Alaska Cruise for 20 year old:

My husband and I are taking our 20 year old on an Alaskan cruise this summer. We've been going back and forth as to which cruise would be most interesting for him. As he's an only child, we would like a ship that has people his age, that is why we are a bit apprenhensive about Holland America's The Vollendam. We do like Norwegian's Pearl, but that sails out of Seattle, and I prefer to sail from Vancouver.

Just discovered that The Coral Princess may work for us. Does that draw a younger crowd than The Vollendam?

I know Alaska is all about the ports, but sailing time is also important to us.

Thank you in advance.

I was on Coral Princess last summer and there were a few younger people on board. Alaska is pretty port intensive, so with a one-way you aren't really spending that much time on the ship. He might not appreciate the evening entertainment, but there are a lot of Alaska-related activities on board. The naturalist will give a talk on sea days, and Princess does a really good job of bringing on guest speakers from Deadliest Catch, the Lumberjack show, the Iditarod, etc. that he might enjoy. I don't think he will be bored.

I’m going on a royal Caribbean and that leaves every other week from Vancouver, it would definitely have people his age (ish) on the ship. It’s only 1 way though.

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Unlike the Caribbean, the clientele on Alaska cruises tend to be similar across all the mainstream lines (Carnival, HAL, RCI, Celebrity, Princess, NCL). The time you go will have much more to do with the age of those onboard than the cruise line. May / Sept will skew older than Jun - Aug.

Also, many find that they are using the ship primarily to sleep, eat breakfast and dinner and as transportation. The amenities of the ship are usually less important in Alaska than in the Caribbean.

I would research the ports and find things that interest you all, then find an itinerary that spends the most time in those ports. If there are similar itineraries that you like, then you can compare the ship amenities and prices to see which is best.

If entertainment and late night activities are a “must”, then HAL is probably not the best choice.

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