Lady Arwen

Congratulations! Your plan sounds fantastic and I know you’ll love Konigsdam! The Pinnacle class ships are simply perfect for Alaska. Not too big to get up close to the best views, yet large enough to give you all the amenities you could possibly want. My favourite place is the closed pool area. It’s two tiered with comfy sofas and chairs and coffee tables and the upper area actually has big round beds with lofty pillows. No need to worry about the cold or rain, it’s got you covered and toasty warm. Do not miss the New York Deli on the upper level. Great sandwiches and freshly maid to order personal pizzas. I could go on and on about this ship, it is so awesome, but I’ll let you see for yourself. I hope you have the most fabulous cruise and please come back with a full review. So excited for you!

Most importantly you must be back onboard by, at the latest, 8:30 for a 9:00 sailaway. Your excursion is back at 6:30, so that gives you two hours to eat. I think that would work if you could make a prior reservation so that you’re not standing in a long line to get in. Tracey’s is the best place but since we ate there in the afternoon I’m not sure how busy it is at dinner. There are similar restaurants at your other ports and probably you could get lots of info from the folks on your roll call. Hopefully, another member can help you out better than I. And, yes the king crab legs are delicious!

Sounds awesome! A 14 day will be delightful for sure and a double Glacier Bay, you can’t get better than that!

Definitely going to check out your current thread! We sailed on Celebrity Solstice to Alaska in 2014 and although it was nice, no Glacier Bay and no inside passage, which is disappointing. However, we love Celebrity, so all was good.

Sailings from Vancouver take the inside passage route and the scenery is breathtaking. Sailings from Seattle cruise in the open ocean with no view of land.

Our last HAL Alaska was on Westerdam a few years ago for 7 nights. There were lectures in the Crows Nest, which we didn’t attend, so I don’t recall the presenters. We did have a professional naturalist come onboard who narrated our sails through the glaciers and such. It was very well done and we learned a lot. He also called out when and where he spotted wildlife, so we didn’t miss anything. It was a wonderful cruise!

Thank you for sharing your recent cruise experience on Discovery Princess. Sounds like the whole family had a great time!

To each their own. I prefer a ship to be a ship not an amusement park with 5000 people onboard. I guess that’s why the luxury cruiselines are all very small ships. You are correct, the trend is bigger and bigger, however, many of us are not in the slightest bit interested in the Behemoths of the Seas. I wish you fair winds and following seas on whichever ships you sail.

We also have a late flight back to Toronto from LHR at 4pm. The last time we used a Princess transfer from Southampton we took the last bus, which was at about 9am ish, with a slight delay for waiting for two passengers. This coming September we’ll do the Princess transfer because we have OBC to use up. LHR is so huge you can spend hours there just browsing. You could always book the Princess excursion that takes you on a tour and then drops you at the airport. Regardless of your mode of transportation, you will need to disembark the ship by about 9am as it’s turn around day and they want passengers gone.

The weight of the ship is really not important, it’s the number of passengers onboard. The large HAL ships carry approximately 2600 pax and Majestic Princess approximately 4200 pax. In 2024 to Alaska Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam carry 2100 pax and Zandaam and Noordam carry 1400 pax. That’s a very big difference when you’re offloading people for excursions. Most cruisers will tell you that smaller ships are more desirable than the big ones, especially in Alaska.

At night they’re very quiet because everyone is at the bars, lounges and restaurants. Very few people out on Lido deck except for a few in the hot tubs, but not late. Just our preference, others may disagree. On our upcoming cruise on Regal those cabins sold out early.

Both HAL Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam are very nice ships. We’ve found the food on HAL to be slightly elevated compared to Princess and HAL service is second to none. Alaska tends to draw lots of families, so the age of passengers will be about the same on both. All HAL ships have a sofa in every cabin category and bathtubs in every category above interior. Food is comparable, but Princess does have the International Cafe. Where HAL excels the most is viewing areas both indoors and out. The Crows Nest is a very large indoor area at the front of the ship with lots of seating and spectacular views with floor to ceiling windows on three sides. Princess does not have anything to compare. You can’t go wrong with either one, but my choice would be HAL. Whichever one you choose you will have an amazing time!

So true! We always book early to get our mini suite on Lido deck. These cabins tend to book quickly. If one is available, try to jump on it. So convenient to everything and honestly they tend to be very quiet at night.

Which ship are you interested in? I doubt if anyone has an official schedule. I’ve certainly never been aware of one, but it’s possible.

We book only mini suites for the full size sofa and coffee table and larger bathroom. I cannot drink my coffee sitting on the edge of a bed! Also, the tiny showers are not nice. You will love the mini suite, but it will be hard moving down to a regular balcony in the future…..you will be spoiled. Enjoy your cruise!

You are so right! The specialty restaurants do get boring, too. If only the MDRs on Princess ships had consistently good food every night like they did a few years ago, we’d be very happy. On Celebrity ships we rarely dine in a specialty restaurant because the food in the MDR suits us perfectly.

We used to only eat in the MDR every single night, but as we became more disappointed we tried the specialty restaurants, which were a noticeable improvement. On occasion we go back to the MDR on formal nights hoping to see something really good on the menu, but it’s just the same old, same old. So, been there, done that many, many times. We still eat in the MDR 6-7 nights out of 12-14 nights, and it’s fine. Not great.

Perhaps your group would prefer the Crown Grill or even Sabatini’s. We can always find something quite good in either one. If your men like steak, then CG would be my suggestion. Sorry, but that photo makes me feel nauseous.

We’ve found Princess MDR food to be just okay. Not bad, but not terrific either. On Formal nights you might find a more elevated menu, but still nothing to rave about. That being said, we don’t cruise for the food, so others might have more to say. Princess food is not quite as good as Celebrity, but that’s just our opinion for what it’s worth. We actually dine in a specialty restaurant on formal nights and maybe one or two more nights during the cruise. Just our preference.

Thank you for correcting me and of course you are right. I was thinking of Infinity, which we recently sailed on. I prefer S class and Edge class.

This is true. However, we like our wine served with our appetizer and then another(or two) with our main. We never get our wine that fast if we order our first glass in the MDR. So, we stop at Vines, or bar, to get our first glass and take it with us.

Thank you! My DH is looking forward to going “home”.

Thank you! We’re staying at Moxy and we’ll be taking a taxi. It only costs about £5!

I doubt if anyone can give you a definitive answer. Promos and sales come and go and, to be honest, they sometimes are more hype than substance. They change the name and take away or add different perks, but usually it boils down to the same old same old. Better perks? Yes, but higher cruise fare. Lower fares? Yes, but lose some perks. You just have to wait and see and check the website frequently because you never know when a real sale or a better promo might just pop up and you need to be ready to book. My advice is get a Princess Cruise Vacation Planner or a reliable travel agent to help you navigate the whole process. They are your best bet to getting the most bang for your buck and you won’t have to sit on hold for an hour waiting to talk with a rep. Good luck!

Sorry, but you are preaching to a brick wall. I’ve learned from experience, trust me. Thank you for your comment as it may be informative for others who care.