Roundtrip Alaska Question

[monkeyrat100]

I was thinking of doing a roundtrip from vancouver to alaska and back, and I have two options:

 

Northbound with HAL on the Rydnam, and then southbound with Princess on the Diamond, or take the Princess Roundtrip both ways.

 

The advantages of option 1:

- 3 extra ports (Seward, Haines, and Sitka)

- 1 extra glacier (Hubbard Glacier)

 

The advantages of option 2:

-The cruise roundtrip on Princess is $300+ taxes cheaper each than doing 2 one ways. There's also the shuttle for 2 people from Seward to Whittier ($130 + taxes for 2) and one night hotel stay in Seward. So it's about $900 to $1000 cheaper for the two of us (500 each) to do option 2.

 

 

Now my main question is:

If I do 14 days roundtrip on Princess, I know that the itinerary is the same both ways, but will the nightly shows be the same as well? If it's the same shows on the northbound and the southbound, then that's another disadvantage in doing option 2. has anyone done a B2B and know the answer to this? Also, what do you guys recommend.

[whale-watcher]

The Back to back routing on princess will be the same, as will be the night-time shows.

 

I would pick option #1, even with the extra cost...Sitka and Haines are well worth seeing and Seward offers some wonderful touring options...plus you will see Glacier Bay, College Fjord, and Hubbard glacier all on one vacation

 

Another option to consider is the 14day princess small ship round trip. We took this last year out of Vancouver, and it was wonderful...this year it is out of Seattle, with ISP replacing Sitka and a shorter port stop in Victoria, but still would offer 14days of varied touring and cruising.

[SaySumthing]

I think if you can afford the additional cost, doing the two different itineraries would be FANTASTIC!

 

Have fun, either way.

[monkeyrat100]

The Back to back routing on princess will be the same, as will be the night-time shows.

 

I would pick option #1, even with the extra cost...Sitka and Haines are well worth seeing and Seward offers some wonderful touring options...plus you will see Glacier Bay, College Fjord, and Hubbard glacier all on one vacation

 

Another option to consider is the 14day princess small ship round trip. We took this last year out of Vancouver, and it was wonderful...this year it is out of Seattle, with ISP replacing Sitka and a shorter port stop in Victoria, but still would offer 14days of varied touring and cruising.

 

The small boat option looks pretty cool, and I love the varied itinerary, but it's about 1k more per person, so I can't afford that!

I'm leaning toward the HAL up and Princess down, but it's hard to justify spending an extra $800-$900. That's almost the price of another cruise, hehe.

[misspuss]

I am not an unbiased observer in that I do not like HAL and I love Princess. We are doing a b2b next month of the Coral P. and are really looking forward to it! For one thing the price is soooo low now we coludn't resist! I really look forward to two times in Glacher Bay and we do not go to the shows much anyway. every cruise is different from week to week. also not having to get off the ship and get back on another at the end/start of the two cruises is very wonderful. We will have about 12 hours in Whittier between the two legs and will take a Prince William sound day cruise our of Whitter there. YIPPEE:D

[born2cruize]

The small boat option looks pretty cool, and I love the varied itinerary, but it's about 1k more per person, so I can't afford that!

I'm leaning toward the HAL up and Princess down, but it's hard to justify spending an extra $800-$900. That's almost the price of another cruise, hehe.

 

Are you getting the price quote from Princess for the 14 day or from a TA? We are on this trip and our TA got us an upgrade (inside to 200+ sq. ft. Oceanview) and $1K less than Princess offered for the inside room. While this trip will never be comparable to a 3K passenger monster. A $1k price difference seems steep. Also I don't know where you're flying from but airfare into Vancouver is usually greater than airfare into Seattle.

[monkeyrat100]

Are you getting the price quote from Princess for the 14 day or from a TA? We are on this trip and our TA got us an upgrade (inside to 200+ sq. ft. Oceanview) and $1K less than Princess offered for the inside room. While this trip will never be comparable to a 3K passenger monster. A $1k price difference seems steep. Also I don't know where you're flying from but airfare into Vancouver is usually greater than airfare into Seattle.

 

the 14 day on Diamond Princess is $699 a person for an inside, but the Pacific Princess 14 days is $1699 a person for an inside. I'm using online sites for these quotes.

[born2cruize]

the 14 day on Diamond Princess is $699 a person for an inside, but the Pacific Princess 14 days is $1699 a person for an inside. I'm using online sites for these quotes.

 

If you're getting this prices for 14 days per person you're getting a great deal. That's $350.00 per person each way. For June, our 200+ sq ft oceanview is less that your quote for an inside.

[vbmom87]

I'm leaning toward the HAL up and Princess down, but it's hard to justify spending an extra $800-$900. That's almost the price of another cruise, hehe.

 

This is what I would do. Figure how much it would cost you to come back another time to see the extra glacier and the different ports. It would cost you more than the $800. I just wish I had thought of doing it that way last year. I got to see Glacier Bay and College Fjords, but not Hubbard. Now, if I want to see Hubbard, I have to plan another costly vacation. I say go for the two different itineraries. You won't regret it.

[tetleytea]

We did a B2B, and I would also say get the different itinerary. Here's my logic: you'll have to spend more in shore excursions not to be bored. We sailed roughly the same itinerary, and the different excursions are what saved us from boredom. However, we visited Icy Strait Point twice; the second time around we didn't even bother getting off the ship.

[Red Hat Cruise Cat]

I was thinking of doing a roundtrip from vancouver to alaska and back, and I have two options:

 

Northbound with HAL on the Rydnam, and then southbound with Princess on the Diamond, or take the Princess Roundtrip both ways.

 

The advantages of option 1:

- 3 extra ports (Seward, Haines, and Sitka)

- 1 extra glacier (Hubbard Glacier)

 

The advantages of option 2:

-The cruise roundtrip on Princess is $300+ taxes cheaper each than doing 2 one ways. There's also the shuttle for 2 people from Seward to Whittier ($130 + taxes for 2) and one night hotel stay in Seward. So it's about $900 to $1000 cheaper for the two of us (500 each) to do option 2.

 

 

Now my main question is:

If I do 14 days roundtrip on Princess, I know that the itinerary is the same both ways, but will the nightly shows be the same as well? If it's the same shows on the northbound and the southbound, then that's another disadvantage in doing option 2. has anyone done a B2B and know the answer to this? Also, what do you guys recommend.

 

Why not just do HAL roundtrip?

[whale-watcher]

The small boat option looks pretty cool, and I love the varied itinerary, but it's about 1k more per person, so I can't afford that!

I'm leaning toward the HAL up and Princess down, but it's hard to justify spending an extra $800-$900. That's almost the price of another cruise, hehe.

I think your planned itinerary will be fantastic...with great inside passage cruising near Vancouver both northbound and southbound. Sitka and Haines were two of our favorite ports...much less crowded and commercial than the usual big three. And to see Hubbard and Glacier bay and College Fjord in one sailing...that will be spectacular. I would consider this same combination for our next Alaska cruise.

[monkeyrat100]

Why not just do HAL roundtrip?

 

Hal roundtrip would skip College Fjord and Glacier Bay, and would visit Hubbard Twice instead. It's also about $200 more expensive per person than Princess Roundtrip

[MacThespian]

I was thinking of doing a roundtrip from vancouver to alaska and back, and I have two options:

 

Northbound with HAL on the Rydnam, and then southbound with Princess on the Diamond, or take the Princess Roundtrip both ways.

 

The advantages of option 1:

- 3 extra ports (Seward, Haines, and Sitka)

- 1 extra glacier (Hubbard Glacier)

 

The advantages of option 2:

-The cruise roundtrip on Princess is $300+ taxes cheaper each than doing 2 one ways. There's also the shuttle for 2 people from Seward to Whittier ($130 + taxes for 2) and one night hotel stay in Seward. So it's about $900 to $1000 cheaper for the two of us (500 each) to do option 2.

 

 

Now my main question is:

If I do 14 days roundtrip on Princess, I know that the itinerary is the same both ways, but will the nightly shows be the same as well? If it's the same shows on the northbound and the southbound, then that's another disadvantage in doing option 2. has anyone done a B2B and know the answer to this? Also, what do you guys recommend.

Obviously (see my signature) I prefer doing two different cruises. I actually would have opted for HAL one way (instead of Princess), but we like balconies and the cost for a balcony stateroom on HAL was significantly higher than on the other cruise lines.