Princess vs. other cruise lines for Alaska

[moobear67]

I'm starting to plan a group "couples" cruise (husbands and wives, no kids even though our kids are all adults now) to Alaska for me and my friends for 2021. My husband and I did the Alaska cruise for our honeymoon 26 years ago, sailing on Princess. Back then, it was considered the best cruise line for Alaska, and apparently was the only line that was guaranteed to dock (vs. tender) and ALL of their ports. Although we had a wonderful time, I do not recall an over abundance of young people or activities on the ship. Since then, I have sailed to other places (Bahamas, Caribbean, Canada, Bermuda) on other cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Disney, and Norwegian, but have not yet been back on Princess. The group that will be sailing with me will be mostly mid to late 50's, and we tend to be a "fun" group (we like dancing, comedy shows, fun activities like scavenger hunts and shows like the "love and marriage" or "newlywed/not so newlywed" shows that are found on Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian.) My questions are: 1) What is the current "vibe" on Princesses' Alaskan cruises? Are there a lot of activities for active "50 somethings" that still feel like they are in their 30s? 😁 2) Is Princess still the only cruise line that can dock and never tender at all ports? 3) Has anyone here tried several different cruise lines in Alaska and have opinions about the pros and cons of the different lines, specific to Alaska? Thank you so much!

[CruiserBruce]

Not sure how any cruise line can say they only dock, no tendering, at any time. There are ports, all over the world,  that are tender ONLY, as Skagway was until a couple of years ago.

 

Have sailed both Princess and Holland America in Alaska. Both have the games and activities you mention, particularly on the 7 day cruises.

[Northern Aurora]

4 hours ago, moobear67 said:

...... Back then, it was considered the best cruise line for Alaska, and apparently was the only line that was guaranteed to dock (vs. tender) and ALL of their ports.

 

......2) Is Princess still the only cruise line that can dock and never tender at all ports? ......

 

 

Quite frankly, as someone who lives in Alaska (albeit in the Interior) I don't believe the ANY cruise line EVER had some sort of guarantee to dock at all ports.

[karatemom2]

We are mid-fifties, parents of two college age kids and have been cruising Princess for the last ten years. We have been on multiple Princess Alaska cruises with our family and haves loved all of our trips. The age mix on Alaska cruises is great as it is in summer and families are traveling. The entertainment onboard includes game shows like the Not so Newlywed Game, Liar’s Club, Family Feud, Yes/No Game, etc. There is lots of trivia, theme nights like 70s and Country. There is Karaoke and some ships have The Voice of the Ocean. You will not be bored! And Princess does a wonderful job in Alaska and we have never had to tender at any Alaskan port with them. We have cruised once on NCL in Alaska and it was fine - not great. And we did one HAL Alaska cruise for the special itinerary but the cruise itself was so dull and skewed to a very elderly demographic. You will be happy on Princess!

Edited July 12, 2019 by karatemom2

[fishywood]

Looking at the port schedule for Ketchikan:

http://claalaska.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Ketchikan-–-KTN-2019-1.pdf

...my count is seven days with Princess ships having to tender there this year.

 

As the answer above indicated Princess has most of the activities and entertainment you crave. But note that especially on the northbound Voyage of the Glaciers most port days you are alongside well into dinnertime. They will have local entertainment onboard (such as Libby Riddles and one of the Deadliest Catch captains) until sailaway those nights. You will find very quickly that Alaska cruises are almost entirely about the destination and not the standard cruise cliches as on Caribbean itineraries.

 

Note also that Glacier Bay scenic cruising--essential for one's first time in Alaska--is almost exclusively the domain of Princess and Holland America. The NPS allows two large ships per day inside; most weeks 9 or 10 out of the 14 visits are Princess or HAL; NCL has most of the rest.

[RSLeesburg]

We sailed on RCI Radiance last year in Alaska and did not tender at any of our ports.  The only ship I saw tendering was Seabourn in Juneau.  

[moobear67]

Thank you everyone for your responses!!! Very helpful! I'm glad to hear that there are a lot of activities on board. And I did not realize that Glacier Bay was only an experience on Princess and HAL. We LOVED Glacier Bay on our cruise 26 years ago, that is certainly a checkmark on the plus side for Princess. 

[Pushka]

On our Viking cruise we had four tender ports. I’d not sail on Viking in Alaska again as we were the only ship to have to tender in those ports. And their tender process for us was not good. Shame, the ship is lovely. 

[geoherb]

I took back-to-back cruises on the Island Princess last month and had a great time. I saw Holland America and Oceania ships tendering in a couple of the ports where we docked. I posted a thread with all the daily schedules (Patters) from my southbound cruises here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2677308-patters-from-southbound-island-princess-cruise-june-26-july-3/

 

[dd57]

Here's the announcement from the National Park Service on which cruise lines will be allowed into  Glacier Bay for the next decade.  there are some other cruise lines listed beyond the ones above.

 

https://www.ktoo.org/2019/03/25/national-park-service-announces-glacier-bay-cruise-plan/

[Coral]

On 7/11/2019 at 9:39 PM, RSLeesburg said:

We sailed on RCI Radiance last year in Alaska and did not tender at any of our ports.  The only ship I saw tendering was Seabourn in Juneau.  

While many years ago - I tendered in Juneau on Radiance. We had a 2-10 port stop and we didn't get off the ship until after 3:30. 

 

Any ship has the capability to tender. 

[RSLeesburg]

11 minutes ago, Coral said:

While many years ago - I tendered in Juneau on Radiance. We had a 2-10 port stop and we didn't get off the ship until after 3:30. 

 

Any ship has the capability to tender. 

Any ship can tender, but Radiance did not last year.  Maybe many years ago things were different.  

[Coral]

36 minutes ago, RSLeesburg said:

Any ship can tender, but Radiance did not last year.  Maybe many years ago things were different.  

There is no guarantee that next year it won't.

 

There were weeks when Coral Princess did tender in Ketchikan and other weeks it did not. So just because you didn't tender doesn't mean in the future it won't either. 

[Melinda Brasher]

I agree that tendering may be something that happens on your cruise, but even Sitka and Icy Strait now have deep-water docks, so it's not something you'll run into a lot--mostly if there are too many ships in port one day.    

 

In my Alaska cruises, I think Princess was the best at warning you about good wildlife viewing spots and even occasionally announcing things like "whales sighted starboard."  Of course, this depends on your particular captain and crew.  

 

Princess has lots of activities for all ages. 

 

Princess and Holland America have more sailings and thus more flexibility (and often better prices and last-minute deals).  As someone else states, they're your best bet for seeing Glacier Bay.   The Holland America cruises I went on had nice educational lectures about the destination, geology, wildlife, native culture, history, etc.

 

 

[SoBaycruiser]

If there are many ships in port, it’s the smallest ships that usually have to tender.  That is because the time it would take to tender 4000 guests vs 700 is significant... or at least that is how it’s been explained to us.  We like small ships, but in crowded ports, it is one negative.

[moobear67]

On 7/13/2019 at 11:06 AM, geoherb said:

I took back-to-back cruises on the Island Princess last month and had a great time. I saw Holland America and Oceania ships tendering in a couple of the ports where we docked. I posted a thread with all the daily schedules (Patters) from my southbound cruises here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2677308-patters-from-southbound-island-princess-cruise-june-26-july-3/

 

Thanks! We are thinking about doing the Southbound on Princess!!

[moobear67]

On 7/14/2019 at 10:28 PM, dd57 said:

Here's the announcement from the National Park Service on which cruise lines will be allowed into  Glacier Bay for the next decade.  there are some other cruise lines listed beyond the ones above.

 

https://www.ktoo.org/2019/03/25/national-park-service-announces-glacier-bay-cruise-plan/

Thanks!

[moobear67]

On 7/14/2019 at 11:23 PM, Coral said:

There is no guarantee that next year it won't.

 

There were weeks when Coral Princess did tender in Ketchikan and other weeks it did not. So just because you didn't tender doesn't mean in the future it won't either. 

Thank you. Since my honeymoon cruise to Alaska was 26 years ago, before the current "cruising boom" when less ships were sailing in Alaska, there may have been a time that Princess had the luxury of being the only line that didn't tender. Clearly that's not true anymore. But that's good to know, in case some of my group members insist on doing Princess for that very reason, I can set them straight. 😉

[moobear67]

On 7/16/2019 at 1:34 AM, Melinda Brasher said:

I agree that tendering may be something that happens on your cruise, but even Sitka and Icy Strait now have deep-water docks, so it's not something you'll run into a lot--mostly if there are too many ships in port one day.    

 

In my Alaska cruises, I think Princess was the best at warning you about good wildlife viewing spots and even occasionally announcing things like "whales sighted starboard."  Of course, this depends on your particular captain and crew.  

 

Princess has lots of activities for all ages. 

 

Princess and Holland America have more sailings and thus more flexibility (and often better prices and last-minute deals).  As someone else states, they're your best bet for seeing Glacier Bay.   The Holland America cruises I went on had nice educational lectures about the destination, geology, wildlife, native culture, history, etc.

 

 

Thanks! Yes, we did have a lot of announcements about wildlife sightings when we were on Princess 26 years ago!

[moobear67]

On 7/16/2019 at 11:41 AM, SoBaycruiser said:

If there are many ships in port, it’s the smallest ships that usually have to tender.  That is because the time it would take to tender 4000 guests vs 700 is significant... or at least that is how it’s been explained to us.  We like small ships, but in crowded ports, it is one negative.

Thanks. That's a good point!

[esmo]

We have done both Princess and Holland to Alaska and are scheduled for another Holland America cruise later on in August (why Holland is another story). Both were fine cruises with their own plus/minus points but what we have found in our limited, by most standards, cruising (only 7), is that the cruise is what  you make of it. The one "must" I would put out there for Alaska is Glacier Bay. I personally would not cruise an Alaska itinerary without it. (FWIW).

[SoBaycruiser]

1 hour ago, esmo said:

 The one "must" I would put out there for Alaska is Glacier Bay. I personally would not cruise an Alaska itinerary without it. (FWIW).

 

We’ve done Alaska on a Princess Cruise and a Seabourn.  Princess went to Glacier Bay and Seabourn went to Tracy Arm/Endicott Arm (they choose based on conditions that day).  Personally I’d take the visit to the latter.  Glacier Bay was beautiful but we stayed pretty far from the glaciers.  We got much closer in Tracy Arm.  Princess also goes to Tracy Arm.  We saw their ship come and go during our visit.

[karatemom2]

I would agree that making Glacier Bay the only choice for scenic cruising is limiting yourself - it probably is a must if this is your first or possibly only cruise to Alaska. Then I think it should be the top choice. But for returning cruisers who want to see more it is nice to pick different itineraries - I personally agree that Tracy Arm Fjord is even more beautiful in many ways. And College Fjord is impressive as well - the Hubbard Glacier is a site to behold. I'm glad we have mixed it up on our cruises so we have had a chance to see other glaciers and fjords.

[Coral]

Starting next year, many ships will not be going to Tracy Arm. It is too unpredictable and most are changing their itinerary to Endicott Arm.

 

This year, Hubbard Glacier has been pretty unpredictable also.

[milolii]

Although you can’t 100% predict the need to tender, you can look for clues.  A previous poster’s  comments about smaller ships is one,  Another is what are the port hours?  Arriving in the afternoon also may put you more at risk, especially if the port is busy that day.