Best Cruise Line for Alaska - need advice

Hubby and I are planning an Alaska Cruise for this summer. We cruised Princess in Alaska three years ago and it was terrific. Last summer we went on a Baltic Cruise with Celebrity and liked Celebrity even better. We went on one cruise with Norwegian and did not like it at all. We want to go round trip from Seattle for ease of travel - this is meant to be a stress free, easy vacation. I'd appreciate your thoughts on the various cruise lines. Food is important to us as is time in ports, how close the ships get to the glaciers on the cruising days, and quality of trivia. Thanks!

If you look around the board, you will find this question dozens of times. "Best" is a terribly vague and subjective term, that means something different to everyone. We don't know you, so we can't tell you what is "best" for you.

If you are happy with Celebrity and Princess, both will treat you very well in Alaska. Note the common discussion here that Glacier Bay is an important site in Alaska, and Celebrity doesn't go there at all, and Princess doesn't go there from Seattle, I think.

If you are happy with Celebrity and Princess, both will treat you very well in Alaska. Note the common discussion here that Glacier Bay is an important site in Alaska, and Celebrity doesn't go there at all, and Princess doesn't go there from Seattle, I think.

Princess does go there from Seattle. One of the two ships from Seattle goes to Glacier Bay, the other Tracy Arm.

Best means different things to different people.

It could mean itinerary, ship, and a multitude of other items.

If you are happy with Princess and Celebrity and they both sail Alaska then I would stay with them.

But there will be tradeoffs such as Celebrity not going to Glacier Bay.

If you have already seen Glacier Bay then that should not be a deal breaker.

Keith

I would pick Princess or Holland America (HAL)- both go to Glacier Bay.

The Holland America ships specialized in Alaska Seafoods on their menu, including Crab Legs.

As mentioned, there are a lot of threads on this forum dealing with this subject. You may want to surf a bit for more detail regarding various cruise lines. I recommend either Princess or HAL for Alaska. They have the most visitor experience, cruising experience and investment up here, in HAL's case since 1971. Both lines have priority cruise slots for Glacier Bay due seniority before the ANICLA Parks were created. Both do Skagway and Glacier Bay. That's good, I agree, both lines do both, Skagway over Haines is best, but you have to look close at the itineraries. Sometimes they have Hubbard Glacier which is good too because Hubbard happens to be my favorite. They may not do Glacier Bay though if they do Hubbard; also Tracy Arm is often on the schedule, Tracy Arm is okay but it is not Glacier Bay or Hubbard.

My personal preference for these is to get on a cruise that voyages through the "Canadian Inside Passage" as well as the "Alaska Inside Passage". Meaning, they travel to the east of Vancouver Island as opposed to the west of the island, west of the island places the vessel out into the North Pacific where scenic voyaging is limited to non-existent, rougher water there too, sometimes. Beware when the line or your agent simply says you are going to be in the "Inside Passage".

Vancouver is the best originating/terminating port for this although many Seattle embarkations and disembarkations, for both lines, also cruise east of Vancouver Island, sometimes both north and south and sometimes only one direction. HAL uses Seward for their Anchorage port while Princess uses Whittier. By using Whittier, Princess also jogs up into Port Wells and College Fiord for more glacier viewing on some itineraries.

Princess Southbound often does both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier.

Northbound does Glacier Bay and College Fiords.

You might consider Oceania’s Regatta. Some of their trips are round trip out of Seattle. They have some of the best food of any line cruising Alaska and they do Hubbard Glacier. What they lacked over Princess and Holland is a true naturalist which can really enhance the experience. Oh yeah, they have very good trivia each afternoon too. Older crowd.

One of our best trips, however, was the B2B we did on Princess that Coral mentioned. We won’t cruise Oceania to Alaska again, just wasn’t our cup of tea although it does seem like it meets your criteria.

Princess Southbound often does both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier.

 

Northbound does Glacier Bay and College Fiords.

The best line in our book…..UnCruise.

 

The best line in our book…..UnCruise.

I would love to cruise UnCruise. If you have the money - the reviews look amazing (kayak at Glacier Bay, etc..)

Hubby and I are planning an Alaska Cruise for this summer. We cruised Princess in Alaska three years ago and it was terrific. Last summer we went on a Baltic Cruise with Celebrity and liked Celebrity even better. We went on one cruise with Norwegian and did not like it at all. We want to go round trip from Seattle for ease of travel - this is meant to be a stress free, easy vacation. I'd appreciate your thoughts on the various cruise lines. Food is important to us as is time in ports, how close the ships get to the glaciers on the cruising days, and quality of trivia. Thanks!

I strongly urge you to consider HAL. Eurodam (and other HAL ships) embark out of Seattle. My wife and I are booked on Eurodam for July 28 this year. HAL wrote the book on Alaskan cruises. Regardless of which line you choose, have a wonderful trip.