Princess, Holland America or Norwegian.....

[Disneyland1084]

Which would you chose to go on a cruise to Alaska (you'll see Glacier Park) and why? I'm thinking about my 25th wedding anniversary with DH in three years. Neither of us has ever been on a cruise before.

 

[Deb]

choose Holland America or Princess for Alaska. They have done it longer and are considered the experts

 

[robinb]

Not all lines go to Glacier Bay, you're going to want to limit your search to those cruises that go there. I like Vacations To Go's search engine to narrow down which cruises to examine closer. You can select Glacier Bay in the "Choose a port or place to visit" drop down.

I believe that Holland America has been cruising Glacier Bay the longest, followed by Princess. We cruised Glacier Bay on the Majestic Princess in August 2022. Unfortunately, we couldn't go all the way to the back because of ice in the water. It was still cool and they brought a couple of park rangers on board to help describe what we were seeing. I am personally an NCL fan, but we chose Princess because it was the most affordable balcony over our anniversary week and NCL didn't offer a cruise to Glacier Bay that week. I did like the Princess Premier package that included gratuities, premium drinks (the bartenders had a blast making mixed drinks for us with top shelf liquor), wi-fi, and a 2 specialty meals, a photo package and a "prizes play" that awards you money randomly for opening your cabin door. It was hokey, be we won about $200. We also were selected for the Chef's Table (at an additional charge of $150 each (I think)) which was fabulous and full of people celebrating birthdays and anniversaries.

I tend to like the food and entertainment on NCL better than Princess or Carnival, so if I were to go again I would go with NCL. However, seeing Glacier Bay was super important to me at the time.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We went on Princess and enjoyed the park rangers’ talks that went on through the day in Glacier Bay. Their land tour up to Denali was excellent!

 

[wide awake]

I would go on Cruise Critic and read the various boards before making a decision. Also important to keep in mind that age of the ship can make a huge difference. We cruise a lot and I’d choose Princess but that’s me. We’ve done Alaska on DCL, HA, and NCL (3). The NCL cruises were super cheap and I didn’t notice much real enrichment other than sales talks. NCL also docks further from towns so more difficult to do your own thing. We’re doing a 14 day Princess this summer and I’m really looking forward to it.

 

[barkley]

we were not impressed when we did holland for alaska. granted, it's been quite a few years since we went but they def. cater to an older crowd (i'm in my early 60's and i think i would still feel like one of the young'ins on one). did a mexico cruise with norweigan-again not impressed. i LOVED the one time i cruised with celebrity.

 

[Deb]

we were not impressed when we did holland for alaska. granted, it's been quite a few years since we went but they def. cater to an older crowd (i'm in my early 60's and i think i would still feel like one of the young'ins on one). did a mexico cruise with norweigan-again not impressed. i LOVED the one time i cruised with celebrity.

I like celebrity as well, but they don't do glacier bay. Itinerary over pretty much everything for a cruise like this in my opinion

 

[goooof1]

We've gone to Alaska with Holland and Princess (yes, Glacier Bay!) We enjoyed both lines and they both had Park Rangers on board doing commentary (quite interesting).
Do not like Norwegian at all, so not even a consideration for us.

 

[OhhBother]

NCL Bliss is one of my favorite ships. The observation lounge is great for Alaska.

 

[tvguy]

HAL has been cruising Alaska longer than any other line so they have the best permits and docking slips. We have done HAL twice to Alaska.
Can't say about other lines other than to be honest, not sure there is a bad cruise to Alaska.

 

[Gracedis1]

I took a Princess cruise 20 years ago and it was great. My favorite thing was the tea they had every afternoon. Scones with cream and tea after coming back from an excursion was amazing.