HAL or Princess to AK in August 2025

[catspaw1]

Hi all, We haven't been on a HAL cruise in over 25 years but previously loved AK so much we have decided to return.

 

We are retired 66 & 70 and very active. We can hike up to 5 moderate miles a day.

 

We are doing a bear trip into the bush next July for 3 nights at a bear/fishing lodge. Than will do some inland traveling as we did before & then would like to cruise again.

 

We are looking at the Nieuw Amsterdam or  Princess Sapphire for August 2 or 3, 2025 out of Whittier.  Both have almost identical itineraries.

 

Which cruise line would you chose and why? We love Glacier bay so want to return. 

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

Its Sapphire Princess.

 

Check the times in port. Assume the fares are relatively similar?

[crystalspin]

36 minutes ago, catspaw1 said:

Which cruise line would you chose and why? We love Glacier bay so want to return. 

Nieuw Amsterdam. This is the HAL board after all! 

[catspaw1]

yes both have similar ports & the same number of hours in each port.

 

fares about the same- Princess gives more with their all inclusive package.

 

My parents did their 50th wedding anniversary trip to AK on Princess & really liked it but that was 15 years ago.

[Roz]

I don't think you could go wrong with either choice.

[cruisingrob21]

I've sailed on both ships, and in the last two years went to Alaska on the Eurodam and Discovery Princess.  While the Sapphire is a much better ship for Alaska than the Discovery (covered pool area, Skywalkers lounge, nearly full wrap promenade deck), I would choose the NA over the Sapphire Princess.  Princess ships have very few, climate controlled observation areas high up, and although the Sapphire is better than most princess ships to Alaska, its not as good as HAL ships with the Crows Nest and Tamarind (on the NA and Eurodam).  Additionally the dining rooms are more scenic on the HAL ships.

[ChinaShrek]

Not the Ovation of the Seas. I made that mistake last summer for Alaska. Never again.

[catspaw1]

I posted this on the Princess site also & everyone said go Princess over HAL. Interesting.

[catspaw1]

I just compared prices for an OV selecting a cabin & HAl was $500 cheaper.

[bundtkate]

My husband and I are now a little less than 3 months out from our first HAL cruise and first Alaska cruise. We are 36 and 39, still chose HAL despite claims of "sleepiness", and have found plenty of active excursions to suit our preferences. One I'm particularly excited about is our Skagway excursion taking the White Pass rail up and biking the Klondike highway down. When originally planning, we were also stuck between HAL (Koningsdam) and Princess (Discovery Princess) and, like you, posted on both the HAL and Princess boards to help make a decision. I obviously landed on HAL in the end and these threads may be rather specific to my husband's and my listed preferences, but I found the feedback valuable so hopefully they help you out too. HAL thread is here and Princess here.

A few things that lead us to choose HAL (besides itinerary which isn't a factor for you):

 

1. Smaller ships. HAL can dock in more (and sometimes better) locations. For example, if Skagway has rockslide troubles again, HAL can dock at the smaller unaffected pier, whereas many Princess ships can't. Sapphire maybe can as an older, smaller ship so you might not be too concerned about this.
2. Enclosed pool. Lido pool area can be enclosed in bad/cold weather and I believe the pool is heated allowing use of the pool in unpredictable Alaskan climates. It also provides another comfortable (warm!) viewing area for scenery due to the large windows around the Lido.
3. Price. We wanted reserved outdoor space and on Princess that meant booking a balcony. On HAL, The Retreat allowed us to book an inside and reserve a cabana as our outdoor space for far less than the cost of a balcony. Cabanas also come with the added bonus of a cabana attendant and some extra included food. There are folks here who think I may live to regret this choice due to cold/wind/rain and cabanas not providing adequate shelter. They may be right that I don't get as much use out of them as I'd like should the weather not cooperate, but I expect a balcony wouldn't be any better and it would have been more expensive so I'm not too fussed either way.
4. Shower curtains. I know, it's piddly, but they are so irritating and when you're having difficulty deciding, every con counts for something. No shower curtains on HAL.

Hopefully some of this helps and if you're still stuck come June, well, I'll be sure to post our thoughts on HAL.

 

Edited March 11 by bundtkate

[rover16]

We have not sailed Princess to Alaska, but have 4 HAL Alaska cruises in the past 10 years on 4 different ships and have enjoyed them all. For us, at least, we would always sail the smaller ship and HAL has great viewing areas inside and out. So, we'll take HAL.  

[Dancing Shoes]

We have sailed HAL Volendam and Celebrity Millennium to Alaska.  I hear that either of these has better food than Princess according to posters here on CC.

Edited March 11 by Dancing Shoes

[CruiserBruce]

21 minutes ago, Dancing Shoes said:

We have sailed HAL Volendam and Celebrity Millennium to Alaska.  I hear that either of these has better food than Princess according to posters here on CC.

"You hear"? Food is totally subjective. 

[crystalspin]

51 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Food is totally subjective. 

Um no. Food is somewhat subjective.

[SeeSun&Sea]

Cruised Princess to Alaska last August.

1. Princess ships are focused on the interior plaza - fewer casual sitting or walking areas have windows.

2. Light packer VS just-in-case packer: Laundry on Princess is very expensive and mostly by $5/piece. Laundry on HAL is by the bag ... and I can stuff 90% of my wardrobe into that $25 bag.

3. Compare Princess Plus or Premier very carefully to HAL's Have It All or Have It All Early Booking.

4. Very personal: I find Princess's tracking system, that allows the ship staff to know where you are, to be extremely creepy. Having the ship watch me at all times ... ugh. Many people love this feature, and enjoy having a hot dog & scotch brought to them. NOTE unless you have Plus, there is a large surcharge for the privilege of being constantly tracked.

[Haljo1935]

On 3/10/2024 at 9:47 PM, bundtkate said:

My husband and I are now a little less than 3 months out from our first HAL cruise and first Alaska cruise. We are 36 and 39, still chose HAL despite claims of "sleepiness", and have found plenty of active excursions to suit our preferences. One I'm particularly excited about is our Skagway excursion taking the White Pass rail up and biking the Klondike highway... I obviously landed on HAL in the end and these threads may be rather specific to my husband's and my listed preferences, but I found the feedback valuable so hopefully they help you out too. HAL thread is here and Princess here...

4. Shower curtains. I know, it's piddly, but they are so irritating and when you're having difficulty deciding, every con counts for something. No shower curtains on HAL...

Welcome to HAL!

No shower curtains and larger showers - the showers on Princess were the size of a linen closet.

The train from Skagway provides some amazing scenery  - good choice, enjoy!

Glacier Bay is fabulous. We move around the ship enjoying the incredible views from our aft balcony, aft Seaview Pool, Lido Pool (open or closed), Lido buffet (windows on both sides), Library, Thermal Spa and the Crow's Nest. We have even lounged on a couch in Billboard Onboard watching the glaciers. So, there are many places from which to enjoy the scenery. The Naturalists, Rangers and people from Alaska Geographic that come onboard make it a very special day. Be sure to enjoy the pea soup that is served.

 

 

[cruisemom42]

Someone above mentioned Celebrity Millennium as another option. We sailed on this ship, which compares very closely with Neiuw Amsterdam in terms of passenger numbers, to Alaska. The food was outstanding (better than HAL or Princess IMHO). However -- and there is always a however -- the itinerary did not include Glacier Bay. This was not a major deal for DS and I as we'd done Glacier Bay previously. However, it was striking to us both how much "more" GB offers than the area where we did our scenic cruising.

 

I will also say (having done Alaska on Princess) that Princess's naturalist was hands-down one of the best I've encountered. They do a really good job of this on Alaska cruises. Sapphire Princess should be a fine ship for AK, I am not a big fan of their newer classes though.

 

[lcand1923]

I would choose the HAL vessel.  

 

I really like Alaska cruise and have done several on HAL and one on Princess.  (I wanted to try Princess because so many of my relatives raved about their Princess cruises to Alaska.)

 

HAL has plenty of outside viewing areas.

HAL tends to get the better docking locations in port.

I consider Alaska to be a quiet, calm, peaceful place to visit.  Princess constantly had activities happening around the ship.  These appealed to a lot of people, but I found them a bit disruptive to the calming nature of Alaska.

 

If you are doing a Land/Sea trip, I must admit that Princess beat out HAL a tiny bit on the land portion of the trip.  But, HAL won on the Sea portion.

 

[Eric from San Diego]

On 3/10/2024 at 8:17 PM, Dancing Shoes said:

We have sailed HAL Volendam and Celebrity Millennium to Alaska.  I hear that either of these has better food than Princess according to posters here on CC.

Since Rudi Sodamen become Head of Culinary Arts at Princess as well as Master Chef at HAL, I am seeing menu items from. HAL (such as Seafood Deviled Eggs) now appearing on Princess menus.  I have a feeling that over time the menus at Princess and HAL will become more and more alike.  

[jenp123]

I would take a HAL ship for the covered midship over any other option that does not have a covered pool area.  We spend a lot of time reading, playing cards etc in temperature controlled area that has the big windows to look at the scenery

[rj59]

I'd recommend HAL, because the entire Lido deck is covered, whereas Sapphire Princess only has the Conservatory and Calypso pool covered. HAL also has a forward-facing Crow's Nest at the front, whereas Princess has a paid sanctuary that's not enclosed, so freezing and wet in Alaska. Finally, both have wraparound promenades by the water, excellent for viewing wildlife, ice floes in Glacier Bay, and whales, along with getting exercise, but HAL's is on a single level, whereas on Princess you have to go up stairs at the front and be exposed to really brutal winds on sea days (but great views in Glacier Bay, although it will be absolutely freezing, probably).

NA also has 500 fewer passengers, 2100 vs 2700 or so on Princess. 

 

The advantages of Princess would be still having production shows, medallion technology, and I usually see better fares on Princess doing the N/S Alaska route, since they have 3 ships they have to fill, so it's easier to find cheaper airfare and cruise fares.

 

Just be aware, August might seem ideal in the lower 48, but in Alaska August gets more rain than the other summer months, about 2" more than June, but weather there is unpredictable. In early August you can see late-season spawning salmon in rivers (the creeks in Ketchikan and at the Mendenhall Glacier parking lot are ideal). 

[YourWorldWithBill]

Not comparing the two here, but if you decide to go with HAL, read one of the message boards about Club Orange. Most of us consider it a really worthwhile offering by HAL.

[Ken the cruiser]

On 3/10/2024 at 2:33 PM, catspaw1 said:

Hi all, We haven't been on a HAL cruise in over 25 years but previously loved AK so much we have decided to return.

 

We are retired 66 & 70 and very active. We can hike up to 5 moderate miles a day.

 

We are doing a bear trip into the bush next July for 3 nights at a bear/fishing lodge. Than will do some inland traveling as we did before & then would like to cruise again.

 

We are looking at the Nieuw Amsterdam or  Princess Sapphire for August 2 or 3, 2025 out of Whittier.  Both have almost identical itineraries.

 

Which cruise line would you chose and why? We love Glacier bay so want to return. 

Personally, I would recommend the Sapphire Princess. We were just on it for 30 days cruising around the Antarctica Peninsula and a lot of SA ports down there (See Live From in my below signature area). From what I could see the itineraries are pretty much the same. However, there are a lot more entertainment options on a Princess cruise when compared to a HAL cruise. For one, I'm "guessing" HAL will not have a naturalist onboard, other than when the NP ranger comes onboard at Glacier Bay whereas Princess most likely will. Princess also offers theater entertainment at 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm as well as funny game shows every night at 8:30 pm. You may not go to all of them, but at least you'll have the option. 

[catspaw1]

Ken, I'm going to read your trip reports.  We have wanted to go to Antarctica after going to AK 30 years ago. We also booked to go on the Celebrity Xploration to the Galapagos next year. We chose the Xploration even though its a smaller ship for more personalized experience with only 16 passengers & we are blue water sailors having logged around 15,000 blue water miles. We sailed full time for 7 years. The Flora looked great but was almost 9G higher. We are going back to AK next year- going into the bush to stay at a lodge for bear watching in Lake Clarke NP. Will also rent car & drive around AK again before we get on the cruise. We are going back to Great Smokey Park for 10 days late May, going to SD, WY & CO for 17 days late May & then Celebrity back to Bermuda in July. In late fall, back to Europe. We are very independent travelers & although we have cruised, my husband prefers when I do all the independent travel planning & he just comes along!!! Thanks for doing all the TR. I'm a big poster on TripAdvisor 

[Ken the cruiser]

25 minutes ago, catspaw1 said:

Ken, I'm going to read your trip reports.  We have wanted to go to Antarctica after going to AK 30 years ago. We also booked to go on the Celebrity Xploration to the Galapagos next year. We chose the Xploration even though it’s a smaller ship for more personalized experience with only 16 passengers & we are blue water sailors having logged around 15,000 blue water miles. We sailed full time for 7 years. The Flora looked great but was almost 9G higher. We are going back to AK next year- going into the bush to stay at a lodge for bear watching in Lake Clarke NP. Will also rent car & drive around AK again before we get on the cruise. We are going back to Great Smokey Park for 10 days late May, going to SD, WY & CO for 17 days late May & then Celebrity back to Bermuda in July. In late fall, back to Europe. We are very independent travelers & although we have cruised, my husband prefers when I do all the independent travel planning & he just comes along!!! Thanks for doing all the TR. I'm a big poster on TripAdvisor 

Sounds like you two keep pretty busy seeing all that you can see! That is so cool! As far as my Live From threads, start around page 4 and initially just look at the pictures. It will go faster. 😂

 

One more suggestion regarding your AK cruise if you book one with Princess. If it’s in your budget, book one of their fully-covered aft-facing cabins before they are all gone. We were in one on our Antarctica/SA cruise and it was awesome, even when the weather had an attitude! 😁

 

Edited March 15 by Ken the cruiser