Want to take Alaska Cruise! Which is best, Carnival or Princess?

[ncbeachteacher]

Here is our two cents: We did Alaska with Princess.

 

The Pro's: Princess does awesome, awesome land tours! We thoroughly enjoyed every moment of our land tour, service was outstanding, accommodations, meals, everything was top notch! Saw and did wonderful sights, adventures, met outstanding people... Just a wonderful experience.

 

The con: we were actually disappointed with the cruise experience with Princess. Go figure... Too stuffy, too pretentious, and less than "Fun."

 

Next time: (And there will be a next time!) We are doing the land part on our own (thanks to the confidence built and expereinces through the land tour) and we will cruise Carnival.

[cvpends]

Celebrity is nice, especially room 7002 or 7003 in the Millennium.

[old bones]

not a choice for me --carnival of course.

[PhotoPete]

I have cruised Alaska twice, once on Coral Princess and once on Celebrity Mellennium. Enjoyed both sailings. It all depends on what you want to see IMO. On Princess we went to Glacier Bay and College Fjord. On Celebrity we went to Hubbard Glacier. Can't go wrong with either. Whittier is nothing to write home about, it was much better sailing out of Seward on Celebrity. We took the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Seward.....what a ride, beautiful. Seward had much more to do than Whittier. Either way Alaska is great to see from a cruise ship.

[hogwildcruzers]

Have done NCL,Celebrity and HAL to Alaska and will be on Princess next year to Alaska.....have been on 5 Carnival cruises and still have one booked for this Oct, but I don't think I will ever do Carnival to Alaska......so far HAL has been the best!.....I think Princess would be your best choice!

[Blind Squirrel]

When we go it will be with Hal. They are the only one that offers a 14 day round trip out of Seattle. The Amsterdam is a smaller ship and actually docks in Anchorage, not Whittiker or Seward. I can drive to Seattle. The one way airfare and 2 nights in a hotel will just about pay for the differance between a 7 day and the 14 day.

[Wendy_M]

If the scenic cruising was matched than a good trade off. If you didn't get Glacier bay than a very poor tradeoff, pool/new boat over Glacier Bay.

 

Chipmaster I don't know you spend an awful lot of time on the boat you might as well be on a new one with more bells and whistles, the safphire in my opinion is way overdue for a rennovation from what I have read online, and I've been to Alaska before on a land trip, my thoughts are you are going to see wildlife no matter what road you take, you might as well have a nice boat to see it on. Just my opinion. In other words, I know I'm going to see a beach in Jamaica but I'm sure as hell not going to stay in a dumpy local hotel when I can stay in a beautiful five star resort, for me its all out the experience and I think the choice in boats is very much a very big part in deciding that.

[Cruzman]

When it comes to Alaska, no one does it better than HAL and Princess. Both have been doing Alaska for years, and both have developed relationships that make cruising Alaska such a wonderful experience!

[LRene]

I'm usually going to recommond Carnival EXCEPT when it comes to Alaska.

 

HAL or Princess are the ways to go. You need to do a north or southbound route (Whittier or Seward to Vancouver or vice versa) to make that Denali trip more worthwhile.

 

We did Vancouver to Whittier on Carnival and then turned around did a Seattle-Seattle route on HAL. There's no comparison in the itineraries.

 

Problem is, Carnival now does Seattle-Seattle. In my opinion, that was a total waste of time and money. You simply don't go far enough north to get into the really gorgeous scenery and also the land trips that are available up/around Anchorage.

 

As far as the lines, HAL had the best activities but Carnival had the best naturalist. Still, it's about the scenery so do yourself a favor and don't do a Seattle to Seattle route (unless it's a 14 day that goes all the way up).

[RVman]

We did the Carnival Sprit last year to Alaska and it was great, it‘s nothing like the southern cruises. No wild parties, nothing at all like the previous Carnival cruises we’ve been on in the past, it was a much older more subdued crowd. We had a Naturalist on board and it was great. It was so great that we are going on another one next year. This time out of Vancouver to Glacier Bay:D

[TheCalicoCat]

We chose HAL, mind you we don't sail until next year, but the ship size & itinerary sold us.

[JaniceB]

I thought I would choose HAL for my first Alaskan cruise, but I chose the first sailing of next year from Carnival. It leaves from Vancouver and the port times seem very adequate. I am hopeful that one day I can do a cruise land tour, but for now I am happy with my aft wrap on the Spirit.

[flyawayca]

I just recently got back from my first cruise to Alaska and I sailed on the Carnival Spirit.

 

We picked Carnival more for the price than anything because I had new cruisers with me who didn't know if a cruise, any cruise, would be worth the money.

 

Carnival did an amazing job. It wasn't like any other cruise, more subdued. There was a naturalist onboard who would point out whale sightings and do special presentations on Alaska in the theater. They also took us right up to the Sawyer Glacier in the Tracy Arm Fjord.

 

Alaska was beautiful and I loved every minute of the trip. Shore excursions and the ship itself.

 

However, I have heard Princess has more and better itineraries. Next time we go to Alaska we may just go with them to see some new places. But I wouldn't discount Carnival completely as they did do a wonderful job with the itinerary they have.

[sandyoftheseas]

I have cruised Alaska with Princess and really enjoyed it. My DH and I did a lot of research before deciding on Princess.The reasons we chose princess was: 1. Most options on land and cruises. 2. Princess rail car for the land portion had the full window all the way to the top which we enjoyed. Once we arrived the smooth transition from ship to land was a breeze. On the curise we had a large "window seat" to sit on and enjoy the passing scenery. IMO I would not pay the extra price for the balcony because you never know what the weather will be like when my DH and I was there the weather was in the 50's and very rainy but, when my friend went it was in the 70's and sunny. Bring an array of clothes I packed zip-off pants to shorts(the shorts I was never able to wear) t-shirts, fleece jackets, 3in1 parka gloves, hat. Enjoy your cruise!

[sharecruises]

YES....ideally I would prefer to do a one way...or a landtour and one way cruise...or a 14 night HAL cruise and see "everything">>> BUT...

 

there are practical reasons to choose Carnival

 

one of course is price....reasonable

 

another is that so much is included...lots of other lines charge for "spa" hot tubs/saunas ...on the spirit it is included...also a covered pool

 

another is ....yeah...price

 

another for ME is logistics....being single, and traveling with a group and figuring out the logistics...it is simply easier to do a round trip cruise

 

The cost of airfare and getting people up to Anchorage, then to Seward or Whittier...is pretty daunting. Just getting us from Florida to Seattle and to the ship is a huge task. I have to pick what is do-able and reasonable.

 

We are planning at least 2 nights in Seattle.....will do a little sightseeing there. It is ALL going to look much different...and all "new" to me

 

 

I know that there is sooo much to see in Alaska....I can't wait..it is a dream of mine. I am normally "cheap" about excursions....same you know , different island...and much of the same stuff is available right in Ft Lauderdale anyhow...we have tons of Tiki Bars <grin>

 

But Alaska?? I do plan to try to take more "spectacular" excursions...such as the "fiord explorer" right off the ship