Trying to decide between
 

Husband and I in our late 30's (very active)looking to go on a one way Alaskan cruise for our 5th Anniversary. Which cruise ship would you reccommend?

1. Celebrity Millenium
2. Holland Veendam
3. Holland Zaandam

I don't think you can go wrong with any of them. We did an Alaskan cruise last year with Celebrity - really nice experience. I've also heard great feedback on HAL - so I would pick by date and itinerary. LOVED it.....

I have done the HAL Zaandam 2 times, different years, different itineraries. Hal remains my favorite cruise line overall after trying some others.

I would check the itinerary including the length of time in ports. All three ships would be good.

You may want to look into Princess as well. Celebrity does not go to Glacier Bay NP and HAL is senior oriented.

I have been to Alaska twice on Celebrity Mercury and once on Coral Princess (I live in Vancouver). Both were great. I would go with Celebrity based on your age.

Most big ships from main stream cruise lines are very similar and you will have a good expereince. Different cruise lines has different reputaion or perception from public. example: Celebrity has better food, HAL has mature crowds, Carnival is for younger people an Princess is the middle of the road. None of them will disappoint.

To determine which cruise to take, I will pick itinerary first. Find the places you want to go and activities you like. The ship is secondary.

Most ships also goes to similar places and the Alaskan choices are inside passage, north bound or south bound. Is there places you want to go before and / or after. Is there a convenience factor such as leaving from Seattle, San Francisco, Vancouver, Anchorage.

In terms of ships, they all have small cabins, decent food, good decor, okay entertainment, gym and spa facilities etc. They all have their own gimmicks to draw people.

My suggestion is a Northbound crusie ending in Alaska with stops at Glacier National Park.

Just got back last week from a southbound cruise on HAL's Zaandam -- LOVED it. Traveled with 2 other couples (6 of us), ranging in age from late 30's to early 60's. That was also the general age spread of the ship. A few kids, only saw them once. A fair number of teens and 20-somethings that seemed to be traveling in larger family outings.

We especially like the size of the ship -- not too big, but seemed to have everything.

Left from Seward, arrived in Vancouver. We went from fairly primitive/remote settings to cosmopolitan, all scenic. That was lovely. Not sure I'd like to get off in Seward, unless I was catching the train to Anchorage. Of course, that's one-way thinking, not the round-trip itineraries.