TPotthast

We are planning a trip to Alaska July 2025 that will be land and cruise.  We have chosen Sapphire Princess and are trying to decide between the following 2 itineraries:

CHOICE # 1      13 Day 6 nights on land 7 nights on the ship 

     Land first:

     July 13th Arrive in Anchorage Hotel Captain Cook for overnight stay

     July 14th Princess Rail from Anchorage to Talkeetna to Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge afternoon at leisure

     July 15th Motorcoach to Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge afternoon at leisure

     July 16th Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, Natural History Tour, remainder of day at leisure

     July17th Sightsee by motorcoach to the Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge 

     July 18th Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge full day of leisure

     July 19th Motorcoach to Valdez, catamaran to Whittier.

     July 19th Motorcoach to Pier, ship sails at 8:30pm

     Cruise:

     July 19th ship sails at 8:30pm

     July 20th Hubbard Glacier 3:00pm - 8:00pm 

                    Scenic cruising

     July 21st Glacier Bay 9:15am - 7:30pm

                  Scenic cruising

     July 22nd Skagway 7:00am - 8:30pm

     July 23rd Juneau 6:30am - 4:00pm

     July 24th Ketchikan 10:00am - 6:00pm

     July 25th At Sea

     July 26th Vancouver 7:30am

CHOICE # 2          12 day 5 nights land 7 nights on ship

     Land first:

      July 14th Fairbanks 

     July 15th Cruise on Sternwheeler down the Chena River 

                    Motorcoach to Denali National Park and Princess Wilderness Lodge, afternoon at leisure

     July 16th Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge Natural History Tour, remainder of day at leisure

     July 17th Princess Rail to Talkeetna, motorcoach to Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge

     July 18th Motorcoach across Kenai peninsula to Cooper Landing, Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge.  Remainder of day at leisure.

     July 19th Motorcoach to Whittier to embark and sail at 8:30pm

     Cruise is the same as above.

The land portion is the only part that is different and I don't know if one choice is better than the other?  Anyone who can share any advice would be greatly appreciated!   I need to get my reservation secured and I just don't know which would be the better option, or if there is a better option.  This will be our first trip to Alaska and most probably our last.  We will fill as much leisure time as we can with excursions.  We are in our early and mid sixties so don't plan to do any big hiking excursions (don't want to kill my hubby, lol) also don't plan to fish.  Probably more on the lines of Whale/wildlife watching, glacier tours.

Thank you!

Thank you all for the information you provided.  From what I now know we will for sure book on Sapphire.  I can't wait!

8 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Princess used to have their best 4 ships in Alaska - Diamond, Sapphire, Island & Coral.

 

Of those ships, I believe only Sapphire remains in Alaska. She is a traditional Grand Class that was built in Japan, so has vastly superior build quality to the Italian & French built ships. She also doesn't have the additional deck with 500 extra pax that started with Caribbean Princess.

Thank you for this information.

We are planning a 12-14 day Alaskan trip package with 5 - 7 days land and 7 day cruise for our 40th anniversary in July 2025.  So far we have gotten a quote for a 12 day that the cruise would be on Sapphire and a 14 day that the cruise would be on Caribbean.  We haven't been on a cruise in nearly 30 years and never been on a Princess Cruise.  Would anyone have a recommendation of which ship might be the better choice?  Thank you.