Which Princess Ship for Alaska??

[CBowling]

Trying to decide which Princess ship to choose for my first Alaskan cruise in July 2008. All sail the same. Coral/Island on a Monday or Diamond/Sapphire on a Saturday??? All things considered how busy are the ports on a given day? Is there any advantage to the North or Southbound sailing on any start date? Am I thinking too much?? Would love to hear pros and cons from previous cruisers.

[capnjack]

Trying to decide which Princess ship to choose for my first Alaskan cruise in July 2008. All sail the same. Coral/Island on a Monday or Diamond/Sapphire on a Saturday??? All things considered how busy are the ports on a given day? Is there any advantage to the North or Southbound sailing on any start date? Am I thinking too much?? Would love to hear pros and cons from previous cruisers.

 

We were on the Coral for our Alaska cruise and loved it. We found the layout to be much better than the the Grand class ships. The public space is almost large as the Grand class ships, but there are a lot fewer passengers. Also on the Grand class it seems that you are always trying to make your way through the crowds in the photo gallery to get from the aft section (the Vista/Universe lounge) to the mid ship public area or vice versa.

 

As far as northbound vs southbound, I don't makes a big difference. One thing you may want to look at is the flight times out of Anchorage if you go northbound. It turns out that the flights coming back to Houston were all red-eyes, arriving around 6:00 AM.

[suron]

We had a fantastic Alaskan cruise on Dawn Princess. Prior to the cruise itself we took a Rockies Land Tour (also arranged through Princess) as we felt that travelling all the way from the UK it made sense to combine the two elements.

 

It is possible to take an Alaskan Land Tour after or before the cruise section but we did not have enough holiday days to allow us to take advantage of this - a good excuse to return again!

 

If you are interested I have posted reviews of both sections of our trip which can be found at

 

Rockies - http://messages.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=360451

 

Dawn Princess cruise R/T Seattle - http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=19049

 

You will love Alaska and good luck with your plans.

 

Suron in Bristol, England

[KLMB]

We are new to Princess but have cruised Alaska on Celebrity several times. We are cruising Coral Princess this next year to Alaska because of the layout of the ship. We like to sit in the very front of the ship to enjoy the passage and glaciers. You might check the deck plans, as the other two have no place upfront (inside) to sit. Just a thought.

[capnjack]

We are new to Princess but have cruised Alaska on Celebrity several times. We are cruising Coral Princess this next year to Alaska because of the layout of the ship. We like to sit in the very front of the ship to enjoy the passage and glaciers. You might check the deck plans, as the other two have no place upfront (inside) to sit. Just a thought.

 

The balcony at the front of the ship is a great place to watch and enjoy the scenic cruising in the Glacier Bay and the fjords. Just be aware that to get there you have to go through a door marked "Do not open. Authorized access only" The naturalist on board made an announcement over the PA during the commentary encouraging passengers to go to the front balconies to watch the scenery, so I guess it's not that a big a deal. She was even remarking on how few people were there. Of course that changed following her announcement.

[taxatty]

We've done both the Coral and the Diamond to Alaska--both were great, but we liked the Coral better--smaller and less crowded but with very similar amentities. The Coral also has more minisuites with covered/partially covered balconies, if you want one.

We did southbound on the Coral, and liked the idea of doing a land trip first and then the cruise and a shorter flight back from Vancouver afterward.

Les

[doven]

No doubt - CORAL. We did it to Alaska and it's fabulous!

[whale-watcher]

We are new to Princess but have cruised Alaska on Celebrity several times. We are cruising Coral Princess this next year to Alaska because of the layout of the ship. We like to sit in the very front of the ship to enjoy the passage and glaciers. You might check the deck plans, as the other two have no place upfront (inside) to sit. Just a thought.

We really loved sitting in Horizon Court in the evening listening to the naturalist's narration and watching for scenery and wildlife as we cruised. The naturalist would also often come to Horizon Court later on in the evening to chat and point out additional sights (and help spot wildlife). Of course, with the buffet so close, we tended to have an extra dessert or two ;)

[CBowling]

Thanks so much for all the info. Still trying to decide

[CBowling]

It looks like the Diamond/Sapphire has 4 anytime dining options; the Coral only 1? Is this true? We really like the anytime dining. The number of specialty restaurants are the same. There seems to be more nightlife on the Diamond/Sapphire too? The Coral lists only the casino and explorers lounge. Diamond shows both of those + Club Fusion and Skywalkers Nightclub. HELP!!!

[AZaTaz]

I was just on the Island for Panama and one thing to remember is that the Diamond holds 700 more passangers. So the extra anytime dinning rooms are needed. As far as night life we did not find any lacking on the Island.

[Emeraldtx]

We went to Alaska this summer on Sapphire. My sister & her husband went on Island a few weeks before us. We BOTH had a GREAT time. I loved-loved-loved he Sapphire; no problem with 'crowds' or anything of that nature. Would sail her again in a heartbeat. My sister has the same opinion of the Island.... you'll have a great time whichever you cruise! :D

 

(And FYI, our respective ships were chosen due to the day-they-sailed... Saturday was more convenient for us, Monday for them!)

[Seal]

Thanks so much for all the info. Still trying to decide

 

 

Given any thought to the TP--totally different way to travel--small ship 670 passengers--we're going in August--by that time we will have saiuled the TP 3 timesin about 18 months--and I like the BIG ships

 

I have to admit I think the Tp isgreat--always have anytime dining when I can--don't do it on the TP--but--that ok for the TP

 

think about it--totally different

 

Nancy:D

[Coral]

It looks like the Diamond/Sapphire has 4 anytime dining options; the Coral only 1? Is this true? We really like the anytime dining. The number of specialty restaurants are the same. There seems to be more nightlife on the Diamond/Sapphire too? The Coral lists only the casino and explorers lounge. Diamond shows both of those + Club Fusion and Skywalkers Nightclub. HELP!!!

 

The 4 anytime restauants are half the size (they tried an experiment with themed restaurants and it didn't turn out) - so 2 anytime restaurants equal about the same as 1 on the Coral. There are less people on the Coral - so 1 anytime restaurant and 1 Traditional work fine on the Coral Princess.

 

I have sailed on the Coral and Sapphire Princess and much prefer the Coral/Island Princess layout/design. It actually seemed less crowded to me. I didn't find anything lacking such as nightlife.

 

The Coral and Island Princess are some of the best ships in Princess's fleet IMO.

[miss honey]

We sailed the Diamond to Alaska in 2006 and are booked again next May to Alaska. WE were gonna do the Coral next yr. , but we wanted an aft cabin , so we booked the Diamond again. We never noticed long lines . We cruised the Caribbean Princess in 2005 , and noticed the difference in less people on the Diamond. I would imagine you would notice less people on the Coral. We also liked the Sat departure, being we would be back at home on a Sunday, rest up on Monday and bact to work on Tuesday. Carol

[Mully too]

I vote for Coral - We did the Alaska cruise in August. It was great.

 

 

Jan

[CBowling]

We are holding for 24 hours Mini suites mid ship on Caribe deck of the Coral. These are "bumped out". Any pros or cons on this decision?? I am satisfied with my decision unless you all have inside info to the contrary. Yeah!!!! I am going to Alaska!!!!

[CBowling]

Any words of wisdom before my final commitment????

[capnjack]

A picture being worth a thousands words, check out http://mysite.verizon.net/res76zxu/princessbalconies/ for info on the bump out cabins and balconies.

[whale-watcher]

We are holding for 24 hours Mini suites mid ship on Caribe deck of the Coral. These are "bumped out". Any pros or cons on this decision?? I am satisfied with my decision unless you all have inside info to the contrary. Yeah!!!! I am going to Alaska!!!!

 

Any words of wisdom before my final commitment????

perhaps this picture from our mid-ship bumpout mini on the coral princess will help with your decision:) :

[CBowling]

So.... you wouldn't book the bump out? Oops.

[whale-watcher]

So.... you wouldn't book the bump out? Oops.

on the contrary...I thought the corner bump-out minisuite was a GREAT cabin for alaska

[CBowling]

Great! I was so proud of my find. We will just be aware our neighbors can see us! No walking out in underwear.

[prophotogirl]

My vote is the Coral or Island.

[CBowling]

The Coral it is!