2022 Alaska on HAL or Princess

[Lalof]

My husband and I are planning an Alaska cruiser our for 2022.  We are going with my sister and brother-in-law, who have never been on a cruise.  Right now, we are considering either the Holland America Noordam or the Princess Sapphire as both of those lines go to Glacier Bay, which we have heard is a must see.  My husband & I have done an Alaska cruise before, but we were on Celebrity so we didn’t go to Glacier Bay.  We also went a year that had some bad weather so we couldn’t get to Hubbard Glacier either. We have never sailed on HAL or Princess.  Does anyone have any recommendations for either line, or specifically either ship?  I did see a few reviews that indicted the Sapphire is in pretty tough shape? I sure would appreciate any thoughts, insights.  Thanks

[CruiserBruce]

If you liked Celebrity, Holland America is probably the better match, in my opinion.

 

HAL is a bit more sedate, but we find Princess bland. By the way, its Sapphire Princess. Check port times...that might help you. Are fares around the same?

 

Preferences are purely personal. The reason any person that comments defines, including myself, suit the poster. But as we don't know anything about you, hard to recommend something to suit your personality.

[Coral]

I was on the Sapphire Princess in 2018 after a major dry dock and the ship looked great. Every time I have been on the Sapphire, it has been a great ship.

 

I have not been on the Noordam.

 

I would look closely to times in port and ports/glaciers and decide based on this. Princess used to have a sailing that had both Hubbard and Glacier Bay on their itinerary. 

Edited August 28, 2021 by Coral

[GTJ]

Keep in mind, if you were not already aware, that Princess Cruises and Holland America Line are merely two different brands within the same company . . . both are part of Carnival Corporation & plc. The two brands have some distinctions between them, but neither is truly competing with the other, and each uses various shared resources. The HAL brand had until recently docked in Seward, and recently joined with the Princess brand in using (and now indisputably dominating) Whittier.

[don't-use-real-name]

Don't discount NCL - compare ports glaciers excursions fares perks etc.

 

Although I have not cruised on Celebrity - I agree with CruiserBruce with the description:

 

Princess - BLAND

HAL - SEDATE

 

As for NCL - FREESTYLE

[Heidi13]

Although personally we no longer sail with Princess, I agree with Coral. The Sapphire Princess along with sister Diamond Princess were built in Japan and are of vastly superior built quality than the French/Italian built ships.

 

Our last Princess cruise was 2015 and the maintenance on that ship was shocking, but as Coral mentioned, if she has recently drydocked, she should be in reasonable shape.

 

HAL ships tend to be smaller than Princess. Another consideration, is both cruise lines are part of the Holland America Group, so share management types.

 

Agree with Glacier Bay being a must, so suggest checking which other cruise lines visit GB

[rkacruiser]

Choosing an Alaskan cruise is a fun decision to make.

 

Other posters have recommended that one needs to consider the different itineraries as well as the time in port.

 

I prefer a cruise itinerary that includes both Glacier Bay as well as Hubbard Glacier.

 

Interesting that some consider the Princess Alaska product as being "bland".  Between HAL and Princess, HAL's is more "bland" (as of 2019 when I sailed on Westerdam to Alaska and Coral Princess from Alaska).  Yet, I found the HAL Alaska cruise to be comparable to Princess.  It was just "a bit different".  

[Coral]

4 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

 

I prefer a cruise itinerary that includes both Glacier Bay as well as Hubbard Glacier.

 

I mentioned that also 🙂

[Coral]

On 8/28/2021 at 7:38 PM, don't-use-real-name said:

Don't discount NCL - compare ports glaciers excursions fares perks etc.

 

Although I have not cruised on Celebrity - I agree with CruiserBruce with the description:

 

Princess - BLAND

HAL - SEDATE

 

As for NCL - FREESTYLE

My friends all tell me I would hate NCL. I am trusting them.

[Pluto_fan]

Following along as I am considering similar options.

 

I've just read on the Princess board that the Sapphire Princess has been moved to a different part of the world for next summer, possibly replaced by the Royal Princess.  Details are not available on the Princess website yet, but I am keeping my eyes open.

[geoherb]

I'd love to try a Holland America cruise to Alaska because they go to Sitka. Princess won't be going there until 2023. We have enjoyed the five HAL cruises we have taken. HAL has cut back on entertainment and activities. Princess had plenty of things happening every day when I was on the Majestic Princess last week. The only problem with the cruise was that it went to the same ports I've been to several times. But I'd book another Princess cruise to Alaska next year if the price were better. 

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, geoherb said:

I'd love to try a Holland America cruise to Alaska because they go to Sitka. Princess won't be going there until 2023. We have enjoyed the five HAL cruises we have taken. HAL has cut back on entertainment and activities. Princess had plenty of things happening every day when I was on the Majestic Princess last week. The only problem with the cruise was that it went to the same ports I've been to several times. But I'd book another Princess cruise to Alaska next year if the price were better. 

The entertainment has been increased on the large ships in the year or two before Covid.

[geoherb]

5 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

The entertainment has been increased on the large ships in the year or two before Covid.

 

That's good. Our last HAL cruise was on the Zuiderdam in 2017. I don't remember exactly how many cast members were in the production shows, but there weren't many. I do remember that it was better than our Veendam cruise. On that one, there were just a few female dancers and no males. On the Zuiderdam, there was a cruise director, port lecturer, culinary hostess, and DJ doing all of the activities. On my Princess cruises, the cruise director has a staff of five or six assistant and junior cruise directors helping to run the variety of activities. 

[CruiserBruce]

6 hours ago, geoherb said:

 

That's good. Our last HAL cruise was on the Zuiderdam in 2017. I don't remember exactly how many cast members were in the production shows, but there weren't many. I do remember that it was better than our Veendam cruise. On that one, there were just a few female dancers and no males. On the Zuiderdam, there was a cruise director, port lecturer, culinary hostess, and DJ doing all of the activities. On my Princess cruises, the cruise director has a staff of five or six assistant and junior cruise directors helping to run the variety of activities. 

On the Pinnacle class ships (Konningsdam is currently assigned to Alaska when "normal" returns), at least two new, additional entertainment venues have been added. At least one has been added to Eurodam/N. Amsterdam.

[rkacruiser]

20 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

The entertainment has been increased on the large ships in the year or two before Covid.

 

This is true, but in comparison between the Alaska cruise programs of Princess and HAL, Princess has the most activities, both Alaska oriented as well as cruise ship type activities.  This is based on my most recent experience of two Alaska cruises in 2019 on the Westerdam and Coral Princess, one way on each of these two fine vessels.  

 

Both will provide a cruiser, even a new to Alaska cruiser, an excellent Alaska cruise experience.  

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

This is true, but in comparison between the Alaska cruise programs of Princess and HAL, Princess has the most activities, both Alaska oriented as well as cruise ship type activities.  This is based on my most recent experience of two Alaska cruises in 2019 on the Westerdam and Coral Princess, one way on each of these two fine vessels.  

 

Both will provide a cruiser, even a new to Alaska cruiser, an excellent Alaska cruise experience.  

Westerdam is not in the larger two classes of HAL ships with the increased entertainment. 

[rkacruiser]

55 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Westerdam is not in the larger two classes of HAL ships with the increased entertainment. 

 

I am aware that the Pinnacle Class ships offer more diverse entertainment venues.  I have sailed on Nieuw Statendam.  

 

The question, I thought, was concerning the Alaska cruise programming.  Coral Princess exceeded my experience on Westerdam for such programming.  

 

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

Both will provide a cruiser, even a new to Alaska cruiser, an excellent Alaska cruise experience.  

 

I think that this post of mine remains valid.  

[beeandkmon]

I always say, you don't go to Alaska for the cruise ship- you go for Alaska. I would pick the line that has the ports that you prefer.