Which Princess ship to sail Southbound inside passage?

[Cinderellie]

Hello. My new husband and I (in our late 40's - early 50's) want to sail Alaska in mid-June 2015. His first Alaska cruise... my 2nd, although we have cruised other lines.

 

Since we want to go to Glacier Bay, our options are reduced to Princess and Holland America.

 

Since Holland America is way more expensive, and I hear caters to an older clientele, we have probably decided on Princess.

 

So... which ship do we take? We sailed on the Star in March for our honeymoon, and want to try a different ship. That leaves the Coral, Crown and Pacific. All go to Glacier Bay.

 

The Pacific Princess is hailed as one of their SMALLER ships. Since we were a bit disappointed in the Star's activities on board and entertainment (mostly geared for SENIORS), and felt the food (especially the buffets) were mediocre at best, we would like to hear your recommendations for choosing a ship.

 

Things you should know:

- My husband gets seasick... tried ginger, dramamine, the wrist bracelet, and then succombed to the patch, which made him very tired during the trip. Would a smaller ship be worse for that?

- Would a smaller ship have more limited activities and entertainment?

- Are one of the ships geared to older passengers?

 

Your sage advice, please. Thanks!

[hollon]

Hello. My new husband and I (in our late 40's - early 50's) want to sail Alaska in mid-June 2015. His first Alaska cruise... my 2nd, although we have cruised other lines.

 

Since we want to go to Glacier Bay, our options are reduced to Princess and Holland America.

 

Since Holland America is way more expensive, and I hear caters to an older clientele, we have probably decided on Princess.

 

So... which ship do we take? We sailed on the Star in March for our honeymoon, and want to try a different ship. That leaves the Coral, Crown and Pacific. All go to Glacier Bay.

 

The Pacific Princess is hailed as one of their SMALLER ships. Since we were a bit disappointed in the Star's activities on board and entertainment (mostly geared for SENIORS), and felt the food (especially the buffets) were mediocre at best, we would like to hear your recommendations for choosing a ship.

 

Things you should know:

- My husband gets seasick... tried ginger, dramamine, the wrist bracelet, and then succombed to the patch, which made him very tired during the trip. Would a smaller ship be worse for that?

- Would a smaller ship have more limited activities and entertainment?

- Are one of the ships geared to older passengers?

 

Your sage advice, please. Thanks!

 

I'm also going in June, I can't answer all your questions, but I will answer one, there is a medication that I give my kids if they get seasick or just has a virus w/ throwing up or car sickness, it's a drug for chemo, even though they don't have cancer. I just go to my doctor and ask for the drug and tell them I need something incase we get seasick. Works great and w/o any drowiness at all. I will look it up later today and get back w/ you.

[Princess Sailor]

The Grand Princess is also doing Glacier Bay in 2015. You might like it.

PS

[NancyIL]

I think you are overly concerned about demographics. Unless you sail to Alaska on Disney Cruise Line, there will be quite a few "older passengers" on the other cruise lines.

 

I sailed on the Coral Princess and the Golden Princess (sister to Star Princess) to Alaska. I have also sailed on the Crown Princess in Europe, and in my opinion - it's too big for Alaska. Cruises on Princess's smallest ships like the Pacific Princess are usually more expensive than on their larger ships, and they have fewer dining and entertainment options. I would gladly sail to Alaska on the Coral Princess again.

 

**I just checked Princess's 2015 cruises, and the Crown Princess does round-trip cruises from Seattle (along with Ruby Princess) that go to Tracy Arm Fjord. As the previous poster noted, the Grand Princess also does southbound cruises in 2015.

 

Notice also that the Star Princess and the Grand Princess depart on Saturdays, the Pacific Princess departs on Mondays, and the Coral Princess departs on Wednesdays.

Edited August 9, 2014 by NancyIL

[Zuki]

We sailed on the Holland Westerdam this past July. We are in our 50s.. It was a fabulous time. In Alaska we are there for the ports and excursions. There were all ages of people and the pool was packed with kids. There were people in wheel chairs and walkers... but so what? We will all be there some day and some in wheel chairs were young adults. Next year we are sailing the Coral northbound in June. Demographics are not a concern. It is more important that you have the ports you want and are there for the time needed to enjoy them.

[Budget Queen]

Hello. My new husband and I (in our late 40's - early 50's) want to sail Alaska in mid-June 2015. His first Alaska cruise... my 2nd, although we have cruised other lines.

 

Since we want to go to Glacier Bay, our options are reduced to Princess and Holland America.

 

Since Holland America is way more expensive, and I hear caters to an older clientele, we have probably decided on Princess.

 

So... which ship do we take? We sailed on the Star in March for our honeymoon, and want to try a different ship. That leaves the Coral, Crown and Pacific. All go to Glacier Bay.

 

The Pacific Princess is hailed as one of their SMALLER ships. Since we were a bit disappointed in the Star's activities on board and entertainment (mostly geared for SENIORS), and felt the food (especially the buffets) were mediocre at best, we would like to hear your recommendations for choosing a ship.

 

Things you should know:

- My husband gets seasick... tried ginger, dramamine, the wrist bracelet, and then succombed to the patch, which made him very tired during the trip. Would a smaller ship be worse for that?

- Would a smaller ship have more limited activities and entertainment?

- Are one of the ships geared to older passengers?

 

Your sage advice, please. Thanks!

 

There is also NCL to consider.

 

As for your "disappointments", frankly- you are likely to find them on any cruise sailing Alaska. Demographics are older- on all lines. Food has been cut back on them all as well. IF food is a priority, then I suggest you look at Silversea, Regent etc you can not expect more from the "major" cruise lines.

 

I suggest your husband consult a health care professional. Taking "advice" from a random message board is not the way to go. Any drugs- ( ANY, meaning also, over the counter) have the potential for side effects. Nobody, knows history here.

 

Every cruise has motion. I find the "smooth as glass" "reports", pretty useless. What happened in the past has nothing to do with what you will encounter on your sailing. Everyone is different and I hear of "ill" complaints on EVERY cruise I have sailed on in Alaska, including the 4 already this year.

 

I have encountered some very rough sailings, with my worse being a round trip Vancouver- which "reports" always claim are "smooth sailing". I've sailed this area enough to know, it can NOT be predicted. IF you have a "smooth" sailing- you had just as much potential for rough, when you started out.

 

Add to the mix, overall, more open ocean is sailed compared to several years ago. I've sailed Princess 4 times and NCL 2 in the last 2 years. The routes on all these one way, went open ocean across the gulf. All sailings were open ocean between Dixon Passage and the Queen Charlottes. I could go on and on. :)

[peety3]

I vote for Coral Princess. It's a little smaller than the Grand class, for better and worse, but we really liked it. For Alaska, one of the neat benefits of the Coral is the Horizon Court is FORWARD (with the spa aft); many of the other ships swap these. You can camp out in the buffet seating area for hours, looking out and about in the direction you're heading, basking in the beautiful glory of Alaska.

 

As a now-Seattle-local, the Seattle round-trips are super convenient, but for the view while at sea and in Alaska (partially due to better routing on the NB/SB routes), we might be lured back to the Coral for next time.

[Cinderellie]

To those who shared your cruise ship preferences and reasoning, thank you. That's exactly what we were looking for. We did not ask for seasickness advice. I was hoping that some in this seasoned group had sailed on multiple Princess ships touring Alaska and to hear your "take" comparing the ships. Much obliged.

[sweetsleep]

Totally agree with Coral Princess. Have sailed on HAL once and never again for many reasons.

Took the Coral to the partial Panama Canal transit and loved the ship, the crew,etc. Going on her again in June,2015 to Alaska.

Inside passage should be a very smooth ride regardless of the ship you are on so minimal worries about seasickness.

I was on the Maasdam-total dump of a ship. Air conditioning failed, they could not get our safe to work,they ran out of food!! and admitted that. Never again will I go with HAL. Decor was so dated. I saw duct tape holding up molding around the lights in their sorry excuse for an "atrium". Just unacceptable.

No ability to even get coffee anywhere before 7am. I was often the first person at their sorry excuse for a coffee bar and had to wait forever for service. No food there at all unlike the wonderful 24/7 International Cafe on Princess.

I would avoid HAL like the plague.

[Budget Queen]

\

Inside passage should be a very smooth ride regardless of the ship you are on so minimal worries about seasickness.

\.

 

Not true. I have been on several Alaska sailings that have encountered rough sailings. NONE of the cruises sail all "inside passage". They all sail some open ocean. And those one ways also cross the gulf and can be rough.

[shipfriend_max]

Hi, what about Celebrity?

For our first Alaska cruise in Aug 2015, we have booked Millennium on the Trip from Vancouver to Seward. It includes Hubbard Glacier.

We really loved her sister Summit and for that reason we have booked Millennium. She has nearly the same size as the much recommended Coral Princess.

Maybe that would be an option as well.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[fishin' musician]

There is also NCL to consider.

 

NCL southbound does not include Glacier National Park.

 

I did northbound on the Coral Princess last year and thought it to be a great vessel for Alaska. Instead of aft facing cabins it has open decks for viewing, it also has forward facing open decks. FWIW, it is the sister ship of the Island Princess.

 

My wife suffered terribly from motion sickness; after bands, patch, Bonine, Dramamine, etc..., ginger pills finally provided relief.

Edited August 18, 2014 by fishin' musician

[lovesublime]

I'm also going in June, I can't answer all your questions, but I will answer one, there is a medication that I give my kids if they get seasick or just has a virus w/ throwing up or car sickness, it's a drug for chemo, even though they don't have cancer. I just go to my doctor and ask for the drug and tell them I need something incase we get seasick. Works great and w/o any drowiness at all. I will look it up later today and get back w/ you.

 

 

 

The medication referred to here is Zofran (brand name). I am a long time PACU nurse and we routinely use it for post op nausea. It's not only for cancer patients. It's an anti emetic and most people have no problems taking it. You can speak to your physician about it.