Cruising Alaska, not with Disney?

[SL6827]

If you were to cruise Alaska and not go with Disney, who would you cruise with?

 

[tidefan]

Holland America or Princess

 

[OKW Lover]

We've done Alaska twice on Royal. Enjoyed it very much

 

[happycamper47]

I'll let you know in a couple weeks. We're doing a family cruise on NCL since they go out of Seattle. The logistics of taking 16 people to Vancouver is why NCL. When it's just the 2 of us or with friends, we've always done DCL.

 

[MalvernPa]

Holland America or Princess

Agree, we did the Alaskan cruise on HAL. We did a suite on HAL for less money than a regular veranda cabin on DCL.

 

[Toolulu22]

We just booked a Cruisetour on Holland.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

If you were to cruise Alaska and not go with Disney, who would you cruise with?

Holland America or Princess

 

[auntlynne]

I’ve done Princess x3 and NCL once after DCL in AK.

Alaska is the draw for me; I don’t need to pay for the Disney experience on this one. The savings help make up for shore excursions: helicopter, float plane, train, whale watch - and airfare to and lodging in Vancouver. These add up much faster than beach excursions in the Caribbean.

I would also consider Celebrity, Holland America or Cunard.

Royal ships are often too big. Carnival is just too loud (decibels) for my personality.

I do enjoy the experience of Glacier Bay; that limits your choice.

 

[DCLMP]

I’ve done Princess x3 and NCL once after DCL in AK.

Alaska is the draw for me; I don’t need to pay for the Disney experience on this one. The savings help make up for shore excursions: helicopter, float plane, train, whale watch - and airfare to and lodging in Vancouver. These add up much faster than beach excursions in the Caribbean.

I would also consider Celebrity, Holland America or Cunard.

Royal ships are often too big. Carnival is just too loud (decibels) for my personality.

I do enjoy the experience of Glacier Bay; that limits your choice.

That makes sense. We just got off the first Alaska cruise of the season. Inside room with 10% off. It wasn't outrageous, but I would have loved a balcony. We cruised Royal in the Med last year and saved about 9k vs DCL so I totally get it. Royal was great, the ship was great and so were the ports.

I don't have much advice on Alaska, but I think the next time I cruise to Alaska I would do a one way to experience Anchorage and Denali. I've always read great things about Celebrity and Cunard.

 

[lilsonicfan]

We have done HAL and RCL both Vancouver round trip. The HAL cruise was better in almost every way: food, service, ship (Koningsdam vs Brilliance of the Seas), itinerary (Glacier Bay!). RCL does sail some of its big ships from Seattle but not Vancouver.

 

[auntlynne]

Why not Disney? Glacier Bay, College Fjord, and traveling through the heart of AK by train.

A sampling. Taken from the cruise ship, not an excursion. Everyone got to be this close. A July cruise.

Glacier Bay



Glacier calving:



College Fjord, a real gem in Prince William Sound; visited in a Northbound itinerary

We were 1/2 mile from this glacier



Denali, highest mountain in US, as seen from train (Anchorage to Fairbanks)



Views from the train

 

[Chemist]

We are going on Princess in two weeks. I will report back.

We got an equivalent balcony room (mini-suite) for HALF of the price of a balcony room on Disney. The savings includes drink packages for everyone and gratuities. While we will miss the Disney magic, we are going on some amazing excursions and STILL saving money.

 

[tidefan]

We are going on Princess in two weeks. I will report back.

We got an equivalent balcony room (mini-suite) for HALF of the price of a balcony room on Disney. The savings includes drink packages for everyone and gratuities. While we will miss the Disney magic, we are going on some amazing excursions and STILL saving money.

Which ship, if I may ask?

 

[Chemist]

Which ship, if I may ask?

Sapphire Princess from Vancouver to Whittier. Includes two glacier viewing days including Glacier Bay.

 

[auntlynne]

We are going on Princess in two weeks. I will report back.

We got an equivalent balcony room (mini-suite) for HALF of the price of a balcony room on Disney. The savings includes drink packages for everyone and gratuities. While we will miss the Disney magic, we are going on some amazing excursions and STILL saving money.

Sweet. I had a mini suite on one of the ships - and loved that has an adult size bathtub. I’m guessing you will have medallion features, too?

International Cafe 24 hrs and afternoon tea are some of the nice features of Princess.

Does your itinerary include College Fjord?

If you need a meal in Anchorage and like pizza, look up Moose’s Tooth. It’s popular, so arrive early or prepare to wait. Opens 10:30/11 am.

Hope you have a wonderful cruise. Bon Voyage!

 

[bobbiwoz]

We have cruised in Alaska twice, once on RCCL, and once on Princess. On Princess we then took the land tour by train and bus to Denali and that was exquisite!

This year we’re taking RCCL again, this time out of Seattle. I think Alaska is so beautiful, it really doesn’t matter what cruise line takes you there. We’re going out of Seattle because we want time in Washington State, 3 nights before to see Mount Rainier NP, and 3 nights after to see Olympic NP.

The other times we cruised out of Vancouver and we spent time exploring British Columbia. We want to see more than “just” Alaska if we have travelled so far!

 

[sponica]

We want to see more than “just” Alaska if we have travelled so far!

Yeah I think that's why I'm waiting for Alaska until I hit my vacation time elevator at my current position.

 

[jimmymc]

I went with Norwegian because of their solo-friendly prices. Next time, I would probably not go with them due to the short port times. We were in Juneau from 3-11, but the whole city seems to close by 8, so there was nowhere in town to get dinner after my excursion. In Ketchikan, we parked over at Ward Cove. Port time was 7 to 1:30, but the last shuttle bus left downtown at 11, so we effectively had a 3.5 hour port stop. I thought this was just my itinerary, but it seems like most NCL ships have a similar schedule. The NCL Encore was a good ship, although some of the entertainment options have been cut since I was on. I would sail on the same ship again, but only if the port times were better.

Next time, I'm thinking either Celebrity or Holland America.

 

[tidefan]

Which ship, if I may ask?

Sapphire Princess from Vancouver to Whittier. Includes two glacier viewing days including Glacier Bay.

Nice! Make sure to utilize the International Cafe (IC) It's one of the best features of Princess ships. They make a great Salted Caramel Latte. Also, try the breakfast sandwich from there as well. It's great. One thing you also may not realize if you haven't cruised Princess before is that there is usually some kind of soup as well as cookies at the IC as well, they are just behind the counter.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

We chose Princess; Glacier Bay NP was important to us!