Who's better for Alaska?

I have not been on Celebrity in Alaska, they are known for having one of the best naturalists onboard.

 

That being said, I really like Princess. I am one who puts Glacier Bay as a must for Alaska for a first time cruiser. I say this as Glacier Bay is never missed and Celebrity doesn't have permits there. My first cruise to Alaska was with RCCL and we had Hubbard glacier on the cruise and we missed it. It was a huge disappointment for me. So I say go to Glacier Bay which means not Celebrity.

 

Princess does a ton of enrichment programs onboard about Alaska. On RCCL, all we had was "a shopping guide". RCCL's enrichment programs were zilch compared to Princess. I have really enjoyed the speakers that Princess bring onboard along with their naturalist:

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/onboard-experience/

 

I also like Princess's one ways as they have 2 glacier days. So if you are interested in Hubbard Glacier, Princess has itineraries with both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier on the cruise. So in case, you miss Hubbard glacier, you have another Glacier day. Celebrity does not do this.

 

The past few years, Hubbard Glacier and Tracy Arm were frequently missed. Hopefully this will be a better year.

In May 2006, I booked my first Alaska cruise: a southbound on Radiance of the Seas for June 2007. However, your strong opinions about the importance of Glacier Bay and general dislike for RCI in Alaska had me second-guessing myself, and I eventually changed to a northbound on a Princess ship. We thoroughly enjoyed Glacier Bay and College Fjords, so thank you. :)

Subsequent Alaska cruises were on HAL Veendam to Hubbard Glacier, which was a poor experience due to not getting close. That was due to the captain's decision to not wait for the Celebrity ship that was sitting in front of the glacier for a long time to move. :rolleyes: The following year I was on Princess in Tracy Arm, and we didn't get far enough along the fjord to see the glaciers at the end. Finally, the 14-day HAL Amsterdam went to both Hubbard Glacier and Tracy Arm, and we had good glacier views of both.

I'm finally sailing with RCI to Alaska in May (yay! :D), on b2b Radiance of the Seas cruises, so I'll have 2 chances to see Hubbard Glacier. I also booked Adventure Bound from Juneau to (hopefully) see Tracy Arm, and a Glacier Bay flightseeing excursion from Haines. At this point in my Alaska travels - the lack of a naturalist or destination speaker is irrelevant to me. However, I enjoyed hearing Libby Riddles speak in Juneau and Steve Hites in Skagway on my Princess cruises.

I'm finally sailing with RCI to Alaska in May (yay! :D), on b2b Radiance of the Seas cruises, so I'll have 2 chances to see Hubbard Glacier. I also booked Adventure Bound from Juneau to (hopefully) see Tracy Arm, and a Glacier Bay flightseeing excursion from Haines..

I'm similar to BQ in that I go to Alaska pretty much every year. I've sailed Princess, HAL and Celebrity and had good trips on all. My preference is Princess, I'm usually doing a B2B so have multiple visits to the Glaciers. For a first timer I would recommend Glacier Bay as it is never missed. My visits to Hubbard have been hit and miss, same with College Fjord. Rarely have I been any where close to the Glaciers recently. When I started going to Alaska in the mid 90's Princess sailed out of Seward instead of Whittier and I think time wise this allowed them to get farther into College Fjord. Hubbard varies greatly based on the ice conditions but again I haven't been nearly as close as 20 years ago.

Tracy Arm is spectacular from a small boat, my priority is a schedule that allows me to do the Adventure Bound tour from Juneau (northbound Princess) I've gone 5-6 times and am booked for this May. From the cruise ship you are lucky to get a glimpse from a distance.

From the air Glacier Bay is spectacular also, I've flown with Paul from Mountain Flying based in Haines, but I flew from Skagway. This is a rarely mentioned option.

Everyone has different priorities/expectations but to me an Alaska trips requires some Glacier viewing and a cruise with a Glacier Bay visit is you best chance to see multiple glaciers from a close distance. IMHO the others can be actually more spectacular, but only if you get close and that is a gamble. Glacier Bay you will probably be within 1/4 to 1/2 mile from the Glacier, my last 3 visits to Hubbard we were 14, 9 and then fogged out and missed entirely. College Fjord last couple of visits were between 7-12 miles and in Tracy Arm you chances of getting much closer than 3-4 miles are almost none.

Again this is just my experience from 24+ visits.

In May 2006, I booked my first Alaska cruise: a southbound on Radiance of the Seas for June 2007. However, your strong opinions about the importance of Glacier Bay and general dislike for RCI in Alaska had me second-guessing myself, and I eventually changed to a northbound on a Princess ship. We thoroughly enjoyed Glacier Bay and College Fjords, so thank you. :)

 

Subsequent Alaska cruises were on HAL Veendam to Hubbard Glacier, which was a poor experience due to not getting close. That was due to the captain's decision to not wait for the Celebrity ship that was sitting in front of the glacier for a long time to move. :rolleyes: The following year I was on Princess in Tracy Arm, and we didn't get far enough along the fjord to see the glaciers at the end. Finally, the 14-day HAL Amsterdam went to both Hubbard Glacier and Tracy Arm, and we had good glacier views of both.

 

I'm finally sailing with RCI to Alaska in May (yay! :D), on b2b Radiance of the Seas cruises, so I'll have 2 chances to see Hubbard Glacier. I also booked Adventure Bound from Juneau to (hopefully) see Tracy Arm, and a Glacier Bay flightseeing excursion from Haines. At this point in my Alaska travels - the lack of a naturalist or destination speaker is irrelevant to me. However, I enjoyed hearing Libby Riddles speak in Juneau and Steve Hites in Skagway on my Princess cruises.

I have a friend who was a RCCL field rep and had worked for other cruise lines previously including Holland America and Princess. Now, she is retired. We had a family trip to Alaska we were planning. Her advice to us was to not choose RCCL for the cruise. She was not impressed with Royal Caribbean in Alaska. A year later we sailed to Alaska with Princess and we have also done HAL in Alaska. I have to agree with her -- other lines do a better job in Alaska. We will not sail to Alaska with Royal Caribbean again. It was a disappointment compared to Princess and a later cruise with Holland America. We do enjoy Royal Caribbean in the Caribbean. In the Caribbean for us it is more about the ships. In Alaska it is more about scenery.

I have a friend who was a RCCL field rep and had worked for other cruise lines previously including Holland America and Princess. Now, she is retired. We had a family trip to Alaska we were planning. Her advice to us was to not choose RCCL for the cruise. She was not impressed with Royal Caribbean in Alaska. A year later we sailed to Alaska with Princess and we have also done HAL in Alaska. I have to agree with her -- other lines do a better job in Alaska. We will not sail to Alaska with Royal Caribbean again. It was a disappointment compared to Princess and a later cruise with Holland America. We do enjoy Royal Caribbean in the Caribbean. In the Caribbean for us it is more about the ships. In Alaska it is more about scenery.

So- you have sailed Alaska on ALL 3 cruise lines? And comparing the three in your claim and assessment of your trips? What was it you didn't care for with your RCI trip ?

I have a friend who was a RCCL field rep and had worked for other cruise lines previously including Holland America and Princess. Now, she is retired. We had a family trip to Alaska we were planning. Her advice to us was to not choose RCCL for the cruise. She was not impressed with Royal Caribbean in Alaska. A year later we sailed to Alaska with Princess and we have also done HAL in Alaska. I have to agree with her -- other lines do a better job in Alaska. We will not sail to Alaska with Royal Caribbean again. It was a disappointment compared to Princess and a later cruise with Holland America. We do enjoy Royal Caribbean in the Caribbean. In the Caribbean for us it is more about the ships. In Alaska it is more about scenery.

I don't know if you were attempting to change my mind - but I am very much looking forward to cruising to Alaska on Radiance of the Seas! :D I am particularly excited about its 9-night northbound itinerary that visits the 6 major Alaskan ports plus Hubbard Glacier. Doing the southbound cruise (which is required because I will board the ship in Honolulu) gives me a chance to do some excursions I have long wanted to do in the repeated ports.

I don't know if you were attempting to change my mind - but I am very much looking forward to cruising to Alaska on Radiance of the Seas! :D I am particularly excited about its 9-night northbound itinerary that visits the 6 major Alaskan ports plus Hubbard Glacier. Doing the southbound cruise (which is required because I will board the ship in Honolulu) gives me a chance to do some excursions I have long wanted to do in the repeated ports.

I think I've done 8 RCI trips? last with the Radiance- again last year. My RCI trips over the years, have been the closest I have gotten to Hubbard. Princess was the worse with turn arounds over 10 miles out, and NO ice in the water. I certainly greatly enjoyed the RCI sailings and will consider them again.

What has been happening- is fuel conservation and revenue. Bottom line- money. Ships are sailing slower, TIME is essential. It takes "time" and effort to navigate through ice. There is NO safety issue involved, but it sure does sound good and is readily accepted by cruise passengers. Ships don't sail coastal like they use to, making straight shots open ocean etc. All time and money motivated changes.

I don't know if you were attempting to change my mind - but I am very much looking forward to cruising to Alaska on Radiance of the Seas! :D I am particularly excited about its 9-night northbound itinerary that visits the 6 major Alaskan ports plus Hubbard Glacier. Doing the southbound cruise (which is required because I will board the ship in Honolulu) gives me a chance to do some excursions I have long wanted to do in the repeated ports.

Not trying to change your mind at all. I found it interesting that a Royal Caribbean rep couldn't recommend their own line in Alaska. They believed other lines were better.

I think I've done 8 RCI trips? last with the Radiance- again last year. My RCI trips over the years, have been the closest I have gotten to Hubbard. Princess was the worse with turn arounds over 10 miles out, and NO ice in the water. I certainly greatly enjoyed the RCI sailings and will consider them again.

I actually had the opposite experience. I have been able to get closer to Hubbard glacier with Holland America and Princess and not with Royal Caribbean. They didn't even try on Royal Caribbean due to fog. Every week is different and the conditions are different.

When I started going to Alaska in the mid 90's Princess sailed out of Seward instead of Whittier and I think time wise this allowed them to get farther into College Fjord.

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This doesn't make sense. College Fiords is much closer to Whittier than Seward. Princess has all the time in the world to see College Fiords because they dock so close to College Fiords.

Since folks are comparing glacier experiences on the various cruises, how does Kenai Fjords on a boat compare? We will be going this August for our first Alaska cruise. The itinerary (Crystal Northern Wonders) includes both Glacier Bay and Hubbard. I've also booked a boat tour (Major Marine) of Kenai Fjords when we debark.

There are other glaciers that could be visited on excursions (e.g.; Misty Fjords excursion from Ketchican) but I think that's enough glaciers for one trip and our excursions will probably focus on other things.

Holland America!!! Have done both their land tour followed by 4 day cruise from Skagway to Vancouver and also a 14-day R/T from Seattle.

Since folks are comparing glacier experiences on the various cruises, how does Kenai Fjords on a boat compare? We will be going this August for our first Alaska cruise. The itinerary (Crystal Northern Wonders) includes both Glacier Bay and Hubbard. I've also booked a boat tour (Major Marine) of Kenai Fjords when we debark.

 

There are other glaciers that could be visited on excursions (e.g.; Misty Fjords excursion from Ketchican) but I think that's enough glaciers for one trip and our excursions will probably focus on other things.

You will get a closer view. You don't say what tour you booked? Ideal with a glacier priority is their double glacier trip of Holgate and Aialik. Otherwise, for glaciers out of Whittier is more glacier viewing involved. On a Kenai Fjords tour- it's part of the route, and usually when meals are served. Some benefit to skip meals. :)

We have been to Hubbard 8 times with Royal Caribbean and 8 times with Celebrity. Looking back at our cruises I would have to say we got very close to Hubbard multiple times with Royal and just a few times with Celebrity. Luck??? Who knows.

We are really looking forward to our July cruises which should give us multiple opportunities to visit glaciers.

This doesn't make sense. College Fiords is much closer to Whittier than Seward. Princess has all the time in the world to see College Fiords because they dock so close to College Fiords.

Not sure what I was thinking when I posted this, you are correct.

You will get a closer view. You don't say what tour you booked? Ideal with a glacier priority is their double glacier trip of Holgate and Aialik. Otherwise, for glaciers out of Whittier is more glacier viewing involved. On a Kenai Fjords tour- it's part of the route, and usually when meals are served. Some benefit to skip meals. :)

We booked the 7.5 hour Kenai Fjords tour which goes to both Holgate and Aialik glacier. We booked when they had an early booking discount so it cost less than the 6 hour tour. They assure us that we can easily make the boat with our cruise scheduled to dock at 8. I hope they that's correct.

I'm having trouble parsing your comment about Whittier vs Kenai Fjords. Are you saying the Whittier trip is better for glaciers? I think we will like the combination of glacier and wildlife viewing on this trip.

I considered not signing up for the meal, but since we will be leaving our ship soon after they dock and might not have time to stop somewhere to pick up snacks, we are getting the meal.

We booked the 7.5 hour Kenai Fjords tour which goes to both Holgate and Aialik glacier. We booked when they had an early booking discount so it cost less than the 6 hour tour. They assure us that we can easily make the boat with our cruise scheduled to dock at 8. I hope they that's correct.

 

I'm having trouble parsing your comment about Whittier vs Kenai Fjords. Are you saying the Whittier trip is better for glaciers? I think we will like the combination of glacier and wildlife viewing on this trip.

 

I considered not signing up for the meal, but since we will be leaving our ship soon after they dock and might not have time to stop somewhere to pick up snacks, we are getting the meal.

Out of Whittier you either see a lot more glaciers, or you have far longer glacier viewing depending on the tour. The bonus is Surprise glacier and having to go over the moraine which is frequently loaded with sea otters. Far more viewing of sea otters in rafts, they usually are more skiddish solitary, sometimes you get barely a glimpse. . Esther Passage is also a highlight.

Ok it is my turn to brag how many times and cruise lines I have cruised Alaska in the last 10 years. I have cruised with Carnival, NCL, HAL, Princess, and RCCL. I usually do back to backs out of Vancouver. I rarely do tours but I usually rent a car to do my exploring. I have use NCL Sun for b2b for the past 5 years and then another cruise line for another 2 weeks each season. Last year on the Sun was the closest I have ever been to Hubbard Glacier. The Captain, Ronny Borg was even able to go around that little island in front of the glacier when we sailed out. That being said I have also sailed with this same captain many times and got no closer than 7 miles because of fog and ice and just floated around. The same could be said for the other cruise lines too. It is all just luck. As for Glacier Bay the cruises I have taken have always been 100% Margerie Glacier viewing. So if glacier viewing is a must for you to do then any criuise line that goes to Glacier Bay should be OK. Hubbard Glacier is half the time good viewing half the time bad. And as for Tracy Arm the only time I got what I could consider good viewing was on one of my rare tours out of Juneau. Only once, but what a memory. All my cruises into Tracy Arm from the cruise ships I would consider all poor glacier viewing but fantastic scenery viewing. As for itinerary I always go to Hoonah, Icy Strait at least once each season. Some cruisers consider Hoonah a wasted stop because there is hardly any commercialized shops there and nothing to do. On the contrary, you can do everything there if you open your eyes let your imagination get the best of you. Already set to sail the Sun again this year. Hopefully captained by Capt. Borg.

Don't just go by the listed itineraries on the websites.

In September the cruise lines that have won the lottery for going into GB & TA are published on CLAA website.

Beware that any cruise line can change their itinerary at any time.

Example : I booked with HAL in April 16 for a cruise in May 2017. I found out on here , CC , on Dec 22/16 that HAL changed their itinerary and dropped GB , TA and SKG. Talked to TA and they didn't know about it. Looked at CLAA website and it was published in September 16 and HAL did NOT have permission to go into GB & TA. Went to HAL's website that day and they were STILL showing the itinerary with have GB, TA & SKG even though the dropped then and put in HG & SIT.

HAL would not let me change to leaving one day earlier so I could see the 3 places I wanted. There was room on their other ship but they wanted more money.

If you go by the CLAA list you should be ok.

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Just FYI.....We were on Radiance summer 2016 and we did have a naturalist on board all week. He offered 3 or 4 talks during the week and narrated over the P.A. during our Hubbard viewing. So maybe RCCL sometimes does and sometimes does not have a naturalist.

We also go close to Hubbard, although it was foggy.

Just FYI.....We were on Radiance summer 2016 and we did have a naturalist on board all week. He offered 3 or 4 talks during the week and narrated over the P.A. during our Hubbard viewing. So maybe RCCL sometimes does and sometimes does not have a naturalist.

 

We also go close to Hubbard, although it was foggy.

Yes, they occasionally do have lecturers on board. Someone who used to post on this board did it for a few years. It was not the whole season. He'd go on for a few weeks at a time.

I was on RCI as well in 2016 for 2 weeks and there was nobody on board doing programs.

We were on the Radiance the last two weeks in June and there was someone who spoke and gave lectures. Sorry, can't remember his name.

We are wanting to cruise to Alaska in 2018. Would like options and suggestions. Also who is better for Alaska? Celebrity or Princess?

May I jump in on this discussion please? I am also trying to decide on an Alaskan cruise this summer. My choice is (budget concerns here) Carnival Legend Seattle to Seattle where I can afford a balcony or Princess (southbound) with an inside cabin. Also...The "inside passage" ? Princess says they go that route but I cannot tell if Carnival does or not. Is the inside passage a place or a different route (newbie here). I have been on the Legend (western Caribbean) and loved the ship so Carnival would be fine if they do a good job in Alaska

We are wanting to cruise to Alaska in 2018. Would like options and suggestions. Also who is better for Alaska? Celebrity or Princess?

The only thing that is significant is which line is better FOR YOU. Only you can answer that.

DON

May I jump in on this discussion please? I am also trying to decide on an Alaskan cruise this summer. My choice is (budget concerns here) Carnival Legend Seattle to Seattle where I can afford a balcony or Princess (southbound) with an inside cabin. Also...The "inside passage" ? Princess says they go that route but I cannot tell if Carnival does or not. Is the inside passage a place or a different route (newbie here). I have been on the Legend (western Caribbean) and loved the ship so Carnival would be fine if they do a good job in Alaska

Alaska "inside passage", is a useless term in cruise ship advertising. All ships have to sail it, you can not get to Juneau or Skagway without doing so. :)

However "inside" Vancouver Island is a different story. Princess does it and Carnival does not. Some of it is at night and there's a good amount of people who couldn't care less. :)

With Carnival, however, be aware- that they sail Tracy Arm. Very unlikely to get much if any glacier view. FAR superior is their add on Tracy Arm boat tour. Grossly superior for glacier access, if any interest? Otherwise on this itinerary you may not see glaciers? You could be sure to add Mendenhall when in Juneau for the cheapest visit.

So what I'm getting at- is take a look at your WHOLE itinerary, what tours you are going to include, then compare costs. With Princess, I would be sure to be on a Price William Sound boat tour in Whittier. jackpot glacier opportunity. :)

In my opinion, your tours are 50% of the trip. This isn't the Caribbean where you share a cab to a beach. You may want to take advantage of being there with the superb activities available. Just a suggestion.

Just FYI.....We were on Radiance summer 2016 and we did have a naturalist on board all week. He offered 3 or 4 talks during the week and narrated over the P.A. during our Hubbard viewing. So maybe RCCL sometimes does and sometimes does not have a naturalist.We also go close to Hubbard, although it was foggy.

I was also on the Radiance late Aug/early Sept 2016 and we had a speaker/expert also. We did get very close to Hubbard - expert said it was the best veiwing all summer.

But I've recently been on Coral Princess, not to Alaska, and that is a ship I most definitely want to do agan. Just loved it's layout and crew.