Alaska-Celebrity, Princess or Royal Caribbean

[happygirl72]

My husband and I are planning our first Alaskan cruise, and we are not sure which line to choose. We need the cruise to be roundtrip Seattle and for 7 days. We have never been on Celebrity or Princess, but we enjoyed RCCL Liberty of the Seas.

 

The four cruises we are looking at are

Celebrity Solstice

Grand Princess

Golden Princess

Rhapsody of the Seas

 

We are in our early 40s and we will not be taking our kids on this trip. We don't mind dressing up for dinner, but we prefer jeans and tshirts during the day. We would like to have a table for 2 at dinner as we are not very outgoing.

 

What cruise is right for us? Any advice would be great.

Edited November 13, 2013 by happygirl72

[Keith1010]

I would first begin by looking at the itineraries to be sure you hit the ports that you would be most interested in.

 

From there then you can narrow this down to the cruise line.

 

Keith

[dorisis]

If you are doing the inside passage the ports are much the same for all lines. I would prefer Princess for the smaller ships and because they are veterans of the Alaska area.

[Aquahound]

Keith is spot on by suggesting you compare the itineraries. I disagree with doris....whose been doing it longer makes no difference whatsoever. It's not like they know a short cut or something. :rolleyes: She's also wrong about ship size. Grand and Golden Princess are 30,000 GT larger than Rhapsody of the Seas.

 

However, if the difference in Princess itineraries is Glacier Bay, I'd favor those routes.....but that's only if the prices are somewhat comparable.

 

Good luck with your choice. :)

[Chadr135]

Our last cruise was on Celebrity and we loved it. A great upgrade from RCCL - everything felt a bit more luxurious - also less kids. I hope that helps!

[happygirl72]

We would need to go in May due to my work schedule, and now I am really confused. From reading these boards, it looks like Tracy Arm is not a sure thing early in the season. We are definitely wanting to see the scenery (glaciers, wildlife,etc). Are we likely going to miss out if we take a cruise in May unless it goes to Glacier Bay? The Glacier Bay cruises seem to be priced higher, is that why? Should we consider Norwegian and Holland?

 

Thanks for all of the help

[psujmatt]

We had a wonderful round-trip from Seattle on the Star Princess with Tracy Arm....in September, not May. Tracy Arm Fjord was beautiful...but it was freezing at 6am when we were sailing in. Years ago I did a cruise that included College Fjord and Glacier Bay, and they were both spectacular.

 

My general recommendation is to try to find a cruise than includes Glacier Bay. That was one of the highlights of any cruise I've taken. The Golden has several itineraries that do that in May as do several Holland America ships.

 

I personally would prefer the Solstice Ship to any other option in Alaska, but for me the point of an Alaska cruise in the scenery, and for me Glacier Bay is the best bet from Seattle.

[zookiebird]

You might want to consider an inside passage cruise r/t Vancouver on HAL. We did it this past May on the Zuiderdam and had a fantastic time. Beautiful mid-size ship and a great itinerary. Visited both Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm plus Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. Just a thought.

[happygirl72]

I think we need to go on a crusie that includes Glacier Bay as this is probably our once in a lifetime Alaska trip. I have narrowed it down to

 

Golden Princess

Holland America Westerdam

Norwegian Pearl

 

Which would you choose? Any advice? Which ship looks the nicest? Which has the best cabins?

[Aquahound]

I think we need to go on a crusie that includes Glacier Bay as this is probably our once in a lifetime Alaska trip. I have narrowed it down to

 

Golden Princess

Holland America Westerdam

Norwegian Pearl

 

Which would you choose? Any advice? Which ship looks the nicest? Which has the best cabins?

 

Between those 3, I would probably lean toward the Westerdam. I've had too many less than ideal experiences with NCL, so that would be my first choice for elimination.

 

The reason I say Westerdam is for the smaller ship. For an Alaskan cruise, I would prefer more intimate rather than a mega ship. However, the nightlife will be much better on the Golden Princess.