Inside or OV for Alaska and what ship would you pick

[NOSaints1]

I feel like I'm gonna get a lot of heat for this, but what's your opinion on doing either stateroom to save money on one and spend on another. If you've done these staterooms how was it and was it worth it? What ship would you choose, we live outside of Toronto so you would think YVR would be our pick between Sea and YVR, for the ship, staterooms, dining, intenerary and price?

[Thrak]

Either stateroom will be fine. The best Glacier Bay viewing is topside. You didn't give dates so I have no idea which ships you have to choose from or how the itineraries might difer. I think Star, Coral, and Island are doing Alaska but don't know for sure what you are looking at. Given those three ships I would choose in this order:

 

1. Coral

2. Star

3. Island

Edited December 20, 2015 by Thrak

[NOSaints1]

May/Sept 2017, which months are usually best for Alaska

[Thrak]

May/Sept 2017, which months are usually best for Alaska

 

Weather can be fickle. When we took our first cruise to Alaska it was September 7 - 17th. We had beautiful weather the entire cruise. People in Ketchikan and Juneau said they hadn't seen the sun for weeks but we had tee-shirt weather. One just never knows about the weather. BTW - we cruised in an (extremely tiny) inside cabin on Sea Princess the cabin was smaller than those on the Grand class of ships. It was our first ever cruise and I was totally hooked after that. We spent a lot of time up on deck during the "scenic cruising" portions of the cruise.

[NOSaints1]

What decks are better than others for staterooms, we've only sailed Carnival and they have bit of square feet

[trystran72]

I sailed Alaska with an inside room and it was still awesome. There's so much free space around the decks to see the views any time of day! I enjoy moving all around for the different views. I chose an inside cabin on my next Alaska trip on the Crown because it's saving me almost 900 dollars which I can in turn use for flights, etc.

[NOSaints1]

Two lines I'm looking at are X or Princess almost considered Carnival but they only have one ship and heard good things about X and Princess, always heard Vicki Bonne mention it.

[moki'smommy]

I cruised Alaska in an inside cabin and found it to be fine. The good views are from the open decks where you can see all around. The cruise line had blankets on desk and hot chocolate readily available. A balcony is always nice, but for the price difference I'd rather spend the money on excursions. The view from a balcony is much more limited than from the open decks...yes, it is certainly better than the view from an inside cabin, but I'd choose whale watching over a balcony cabin.

 

As to when to go...we went the first week in September. Prices were seriously lower then than 2 weeks earlier (school starting probably influenced that), and the weather was great. We had a couple episodes of "mist," but no real rain. The later you go in the season, the more things have melted and the farther into the glacier areas the ships can go. Whether that means better views or not, I don't know. I do remember thinking about taking our heavy coats and deciding that it wasn't worth hauling them; we had plenty of things to layer. Leaving the winter coats at home was the right move.

[CineGraphic]

An oceanview cabin worked perfectly for us. There is plenty of open space for you to see what you need to see.

[AryMay]

Normally we book inside cabins when we cruise because we are just cheap. But...for Alaska the balcony was worth the splurge. The time we spent on the balcony was as good or better than the tours we did in the ports.

 

We did go up on deck some of the time, but standing at a railing with a bunch of other people gets old. With close to 20 hours of daylight each day we used the balcony early in the morning and late at night (and lots of time in between!) It was nice having the chairs and access to the bathroom and our cabin if we needed something.

 

To save a litle money, we did book our cruise in late May when prices were less. In retrospect, I would choose this time again just because the mountains had so much more of a snow cover than later in the summer...beautiful!!

 

You should check out the Alaska board here on Cruise Critic and read as many trip reports as you can. I got so much information that way.

 

I posted lots and lots of photos from our trip on my blog if you are interested. Here is the link to the Alasksa cruise posts: My Souvenir Memories Blog (Alaska Cruise)

[Colo Cruiser]

Pick the Coral if possible and book an OV on Emerald deck either all the way forward or aft.

[NOSaints1]

What makes Princess different than other cruise lines, they all go to the same place, they all offer food, entertainment but what makes Princess different? I've heard and read a few things but not sure everything I know.

[DougH]

I've sailed in many inside or obstructed cabins in Alaska. What I look for is a cabin in a location that has quick outside access nearby. For example on the Coral being far aft means you are close to the open stern decks. On the Grand type ships forward on either Baja or Caribe, or even Emerald or aft on Aloha gets you to outside decks.

 

I'd much rather spend my money on excursions than a fancier cabin. There is always lots of open deck space to watch the scenery go by.

[Colo Cruiser]

I've sailed in many inside or obstructed cabins in Alaska. What I look for is a cabin in a location that has quick outside access nearby. For example on the Coral being far aft means you are close to the open stern decks. On the Grand type ships forward on either Baja or Caribe, or even Emerald or aft on Aloha gets you to outside decks.

 

I'd much rather spend my money on excursions than a fancier cabin. There is always lots of open deck space to watch the scenery go by.

 

Thats why I said the Coral. Great viewing areas both forward and aft.

[Host Jazzbeau]

What makes Princess different than other cruise lines, they all go to the same place, they all offer food, entertainment but what makes Princess different? I've heard and read a few things but not sure everything I know.

 

Glacier Bay

[NOSaints1]

I see what you mean, it looks gorgeous

[illiniwahoo]

We mainly sail in inside cabins. We did splurge for a balcony for alaska. We enjoyed it, but honestly weren't on it as much as we thought we would be. I really don't think you will spend much time looking out the window of your stateroom, so I would book an inside cabin and use the saved money to do some great excursions. All of my favorite memories were from the excursions.

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[dianef]

We are going to Alaska and booked obstructed view.It was only $50 more per person and the room is larger and we will have a pretty good view of the outside.WIth TA discount it was actually $43.I think it is worth the little amount for a larger room and some daylight.

 

Plan to be outside for viewing and cannot warrant an additional $500 a person for balcony.That is my opinion.

[AKman2495]

If I were sailing on an Alaskan cruise, I would go for an inside. Not only do I save some money that can be spent of excursions, but also keep in mind that in the summer, you have lots of daylight. If you like to sleep, the inside room will give you some shelter from the almost non-stop light.

 

Of course, on an Alaskan cruise, you should only be sleeping and dressing in your room. The rest of the time you should moving around the ship seeing all of the scenery from as many angles as possible.

[Jasperdo]

Both of our Alaska cruises have been with an inside cabin. I'd much rather be out on deck and see the scenery from all sides of the ship.

[rpcv77]

Personal preferences always play a huge part in people's responses. For my first several cruises, I sailed only in balconies. Then I had an obstructed OV and found it to be just fine. When we booked Alaska, we carefully chose an obstructed OV. At check in, we found we had been upgraded to a Caribe balcony. We loved it and enjoyed using the balcony, but would not have wanted to pay for it on our own. That money was better spent on excursions and fun in port. We will continue to book obstructed OV, but Princess is welcome to upgrade us anytime 😉.

[NOSaints1]

Can you book airfare the way you can on Carnival where you book it but pay it down with your cruise? If you have a Carnival number can you apply it to Princess

[sunsetbeachgal]

To get the best viewing you need to be out and about on both sides of the ship, so to me if you need to save money then go for the least expensive and save the money for memorable excursions.

[NOSaints1]

We had a balcony out of San Juan and hardly used it.

[skynight]

A) I would take a one way northbound or southbound between Whittier, Alaska and Vancouver, BC coupled with an Alaska land tour, rather than a RT Seattle. Even if I didn't select the coupled cruisetour package, I would still select the one way cruise.

B) If you select an OV obstructed view there is a chance you could be upgraded. Princess tends to give this perk to first timers (not guaranteed).

C) I would select the Coral or the Star. I would avoid the Island. While the Island and the Coral were sister ships when built, Princess has ruined the Island by adding over 200 passengers, removing the Universe Lounge, eliminating aft viewing areas from the upper decks, not adding the International Cafe, and crowding extra passengers into reduced public space.