Princess Alaska Cruise

[sh2738]

I am looking at going on an Alaskan Cruise possibly on Princess, the Ruby Princess that leaves from Seattle.

 

I have never done Princess before and was wondering if anyone has done the cruise to Alaska out of Seattle?

 

The other one that I am looking at is one on Royal Caribbean. The reason that I am leaning towards Princess is because it goes to the inside passage and I have read that if able to do that then you should.

 

It does the Tracy Arm place instead of the Glacier Bay. There is one that does Glacier Bay but it doesn't fit with my timetable.

 

Has anyone done the Princess Alaska from Seattle? Was it good.

 

 

 

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[gracebest]

I am looking at going on an Alaskan Cruise possibly on Princess, the Ruby Princess that leaves from Seattle.

 

I have never done Princess before and was wondering if anyone has done the cruise to Alaska out of Seattle?

 

The other one that I am looking at is one on Royal Caribbean. The reason that I am leaning towards Princess is because it goes to the inside passage and I have read that if able to do that then you should.

 

It does the Tracy Arm place instead of the Glacier Bay. There is one that does Glacier Bay but it doesn't fit with my timetable.

 

Has anyone done the Princess Alaska from Seattle? Was it good.

 

 

 

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We did the same cruise 2 years ago. We really enjoyed it. Everyone says you should do Glacier Bay if possible, but we were able to get really close to the glacier, although I know that depends on fog, ice, etc. We saw so much wildlife and beautiful scenery. We are actually doing the same cruise again this summer, for some of the same reasons you stated.

[godawgs2012]

I've done Alaska twice, once on Princess and once on HAL. Both went to Glacier Bay (which if you can make it work is the trip you should take if you think you'll only ever go to Alaska once). It was an enjoyable trip and I would recommend either line (although I thought HAL did a slightly better job in Alaska than Princess, but I wouldn't not book a Princess cruise for the right schedule/price).

 

In Alaska, it's much less about the ship and much more about the scenery. Pick based on the ports and the excursions that may interest you. I highly recommend a cruise that goes to Sitka if you can get one - the sail in and sail out between the small islands that dot the harbor is beautiful.

[sh2738]

Yes I have heard it is more about the ports which is why I am leaning towards Princess. Do wish we could do the Glacier Bay but it doesn't leave at the right date, have a specific week in mind. Thanks fir the info.

 

 

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[Daisyloo]

I am looking at going on an Alaskan Cruise possibly on Princess, the Ruby Princess that leaves from Seattle.

 

I have never done Princess before and was wondering if anyone has done the cruise to Alaska out of Seattle?

 

The other one that I am looking at is one on Royal Caribbean. The reason that I am leaning towards Princess is because it goes to the inside passage and I have read that if able to do that then you should.

 

It does the Tracy Arm place instead of the Glacier Bay. There is one that does Glacier Bay but it doesn't fit with my timetable.

 

Has anyone done the Princess Alaska from Seattle? Was it good.

 

 

 

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Can't help with Princess in Alaska as we cruised on HAL from Vancouver. But as far as Tracy Arm - we loved it. The day we sailed Tracy Arm was the hi-light of our cruise. The scenery was stunning. Also, sailing the inside passage was wonderful - so much to see and we had calm sailing the whole trip.

You are thinking of sailing on the Ruby. She is the sister ship to the Emerald that we have sailed on twice and loved. I think you will be pleased with your choice. Have a great trip.

[BlueEyesMI]

We sailed on Golden Princess, from Seattle, with the Tracy Arm trip - and it was FANTASTIC! We had a great, but short stay, in Seattle first. We hit the big Market and bought some beautiful flowers, for $5, to take on board - we were the envy of the check-in line!

 

If you stop in Skagway, rent a car (we used Avis - book early!) and drive up to Emerald Lake. Most amazing day of my life! So beautiful, it was like driving through a postcard. My 17 year old DD still talks about how that's the best day of her life (so far).:D

[sherryf]

I've cruised to Alaska from Seattle on Princess 6 times - 3 times to Glacier Bay and 3 times to Tracy Arm. Of those 3 times in Tracy Arm, we only made it close to the glacier once. If that is a priority to you, you might want to reconsider, or look into taking the small-boat excursion that will get you closer, if offered.

 

Obviously I thought the Princess cruises were "good" since I keep going on them. :D

[peety3]

We've done two northbound Vancouver->Whittier cruises on Princess, plus one Seattle RT on the Grand with Tracy Arm. I was surprised to realize that Tracy Arm was actually the highlight of the trip, though we chose the small boat excursion which I HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend.

 

Seattle embarkation was OK...we might have timed it wrong, but there was a bottleneck at the station where they take your picture to pair up with your cruise card, and they'd gone out of their way to snake the line to accommodate. Views to/from Alaska were eh at best, but Tracy Arm more than made up for it. Pictures are at

 

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[sh2738]

Yes. I wish we could do the Glacier Bay one but they only have one the week later then we wanted to go. Might keep it in mind though. Will definitely do the excursions to really see the glaciers though. Thanks.

 

 

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[Saruman]

We will be making our sixth Inside Passage trip this summer, although taking the Ruby will be a first. I would disagree with the poster who didn't think much of the views up and back, but then being from the Midwest, anything that isn't flat with a row of corn or soybeans in front of it is beautiful in my book. We always take a balcony so we can sit back and watch the coastline (after the first sea day) roll by. Mountains and forests and inlets, with the possibility of whales and eagles at any time, are pretty nice. And the Tracy Arm, even if you don't get around the last bend to see the glacier, is a couple of spectacular hours of gorgeous fiord!!

Take the whale watch in Juneau and you will see a glacier behind you as you leave Auk Bay on the catamaran. :D

[Near PDX]

The Ruby Princess will offer an excursion in Tracy arm in which you can get off the Ruby directly onto a small excursion boat and go to the face of both the North and South Sawyer glaciers. You then take the excursion boat back to Juneau to meet back up with the Ruby, and if any wildlife or whales are spotted in transit the boat can get quite close. We have taken this excursion twice before and think the experience is far superior to Glacier Bay, which we've also done many times.

[sh2738]

The Ruby Princess will offer an excursion in Tracy arm in which you can get off the Ruby directly onto a small excursion boat and go to the face of both the North and South Sawyer glaciers. You then take the excursion boat back to Juneau to meet back up with the Ruby, and if any wildlife or whales are spotted in transit the boat can get quite close. We have taken this excursion twice before and think the experience is far superior to Glacier Bay, which we've also done many times.

 

 

Thanks. More detail on that excursion though. How exactly does the excursion boat meet back up with the ship in Juneau ? Thanks.

 

 

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[critterchick]

We sailed Star out of Seattle a couple of years ago. Our stop in Victoria was from 7:00pm to midnight, which was a shame, IMO. We couldn't get into Tracy Arm because of ice.:(

[Near PDX]

Thanks. More detail on that excursion though. How exactly does the excursion boat meet back up with the ship in Juneau ? Thanks.

 

 

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The excursion boat, once it has visited both glaciers, cruises back out of Tracy Arm and to Juneau. It stays fairly close to shore. The last time we were on it there was a bear foraging right at the edge of the water and the boat was able to get quite close to it, but the skipper said that doesn't happen all the time. Once back in Juneau you get back directly onto the Ruby.

[MilliesMom]

Alaska three times and a 4th scheduled for this summer. All on Princess

 

First - out of Seattle - Misty Fjord - gorgeous

2nd - out of Seattle - Tracy Arm - gorgeous

3rd - out of San Francisco - Glacier Bay and Endicott Arm (we missed Skagway because of weather) - gorgeous

4th - will be out of Seattle on the Ruby Princess. Tracy Arm

 

In my opinion there is NO bad cruise to Alaska. No matter what the main focus is you will see amazing scenery, wildlife, have great times in the ports, and have an amazing vacation.

 

When we started to plan this vacation, I thought my husband would definitely want to see Glacier Bay, but he said he wanted to go back to Tracy Arm. I didn't care either way, both itineraries are GREAT.

 

My only disappointment is the late night stop in Victoria. When the ship does this we normally stay on board. Our first cruise, we had all day in Victoria and the one out of San Fancisco we had 7 hours there. Most ships do the late night stop which is disappointing.

Edited February 4, 2015 by MilliesMom

[yyjguy]

sh2738-Just a heads up in that none of the cruise ships that sail from Seattle, regardless of cruise line, travel the inside passage. They all travel out in the open ocean on the west side of Vancouver Island and up Hecate Strait to Alaskan waters. The inside passage runs on the east coast of Vancouver Island, and then on passages and canals between the outer islands and the mainland up to near Prince Rupert.

[Nancyquilts]

I think that now you have to leave from Vancouver to get the inside passage to the East of Vancouver Island.

[geoherb]

We took two Princess cruises from Seattle. Both were great. I enjoyed the scenery of Tracy Arm. If we do it again, I will plan on taking the small boat excursion to get closer to the glaciers. Our third cruise to Alaska was a southbound one from Whittier to Vancouver. I enjoyed seeing Glacier Bay. We had the perfect view from our balcony on the bow of the ship. Hubbard Glacier was somewhat of a disappointment. I'm glad we saw it before Glacier Bay. We had five nights in Alaska before that cruise. I would not want to do a one-way without time to enjoy at least four or five days in Alaska before or after the cruise.

[SamboniMan]

I've done both the Rhapsody of the Seas and the Golden Princess...both round trip from Seattle and with the Tracy Arm itinerary. Princess was SUPERIOR to RCCL in EVERY possible category. Both times we were able to get very close to Sawyer Glacier. It was awesome.

 

We are going this summer on the Crown Princess with the Glacier Bay itinerary. I don't think I would sail to Alaska on RCCL again...

 

Good Luck!

[KruzeKrazy!]

We've done Alaska on HAL (out of Seattle) that included Glacier Bay and Sitka as well as on Princess (10-day out of SFO) that included Tracy Arm and Skagway.

 

We did make it all the way to Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm (which we realize we were fortunate) and the weather for us in Glacier Bay was great. All things considered we prefer Glacier Bay but any Alaska cruise will be great for a first-timer.

 

And while there are differences in the various ports any of them will be sufficiently novel and interesting for a first-time Alaska cruise.

 

So go when you can and don't worry about what you don’t see. You can't see it all on one trip and rest assured you can (and likely will want to) return again some day.

[I_r_a]

sh2738-Just a heads up in that none of the cruise ships that sail from Seattle, regardless of cruise line, travel the inside passage. They all travel out in the open ocean on the west side of Vancouver Island and up Hecate Strait to Alaskan waters. The inside passage runs on the east coast of Vancouver Island, and then on passages and canals between the outer islands and the mainland up to near Prince Rupert.

 

Ditto.

 

Check the itineraries and maps at http://www.princess.com

 

Ira

[sh2738]

Ditto.

 

Check the itineraries and maps at http://www.princess.com

 

Ira

 

 

I think that different people have different ideas on what the inside passage is. None if them do the first inside passage east of Vancouver island, however Princess leaving from Seattle doe do the rest of the inside passage starting after the Vancouver island and going to Ketchikan and then up the inside passage. Yes it doesn't do all of the inside passage but it does the section with the ports in it. The best you can do when you have to leave from Seattle. On my next one I will have to do the one that goes from Vancouver to Alaska one way. Thanks for all of the advice everyone. I have booked mine and look forward to trying Princess.