Alaska? Who would you choose to sail with?

[catlady]

Hi,

Going round in circles! Looking at Alaska just me and dh (55 & 58 years old!) so not looking at Disney this time! It's between Holland America, Celebrity or Princess? I think

Have sailed Celebrity before and enjoyed it? Sailing princess later next year for the first time? Never sailed HA?

Would like: nice decor, specialty dining, and not too big a ship? I like shows, dh doesn't? I don't really drink, dh likes a drink in moderation! Would prefer off the beaten track places?

See they all do land and sea tours but finding it hard to compare prices? our budget is about £6,000 not including flights, but would like tours and hotels out of that too?

Would prefer Seattle as port as we have friends we'd like to visit before? But that's not essential!

Any recommendations, help, opinions most welcome I'm so confused .

Thank you!

[Loulou127]

Kate, I can’t help on Alaska, but it might help you to check out the forums on cruise critic or Trip Advisor, no disrespect to the cruise community on here, but there are many more people on those boards who may be able to help you out x

[catlady]

Originally Posted by Loulou127

Kate, I can’t help on Alaska, but it might help you to check out the forums on cruise critic or Trip Advisor, no disrespect to the cruise community on here, but there are many more people on those boards who may be able to help you out x

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Thank you I'll take a look

[LostGirl]

I too have been looking at Alaska. On balance I like the look of Holland & America, as they look more adult and less gimmicky than some of the ships. Also it was the line Jane McDonald featured on Croooooosing!

One thing to bear in mind with Alaska is a lot of the excursions are very expensive, from what I have been told more so than other cruises, as they tend to involved air or sea transport.

[catlady]

Which ship were you looking at LostGirl?

I didn't realise it was HAL that Jane McDonald went on? Need to see if I can find that again? 👍

[Omega1]

We did a 14 day HAL (Amsterdam) cruise from Seattle to Alaska a few years ago. It was a genuine 14 day cruise, not 2 x7 day b2b.
It was excellent. It got to lots of the out of the way places including Kodiak, Homer, Anchorage, Icy Strait Point and Sitka as well as the usual ports. We saw lots of wildlife - we got close to bears feeding on the shoreline whilst on a whale watching trip!
Princess and HAL are our go to cruise lines and in our view are on a par.
We had a few days in Seattle before the cruise and did an 8 day road trip after - Olympic NP, Washington and Oregon coast and then back north via Mt Hood, Mt St Helens and the Columbia river valley.
It really was an amazing trip.

[catlady]

Originally Posted by Omega1

We did a 14 day HAL (Amsterdam) cruise from Seattle to Alaska a few years ago. It was a genuine 14 day cruise, not 2 x7 day b2b.
It was excellent. It got to lots of the out of the way places including Kodiak, Homer, Anchorage, Icy Strait Point and Sitka as well as the usual ports. We saw lots of wildlife - we got close to bears feeding on the shoreline whilst on a whale watching trip!
Princess and HAL are our go to cruise lines and in our view are on a par.
We had a few days in Seattle before the cruise and did an 8 day road trip after - Olympic NP, Washington and Oregon coast and then back north via Mt Hood, Mt St Helens and the Columbia river valley.
It really was an amazing trip.

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I was just looking at a 14 day trip! Which ship were you on? I've read HAL allow smoking in various places? Did you find that noticeable?

We have up to 3 weeks but need to keep in budget! The more I read the more I want to add on!

[Omega1]

Originally Posted by catlady

I was just looking at a 14 day trip! Which ship were you on? I've read HAL allow smoking in various places? Did you find that noticeable?

We have up to 3 weeks but need to keep in budget! The more I read the more I want to add on!

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We were on the Amsterdam, smaller ship. I think it’s the Maasdam doing the longer Alaska itinerary now, it is very similar in size and layout to the Amsterdam. It also looks like the 14 day itineraries are from Vancouver in 2020 and 2021.
I can’t recall there being an issue with smoking on any HAL cruise we’ve done and as non-smokers we can smell cigarette smoke from 50 yards! There are a small number of designated smoking areas but we steer well clear.

[catlady]

Originally Posted by Omega1

We were on the Amsterdam, smaller ship. I think it’s the Maasdam doing the longer Alaska itinerary now, it is very similar in size and layout to the Amsterdam. It also looks like the 14 day itineraries are from Vancouver in 2020 and 2021.
I can’t recall there being an issue with smoking on any HAL cruise we’ve done and as non-smokers we can smell cigarette smoke from 50 yards! There are a small number of designated smoking areas but we steer well clear.

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Yes it's the Maasdam I was looking at. Good to know you didn't find the smoking an issue . The 14 night seems good value, compared to the 7 night? But would have less time to explore ourselves 🤔

Dh has just suggested doing 7 night on one cruise line and back on another as we can't choose! think that is too complicated though!

[Melanie R]

I’ve just done the Coral Princess to Alaska from Vancouver, but there were options from Seattle. I loved it and would highly recommend - there are lots of pics in my trippie if you wanted to get an idea 😊