first time to alaska - Princess or HAL?

[annej]

Hi - my husband and I have cruised 7 times, always on Royal Caribbean or Carnival. We are planning a cruise to Alaska for our 25th anniversary and have decided to try Princess or HAL. I would love to hear opinions as to which cruiseline to try - having heard good and not so good about both.

[CPT Trips]

We did Alaska on HAL and had a great cruise. We cruised the Veendam, a smaller, 1200+ pax ship that is very spacious.

We also have cruised Princess, which we like but not quite as much as HAL. It was a lot of small things that made the differance - nothing major. Just one simple example - HAL has hors hors d'oeuvres in the bars before meals, Princess does not.

Were I to cruise Alaska again, and had to choose between these two lines, ship size, itinerary and price would be my concerns . . . not the line.

[KreinKrunker]

I don't think you can go wrong with either one, they both have been doing Alaska for years. Whichever one you choose, be sure that it sails to Glacier Bay.

[breenw]

We recently did a cruisetour with RCCL on the Radiance. That was the most beautiful ship I have ever been on. Also, we noticed that the buses, railcars, etc., that RCCL used appeared to be much nicer than HAL or Princess. I was really surprised by that, but I think the buses we saw were just older ones perhaps.

 

Like the other poster said, look at the itinerary and the price - that is what is most important as they all offer similar itineraries.

[Spikesgirl]

Our very first cruise was to Alaska aboard Princess back in the early '90's. Since then, we have tried other cruiselines, but we always come back to Princess. We enjoyed our ship, the Sky, and loved all that Princess had to offer. What really hit me was the quality of the food, the friendliness of the staff and our great table mates.

 

I think whatever lline you choose, do your homework before hand and you'll have a great time. Did pick up two of my all-time favorite souviners ont hat trip - a Jack-a-bou (stuffed bunny with antlers) and a mosquito skinning kit.

 

Charlie

[AWED23]

We recently did a cruisetour with RCCL on the Radiance. That was the most beautiful ship I have ever been on. Also, we noticed that the buses, railcars, etc., that RCCL used appeared to be much nicer than HAL or Princess. I was really surprised by that, but I think the buses we saw were just older ones perhaps.

 

Like the other poster said, look at the itinerary and the price - that is what is most important as they all offer similar itineraries.

I am curious to know if you were able to cruise in Glacier Bay Park??? If not, what excuse was given?Been on four different lines to Alaska for a total of 8 cruises and ONLY Princess and HAL were able to gain entry to Glacier Bay National Park.:confused:

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

Having been on two cruises to Alaska, I suggest that you do not limit yourself to HAL and Princess. Celebrity and RCCl also have Alaskan cruises. I also suggest that you consider renting a car when in Juneau and Skagway as this will give you flexibiloity to see and do more in these ports. Especially Skagway, where a drive into the Canadian Yukon is a special treat.

 

And to save money on air, you might consider a RT Seattle Alaskan cruise.

 

Hope that this helps.

 

Fred

[Budget Queen]

I am curious to know if you were able to cruise in Glacier Bay Park??? If not, what excuse was given?Been on four different lines to Alaska for a total of 8 cruises and ONLY Princess and HAL were able to gain entry to Glacier Bay National Park.:confused:

 

 

RCI had a 5 year penality ban due to dumping and still seems unable to gain spots into Glacier Bay. Limited to 2 cruise ships/day and has been maxed out for a couple years.

 

But NCL and Carnival also sail Glacier Bay besides Princess and HAL. And NONE of the Princess round trips sail there, only the one ways.

[Budget Queen]

I give HAL the bid edge, they have superior round trip Vancouver routings and on their one ways- Seward is a highlight- IF you take advantage of it. :) Princess one ways are a great itinerary too.

[DisneyScrapper]

5 of my co-workers all went at different times and some were ondifferent ships over the summer. So my head was spinning with what ship to use for our Sept Alaskan cruise. We picked Princess Coral because of the time spent in the different ports (they had one of the longest in Juneau (8a-9p) which was important since the excursion we want to take is 4.5 hours long and I still wanted to see some of the city afterwards.

So I would tell you to look at all the side trips you would like to take and see if they fit into the time frame of the ship you want to go on. A ship is a ship and you will get different opinons from everyone.

 

 

Good Luck

[AWED23]

RCI had a 5 year penality ban due to dumping and still seems unable to gain spots into Glacier Bay. Limited to 2 cruise ships/day and has been maxed out for a couple years.

 

But NCL and Carnival also sail Glacier Bay besides Princess and HAL. And NONE of the Princess round trips sail there, only the one ways.

Thanks for the information Budget Queen...

[Wendi&Max]

But NCL and Carnival also sail Glacier Bay besides Princess and HAL. And NONE of the Princess round trips sail there, only the one ways.

 

We are on the Dawn Princess May 11th, it is a RT and includes Glacier Bay.

[NancyIL]

We are on the Dawn Princess May 11th, it is a RT and includes Glacier Bay.

 

The Dawn Princess goes to Glacier Bay only on the May 11th cruise as well as the two in September, and to Tracy Arm the rest of the time. For someone who wants a 10-day roundtrip cruise from San Francisco - there are some nice itineraries on the Dawn.