Princess Alaskan cruise

[hopestocruise]

Hello

 

I have never cruised before, but husband and I would like to take a one way cruise (not round trip) to Alaska. My sister has cruised on Princess several times but never to Alaska. I have looked at the different ships- Island Princess and Coral Princess appear to be ones that have one way cruises.

We are able to travel on any date. Is one ship significantly better? Is one side of the ship better?

Sorry for all the questions- but would like feedback from cruise savvy people before talking to the cruise line. Thank you

[Clarea]

Since your questions are specific to Princess, you may also want to post them on the dedicated Princess forum here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=197

[capriccio]

The Island and the Coral started life as sister ships but a few years ago the Island had additional cabins added so it now has hundreds more passengers than the Coral in the same amount of space. We've cruised on the Coral twice in Alaska (and one on the Island on a Panama Canal cruise before the additional cabins were added) and would highly recommend the Coral. It's not as big (about 2,000 passengers if I remember correctly) as the other Princess ships cruising Alaska. Before you make a decision, take a look at the itineraries - especially how much time is spent in each port. I'm pretty sure both the Coral and Island include Glacier Bay (a day of scenic cruising) which to us is a priority (cruising Alaska for the 3rd time this summer and Glacier Bay is on the itinerary again).

 

For more Princess specific information, check out the Princess board: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=197

 

For more Alaska specific information, check out the Alaska Ports of Call board: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

[hopestocruise]

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. The information is very helpful!

[MCC retired]

Yes, come on over to the Princess Forum , very active . I'm sure

you will get more opinions and future questions answered .

IMO , You have made the right choice so far of a 1 way Glacier Route cruise vs Inside Passage r/t .

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[rkacruiser]

I am having the same concern: which ship from Whitter to Vancouver this year. From what I have learned, I lean towards Coral Princess. The butchering of the aft of Island Princess with the addition of additional staterooms turns me off; more guests; no additional public space. I have sailed on Star Princess. As a sister to Golden Princess, while I enjoyed my Star Princess cruise, the ship's facilities don't rank high in my memory.

[paul929207]

We were on the Coral in Alaska about 18 months ago and loved the ship

[evandbob]

We sailed the Crown Princess southbound from Whittier to Vancouver with a port side balcony. When you are in Glacier Bay, both sides of the ship had equal viewing time of the glacier as the ship rotated from one side to the other.

 

I'm not sure when cruising at night that balcony side makes a difference. Usually can't see land anyway. If you can, it's not like the ads where a bear is posing looking at you and the ship with eagles flying overhead and orcas crashing in the water.

 

We did a cruise tour that started in Fairbanks and worked our way down to Whittier with Princess handling all the details for hotels, most meals and transport, highly recommended!