Which ship would you choose?

[Alaskabound25]

We are starting to plan an Alaskan Cruisetour for 2025. Based on next years itineraries the ship options are the Grand, Majestic, Royal and Sapphire. Which ship do you think is the better option? For reference, there will be 7 of us. 6 adults and a 15 year old boy and we want to go in July. Thank you!

[chrysalis]

to be frank about it, I would pick based on the itinerary....whichever ship does the "inside passage"

[mtnesterz]

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Chrysalis wrote of being frank in answering, so I will too. After Princess changed policy a couple days ago, a lot of us today are disappointed with them. If I were shopping Cruisetours to Alaska today, I'd be checking out HAL. But if you're set on Princess, or any cruiseline, a smaller ship is better in Alaska.

 

Edited July 29, 2023 by mtnesterz

[Almagetty]

I would choose a ship that goes to Glacier Bay. Sapphire would be my first choice.

[Alaskabound25]

1 hour ago, mtnesterz said:

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Chrysalis wrote of being frank in answering, so I will too. After Princess changed policy a couple days ago, a lot of us today are disappointed with them. If I were shopping Cruisetours to Alaska today, I'd be checking out HAL. But if you're set on Princess, or any cruiseline, a smaller ship is better in Alaska.

 

We’ve never done princess but are pretty set on that being who we choose. Now since we’ve never used them or used any of their plans, my family and I have actually said we like these new changes. To us it seems like a good deal. With that said, I do wish all cruise lines would just increase the base price of a cruise and then just include all this stuff. But I know it’s not realistic so we just try to embrace the changes. 

[skynight]

I would select the one of the Grand Class ships or the Coral Princess. They have more open deck viewing areas, full 360 degree promenade, lots of lounges. Grand Class ships have between 600 and 1,000 fewer passengers than the Royal class ships. The Coral has 1,600 less passengers. Expect any ship to be overfull. Passenger loads in Alaska swell from the double occupancy numbers shown for each ship. Many cabins have 3 and 4 in the cabin with lots of youth on board.

Itineraries for 2025 Alaska cruise and cruisetour season are already up on the Princess web site. No pricing yet. Surely pricing will come shortly. No need to look at 2024. 

[Alaskabound25]

10 minutes ago, skynight said:

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Itineraries for 2025 Alaska cruise and cruisetour season are already up on the Princess web site. No pricing yet. Surely pricing will come shortly. No need to look at 2024. 

Oh they are?? Thank you! When we originally started looking they weren’t up yet so 2024 was what I went by. Guess I should have checked back before posting. Oops 🙂

[HaveDogWillTravel]

2 hours ago, Alaskabound25 said:

We are starting to plan an Alaskan Cruisetour for 2025. Based on next years itineraries the ship options are the Grand, Majestic, Royal and Sapphire. Which ship do you think is the better option? For reference, there will be 7 of us. 6 adults and a 15 year old boy and we want to go in July. Thank you!

The Grand and Sapphire are both excellent choices. Full wrap around promenade decks and fabulous upper decks. You can get to the front and back on upper decks for gorgeous vistas. I give a slight edge to Sapphire as her promenade deck is wider and has padded chairs and loungers. 
 

There are 2 inside passages: upper and lower. Only the smaller ships go through the lower (between Vancouver Island and the mainland). I just did it again on the Sapphire this April and was reminded of how lovely that sailing is. 
 

There’s a 17 day RT out of Seattle on the Grand June 9, 2025 that is a very unique and incredible itinerary. 

[MJC]

I agree with Grand or Sapphire. Also, if the weather is bad and everyone is indoors, I think they feel less crowded.

 

 

[snoozecrooze]

If covered pools are your thing, another vote for Grand/Sapphire. Coral will also be in Alaska in 2025 and that's another one to consider.

 

More specifically, these 3 ships are capable of cruising on the eastern side of Vancouver Island and that's what many of us really consider a crucial part of the "Inside Passage".

[Crystabel]

2 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

The Grand and Sapphire are both excellent choices. Full wrap around promenade decks and fabulous upper decks. You can get to the front and back on upper decks for gorgeous vistas. I give a slight edge to Sapphire as her promenade deck is wider and has padded chairs and loungers. 
 

There are 2 inside passages: upper and lower. Only the smaller ships go through the lower (between Vancouver Island and the mainland). I just did it again on the Sapphire this April and was reminded of how lovely that sailing is. 
 

There’s a 17 day RT out of Seattle on the Grand June 9, 2025 that is a very unique and incredible itinerary. 

Looks like that itinerary on the Grand is May 6, 2025. Might not work if the boy is still in school. 

[cruisequeen4ever]

If you have a lot of experience with Princess, I don’t recommend going with the Majestic because it is an odd bird compared to the others, but if you haven’t experienced Princess much, you wouldn’t notice the differences and would appreciate the indoor pool on the cold weather itinerary. The Sapphire Princess has an indoor pool, and so does the Grand, but they are both older ships. There’s nothing wrong with that, though, and they have their own special place in the fleet. That brings me to my personal favorite, the Royal. The Royal has lots of variety for food and entertainment, it’s newer, and it has beautiful decor, but it does not have an indoor pool. Since you only have one person under 18 traveling with you, I wouldn’t say that the ship will matter much in terms of teen entertainment. Happy planning!

[TAW1963]

1 hour ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

If you have a lot of experience with Princess, I don’t recommend going with the Majestic because it is an odd bird compared to the others, but if you haven’t experienced Princess much, you wouldn’t notice the differences and would appreciate the indoor pool on the cold weather itinerary. The Sapphire Princess has an indoor pool, and so does the Grand, but they are both older ships. There’s nothing wrong with that, though, and they have their own special place in the fleet. That brings me to my personal favorite, the Royal. The Royal has lots of variety for food and entertainment, it’s newer, and it has beautiful decor, but it does not have an indoor pool. Since you only have one person under 18 traveling with you, I wouldn’t say that the ship will matter much in terms of teen entertainment. Happy planning!

From what I’ve read online, the Majestic Princess will not be in Alaska for the 2025 season.    

[westcoaster]

6 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

There are 2 inside passages: upper and lower. Only the smaller ships go through the lower (between Vancouver Island and the mainland).

There are really 3 sections, from south to north:

1. the east side of Vancouver Island

2. the inland waters along the B.C. central and north coasts from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaska border

3. the inland waters of southeast Alaska.  

 

All the ships sail through section #3.  The Grand class ships sailing out of Vancouver also sail through section #1.

 

Unfortunately,  no Princess ships sail through the middle section (#2).  They stay well out in the open waters of Queen Charlotte Sound and Hecate Strait.  When ships were smaller, nearly all the ships used to cruise through this middle section of the Inside Passage, but now that seems to be limited to only the smallest ships on certain cruise lines.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

6 hours ago, Crystabel said:

Looks like that itinerary on the Grand is May 6, 2025. Might not work if the boy is still in school. 

My bad. Thanks for the correction.  I spent an afternoon writing down the pros and cons of the 2 Ultimate Alaska sailings. Ruby June 9 SF and Grand May 6 Seattle. I got turned around on the dates!

[Treasure Hunter]

As long as the ship sails to Glacier Bay, you are good. The best cruise to Alaska we did sailed from Vancouver to Anchorage . Then we took the Princess land tour toDenali via a domed train staying in the lodges all the way to Fairbanks. It was the best of both worlds but the land part cost as much as the cruise. It was fabulous. Princess does a great job in Alaska. Also if you can spring for it , the helicopter to the glacier and dog sledding is amazing. I don’t think the ship matters as much as the time of year. Too early in the season is cold and August has the state bird ( mosquitoes).

[bubbaed]

Sapphire. Less crowded, full (wide) promenade, indoor pool, can sail the "true" inside passage, smaller MDRs, better organized elevator banks (aft), still has complimentary steam and sauna near the gym... older, yes, but still one of the best ships in the Princess fleet.

[bubbaed]

12 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Chrysalis wrote of being frank in answering, so I will too. After Princess changed policy a couple days ago, a lot of us today are disappointed with them. If I were shopping Cruisetours to Alaska today, I'd be checking out HAL. But if you're set on Princess, or any cruiseline, a smaller ship is better in Alaska.

 

And even more of us are happy with the changes. Do the math and see if one of the packages works for you vs. booking with no package and paying for the extras.

 

Princess is the BEST in Alaska. HAL is close second.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

3 hours ago, westcoaster said:

There are really 3 sections, from south to north:

1. the east side of Vancouver Island

2. the inland waters along the B.C. central and north coasts from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaska border

3. the inland waters of southeast Alaska.  

 

All the ships sail through section #3.  The Grand class ships sailing out of Vancouver also sail through section #1.

 

Unfortunately,  no Princess ships sail through the middle section (#2).  They stay well out in the open waters of Queen Charlotte Sound and Hecate Strait.  When ships were smaller, nearly all the ships used to cruise through this middle section of the Inside Passage, but now that seems to be limited to only the smallest ships on certain cruise lines.

Here’s the map showing the routes the cruise ships take. It is from the book princess sells the Alaskan Cruise Companion bh Rachel Cartwright. I do not see 3 sections of inside passage. 

[westcoaster]

31 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Here’s the map showing the routes the cruise ships take. It is from the book princess sells the Alaskan Cruise Companion bh Rachel Cartwright. I do not see 3 sections of inside passage. 

 

There's definitely a section of the Inside Passage between the northern end of Vancouver Island and the Alaska border.  I've sailed it several times, and it's beautiful.  

 

As I said, the big ships don't generally go through this section, so that's probably why the route on the map in the companion book stays out in the open water.

[mevs904]

1 hour ago, bubbaed said:

Sapphire. Less crowded, full (wide) promenade, indoor pool, can sail the "true" inside passage, smaller MDRs, better organized elevator banks (aft), still has complimentary steam and sauna near the gym... older, yes, but still one of the best ships in the Princess fleet.

I completely agree with this.  For us, a ship with a full promenade deck is a must.  We don’t care if it’s an “older” ship.  Our previous Alaska cruise was on the Coral and given her full promenade deck and front and aft viewing areas she was perfect for Alaska.  We are very grateful to the Cruise Critic posters who highly recommend the Coral when we took our cruise years ago.  Royal class ships would be our last choice for an Alaska cruise.

[Guest ldtr]

Personally I would do Grand class (including all of its subclasses).  Better public viewing areas.

 

Since you are talking cruise tour it would be to/from Vancouver.  Which is better as well.

[CruisingWalter]

23 hours ago, Alaskabound25 said:

We are starting to plan an Alaskan Cruisetour for 2025. Based on next years itineraries the ship options are the Grand, Majestic, Royal and Sapphire. Which ship do you think is the better option? For reference, there will be 7 of us. 6 adults and a 15 year old boy and we want to go in July. Thank you!

 

You pick Alaska based on the itinerary, not the ship. We have an affinity for Sapphire but that's because she's the one we sailed as part of our Cruise Tour. For the Cruise Tour, I HIGHLY recommend Tour First / Cruise Second. The tour involves more moving around and more activities. The ship you unpack once and get pampered while on the ship. Our tour was 7 / 7 with Fairbanks, Denali and Copper River on land. 

 

The Majestic and Royal are the largest ships but we prefer smaller ships in Alaska. The ports are quite small and with a smaller ship, that means less people having to move on and off. I would go Sapphire / Grand with those four you mentioned. 

[CruisingWalter]

22 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Chrysalis wrote of being frank in answering, so I will too. After Princess changed policy a couple days ago, a lot of us today are disappointed with them. If I were shopping Cruisetours to Alaska today, I'd be checking out HAL. But if you're set on Princess, or any cruiseline, a smaller ship is better in Alaska.

 

Based on the poll that's running, it doesn't seem like so many are 'disappointed' as most seem to be planning to continue sailing the way they've always sailed with Princess. A vast minority saying they will leave the cruise line. A lot of shouting over $28/day pp. Personally I LOVE the new changes and it makes the Plus really a no-brainer for most folks with the new additions. We're really excited about the new ships and the new Alaska itineraries so no changes, no complaints here. 

 

It's interesting you mention HAL. The Princess Plus package at $60/day that includes Gratuities is cheaper than the HAL Have It All Plus package that also includes gratuities. Their standard Have It All package skips the gratuities so while that package might only be $50/day you have to add $16/day pp gratuities which makes that package $66/day. And Have It All / Plus don't include the add-ons Princess has rolled into Plus. 

 

Then you look at cruise lines like Carnival around $60/day pp just for a drinks package, Royal Caribbean can be upwards of $90/day pp just for a drinks package, Celebrity is $75/day pp for the "All Included" for fewer things than Princess charges $60/day. NCL is a bargain with their "Free At Sea" package running about $160/pp for a 7 day cruise that includes the drinks package, shore excursion discount, 1 specialty meal and WiFi, but their WiFi is limited to 150 minutes in that deal unless you upgrade, and you'll have to add another $16/day pp for the gratuities. Disney doesn't have a drinks package but includes soft drinks in the cruise fare and you can purchase a wine package onboard. MSC has a confusing litany of drinks packages (5 in all) but they're not a bad value for what they are and if you go Yacht Club the WiFi and drinks package is included. You can go YC for the same price as a balcony on many cruise lines. 

 

So when you really compare everyone else to Princess, the Plus package is easily one of the best values on the market today for what it offers the guest. You're going to pay for gratuities on board. The vast majority of guests are going to purchase WiFi for their cruise. That just leaves an additional $28/day pp that covers your all of your drinks up to $15 / Ocean Now delivery / room service fee / Alfredo's & Gigi's / desserts / Ocean Medallion delivery and a few more items. 

 

Every single time a cruise line rolls out a new concept, adds fees, or moves previously free services into a paid tier, Cruise Critic lights up with the negative posts. Then the cruise line goes on to post record bookings almost month after month. Cruising is evolving and guests today, myself included, would prefer to pay a reasonable price for items to be rolled into a package so I don't have to be nickeled and dimed to death on a ship. It's one of the reasons I love sailing Virgin Voyages so much, I've yet to spend a dime once we get on their ships. I'd much prefer the see the cruise lines raise their base prices a little and roll more into the cruise fare like VV did. At the very least roll the soft drinks in. That can't cost any more than $5/guest to roll the soft drinks into the cruise fare. 

 

But Princess Plus for me is a no brainer. Princess Premier is not for me, but it's an available package for those who want it. 

[CruisingWalter]

8 hours ago, mevs904 said:

 For us, a ship with a full promenade deck is a must.  We don’t care if it’s an “older” ship.

 

We loved Sapphire in Alaska and we sailed Island Princess in the Panama Canal. Princess has awesome smaller ships and they are so much better in Alaska than the big ships. Sky Princess was STUNNING for us in February but she was perfect in the Caribbean. I wouldn't want to sail a Royal Class in Alaska. Just too big, too many people, not enough wide open decks to view the surroundings.