Alaskan cruise choose

[my72]

Hi! I am a new member and I could use some help. I am planning a trip to Alaska and trying to choose between a southbound Holland American cruise on the Veendam, departing from Seward on Aug 30th and the Princess southbound cruise on the Coral departing from Whittier on Aug 31st. The itineraries are pretty close except the HAL cruise goes to Haines and the Coral cruise goes to Skagway. My husband and myself are both in our mid 50's and we enjoy seeing wildlife. Would one of the variations in the itineraries be more to our liking? Is the weather still nice at that time of the year? I would also like to know if wildlife viewing is good during this time. Thank you for your help.

[firefly333]

Hi and welcome, sorry Im not much help. A lot of the opinions will be who likes Princess or who likes HAL. My friend did HAL and absolutely loved them.

 

July should be high season when the days are so long. The end of August probably wouldnt be cold by then, but you could hit some cooler days by then.

[Zubsin]

We cruised on the Sapphire Princess from Vancouver to Whittier and the wildlife was lacking....we cruised in late June/early July 2007 saw no real wildlife until we were in Glacier Bay National Park where we saw tons of sea otters. My mom too the whale watch trip in Juneau and saw none. My husband and I are also wildlife watchers and were disappointed with the lack of wildlife even on the excursions we took. To me Alaska is about seeing the landscape. Donna

[mr green]

For me it's Coral all the way! This is my favourite ship, but, apart from that, there was little in Haines, [unless you are interested in the military], while Skagway is rich with the history of Alaska. There is so much to see and do there and that in four visits we have not seen it all!

The weather may not be the greatest, [when it rains, folk say that this is the real Alaska], but we are doing a B to B this Sept. on, what else but Coral Princess. Enjoy!!!

 

john

[CC Help Michell]

Hi! I am a new member and I could use some help. I am planning a trip to Alaska and trying to choose between a southbound Holland American cruise on the Veendam, departing from Seward on Aug 30th and the Princess southbound cruise on the Coral departing from Whittier on Aug 31st. The itineraries are pretty close except the HAL cruise goes to Haines and the Coral cruise goes to Skagway. My husband and myself are both in our mid 50's and we enjoy seeing wildlife. Would one of the variations in the itineraries be more to our liking? Is the weather still nice at that time of the year? I would also like to know if wildlife viewing is good during this time. Thank you for your help.

 

I would go to Haines and take the Wildlife Expedition excursion to Steve Kroschel's place on Mosquito Lake Road. There are photos of that place, as well as the Haines Highway, in the Alaska photos link in my signature. I don't think you can go wrong with either HAL or Princess in Alaska, however.

[CUTIEBUGME2]

Hi! I am a new member and I could use some help. I am planning a trip to Alaska and trying to choose between a southbound Holland American cruise on the Veendam, departing from Seward on Aug 30th and the Princess southbound cruise on the Coral departing from Whittier on Aug 31st. The itineraries are pretty close except the HAL cruise goes to Haines and the Coral cruise goes to Skagway. My husband and myself are both in our mid 50's and we enjoy seeing wildlife. Would one of the variations in the itineraries be more to our liking? Is the weather still nice at that time of the year? I would also like to know if wildlife viewing is good during this time. Thank you for your help.

We went to Alaska in May 2006, I would suggest going to Skagway(never went to Seward)...like the previous post Skagway has lots of history and is beautiful..Also if you can do the WHITE PASS RAILWAY. It was awesome, the whole trip was breath taking. It was extremely cold but there was a lot of wildlife, we saw whales, eagles, bears, goats and more.

Hope this helps.

 

Sherrie

[luvlake]

We were on the Coral in 2007 with 20 extended family members and had a wonderful time. We had such a wonderful time that we are going on the Sapphire (B2B) to Alaska with 19 friends this summer.

 

I know from reading these boards that HAL and Princess have the best reputation for Alaska cruises. I don't think you will go wrong with either one.

 

One thing about Haines and Skagway is that there is a fast ferry that can take you to either one depending upon your time in port. Since we will have been in Skagway two times we are thinking about taking a excursion in Haines that involves the fast ferry.

 

Be sure to check out the Port of Call for Alaska for a tremendous amount of information.

 

Happy Cruising!:)

[my72]

I would like to thank everyone for their advice. I am leaning toward Princess. Thanks again

[tiyana4]

You can't go wrong with Princess.... they are definitely a favorite for Alaska. We were originally looking at the same cruise on the Coral southbound but switched to the Diamond Princess leaving on 8/29 so we could be home on 9/7. School begins for DD on 9/8.

 

We are hoping to see wildlife and are keeping our fingers crossed for good weather. Whatever you decide, I hope you have a great time.

[GORDONCHICK]

I would go on the Princess cruise with the stop in Skagway. We loved the WPRR trip with Chilkoot Tours. We did the 7 hour Rail & Coach into the Yukon. Most people don't know there's a desert up there, but there is! If you do the trip into the Yukon with Chilkoot, they stop there. Very cool. And Emerald Lake is gorgeous, too.

[agabbymama]

I would look at the ports, and the times in those ports. As well as the size of the ships. Princess is going to be a larger vessel than HAL.

 

Take a look at the excursions offered by both to get an idea of what you would want to do in each port.

 

As another poster mentioned, you are going to get those who favor Princess, and others that favor HAL.

 

It just depends on what you are looking for. I prefer the smaller ships that HAL offers with the elegance of an ocean liner of old, lots of brass and wood. Teakwood promenade deck that circles the ship (making navigating the ship easier), with teakwood deck chairs, wool blankets and hot split pea soup on deck for glacier viewing day. Fresh flowers on all the tables even outside by the pool. Chimes that ring to announce dinner. A little larger staterooms with the best beds afloat. Yum Yum guy in his little Phillip Morris costume with desserts and goodies. And usually around 1200 passengers vs 2600 on a Princess ship (only estimates).

 

Have fun planning then taking your trip to Alaska.