Cruise Ship for Alaska

[Well travelled]

Help please... I am taking my sister on her dream holiday to Canada and Alaskan Cruise. The big decision is which Ship??? My hubby and I have cruised 2 x Carnival, 2 x Royal Caribbean and 1 Celebrity... We liked all for different reasons. so, being two females travelling alone in mid and late 50's age bracket but still young at heart... Like the opulence and pampering, not into discos but like a nice lounge bar and entertainment...and enjoy a glass of wine or 2.

Looking for your thoughts on which cruise line/ship.. Prefer mid to large ships.

 

Thanks for any advise Hazel.

Edited April 19, 2014 by Well travelled

[littlelamb814]

I want to follow your post. My brother want to bring my mother on an Alaskan Cruise next year and I would love to see which one they should look into too.

[jmf123]

Welcome to Cruise Critic! I have enjoyed two Alaska sailings, on Holland America and Royal Caribbean, and loved them both!

 

From what you mentioned, I feel that you would enjoy Celebrity or Royal Caribbean. How was your experience between your RCI cruises and your Celebrity sailing? Did you find Celebrity more of a pampering and refined cruise, better cuisine and service? Royal Caribbean has some very nice lounges, and activities such as self-leveling billiard tables. I do love RCI's Radiance class ships- the Radiance or Jewel would provide the perfect size and great views, with their three acres of glass, including glass elevators. A bit less casual dress on board than Celebrity. And the covered Solarium is a toasty treat during an Alaska cruise- don't forget your swimsuit! It is normally adult only (16+ I believe), but there will typically be some hours on your itinerary that permit children.

 

You may also want to consider Holland America for a relaxed, traditional cruise. They have been offering Alaska cruises for a very long time, and offer enrichment programs with naturalists, park rangers. And we were served Dutch pea soup, and hot chocolate, while out on deck seeing Glacier Bay. HAL may generally have an older demographic, but Alaska cruises have many multi-generational families enjoying the stunning scenery, ports, and excursions.

 

There are also cruisetours to consider, offering Denali National Park, or Whistler, etc. prior to your cruise. See the line's individual webites for itineraries. And you will find lots of information on the Alaska Ports of Call forum here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55. Enjoy your sister cruise! :)

[alcpa1]

Please look at itineraries and port times before you finalize your ship. I know cost could be a factor as well but some will insist you leave from Seattle and some will tell you to embark from Vancouver or one of the two Alaskan ports.

What I can suggest is to consider the entire trip. Anchorage is 1300 miles from Vancouver. That means you will be that much closer to your home after an exhilarating 7 day cruise.

It may be less expensive to sail from Seattle but you have fewer port days and Alaska is all about the ports of call.

Some will insist that one glacial bay is far better than another. RCI and Celebrity often sail into Hubbard Glacier while Princess and HAL go to another.

Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan are on almost every itinerary so look at some of the other options including Sitka and Icy Straits Point (Hoonah) or Victoria BC. Let those additional ports be a factor in your decision.

I hope this has helped.

[donaldsc]

I would base it totally on the ports visited, the arrival and departure times in each port, and the size of the ship. The parameters that you have listed such as lunge bar or entertainment is in my opinion totally irrelevant on an Alaskan cruise.

 

DON

[CruisingCoral]

I personally love Princess Cruises. They do a phenomenal job with Alaska. I cruised with them in 2007 and absolutely loved it. In 2010 I went back to Alaska but this time on Holland America and did not enjoy it as much. This summer I am going on the Coral Princess which is the sister ship to the Island Princess that I went on in 2007 and the ships are superb for Alaska! If you like even bigger ships, Princess is sending the Crown Princess to Alaska this summer for the first time. I feel like Princess knows what they are doing in Alaska and have perfected the whole Alaska cruise package. Hope this helps!

 

 

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[Karysa]

Help please... I am taking my sister on her dream holiday to Canada and Alaskan Cruise. The big decision is which Ship??? My hubby and I have cruised 2 x Carnival, 2 x Royal Caribbean and 1 Celebrity... We liked all for different reasons. so, being two females travelling alone in mid and late 50's age bracket but still young at heart... Like the opulence and pampering, not into discos but like a nice lounge bar and entertainment...and enjoy a glass of wine or 2.

Looking for your thoughts on which cruise line/ship.. Prefer mid to large ships.

 

Thanks for any advise Hazel.

 

Young at heart so that would eliminate HAL for me. I would then have to say Princess or Celebrity would be my suggestions for your sister cruise. Since Princess is the Love Boat I would go with Celebrity.:D

[Texas Tillie]

Young at heart so that would eliminate HAL for me. I would then have to say Princess or Celebrity would be my suggestions for your sister cruise. Since Princess is the Love Boat I would go with Celebrity.:D

 

I've done 3 Alaska cruises with HAL and 2 with Princess and the average age was absolutely no higher on HAL than Princess. My cruises (covering June, July and August) had many children on HAL - I'm sure proportionally as many as Princess - considering the Princess ships were larger than the HAL ships.

 

What on earth does that quote about the Love Boat mean? :eek: