Do not take the Quantum of the Seas to Alaska

[Charles4515]

6 minutes ago, NightOne said:

 

Did they not have the small boat excursion available?

 

For example: Endicott Arm Fjord and Glacier Explorer

Or a Tracy Arm excursion. We were right up close to calving glaciers. 

[The Fun Researcher]

Was just on Quantum last week and couldn't disagree more.  I was perfectly fine with how close we got to Dawes.  I knew the odds of getting close were slim.  There is an excursion that you could have taken that tenders you off the ship right to the face of Dawes. 

 

The Endicott arm was just spectacular with lots of floating ice, greenish blue water, the waterfalls on the hills, etc...  Gorgeous.

 

A little research would have given you a clue that ships, more often than not, cannot get that close to Dawes glacier.  Did you make use of your stop in Juneau to go to the Mendenhall glacier?

 

You knew the itinerary.  Not Royal's fault.  If you wanted Glaciers for sure, book an itinerary that goes to Glacier Bay or Hubbard

 

Endicott Arm and Dawes

 

Mendenhall

[MLBFan24]

28 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

Can I ask what advantages they have.

 

 

• Princess ships can enter Glacier Bay National Park (along with Holland America and NCL)
• Glacier Bay National Park rangers board the Princess ship and do narration during the route

 

I'm sure there are more advantages, but these two come to mind first. Of course, Princess has its disadvantages too, but if we're strictly talking about enjoying glaciers on your itinerary, Princess has the advantage.

 

And once again, Royal Caribbean is my favorite cruise line, so no bias haha

[pstone1]

20 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

We hit a large chunk of ice while cruising Prins Christians Sund on Voyager in Greenland.  It shook the entire ship.  😲

We were on that cruise!  Icebergs we’re everywhere and did not prevent the Captain from traveling down the Sund and sailing right up to the glacier!  That was a wonderful day!

[Another_Critic]

3 minutes ago, pstone1 said:

We were on that cruise!  Icebergs we’re everywhere and did not prevent the Captain from traveling down the Sund and sailing right up to the glacier!  That was a wonderful day!

 

I have many, many pictures of that day.  It was fantastic!

 

Here's a video of the iceberg hit.

 

 

[pierces]

54 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Radiance class ships are in the Royal Caribbean fleet, not Celebrity.

I meant Millennium. Please forgive my inadvertent misinformation. The Radiance class is a good option, though.

[lovesthebeach2]

14 minutes ago, MLBFan24 said:

 

 

• Princess ships can enter Glacier Bay National Park (along with Holland America and NCL)
• Glacier Bay National Park rangers board the Princess ship and do narration during the route

 

I'm sure there are more advantages, but these two come to mind first. Of course, Princess has its disadvantages too, but if we're strictly talking about enjoying glaciers on your itinerary, Princess has the advantage.

 

And once again, Royal Caribbean is my favorite cruise line, so no bias haha

No bias for me either, but the perks from Royal are definitely a plus 😉

We will take a look at Princess when we finally decide to plan an Alaskan cruise.

we did get to see plenty of glaciers last September on the Arctic Cruise we took

thanks 

[lovesthebeach2]

15 minutes ago, pstone1 said:

We were on that cruise!  Icebergs we’re everywhere and did not prevent the Captain from traveling down the Sund and sailing right up to the glacier!  That was a wonderful day!

We have the same exact picture! Lol  

it was an AMAZING cruise

[pierces]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

 

Again, it is not the “policy” to not approach the glacier. The Captain and the Pilot know exactly how much ice there is. If you moved a little closer, there would be no view of the glacier because it would be obstructed by the walls of the fjord until you get around the point. And once you are there, there was probably too much ice to turn the ship. We’ve need to the Dawes Glacier many times and understand the geography of the area. 

I will go back down to the Guest Services desk and correct them right away. Thank you for clearing that up.

Edited July 21, 2023 by pierces

[Merion_Mom]

1 hour ago, pierces said:

I meant Millennium. Please forgive my inadvertent misinformation. The Radiance class is a good option, though.

 

Actually my best cruise to Alaska was on the Discovery Princess. Puppies in the Plaza!

(and much better complimentary food venues!)

 

1 hour ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

No bias for me either, but the perks from Royal are definitely a plus 😉

We will take a look at Princess when we finally decide to plan an Alaskan cruise.

we did get to see plenty of glaciers last September on the Arctic Cruise we took

thanks 

 

[Seacruise]

I have been going to Alaska for 40 years now. Since I live in Vancouver I can board a ship on very short notice and very cheap. I am known to book 2 days before the cruise, this does pose it's own problems when you get onboard the ship.
When ships were much smaller the ships route would take the true inside passage that follows the BC Ferries Route passing places like Namu, Bella Bella, Denny Island up to Prince Rupert. If you were lucky and got to sail by Alert Bay you were in for a real treat as this place the most Totem poles around. There was the young native guy that would come out along the ship with a Canadian Flag and play the trumpet. The larger ships of today can not go this route.
When ships started out of Seattle the original routing would say first day sail the inside passage. I am sorry but sailing west of Vancouver Island is the Pacific Ocean not sheltered at all. It can be damn rough out there at anytime of the year.
So does ship size matter, Yes it does. There is a move to try and get a ballot  measure in Juneau to limit the size of ships. There are many reasons for this such as residents not being able to cross the Bridge from Douglas Island in a timely manner for residents to get to work or shop. There is also the matter of the day when a major accident happens either on land or sea as there just isn't the capacity to deal with it. It is even worse in Skagway as the only way into there is from Whitehorse almost 2 hours away. The airport is too small to deal with things like Coast Guard C-130 to help.

Holland America had the right size of ship to do the true inside passage. Princess followed with Island/Coral and then NCL was a close behind with the Norwegian Wind then Royal came out with Radiance Class and Celebrity with Millennium class.
This year I have only see a couple of voyages from HAL that have gone up the inside passage.

Here is a photo from a few years back that shows the ice in Glacier Bay while I was on the very first cruise of the season on Carnival Miracle. Two ships the week before coming from Asia had to bypass Glacier Bay.

That is a lot of ice and trust me we even went further in the bay to turn around.

The larger ships of today are doing a disservice to the Alaska Cruise and it's true beauty.

[The Fun Researcher]

1 minute ago, Seacruise said:

I have been going to Alaska for 40 years now. Since I live in Vancouver I can board a ship on very short notice and very cheap. I am known to book 2 days before the cruise, this does pose it's own problems when you get onboard the ship.
When ships were much smaller the ships route would take the true inside passage that follows the BC Ferries Route passing places like Namu, Bella Bella, Denny Island up to Prince Rupert. If you were lucky and got to sail by Alert Bay you were in for a real treat as this place the most Totem poles around. There was the young native guy that would come out along the ship with a Canadian Flag and play the trumpet. The larger ships of today can not go this route.
When ships started out of Seattle the original routing would say first day sail the inside passage. I am sorry but sailing west of Vancouver Island is the Pacific Ocean not sheltered at all. It can be damn rough out there at anytime of the year.
So does ship size matter, Yes it does. There is a move to try and get a ballot  measure in Juneau to limit the size of ships. There are many reasons for this such as residents not being able to cross the Bridge from Douglas Island in a timely manner for residents to get to work or shop. There is also the matter of the day when a major accident happens either on land or sea as there just isn't the capacity to deal with it. It is even worse in Skagway as the only way into there is from Whitehorse almost 2 hours away. The airport is too small to deal with things like Coast Guard C-130 to help.

Holland America had the right size of ship to do the true inside passage. Princess followed with Island/Coral and then NCL was a close behind with the Norwegian Wind then Royal came out with Radiance Class and Celebrity with Millennium class.
This year I have only see a couple of voyages from HAL that have gone up the inside passage.

Here is a photo from a few years back that shows the ice in Glacier Bay while I was on the very first cruise of the season on Carnival Miracle. Two ships the week before coming from Asia had to bypass Glacier Bay.

That is a lot of ice and trust me we even went further in the bay to turn around.

The larger ships of today are doing a disservice to the Alaska Cruise and it's true beauty.

I have a sister and her family that lives in Seattle and after our Alaskan cruise last week she mentioned checking into cheap last minute cruises. Is there a website you use for that?

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, MLBFan24 said:

• Princess ships can enter Glacier Bay National Park (along with Holland America and NCL)
• Glacier Bay National Park rangers board the Princess ship and do narration during the route

 

Holland America and Princess have been doing Alaska for longer than the other mainstream cruise lines. They have an advantage of experience and infrastructure . 

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

No bias for me either, but the perks from Royal are definitely a plus 😉

We will take a look at Princess when we finally decide to plan an Alaskan cruise.

we did get to see plenty of glaciers last September on the Arctic Cruise we took

thanks 

I have more perks on Royal than on Princess but I would never choose an Alaska cruise based on perks. Bottom line is that Royal does not do Glacier Bay. 

[Charles4515]

29 minutes ago, Seacruise said:

Holland America had the right size of ship to do the true inside passage.

I did Alaska on Holland America's Volendam. So glad I was able to do Alaska on a smaller ship.

[bayportkat]

3 hours ago, MLBFan24 said:

 

 

• Princess ships can enter Glacier Bay National Park (along with Holland America and NCL)
• Glacier Bay National Park rangers board the Princess ship and do narration during the route

 

I'm sure there are more advantages, but these two come to mind first. Of course, Princess has its disadvantages too, but if we're strictly talking about enjoying glaciers on your itinerary, Princess has the advantage.

 

And once again, Royal Caribbean is my favorite cruise line, so no bias haha

We are just home from a cruise on the Royal Princess and Glacier Bay and the park rangers were amazing.  My mom is a Princess cruiser, while we are mostly Royal, so I was a bit concerned about how we would like it (haven't cruised Princess for 20+years) but the cruise was worth it for Glacier Bay alone!  

 

There were definitely things we didn't love about Princess, but a bunch we did as well (they still have 2x cabin service!).  

[Seacruise]

3 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

I have a sister and her family that lives in Seattle and after our Alaskan cruise last week she mentioned checking into cheap last minute cruises. Is there a website you use for that?

I get most of my emails from the cruise-line itself.
Recently Princess has had CAD at Par with USD which makes it 35% off for us. The next one is there has been 0% to 10% single supp as well.
I got an email a few days back for Alaska in August for $199 PP which had NO single supp for an inside. On top of this there was $100 OBC plus $100 Military Credit as well. The only thing I was paying for was port taxes minus $1. I would have taken this one but it got back the day before I needed to be to board to board a ship I already have booked. Oh yes this price lasted about 1 hour before it was gone. When this happens you have to be able to book now as you are into final payment.
The real interest9ng part of the email was Princess wanted about $1300 PP to do the 14 round-trip or $199 each way. The downside was you had to change cabins in Alaska.

[firefly333]

8 hours ago, NightOne said:

 

Glaciers are overrated 🙂

 

Not to me. They were my favorite thing to see. I loved them.

[SPacificbound]

7 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

We hit a large chunk of ice while cruising Prins Christians Sund on Voyager in Greenland.  It shook the entire ship.  😲

🤥  We will be on Celebrity Summit next month for this, and I would prefer the ship to not hit any large chunk of ice. 

[RobInMN]

July 25th, 2017. Explorer of the Seas. Which is not that much smaller than Quantum.

Don't recall which glacier.

Not the best pictures of the glacier but does show how close we got to it.

 

 

[Etta1213]

55 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Not to me. They were my favorite thing to see. I loved them.

On my bucket list - to see a striped iceberg in Antarctica.

Edited July 22, 2023 by Etta1213

[BirdTravels]

8 hours ago, pierces said:

I will go back down to the Guest Services desk and correct them right away. Thank you for clearing that up.

Guest Services just wants you to stop complaining about nature. It is a policy, however, that the Captain is in command of the ship and the Captain will determine if it is safe or unsafe to operate the ship and how far into the ice field that they are willing to go. So, take your complaint to the Captain, if you want resolution. 

Edited July 22, 2023 by BirdTravels

[BirdTravels]

2022: We sailed on the Quantum last year, and this is how close we got to the glacier.

So, it must be "policy".

"Look at the clear water". 

 

But if you look carefully, you will see that the waters beyond the point (and between us and the point) are clogged with ice and not navigable by a cruise ship. You want to avoid hitting any big ice (i.e., the Titanic effect). And you want to avoid ingesting ice into the bow thrusters when you turn. And you certainly don't want to bend the prop on the azipods. So,,, stopping where we did was the closest we could get. Moving any closer and the glacier would be obscured by land until you get around the point. 

 

 

2021: Our ship stopped at just about the same place. But we were on the small boat excursion and got up close to the glacier beyond the point. A cruise ship can not operate in heavy ice. 

 

 

 

2019: The cruise ship got around the point and up close because there was less ice in the water.

 

 

2018: The cruise ship hung out just inside the point for a better view, but could not get close because of ice. 

 

The Glacier Explorer excursion allows you to get up close because the small boat can steer clear of big ice and and willing to bull doze its way through small ice. And it allows you to stop to see wild life

 

[abbydancer2003]

Let me first say that I've yet to sail on Royal (but do have one booked later this year), but I sail both Princess and Celebrity.

 

During the pandemic, my mom found some stock she'd forgotten about, so she decided to take us on a trip.  Eventually we settled on an Alaska cruise.  I chose Princess for us, even though I thought Celebrity would have given us a better on ship experience (my sister only sails Celebrity and has no desire to do Princess again), Princess has Glacier Bay, and I knew it would be my mom's only Alaska cruise (she was 90 at the time).  She told me, while watching glaciers, that she thought it was money well spent (we had 2 minisuites and one suite - so not cheap).

 

Turns out it was a good thing, because a month later she started her downward pneumonia spiral that ultimately resulted in her death.  It was our last family (mom, daughters, son-in-law and grandkids) trip.

 

[sunnyv]

17 hours ago, MLBFan24 said:

Even though Royal Caribbean is my favorite, there was a reason why I chose the Majestic Princess for my Alaska cruise this past May. The Glacier Bay experience was phenomenal, due to the advantages Princess has in Alaska over other cruise lines.

 

 

As much as we love Royal ships, we sailed Princess to Alaska and would definitely choose to sail Princess on any future Alaskan cruise.