Per RCL’s site, next summer they will have 4 ships doing Alaska cruises. Two are Radiance class ~90,000 ton (Radiance and Serenade), and two are Quantum class ~168,000 tons (Quantum and Ovation). I agree that ship size can affect where it can go, but not a lot of difference in ports/glacier viewing abilities among the mainstream ships (HAL, Princess, Disney, RCL). The small-ship cruises (less than 100 people) can do much more, but that’s a big difference in size and they’re not the mainline brands.
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There is a big difference in the activities/food options/ entertainment on a RCL radiance/quantum ship!
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If we had more money, I would have done an Alaska “Uncruise” - small ship (~60 passengers). Looks amazing, but too expensive for our family of 5. Maybe DH and I will do without the kids someday.
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Very true! But for us two non-foodie retired folk, in Alaska we’d definitely choose the Radiance, since most days are port days, and to us the focus is not the ship (for Alaska). Now for the Caribbean, my answer would be different.
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Y’all are making me want to be on my Alaskan cruise Right. Now. Sigh…it was supposed to happen June 2020 and then June 2021. The upside is that when I rebooked I got a balcony room. I’m definitely treating myself to all the perks I want when I finally get to go. I might even do the helicopter to the sled dogs excursion. The downside of that for me is that I hate flying. I was originally planning to do the one where you just let the sled dogs pull you along in the dirt b/c you aren’t actually on a glacier. :). I still might do that—it seems fun in a weird way.
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I did the dirt-based sled dogs and it was still ridiculously cool. The dogs are amazing, super strong, and work so well together. We were in this like 12-seater golf cart and they pulled us so fast! If you hate flying, it’s a worthy alternative for sure.
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I’ve got to say, I’m terrified of small airplanes - perhaps an irrational fear, but this type of thing seems to happen a lot. This was not operated by Holland America, but there were 5 of their passengers on board who all died.
Did an Alaskan cruise on Princess a couple of summers ago with DH and his four brothers and sisters and their spouses. Age range 40 to 60ish. We loved it. Food was great though I wouldn’t bother with the upcharge restaurants. Nothing special about the entertainment. I liked all of the trivia quizzes. We’re not casino people so never went in there.
The real star of the cruise is the scenery and the excursions. We did a one-way from Vancouver to Anchorage. For that you want a balcony on the starboard side to enjoy the views. Going from Anchorage to Vancouver I would get port side. We loved sitting on our balcony looking for whales and porpoises. Even saw some eagles. Glacier Bay we sat on the balcony enjoying the glaciers, ice floes and seals. The balcony was well worth the extra expense.
We also added on a land tour to Denali Park. Amazing! Even though it had to be cut a bit short and we weren’t sure we’d make it back to Anchorage because of a forest fire. That was an interesting bus trip.
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I’m so excited to hear this! We’re booked on a northbound Princess cruise (next summer) with a starboard balcony 
and a headed to Denali (DIY, not land tour) after.
It was an awesome trip. We did the train at Skagway, whale watching at Juneau and a nature hike at Ketchikan. Be sure to leave some time to explore the towns as well, especially Ketchikan.
The cruise had a naturalist who gave some really interesting talks about the wildlife. She set up at the front of the ship on some of the at sea days with binoculars. We saw whales, sea otters and seals as well as goats. We apparently missed some Grizzly sightings as well.
The glaciers are incredible. If you go to the top deck you can see all around. We stuck to our balcony and still had amazing views though we missed a glacier calving since it was on the port side.
You’re in for a great trip. Which ship? I think we were on the Golden Princess.
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I did Princess when I was 22 and I was one of only two twenty somethings on the boat. The bar was absolutely dead. I don’t remember watching entertainment and at the time decided cruising wasn’t for me (since changed my mind). However Alaska itself was amazing. I loved all of my excursions. We did kayaking in Ketchikan (and it was actually sunny). We did a bike ride and rafting in Skagway and we did the helicopter, dog mushing and sea plane to the Alaskan salmon bake where there was some hiking and a black bear my dad chased for a picture. All of the excursions were very memorable. I don’t remember the boat too much except two things. The room was small and the bathroom smaller, the view of the glaciers from the balcony and the boat itself in the college fjords and glacier bay was amazing. The food was pretty good but not Chez Remy good. We had better food in Anchorage itself. So my experience was from a young freshly out of college age and not probably want a 60something would be looking for. My 40something parents loved it. And I did too, just more the excursions and the view of the glaciers for me. I don’t like RCL that much but I’ve only been on one cruise. I just felt much more sold to than on Princess or Disney. More stores, more people asking you to buy extras, and we had some funny smells on our RCL boat. My cruise experience is extremely limited but for whatever that’s worth. Lol
Two other memorable things. I enjoyed the spa on princess and the workout facilities. I also remember seeing otters at sea and dolphins and the Aurora borealis and the sun going down and coming up thirty minutes later and not being able to sleep that last night. (We started in Vancouver). Vancouver is an amazing city with great view and Stanley park I think it’s called is gorgeous.
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