Alaska choices

[simonmary]

My sweetie and I are seriously considering ANOTHER cruise to Alaska. But this time, we are looking at one in September. The two previous ones have been in May.

 

So, there are two options that we are considering:

 

1. Star Princess out of Vancouver for 7 days. Same plan as the two previous cruises, just a different month. (And different ship -last was Coral Princess. First was Island Princess.)

 

2. Crown Princess out of San Francisco for 10 days.

 

First one winds up to be more expensive per day due to airfare and first night hotel.

 

Second is less expensive. We ca fly from San Diego the morning of. But - the only time I have been underway north of San Francisco I was on an LSD. In September. With sea state of 10-15. Now I know the LSD is hollow hulled, and rocked if you looked at it cross-eyed. What I do t know is how the Crown Princess would handle that sea state. Or if the sea state that we went through in September was an outlier.

[AKman2495]

Our first cruise was from Vancouver to LA in September. We were sailing south and it was pretty calm. I hear northbound can be a little rockier, but as far as I could tell, it couldn't have been by much.

 

That said, all it takes is one good storm and you could be rocking again.....

[Colo Cruiser]

My sweetie and I are seriously considering ANOTHER cruise to Alaska. But this time, we are looking at one in September. The two previous ones have been in May.

 

So, there are two options that we are considering:

 

1. Star Princess out of Vancouver for 7 days. Same plan as the two previous cruises, just a different month. (And different ship -last was Coral Princess. First was Island Princess.)

 

2. Crown Princess out of San Francisco for 10 days.

 

First one winds up to be more expensive per day due to airfare and first night hotel.

 

Second is less expensive. We ca fly from San Diego the morning of. But - the only time I have been underway north of San Francisco I was on an LSD. In September. With sea state of 10-15. Now I know the LSD is hollow hulled, and rocked if you looked at it cross-eyed. What I do t know is how the Crown Princess would handle that sea state. Or if the sea state that we went through in September was an outlier.

 

 

Take the 10 day! The seas are fun. :)

 

We have sailed the Crown many times. She handles the weather well.

Edited August 5, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[Working 2 Cruise]

I don't think there are any 10 day cruises from SAN Francisco on the Crown... it's either the Golden in 2015 or the Grand in 2016....

[xlxo]

Take the 10 day! The seas are fun.

 

We have sailed the Crown many times. She handles the weather well.

I was on a Princess ship in late September 2013. The boat was 4 hours late pulling into San Francisco from strong waves along the Oregon coast.

 

I remember one dinner where I could hear a massive pile of dishes crashing down as the ship rolled.

 

A few weeks earlier a friend told me the Alaskan weather prevented her cruise ship from docking into Ketchikan.

 

These may be extreme September situations in one year... but will it happen again?

Edited August 5, 2015 by xlxo

[simonmary]

I don't think there are any 10 day cruises from SAN Francisco on the Crown... it's either the Golden in 2015 or the Grand in 2016....

 

 

You are correct. It is the Grand Princess.

[Shelly97060]

What I don't know is how the Crown Princess would handle that sea state.

 

We have sailed on Crown several times and occasionally have had some rough seas. She handles them quite well.

 

If you have the ability to go for the 10 day trip that's the one I would pick. More vacation is always better:D

Edited August 5, 2015 by Shelly97060

[trbarton]

The only ship doing Alaska Cruises from San Francisco is the Golden. The Grand & Crown are crushing out of Vancouver, BC.

 

I've done 2 cruises out of San Francisco, I'm doing a 3rd on August 30th on the Golden.

 

San Francisco has a new cruise terminal, pier 27, to make cruising easier.

 

Look at the links below for the review with extensive photo of the Golden and the new renovations they did a few days ago while in dry dock in San Francisco.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2221109

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2233228

 

There is an area outside of San Francisco called the "Potato Patch" which could cause rough weather but I have never experienced this on my cruises out of San Francisco.

 

You'll enjoy the extra days for a 10 day cruise. I believe the remaining cruises are ALL sold out sou you could have Princess put you on a waiting list.

 

Any questions, please ask.

 

Tom:)

[sherryf]

The only ship doing Alaska Cruises from San Francisco is the Golden. The Grand & Crown are crushing out of Vancouver, BC.

 

The Crown is sailing out of Seattle. I was on her last week. :rolleyes:

[iceleven]

I love cruising out of San Francisco--it's our home port. Only once did we sail through the "potato patch" and it was a bit rocky but only lasted a couple hours. I was actually disappointed when the seas calmed down because I am one of the odd balls that actually enjoy the movement.

 

The only ship doing Alaska Cruises from San Francisco is the Golden. The Grand & Crown are crushing out of Vancouver, BC.

 

I've done 2 cruises out of San Francisco, I'm doing a 3rd on August 30th on the Golden.

 

San Francisco has a new cruise terminal, pier 27, to make cruising easier.

 

Look at the links below for the review with extensive photo of the Golden and the new renovations they did a few days ago while in dry dock in San Francisco.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2221109

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2233228

 

There is an area outside of San Francisco called the "Potato Patch" which could cause rough weather but I have never experienced this on my cruises out of San Francisco.

 

You'll enjoy the extra days for a 10 day cruise. I believe the remaining cruises are ALL sold out sou you could have Princess put you on a waiting list.

 

Any questions, please ask.

 

Tom:)

Edited August 6, 2015 by iceleven

[mek]

We did an 11 night RT from SF last September and it was a wonderful cruise. I love Alaska anytime of the year and in any weather. We had some beautiful sunny days and some that were misty and cooler. We never ran into rough weather. 7 night Alaskan cruises are fun, but with the longer itinerary, you have time to relax and just enjoy cruising. I wouldn't hesitate to do another RT SF cruise.

[Colo Cruiser]

I was on a Princess ship in late September 2013. The boat was 4 hours late pulling into San Francisco from strong waves along the Oregon coast.

 

I remember one dinner where I could hear a massive pile of dishes crashing down as the ship rolled.

 

A few weeks earlier a friend told me the Alaskan weather prevented her cruise ship from docking into Ketchikan.

 

These may be extreme September situations in one year... but will it happen again?

 

 

 

Of course it could happen again its a ship which sails on the ocean and the weather can change in an instant.

Edited August 6, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[ar1950]

My sweetie and I are seriously considering ANOTHER cruise to Alaska. But this time, we are looking at one in September. The two previous ones have been in May.

 

So, there are two options that we are considering:

 

1. Star Princess out of Vancouver for 7 days. Same plan as the two previous cruises, just a different month. (And different ship -last was Coral Princess. First was Island Princess.)

 

2. Crown Princess out of San Francisco for 10 days.

 

First one winds up to be more expensive per day due to airfare and first night hotel.

 

Second is less expensive. We ca fly from San Diego the morning of. But - the only time I have been underway north of San Francisco I was on an LSD. In September. With sea state of 10-15. Now I know the LSD is hollow hulled, and rocked if you looked at it cross-eyed. What I do t know is how the Crown Princess would handle that sea state. Or if the sea state that we went through in September was an outlier.

 

I'm not sure that you can really compare a large cruise ship to a small, relatively speaking, military vessel. That said, we did a 7 day from Seattle in September and had no issues with ship movement. On our cruise we had drizzle at most ports and on most days. Still loved the cruise and all of the ports.

Edited August 6, 2015 by ar1950

[Ahhh]

I would sail out of San Francisco in a heartbeat! I would do a 10 day cruise over a 7 day cruise!

 

I would NOT sail on the Grand Princess again!

 

I'm very disappointed it is our only Princess option out of SF for the near future :( :rolleyes:.

[19woody19]

We cruised from LA to Vancouver with a day in SF and never had any trouble with rough seas. Also went to Alaska the last week in Sept one year and the weather could not have been better...never rained, no fog, just sunny days. We are on the Golden on the 9th of next month so, hopefully, our good fortune will continue. However,we are bringing along some sea-sickness meds this time since we will be in one of those aft/corner cabins and may get some ocean motion.

[Mary loves to travel]

I would sail out of San Francisco in a heartbeat! I would do a 10 day cruise over a 7 day cruise!

 

I would NOT sail on the Grand Princess again!

 

I'm very disappointed it is our only Princess option out of SF for the near future :( :rolleyes:.

 

Why not?

 

 

Mary

[BrnBrok]

We have taken a number of cruises including ones on Princess. We enjoy sea days where we can find them. It is a nice break from a port intensive itinerary. And it is a great way to relax when those days come together like on a transatlantic voyage. Assuming that both the 7 and 10 day journeys give you the same number of days in Alaska, I would vote for the 10 day. As far as weather I would think it is really hard to predict based upon past sailing experiences. If you are sensitive try to find a cabin on a lower deck or towards midships. Also take any of a number of medications to prevent this condition from happening. You might look at the review section of Cruise Critic to get a better idea of the ships that you are comparing.