Alaska: HAL vs Princess

[nana51]

While we see ourselves as leaning more toward Oceania in the future, we want to do Alaska, and have been assuming that meant HAL, and our research seems to point to the Oosterdam for the 2015 Alaska cruising season. (Have ruled out the Zandaam.)

 

But: the posted Oosterdam/Alaska reviews are pretty bad. While we've paid for some future cruise credit on HAL, we're wondering if we should just leave that on the table and think Princess instead. Recognizing that this is a HAL board, we still wanted to ask for advice from Alaska land/sea veterans: In view of the current corner-cutting which we know is going on throughout the industry, is HAL or Princess the better choice for Alaska? Our one Princess experience last year on the Grand was pretty good, and we certainly thought Princess managed the MDR better than recent HAL experiences.

 

I just had a fabulous cruise on the Oosterdam and would take it again in a new York minute. She was well kept up, lovely crew and everything was working well and smooth. You must not have read my review.

[igraf]

I was just joking a little. We have cruised with HAL to Alaska four times, and we'll go again.

 

igraf

 

 

 

igraf,we always sail balcony,and we're going on our 5th cruise next month.If you're worried about what you missed on the other side,than maybe you need to see Alaska a different way.I enjoy whatever I'm seeing,and if I don't catch something,I'm not upset.I'm thankful to be able to travel this way!;)

[legalslave]

I have sailed on Princes several times but not to Alaska. I was happy with every cruise. I have sailed Alaska 4 times on HAL. Had balconies on all 4 cruises. Once on starboard, once on port side and twice in aft wraps. The best was obviously the aft wraps as we saw everything and did not need to be on the open decks. Sailed on the Amsterdam, Westerdam and twice on Zuiderdam. Fifth time to Alaska will be May 2015. I have sailed twice on the Oosterdam but that was in 2007 and 2008. The ship was great while we were on her. I highly recommend sailing out of Vancouver and doing the Inside Passage.

 

Diane

[janmcn]

Keep in mind that I believe it's only Princess and HAL that can enter Glacier Bay. With that said, one has to determine if/what glaciers are important for you to see: Hubbard (the largest face one) or Margerie Glacier (and others) in Glacier Bay.

Also, do you want to do only a 7-day "Up" or "Down" from Seward/Whittier or do you want to do a round trip from Seattle or Vancouver.

Once you figure those answers out, you'll be better able to choose your trip.

We've done 4 AK cruises, planning our next for next year…also did a month driving around.

AK is great no matter what…but you won't want to be sitting on your balcony…too much to see all over! HAL ships have great "topside" viewing areas. People who have done P and HAL have said HAL's viewing areas are better able to handle all the people who will be out at one time. Just hearsay, but that's what' I've heard.

 

No matter what…you'll LOVE your AK cruise and it won't be the last.

(PS…I prefer Hubbard Glacier…but often you can't get into where it is due to fog or ice.)

[Jim Avery]

As has been mentioned, both do a good job in Alaska. In May we sailed Pacific Princess in Alaska. Love the smaller ship and we had one of the very large aft suites and used the large aft wrap balcony extensively. The small ship seems to get closer dock position than the larger ships as well. Food and service was excellent on Pacific. The only gripe we have is that the Captain takes the Hecate Strait route which is most of a day basically out of sight of land instead of the BC portion of the Inside Passage. Not talking about inside Vancouver Island as we did transit Johnstone Strait/Seymour Narrows but the "real" inside passage is in BC using Grenville Channel and other passages. It requires Canadian Pilotage which Hecate Strait does not. Not sure if HAL is doing the BC Inside Passage any more but I remember passing the old Rotterdam in the BC sections back when I ran ships in this part of the world. The BC passages are the most scenic of the entire area imho.

[I_r_a]

Hey TR,

 

You could do what we will be doing next year - The Oosterdam from Vancouver to Seward and the Princess cruisetour on The Pacific Princess from Anchorage to Vancouver.

 

Ira

Edited August 16, 2014 by I_r_a
correct spelling

[Jim Avery]

Keep in mind that I believe it's only Princess and HAL that can enter Glacier Bay. With that said, one has to determine if/what glaciers are important for you to see: Hubbard (the largest face one) or Margerie Glacier (and others) in Glacier Bay.

Also, do you want to do only a 7-day "Up" or "Down" from Seward/Whittier or do you want to do a round trip from Seattle or Vancouver.

Once you figure those answers out, you'll be better able to choose your trip.

We've done 4 AK cruises, planning our next for next year…also did a month driving around.

AK is great no matter what…but you won't want to be sitting on your balcony…too much to see all over! HAL ships have great "topside" viewing areas. People who have done P and HAL have said HAL's viewing areas are better able to handle all the people who will be out at one time. Just hearsay, but that's what' I've heard.

 

No matter what…you'll LOVE your AK cruise and it won't be the last.

(PS…I prefer Hubbard Glacier…but often you can't get into where it is due to fog or ice.)

 

In May, on Pacific Princess, we shared Glacier Bay with Carnival Miracle. I think the HAL/Princess exclusivity is in the past.

[Lizzie68]

In May, on Pacific Princess, we shared Glacier Bay with Carnival Miracle. I think the HAL/Princess exclusivity is in the past.

 

All part of the same "family" as HAL.;) I believe that Celebrity and Royal Caribbean do Hubbard Glacier instead, and Tracy Arm when they can get in there.

[UPNYGuy]

The comment above about the Statendam being in "despicable" condition comes as some surprise to me, I was on it just 6 weeks ago in Alaska and I thought overall it was in excellent condition, almost impeccable. The only thing I noticed was that the light stanchions at the rear on the Navigation deck needed some refinishing.

 

 

We were on Statendam last September, so things are subject to change in that time period.

 

 

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