Loved our Disney cruise! Are we crazy to consider Princess?

[hrhdhd]

We took Holland America (same company as Princess) to Alaska.

Just to clarify, HAL and Princess are NOT the same company. They are separate cruiselines under the Carnival Corporation umbrella.

Having sailed both, I like both, but each has its pros and cons, and each offers different ships (obviously) with different amenities, menus, policies, and programming.

 

[disneyholic family]

DD and her husband went on an Alaska cruise this summer - on the RCCL Radiance of the Seas - southbound from seward to vancouver..

she loved every minute of it and said the cruise was every bit as good as DCL and much cheaper.
She thought the entire crew was as nice as could be and the cruise was very well organized as well as tons of fun.

She's hoping to cruise RCCL again soon. She's not planning on going back to DCL.

 

[NancyIL]

I don't think Alaska cruises are more port-intensive than others, with visits usually to 3 ports and a glacier. If you sail from Seattle and go to Victoria, that's almost always in the evening. The scenery on sea days is definitely more beautiful on Alaska cruises than on most others.

Choose the itinerary first, rather than cruise line or ship. The ports don't differ that much, with most going to Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway. HAL tends to go to Sitka rather than Skagway on many of theirs, and they substitute Haines for Skagway on their one-way southbound cruises. The biggest itinerary difference is the glaciers visited. Many go to Tracy Arm Fjord. Fewer go to Hubbard Glacier or Glacier Bay. DCL has been very good about allowing time to get to the glaciers at the end of Tracy Arm Fjord, but other cruise lines often miss it because there's a lot of ice and they run out of time. My personal opinion of the best itinerary is Princess's southbound cruises from Whittier to Vancouver that go to both Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay: http://www.princess.com/find/cruise...&duration=&tourdur=&orderBy=&filterBy=&order=

I have been on 2 roundtrip cruises from Seattle and 2 one-way northbound cruises followed by independent land trips. If HAL Amsterdam were still doing their 14-night roundtrip from Seattle, that would be my choice for a roundtrip cruise. If you choose a one-way, spend time in Alaska before or after the cruise.

 

[disneyholic family]

i should add why DD picked the cruise she did.

first of all, she wanted one way so that she could spend time in alaska..

then she decided on RCCL because they go to hubbard glacier as well as 4 port stops.

Princess goes to hubbard glacier and glacier bay and has 3 port stops...

DD wanted more port stops and didn't mind giving up glacier bay to get an extra port stop....she really didn't want two days of glacier cruising..
she wanted to get out and do as many excursions as possible (she did at least 2 excursions at each port)..

i just remembered, she also picked the southbound radiance itinerary over the northbound as the ports stops are longer on the southbound cruise.

as the PP said, you should pick the itinerary and then the ship..

 

[the kids]

i should add why DD picked the cruise she did.

first of all, she wanted one way so that she could spend time in alaska..

then she decided on RCCL because they go to hubbard glacier as well as 4 port stops.

Princess goes to hubbard glacier and glacier bay and has 3 port stops...

DD wanted more port stops and didn't mind giving up glacier bay to get an extra port stop....she really didn't want two days of glacier cruising..
she wanted to get out and do as many excursions as possible (she did at least 2 excursions at each port)..

i just remembered, she also picked the southbound radiance itinerary over the northbound as the ports stops are longer on the southbound cruise.

as the PP said, you should pick the itinerary and then the ship..

Did you daughter travel with children and if so what ages? Thank you

 

[travelgirl06]

I've done one Princess Cruise (Mexican Riviera) and thought it was great. They had good shows, great food, and stellar service. The ship was nice and had plenty of space and lots of nice indoor areas with great views (MR in December can be pretty chilly). I know they have been in Alaska a long time, and it sounds like they have a good product up there.

All my Alaska cruises have been on HAL. I love HAL, but it is generally an older crowd, so less nightlife if you are looking for that (and smaller kids clubs). That being said the food is great, we LOVE HAL service, lots of space on the ships and they do Alaska right (salmon bakes on deck, blankets all around, hot cocoa -others may do this as well, but I've only done HAL to AK, so ai can't compare).

I would strongly suggest a cruise that does Glacier Bay, and if possible a one-way so you can add time in Anchorage/Denali. We did glacier trekking near Anchorage (without the expense of a helicopter flight to get there) and spent a few days in Denali, which were some of the highlights of the trip.

 

[disneyholic family]

Did you daughter travel with children and if so what ages? Thank you

no, she and her husband were on their honeymoon, but she said there were many families with children on the cruise.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Just to clarify, HAL and Princess are NOT the same company. They are separate cruiselines under the Carnival Corporation umbrella.

Having sailed both, I like both, but each has its pros and cons, and each offers different ships (obviously) with different amenities, menus, policies, and programming.

My point was that they are all under the same corporation that being the Carnival Corporation which also includes Carnival Cruise Line. I guess I should have worded it different but the jest was still there. I found it funny that Princess picked us up at the Fairbanks Airport and we used their bus again for an excursion. The people on the bus were cruising both Princess and HAL.

 

[kcashner]

I also had a similar question as the op. We are also considering a cruise to Alaska with our 6 and 8 year olds. Alaska seems so port intensive that I was wondering how much time you have to enjoy the ship? How much time do the kids spend in the clubs? We have sailed DCL 3 times and we are sailing on the Fantasy in November. So we love DCL, but the price of an Alaska cruise, plus all the port adventures is making me think about other lines. If you had to choose another line for Alaska, which ship and why? Also do you just do a cruise or do you add some land tours also. Things that I love about DCL are, family friendly entertainment, kids love the clubs, I feel comfirtable in the restaurants if my children have a moment and act like kids, ect. Thank you for your input

We had 4 ports in 7 days, plus the glacier day. We were on Celebrity. While I had no kids in our group, I did make a point of talking to a mom who had 2 boys hopping in and out of the hot tub. She said that her kids LOVED the kid programming. It had a different theme each day. They had an inside pool with signs up indicating that due to the weather, kids would be allowed in this area between the hours of X and Y. Other times, it was an adult area.

 

[artemis908]

I got married on a Princess cruise. The age group was definitely older, we felt we were always the youngest people around, constantly sitting with people during lunch/breakfast that were old enough to be our grandparents.

The ship wasn't too impressive, didn't have as much to do. Shopping was pretty limited and there was nothing like mini golf and so on. But the service was terrific and the prices were pretty good.

 

[Danmangto]

We got back a couple of weeks ago from our first ever cruise....an amazing Disney cruise to Alaska! It truly was a perfect cruise. Beautiful ship which was always spotless, great castmembers, wonderful servers and cabin host. We enjoyed the food, rotational dining, our tablemates and the entertainment.

We want to go back to Alaska next year! I did book a future cruise onboard, however......... We can get a balcony cabin on Princess for nearly $600 cheaper than an OV cabin on DCL. We can also leave out of Seattle (driving distance for us) rather than Vancouver.

We are adults, so the kids club isn't a factor.

Has anyone done both DCL and Princess cruises recently? How much did you miss that "Disney magic" on Princess? How does the dining and entertainment compare?

Thanks for helping me make the decision.

The issue is that DCL is expensive to begin with, but they are rip off to Alaska. HAL, Princess etc are definitely cheaper. Their quality/service is the same or better than DCL. For adults, I wouldn't do DCL to Alaska. If you have kids, you might want to spend the extra $$.

 

[disneyholic family]

We had 4 ports in 7 days, plus the glacier day. We were on Celebrity. While I had no kids in our group, I did make a point of talking to a mom who had 2 boys hopping in and out of the hot tub. She said that her kids LOVED the kid programming. It had a different theme each day. They had an inside pool with signs up indicating that due to the weather, kids would be allowed in this area between the hours of X and Y. Other times, it was an adult area.

yes, Celebrity and RCCL have the same itinerary for the south and northbound alaska cruises.
DD picked RCCL as it has a bit younger average age and she really wanted to try the Radiance of the seas (which gets rave reviews for amount of glass enclosed areas - very useful for viewing when in alaska). She loved everything about the Radiance - the ship, the crew, the service, the food, the activities, etc etc

the Radiance also has an indoor adult pool that has hours for children when in alaska.

 

[tajz90]

The issue is that DCL is expensive to begin with, but they are rip off to Alaska. HAL, Princess etc are definitely cheaper. Their quality/service is the same or better than DCL. For adults, I wouldn't do DCL to Alaska. If you have kids, you might want to spend the extra $$.

It's funny how two people see one issue so differently. As an adult, we would cruise DCL again without kids in a heartbeat. We've only sailed RCCL and DCL in Alaska and much prefer DCL.

The best advice, try what you want, sail with who you please. This something you have to discover for yourself. Our experiences with 3 other cruise lines have delivered us directly into the lap of DCL

 

[disneyholic family]

It's funny how two people see one issue so differently. As an adult, we would cruise DCL again without kids in a heartbeat. We've only sailed RCCL and DCL in Alaska and much prefer DCL.

The best advice, try what you want, sail with who you please. This something you have to discover for yourself. Our experiences with 3 other cruise lines have delivered us directly into the lap of DCL

DCL doesn't have one way cruises in Alaska, so it's sort of like comparing apples and elephants...

 

[tajz90]

DCL doesn't have one way cruises in Alaska, so it's sort of like comparing apples and elephants...

I wasn't comparing the two

 

[Simba's Mom]

Just to clarify, HAL and Princess are NOT the same company. They are separate cruiselines under the Carnival Corporation umbrella.

Having sailed both, I like both, but each has its pros and cons, and each offers different ships (obviously) with different amenities, menus, policies, and programming.

I believ Princess is under the Celebrity Corporation, not Carnival. To the OP, DS is an entertainer for Princess and I think he's going to be assigned to the Caribbean Princess in the Fall. Right now he's on the Golden. Having spent 2 summers on Alaskan Cruises, he'd strongly recommend Glaciar Bay. As he told me, "It's like being in the middle of a postcard."

 

[Dean1972]

I believ Princess is under the Celebrity Corporation, not Carnival. To the OP, DS is an entertainer for Princess and I think he's going to be assigned to the Caribbean Princess in the Fall. Right now he's on the Golden. Having spent 2 summers on Alaskan Cruises, he'd strongly recommend Glaciar Bay. As he told me, "It's like being in the middle of a postcard."

Actually princess is not part of RCCL ( Royal Carribean cruise line )
RCCL is the parent company for Celebrity.
Princess cruises is part of Carnival plc group

 

[woody73]

. . . To the OP, DS is an entertainer for Princess and I think he's going to be assigned to the Caribbean Princess in the Fall. Right now he's on the Golden.

If your DS was on the Golden Princess in February, we sailed with him to Hawaii.

Woody

 

[Simba's Mom]

If your DS was on the Golden Princess in February, we sailed with him to Hawaii.

Woody

Yes he was, so yes you did. He's in the ship's orchestra.

 

[woody73]

Yes he was, so yes you did. He's in the ship's orchestra.

We were impressed by the Golden Princess Orchestra's talent -- especially their ability to meet and rehearse with a performer that day, and give excellent performances that evening.

Woody