Hi:
Alaska is on the agenda for next year. After sifting through all the pre-post cruise options, it seems like the Princess-Diamond has alot more to offer at much more reasonable prices. The Pacific Princess is also an option - "only" 700 passengers compared to about 2000+ on the Diamond. We've been spoiled by the PG, but $$ wise, looks like Princess gives more bang for the buck on the Alaska trip than the Mariner 7 nights(about $4,000 ea) exclusive of pre-4 night land tour.

Since we're not big drinkers, the all inclusive (did they really decide to do that?) and room set ups really don't mean that much to us.

I also learned that stateroom balconies and mini suites on the Princess must be chosen carefully, unless you want a parade of people passing by. We loved the balcony on the PG....

We priced pre cruise land package separately for 5 nights (if we booked with Mariner) and was quoted a price of $4,000ea. A bit excessive, I think, as the Diamond has an all inclusive ship/land package and we could board that for almost 1/2 the price of the Mariner + package when all was said and done. Decisions, decisions......

Any advice is welcome.
j.

I say go with what you consider the biggest bang for your buck. Since you aren't big drinkers, the semi-inclusiveness of the Mariner won't be that big of a deal. I would choose the smaller Princess ship, though!

J, you are going to have to compare apples to apples. For Princess, at least a minisuite would be required. For Pacific Princess, you have to go to the cabin at least equivalent to Penthouse on Oceania's version of that ship.

Then, does quality of service and food matter? If all you believe is that "I didn't have to cook it" then McDonalds will work.

If the extras that Mariner provides (all inclusive, room, service, food) don't make up for the extra cost; then you might as well choose Princess.

As a past cruiser on Princess and now a devoted Regent cruiser I understand your concern about the price difference. Strongly suggest the smaller ship. The 2000 plus Princess ships are real "cattle boxes". Also suggest you look at the cruises early and late in the season. September as an example. Weather is not bad and Princess can offer some great deals. I agree with Marc that it is a must to compare the Princess mini-suite to the Regent offering. I would not do a cruise with out a balcony. Do not have much expectations about the food. On Princess my experience is that at best it is mediocre. Just my humble views.

I've done Alaska on Princess (Ocean Princess at the time - now the P&O Oceana), Celebrity (Infinity), and will be doing Alaska in August now on Regent (Mariner). I think you will have a great time, regardless of which cruise line you take. Princess (and HAL) have been doing Alaska the longest of all the cruiselines and have things down to a pat. Having said that, things will NOT be the same on Princess as it was on your PG cruise. The small ship ambiance and the atmosphere will certainly be different as well as the feeling of getting "nickeled and dimed". Remember, you will also have to pay for all soft drinks and bottled water on Princess as well (with automatic 15% tip). Some of the alternative dining areas (such as Sterling Steakhouse and Sabatini's) have surcharges for using them. And don't forget about the automatic $10/person/day gratuity that gets added to the bill at the end. There is a certain "something" about a Regent ship that keeps drawing us back, despite the high premiums (we're not heavy drinkers either - a bottle of wine split between the 2 of us will last us 2-3 nights).

Don't get me wrong - I think Princess is a fine product. I'm setting up my sister for a honeymoon cruise on the Crown Princess next year. Like Karen, I would certainly recommend the Pacific Princess more than the Diamond as being closer to your experience on the PG because of the smaller ship.

As Marc has said, you really need to compare apples to apples to be able to make a comparison. Then, only you can decide on whether the premium to pay for the Regent product is worth it in your opinion. But budget is always something to keep in mind - we're also doing a NCL cruise at the end of this year because the price point was hard to beat! :)

Masaki

Thanks everyone for the input.

Yes, if we do the Princess, most definitely will be a mini suite with a balcony. NEVER will I forego the balcony again. I loved having the balcony on PG. Especially when we had the "blackout" for about 2-3 hours one night (2am). Having the balcony doors opened up certainly was better than the people below who were sweltering in their rooms without a/c for that period.

Funny, you mentioned Princess "nickel and dime" thing, which is exactly what my TA said. I should also say that my heart really isn't in the Alaska thing since FP. (I'm loving Steve's photos). A month after and I still look at the time and figuring out what time it is there and what I was doing!!! I don't think anything will ever compare to that trip. That's why we're planning something completely opposite. Planning on first week or two of June for Alaska.
j.

I honestly don't think I could go on a cruiseline again, if their ships didn't have a big table of bottled water out as I get off the ship in port. Need one? Need six? Pick them up and off you go. That's a major, major thing for me, ditto being able to just grab a bottle out of the fridge in my cabin whenever I want one.

We aren't big wine drinkers, so could take or leave that part of it.

Also, you'll find that Regent puts their shore excursions together very well. You won't be crowded into a rail car in Skagway with more people than it needs to hold; you'll be comfortable and spread out.

A lot of it is in the "little things" that keep adding up and adding up.

I have a wierd attitude! Not all of my trips have to be "first class, six star". Example: we just returned from a weekend road trip to the mountains (hills?) in SW Oklahoma with the local Mercedes Club. Stayed two nights in a rather pedestrian hotel in a small town. But, we got to see parts of our home state we never saw before. And I got to actually drive a car (someone elses) with over 600 hp and over 700 lbs. ft. of torque! A screamin' machine. Priced at $180,000! Someday, when I grow up, I may buy one of those! Overall, we all had a great time. But somehow, when I am on a ship, anything other than first class, six star turns me off.

It is not actually the lack of included booze, or the rip-off bar prices thereof. It's more the lack of easy availabilty of soda and bottled water, and the rip-off prices for these. And the "ity bitty" rooms unless I upgrade to where I might as well have booked RSSC or Silversea, and the lack of such common conveniences as fridges in the room (that even cheap small town hotels on land have these days).

Maybe I can enjoy a brief land trip with "mass market" accomodations, as we can go to any restaurant we chose, and I can always go a few blocks and buy some wine, beer, alcohol, soda, and bottled water and bring it back to the room without having the "gestapo" there to inspect it and take some of it away till I check out. And even our "mass market" hotel in a little "noplace" Oklahoma town had a fridge in the room for my convenience. And, there was something about the fact that this car club trip cost about $80 pp per day, including club fees, hotel costs, meals, and 300 miles worth of gasoline at rip-off prices we all have to pay these days. On the last night, we all sat around a meeting room in this hotel, drank beer, wine, and cocktails; and told lies about our cars! Not a very classy trip as far as accomodations were concerned, but a great trip and a great time with friends, and nobody was trying to rip us off with $2.00 cokes and $4.00 beers. These were less than 1/4 that cost from the grocery store down the street.

All this may sound a little "down market" for a Mercedes Club function, but it was not. All enjoyed seeing a nice small town with many scenic areas around it. Even for the guy with the $180,000 car. But he too told me he would not take one of those cruise lines where it is an arm and a leg for a decently-sized and equipped room, and where all beverages are a rip-off. How do you think he became able to get a $180,000 car?

Thanks,
Richard

Those last sentiments are exactly why I'm thinking Princess and not Mariner. For a decent size room w/balcony AND pre cruise which offers better accommodations (travel reports on the Mariner's precruise hotels arent' great, to put it mildly) and better itinerary for us, I'm thinking Princess for almost 1/2 the amount of the Mariner. A few sodas/drinks and even 10$20 a day in tips still doesn't add up to the charges on the Mariner. Don't get me wrong, I'd much prefer the Mariner, but I just can't see spending so much for a few amenities that I can do without when considering $5000 or $6000 more. AND a precruise package that I'm not thrilled with. If I do a precruise privately (w/o Mariner), it's about $35000 ea. for 4-5 nights. So, with the additional cost of the Mariner plus the precruise, you're talking a WHOLE lot more than the princess. Their precruise is included and includes many of the places we want to see - Mariner does not. Still deciding though........
I would rather do the Mariner....Just re-checking all the options.

Thanks for the input!!
j.

Just out of curiosity, where does Princess have you staying pre-cruise?

Masaki

Masaki:
ok..The Princess offers a variety of pre cruise choices - they have their own lodges I understand - Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge (mixed reviews) - Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge (mixed reviews) and on another tour - Fairmont Banff Springs or something like that, which is supposed to be really nice (2 nights). In contrast, the Mariner offers different stays as well, some are just at one hotel for 3-4 days or another package includes among others 2 nights at the Banff Springs hotel, but then goes through Kamloops which it says basically has crummy hotels but they'll pick the best at the discretion of the tour guide (??) which doesn't sound great, then Vancouver hotel 2 nights. Another has a stay at Pikes Wilderness Lodge, Grande Denali Hotel, Alyeska Prince Resort (nice). But then it includes a 7 hour tour by school bus of all things!! None even mention going to Mt. McKinley.

The Banff hotel sounds like a really great place - a friend of my mine stayed there and said it was incredible. I don't know, I'm getting really confused and am ready to go back to Tahiti-PG!!! My TA said we can book pre cruise privately if we want to go with Mariner, but then came up with about $4,000 each for the privately purchased precruise, which is a bit much for us just for the land tour. I just have to re-group and start from the beginning again I guess.
j/

Sorry to be such a pain.....Just as an aside - has anyone been on the Silversea cruise? Don't know anything about it.
Thanks.
j.

SS is not inexpensive but if you get a "special" may be doable - click on SS at top of this board -

Nana,
Ngaire books Silversea so you can check B & K website (above) for pricing and itineraries.

But you cannot see some wonderful deals on Silversea that are offered from time to time if not connected with BK, or another TA similarly associated with SS that are communicated through e-mail only.. These are really wonderful deals, if you don't need to plan many months in advance.

Nana, for me, I don't think I could be happy with a Princess cruise. Have been side to side with too many of their big ships in previous cruises and read the many comments on cc and here. Your choice. Others have given opinions for you to consider. I think you can book those pre-cruises through other operators if you are not on Princess. I never book pre-cruise through RSSC/Regent unless absolutely necessary. They are way over priced. I do it on my own.

All tours of Denali National Park are done by school bus. I wouldn't be concerned about Regent pre or post cruise being of less qualified operator. In fact, I think (I would have to find the reference) that Regent uses Princess land operators in Alaska for their arrangements. However, when we were planning on MUSH, we were going to do a self driving tour to Denali and a few other spots booking in the same lodges and taking same school bus.

Here is the link to the company we were going to use for our own post-cruise tour of Alaska. You will find that there prices are better than Regent (and probably Princess).

Thanks to you all for your comments - they're informative and appreciated. I need to do a bit more research before I make up my - "our" mind!!
j.

None of the properties in Alaska are all that high class, unfortunately. Some sacrifices need to be made on the "Last Frontier" :) I agree that setting up your own pre-/post-cruise is definitely the way to go - we learned that on our first RSSC cruise where we paid WAY more than the going rate for the Waldorf in NYC. Live and learn. ;)

Masaki