Do you miss a coveredpool in Alaska?

[SweetsugarNL]

Since the most ships not have a covered pool. I am wondering how bad this is.

Is there enough indoorspace to sit? And are the outdoorpools to cold?

[partybarbie]

It will all depend on the weather. I was in Alaska the first part of May this year and it rained every day. I went back at the end of June/first week of July, and the weather was beautiful and warm. We didn't need a covered pool then and the outdoor pool was heated. 

[SweetsugarNL]

Looking at end of June but doubt if we sail on HAL with covered pool or Princess...

I am a person who like to swim / hottub after a excursion day.

[DCThunder]

12 minutes ago, SweetsugarNL said:

Looking at end of June but doubt if we sail on HAL with covered pool or Princess...

I am a person who like to swim / hottub after a excursion day.

I was on a HAL Alaska cruise at the end of September.  The day we cruised Glacier Bay was rainy, foggy, and temps in the low 50Fs.  There were quite a few people in the hot tubs in the uncovered parts of the Lido Deck on the stern despite the rain.  The cover on the main pool was almost always closed and that pool was rather busy, especially with kids. 

[iamaqt2]

Using the pool on a cruise is a big part of my cruise experience.  I've sailed HAL, Princess, NCL, and Celebrity to Alaska.  Celebrity wins hands down for their Adults only covered Solarium.  But I'm booked on the Majestic next May to Alaska to try out the covered Hollywood Pool Club.  It looks like an amazing space to relax.

[Yehootu]

51 minutes ago, SweetsugarNL said:

Looking at end of June but doubt if we sail on HAL with covered pool or Princess...

I am a person who like to swim / hottub after a excursion day.

Last week of May, 14day RT Vancouver. I went through a bottle of sunscreen. Only 1 day it was too cold for the hot tubs although there were a few brave ones in the pool.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

2 hours ago, SweetsugarNL said:

Since the most ships not have a covered pool. I am wondering how bad this is.

Is there enough indoorspace to sit? And are the outdoorpools to cold?

 

Since this is in the Princess Forum, I'll answer for Princess ships. As near as I can tell from the Alaska Cruises out of Vancouver, all of the Princess ships have indoor pools. The Majestic has the Hollywood Pool, Discovery has the Retreat Pool and Crown, Sapphire and Grand have the Calypso Pool. Out of Seattle it is Discovery and the Royal, and the Royal has the Retreat Pool as well.

 

So all the Princess ships have indoor pools for Alaska, unless I am missing something.

[Murray's Pop]

26 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

 

Since this is in the Princess Forum, I'll answer for Princess ships. As near as I can tell from the Alaska Cruises out of Vancouver, all of the Princess ships have indoor pools. The Majestic has the Hollywood Pool, Discovery has the Retreat Pool and Crown, Sapphire and Grand have the Calypso Pool. Out of Seattle it is Discovery and the Royal, and the Royal has the Retreat Pool as well.

 

So all the Princess ships have indoor pools for Alaska, unless I am missing something.

Where is the covered pool on the Regal?  I don't see one.

[SweetsugarNL]

29 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

 

Since this is in the Princess Forum, I'll answer for Princess ships. As near as I can tell from the Alaska Cruises out of Vancouver, all of the Princess ships have indoor pools. The Majestic has the Hollywood Pool, Discovery has the Retreat Pool and Crown, Sapphire and Grand have the Calypso Pool. Out of Seattle it is Discovery and the Royal, and the Royal has the Retreat Pool as well.

 

So all the Princess ships have indoor pools for Alaska, unless I am missing something.

I have googelt a lot and it say the crown for example don't have a covered pool....

I was almost thinking to def not choose Princess because of this.

So al these ships have a free covered pool?

[KeepCalmBearOn]

13 minutes ago, SweetsugarNL said:

I have googelt a lot and it say the crown for example don't have a covered pool....

I was almost thinking to def not choose Princess because of this.

So al these ships have a free covered pool?

 

The Calypso Reef & Pool on Sapphire and Grand Princess is indoors.

 

 

It may not be on the Crown, I've never sailed on it, but I assumed their Calypso Reef & Pool would be too, as it is in the others.

 

If it isn't, the Crown does have the Lotus Pool too, which while it isn't covered, is well protected from the elements.

 

The other four ships, Grand, Sapphire, Majestic and Discovery do have free, indoor pools.

Edited November 7, 2022 by scottca075

[scooter6139]

I don't recall there being a covered pool on Discovery, so guessing none of the Royal class ships have covered pools.  I think only the Grand herself has a covered pool (Calypso Reef and Pool), at least from the Pics I can see.  All others ships of same or similar class (Crown) show the same open area.  Perhaps is retracts and I just don't see a pic of it?

Edited November 7, 2022 by scooter6139

[donswife]

Except for the Majestic,  none of the Royal class ships have a covered pool. The rest and most of the Grand class ships have a free access retreat pool that is sheltered from the sides but open to the sky. The enclave has an indoor therapy pool but costs extra (included with Sky suite).

[sunsetme]

yes definitely missed it. the whole pool deck seemed useless.

[partybarbie]

July in Alaska at the Royal Retreat pool.

[partybarbie]

May at the Grand Princess Terrace pool. It was the only nice day of the 10-day cruise.

[Thrak]

Look at the deck plans for the non-Royal class ships on the Princess site. If the plans list a place called "The Conservatory" on the deck directly above the Lido deck.then it has a covered pool as that location is the covered deck space above the pool.

 

[VibeGuy]

It’s definitely nice to have but all Princess pools *can* be heated (and some are always overheated - I’m looking at you, Ruby and Sapphire Lotus Spa Pools).  So the question is your tolerance for rain and cold getting in and out of the pool.  (Princess generally opens them when sea conditions permit even if the weather is drizzly, and conditions rough enough to close the pools are known to close the midship pool under the magrodome). 
 

We’ve done Alaska with (Star, Sapphire, Island, Coral) and without (Ruby) and given that it’s pretty port intensive I’d call it a wash.  Where I think it *really* matters is when you have a bunch of sea days in a row in the cooler months, from temperate ports to warmer climes. 

[that]

9 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

The Calypso Reef & Pool on Sapphire and Grand Princess is indoors.

 

 

It may not be on the Crown, I've never sailed on it, but I assumed their Calypso Reef & Pool would be too, as it is in the others.

 

If it isn't, the Crown does have the Lotus Pool too, which while it isn't covered, is well protected from the elements.

 

The other four ships, Grand, Sapphire, Majestic and Discovery do have free, indoor pools.

The Lotus pool on the Crown in open to the sky

[westcoaster]

The 3 ships doing the Voyage of the Glacier route between Vancouver and Whittier in 2023 (Majestic, Sapphire, and Grand) all have covered pools. 

 

The 4 ships doing round trips out of Vancouver (Crown), Seattle (Discovery and Royal) and San Francisco (Ruby) don't have covered pools.

[SweetsugarNL]

On 11/8/2022 at 4:14 AM, westcoaster said:

The 3 ships doing the Voyage of the Glacier route between Vancouver and Whittier in 2023 (Majestic, Sapphire, and Grand) all have covered pools. 

 

The 4 ships doing round trips out of Vancouver (Crown), Seattle (Discovery and Royal) and San Francisco (Ruby) don't have covered pools.

Thanks. That is where we looking at. Roundtrip from Vancouver🙈

Edited November 9, 2022 by SweetsugarNL

[cruzfiend]

For you people who have done the land and cruise, what would you rate Princess? Thinking of NCL or Princess for May of next year. Thanks

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, cruzfiend said:

For you people who have done the land and cruise, what would you rate Princess? Thinking of NCL or Princess for May of next year. Thanks

 

We have done two Connoisseur Cruise Tours in Alaska with Princess - a 13 day in late June of 2016 on Island Princess and a 15 day in late May of 2019 on Golden Princess. Both times the land portion was excellent. The Connoisseur Tours were very well organized and we felt they were well worth the extra cost.  There is an old (but still very helpful) thread by @caribillwith info on the Connoisseur Tours located HERE. I suggest you give it a read. It was instrumental in our decision to book our first Connoisseur Cruise Tour.

 

The 7 day southbound cruises were pretty "standard" for the itineraries. Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, Vancouver.

[freecruiser2]

Even though all of the pools were very warm on the Ruby last Summer, I would have definitely preferred a covered pool.  

[cruisequeen4ever]

I do really missing having an indoor pool when sailing AK because I love to swim. Many wouldn’t think twice about it, though, because they’re so busy exploring AK and wouldn’t think about swimming for such a cruise. The Royal is beautiful and has some cool viewing areas for scenic cruising, so I wouldn’t make it a deal breaker. If you must swim for sure, though, switch to a different ship.

[Cruise Raider]

We've been to Alaska several times on all different ships and the ones with a covered pool have been our favorites for that itinerary.  However, we had some fabulous pool weather in the end of July once... nearly 80 degrees.  That is not the norm, though.  But, it can be quite pleasant in Alaska and we've spent many days walking around without a jacket. 

We've even bundled up and watched a movie at night on MUTS.