Best Ship vs. Best Itinerary - have to choose?

[scotlady]

Hi, looking at first Alaskan cruise for DH & self next summer.

 

I really wanted to go more upscale on the cruiseline - maybe Oceania - but it appears only Princess, HAL and NCL go to Glacier Bay. HAL appears to already be sold out of Balcony cabins for the North or Southbound cruises, and I won't do NCL.

 

So I'm debating between Princess for the itinerary and Oceania for the ship & service.

 

Princess hits both Hubbard and Glacier Bay. Oceania itinerary is Seattle to Vancouver, hitting Sitka, Wrangell and Ketchikan, and cruising the inside and outside passages.

 

Do any of those ports come close to making up for not seeing Glacier Bay and/or Hubbard? Would love to hear opinions . . .

[rayliang]

depend on your top priorities. Sounds like you really want to see tidal glaciers? If so, there is nothing that Oceania does that can come close to making up for not seeing Glacier Bay & Hubbard.

[NancyIL]

It looks like Oceania's 7-night cruises go to Tracy Arm Fjord. There's nothing wrong with that, but I'd rather cruise to Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay on a southbound Princess ship. Besides - I really like Princess ships. :)

 

**On the other hand - I love Sitka, and I've never been to Wrangell. That makes it harder!

[scotlady]

So it still sounds like, especially for a 1st time Alaska cruiser, that Princess is the way to go. I have nothing against Princess, was just hoping to spoil myself a little. Maybe we'll do Princess & book a suite :D

[Dajo5601]

Scotlady, I'd go for Princess every time. As one or two other contributors have mentioned there is absolutely nothing like Glacier Bay, other than perhaps your first sight of the Grand Canyon.

 

Go for it and enjoy the experience of a life time, it's one of my "must do again before I die" (not sure when that will be so I'm thinking of booking any day now).

 

Enjoy :):):):):)

[scotlady]

Thanks, Dajo!

 

Princess, it is. Now I just need to figure out which ship and date. That's okay, planning is half the fun!

[mapleleaves]

Thanks, Dajo!

 

Princess, it is. Now I just need to figure out which ship and date. That's okay, planning is half the fun!

 

 

When it comes to choosing a date, be sure to consider any port activities that are a priority for you. Some activities, like bear viewing or fishing have very limited windows of time depending on the location.

[rayliang]

There's also the opinion that it is better to be latter in the season, so Hubbard might not be as iced up and you have a better chance to get closer.

[CowPrincess]

HAL's balconies are not sold out. HAL holds onto the balconies to try to sell them to "cruise tour" pax first. If a balcony is important, and you want HAL's itinerary, you could book an oceanview on HAL and find out WHEN they will release the balconies, and get on the wait list for the balcony cabin. Then book a balcony on another cruise line and hope you get your HAL balcony before final pmt date on the other cruise line ;)

[bigeagle12]

Another option with Princess is their 10 day roundtrip out of San Francisco.

 

We are considering changing our RCI cruise to this Princess cruise.

[vbmom87]

As mentioned, eventually HAL will release some balconies, however, they have watered down their one way itineraries with only one scenic sailing day. :( I would definitely go with Princess to get both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier if scenery is your priority. Also, as mentioned, take note that Hubbard can be iced out early in the season. Of course there is also the risk it will be fogged out. That is why I like this itinerary. In case Hubbard is not accessible/visible, you still have Glacier Bay on the itinerary.

[scotlady]

Thanks for the further responses. I did find out about HAL holding the balconies after I called them today. They actually have a very short, 2 day cruisetour we might be interested in anyways..

 

However - I do like the idea of having both Glacier Bay and Hubbard on the itinerary. Which brings me to another question - since this will be a summer cruise, there will obviously be more children. Do you think there will be more kids on Princess than on HAL during the summer? Nothing against kids, but I really get tired of the hot tubs being taken over by the little ones. Is this a problem on Princess and/or HAL?

[alre309]

I havent been yet, but from my research HAL is known to attract a much more mature crowd (nice way of saying older :))- i doubt you would have any problems with kids there! In general while many families do cruise to Alaska- its not as many kids as you would see to the other warmer locations-I wouldn't worry but you are definitely safe with HAL.

[sherryf]

However - I do like the idea of having both Glacier Bay and Hubbard on the itinerary. Which brings me to another question - since this will be a summer cruise, there will obviously be more children. Do you think there will be more kids on Princess than on HAL during the summer? Nothing against kids, but I really get tired of the hot tubs being taken over by the little ones. Is this a problem on Princess and/or HAL?

 

I can't compare to HAL since I've never sailed them, but we have encountered quite a few children on our Princess Alaska cruises. When we went a couple of weeks ago, there were 461 kids on board, and it seemed like a LOT, but that's probably nothing compared to a Caribbean cruise on RCI or Disney. Of course, that was the last week of July, so prime family vacation time. If you go early or late in the season, more kids will be in school and you may encounter fewer on the ships.

 

Princess does have some adults-only pools and hot tubs. It may vary by ship, but on the Golden, we really enjoyed the pool and hot tubs in the spa area.

 

[geoherb]

We just returned from the Sapphire Princess on Sunday. We enjoyed the adults only pool and hot tubs near the spa. The children seemed to stay mainly in the covered pool area. The water in the pool was heated, so we enjoyed being able to take a swim, then sit in the hot tub. I also enjoyed being close to the spa to enjoy the sauna.

[nwwinelady]

We love Prncess, and even with Glacier Bay on the itinerary; you can also have the opportunity to book a zodiac trip up a fijord in Skagway. Then you can have the best of both. Book when kids are in school (May or September) to have fewer kids onboard. Prices are also less then. Adult only pools are great.

[scotlady]

Well, May wasn't an option, so we went ahead and booked for June on Sapphire. I guess I'll just have to be patient with the kiddos :rolleyes:

[rayliang]

The ship is big enough I honestly don't believe you will be bothered much by kids. You can always buy passes to the solarium as its adults only, and has a great view. But buy them early if you want it!!!

[scotlady]

Rayliang - Are you talking about the Sanctuary? How do you buy passes? I don't see it on the Princess website.

[karatemom2]

However - I do like the idea of having both Glacier Bay and Hubbard on the itinerary. Which brings me to another question - since this will be a summer cruise, there will obviously be more children. Do you think there will be more kids on Princess than on HAL during the summer? Nothing against kids, but I really get tired of the hot tubs being taken over by the little ones. Is this a problem on Princess and/or HAL?

 

We have done multiple Alaska cruises with Princess during the summer and while there are kids onboard (including our own), they are generally well supervised and well behaved. We just returned from our first HAL cruise and there were far fewer children onboard. First I think HAL attracts less families and also it was a 14 day cruise which likely reduces the number of kids. There were 97 kids total under 18 on our HAL cruise, compared to serveral hundred on average on our Princess cruises. So if you want to avoid kids HAL might be a better choice for you. We enjoyed the HAL itinerary, but honestly missed the outstanding service, wonderful lounges and livelier vibe on Princess. HAL is a little sedate for us, but I can see how someone looking for a very low key atmosphere would love it.

[rayliang]

Rayliang - Are you talking about the Sanctuary? How do you buy passes? I don't see it on the Princess website.

 

You can call Princess and ask if you can buy it now, or wait till you boarded the ship and buy it at the customer service desk, I think Deck 6?