Looking into booking a cruise to Alaska, can anyone give me suggestions on which ship is the nicer of the two, never been on princess at all, so am kind of lost here.
Thanks e1
wendy

Tough choice, Wendy! I love them both.

I think Island Princess has a slight advantage when it comes to a feeling of "space"; but I like the design of Sapphire Princess a little better; in particular, I like The Terrace, all the way aft, with its pool, Outrigger Bar and Horizon Court Buffet, all close together. But for Alaska cruising, Island Princess, with its Horizon Court all the way forward and high up would provide better indoor viewing.

Everything else, the cleanliness of the ships, the quality of the food, the friendliness of the staff, I would have to say are dead even.

If someone were to offer me a free cruise to Alaska on my choice of ship, I would take Island Princess. It the cruise was in a warm climate, I would choose Sapphire Princess.

Rick

thank-you for your insight, am leaning toward Island Princess, mainly because it sails out of seattle, for airlines, would like to try Holland but not very good choices to get to Whitter from Anch. so well need to decide very soon.
Wendy

Wendy, I'm a little confused; I couldn't find any Island Princess sailings out of Seattle--this year or next. And the Golden Princess and Star Princess which sail from Seattle are r/t and do the Inside Passage, not across the Gulf of Alaska to Whittier. Are we talking about the same cruise?

Rick

Nope, Rick's right. Island is doing one way sailings either north or south bound between Whittier and Vancouver. Same itinerary this year and in 2009. No one ways out of/into Seattle, both ships from Seattle are R/T only. They're Golden and Star. Dawn is doing 10 day R/T from San Francisco.

Cheers, Neil

Nope Your right Rick,
So now here's my ? how does one get from the airport to Whittier? Does the cruise line offer a shuttle service for this, and then of course same ? when a person gets in to vancouver
Thanks guys your the best for information
Wendy

Yes wendy, they offer transfers if you're flying in on the day of the sailing. Some even offer transportation from a central Anchorage location if you're coming in early. You can also, if you're coming in early, check with the hotels. Many offer transportation as well. It's not cheap, it's between 1 1/2 hours and 2 hours from Anchorage to either Whittier or Seward pier by coach and longer by the train that runs between the pier and the Anchorage that Holland offers as an alternative to the coach. You also have many outside transfer options. Recently some of the rental car companies have opened up drop off points at or near the pier as well. Your airfare and transportation costs will rise significantly on one way sailings. If you're looking for an affordable way to do a week long cruise to Alaska and don't intend to explore on your own before or after your cruise, I'd suggest a round trip from either Vancouver (if you live in Canada) or from Seattle (if you're in the US) to avoid international flights and gain easy, affordable flight and transportation options.

The one way cruises were not set up as a cruise only vacation, although they do offer them that way. They exist for their cruise/tour packages where you combine a cruise with a land tour (hotels or lodges, trips to Denali/Mt. Mckinley, panning for gold, wilderness and wildlife tours, stern-wheeler paddle boat rides, glass domed train cars, etc.) Every one way cruise is packaged with these and other options, many options and packages are available for each ship and sailing date. You can choose between them. These are great packages but not in the same ballpark for cost as a 7 day cruise. If not for these packages there would be no one way sailings to Alaska.

Cheers, Neil

I'm Booked wooohoo, ok booked for 6-21 on the Sapphire Princess, now my ? is this were on the Lido deck inside stateroom, any idea if this is a ok floor to be on? Got a good deal so booked it LOL
thanks Wendy

Good for you, Wendy; congratulations!

Lido deck is a GREAT location; you will have very little foot traffic past your cabin and you are only steps away from all the "neat" stuff: the pools, the Trident Grill, Prego Pizza, the Mermaid's Tail Bar; you're one flight up to all the great Spa services; and just a short walk to the Horizon Court Buffet.

Good choice!

Rick