Alaska cruise rec’s

Me and the wife went on the Quantum of the seas and it's a beautiful ship. We had a really good time, but to us the food was god awful.

You also can do it pretty reasonable. We had a balcony on a 7 day cruise for 1500$

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If you're doing an Alaskan cruise, I would highly recommend going on a cruise line that has access to Glacier Bay. I believe there are only 3 lines that are able to sail there.

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When we went in 2019, I think Princess was one of the only ones with access to Glacier Bay. I don't recall the ship name, but it was a small-ish ship with roughly 80% balconies and originally designed for the Panama Canal. For Glacier Bay, the park rangers boarded the ship in the middle of the bay. The rangers led a talk on one of the ships TV channels. Everyone turned on their TVs and sat on their balcony or one of the open decks to listen and enjoy the view.

Princess and Celebrity do Alaska the best.

I did an Alaskan cruise from Seattle in 2022. Went on the NCL Bliss and really enjoyed it. Would do it again particularly if I could get a cabin in the Haven. There are other threads on here where I've got some comments along with others, but here's a copy and paste of my comments:

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The Haven is legit. We took an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle on the Norwegian Bliss. Our cabin was on the very back of the ship with a large balcony looking to the rear but it was considered part of the Haven. You pay more but in return you wait for almost nothing. You get escorted onto the ship early to the Haven lounge, have a private bar and dining area. We ate almost exclusively in the Haven and never had to put up with crowds or reservations. You also get escorted ahead of the rest when you get off the ship, and also for any shows onboard. There is reserved seating for shows. We had a concierge and butler. If there is anything you want all you do is ask.
I’ve sailed Royal Caribbean, NCL and Disney. The Haven in NCL is the best by far.

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For excursions, the Juneau whale watch is legit and I would absolutely book this. The train from Skagway was my least favorite. There was some bridge that has been out of service for several months so the trip was cut short. Otherwise, there is not much to do in Skagway itself so maybe find an excursion out of town or go fishing. Victoria is nice but you don't get a lot of time. We didn't do an excursion but instead hired a cab to show us around. Our driver was excellent!

As for the ship, there is a wine bar and the sommelier was great. They have a few tasting sessions that are very well done. Shows on board are good too. We saw Jersey Boys and a band based on the Beatles.

If you have an opportunity to upgrade your cabin into The Haven I would highly recommend it. You have a butler and concierege that handle just about every need like reservations, snacks in your room, etc. There is also priority boarding and access to shows, etc. They will also escort you off the ship for excursions where you don't have to wait in lines, etc. The Haven has its own dining room, which is far better than the others. They have an observation lounge which is great too. We had an Aft-Facing Penthouse with Large Balcony and while it is not located within The Haven, you get Haven privileges and services. I don't know that we would do another NCL without The Haven.

There is a travel agency called Harr Travel that has put out a bunch of videos online. There are tours of the Bliss, tours of certain room categories, etc. Might be worth watching before you go. I found them very helpful. A simple google search will take you to whatever you are looking for.

Have done a celebrity cruise from Vancouver, stopping in juneau, ketchikan, and sitka, with an on board day at a glacier. Was a really good time. It was definitely an older crowd, but this was 20 years ago when I was in college and I still had a good time.

Agree on Glacier Bay. That was very cool, in more ways than one. Lot of real nice pics and video. Peaceful. Sat on our balcony for much of it.

Funny story - so the Haven has its own observation deck and hot tubs. The wife (no pics) and I go up there after breakfast to check out Glacier Bay and hear the folks in the hot tub, at 10:00 a.m., telling the waiter to bring them another round of drinks every 15 minutes. Yeah, they were wearing LSU gear...go figure.

IF you have the money do Pack Creek out of Juneau, if you like wildlife.

Short plane ride to Admiralty Island where bears congregate and fish in an estuary along Pack Creek.

Forest Service limits it to 25 a day (Last time I went) but its far beyond your average excursion'

The Island is less than 5 miles off the mainland, and a floatplane takes around 15-20 minutes from the airport.

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heading to Victoria, Canada

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Legitimately jealous.

Looks like we are going to book on royal princess .

With the limited dates we have available and Glacier bay a must this looks to be our best option.

We have a travel agent helping us ,
Anyone have any opinion of this ship?
Are any other princess ship experience ?

Any big difference in reserve collection suite and mini suite?

Premier package seems like a no brainer as well

Thanks