Alaska Alternative?

[emilymad]

We are considering sailing to Alaska this year. As we are very "late" in planning this the prices for the Wonder are crazy. As anyone had a good experience in Alaska on another cruise line? I am sure the answer is yes but sheer number of cruise choices for Alaska is overwhelming. We know we want to do something round trip but that is as far as we have gotten.

 

[jdb in AZ]

#1 Princess, especially an itinerary with Glacier Bay
#2 RCCL
#3 HAL

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Holland America and Princess hold the majority of permits to Glacier Bay. We've used HAL for 2 Alaska cruises.

 

[MUN]

We are considering sailing to Alaska this year. As we are very "late" in planning this the prices for the Wonder are crazy. As anyone had a good experience in Alaska on another cruise line? I am sure the answer is yes but sheer number of cruise choices for Alaska is overwhelming. We know we want to do something round trip but that is as far as we have gotten.

Are you sailing with children?

 

[emilymad]

No kids. We are two adults in our mid 30s.

 

[MUN]

Princess woul

No kids. We are two adults in our mid 30s.

Princess would be my first choice.

 

[OKW Lover]

We did RCL Brilliance of the Seas this year. Very happy with the cruise.

 

[bumbershoot]

Princess or a Radiance class Royal ship.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Conde Cast (sp?) rated the top 3 Alaska cruises as:

Regent of the Seas - Regency
Solstice - Celebrity
Wonder - Disney
None of those go to Glacier Bay as far as I can tell.

I've looked at lots of cruise lines for my second Alaska cruise. They are all very expensive. I suggest reading as many reports as you can on Cruise Critic. It will boil down to what you enjoy personally and what is important to you. I am going DCL again with a young adult, but if I sail Alaska with my husband again someday, I am leaning towards Celebrity.

 

[emilymad]

Conde Cast (sp?) rated the top 3 Alaska cruises as:

Regent of the Seas - Regency
Solstice - Celebrity
Wonder - Disney
None of those go to Glacier Bay as far as I can tell.

I've looked at lots of cruise lines for my second Alaska cruise. They are all very expensive. I suggest reading as many reports as you can on Cruise Critic. It will boil down to what you enjoy personally and what is important to you. I am going DCL again with a young adult, but if I sail Alaska with my husband again someday, I am leaning towards Celebrity.

Thanks!

I looked into the Solstice but it doesn't really sail in the inside passage instead it is more in the ocean. Regent is already sold out for our dates and Disney is too crazy expensive. A balcony is going to close to $7K for 2 adults.

I am looking into Princess.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

We did RCCL in 2011 to Alaska and loved it.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

We did Princess with a 12 and 16 YO, and they loved it. Glacier Bay is a highlight of the trip. We were shadowed almost everywhere we went by a HAL ship. I'd do Princess again in a heartbeat.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

We did the 10 day inside passage RT on Princess out of San Fran with a 12 and 16 YO. Would do that one again in heartbeat. Outstanding cruise. Prices don't look too bad right now compared to some of the other lines (start at ~$1200/pp)

 

[xlxo]

Another idea for budget travelers.... avoid the adjacent cruise terminal hotels pre/post-cruise.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We did the 10 day inside passage RT on Princess out of San Fran with a 12 and 16 YO. Would do that one again in heartbeat. Outstanding cruise. Prices don't look too bad right now compared to some of the other lines (start at ~$1200/pp)

I wasn't even considering an Alaska cruise but that looks fantastic, thx for posting this.

 

[emilymad]

We did the 10 day inside passage RT on Princess out of San Fran with a 12 and 16 YO. Would do that one again in heartbeat. Outstanding cruise. Prices don't look too bad right now compared to some of the other lines (start at ~$1200/pp)

I was considering this one if we have the vacation time.

 

[MousseauMob]

We've done HAL 3 times to Alaska with our 4th coming up next year. They do a great job. Adults and kids have all loved them.

 

[TJ95]

We just couldn't do the DCL prices this year and went with HAL to Alaska. Vancouver to Anchorage (1 way), through the inside passage, into Glacier Bay. It was great. Yes, still love DCL, but HAL was awesome for Alaska. Rangers came on board in Glacier Bay and did presentations (and Junior Ranger badges for the kids), and my ds9 actually LOVED the kids club (probably because there were so few kids he and the others had a monopoly on the Counselors time). Food was great, staterooms were nice, and we enjoyed the trip a lot. Sailed 2 adults 1 kid, plus 2 sets of grandparents in verandah cabins. Got a great deal on the sailing date- we went in late May and had fabulous weather.

 

[MandyGirl]

We enjoy the aft balcony for Alaska and prefer cruising from Vancouver. An aft gives great viewing on both sides of the ship going through the Inside Passage and glacier viewing. Budget affects us as well, but keep the location of your cabin in mind. NCL Sun aft balcony and mini-suite cabins are well worth considering. Same ports but glacier viewing day can vary (some use Sawyer glacier - Tracy Arm - beautiful as well). With recent promos that were on NCL, people could have an aft balcony with one of the NCL promo packages for about 40% less than standard balcony on DCL. We have 60+ nights on DCL since 2011 but for Alaska, the sticker shock gets me and I prefer the aft (Wonder aft balconies are mainly HA so we do not need HA)

 

[cgattis]

Our friends did Princess in 2014 and loved it. We flew to AK this summer and did Denali plus a one-day glacier cruise in Prince William Sound (plus tons of other things). We saw way more than our friends who did cruise-only and spent less for 4 of us than they did for 2. Not that you asked that, but just wanted to throw it out there.