Seeking Information on Alaska Cruise lines?

[tgmg00a]

My wife has is considering a cruise for the first time in our 30+ years of marriage. I while we love warm water and are both scuba divers we really want to visit Alaska. We live in the San Francisco Bay Area so the Princess line comes to mind as they depart from SF. What I am looking for are resources you can suggest to help determine the difference between each of the major cruise lines working Alaskan waters. We are looking at a mid June or late July departure with a 7-12 itinerary. The plan for this cruise is to see how she like it and to get a feel for Alaska. We would much prefer to do a very small ship but the cost is a bit more than what we want to spend right now. So any help pointing me to good resources (and I am digging into the Cruise Critic site) would be very helpful.

 

Thanks

[Essiesmom]

Go to http://www.cruisetimetables.com and choose your departure ports from the top list. then check out the dates that work for you. This will tell you who is sailing, and the itinerary. Holland and Princess have been doing Alaska the longest and have the most permits for Glacier Bay. NCL also has some permits, but not nearly as many as HAL and Princess. The smallest mainstream cruise ships doing Alaska are Pacific Princess, and Oceania Regatta. They are actually the same ships, built for Renaissance Cruises around 2000. However, Regatta does not visit Glacier Bay, and will cost quite a bit more. I have cruised to Alaska on Diamond Princess, and Coral Princess. Coral and Island Princess are sisters, and very nice size for Alaska. EM

[CruiserBruce]

I would do some reading on the Alaska board, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

 

You would find Holland America and Princess has the largest presence in Alaska, and have been going there the longest. But, in general, the mass market cruise lines have far more in common, than different.

 

As it is your first cruise, you will do just fine with Princess out of SF.

[dorisis]

My only recommendation would be to do a cruise tour that will take you from Fairbanks to the port. Denali should not be missed. I find the 7 day inside passage cruises to be far too tourist oriented and the real Alaska needs to be seen to be appreciated.

[donaldsc]

My only recommendation would be to do a cruise tour that will take you from Fairbanks to the port. Denali should not be missed. I find the 7 day inside passage cruises to be far too tourist oriented and the real Alaska needs to be seen to be appreciated.

 

Before you do a cruise tour, think about all the negatives - bad itineraries, large buses, get the great opportunity to stay at only tourist hotels, stop only at places that pay off the cruise companies, tour descriptions that maybe are not outright lies but are certainly deceptions, go only to places that the tour companies feel are important rather than what you may consider important, get to eat in large tourist restaurants instead of smaller more interesting restaurants.

 

I could go on and on but the land portion of a cruise tour is certainly not for everyone and in my opinion not for almost anyone.

 

Obviously some people love the things so the cruise companies must be doing something right but I can not figure out what.

 

DON

[tgmg00a]

Thank you for your input, between this site and some Facebook friends my wife and I are now booked on the Star Princess out of San Francisco on 6/14/14. Now the hard part starts.. the waiting. :)

[crystalspin]

You are going to love it!

 

The sun is up about 20 hours a day in June. I bought three of these for self/mom/DH... I was the only one to use them, but I did!

 

http://www.magellans.com/good-night-sleep-mask

[tgmg00a]

Well that was a question I was going to ask in the Alaska Forum and/or Princess forum. How good are the drapes in the balcony rooms? Do I need a sleep mask as I expect the sun to set around 2:00 AM and come back up around 3:00 AM :eek: