alaska 7 day roundtrip, norwegian? princess or celebrity?

[redhydra]

hi

 

now that i have my first cruise experience (norwegian sky) and that it is confirmed that i like cruising, i can go a head with my plan for cruise in alaska 7 day roundtrip in 2012 from vancouver

 

my first choise would be norwegian (with the norwegian pearl) as i cruised with them and as i like the freestyle cruising

 

my second choise would be princess cruise (probably with golden princess)

as i know people who cruised with them before and liked it, i also read alot about them, their anytime diner option seem interesting and quite similar to norwegian

 

my third choise would be celebrity but i am not as certain with them as i know no one who went with them

 

they have the best looking ship in my opinion but they also seem very traditional and formal, atracting a more sophisticated crowd

 

although i am well travelled, i dont know what exactly them mean by sophisticated crowd

 

and my dad who will be travelling with me doesnt like to dress formal as he has to do that often for his job

 

and you, wich cruise like would you or have you taken for alaska and why?

 

also, how far in advance you recomend to book?? i've taken to check the cruise in 2011 to see how quick they book to get myself an idea for 2012

 

thanks in advance

[mapleleaves]

You will get far more responses if you post this question on the ALASKA forum. Actually if you look thru the first few pages of that forum you'll see that it is frequently asked and answered.

The most important thing about an Alaska cruise is the ITINERARY, not the ship or cruise line. Choose an itinerary that goes to ports that have activities or sights you are interested in. ie If seeing glaciers is your priority be sure the itinerary includes a visit to Glacier Bay and/or Hubbard Glacier. Do you want a RT that only goes to Juneau or do you want a one- way firther into Alaska to/from Whittier or Seward (near Anchorage??

[Bruin Steve]

hi

 

now that i have my first cruise experience (norwegian sky) and that it is confirmed that i like cruising, i can go a head with my plan for cruise in alaska 7 day roundtrip in 2012 from vancouver

 

my first choise would be norwegian (with the norwegian pearl) as i cruised with them and as i like the freestyle cruising

 

my second choise would be princess cruise (probably with golden princess)

as i know people who cruised with them before and liked it, i also read alot about them, their anytime diner option seem interesting and quite similar to norwegian

 

my third choise would be celebrity but i am not as certain with them as i know no one who went with them

 

they have the best looking ship in my opinion but they also seem very traditional and formal, atracting a more sophisticated crowd

 

although i am well travelled, i dont know what exactly them mean by sophisticated crowd

 

and my dad who will be travelling with me doesnt like to dress formal as he has to do that often for his job

 

and you, wich cruise like would you or have you taken for alaska and why?

 

also, how far in advance you recomend to book?? i've taken to check the cruise in 2011 to see how quick they book to get myself an idea for 2012

 

thanks in advance

 

Obviously, it's all a matter of personal preference...If you really like NCL, you may be best served sticking with them...

 

You can have a great time on any cruise...

 

For me, ranking those three, it would be the absolute opposite order...But, what is important to me may not be what is important to you...

 

I love Celebrity because of the uncrowded ships...Celebrity ships have a higher space-per-passenger ratio and it really affects other qualities of the cruise...The food and service, IMHO, is far superior...they do now have a flexible dining option. Personally, I prefer traditional dining--something about waiters who get to know you and an elegant two-hour dinner window...but, if you like the idea of choosing different dining times each day, you can do it on Celebrity now as well...

 

But we all have different criteria and different standards...Celebrity does have a couple of formal nights on a 7 night cruise, so, if that is very important to you, then maybe it's a readon to stick with NCL...

 

Another thing to look at in Alaska cruises is the itinerary...Consider the ports and the hours in each port and what it is you want to see...Most itineraries will have one day when you are actually "at sea" all day but you are cruising into a glacial inlet for an up-close look at Glaciers...Princess itineraries tend to go to Glacier Bay, Celebrity to Hubbard Glacier...both are spectacular but different...Other ports (Skagway, Sitka, Juneau, Ketchikan, Icy Strait Point, etc.) are all small towns but the gateway to assorted activities--Helicopter Glacier landings, Horseback riding, Whale Watching, kayaking, etc.

 

You may want to go over to the Alaska ports of Call board...there's a lot of information there...

 

Good luck...

[redhydra]

hi, thanks for you imput

 

when i cruised on norwegian sky, i already thought that it was less crowded than what i imaginated, so if you say that celebrity is less crowded than ncl, thats a factor i that i take seriously in consideration

 

i also just found out that celebrity also offer the anytime diner wich add more point to that company

if i ever cruise on alone, ill probably take traditional diner and see how it work

 

ill check the alaska port of call, i failed to notice it before i posted here

[sasha101us]

I have done Alaska twice- First time on Princess which was wonderful, and the second time on Holland America which I enjoyed because of the smaller ship. They were able to get closer to the glaciers in Glacier Bay because they were smaller ship. We were on the Amsterdam, and they had freestyle type dining as well as restaurants that you paid the extra fee. We are in our 40's, but there were all age groups on this ship.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We just got off the Golden Princess just a month ago and really liked the ship. It wasn't crowded, but then we were missing about 200 passengers who couldn't get to LA in time after being snowed in at Heathrow.

 

We were on the Sapphire princess for our Alaskan cruise, round trip out of Seattle. Princess (and I know HAL, and maybe Celebrity) has a naturalist come onboard to narrate the glacier cruising.

 

Personally, I don't think I would like Freestyle as we ended up having Anytime Dining last month (we didn't clear the waitlist for our usual late traditional). We only had one major wait, but it was just not the same as traditional when we've had a relationship with our waitstaff (who gets to know our preferences) and tablemates. My hubby said it felt the service was disorganized and he felt the same as me -- that you can do anytime just by going to any restaurant on land, but traditional is unique to cruising.

 

But if you go on Princess, you can opt for anytime (no waitlist there), and on formal nights, just eat in the Horizon Court (the buffet so you can even wear shorts) or one of the specialty restaurants (smart casual clothing). We ended up eating most of our dinners in the Horizon, but we did go "formal" for the formal nights (ours was a 14-day cruise, so there was 3 formal nights).

[JJ2sail]

We sailed Celebrity last year to Alaska and loved it. We had a good mix of people on the ship. Did not feel overly crowded. Loved the entertainment.

 

Did not miss the belly flop contest, or the sexy legs contest. ;):)

[kenish]

Don't overlook Holland America. They and Princess pioneered Alaska cruises and the two lines have the majority of permits to enter Glacier Bay. HAL has mid-sized ships (Zaandam, Veendam, etc) that can get up closer to scenery and have a more personalized and intimate feel. It doesn't take 15 minutes to get from one part of the ship to another, disembarkation is fast and easy, and HAL usually gets prime berths at the Alaskan ports (in Juneau and Skagway the farthest dock is a mile from the main cruise center). HAL also has a larger class of ship (Oosterdam, Westerdam, etc) which are mid to large size but still smaller than the other major cruiseline's ships. You have a choice of fixed or flexible dining; I highly recommend the latter in Alaska so you can maximize your time on land and don't have to rush back to the ship for dinner. Unlike the Caribbean or Mexico, Alaska cruises are more about the ports and less about the ship.

 

Nothing wrong with NCL but you will find HAL or Celebrity to be more upscale, but not snooty. Even my teen noticed the better service, food, and ship amenities...although if you require a rock climbing wall, waterslides, hairy chest contests, and 12 restaurants then HAL definitely isn't the right choice. As you research you will also read that HAL has a more "senior" passenger demographic...true, but Alaska cruises in the summer are all full of kids regardless of cruiseline. Our HAL cruise had almost 200 kids...over 10%.

 

Hope this helps and definitely check the Alaska board.

[Cabunit]

We were comparing the Pearl and the Golden and found that the Golden was significantly less expensive for the cabin type and the time of time of the year we were looking and that the Golden had slightly larger cabins. This seems to make the decision easy - am I missing something?