Alaska 2025- Royal Princess

[Hev1128]

I'm not new to cruising but new to Princess...we are looking at an inside passage itinerary for summer 2025 and it's the Royal Princess.

Any feedback on the itinerary or the ship that I need to know?

[walkingsoon]

It's a great cruise. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

 

I'd choose Coral, Sapphire or Grand out of Vancouver, or even Ruby out of San Francisco before I'd do Royal or Discovery out of Seattle, despite the fact that Seattle would be the easiest for me.

 

The Royal class ships, Discovery and Royal, are much bigger, have flower box sized balconies (with some notable exceptions) and have no wrap around promenade deck. Likewise they don't sail East of Vancouver Island through Johnstone strait. I personally prefer any non-Royal class ship to any Royal class ship, but recognize that very many here feel exactly the opposite, the Royal class ships being newer, having a better buffet and more activities.

 

Are you going for an inside cabin or a suite? If inside, I'd definitely want a wrap around promenade deck. Sapphire's is great and Coral has really cool aft viewing areas that would be a good, nearly private, balcony replacement for a nearby aft inside cabin. If you're going for a suite, then maybe Royal class might have some advantages.

 

Regarding itineraries, the best would be seven days up to Whittier and then seven days back, hopefully taking in College Fjord and Hubbard as well as Glacier Bay. Sitka is a fun less often visited stop, Icy Strait Point perhaps less interesting. (my opinion)  Don't expect much from a Victoria stop. It's a lovely town, but it's scheduled as a too short evening stop with frequent time changes (sometimes even disallowing people to go ashore) that the Seattle based ships have to do to meet the Jones Act requirements.

 

All these negative sounding comments are just details. I'll repeat that they're all great cruises. Have fun!

 

Walkingsoon

[partybarbie]

I also love the 14-day round trip itinerary out of Vancouver. You just won’t see as much on the 7-day cruises out of Seattle. 
 

The Royal is one of my favorite ships. It’s not brand new, but still feels new and modern. The Crooner’s bar is nice. There are some seats along the windows that are perfect for inside viewing and cocktails. I like the alternative dining venues. The pizza restaurant and the sushi bar are both good. 
 

I will be back on her next month and can hardly wait. 

[wolfie11]

6 hours ago, walkingsoon said:

It's a great cruise. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

 

I'd choose Coral, Sapphire or Grand out of Vancouver, or even Ruby out of San Francisco before I'd do Royal or Discovery out of Seattle, despite the fact that Seattle would be the easiest for me.

 

The Royal class ships, Discovery and Royal, are much bigger, have flower box sized balconies (with some notable exceptions) and have no wrap around promenade deck. Likewise they don't sail East of Vancouver Island through Johnstone strait. I personally prefer any non-Royal class ship to any Royal class ship, but recognize that very many here feel exactly the opposite, the Royal class ships being newer, having a better buffet and more activities.

 

Are you going for an inside cabin or a suite? If inside, I'd definitely want a wrap around promenade deck. Sapphire's is great and Coral has really cool aft viewing areas that would be a good, nearly private, balcony replacement for a nearby aft inside cabin. If you're going for a suite, then maybe Royal class might have some advantages.

 

Regarding itineraries, the best would be seven days up to Whittier and then seven days back, hopefully taking in College Fjord and Hubbard as well as Glacier Bay. Sitka is a fun less often visited stop, Icy Strait Point perhaps less interesting. (my opinion)  Don't expect much from a Victoria stop. It's a lovely town, but it's scheduled as a too short evening stop with frequent time changes (sometimes even disallowing people to go ashore) that the Seattle based ships have to do to meet the Jones Act requirements.

 

All these negative sounding comments are just details. I'll repeat that they're all great cruises. Have fun!

 

Walkingsoon

I totally agree with all this.  I spent a few weeks on Royal in Alaska and thoroughly disliked it.  We were out at sea for two of the seven days, missed a couple of ports because the Alaska pilots refused to take her in with windy conditions, and I didn’t like the layout.  Activities center around the Piazza with hundreds of people packed in.  Then they wonder how they got Covid.  It’s very loud and you can hear the amped music and noise in all the venues anywhere near the Piazza.  No Promenade deck either and few good viewing points on glacier days.  My favorite is Coral, which I’ve been on many times.  

[Outerdog]

6 hours ago, walkingsoon said:

meet the Jones Act requirements.

 

PVSA, not Jones. Jones is cargo. PVSA is passenger vessels.

 

[Hev1128]

On 1/10/2024 at 2:18 PM, walkingsoon said:

It's a great cruise. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

 

I'd choose Coral, Sapphire or Grand out of Vancouver, or even Ruby out of San Francisco before I'd do Royal or Discovery out of Seattle, despite the fact that Seattle would be the easiest for me.

 

The Royal class ships, Discovery and Royal, are much bigger, have flower box sized balconies (with some notable exceptions) and have no wrap around promenade deck. Likewise they don't sail East of Vancouver Island through Johnstone strait. I personally prefer any non-Royal class ship to any Royal class ship, but recognize that very many here feel exactly the opposite, the Royal class ships being newer, having a better buffet and more activities.

 

Are you going for an inside cabin or a suite? If inside, I'd definitely want a wrap around promenade deck. Sapphire's is great and Coral has really cool aft viewing areas that would be a good, nearly private, balcony replacement for a nearby aft inside cabin. If you're going for a suite, then maybe Royal class might have some advantages.

 

Regarding itineraries, the best would be seven days up to Whittier and then seven days back, hopefully taking in College Fjord and Hubbard as well as Glacier Bay. Sitka is a fun less often visited stop, Icy Strait Point perhaps less interesting. (my opinion)  Don't expect much from a Victoria stop. It's a lovely town, but it's scheduled as a too short evening stop with frequent time changes (sometimes even disallowing people to go ashore) that the Seattle based ships have to do to meet the Jones Act requirements.

 

All these negative sounding comments are just details. I'll repeat that they're all great cruises. Have fun!

 

Walkingsoon

Thanks for the this...the youtube videos I am seeing the Royal just looks nicer but I've read about the Royal being bigger and the small boat advantage in Alaska.  we are doing balcony/mini suite depending on this ship.  I have 2 kids....so the 7 day is plenty for their first cruise.  My parents (and their service dog) and my brother and his wife are coming too and I am being deferred to as decision maker.

I like the Grand's vancouver inside passage with Glacier Bay itinerary the most though.  

thanks for the input.

 

We've cruised NCL in the past- but I'm hearing of issues in Alaska with them.  and being new to the Princess game, I haven't leveled my expectations yet.  

[Coral]

Royal Princess would be my least favorite ship for this itinerary.

[nini]

We loved our 14-night itinerary out of Vancouver, BC on the Grand! The Grand also has a fantastic covered viewing area in the front of the ship. I want to say it is on the Promenade deck. The very knowledgeable guest Naturalist would always tell us where she would be on the ship to direct us to wildlife.

[Coral]

4 hours ago, Hev1128 said:

Thanks for the this...the youtube videos I am seeing the Royal just looks nicer but I've read about the Royal being bigger and the small boat advantage in Alaska.  we are doing balcony/mini suite depending on this ship.  I have 2 kids....so the 7 day is plenty for their first cruise.  My parents (and their service dog) and my brother and his wife are coming too and I am being deferred to as decision maker.

I like the Grand's vancouver inside passage with Glacier Bay itinerary the most though.  

thanks for the input.

 

We've cruised NCL in the past- but I'm hearing of issues in Alaska with them.  and being new to the Princess game, I haven't leveled my expectations yet.  

I would choose Grand, Coral or Sapphire over Royal Princess.

[Samkitty1]

I did the inside passage  on the Royal and enjoyed it.  We had a Deluxe Superior Balcony Aft, which was very nice.  Having sailed on the Regal and Sky previously, we knew what to expect.  That being said, on our sailing the stop in Victoria was a joke, arriving at 9:00PM and leaving at 11:00PM... and so basically, a sea day. The highlight for us was our day in Glacier Bay, which was beautiful.  There were many multi generational families on our sailing, and a couple of service dogs that I noticed.  We arrived in Seattle the day before the cruise and had a great time walking around the waterfront and marketplace. I enjoyed Seattle as much as Alaska. On our last day we could see pods of whales from the deck of the ship.  

 

[SCX22]

Royal class ships are newer.  

 

While the Grand class ships are in fine condition, you have to set your expectations with the plumbing.  When the plumbing works, Grand class ships are great.  When the plumbing doesn't work (whether or not it's the passengers fault), Grand class ships can be miserable.  Have had everything from bathroom leaking into my cabin and/or the corridor to not having being able to flush my toilet for hours at a time to having the water in my cabin shut off for hours to fix a greater problem.  If you eat at the buffet a lot, Grand Class ships aren't my favorite for that type of dining.  Grand class ships are pushing 20 years or more.  They aren't shiny like they once were.  While the actual wrap around promenade is great, how much time will you plan on spending out there?

[partybarbie]

I’m glad you mentioned the dog. On the Royal Princess, we normally stay on Deck 16 Forward. There’s a crew only door up there, but a passenger that stayed near us was able to access that area. Turns out that is where the potty box for her dog was located. It seems much better than having the box on the balcony.

[partybarbie]

Found some scenic photos from the Royal. We didn’t have any problem finding places on deck to take photos.

[Coral]

8 hours ago, Hev1128 said:

Thanks for the this...the youtube videos I am seeing the Royal just looks nicer but I've read about the Royal being bigger and the small boat advantage in Alaska.  we are doing balcony/mini suite depending on this ship.  I have 2 kids....so the 7 day is plenty for their first cruise.  My parents (and their service dog) and my brother and his wife are coming too and I am being deferred to as decision maker.

I like the Grand's vancouver inside passage with Glacier Bay itinerary the most though.  

thanks for the input.

 

We've cruised NCL in the past- but I'm hearing of issues in Alaska with them.  and being new to the Princess game, I haven't leveled my expectations yet.  

I actually traveled probably 30-40 cruises with my Mom and her Seeing Eye dogs (on multiple lines, but mostly on Princess as they handled the dog the best). I can assure you that there was always a place for her dog to do her business. Most of the time we booked cabins near the aft area and they would put a box in an aft stair well (on our floor) that was marked crew only. We traveled on the Grand and Sapphire the most with the dog. 

 

 

Edited January 12 by Coral