Help picking an Alaska cruise

hi everyone,

My husband and I are thinking about trying an Alaska cruise for our anniversary this August. We are trying you decide between Princess, Holland, or Celebrity. We want to do an 7 day inside passage. Does anyone know which ships have indoor swimming pools? Free saunas? Best at handling food allergies? Thanks!

Don't miss the Alaska port of call forum, it offer a wealth of information: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

Welcome to CC!

The Alaska boards will have lots of information. You may also want to consider finding a TA who specializes in Alaska cruises. We can't recommend anyone, but you could do your research. Ask friends you know who might have cruised and go from there.

We went on HAL to Alaska in 2011 round trip out of Seattle. Our ship had both an indoor pool- actually a retractable roof- and an outdoor pool. My kids used both :) of course being from Wisconsin June in Alaska wasn't all that different than June in Wisconsin. Most of the lines do not move ships designed for warm weather only up to Alaska and so most should have some type of covered pool area.

Alaska is fabulous and I would do it again.

Making your decision on what city you want to depart from. Seattle goes out into the Pacific for a period of time before entering the Inside Passage. From Vancouver you enter the passage right away. The Pacific could be a little choppy, while Inside Passage is calm. Also the scenery is on both sides of the ship. HAL does a pretty good job with all you are looking for.

I would begin with the itinerary.

You will find that Princess and Holland America often included Glacier Bay which Celebrity does not. This includes an amazing day of cruising and taking in the beautiful scenery.

Yes, for questions about Alaska be sure to visit the Alaska Ports Of Call Board.

For questions such as indoor pools I would visit the respective cruise line boards.

Keith

I also want to welcome you to Cruise Critic.

These links will take you to the Cruise Line Boards.

Celebrity at: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=28

Holland America at: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=171

Princess at: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=197

Keith

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

Don't miss the Alaska port of call forum, it offer a wealth of information: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

Thank you!

I also want to welcome you to Cruise Critic.

 

These links will take you to the Cruise Line Boards.

 

Celebrity at: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=28

 

Holland America at: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=171

 

Princess at: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=197

 

Keith

Thank you! These were helpful and interesting!

Welcome to CC!

 

The Alaska boards will have lots of information. You may also want to consider finding a TA who specializes in Alaska cruises. We can't recommend anyone, but you could do your research. Ask friends you know who might have cruised and go from there.

 

We went on HAL to Alaska in 2011 round trip out of Seattle. Our ship had both an indoor pool- actually a retractable roof- and an outdoor pool. My kids used both :) of course being from Wisconsin June in Alaska wasn't all that different than June in Wisconsin. Most of the lines do not move ships designed for warm weather only up to Alaska and so most should have some type of covered pool area.

 

Alaska is fabulous and I would do it again.

Thanks! What ship did you take?

Making your decision on what city you want to depart from. Seattle goes out into the Pacific for a period of time before entering the Inside Passage. From Vancouver you enter the passage right away. The Pacific could be a little choppy, while Inside Passage is calm. Also the scenery is on both sides of the ship. HAL does a pretty good job with all you are looking for.

Great tip. Thank you. I wasn't looking at Vancouver. We definitely will now.

We were on the Oosterdam. It was my parent's 50th anniversary. We had four kids with us- middle school/high school aged. Very port intensive, so the kids didn't need to be entertained- they also had each other to keep company. They found plenty of things to do, and although HAL gets a reputation to be a senior citizen line, in our experience it was a multi-generational cruise. Many families like ours, grandparents, parents, adult siblings with their kids.

hi everyone,

My husband and I are thinking about trying an Alaska cruise for our anniversary this August. We are trying you decide between Princess, Holland, or Celebrity. We want to do an 7 day inside passage. Does anyone know which ships have indoor swimming pools? Free saunas? Best at handling food allergies? Thanks!

We have done 6 Alaskan cruises on three different lines: Disney, HAL, and Celebrity. All were terrific cruises! However, before you pick a line and ship, I recommend you consider the itinerary -

First, you can go round trip out of Seattle or Vancouver. Secondly, you can go northbound to Alaska and fly home, or you can fly to Alaska and cruise southbound (one way cruises). The advantage of the second is that you can extend your stay in Alaska, either before or after the cruise- recommended, especially if you are only going to do Alaska once; of course that extends the trip beyond 7 days. No matter which choice, most of the ports are the same!

Again, as suggested, you can read a lot about various options and ships on the CC boards.

We wish you a fantastic trip to Alaska (and back).