Alaska Cruise - which cruise line and why?

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stephenson

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Hi All,

Considering an Alaska cruise in May ... there are options for various lines (we're considering SilverSea, Viking, Seabourn), and various lengths 7, 10, and 14 days relating to one direction (7 and 10 day), or two directions.

Thoughts on your experiences?

Thanks!
 
Here one couple's review and costs of their Discovery Princess cruise of July 2023 (plus see their other related videos in the suggested videos on the right side when you view this at the YouTube site):
 
Our first was Princess with sea and land... loved it.. just after pandemic and ship was 1/4th full...

Did one this year and Princess again... about half full... 7 days cruise only... loved it also.. but we bought a number of excursions from 3rd parties and thought they were better..

The food on Princess is not the best in the world but it was good for us... we upgraded to a suite as they were auctioning them off just before the cruise.
 
I did an Alaska cruise with Princess in May 2023 and May of this year too. It's not high end and food is good enough for me though I mostly ate at the buffet. I think it's great value for the money.
 
DW and I preferred the one way cruise...leaving from Vancouver and end in Seward. We took Amtrak to get from Seattle area to Vancouver...that part was very inexpensive (less than $20). We sailed on Holland America. We did snorkeling, dogsledding, rafting, biking and hiking in the ports.

Once we got to Seward, we rented an RV for 3 weeks to roam around Alaska. More adventures including kayaking, white water rafting, and bear encounters in the wild...that part was amazing.
 
Let me throw in an outlier- UnCruise. I've taken them in Alaska 3 times, most recently late 2021. Ships take a max of 70 passengers. Very focused on natura and culture with speakers in the lounge every night doing presentations. I remember some on the fish canning industry, whale watching and a very memorable one with two young women who were scientists participating in "The Rapunzel project", studying whales from a lighthouse. Meet the Rapunzel Project Researchers The ships can get in and out of smaller bays, you can take out a kayak or paddleboard any time the ship is anchored, EVERYONE has access to the decks where you can see whales and other critters up close. Not for everyone- no specialty restaurants (but very good food, including vegetarian options), most of the staff have advanced degrees in fields such as marine biology, no Broadway shows, spas, etc. The ships they use in Alaska are US-flagged vessels so they travel between two Alaskan ports (Ketchikan to Juneau, e.g.).
 
Un-Cruise Adventures if you kayak, hike, snorkel (yes there is an option), and aren't looking for casinos and dressing up dinners. I did the inside passage and it was the first of 7 cruises with UCA. I would also recommend Lindblad National Geographic, as a great adventure cruise, but I have not visited Alaska with them.
 
Have done Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Viking. Enjoyed the first two overall. Viking was great onboard the ship, but some port berth locations and excursions were sub-par.
 
We took a cruise/land tour with Holland America this summer. I would recommend that if you have never been to Alaska include some land based time. This was our first trip to Alaska and we enjoyed the combination of cruising and land based travel. We enjoyed spending time in Denali National Park.
 
It's been 20 years since we cruised the Inside Passage but we had a very good experience with Celebrity. The extension to Denali and Fairbanks was very good, including lodging arrangements at Talkeetna, Denali and Fairbanks. Hotels at Denali were pretty basic, but we thought we stayed at a better place than the stop for Princess passengers. Again, this was 20 years ago.

We cruised Silverseas' Silver Muse from Seward to Tokyo in the fall of 2019. It was a reposition for the ship that had cruised the Inside Passage all summer. Silverseas' service was on another level compared to most mainstream cruise lines. If you want to cruise in luxury that would be my pick.
 
We took a roundtrip from Seattle 20 years ago with our kids on Norwegian. It was nice, ship was a bit older even then. I think they have remodeled many ships since then.
5 years ago, my siblings took a cruise out of Vancouver BC on Holland. They thoroughly enjoyed it . We cancelled out and stayed home, as DD was due that week!
No matter how you go, Alaska is beautiful.
 
WE did a Princess cruise RT from LA= NO airports. Glacier Bay was a great experience.
I have attached a copy of our trip story.
 

Attachments

  • ALASKA APRIL 2019.pdf
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stephenson said:
Hi All,

Considering an Alaska cruise in May ... there are options for various lines (we're considering SilverSea, Viking, Seabourn), and various lengths 7, 10, and 14 days relating to one direction (7 and 10 day), or two directions.

Thoughts on your experiences?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
We went in mid summer, and in most ports the temps were more like Spring time , while in the fjord on ship it was very cold.
Bring layers (shell, sweater) and winter hat and gloves. We found we needed them on our balcony which was great but cold in the fjord. Had to keep popping back in to the room to warm up.

We did a return 7 day trip from Seattle, on Carnival.

Ours was a special post Covid trip, so cruise was super cheap. Now if comparing cruises, I'd opt for a 14 day return trip as it would go farther North.

As it is, we will probably do that 14 day trip or perhaps 7 day North, then stay a week and catch a cruise going South. I really hate flying.
 
grasshopper said:
Un-Cruise Adventures if you kayak, hike, snorkel (yes there is an option), and aren't looking for casinos and dressing up dinners. I did the inside passage and it was the first of 7 cruises with UCA. I would also recommend Lindblad National Geographic, as a great adventure cruise, but I have not visited Alaska with them.
Click to expand...
Did the Lindblad/Nat Geo Inside Passage Tour. Small, but oceangoing ship (100 guests), naturalists as staff, nature-oriented stops and activities (incl zodiac transportation). Highly recommended!

www.expeditions.com

Alaska's Inside Passage | Expedition Cruises | Lindblad Expeditions

Itinerary overview of all the activities and things to do while on our Alaska cruise. See Glacier Bay National Park and more.
www.expeditions.com www.expeditions.com
 
NatureBoy said:
Did the Lindblad/Nat Geo Inside Passage Tour. Small, but oceangoing ship (100 guests), naturalists as staff, nature-oriented stops and activities (incl zodiac transportation). Highly recommended!
Click to expand...
We also loved that trip, and finished it in Juneau followed by another almost a week in Fairbanks and a lodge deep in Denali NP, then the train back down to Anchorage. Fantastic in every respect. Multiple Lindblad/NatGeo trips and every one has been superb.
 
Athena has the right idea - go in a small ship. We had a great time on Princess (~2300 passengers as I remember) in 2018. Also on Celebrity in late 90s. Went on a 4000 passenger Norwegian last July and thought it was awful but I acknowledge I'm not the target audience. The worst was we parked so far from Ketchikan that it was a 45 min bus ride to get into town and only about a 4 hour stop and excursion people got priority deboarding there. I hadn't planned to go into town because I've been there before but my travel companion only had time for the shops on the pier because of disembarking time. It would have nixed doing any of the great tours we did previously when we went into town and signed up for something there (plane ride for example). So you are hostage to the ship excursions. Second worst was loud dining and especially being rushed at dinner. One waiter actually chewed us out for not ordering right away and then ignored us for a long time - or maybe he was just too busy. That's because it's anytime dining only so you pick a place and hope it's not crowded, I guess, but it was always crowded and had people waiting in line to get in every time and place we went. Note to self - eat at unusual times, though most restaurants had limited hours. The best thing was Park Service people came on the ship during the glacier bay part. I don't think that happened on our other trips.

We were there end of July this year and it was cold and rainy in AK. Nice if coolish weather other times.

Hope you have a great time.
 
Another vote for Un-Cruise. Great trip in 2019. Small boats go lots more places. Also did Un-Cruise through the Panama Canal that was spectacular…and expensive.

Here is another thought. Alaska has a great ferry system. In 2022 we loaded our adventure van on a ferry in Bellingham Washington. Rode the ferry through inland waterway to Skagway. There we drove north into the Yukon. Eventually got to Fairbanks and Denali. Back home mother in law took a fall and we had to drive home sooner than we wanted. Drove back on the Cassiar hiway, truly special.
 
Like @levindb in Post #9 I'd encourage you to spend some time on the ground. Hint: There is a lot of ground.

As part of our trip a few years ago we rented an RV in Anchorage and drove south, stopping along the way as the spirit moved us and ending up in Homer. In Homer, take a bear trip with Emerald Air and maybe a fishing trip. The RV gives you complete flexibility versus having to commit to hotel reservations along the way. We had breakfast stuff in the RV but otherwise ate in restaurants.
 
OldShooter said:
Like @levindb in Post #9 I'd encourage you to spend some time on the ground. Hint: There is a lot of ground.

As part of our trip a few years ago we rented an RV in Anchorage and drove south, stopping along the way as the spirit moved us and ending up in Homer. In Homer, take a bear trip with Emerald Air and maybe a fishing trip. The RV gives you complete flexibility versus having to commit to hotel reservations along the way. We had breakfast stuff in the RV but otherwise ate in restaurants.
Click to expand...
The Kenai Peninsula is worth a trip in itself. I believe a few cruise ships dock in Whittier, but driving overland -- via the one-lane tunnel that serves bidirectional road traffic as well as rail service -- is a fun experience.
 
FIYes said:
We took a cruise/land tour with Holland America this summer. I would recommend that if you have never been to Alaska include some land based time. This was our first trip to Alaska and we enjoyed the combination of cruising and land based travel. We enjoyed spending time in Denali National Park.
Click to expand...
We had a land portion on our first time to Alaska too and liked it. Now we plan those extensions on our own so we can focus on our preferences and spend more time in various places.
 
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