Ajg601

I am working on booking excursions for our September Alaskan cruise and am looking for opinions. We will be whale watching in Icy Strait and doing dog sledding in Seward. We are not really interested in doing a helicopter or small plane. We are thinking just to do the visit to Mendenhall Glacier/Nugget Falls. I like the idea of doing it as an excursions booked with the ship because then I know it’s just taken care of and we do not have to worry about find a way there and back. But the ship excursion only allows 2 hours there, is this enough?  Or we can include Glacier Gardens (is it worth going to?) but then we only get 90 minutes at Mendenhall.  Recommendations -  Mendenhall for 2 hours? Mendenhall for 90 minutes with Glacier Gardens? Something else entirely?

26 minutes ago, MississippiMom said:

I could "kiss you" for posting this.  🙃

 

Off/on, we have been looking at the mid-August through mid-September 2025 sailings, and the number of times we have changed what we want to prioritize is comical at this point.  Like you two, we live too far away to ever go a second time to Alaska, but we also want to enjoy that dining/entertainment/other you reference.  We have tossed around the combination of land & sea, as well as the longer 10 day cruise options, with no final decision made.   I keep thinking we have plenty of time to book for 2025, but our preferred balcony cabin locations definitely decrease as the weeks go by.

 

@Ajg601 - What made you rule out Holland America?  We are concerned it might be too quiet in the evenings and we might still be too young for HA.  But their ships look beautiful, and we like their itineraries. 

That is the exact reason we ruled out HA. We are already worried Princess will be dull, Royal or NCL would be more our style for entertainment/activity but we understand we wouldn’t be getting as good of an Alaskan experience. We know HA would not be fit for us at all. I feel like if I adjust my expectations a little and realize this won’t be like our norm cruising style then Princess will be fine. My brain seriously hurts from all the options- I understand the constant changing of mind!

6 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

If food is a key consideration, perhaps you may also want to consider one of the smaller ship premium cruise lines. Although highly subjective, the premium cruise lines generally have superior quality meals.

 

The Inside Passage runs from Olympia all the way up to Skagway, but the cruise line marketing types usually promote the waters between the Canadian mainland and Vancouver Island as the Inside Passage. You should also consider, when Northbound, these waters are cruised at night.

 

Comments on the 4 options

 - # 1 Royal Princess - in my experience this is the 2nd worst option, as these ships do not manoeuvre well enough for Alaska Cruising. Way too big and they don't have a Prom Deck. Having to sail up the Pacific Ocean from Vancouver reduces the hours in Alaska.

 

 - # 2 Ruby Princess - is a super Grand Class. The Grand Class was an exceptional class of ship built by P&O, but after Carnivalisation, they added another full deck of cabins (500 pax) to the same hull. Basically a really crowded ship. R/T Vancouver it only does SE Alaska, so you don't experience Prince William Sound

 

 - # 3 Grand Princess - of your 4 options, in my opinion this is the best ship. It was the lead ship of it's class. Dating from 1998, it is getting a little older, but still a great design. Probably also the best itinerary.

 

 - #4 NCL Encore - in my experience, this is the worst option. Similar to Royal Princess, the ship is too big for Alaska. Being R/T from Seattle, you will spend > 2 days in the Pacific Ocean and less time in Alaska ports.

What would be your thoughts on Sapphire Princess that has the same itinerary as Grand in my choice #3?  My husband and I removed it as an option because it sails Sep 7-14 and we thought that was getting to late into the season. 

52 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

Isn't cruise #3 on Grand Princess (not Crown Princess... my mistake)?  I have been on Grand three times and like it.  It is, as you know, older than Royal Princess but I prefer the Grand to the Royal (and Regal for that matter).  Skagway offers much more in the way of excursions than Icy Point in my opinion.

Yes it is on Grand, I tried to edit after I posted but my phone wouldn’t cooperate!  Thank you for your feedback!

13 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

I'd go with choice #3.  Fact that all the balconies have already been reserved indicates popularity of this ship/itinerary.  This allows you to do the Denali thing, visit Skagway, get plenty of 'scenic cruising' and Crown is a good ship with decent food and entertainment.  Balcony may not be as important as you may think.... lots of opportunity to see things from open decks.

Cruise 3 is on Royal, would you consider that equivalent to Crown?  Also, is Skagway a lot better than Icy Point for excursions?

My husband and I have narrowed down our choice for Alaskan cruises and I’m looking for input because there are pros and cons for each sailing and we just don’t know what would be best.

Slight background - we are in our upper 40s, this is our 20th anniversary trip. We have only cruised with Disney in the past and very much enjoyed those cruises. This will be our first time in Alaska and likely our only trip there (we live on the east coast and have too many other “bucket list” places to visit). While getting the Alaska experience is important, we also very much enjoy entertainment and food while on vacation. We aren’t really interested in being overloaded with lectures, I would say 65% Alaska (ports, scenic viewing, a couple educational lectures) and 35% Dining/Entertainment/Other would be desirable for us. We like dining but the food does not have to be “fancy” for us to enjoy it (I also cannot eat seafood). 

With that in mind, these are the sailings that we have narrowed down to:

Choice 1:  August 31 Royal Princess Sailing: 

Start - Anchorage

Day 1 - Hubbard Glacier 3-8

Day 2 - Glacier Bay 9-7

Day 3 - Icy Point 6:30-7

Day4 - Juneau 6:30-4

Day 5 - Ketchikan 10-6

Day 6 - At Sea

End - Vancouver

(Notes: Does not do Inside Passage, goes to Icy Point Strait instead of Skagway, can only get balcony room on non-land facing side of ship, would fly in a few day ahead of cruise to explore Denali area)

Choice 2:  Sept 3 Ruby Princess Sailing:

Start - Vancouver

Day 1 - At Sea

Day 2 - Juneau 1-10

Day 3 - Skagway 7-8:30

Day 4 - Glacier Bay 6-3

Day 5 - Ketchikan 10-6

Day 6 - At Sea

End - Vancouver

(Notes: Does not go to Hubbard Glacier, does do Inside Passage, round trip so if we wanted to go to Denali area we would need to fly into Anchorage and then fly down to Vancouver for the cruise

Choice 3:  Sept 4 Grand Princess Sailing:

Start - Anchorage

Day 1 - Hubbard Glacier 3-8

Day 2 - Glacier Bay 9-7

Day 3 - Skagway 7-8:30

Day4 - Juneau 6:30-4

Day 5 - Ketchikan 10-6

Day 6 - At Sea

End - Vancouver

(Notes: Does do Inside Passage, Older and small ship so we are concerned it wouldn’t be as good a ship experience, only has “guarantee” rooms for balcony so cannot pick location)

Choice 4:  Sept 1 NCL Encore Sailing:

Start - Seattle

Day 1 - At Sea

Day 2 - Juneau 2:30-11

Day 3 - Skagway 7-8

Day 4 - Glacier Bay 

Day 5 - Ketchikan 7-1:15

Day 6 - At Sea

End Seattle

(Notes: Does not do Inside Passage or Hubbard Glacier, port locations not as good as Princess but ship entertainment/experience  looks like it might be better?, Would need to fly into Anchorage and then down to Seattle for the cruise if we wanted to explore Denali area)

my husband and I have decided last minute that we would like to do a cruise this year for our 20th anniversary. Princess repeatedly comes up as being one of the best to take for Alaska, so we think we have decided to use Princess.  The itinerary we think we like best is a southbound cruise. Our choices are Royal Princess on Aug 31 or Sapphire Princess on Sept 7 (exact same itinerary).  We feel like Aug 31 would be a better choice for weather and wildlife, but have heard Sapphire is a better ship experience.  While Alaska is obviously important to us, the ship experience (food, service and entertainment) is also very important.  What is our better choice in your opinion?

Or, would you recommend switching to a different, round trip, itinerary?

(Side notes:  1. We would do a couple days land on our own before the cruise.  2. We can not leave any sooner than August 28 due to work commitments and our child’s college move in date)