Repetitive Question: Which Cruiseline??

I know this has been asked many times, in many different ways. But, here I go again.

We are doing a southbound cruise next June (2015). Adding land tour in Alaska but doing it with our own rental car.

Have done extensive research and thought it was between Princess and HAL with Princess being slightly ahead. Narrowed it down to these to experience Glacier Bay.

However, just called a travel agent I have used for years and specializes in cruises. He's been in business for a very long time. In his opinion, the 3 best lines to Alaska are Princess, Royal Carribean and Celebrity, in no particular order. So, I brought up Glacier Bay and in his opinion I will enjoy Hubbard Glacier just as much and Glacier Bay should not sway my choice!

He reiterated several times that it is only his opinion and it comes down to personal choice. I know all of you feel that way as well but wanted to throw it out there. If we like the port stops, hours, etc. will we know what we are missing doing Hubbard vs. Glacier Bay?

We are two couples, one in early/mid fifties and one late sixties/70. Both couples are young at heart and very active. They love Celebrity, especially Aqua Class. My husband and I have cruised several times but haven't done any of these lines.

Thank you very much in advance!

We went on our very first cruise last summer. We liked the itinerary and it happened to fit in with time we'd already booked, and there was a promotion for free drinks and gratuities, which helped us decide that we could afford it. It was on the Celebrity Century. We did the Hubbard Glacier and got within 1/2 mile of it the day we were there. It was magnificent and I think I took about 300 pictures in the time we were there. Maybe some who've been to both can tell you if one is better than the other. If you are seeing a glacier for the very first time do you really think you are going to wonder if you are missing out on something? No. You will be standing there in awe, amazed at the wonder and majesty of it all. Choose whichever one has the most things that are important to you (itinerary, embarkation port, price, type of ship) and then don't look back. Whatever you choose, you will have a great time.

I did similar research and only considered cruiselines that go to Glacier Bay. NCL, Princess, and HAL are the only one's that go to Glacier Bay. Then we settled with NCL Sun Northbound for several reasons and already booked 29 cabins for our group of friends and cousins :-)

1. It goes to both Glacier Bay and Hubbard and stops at all three top ports.

2. Leaves on Monday and that somehow felt good. We can use the longweekend to cover both Seattle and Vancouver.

3. Costs less than Pricess and HAL.

From my reading some Alaska pros seems to think Hubbard and Tracy Arm are higher up the list than Glacier Bay. But, I am not sure if most of us from East coast will ever go back on Alaska cruise so, didn't want to come out with a feeling that we missed something. So, decided to cover it all. In Alaska, we plan to fill-fill desire to take the train, drive to Denali, and also cover Prince William Sound and maybe one more tour before flying back.

Which lines has your TA taken to Alaska?

You can almost be assured of getting close to Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay. Hubbard Glacier many times has ice in front of the glacier that doesn’t allow ships to get close to it. Of the 3 trips we’ve done to Hubbard we have only gotten within 1 mile once. Last year we stopped 12 miles from the face. Hubbard certainly has the wow factor more than any other tidewater glacier we've been to but getting close enough can be difficult at times.

NCL, Princess, and HAL are the only one's that go to Glacier Bay.

There are 8 or 9 lines that have permits to go into Glacier Bay.

There are 8 or 9 lines that have permits to go into Glacier Bay.

I just looked at RCL, Carnival, Celebrity, HAL, Princess, NCL which are all in similar price range. Are there more large cruise ships in this price range that go to Glacier Bay?

You can almost be assured of getting close to Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay. Hubbard Glacier many times has ice in front of the glacier that doesn’t allow ships to get close to it. Of the 3 trips we’ve done to Hubbard we have only gotten within 1 mile once. Last year we stopped 12 miles from the face. Hubbard certainly has the wow factor more than any other tidewater glacier we've been to but getting close enough can be difficult at times.

 

 

 

There are 8 or 9 lines that have permits to go into Glacier Bay.

I disagree, I read somewhere there are only 5. Princess, HAL, NCL, Carnival and Crystal mainstream cruiselines that have permits to enter Glacier Bay.

Hubbard Glacier is one huge glacier (if you can get close). Glacier Bay we saw 5 glaciers and it is a National Park for a reason.

I've done Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay. Never been to Hubbard, but I think I would choose the NCL ship to see both of them.

I prefer HAL over Princess, but NCL does a good job too and lots like "no formal" nights. You can dress up all you want on NCL and eat where and when you want to.

OP, I usually like to start a graph chart before I pick a cruise. I put the cruiselines/ships across the top. Then list the things of importance to me down the side (size of ship, ports, time in ports, cabin type, cost, excursions, etc). As you research put an "X" in the conjoining box. BY the time you near the end of your research, one should have more Xs than the others. Have fun planning, then taking your cruise to Alaska!

I just looked at RCL, Carnival, Celebrity, HAL, Princess, NCL which are all in similar price range. Are there more large cruise ships in this price range that go to Glacier Bay?

For the main lines you pretty much hit it on the head. Most of the others are small ships. This is a list from 2012.

Alaskan Dream Cruises

American Cruise Lines

Un-Cruise

Carnival

Crystal

Hal

Norwegian

Princess

Lindblad

For the main lines you pretty much hit it on the head. Most of the others are small ships. This is a list from 2012.

 

Alaskan Dream Cruises

American Cruise Lines

Un-Cruise

Carnival

Crystal

Hal

Norwegian

Princess

Lindblad

I thought right now only HAL, princess and NCL can go in to. Glacier bay?

Thank you for all of the replies

I thought right now only HAL, princess and NCL can go in to. Glacier bay?

I think they all include Glacier Bay for 2014 on selected trips. Although I haven't looked someone said Carnival only does it early spring/late fall.

I think they all include Glacier Bay for 2014 on selected trips. Although I haven't looked someone said Carnival only does it early spring/late fall.

Also OP is planning to do one-way so he can do Alaska land tours. I think HAL, Princess, and NCL are the only options. At least for us as I looked for sailings in July on standard cruiselines. Not smaller or luxury.

I just booked Radiance for August 2015 and I'm happy with my choice. I think all the windows on Radiance will be a big plus on this cruise. I'm perfectly fine with not going to Glacier Bay. We are doing Northbound and then we are going to do a week on land ourselves with plans for Denali. I've only sailed with Royal so far so I can't compare and I really didn't look at other lines. I just read lots of reviews from those who sailed Royal and everyone seemed satisfied. Good luck with your planning. I'm sure you will be happy with whatever you choose!

We are usually big royal fans too. I think we will try princess because we want to see glacier bay as we have to go during May and it is one of two cruises that leaves the day we want to go. If we were going later in the season I think we'd have gone with RC as they are our favourite so far.

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I know it's personal choice, subjective... But I value the opinion of those that have already done Alaska.

I'm down to Celebrity millennium and Coral Princess. I'm doing southbound in June 2015.

The itineraries are similar. Waiting for final itineraries and prices for princess Tuesday.

Celebrity has one extra port, icy strait, and I think celebrity has the edge on the food?

I'm sure my husband and I will be thrilled on either but it's such a hard choice. I'm hoping to book by Wednesday.

Have you done either or both?

Which would you choose!

Thank you very much!

I know it's personal choice, subjective... But I value the opinion of those that have already done Alaska.

 

I'm down to Celebrity millennium and Coral Princess. I'm doing southbound in June 2015.

 

The itineraries are similar. Waiting for final itineraries and prices for princess Tuesday.

 

Celebrity has one extra port, icy strait, and I think celebrity has the edge on the food?

 

I'm sure my husband and I will be thrilled on either but it's such a hard choice. I'm hoping to book by Wednesday.

 

Have you done either or both?

 

Which would you choose!

 

Thank you very much!

The benefit of Princess Southbound is that it does both Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay. This is important. For example, if you do Celebrity and it has just Hubbard glacier on it and your ship misses it, you miss your only glacier day. BTW - I have been on a sailing that did miss Hubbard glacier and it was my only glacier day. Pretty important if you think this may be your only trip to Alaska.

I have been on both Millennium and Coral Princess. They are almost the same size. I preferred the Coral Princess. I preferred the food on Princess but the dining room look on the Millennium.

Thank you

We have taken two Alaska cruises so far. Both times we were there in mid August. The first one in 2009 was a round trip from Seattle on the Star Princess. Our ports of call were Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway.We had a great time but wanted to go back again, which we did in mid-August of 2012.

We sailed on the Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas on the southbound route. We loved it! We had four ports of call, Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Icy Strait Point located in the Alaskan town of Hoonah.

When we booked the cruise, we arranged to have transfers through RC and I'm glad we did. We didn't have any trouble at all.

When we flew into Anchorage, we asked for the RC representative. We were directed to a kiosk where the friendly RC staff checked us off their list, and then told us when the next bus was leaving for Seward. I think we had about a one hour wait.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the food court, then went back to the waiting area at the RC desk. When the bus arrived, we got in along with several other people and the driver loaded up all the baggage.

I'm not sure how long the drive was but it seemed to pass quickly. The scenery was fantastic and the driver gave information about what we were seeing from time to time.

Before we knew it, we had arrived at the Seward terminal. The Radiance was the only ship there! Check in at the terminal was a breeze. We walked right in, went up to the counter to check in, and went right on to the ship!

The quickest embarkation we have ever had.

The ship is fantastic and the cruise was the best we have ever had. The itinerary includes 4 ports of call. Icy Strait Point was and still is our favorite. We went on the Bear and Whale watch combo excursion through RC. We saw two bears catching Salmon and countless whales! It was absolutely breathtaking!

When we went through the Hubbard Glacier area, we witnessed numerous "calving" which is when great chunks of ice break off with loud cracking and rumbling then fall into the water.

I could go on and on. As you can see, even now I get excited just thinking about it and trying to describe what we saw.

At the end of the cruise, going through the Vancouver terminal was no trouble at all. We also had a transfer through the cruise line that took us to the Vancouver airport.

You might be interested in seeing my wife's picture slideshows. Here is a link to the page where you will see slideshows about the different ports of call as well as the ship. The slideshow will start when you click on the link, but you can also go through the pictures if you want to by clicking on the thumbnails one at a time.

2012 RC Radiance of the Seas ~ Alaska Southbound

HAPPY SAILING! It's a great way to explore the world!