best line to cruise w/in alaska

looking to book a cruise in alaska. Also many to chose from. Recommendations on the line or ship to cruise with or one to stay away from would be great.

thanks

There is no one "best" for everyone, as everyone has different tastes and priorities, and "best" is totally subjective. If there really was a "best", they would price accordingly, and you probably couldn't book or afford that line. You will see this discussed here frequently.

Many cruises are about intinerary, so you will see many discussions about the relative importance of Glacier Bay and who sails there. HAL and Princess have the most permits (80% between them). NCL is next, with a sprinkling of others.

I think the itinerary that interests you is the most important thing. Each line caters to a certain demographic. Do your research, read reviews, make a list of what is important to you, keeping time frame and budget in mind, and then make a decision.

If you have a cruise line which you favor, start there.

I personally am partial to NCL and the itineraries and ships it offers in Alaska. Is it right for you? Maybe, you will have to determine that for yourself.

How long of a trip are you planning?

My research led me to believe that Glacier Bay was very highly recommended, so I only considered cruises with that. If we go again later in the year (instead of May) I want to do Tracy Arm though (they often divert early in the season due to ice; also, once I added in the cost of the small boat excursion at Tracy Arm, that itinerary on NCL Jewel was actually more expensive than Glacier Bay on NCL Pearl).

Holland America doesn't really appeal to us. We've done Princess and NCL and much prefer Princess. Its more formal, but the food and service seemed better (1 Princess cruise and 2 NCL cruises). I'd start looking at itineraries at the same time as cruise lines. For example if you wanted a round trip cruise (which keeps costs down and is convenient) or a one way cruise (gets further North). I literally made a spreadsheet with some basic stats like embarkation & debarkation ports, scenic cruising, ports, time in ports, prices, ship age, ship size, etc, to help compare. I find the main difference between the lines to be the culture, such as demographics (average passenger age and quiet vs. party atmosphere), dining type, what is included, etc. Sometimes you have to just try them out to see if they appeal to you, once you zone in one a couple options. Best wishes.

Some of your options will be limited by ... RT or one-way ? sailing out of Vancouver or Seattle? 7 days or longer?

It has been said by many that the cruiselines are more similar than they are different anymore. If there is something specific that you must have, like a covered pool, spa package, specialty dining, a naturalist on board, etc, that might help reduce your options as well.

In general Alaska is about the scenery, sights and activities, so choose an itinerary that meets your needs ....it should visit ports that YOU want to explore, and spend enough time in each port to accomplish your planned activities.

Learn about each port and what each one has to offer. There are less than 6 so it's not a difficult task. Look at cruiseportinsider.com, look at each town's web site, read past trip reports posted in STICKYs above. There are books specific to Alaska cruises ; Fodor has Alaska Ports of Call and Ann Vipond has Alaska by cruiseship. Maybe your library has them .... they discuss cruiselines, itineraries, ports, excursions, activities, DIY options, etc.

When you've done a little research, post again to get feedback on your top choices. Have fun !

We did a 2 week tour with HAL,7 days land and 7 days sea .It was the best vacation ever.

Thoughts....

• if you have kids and pixie dust addictions... look into Disney! Only drawback is Glacier Bay is skipped.
  
• Holland America and Princes are the most popular because they offer the most sailings into Glacier Bay.
  
• Holland America offers a Yukon/Denali option where you can travel between Anchorage and Skagway without a boat.
  
• I'll let others comment on smoking policies on the different cruise lines
  
• I also like Holland and DCL for their photo packages. I would spend too much on Princess with photo's.
  
• in addition to cruise lines.... think about Vancouver vs Seattle departures. I like Vancouver for the various activities as a bonus port.
  

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looking to book a cruise in alaska. Also many to chose from. Recommendations on the line or ship to cruise with or one to stay away from would be great.

 

thanks

There is no one "best" for everyone, as everyone has different tastes and priorities, and "best" is totally subjective. If there really was a "best", they would price accordingly, and you probably couldn't book or afford that line. You will see this discussed here frequently.

 

Many cruises are about intinerary, so you will see many discussions about the relative importance of Glacier Bay and who sails there. HAL and Princess have the most permits (80% between them). NCL is next, with a sprinkling of others.

As Cruiser Bruce says, there is no "best". Why are you going to Alaska? For the ship, or to see Alaska? You need to compare itineraries, do some research into the ports, see how long each port stop is (this is crucial IMHO).

For many people, including me, the ship/line is pretty much not even on the radar. It is the experience of Alaska that has highest priority. I went on a ship last year that I swore I would never set foot on again, because it did the itinerary I wanted.

What do you want from your cruise to Alaska?

For cruises that are “w/in” Alaska that don’t start or end in Vancouver/Seattle, Un-Cruise or Alaska Dream Cruises fit. They are very good, particularly Un-Cruise. Best is subjective but Un-Cruise is the best Alaska cruise we’ve been on.

Either Princess or HAL for sure! :)

looking to book a cruise in alaska. Also many to chose from. Recommendations on the line or ship to cruise with or one to stay away from would be great.

 

thanks

Instead of concentrating on the cruise line, look into where you want to go (Sitka? Glacier Bay?) & what you want to do.

Make your plans accordingly.

I know which lines I would choose (HAL & Princess) & which ones I would not choose in AK (Disney), but 1000's of people choose them & have a great time!

(We are taking a 14-night cruise on HAL for pretty much the price of 1 week on Disney! $4400 vs $4150)

Agree completely. Wife and I just came back from an Un-Cruise trip from Seattle to Juneau. We traveled through areas no large cruise ship would get near. Two personal favorites were Misty Fjords and Dawes Glacier/Endicott Arm. Weather was spectacular; even got sunburned.

Ship held eighty four people. No casino, no gift shops, no expensive excursions since the ship's route is the excursion itself. Highly recommended.

looking to book a cruise in alaska. Also many to chose from. Recommendations on the line or ship to cruise with or one to stay away from would be great.

 

thanks

You can cruise AK on ships that hold from 8 passengers to 3000 passengers. You can cruise AK on a cruise ship, the Alaska Marine Highway, a small ship or even a trawler yacht. Even given the limited number of Alaska ports, you have a large number of ports to select from. You can pick cruises one way or two way. You pick a cruise or a cruisetour. You can pick cruise lengths from 7 days to 14 days or even longer if you work at it. You have not told us anything at all about your age, interests, budget, mobility and a bunch of other parameters.

Bottom line is that anything we can tell you about the "best" would be totally meaningless. I can absolutely guarantee that my best AK line or ship would not be the best chosen by probably 99% of the CC members but it would be the best for me.

Come back with some hard questions that we would happily provide you with answers.

DON

Agree completely. Wife and I just came back from an Un-Cruise trip from Seattle to Juneau. We traveled through areas no large cruise ship would get near. Two personal favorites were Misty Fjords and Dawes Glacier/Endicott Arm. Weather was spectacular; even got sunburned.

 

Ship held eighty four people. No casino, no gift shops, no expensive excursions since the ship's route is the excursion itself. Highly recommended.

So nice you were able to experience Un-Cruise again. We did the Seattle-Juneau trip several years ago. We too had beautiful weather and actually had the opportunity to waterski behind the zodiacs at Misty Fjords in Punchbowl cove. Being able to use the kayaks that were onboard was a treat. It’s not for everyone but we’d do it every year if we could. We had 24 people on our trip.

So nice you were able to experience Un-Cruise again. We did the Seattle-Juneau trip several years ago. We too had beautiful weather and actually had the opportunity to waterski behind the zodiacs at Misty Fjords in Punchbowl cove. Being able to use the kayaks that were onboard was a treat. It’s not for everyone but we’d do it every year if we could. We had 24 people on our trip.

We have done AK on a cruise ship, a small boat that held 40 passengers, on the Marine Highway and on a 2 1/2 month land tour. IMHO, the 40 passenger boat was the best. The land tour was 2nd best. The Marine Highway was 3d best.

Some day I would like to do it on a trawler yacht but I do not think that my wife would ever go along with that option.

DON

So nice you were able to experience Un-Cruise again. We did the Seattle-Juneau trip several years ago. We too had beautiful weather and actually had the opportunity to waterski behind the zodiacs at Misty Fjords in Punchbowl cove. Being able to use the kayaks that were onboard was a treat. It’s not for everyone but we’d do it every year if we could. We had 24 people on our trip.

We used to work as naturalists on the big cruise lines but my wife didn't care for them; too big and too much emphasis on shopping and pricey excursions for her taste.

Un-Cruise is our speed. Nothing great about the cabin but everyone has a window in their compact room. Best of all, we were in no particular hurry to go from port to port. Spent an entire day and evening in Misty Fjords and whale watched in the evening just outside the entrance to Tracy Arm Fjord.

Already planning our next Un-Cruise to the Sea of Cortez. :)