HAL Nieuw Amsterdam, Coral Princess or Sapphire Princess Southbound for 2025

[katmu]

I am trying to decide between these 3 ships for a cruise for 2025 for my adult sons and myself for sometime between the very end of May and the end of June.  The southbound itineraries on the 3 ships are very similar as all leave from Whittier, visit Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay NP, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, and sail the inside passage before arriving in Vancouver.  I’m leaning towards booking cruise only and planning the land portion of our trip as a DIY but I’m still trying to decide on that.  Between Nieuw Amsterdam, Coral Princess and Sapphire Princess is their a clear favorite?  TIA.

[CruiserBruce]

Almost the exact same question here:

 

 

[katmu]

7 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Almost the exact same question here:

 

 

I read that thread.  I’ve ruled out the Noordam as it doesn’t have Tamarind and BB King which would be 2 things that would make me lean towards HAL.

[CruiserBruce]

5 minutes ago, katmu said:

I read that thread.  I’ve ruled out the Noordam as it doesn’t have Tamarind and BB King which would be 2 things that would make me lean towards HAL.

But N. Amsterdam is also mentioned.

[katmu]

10 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

But N. Amsterdam is also mentioned.

There wasn’t a lot of detail in that thread as to why Nieuw Amsterdam was recommended.  Hence, why I started a new thread.

 

 

[wolfie11]

Coral.  I would always choose Coral.

[Coral]

I have done the Coral and Sapphire to Alaska and they were both fine. I would recommend both ships. HAL also gets great reviews.

[MommaK2D2]

One consideration would be if you prefer to go from Seward or Whittier. I know Princess goes from Whittier (nothing in Whittier. But Princess is great, we had a great cruise on the coral!)

    Not sure which go from Seward- I know our trip on NCL jewel would there and there were amazing boat tours of the Kenai fjords which were a huge highlight.   They had better entertainment but not as good of food. 
    Any itenerary that goes thru glacier bay should be amazing! Alaska is great!

[Coral]

10 hours ago, MommaK2D2 said:

One consideration would be if you prefer to go from Seward or Whittier. I know Princess goes from Whittier (nothing in Whittier. But Princess is great, we had a great cruise on the coral!)

    Not sure which go from Seward- I know our trip on NCL jewel would there and there were amazing boat tours of the Kenai fjords which were a huge highlight.   They had better entertainment but not as good of food. 
    Any itenerary that goes thru glacier bay should be amazing! Alaska is great!

I love the boat tours out of Seward. Probably 99% of the people who go on a cruise out of Seward miss Seward all together. They go and get on the ship right away.

 

Whittier does have a great boat tour as well - different than Kenai Fjords (Seward) but the 26 Glacier Tour is very popular as well (our of Whittier).

 

I do recommend anyone with a few extra days to spend time in Seward.