Going on Alaskan Cruise next summer. Need help to choose between Norwegian, Holland, or Princess.?

Question

Choices are between Norwegian Pearl, Holland Noordam, or Princess Sun. Group of 15 going. Heard lots of good and bad about Norwegian, which I'm leaning towards. Anyone been on these cruise companies to Alaska want to relay some personal experience to me? Thank you very much.

Answer 1

I have been on NCL and Princess but not Holland America. All are good companiesbut I recommend Princess or Royal Caribbean.

Princess, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Celebrity, and Norwegian tend to have people who have cruised many times and are in the 40 and over age group; a more reserved crowd. All of these cruise lines may also have some kids but not many. Holland America generally has the oldest people,like all seniors.

The best time to go to Alaska is when you can get the best price. The Alaska cruise season is from May to Sept. The weather is generally warmer in June, July and Aug, but it can also be pleasant in May and Sept. When we went a few years ago in May it was shirt sleeve weather (70's) in Anchorage and Fairbanks. The odd thing was, it was cooler further south in Juneau and Skagway than it was up north. It was rainy and cloudy in ketchkan. It will be cold, like coat, hat and gloves weather, when you get close to the Glaciers. Otherwise they would melt. When you pack, think layering of your clothes. A couple long sleeve shirts/tops, a sweater/sweatshirt, a light jacket, maybe with a hood.

The best prices will be in May and Sept but you will see the same things as other times. The port stops will be the same but may be in a different order. Some cruises ship itineraries are run in reverse order, North to South vs starting in Seattle or Vancouver. Check the cruise line web sites for variations by date, itinerary and price.

The best Alaska cruise experience is the CRUISE-TOUR. Princess, Holland America, and Royal Caribbean all run cruise tours which take you by train all the way to Fairbanks, Alaska. Princess and RC have special domed train cars for this. Your best chance to see wild animals will be if you do a cruise-tour where you go further north after cruising the inside passage. The only animals you are likely to see in the inside passage is seals. On these tours You can arrange to stop for a night or two in Taketna, or Denali National Park. This will be your best opportunity to see Moose, Caribou, eagle, wolf, and bear. But you really need two days at Denali so that you have time to get one of the Park Service's busses that go deep into the park. Regular tour busses , cars and campers can only go about 3 or 4 miles into the park. The Park Service runs busses about 17 miles into the park, but you must get to the visitor center very early to reserve a spot on one of their busses. The train stops going
north and south do not get you to Denali in time or allow enough time for the deep back country busses. With Princess, Holland America, and RC you can do the tour part first and then go to Seward or Whittier to get on ship for the inside passage part. I recommend doing the tour part first.

Alaska cruises and tours are mostly scenic and cultural. The usual stops for the inside passage portion are Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and College Fjords. The scenic parts are the animals, mountains, glaciers, fjords, and waterfalls. The cultural parts are the Alaska Native, gold rush, fishing industry, and historical sites.

Here's what I have to say about NCL's freestyle cruising.
Freestyle Cruising means that you do not have to specify a dining option when you book your cruise and thus don't have a table and waiter assigned to you. "FREESTYLE" means you can go to dinner in the main dining room, or any other alternative restaurant, any time of the evening after 6:00 PM.. But you will have to reserve a time in the alternate restaurants. It also means that you don't have to "dress up" for dinner, but just go "sports casual". But it also means that you may be standing in line awaiting a table on some days (like we had to do a couple times); not what you want on a cruise. Since you go when you want, you rarely get the same waiter and so never really get to know your waiter and he/she never learns what you prefer as is done on “traditional” cruise lines.

I have been on many Norwegian ships and at one time NCL was my favorite cruise line. However, after NCL was bought by Star Cruises and they instituted the "Freestyle Cruising", I do not care for their cruises and do not recommend them, especially for people who have been on a number of cruises and prefer traditional cruising. Since Star Cruises took over NCL the line it has an Asian flavor; Star is an Oriental company. Some of the performers and musicians were Asian and they have Karioke every evening. Not my cup of tea.

The option to traditional dining being pushed on NCL is their optional dining restaurants. However, these dining options can cost $10 to $20 a person for dinner each night. This is not what you want after paying for a cruise which is supposed to be all inclusive. The optional restaurants are very nice, including French, Chinese/Sushi, Tex-Mex, Italian, and steak house restaurants. But who wants to go pay to eat on a cruise ship where all the meals are supposed to be included. We always skipped the optional restaurants and just got to the main dining early. That worked fine, except on "at sea" days when everyone wanted to go eat early. We later found that we could reserve a time in the main dining room, but we still got a different table and waiter for dinner each night

Answer 2

Holland America does a 7 day out of Seattle that tours Glacier Bay. I understand that you are anxious, but I would suggest that you contact a travel professional that can get you the cruise you want. A 10 year anniversary is really something to celebrate. The TA salary is paid by the cruise line so there is no additional charge to you. Carnival and Princess would have inferior food and entertainment compared to Royal Caribbean and Holland America. I can not recommend Norwegian. Also, RCI has a fare guarantee that would give you on board credit if the fare goes down by cruise time. RCI also spends an entire day in Victoria, BC giving you time to do Butchart Gardens and tour. The other lines arrive there after dark and leave the same evening. Perhaps you want to add a cruise tour to your plans. There really are a lot of choices, I would suggest you pick up a Princess, a Holland America and a Royal Caribbean brochure at your local travel agency and spend some time deciding what you want. You have plenty of time to make it perfect, don't jump the gun and have regrets later.

Answer 3

As another said it really will depend on your groups age group in order to determine which line you would be most happy with.

I think that NCL has some decent ships, however in 8 years I have had only 1 reservation that has gone smoothly. Which is never a good sign.

The lines I use mostly for Alaska is Holland and Princess. Holland is the line who first started in Alaska sailings, with Princess being 2nd. Holland tends to attract a crowd of more 55 + as to where princess it is more like 40 +. In all honesty though Alaska sailings are quite expensive even more so do to there sailings be seasonal that you do have more a tendency to have people 40 + because younger crowds tend not to be able to afford the sailings.

I would highly recommend depending on your budget and length of time you have to travel a Cruise tour where you can go into the hearts of Alaska.

I would be able to give you more info in asking a few questions. I would be happy to help you with your reservations. Email me if you like and I can send you my contact info.

Even if you prefer not going through me of course, I still would highly recommend using a travel agent to try more so to ensure no problems. Obviously problems can happen that are unforeseen, but with an agent if you do have questions, concerns or needs then you have a specific go-to person instead of if you book online having to call an 800 # waiting for the next available res. agent.

Have a Fantastic time in Alaska if I don't from you! It really is beautiful scenery and terrain.

Answer 4

Holland America Line is the longest running cruise line in Alaska. Princess is another good line, but might not have all the license that HAL has I am not sure. Like I said before just do not even consider NCL there is no comparision. If you want a 3rd comparision go with Celebrity.

Answer 5

Depends on what you like. Norwegian is an older ship, but still comfortable. Princess is a little nicer, but less cordial. Haven't tried Holland. If you go Norwegian, spring for the helicopter ride to the glaciers - lots of bucks, but worth every penny.

Answer 6

I would go on NCL Pearl because it is a new ship. I have been on Holland and I seemed to be the youngest one and I was 40. Princess was nice but they didn't seem to go out of their way for their guests and the dining room service was very slow.

Answer 7

really i would ask how old the group is, with NCL it is all very relaxed, Holland america much more formal and princess from what i have been told also appeal much more to the older market, just as Celebrity do. it's really a question of age and what your also looking for out of the cruise.

P.S i am someone who works on these vessels so if you have any questions, let me know.

Answer 8

I just got back from a Mexican Riviera cruise on the Norwegian Star last night. (10/13/06)
We had problems from the time we got on the ship (luggage sent to the wrong room), in the main dining room (could'nt get food orders correct), room service (could'nt get orders correct & "lost" food request), housekeeping (did'nt leave cups/glasses, did'nt refill mini-bar daily), the shore excursions were sub-standard, not to mention one of them was cancelled, and, lastly, we arrived back in L.A. 4 hours late, and then
the F.B.I. boared the ship (and we had to wait until they released it) because a woman had jumped overboard (suicide, most likely) Wednesday night.
The woman was never found, despite a several hour sea search by both U.S. and Mexican authorities.
We will NEVER travel with N.C.L. again, and highly recommend no one else choose them either.

Answer 9

I went on a cruise to Alaska 2 years ago with Royal Carribean...no complaints! It was great!