Please help me pick between NCL, Princess and HAL

[mustcruise1217]

I am having the hardest time picking for our family of 4. I am 41, Dh42, DS9 and Dd7. Dh and I have only been on Disney and Royal Caribbean Bahamas/ Caribbean cruise with our oldest DD18. (She is not coming. She thinks taking a cold cruise is lame) The little kids haven’t been on a cruise yet(DS did go on Royal as a baby but he was a nightmare and doesn’t remember so that doesn’t count) but we do have a Disney cruise to Bahamas about 5 months later so they will get the fun ship part then. This will be June 2024. I am kind of locked to cruises that leave on weekends due to my work schedule so that knocked out lots of options.

I originally booked NCL encore as it seems like the freestyle will be awesome for our family. We are pretty casual. The activities seem great for the kids. However, the port times seem sooo short. Especially Ketchikan, where NCL docks far away. It almost seems like we will barely have time to do anything. Also stopping at Victoria seems like a waste for us with kids since we would remain onboard due to the late hours.  We booked using the military discount around $6200.

 

Discovery Princess has pretty much the same itinerary but it seems like Princess will at least have priority dock spots, which might help our Ketchikan day a bit.

I’ve  watched multiple videos on all 3 options and Princess does seem a bit more kid friendly than HAL. The people sailing seem a bit younger and it looks like we would fit it a bit better than HAL. Dd would be thrilled with the puppies coming on board and the kids club looks ok. $7200

 

HAL Koningsdam- based on itinerary alone this looks great. If it was DH and I this would be our pick. However, while watching videos I haven’t seen one kid. We are planning on really taking in as much of Alaska as we can and will be doing excursions whenever at port. I’m thinking we will be ok not having many activities. The kids will be happy with the retractable roof/pool. We don’t really care about dining and could eat at the buffet or quick service option if the kids would be too loud in the main dining area. $6500
 

We plan on doing a helicopter/sled dog excursion and  a summer musher camp excursion in either Skagway or Juneau. Not sure which one where yet. Would like to do the deadliest catch boat in Ketchikan. I’m hoping this isn’t our only Alaskan cruise and hopefully can expand our options as kids get older and work gets more flexible but for now these are our choices.  We will fly out of New York to Seattle or BC. I don’t recall ever flying out of US so don’t know if it adds extra hassle to get to BC. Thank you for any tips.
 

3 options 

NCL Encore  

Sunday- Seattle Depart 5pm

Monday- day at sea

Tues- Juneau 2:30-11pm

Wed- Skagway 7am-8:15p

Thurs- Glacier Bay cruising

Friday-  Ketchikan 7am-1:15pm

Sat- Victoria 8pm- 11:59pm

 

Discovery Princess

Sat- Seattle depart 3pm

Sun- at sea

Monday- Juneau 1pm-10pm

Tues- Skagway 7am- 830pm

Wed- Glacier Bay

Thursday- Ketchikan 7am-1pm

Friday- Victoria 7pm-11:59pm

 

HAL koningsdam

Sat- Vancouver depart 4pm

Sunday-  Cruising inside passage

Monday- Tracey arm inlet 9-930am

                Juneau 1-10pm

Tues- Skagway 7am-8pm

Wed- Glacier Bay

Thur-  Ketchikan  11am- 7pm

Fri- inside passage cruising

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by mustcruise1217

[Coral]

I would put Glacier Bay at the top of your list for glaciers.

 

The problem with the times in port is because you picked a Seattle voyage. Times in port are short because of transit times. Can you do a one way or RT Vancouver?

Edited July 4, 2023 by Coral

[Aquahound]

I've been on all 3 ship classes and have been on several AK cruises.  HAL is definitely the least kid friendly.....although, I do like K'dam and would recommend it for you as a couple.  

 

Frankly, I think you should stick with Encore. The itinerary doesn't suck, it's very kid friendly, a beautiful ship, and I think it'll be most like your experiences on other lines.  

[Coral]

25 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

I've been on all 3 ship classes and have been on several AK cruises.  HAL is definitely the least kid friendly.....although, I do like K'dam and would recommend it for you as a couple.  

 

Frankly, I think you should stick with Encore. The itinerary doesn't suck, it's very kid friendly, a beautiful ship, and I think it'll be most like your experiences on other lines.  

The problem with Encore is crappy times in Juneau (not that the others are better) and Ward Cove docking in Ketchikan.

 

I don't like any of the options so I am not being critical of your choice. I just think all of them have crappy times in port.

Edited July 4, 2023 by Coral

[mustcruise1217]

Thank you both! I have poured over all the one ways and round trip options out of Vancouver but unfortunately I work in a hospital and it will be hard enough to get my desired week off in June, I don’t think I can push my luck by trying to do a cruise that leaves on a Tues. or Wed.

 

Maybe I should just leave Encore as it is. A quick intro to an Alaskan cruise. As the kids get older and we have more $$$ and vacation time we can try out more options. I’d love to do a one way with a stay in Alaska but that will have to wait a few years. 

[Aquahound]

Anecdotal thing about Encore and Juneau.  I spent last week in Juneau, so was able to see this from my hotel balcony.  Bliss arrives early in the morning, and Encore takes Bliss' berth later in the afternoon.  So, you're also hoping Bliss doesn't get delayed in port for any reason.  They also use the furthest berth south which requires about a 15 minute walk into town, or a shuttle ride.  

Edited July 4, 2023 by Aquahound

[Coral]

23 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

Anecdotal thing about Encore and Juneau.  I spent last week in Juneau, so was able to see this from my hotel balcony.  Bliss arrives early in the morning, and Encore takes Bliss' berth later in the afternoon.  So, you're also hoping Bliss doesn't get delayed in port for any reason.  They also use the furthest berth south which requires about a 15 minute walk into town, or a shuttle ride.  

Was that AJ or Franklin dock?

[Aquahound]

7 minutes ago, Coral said:

Was that AJ or Franklin dock?

 

It's the AJ.

[Coral]

51 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

 

It's the AJ.

Yep - that is far out..... Beautiful walk on a beautiful day. Long walk on a rainy day.

[Northern Aurora]

Just to expand slightly on the AJ location -- not only is it a twenty minute or so walk from downtown Juneau loading those shuttles also takes time.  Not the preferred docking location for most of us.

[tetleytea]

Because you have kids, I like you leaving Encore as it is.    First, eliminate Princess:    their customer service is just woefully inadequate, one-hour wait times on the phone, and a responsive customer service is very important if anything about your cruise goes wrong at all.

 

Between HAL and NCL, HAL has the better itinerary, but it sounds like round-trip Seattle is the better fit for you, because of your inflexible vacation schedule.  Total-cost-of-trip is cheaper sailing round-trip from Seattle than it is one-way to/from Vancouver.  The one-ways are something you do when you have a bit more time off.  

 

And--you're already on NCL.  I think you already got it right.

 

 

You are right about Victoria and Ketchikan.   Victoria is so short it can sometimes not be worth even getting off the ship.  Ketchikan is far away, but one antidote is to schedule a tour with a tour operator willing to pick you up in Ward Cove.  The lines to the shuttles going into town when you first disembark are REALLY long, but that's a non-issue if you've got someone waiting for you right there in Ward Cove.

Edited July 5, 2023 by tetleytea