Alaska Cruise - Princess or Holland?
 

We're planning an entire family cruise to Alaska. Have the dates settled upon. Now we can't decide between the Sapphire Princess or Holland Americas Oosterdam.
Any suggestions?

We did the Princess Alaska cruise July of 2007 and it was great. We recommend the 5-day land tour by Princess first, then the 7 day cruise. We flew to Fairbanks and had great tours there plus 2 other stops. Princess took excellent care of us and we were impressed with their handling of the logistics getting us from airport and on to buses and trains and into hotels. Everything was well planned and went smoothly. We have cruised 3 times with Princess with another one coming up in June, and we like the way they do everything. We especially like the anytime dining so that we can eat in the main dining room any time we want to instead of being forced to choose an early seating or late seating. They have great floor shows in the evenings. We were on the Coral Princess. Good luck, and have fun!

I can't comment on the HAL ship but can about the Sapphire. We cruised on this ship for Alaska in 2005 and were very pleased. The ship itself, the food, shows and service were just fine as were the excursions we took. HAL tends to draw a more reserved clientele and overall they are rated very well too. Try looking at www.cruisecritic.com for reviews for both ships. You will have a memorable time in Alaska. Of all the cruises we've done Alaska is one of the few I would do again because you can't do all the neat excursions in one stop. Enjoy. Larry :-)

We did an Alaska cruise on Princess also and it was a great trip. We favor Princess but I'm sure you'd be perfectly happy with Holland America as well. Loved our whale watch in Juneau and I highly recommend the White Pass & Yukon train ride in Skagway.

We've been on five HAL cruises (two to Alaska) and three Princess cruises, and I must say we prefer HAL hands-down. Clearly this is a matter of personal preference and one's experiences. All of our HAL cruises were wonderful and two of our Princess cruises were not (unfriendly crew, larger, crowded ships, etc.). I'm sure that colors our opinion. Most likely whichever line you choose will be fine.

We are booked for September and chose the Golden Princess. We have been on Princess before for a Caribbean cruise and enjoyed it enough to book with them again. We prefer the anytime dining option.

After lots of research we chose the iteniary of Glacier Bay. The Sapphire Princess go to Tracy Arm Fjord. Something else to consider.

Research both cruises and take VR tours on their websites. This way you can get a sneak peek inside. See which cruise offer the price, excursions, and ports you want to see and embark/disembark on.