Best ship for Alaska

[LynnSD]

I’m looking for opinions on your favorite Princess ship for an Alaskan cruise.
thanks!

[voljeep]

Diamond 2007

[Thrak]

Any Princess ship (other than Island) that is not a Royal class ship. I would probably prefer Coral but have never sailed that ship to Alaska.

[mtnesterz]

Frequently asked question. Voljeep mentions Diamond, but Diamond is cruising Asia these days. Sister ship Sapphire would be my choice and has sailings there. Coral class ships would be best, but not doing Alaska either.

Why the Sapphire? Full Promenade and a Skywalker's. Some love the Grand, which is doing Alaska but it had Skywalker's removed. Royal class ships are too big to take the full inside passage. 

[cr8tiv1]

3 minutes ago, Thrak said:

Any Princess ship (other than Island) that is not a Royal class ship. I would probably prefer Coral but have never sailed that ship to Alaska.

 

That excludes A LOT of Princess ships.  I would add:

 

Ships that have Glacier Bay

Ships that do a round tip or back to back from Vancouver

Ships that do the INSIDE passage verses Outside.

Ships that do Skagway instead of Icy Points

Most any Grand Class ships

[Ken the cruiser]

Any Princess Grand-class ship that has an aft-facing cabin with a fully covered balcony to book! 😊

[Rick&Jeannie]

39 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

That excludes A LOT of Princess ships.  I would add:

 

Ships that have Glacier Bay

Ships that do a round tip or back to back from Vancouver

Ships that do the INSIDE passage verses Outside.

Ships that do Skagway instead of Icy Points

Most any Grand Class ships

Agree with the above^^^^^ 🙂

[snoozecrooze]

If you can wait until 2025, I'm pretty sure Island and Coral Princess will be making their return to the Last Frontier. Grand-class ships are great, but if you strongly prefer the Island/Coral twins, you'll want to hold out for those.

[EDDY0827]

Let"s not forget the Crown- full Promenade and a Skywalkers.

[cr8tiv1]

Crown, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, and Grand have walk around Promenades.  If no Skywalker, they have One5 which is not as great, but good. 

 

Coral is in a class of her own.  She has a front facing buffet.  

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, mtnesterz said:

Frequently asked question. Voljeep mentions Diamond, but Diamond is cruising Asia these days. Sister ship Sapphire would be my choice and has sailings there. Coral class ships would be best, but not doing Alaska either.

Why the Sapphire? Full Promenade and a Skywalker's. Some love the Grand, which is doing Alaska but it had Skywalker's removed. Royal class ships are too big to take the full inside passage. 

 

Not only does Sapphire have a full Promenade but, as does Coral, it has the extra wide promenade that can accommodate loungers and still have space for people who are walking. I love those extra wide full wrap Promenade decks. Coral and Sapphire would definitely be my two favorites for Alaska. Sadly, even though we have sailed to Alaska 3 times, it's never been on either of those ships. However, the first time was on the old Sea Princess and it also had that big Promenade deck. I was disappointed when we did cruises after that one to find that only a few ships shared that feature. Sea Princess also had the forward buffet the same as Coral but was not at all the same design.

[Coral]

18 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Not only does Sapphire have a full Promenade but, as does Coral, it has the extra wide promenade that can accommodate loungers and still have space for people who are walking. I love those extra wide full wrap Promenade decks. Coral and Sapphire would definitely be my two favorites for Alaska. Sadly, even though we have sailed to Alaska 3 times, it's never been on either of those ships. However, the first time was on the old Sea Princess and it also had that big Promenade deck. I was disappointed when we did cruises after that one to find that only a few ships shared that feature. Sea Princess also had the forward buffet the same as Coral but was not at all the same design.

Coral and Sapphire would be my 2 choices and I have done both ships in Alaska and the Sapphire multiple times. I would even put the Grand above some of the other newer ships.

[cruisin_ppl]

We were on the Sapphire in Norway 4 years ago and it was amazing because of the open decks while going through the fjords.  Took some amazing photos on the decks around the aft pool.

We are going to Alaska on the Crown (11 days)

In August and we're really looking forward to it.  

Edited July 5, 2023 by cruisin_ppl

[stevenr597]

We did Sun Princess in 1997.  Last year we took Discovery Princess.  Loved both ships, but I am a fan of the Royal Class, especially taking a mini-suite.  What is most importance is not the Princess Ship but the itinerary of the cruise...Vancover to Anchorage would be my choice.  

[Lazz]

We were on the Majestic last month and loved it!  Service and entertainment staff was excellent.  We did the Southbound trip from Whittier.  The only problem we noticed is that they were running out of a few things (small bottle water, some booze brands. etc.)  Rumor has it that they don't restock in Whittier, only in Vancouver.  Can someone confirm that?

[SuzieQ521]

For our first Alaska trip a few years ago, we were on the Ruby which was nice with Skywalkers lounge.

 

For our last trip this past May, we were on the Royal. I was a little concerned leading up to our cruise as people kept saying that it did not have a wraparound deck but honestly, we had no problem with viewing spots (especially on Glacier Bay day--we either used our Balcony or went all the way up to the Sun Deck with great views); there are also some hidden spots outside (like outside Crooners bar--patio area).

 

So I would definitely focus on itinerary--definitely try to get an itinerary with Glacier Bay and Skagway if possible, at least for your first Alaska cruise.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I became acutely aware of the limitations of Royal Class scenic cruising in a rainy environment while on the Majestic Princess in Fiordland NatIonal Park, New Zealand. Unless you have a fully covered balcony (and there are some of those that are excellent, although most are quite small), there is no place to stay out of the elements and yet take photos of the scenery. People congregate on the covered deck behind the buffet and that area is packed. 

[RV Queen]

Sailing on the Crown next year, r/t San Francisco.  We were lucky to get an aft wake view balcony.  My favorite cabins. 

[charliedalrymple]

10 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

That excludes A LOT of Princess ships.  I would add:

 

Ships that have Glacier Bay

Ships that do a round tip or back to back from Vancouver

Ships that do the INSIDE passage verses Outside.

Ships that do Skagway instead of Icy Points

Most any Grand Class ships

 

Completely agree!  Choose for the itinerary, not the ship.  Princess is the best line for Alaska, and you really can't go wrong.

[nasa1974]

20 hours ago, voljeep said:

Diamond 2007

Cruised Alaska on the Diamond in 2007 also.

[voljeep]

6 minutes ago, nasa1974 said:

Cruised Alaska on the Diamond in 2007 also.

we 'may' have been on the last cruise of the season - many of the crew seemed excited about getting out of Alaska.  Hawaii was next maybe?

 

It was our first cruise on Princess - and really our first cruise since taking the kids on The Big Red Boat.  We didn't have a clue what to expect ... and that may not have been a bad thing at all - except the extreme overpacking and a bag arriving late at the Captain Cook pre-cruise - but it made it

[nasa1974]

8 minutes ago, voljeep said:

we 'may' have been on the last cruise of the season - many of the crew seemed excited about getting out of Alaska.  Hawaii was next maybe?

 

It was our first cruise on Princess - and really our first cruise since taking the kids on The Big Red Boat.  We didn't have a clue what to expect ... and that may not have been a bad thing at all - except the extreme overpacking and a bag arriving late at the Captain Cook pre-cruise - but it made it

We were on the very first cruise tour for the year. This was our very first cruise and fell in love with cruising. Although it would 5 more years before we sailed on Princess again.

[LynnSD]

Thanks for all the suggestions!  Very helpful.   

[Steelers36]

On 7/5/2023 at 5:10 PM, snoozecrooze said:

If you can wait until 2025, I'm pretty sure Island and Coral Princess will be making their return to the Last Frontier. Grand-class ships are great, but if you strongly prefer the Island/Coral twins, you'll want to hold out for those.

My money would go on not seeing both Coral and Island doing Alaska at the same time.  Island also has the buffet section forward with lots of windows and access to exterior.

[dizgal64]

Wait. Since when does the Royal Princess not do the inside passage? I definitely want to do IP! And I thought I wanted to do Royal but now you guys are making me think again. 
I was just reading a website about their trip on Royal Princess Alaska and they did the inside passage. 🤔 

also, are expanded promenades as important when booking May and probably will have cooler weather? Man, I thought I had this down. Lol

The itinerary is Vancouver,  Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier bay, College Fjord, Whittier, then 4 nights land ending in Fairbanks.