Celebrity vs. NCL vs. Princess

[ilovethesun]

Hi!

 

My husband and I are considering an Alaskan cruise for our 15th anniversary next year. We have cruised the Caribbean multiple times but it's been a while. We've sailed Carnival, RCCL, and NCL. I'm interested in trying both Celebrity and Princess but am not really attached to any line. Honestly, we have always thought Carnival had the best food/variety.

 

Anyway, we are looking at going in July of 2017. I've read that Glacier Bay is high on most people's lists (we know really nothing other than that we want to see glaciers and pretty sights) and I can't find a Celebrity ship that goes there.

 

What I've found is this:

 

Celebrity Infinity

Sun Jul 2 Vancouver, British Columbia 4:30 PM

Mon Jul 3 Inside Passage, Alaska

Tue Jul 4 Icy Strait Point, Alaska 3:30 PM 10:00 PM

Wed Jul 5 Hubbard Glacier, Alaska 10:30 AM 2:30 PM

Thu Jul 6 Juneau, Alaska 7:30 AM 6:00 PM

Fri Jul 7 Ketchikan, Alaska 12:00 PM 8:30 PM

Sat Jul 8 Inside Passage, Alaska

Sun Jul 9 Vancouver, British Columbia 7:00 AM

 

Norwegian Pearl (Glacier Bay)

CRUISE PORTS EMBARK Seattle (Washington); Juneau (Alaska); Skagway (Alaska); Ketchikan (Alaska); Victoria (British Columbia); DISEMBARK Seattle (Washington)

 

Ruby Princess

Ports: Seattle, Washington | Juneau, Alaska | Skagway, Alaska | Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska (Scenic Cruising) | Ketchikan, Alaska | Victoria, British Columbia, Canada | Seattle, Washington

 

WE would like to do a roundtrip either through Vancouver or Seattle (don't have time to do pre or post land visit). I'm leaning toward the NCL one mostly because it seems like Princess isn't offering any specials (drink packages/dining, etc) and one of the reasons my husband and I moved to all inclusive was because we got tired of signing for every drink. I mean, we don't drink like crazy but like to be able to enjoy ourselves on vacation.

 

Can anyone give me any guidance as to why Princess or Celebrity would be better than the NCL option? Am I missing anything obvious in these itineraries?

 

Thanks so much for your help!

Angie

[Coral]

Celebrity and RCCL do not have permits into Glacier Bay.

 

Carnival has a few that they use early and sometimes later in the season.

 

Most permits are held by HAL, NCL and Princess.

 

One benefit of Princess compared to NCL is that they have a naturalist onboard all week plus have other speakers come onboard such as Libby Riddles (first female to win Iditarod). Here are some examples:

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/north-to-alaska/

 

Princess does periodically run drink specials or high onboard credit which would come close to covering an all inclusive drink special.

 

Celebrity has a history of having 2 very good naturalists - one on each of their ships.

[Tricia724]

An Alaska cruise would be a wonderful way to celebrate your anniversary. It's a completely different experience than sailing the Caribbean, but Alaska has so much to offer.

 

Many people on these boards will encourage you to give priority to the itinerary and port times when sailing Alaska. Since you only have a few port stops, you want to see as much as you can. As far as the ships go, they are more alike than different. On previous Alaska cruises, we've sailed Holland America and Celebrity, and this year we're sailing Princess. It's all about which cruiseline best fits into our time schedule with the best itinerary (for us.)

 

As Coral mentioned, not all cruiselines have permits into Glacier Bay. Celebrity and Royal Caribbean sail Hubbard Glacier instead. I'm in the minority here, but I prefer Hubbard Glacier over Glacier Bay. The problem with Hubbard is that sometimes the ships are unable to get close to the glacier because of ice and weather conditions but that isn't a problem for ships going into Glacier Bay. I guess I've been lucky because in three trips to Hubbard Glacier, we had a beautiful day and a closeup view of the glacier. Our southbound on Coral Princess in September will cruise both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier.

 

Celebrity can be close to an all inclusive if you buy one of their packages which includes drinks, gratuities, and/or cabin credit. From time to time they offer these packages as booking incentives, but when they do, they usually jack up the cruise price. But keep your eye on the prices and sometimes you can luck into a good deal.

 

There are others here who are much more knowledgeable who will explain the difference between sailing out of Seattle vs. Vancouver. Whichever cruise you choose should be a good one.

[smrtypnts]

I'd like to point out just a small tidbit--You say you don't have time to add a land portion and therefore need to do a round trip visit, but even if you do not have time to add a land portion, you're likely to see a whole lot more if you do a one-way trip. What's to stop you from doing two one-way flights? For example fly into Anchorage, board the ship...go south and then end in Vancouver and fly home from Vancouver. You might hit ports or views you might not otherwise be able to see and do.

We are adding a land portion, but we're still doing a one-way on Princess from Anchorage to Vancouver. There's no question we're doing one-way flights. We're starting in Fairbanks for a 3-day land portion and then getting on Island Princess heading south for a week. Just more food for thought for you.:)