Northbound from Vancouver on Coral Princess, Noordam or Radiance of the Seas..?

Hi,

Me and my boyfriend want to go on a one way 7 day northbound cruise from Vancouver this June followed by a week of driving around to Denali etc after the cruise. Neither of us have been on a cruise or in Alaska before and I was hoping we could get some advice here on which line/ship to pick..?

We narrowed the search down to Coral Princess, Radiance of the Seas and ms Noordam. We plan on getting interior room hoping there will be enough public areas with a view to spend time in while at sea.

It looks like Princess lands in Whittier while the other two in Seward. All of the ships call on Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Radiance also calls on Icy Strait Point. Additionally it seems that Princess goes to College Fjord and Radiance to Hubbard Glacier - Noordam doesn't list either.

Did any of you take one of these cruises? How did you like it, are there any major differences between the ships? Is landing in Seward highly preferable to Whittier and is Icy Strait Point worth the stop?

Thank you,

T.

The Noordam goes to Glacier Bay (http://www.hollandamerica.com/find-cruise-vacation/CruiseDetails.action?destCode=A&portCode=&shipCodeSearch=&dateCode=&flexibleMonths=false&noOfFlexibleMonths=1&pageNumber=0&voyageCode=N647&directionCode=N&tabName=ItineraryDetails&fromSearchVacation=true), and the Coral Princess goes to Glacier Bay and College Fjord (http://www.princess.com/find/cruiseDetails.do?voyageCode=9615). As you mentioned, Radiance of the Seas goes to Hubbard Glacier and adds the port of Icy Strait Point (http://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruises/7NightNorthboundAlaskaHubbard-RD07A130?currencyCode=USD&sCruiseType=CO&sDateMin=2016-06-01&sDateMax=2016-06-30&sailDate=06%2F03%2F2016). I have sailed northbound on the Coral Princess and a different HAL ship, and I'll sail northbound and southbound on Radiance of the Seas in 2017. I like Princess's two-glacier day itinerary for a first Alaska cruise, but I prefer Seward to Whittier. Icy Strait Point is a great port for whale watching, but the town itself is rather sleepy. Princess and HAL do a very nice job in Alaska. I've been on more RCI cruises than other cruise lines, but haven't yet experienced them in Alaska. However, their Radiance-class ships are my favorite.

Hi,

 

Me and my boyfriend want to go on a one way 7 day northbound cruise from Vancouver this June followed by a week of driving around to Denali etc after the cruise. Neither of us have been on a cruise or in Alaska before and I was hoping we could get some advice here on which line/ship to pick..?

 

We narrowed the search down to Coral Princess, Radiance of the Seas and ms Noordam. We plan on getting interior room hoping there will be enough public areas with a view to spend time in while at sea.

It looks like Princess lands in Whittier while the other two in Seward. All of the ships call on Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Radiance also calls on Icy Strait Point. Additionally it seems that Princess goes to College Fjord and Radiance to Hubbard Glacier - Noordam doesn't list either.

 

Did any of you take one of these cruises? How did you like it, are there any major differences between the ships? Is landing in Seward highly preferable to Whittier and is Icy Strait Point worth the stop?

 

Thank you,

T.

Princess goes to both Glacier Bay and College Fiord.

Having done both Radiance and Coral Princess - I would choose Princess. Princess goes to Glacier Bay (huge) and has enrichment programs onboard. Radiance had NO enrichment programs. Princess also has a naturalist, RCCL does not - these make a huge difference onboard for the Alaskan experience. RCCL just talked about "shopping".

http://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/north-to-alaska/

If you want Hubbard Glacier, Princess does both Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay on their Southbound cruises. You could drive around Alaska before your cruise - just giving you another option.

While Seward is a better port, I wouldn't give up on 2 glaciers for it. For example, on my Radiance trip, we missed Hubbard glacier. Having 2 glaciers is important to me, especially since Glacier Bay is never missed.

----

You may want to post Noordam's itinerary. I am sure it has a glacier of some sort.

I would recommend going to the library and getting Anne Vipond's Alaska by Cruise Ship and finding out about the different glaciers and ports.

Good luck planning!

Princess goes to both Glacier Bay and College Fiord.

 

Having done both Radiance and Coral Princess - I would choose Princess. Princess goes to Glacier Bay (huge) and has enrichment programs onboard. Radiance had NO enrichment programs. Princess also has a naturalist, RCCL does not - these make a huge difference onboard for the Alaskan experience. RCCL just talked about "shopping".

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/north-to-alaska/

 

If you want Hubbard Glacier, Princess does both Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay on their Southbound cruises. You could drive around Alaska before your cruise - just giving you another option.

 

While Seward is a better port, I wouldn't give up on 2 glaciers for it. For example, on my Radiance trip, we missed Hubbard glacier. Having 2 glaciers is important to me, especially since Glacier Bay is never missed.

 

----

 

You may want to post Noordam's itinerary. I am sure it has a glacier of some sort.

 

I would recommend going to the library and getting Anne Vipond's Alaska by Cruise Ship and finding out about the different glaciers and ports.

 

Good luck planning!

Read my post above!

We chose the Southbound from Whittier on Princess.

Glacier Bay was a 'must' for us.

Princess cruises Hubbard Glacier (sometimes missed due to fog and/or ice), and Glacier Bay.

One can tour Prince William Sound (College Fjord) by boat tour from Whittier, before boarding the Princess Ship.

One can easily do any land tour before cruising on a Southbound Itinerary.

The one slight drawback to this itinerary is the shorter time in port at Juneau. (we are sailing this year, I have not double checked next years schedules)

Happy Planning!

Read my post above!

We were writing at the same time I believe :)

I have done both the Coral Princess and Radiance to Alaska and agree with Coral that RCCL does nothing special in Alaska. Whittier is great for an afternoon boat ride and Seward does offer more things to do but from a cruise perspective -- Princess does a better job in Alaska. Since you are doing your own land trip -- you can include Seward in your plans. Most people who do RCCL miss Seward anyway as they immediately take a bus to Anchorage. I have not sailed Holland America to Alaska so I can't compare.

We are doing the north bound cruise on Celebrity Millennium from Vancouver to Seward. I would rather do south bound for a shorter flight home but next time we all learn from our mistakes. And we want to see denali also so we are booking the train ride to anchorage instead .

We have cruise on the Coral a couple of time and have always enjoyed her. Northbound she visits Glacier Bay which is a real positive for us and College Fjord also provides a very scenic day of cruising.

Thank you all for your help :)

Sounds like Coral Princess it is. I looked up Hubbard glacier and College fjord on youtube and even though Hubbard looks more interesting to me, we will likely stick to the northbound trip and College fjord - simply because from what I read there is a big chance that in June we wouldn't be able to get close to the Hubbard glacier anyways...

Thank you all for your help :)

 

Sounds like Coral Princess it is. I looked up Hubbard glacier and College fjord on youtube and even though Hubbard looks more interesting to me, we will likely stick to the northbound trip and College fjord - simply because from what I read there is a big chance that in June we wouldn't be able to get close to the Hubbard glacier anyways...

Even though you seem to have made up your mind already...Let me just say that we've done the Northbound on Radiance a few times...and loved the ship and itinerary...and have never missed getting up very close to Hubbard in mid May...late May and even early September when we did the roundtrip Vancouver....But the northbound is our favorite.

Enjoy Alaska regardless of which ship you decide will be best for you.

We have done both Princess and RCCL in Alaska. Add us to the people who were disappointed with RCCL in Alaska. We would not go with them again due to their lack of Alaska programming. And we did miss Hubbard Glacier with them but it probably would not have mattered as many lines missed the glacier that week. At least with Princess there are 2 glacier days and they have access to Glacier Bay. RCCL would love to have access to this but don't.

For Alaska, we have only done Princess but I have tried other lines in the Caribbean. From what I was told, Princess was one of the first major lines to go to AK so my thought is they may get preferential treatment.

Princess did not seem to have a lot of night life while on board the ship. That was not a problem for us as we had a number of family members on the last trip and we made our own fun. We are going again in 3 months with a group of close friends. Again the night life (dancing at the bars) is not a big deal for us.

You've selected a good itinerary - north to AK. The views get more spectacular as you head north. I recommend a cabin on the starboard side if you are getting an oceanview or a balcony. If you can swing it, the balcony on the AK cruise is the way to go. Even my husband (very much on the cheapside) thoroughly enjoyed the balcony and did not complain about the extra dollars.

You mention you are renting a car to head up to Denali. You may want to take a shuttle from the port to the Anchorage airport and rent the car at the airport. For our July trip, I found only one rental agency in Whittier. So rental rates were high. Plus they added $150 one-way rental fee. You can get a shuttle to the airport (2 hour drive) for $25 a person. The airport has a little more competition with the rental cars so you get better rates plus do not need to pay the one-way fee.

If you are heading north and have not booked hotels, you may want to start looking now. Lodging books up quickly. We called Talkeetna "home base" for the last trip and this coming trip. The town has character. Talkeetna Cabins are quite nice. Plus there are a couple B&Bs. We've reserved the Talkeetna Cabins again.

Good luck with your selection.