Aquahound

Thanks. So yes, I’ll keep my recommendation. Celebrity Eclipse is a gorgeous ship. She would be my first choice for an overall great cruise. Liberty of the Seas isn’t a bad choice. For entertainment, she is the clear leader. Between the full length Saturday Night Fever and the shows in Studio B (ice rink), I think she has some of the best entertainment at sea. I don’t recommend Gem at all. I’ll never cruise on that style of NCL ships again.

In general, I want to recommend Celebrity without the kids, but what are the specific ship choices?

I like that feature. I find it slightly irritating when people don’t shut the heck up while the Captain is talking.

Correction....Wilderness Discoverer.

"Ro-ro" means roll on/roll off. They are car carriers. So no, Wilderness Discoverer is not a ro/ro.

I just heard that Uncruise Wilderness Explorer caught fire in Glacier Bay and passengers had to be rescued by Sapphire Princess. Not a lot of details yet but it sounds like everyone is ok. Anyone with an upcoming Uncruise booked might want to check their status.

I have never had a problem parking there. Most people get there by bus our other transportation means, so there shouldn't be a ton of cars. But even if the lot fills, there's an overflow lot about a hundred or so feet up the road.

I think it's the Vision Class ships. I remember the speaker being located near the vanity with a volume knob. On newer ships, you can hear the announcements on either the bridge or forward/aft camera channels.

In general, I prefer Celebrity over NCL. That said, NCL's newer ships (Breakaway and newer) are much better than their older ships like Gem. For example, I couldn't wait to get off Dawn, but I loved my cruise on Escape. If RCI was your favorite, I think you will really enjoy Getaway. I like itinerary 1 better, so I recommend Getaway.

I've cruised both to Alaska in the last couple years. They are exactly the same regarding families and teens. Personally, I slightly prefer Ovation. It was hard to put my finger on why, but somehow, Ovation just felt nicer. Maybe because on my last Quantum cruise, several of the digital art displays were broken. I recommend booking the one with the itinerary you more prefer. If itineraries are the same, I'd lean toward Ovation.

I actually committed to enlisting in the Coast Guard because of that cruise. 🙂

Same here. NCL Sunward II, 4 day cruise to the Bahamas. I was forever hooked after that cruise.

Regarding itineraries, I'd say those are 50/50. Both are great. Getting into the cruise lines/ships..... Advantage Nieuw Amsterdam for the overall comfort. Standard cabins are larger. There is a great viewing lounge at the top, front of the ship called the Crow's Nest. Grand has nothing like it. Grand used to have a similar lounge aft, but they cut it off. Nieuw Amsterdam is also much less crowded feeling than Grand. The Grand Class of ships are notoriously crowded feeling. I think the only advantage to Grand would be the entertainment. Princess blows Holland America away with live entertainment. So all in all, I would pick NA over Grand.

Lower Dewey Lake is my favorite short (2-3 hours) hike in Skagway.

Yes! Do it! It is an excellent excursion and an easy walk from the pier. Personally, I would pick the afternoon tour but you're good either way. Have fun! 🙂

If you're like us and you like to explore on your own, there certainly is a benefit to having a rental car in Sitka and it is nice how they deliver the car to the dock. However, be very careful. We rented from Sitka Car Rentals and the car was a piece of junk. From what I've heard, Turo isn't much better. It'll likely be an old car that has seen much better days. Oh, and it'll likely stink in one way or another.

I totally disagree with this. IMO, Royal Caribbean is king of entertainment and some of the productions they put on (Mama Mia, Hairsray, etc) were every bit as good as landside shows I've seen including on Broadway. On the Quantum Class ships that sail Alaska, the shows they provide in Two70 are amazing. To answer the op's question, I think Princess is an overall good mix of both Alaska itineraries and onboard entertainment. Avoid HAL. Entertainment is awful. I also recommend avoid cruises out of Seattle since they don't cruise the Canadian Inside Passage and have to make an obligatory stop in Victoria. Glacier Bay is amazing, but so is Hubbard Glacier. Good luck on your choice.

Because, well.....NCL. They are notorious for their upcharges.

ISP is a great location for whale watching, if you don't already have an excursion like that booked elsewhere. And yes, the zipline is a blast. Even if you don't do the zipline, the skyride going up the mountain is also really nice. From what I understand, Skagway is being canceled because Quantum can only dock at the outer most mooring due to draft. The landslide activity at the pier, which impacts that mooring the most, has really had a negative impact.

No. The dock is several miles away. You'll need to ride the shuttle into town.

Pretty much just chartering your own boat. Unfortunately, rudeness abounds anywhere people are gathered, and it seems to only be getting worse lately.

You picked a great cruise on an excellent cruise line. Nice choice! You also did good by avoiding March. Mid-April should be mostly clear, but that might still fall during some grade school Spring breaks. I wouldn't worry though.

Glacier Bay certainly is special but don't let it bother you too much. Hubbard Glacier is amazing and much more spectacular than any of the glaciers in GB.

I think you're perfectly fine in that opinion. Tak a look at Holland America. They might be perfect for your tastes. For me, I love great entertainment on board. Despite the opinion of some who have never actually been aboard the big lines, some of the entertainment rivals the better shows you'll see on land. Royal Caribbean puts on some excellent full-length productions of award-winning shows like Mama Mia, Hairspray, etc and frankly, I thought they were better than some larger plays I've seen on land.

Don't let the others beat you up over their opinions of cruise line classifications. There is no standard verbiage these days and according to some sites, your classifications are correct. Anyways, to answer your question, I've cruised all 3 of those lines several times and Celebrity has consistently been my favorite for the same reasons you mentioned. And yes, my HAL choices were due to significantly lower costs, even on a brand-new ship. Princess is just sorta average to me. I like them but nothing really stands out as special or unique. What I do not like about them is their small standard cabins.