Alaskan Cruises? What line is best?

[kmainous123]

I have cruised 27 times, including one transatlantic, 2 Hawaii, 2 Panama Canal, and various Caribbean, Mexican Pacific and Mexican Caribbean. I have always wanted to do Alaska. I just booked Norwegian but have never cruised them before. I need HELP with a cruiseline for Alaska. We are 63 and 67 and this cruise, we are NOT interested in anything but seeing Alaska and having decent meals and good service. We enjoy inside because it is dark and quiet. But, we also do balconies, too, especially since my husband is a smoker. We did HAL about 6 years ago and thought it was too slow and quiet, but we have aged and are ready for that. Do you think HAL is the best for Alaska? Carnival did great with the Hawaiian cruises. RCL was wonderful in the Transatlantic. We enjoyed Princess last Fall, our first. Anyone got some input? I am not too crazy about doing Norwegian, but it sounded very good when their excellent salesperson called my home! I think a balcony would be a must, but it is so expensive compared to an inside for Alaska. And, if it is going to be so cold in May 2013 that we can't go outside, maybe an outside window would be enough. Please help me. We also would like to see Denali so I was thinking about maybe a 10 day. :D

[dmwnc1959]

There is no generic answer as to what cruise line is BEST for Alaska. And just because a cruise line has been sailing there longest or has more ships sailing there also doesn't make them 'best' at it either. If you equate 'more' with 'best' that makes McDonald's the BEST restaurant in the world. ;)

 

Keep in mind too that several cruise lines now prohibit smoking on the balconies, so if this is a major concern you may want to look deeper into each cruise lines smoking policy.

 

I have only cruised Alaska five times; once each on Celebrity, Holland-America, Cruise West, and twice on Princess (once northbound and once southbound).

 

The itinerary and the amount of time you spend in port are the most important aspects you should be looking at first.

 

After you find the best itinerary that suits your needs, THEN narrow it down to a ship whose on boards service and amenities fits your needs.

 

Departures out of Vancouver tend to have much better itineraries than those leaving from Seattle since they transit east of the large Vancouver Island instead of out into the Pacific Ocean and west of Vancouver Island, are not required to spend time in Victoria on the way back down, which usually amounts to a late night six hour visit that is over your dinner time.

 

And in order to do the Alaska interior (Denali) you will need to do either a Northbound or Southbound cruise, which is a one-way cruise that starts/ends in either Vancouver BC and Seward/Whittier, Alaska.

 

And not all cruise lines visit the same ports, and not all ports are the same. If you really think so, then you haven't done enough homework. :cool: Take a look at a map of Alaska and do some research online, look at some google pictures and see what may interest you, and what it is you want to do while in port.

 

Please take a few minutes and go back and read these threads. They are absolutely priceless when it comes to your question regarding BEST....

 

Best cruise line for Alaska

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1555001[/url]

 

Princess or Celebrity Alaska cruise???

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1553188

 

Why is everyione saying thet Princess or HAL is the way to do Alaska?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1612497

 

Which cruise would be best for us in Alaska?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1617910

 

You may want to ask this question as well over at the Alaska Boards where you likely to get a dozen different answers to what is the best cruise line and what is the best itinerary.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

 

GOOD LUCK!

[NoobCruise]

Haven't cruised Alaska yet, but when researching this myself, most people recommend booking one that does Glacier Bay. There's a reason it's a National Park.

 

Glacier Bay only allows a couple of cruise ships in per day so permits are extremely limited and most are held by HAL, Princess, Or NCL. That might help you focus your search.

 

I've also read repeatedly that cruising out of Vancouver is much more scenic then Seattle because these ships take the inside passage east of Victoria and Seattle ships go outside and around the west side of Victoria. We chose Seattle for other reasons, but I kinda wish we'd booked Vancouver now. Oh well. I'm sure we'll enjoy every minute!

 

Once we picked itinerary, then we compared ships from the different lines, compared cabins, size and perks for the price etc. and read reviews, and went with the best bang for our buck at the time of booking. We have heard HAL is an older crowd (we're 42 and 44) but we don't really care. We're cruising Alaska for the scenery and expect we'll be in bed earlier so we can be up early :)

 

We also booked a corner aft wrap-around balcony - because it's ALASKA!

[thinfool]

Any cruise to Alaska can be great, but my personal selection would be either HAL or Princess.

[Keith1010]

Alaska is all about the port and its beauty. I have sailed there six times.

 

My recommendation is always to start with the itinerary. Decide what you want to see.

For example do you want to sail round trip and do the inside passage or do you want to sail north or south bound so that you can spend time in Alaska pre or post cruise.

 

Also factor in other items such as if you want to see Glacier Bay or one of the other glaciers.

 

By dong this it will help you to determine cruise line because not all cruise lines offers the same itineraries.

 

Three cruise lines have sailed there for many years now. If you are interested they also offer land programs as well but you don't have to book those.

 

The three that I would look into are Princess, Celebrity and HAL.

 

Personally, I am not big on HAL because we also found them to be too low key and we are not party people. However, others still enjoy them so I list them.

 

Keith

[Krazy Kruizers]

We cruised Alaska quite a few times.

 

Have sailed there on Princess, HAL and NCL.

 

Princess and HAL have been in the Alaskan business quite a few years.

 

Our first Alaskan cruise was on Princess back in the 80's and we loved it.

 

Our one NCL Alaskan cruise -- it was okay.

 

Since then we have stayed mostly with Princess and HAL to do Alaskan cruises.

[ranger10!]

We have cruised Alaska two times. HAL and NCL. HAL departed out of Vancouver and NCL out of Seattle. Liked HAL best for many reasons but the most important reason, we liked the Vancouver itinerary better.

 

No matter what line you choose you will LOVE an Alaska cruise. It is beautiful!!! :D

[mycruiseandvacations]

Although each cruiser has their own dream tastes and desires, based on the information you have shared I would recommend a southbound sailing on Princess Cruiselines with a pre-cruise land package in Alaska featuring Princess Lodges. :) I love the Princess Lodges in Alaska and know you will too.

 

To get the most of Alaska in I recommend at least two nights at Denali National Park

 

Norwegian Cruiselines does offer a 12 or 13 day cruise tour as well and again I recommend a southbound adventure as this will allow you to get the travel portion over with and enjoy the cruise to relax and unwind. To see wildlife and fauna you will want to have an interior tour rather than a roundtrip Seattle sailing. :rolleyes:

[Putterdude]

I don't think there is any one best cruise line they all cater to different tastes. However I think there is general agreement that Princess and HAL likely offer the best 7 day one way itineraries to/from Vancouver. Having found HAL to be a major disappointment in December I would have trouble recommending them.

[skippyy]

Cruised Alaska twice. Strongly suggest you require Sitka on your itinerary. Perhaps the most beautiful city with continued Russian flavor.