Alaska Cruise Tour - Which is best? RCCL? Princess? Other?
 

I am looking to take an Alaskan Cruise Tour next summer. All together, there will be 8 adults and five children. All adults have cruised before and we are looking for a cruise tour that will give us the best of both worlds. Treaking through the wilderness of Alaska and the fun of being on a cruise. Any advice??

We have cruised to Alaska three times with Princess. We've cruised to the Caribbean with RCCL and many other cruise lines in the past. From experience, we think that Princess has more of a variety of shipboard activities. They also seem to have an excellent childrens' program. They must, <BR>because we seldom saw the children except when they walked by as a group with their counselor, which wasn't very often, so apparently they were kept busy with the things that they have planned for them. That left time for the adults to do their own thing and enjoy time for themselves. <BR>As far as shore excursions about the only thing that I can think of for all of you to enjoy would be the Salmon Hatchery and panning for gold. But not knowing your likes this is only my opinion. <BR>

Anyone else?

Holland America has been doing Alaska the longest and has it down pat,complete with the landtour-- <BR>My 2nd pick would be Princess and 3rd pick would be Celebrity.

My parents went with Holland-America and just loved it. However, they didn't see any kids on board (of course, it was in early June), so make sure their kids' program is in session. They've also been with Norwegian Dream in the Mediterranean and felt a little bit nickle-and-dimed.

We just got back from RCCL's Rhapsody of the Seas and enjoyed it very much. I posted a separate trip report if you want to search for it! Personally, I liked Rhapsody better than the Princess and Holland America ships I've sailed but not as well as Celebrity's Century or Millennium.

Hi - the age old question -- who is best? <BR> <BR>If you use Princess or RCCL or HA or Celebrity and nothing goes wrong -- you will love your cruise. <BR> <BR>But - have a weak (I will not say bad) meal. Or, not like the way they cook the eggs in the morning. Or, not like the enterinment at night. Or, not win at bingo. Or, feel taken when you purchase an art picture or two. Or, when a staff person on the curise does not respond to your "real" question and is rude to you. Or, have bad weather the whole time. Or, you name it... <BR> <BR>We have sailed on Princess twice, RCCL once, had two set up with HA but one ship sunk the week before and had a family death a week before the other sailing. We have frinds that love HA and other that love Celebrity and others that go up to Crystal (6 star, more $$$). <BR> <BR>Princess ownes Alaska with its land tours. <BR> <BR>HA gives everyone a free tote bag. <BR> <BR>Celebrity has high dining room ceilings. <BR> <BR>Just go -- love it all. Don't complain. <BR> <BR>My tip: If you sit at a table where someone says, "We have been on 30 cruises...." and runs that one down. CHANGE TABLES. Get rid of them. Change tables. Nothing will please them and it might make your trip bad. <BR> <BR>Keep up posted. Anew.

To Anew, that's one of the best "hit the nail on the head " posts I've seen on this forum! On a note to original poster-we took Princess last year and had very good luck. There were quite a few kids on the boat but we hardly ever saw them and there was never a problem so they must have done something right. We took a cruisetour that started in Fairbanks and did enjoy it but the train ride was endless. If you take kids on this, be sure to bring games, snacks (food is very expensive on the train), treat it just like a long car ride. Same thing for the bus ride in Denali State Park if you go that route.Good luck with your plans.

My family just got back from an Alaskan cruise. There were 12 of us, five kids ranging in age from 11 to 20. We sailed on the Radisson Seven Seas Mariner and I can't say enough good about the ship. The food was fabulous. Every room was a suite with a balcony and were quite roomy. There was an enormous variety of excursions to choose from. My husband and son had scheduled a fishing trip in Skagway that was cancelled and the staff made arrangements for them to fish in Sitka with their own guide. The staff was wonderful -- knew us by name after several days. I wasn't eager to go to Alaska, but we had a phenomenal time. The ship's lecturer was interesting, the entertainers talented and friendly. You can't go wrong with the Mariner.