Alaska Cruise

[tmg3577]

We are looking at a cruisetour for Alaska in July. We're between Sapphire Princess and Norwegian Jewel. Our concern with Princess is the lack of good entertainment, we're in our 60s, but the entertainment is very low key in our opinion.  We're not partiers but we like good music that will get you moving. We've never sailed or Norwegian. What has been your experience on Norwegian? Any recommendations for sailing Alaska?  Thanks!

[CruiserBruce]

Lets start with some research on the Alaska board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/33-alaska/

 

Many people will tell you Alaska is about seeing glaciers, time in port and itinerary.

 

For lots of NCL info, try the NCL forum, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/64-norwegian-cruise-line/

 

I think Holland America might meet your needs as well:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/103-holland-america-line/

 

However, remember, like food, entertainment is very subjective.

[9tee2Sea]

1 hour ago, tmg3577 said:

We are looking at a cruisetour for Alaska in July. We're between Sapphire Princess and Norwegian Jewel. Our concern with Princess is the lack of good entertainment, we're in our 60s, but the entertainment is very low key in our opinion.  We're not partiers but we like good music that will get you moving. We've never sailed or Norwegian. What has been your experience on Norwegian? Any recommendations for sailing Alaska?  Thanks!

IMO, I thought the production shows on Princess were much better than NCL.  I was on Discovery a few months back and really enjoyed Take 5 ( the Jazz club).  The " lounge" performers on NCL were much better than Princess.  Usually on NCL, I spend most of my time listing to the performers that outside the cigar lunge.  I think it's near the Martini Bar.  Never been to the disco, because Im in bed and snoring by 11pm

[lenquixote66]

We had always heard negative things about Norwegian.One of our neighbors only cruises with NCL and we decided to try a cruise.

We have been on the Gem 4 times and love the ship.

However,we opted to take an Holland American cruise to Alaska because they offered something that no other cruise line did at the time (2008).

We did a 7 day escorted land tour followed by a 7 day cruise.

[capriccio]

Having never been on NCL, I can't make a comparison.  Having done 3 Alaska cruises (including a 4 day cruise tour followed by a 7 day cruise) on Princess, I can highly recommend their Alaska enrichment programs that include a full time naturalist, guest lecturers, local musicians, etc.  There program is entertaining and informative.

 

On all Princess ships, regardless of the itinerary, there are production shows, guest musicians and guest comedians in the the main theater nightly, plus lots of music throughout the ship in the central piazza and various lounges.

 

Added:  the Sapphire Princess is one of our favorite Princess ships.  It is smaller than the new builds, has a covered pool (important for Alaska), and a lovely promenade deck.

Edited December 4, 2023 by capriccio

[ontheweb]

I will agree that a naturalist is important for Alaska, and when we cruised Alaska on Princess we had an excellent one, Michael Modzelewski. Just the fact that I still remember his name when our Alaska cruise was in the summer of 2010 should be a sign of how much he contributed to the enjoyment of the cruise. 

[Charles4515]

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

I will agree that a naturalist is important for Alaska, and when we cruised Alaska on Princess we had an excellent one, Michael Modzelewski. Just the fact that I still remember his name when our Alaska cruise was in the summer of 2010 should be a sign of how much he contributed to the enjoyment of the cruise. 

Princess and Holland America have been in Alaska for years and do Alaska well. I don't cruise to Alaska for the entertainment. Alaskian cruises are different than Caribbean cruises. You go for the wildlife and nature. The naturalist is important not the entertainement. Personally I would only cruise to Alaska on Holland America or Princess. Been on Princess, Holland America, NCL etc and NCL would be lower on my list for any itinerary but defiantly not on my list for Alaska. 

Edited December 4, 2023 by Charles4515

[bbwex]

I pretty much agree with Charles 4515.  Holland America and Princess have been the experts in Alaska for a long time.  We did a cruisetour with HA, and loved it.  We did about five or six days of the tour, and then caught up with the ship in Seward.  The tour started in Fairbanks, then on to Denali and Anchorage.  BTW the two highlights of our trip were the bus tour in Denali and the Kenai Fjord Tour in Seward before we boarded our ship.  Not that the rest of the trip wasn't truly amazing.