of folks here seem to favor the one way cruises and we have in fact booked ourselves on one for this June. Radiance visits Hubbard Glacier and from what I've read a lot of people have experienced dismay that the ship couldn't get anywhere near the glacier because of icebergs. I don't know how important glacier viewing is to you, but that's something to consider.

 

If it were me, in this instance I would choose the Pearl mostly for the Glacier Bay day. BTW, I've seen the travel show you mention. The Radiance indeeds looks like a beautiful ship. Hey, it's Alaska and I don't think you can really go wrong with whatever you choose.

[JerseyJT]

FYI - RCI has another Radiance Class ship that does an Alaska round trip from Vancouver. The ship is the Serenade of the Seas & it has the same glass walls etc.

 

We had a spectular cruise on Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas last June & are looking forward to our round trip on the Serenade departing Vancouver, July 19th.

 

Take a look @ the itiniary. We go to 3 ports, Icy Strait Point, Juneau and Skagway.