lmoe00

On 10/8/2018 at 12:14 PM, CruisinCrow said:

 

We did the sea lion encounter at Blue Lagoon in July and took the 2 o'clock ferry back. They did drop us off at the cruise port (along with probably half the other passengers). Enjoy!

How was the sea lion encounter?  Looking at doing either the sea lions or the dolphins.  Did you get to spend much time with them?

I have sailed both lines in Alaska, and including all the other majors- the demographic claim above- is invalid. With Alaska sailings they are very similar on ALL the major lines. (and yes, I've sailed Carnival as well- multiple times and NO party ships there yet either :) )

 

I guess I don't get the concern about other passengers. They have NO impact on my selections. I'm not concerned with it at all. :)

 

With your 2 choices, doesn't HAL have Haines in the itinerary? I'd suggest taking a deep look into the differences of the ports, and determine- YOUR preference with, now, figuring out what you want out of your port time. Alternatively, Princess- should have Hubbard Glacier in the itinerary? Have you considered, perhaps, looking more at the differences?

 

You also are a LONG way off. I'd suggest, also being more open at this point. There are a LOT of options. The best selections, come from multiple fine tuning adjustments in my opinion. Keep reworking your ideas and don't think you are "done" too early. The more you find out the better.

Thank you. I know it's a ways of still but I like to plan. Starting early gives me time to work out all the little details. I've looked at ports and excursion options also. I'm still pretty open but am looking for feedback on the two cruiselines. I've only been on a carnival cruise and that was a completely different trip.

Neither Celebrity nor RCI go to Glacier Bay, and the OP specifically stated that they DO want to go to Glacier Bay!

 

I've been on both Princess and HAL in Alaska. The demographics are similar, though HAL does tend to have more older folks. There were younger people and families on both, but I'd say the average age was higher on HAL.

Thank you. We don't necessarily have a problem being part of the younger age onboard. Did you have any other thoughts or comparisons between the two cruiselines? From what I've seen, other than age they seem fairly comparable.

We are looking to take our first trip to Alaska in 2020. We plan to spend a couple days in our own in Alaska before taking a southbound cruise. It looks like both HAL and Princess have similar itineraries. We do want to go to Glacier Bay. We are in our late 30s, early 40s and looking for a low key and relaxing trip without our children. Is HAL too old for us?