Alaska - HAL vs Princess Land/Cruise Tour

[LoveCoffee]

We are in the beginning stages of planning Alaska for Summer 2019. We know we want a Land/Cruise Tour. We've been researching these forums for a couple of weeks and know we want HAL or Princess for Glacier Bay. Has anyone done a Land/Cruise with both HAL & Princess? Any preference? Is one better than the other? From what we've 'seen' so far, seems most people like HAL better for the cruise & food, but we are going to SEE Alaska, the cruise is our way to do it. We really just want the best TOTAL experience. Would love thoughts on HAL vs Princess LAND part. Thanks.

[Thrak]

You are asking in a Princess forum. Any guesses on how the voting will go? :rolleyes:

[hpeabody]

Both are well known for doing a good job in Alaska. I can not stress enough REALLY CHECK INTO THE TRAIN ACCOMMODATIONS with the cruise line if you are traveling between the ship and Denali.

 

My HAL experience was in a fantastic glass domed car with nicer than a coach/bus individual seats and the whole trip from Fairbanks was fabulous.

 

My Princess experience was in the middle of a crammed full old Alaska Railroad dining car and was 9 hours of hell.

 

When you book, just be sure you know what you are getting, I did not research properly or ask in advance and since I saw the Princess domed cars before that is what I thought I was going to ride in (my assumption), but noooooooo it was not to be.

[Pam in CA]

Both are excellent. You can't go wrong with either. If it were me, I'd book the cruise/tour based on itinerary and pricing.

[frugaltravel]

You can't get from the HAL ship (in Seward) to Denali in one day so the comparison in this regard is not direct.

 

With most HAL cruisetours, you have the Tundra Wilderness Tour included in Denali and you stay in Denali for at least 2 nights. With most Princess cruisetours, you have the Denali Natural History Tour included in Denali and you often only spend 1 night in Denali. The TWT is FAR superior. In fact, the DNHT is for the cultural and historical aspect of the park. The TWT is for the scenery and wildlife. Most wildlife is not seen in the first 26 miles of the park road, where the DNHT goes. So decide what your priority and interests are.

 

If it were me, I would do the cruise with either cruiseline based on itinerary and do the land portion on my own!

[cheeseclan]

We have been on HAL before to AK but not with a land tour attached. We were not thrilled with HAL but that is our opinion.

We just did AK cruise tour on the Coral Princess and had a wonderful time. We did the northbound cruise and then did a 5 day connoisseur tour after. It included a great ride on the Princess dome car train up to Denali, 2 nights there with the TWT included. Then Princess coach to Mt Mckinley lodge for 2 nights and then Princess coach to Anchorage with one night there.

If i had the money and the time i would do this again in a heartbeat. It was awesome in every aspect.

[kitkat343]

I generally prefer princess to HAL, but would sail HAL if the itinerary and price are right. I would, however, strongly recommend considering doing the land tour portion independently, as we were able to customize this and maximize our time in Denali. If you want to go to Denali on the same day your cruise ships docks in Anchorage, you need to take the bus, not the train to Denali. Many tours (at least a few years ago) only do the train one way so it is just a reverse of what you'd get on a cruise tour. The alaska board can explain how you can plan this, and it may give you more options.