Alaska - Caribbean, Coral, or Sapphire?

[BellsRUs]

We are thinking about booking an Alaska cruise on Princess. Which ship, and pros/cons? Our choices are Caribbean, Coral, or Sapphire. We are currently on Emerald, so comparisons to this ship would be appreciated...

 

We will also be doing a land tour, so tips for that portion of the trip are also appreciated. 

Edited March 18 by BellsRUs

[fpsphil]

My vote is with Sapphire.

 

Indoor pool, skywalkers, plus the lower passenger count than the Caribbean

[Essiesmom]

Agree with Sapphire.  Did Alaska on her sister Diamond, and later on Coral.  Sapphire has the better wraparound promenade deck.  EM

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, fpsphil said:

My vote is with Sapphire.

 

Indoor pool, skywalkers, plus the lower passenger count than the Caribbean

 

Sapphire also has the extra-wide Promenade with room for loungers and walkers rather than just for chairs and walkers. Love to hang out reading in the Conservatory - the covered deck space above the covered pool. If booking Coral we would book an OV on Baja Deck - B731 or B732. Love those cabins and the huge observation deck with loungers just steps away. Seems like having a huge balcony. (Window looking onto the deck right near the door.)

 

[NavyVeteran]

Do all three have the same itinerary? If not, the itinerary differences may be more important than the ship differences. They probably have the same three ports, but they may not have the same glaciers. I would definitely recommend Glacier Bay National Park if you haven't already been there. It's not just the difference in the glaciers. National Park Rangers come onboard and give a commentary while in the Park. They will have a naturalist giving commentary at the other glaciers, but I think the best commentary is the one in the National Park from the Rangers.

[Coral]

Not Caribbean Princess!

 

I would say Sapphire Princess #1 and Coral Princess #2.

 

Sapphire Princess has a similar layout of Emerald except there are 500 less passengers, a covered pool, a wider promenade deck, a sit-down pizzeria (on Plaza deck). A few more extras.

Edited March 18 by Coral

[wolfie11]

Coral

[Coral]

13 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

Coral

Coral is a good choice. It is a toss up for me between Coral and Sapphire Princess. Both are good.

[Thrak]

A big difference between Coral and Sapphire is the Piazza. I have never been a fan of the layout of the Piazza on Coral. It's just weird with the steps in the middle. I do like having the buffet all the way forward though and, as I said above, we absolutely love those aft Baja OV cabins. We've done the old locks twice on Coral and both times booked that cabin.

[nini]

Sapphire! Many love the Coral, but we were not a fan. We booked it because it was for the old locks through the Panama Canal. We love the style and features of the Sapphire,

[JimmyVWine]

Every Princess gets something right.  But to me, Sapphire bundles EVERYTHING that is right about other Princess ships into one ship.

[Hev1128]

We booked the Caribbean Princess for next summer for Alaska....great itinerary and pricing...am I going to regret it? based on the above, no one seems to like the ship.

[BellsRUs]

Thanks everyone! It looks like Sapphire is the clear winner. Once someone mentioned the pizza place, we looked to make sure it was Alfredos and that clinched it. My husband and I love Alfredos! 😋💜🍕

 

We welcome any other suggestions for an Alaska cruise tour...

 

[JimmyVWine]

2 hours ago, Hev1128 said:

We booked the Caribbean Princess for next summer for Alaska....great itinerary and pricing...am I going to regret it? based on the above, no one seems to like the ship.

I have completed 2 cruises on Caribbean Princess (both in the Caribbean) and I don't have anything bad to say about it.  If one wants the shiniest, newest toy, this isn't it.  But if one enjoys large balconies and many of the most popular venues that Princess offers such as:

• International Cafe
• Vines
• Crown Grill
• Sabatini's
• Explorer's Lounge
• Crooners
• Salty dog Grill (the free one on Lido)
• A forward viewing area above the bridge
• Skywalkers

Then this ship is a good one for you.  It also has wake-view cabins and suites as well as Window Suites.  Honestly the features on this ship are top notch.  The only negative is the age of the ship and honestly that really doesn't matter to me.  I don't get freaked out if there are rust spots on my balcony or chipped varnish on the balcony railings. 

[aForestr]

We did an 11 day Cruisetour in mid May 2015.  It was a north bound trip with 2 nights at Denali and 1 night at Mckinley Lodge.  It also included 1 night at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage at the end. We then rented a car and drove to Homer.  This has to be one of our best trips.  But I must admit it was the weather that made it so good. The weather was cool but for the most part clear.  We had a clear view of Denali while at the McKinley Lodge.  The road into Denali was only open part way, but we still saw lots of wildlife including Grizzlies. We booked a river rafting while at McKinley but it was raining ((hard) when we went to the bus.  Nearly everyone else cancelled so my wife and I plus one other were the only ones on the trip.  By the time we got to the raft the skies had cleared.  We recommend to all our friends to do a land tour.  Of course bad weather would have completely changed our impression of the trip.

[Coral]

3 hours ago, BellsRUs said:

Thanks everyone! It looks like Sapphire is the clear winner. Once someone mentioned the pizza place, we looked to make sure it was Alfredos and that clinched it. My husband and I love Alfredos! 😋💜🍕

 

We welcome any other suggestions for an Alaska cruise tour...

 

It is a smaller menu compared to Royal Class ships. Though you can grab food at International Cafe (salad, etc..) and bring it over. Still good :) 

[BellsRUs]

22 minutes ago, Coral said:

It is a smaller menu compared to Royal Class ships. Though you can grab food at International Cafe (salad, etc..) and bring it over. Still good 🙂

Thank you!

[Sprocket]

We just booked the 10 night Denali cruise tour on the Sapphire, our first time on this ship but done many on the Crown and love Skywalkers and Vines so was an easy choice for us.

 

Our first cruise tour so will be following for hints, tips etc.