Alaska Cruisetour - HAL vs. Princess
 

Have choice to make for late May 2010 Alaska Cruisetour between either Coral Princess/Island Princess or HAL Ryndam/HAL Statendam. We've traveled with HAL on two inside passage cruises but have no experience with Princess. Any suggestions?

We did a cruisetour thru Princess about 7 years back. From what I could see the two are comparable. Each has their own cars on the train, each has good hotels at each location. But then again, we also like HAL, so it's tough to compare. I doubt that you'll go wrong with either, however.

I've been on a Alaskan Cruise but not on either ship. I did see both a Princess in Vancouver and a HAL in Juneau. I would recommend to do research on both ships and see which has what you need the most.

I'm sure we can't go wrong with either one. Thanks for your comments.

What you can go "wrong" with is picking the wrong cruisetour, because you didn't know every detail about what you purchased. It's a significant "problem".

Do your homework.

Both HAL and Princess are similar. You are best to go for as long as you can afford. At the very least 5 days, more is definately superior. The distances are vast, shorter tours are all in transit, and little time at destinations. Determine WHY you are going to Alaska?? Denali Park is a SIGNIFICANT- part of cruisetours, never purchase any cruisetour with the Natural History tour, IF you are going for wildlife and scenery. You are missing out on it completely, with this worthless tour.

In May, go northbound, far superior for a way better interior Alaska experience and access into Denali.

Thanks BQ. We're now looking into a 7-day land package that includes 2 days at Denali and the Tundra Wilderness Tour. It also includes some travel by rail and time at Kenai Fjords National Park. All in all it sounds like it contains everything we'd like to see for our first visit to this area of Alaska.

I have sailed with both HAL and Princess and, yes, they are comparable. We sailed on Island Princess last summer to Alaska and it was lovely. I have been to Alaska several times and would definitely recommend sailing North through the inside passage from Vancouver to Whittier so the scenery can unfold. Also, the rail trip north to Denali is a must. A stop at Talkeetna is also very worthwhile. Be sure to look at the sidetrips that are available. I would recommend: the narrow gage rail to the Yukon out of Skagway and the float plane trip to the Mendenhall glacier for a Salmon Bake while on the cruise. Also, the K2 flyaround Mt. McKinley is spectacular (they land on a glacier) and if you have time, a half-day fishing trip out of Talkeetna is great. They will clean, quickfreeze, and pack the fish so you can bring it home on the plane.

Have a great time!!

We just returned from Alaska on HAL--did the 14 day sailing Vancouver to Vancouver--good price so we did it!

In Seward we picked up hundreds of passengers that had been to Denali and everyone we talked to just absolutely loved it. . .everything about it. Many said they would do it again in a heartbeat!

I'm saving Denali for an RV roadtrip with family. . .