HAL vs Princess, Seattle vs Vancouver

[GadgetNeil]

Hi,

My wife and I are planning for our first ever cruise, and have narrowed it down to a roundtrip inside passage Alaska cruise, week of July 26th.

 

One decision still to be made is whether to cruise from Seattle or Vancouver. For me, the advantages of Seattle are that we have already been to vancouver, and Seattle is a place we have always wanted to visit; also, I like that the Seattle cruises stop in Victoria, another place I've always wanted to see. However, I'm a little concerned about seasickness - is it true that Seattle sailings will likely mean rougher seas for a couple of days than on a Vancouver sailing?

 

The other decision is which ship - I think we're leaning toward 2 options, from Seattle: the HAL Westerdam, and the Star Princess. Both are about the same cost, and the only significant difference I can see is the itinerary - Princess hits Tracy Arm and Skagway, while HAL instead hits Glacier Bay, and Sitka. What about food, ambience, activities, etc? What might pros and cons be of these 2 ships? We are mid-40's and traveling without kids, so I would prefer a quieter atmosphere, without lots of screaming little kids, and the less lineups and so on the better. We are not drinkers or partiers, so if the crowd is a little older and more sedate, I don't think I mind that. Food quality is a priority, and I like options of classes, courses, etc on board.

 

Any input or suggestions would be appreciated - I think we are going to meet with a travel agent tomorrow and make the final decision.

 

thanks,

Neil

[Assateague Island Princes]

Big HAL fans here, and have done two Alaskan cruises from Seattle - loved 'em both! Yes, the first day out may be rough (on our first in 2006, yes, but we enjoyed the rocking and rolling, and on our second in 2008, we had no rough seas the entire trip...luck of the draw).

 

Sitka is our favorite port and we'd live there if we could! Its a lovely, picturesque fishing town - much less "touristy" than some of the other ports, with its Russian heritage and amazing scenery. Glacier Bay, though we have yet to experience it, is supposed to be a "not miss" for many folks and we're definitely looking forward to experiencing it.

 

Both our cruises on HAL were wonderful - excellent food with an extensive 24 hour room service menu, best beds on the high sea and a crew that is magnificent - we wanted to take them home with us!!! Age demographics on an Alaskan cruise slant toward older individuals anyway, and while we had a good number of kids on board, they were fully occupied with the kid's club or just enjoying a family trip with all the activities that go along with that.

 

Alaska is very port intensive. We did many, many excursions that were so tiring that when we came back to the ship, we showered, had dinner, and were normally in bed quite early to get up to do it all over again! Not a lot of nightlife on a HAL Alaskan cruise, which was fine by us. A drink or two in the evening, sometimes catching their verison of "American Idol", or making use of the casino was really the extent of what we felt like doing. They have great naturalists on board geared toward AK experiences - glaciers, wildlife, scenery, etc. Thats what its all about. There is, of course, bingo, trivia contests, movies, shows, the casino, nightclubs with dancing, culinary classes, etc. that you can choose to participate in....or not.

 

We spent hours and hours on our balcony watching for eagles, whale spouts, tails, and backs, gazing at the scenery, and just enjoying the peacefulness of the cruise to this great land. We always had breakfast on our balcony (kudos to room service), and did dinner there several nights as well. Sitting in a bubbling hot tub on the top deck, with eagles soaring overhead while in port in Juneau is one of our favorite memories!! Sigh....I don't know if I can wait for our upcoming 2010 cruise back to Alaska again!!!

 

If Victoria and Seattle are what you're after, than I would highly recommend sailing with HAL - it sounds like it would meet your needs and desires. Whichever line you choose, enjoy and prepare to be wowed!!! You WILL go back again - trust me!;)

[Budget Queen]

Round trip Vancouver does offer far more scenic sailing, and sometimes better port times. IF Victoria is a priority, I instead, suggest you go there pre/post cruise. The cruise stops are definately too limited with seeing very little. An overnight is my min. time there, and more if possible.

 

If you are worried about motion sickness, round trip Seattle cruises have the most potential and the roughest routing. Take precautions, it's likely to have one rougher day.

 

I find round trip Princess to be a distant second choice to HAL. In my opinion, they definately have way superior itineraries.

[CowPrincess]

Another vote for HAL here -- smaller ships, a bit more sedate atmosphere. We experienced NO line ups on our HAL cruises. As for Victoria, as Budget Queen said, you don't get much time in Victoria and it is probably worth doing at least an overnight there -- so "Victoria" or "not Victoria" shouldn't be a deciding factor, IMHO.

 

I've done Alaska a few times and it is all about the scenery and the ports -- you'll be pretty tired after a port day, and nightlife will likely be the LAST thing you're thinking about :D

 

IMHO, now that you've found this board, do NOT make the decision tomorrow -- take a couple of days to read a bunch of the info here, THEN decide. And consider Vancouver as a departure port -- LOTS to see on the inside passage from Vancouver to the top of Vancouver Island.

[judynorth]

We have been to AK on both HAL and Princess and loved them both. However, we loved Sitka (Princess doesn't go there) and I would go for Glacier Bay over Tracy Arm. Tracy Arm has some of the most beautiful scenery in AK but most of the time the ship doesn't make it to the glaciers. That is never a problem in Glacier Bay. Our first AK cruise was a roundtrip out of Seattle (same itinerary as the Star). We liked the oneway cruises out of Vancouver more than the roundtrip out of Seattle. We had no problems with the seas west of Vancouver Island but you are in the open sea there with more chance of rough seas. Generally the AK cruises are smoother because you are never far from land. However, on all 3 cruises to AK we had a day or two of rocking. It was never really bad though.

[anchorage1977]

I'm a huge fan of the Vancouver sailings becuase of the scenic cruising through Canada's portion of the inside passage. You will miss all of this if you sail from Seattle.

 

The other consideration, as BudgetQueen points out, is the quality of the glacier experience. Glacier Bay National Park is a national park for a reason... Tracy Arm is, well.... not. And for a good reason.

 

HAL vs Princess: I don't have a strong preference. You'll have a lovely vacation on either.

 

Have a great visit to Alaska (from Vancouver!)

[Putterdude]

An itinerary out of Vancouver will provide you with much smoother waters in the Inside Passage and much more scenery. Those out of Seattle spend at least a full day in the open Pacific where you see nothing and are subject to rough sea conditions of the north Pacific. You can always visit Seattle pre or post cruise.

[GadgetNeil]

Thanks for all the replies!

 

We decided to book the HAL Zuiderdam from Vancouver, July 25th. In addition to not wanting to risk rougher waters from Seattle (and liking the idea of the nicer views sailing north from Vancouver), for us it will be a lot easier to get to Vancouver than Seattle. We live in Toronto, and can fly direct to Vancouver, but to do Seattle we were going to drive to Detroit (a 4 hour drive) and then fly from there. The more I thought about it, I realized I don't want to have a long flight back and then also have to do a 4 hour drive at the end of the trip. As well, even though I'd like to see Seattle one day, we were only in Vancouver once before, for only about 3 days, 15 years ago - so it's not as if going to Vancouver will be boring with nothing to see :)

 

Once we decided on dates and city to cruise from, the options were narrowed down - I don't think Princess had anything that date (or at least not in the same price range), and so it came down to Celebrity Mercury or HAL Zuiderdam. I was already leaning toward HAL over Princess (although it sounds like they are very close and both excellent choices), and I don't like how the Mercury is such an older ship.

 

We're booked with an outside cabin (it cost only negligibly more than inside, although we are accepting a potentially obstructed view, to save some $). Now I get to research excursions :D We'll be at Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. Our travel agent especially recommended, in Ketchikan, the "Bering Sea Fisherman's Tour" (see 56degreesnorth.com ) -has anyone done it? I plan to do lots of reading - I've always loved researching before trips to places we haven't been - HAL alone has a HUGE list of possible excursions in their brochure, and I may book our own. We're on a tight budget, so won't be splurging on float plane rides and things like that, but it certainly sounds like there are great things to do at all price ranges in each port.

 

Can't wait to go!!

 

Neil

[CowPrincess]

I would strongly suggest going whale watching in Juneau. It is an incredible experience. There is NO comparison between seeing a whale from the ship and seeing a whale from a boat down at water level. I think it is around $135 or $140 per person this year -- IMHO still a great value.

 

Don't worry about your cabin, even if it is obstructed view. You will likely find you are on deck A LOT. My DH is a tad claustrophobic, so I booked us unobstructed OVs for his first 2 cruises. He now feels that if the price difference is substantial, he'll be quite happy in an INSIDE -- that's how little we use our cabin!

[judynorth]

Congratulations on making your decision. I think you made a good choice. We really enjoyed our HAL cruise to AK. We booked an oceanview for that cruise and it was several days before I really realized that we didn't have a balcony! The OV was fine. We were in that cabin for 14 days and didn't miss the balcony at all.

 

I have heard great reviews of the Bering Sea Tour on these boards. If you search you can probably find reviews. The best thing to do in Skagway is not available to you since you are Canadians. We rented a car in Skagway and drove into the Yukon. It was a great day and only cost about $25pp for the 4 of us in the car. Canadians can't rent a car in the US and drive it into Canada. However, you might join your roll call and find an American couple willing to share a car with you. That would save you lots of $$$ since the train or motor coach excursions to the same place are quite expensive.

 

It is getting harder and harder to resist the temptation of all the low cruise prices to AK. If we hadn't just done one cruise this year I am sure that we would be heading back to AK.