ALASKA - Which cruise line?

[Coral]

I actually like to be outside during glacier days (as opposed to in an indoor lounge). I like ships's with promenade decks (so not the new Princess ships). 

 

I usually hang out on Deck 7 of promenade deck which is covered (on ship's that have them). I like hearing glaciers calve which you can't do inside.

[MississippiMom]

If you are a Princess fan, how do you pick the ship?  Am I just going to need to watch one YouTube video after another? 
Currently leaning toward Sapphire Princess, southbound.

[Coral]

8 hours ago, MississippiMom said:

If you are a Princess fan, how do you pick the ship?  Am I just going to need to watch one YouTube video after another? 
Currently leaning toward Sapphire Princess, southbound.

Sapphire is a great ship for Alaska. Coral Princess would be another.

 

I would stay away from the brand new ships -they are too large and there are negatives with that in Alaska.

Edited August 28, 2023 by Coral

[bstreep]

We just finished a Norwegian (Spirit) trip up, and Royal (Radiance) trip back.  Having done Princess before, I can certainly tell you this:  Glacier Bay was the highlight of our Princess cruise.  Hubbard doesn't compare.  And Norwegian didn't get anywhere close (compared to Princess and MSC, both of which went all of the way in).  On Royal Caribbean, we got within about 7 miles (it looks WAY closer than that, but we are sailors and I have a navigation app that lets me see how far away it is).  The island is about 5 or 6 miles from the glacier.  Anyway, Glacier Bay is WAY better.  And yes, do a one-way. Northbound is generally more popular. 

 

We went into this comparison thinking Royal would win.  It wasn't even close.  Norwegian was way, WAY better.  I'm working on a comparison review.

[Coral]

6 minutes ago, bstreep said:

We just finished a Norwegian (Spirit) trip up, and Royal (Radiance) trip back.  Having done Princess before, I can certainly tell you this:  Glacier Bay was the highlight of our Princess cruise.  Hubbard doesn't compare.  And Norwegian didn't get anywhere close (compared to Princess and MSC, both of which went all of the way in).  On Royal Caribbean, we got within about 7 miles (it looks WAY closer than that, but we are sailors and I have a navigation app that lets me see how far away it is).  The island is about 5 or 6 miles from the glacier.  Anyway, Glacier Bay is WAY better.  And yes, do a one-way. Northbound is generally more popular. 

 

We went into this comparison thinking Royal would win.  It wasn't even close.  Norwegian was way, WAY better.  I'm working on a comparison review.

I look forward to your comparisons!

 

I actually like Hubbard when one can get close but out of all of my cruises, I have only gotten close a few times. Most of the time it is a huge disappointment.

 

I like Glacier Bay because the whole day is gorgeous sailing. And ships can get close. Hubbard maybe larger than Marjorie but the whole day is beautiful at Glacier Bay.

[Aquahound]

On 8/27/2023 at 7:06 PM, MississippiMom said:

If you are a Princess fan, how do you pick the ship?  Am I just going to need to watch one YouTube video after another? 
Currently leaning toward Sapphire Princess, southbound.

 

Of the Princess choices, Sapphire isn't terrible.  At least it has a Skywalkers Lounge for panoramic viewing.  It's not as nice as the Crows Nest on HAL, the Sky Lounge on Celebrity, or the Viking Crown on RCI....all of which face forward rather than aft.  But at least it's there.  And while you do certainly want to be outside at a glacier, there is still at least 7 days of the cruise where sometimes relaxing inside is better.

 

IMO, the one-way cruises are also better than the round trips.  

[MississippiMom]

2 hours ago, Aquahound said:

 

Of the Princess choices, Sapphire isn't terrible.  At least it has a Skywalkers Lounge for panoramic viewing.  It's not as nice as the Crows Nest on HAL, the Sky Lounge on Celebrity, or the Viking Crown on RCI....all of which face forward rather than aft.  But at least it's there.  And while you do certainly want to be outside at a glacier, there is still at least 7 days of the cruise where sometimes relaxing inside is better.

 

IMO, the one-way cruises are also better than the round trips.  

We started out looking at the round trip options, but then talked about wanting to see Denali pre-cruise, so Southbound routes is all we are researching now.  But we’ve got time to change our minds plenty of times, since we won’t travel to Alaska until 2025 or 2026.

[22CeeBeeNC22]

Thank you all for the information. I'm noticing as I look at itineraries in late/May-early June, HAL has extended time cruising Glacier Bay but it reads "Cruising Only." Is that standard, meaning one does not expect to do excursions on glacier or fjord days? That may well be the case and it makes sense, but I want to verify.  Thanks.

[oaktreerb]

Yes, cruising only in Glacier Bay.  The Captain will cruise close to some of the glaciers and stop and turn the ship starboard and port for viewing.  If you see Tracy Arm as a service stop that means there is an excursion you can take by transferring to a smaller vessel which will take passengers into Tracy Arm for a closer viewing of the glaciers and the area.

[Coral]

20 hours ago, 22CeeBeeNC22 said:

Thank you all for the information. I'm noticing as I look at itineraries in late/May-early June, HAL has extended time cruising Glacier Bay but it reads "Cruising Only." Is that standard, meaning one does not expect to do excursions on glacier or fjord days? That may well be the case and it makes sense, but I want to verify.  Thanks.

All ships that go to Glacier Bay have the same amount of time there. There are small boutique cruise lines like Un-Cruise that may have extended time there.

 

No excursions at Glacier Bay. There maybe boat excursions at Endicott Arm, Tracy Arm or Hubbard but it depends on the time frame. I left May 11th on my cruise and the Hubbard small boat ride was not offered on my cruise (too early in the season).

[AZDuck]

My wife and I are going on our first Alaskan cruise June 2024. So although I have no experience I did do a ton of research that might be of help to you. We narrowed it down to HAL and Princess for their years of Alaskan cruising expertise. From what I researched, you can't go wrong with either of those cruise lines. We ultimately decided on a one-way southbound Princess cruise primarily due to the longer days in each port and stops at both Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay. We chose SB because most of the retuning flights from Anchorage to the lower 48 are red-eye and flying home from Vancouver BC gave us more options. At Hubbard Glacier we booked the small boat excursion to get up close to the glacier so we can really experience the sights and sounds of the active glacier. We then spend a full day in Glacier Bay with a park ranger on board. It seems like Princess really tries to enrich the overall experience with on board naturalists and lectures during the whole itinerary which we really liked. We chose the Sapphire Princess, an older but much smaller ship than the Royal class Princess ships that also run that itinerary. My reasons were that the Sapphire has a nice wide Promenade deck that runs up to the bow for better viewing, and it also cruises inside Vancouver Island rather than outside in the ocean where the Royal class ships run. It seems to me like that would be more scenic and smoother sailing. We're happy with our decision and looking forward to the cruise but I think we would be equally happy with HAL. You can't go wrong with wither one of those cruise lines in Alaska and there's still plenty of cabins open for 2024 so it may just come down to who has the best sales. Pick one and go for it! 

[azappraiser]

Only TWO cruise ships per day are permitted to sail Glacier Bay National Park, so that will limit your options.  I recommend taking a look at the boards for each line & ship that's sailing your desired itinerary... many "live" posts from cruises currently under way.

 

We chose itinerary first, then the ship... then, how much we want to spend.

Edited September 5, 2023 by azappraiser

[mlgb]

Noordam is a great ship for Alaska