These are the two lines with the longest continuous history in Alaska, and both run cruise tours that combine a sailing with an inland rail-and-lodge extension — the practical differences are in ship size, the specific lodges each operates and the character aboard, rather than in the quality of their Alaska access, which is strong for both.
There is no bad answer here, which is precisely why the question is hard. These are the two lines with the deepest roots in Alaska, both have been running the region for decades, both own land infrastructure there that no other cruise line has, and both are very good at it. The choice comes down to differences that are real but subtle, and they are not the differences most comparisons focus on.
Why these two lines specifically
Most cruise lines that sail Alaska are visitors to it. They bring a ship north for the summer, call at the same towns as everyone else, buy excursion capacity from local operators, and take the ship somewhere warmer in September.
Princess and Holland America built businesses on the ground. Both own wilderness lodges in the Alaskan interior. Both own or operate glass-domed railcars that run on the Alaska Railroad, and both run their own motorcoach fleets. That means when you book a cruisetour — the combination of a sailing with an inland land extension — you are staying in their hotels, riding their train carriages and travelling on their buses, with the scheduling coordinated as one product rather than stitched together from suppliers.
It also means both hold significant allocations of the permit-limited entries into Glacier Bay, which for many travellers is the single most valuable thing either line offers in the region. Between them they account for the largest historical share of those use days, though it still must be confirmed per sailing rather than assumed from the line’s name.
Ships: size, age and what it means on a glacier day
The received wisdom is that Holland America is the smaller-ship line, and it is broadly true at the top end. Its Alaska deployment sits in a band roughly from the smaller older ships up to its newest class, which still tops out at a size Princess exceeds comfortably with its largest vessels.
But it is not true that Princess has no small ships in Alaska. Its Coral-class ships are among the smallest large-ship tonnage either line sends north, and they were designed with the region in mind. A passenger who wants a smaller ship and assumes that means Holland America by default may be looking at the wrong end of the Princess fleet.
The reason size matters here more than in the Caribbean is the scenic cruising day. On a glacier morning, everybody wants to be outside at the same time, on the same side, at the same rail. A ship carrying three and a half thousand people delivers a different version of that hour than one carrying two thousand — not a worse ship, but a busier promenade. If the glacier day is the centre of your holiday, the passenger count is a more useful number to compare than the brand.
The general shape: Princess brings a larger and broadly newer fleet with more onboard variety and more balconies at the affordable end. Holland America brings a more consistent mid-size fleet where the ships feel more alike to each other, and the difference between its newest and oldest is smaller than the equivalent gap at Princess.
The cruisetours are the real difference
If you are only sailing, the two lines are closer than any comparison will admit. If you are adding the land portion — and in Alaska you should at least consider it — the differences become concrete.
Princess runs the larger land programme, with more permutations of itinerary and lodge combinations, and it is built around its own chain of wilderness lodges positioned at Denali, near Mount McKinley, on the Kenai and in the Copper River valley. The scale means you can find a version of an Alaska land tour at almost any length and shape you want, and the lodges are the defining feature of the experience. Its rail connection is notably efficient in places, moving guests from the ship to the domed railcars the same day rather than through an overnight staging hotel.
Holland America runs a tighter, more curated set of land itineraries and pushes further into the Yukon than Princess typically does — the Klondike and Dawson City routings are more characteristic of its programme. Its Denali property anchors the interior portion, and its rail service uses the same domed carriages on the same railway.
Which is better depends on what you want the land half to be. Princess is the answer for a lodge-centred trip with maximum choice of routing. Holland America is the answer for a more historically-minded journey that goes deeper into the Yukon and the gold-rush country. That is a genuine difference in character, not a marketing distinction.
Onboard character: who each ship is full of
Both lines skew older than the mainstream average, and both are quieter and more traditional than a Royal Caribbean or a Carnival. But they are not the same room.
Holland America is the more classically maritime of the two: more subdued, strong on live music, a long-standing culinary programme, and a passenger profile that skews oldest among the mainstream lines. It is unhurried in a way its regulars value specifically. It also has one of the more consistent single-line followings in the industry, which tells you something.
Princess sits a step closer to the middle of the market — a wider age range, families present in noticeable numbers on summer Alaska sailings, more onboard entertainment and activity, more dining variety, and a technology layer that is more visible in daily use than anything on a Holland America ship.
Neither is a party ship and neither is a retirement home. The practical read is: if your group includes anyone under about thirty, Princess is more likely to keep them occupied. If your priority is a calm ship where you can hear yourself think on a sea day, Holland America is the more reliable bet.
Where they are genuinely equal
It is worth being clear about what does not differentiate them, because a lot of comparison writing invents distinctions here.
Alaska access is comparable. Both call at the core southeast ports and both run Gulf of Alaska routes as well as round trips. Both hold Glacier Bay entries on a portion of their sailings. Neither has a meaningful advantage in getting you to the scenery.
Excursion quality is comparable, because in most Alaska ports both lines are contracting the same local operators — the same floatplane companies, the same whale-watching boats, the same dog-sled camps. The tour you take in Juneau is often the same tour regardless of which of the two ships you arrived on.
And the Alaska Railroad is one railway. Both lines’ domed carriages run on the same track behind the same locomotives. The carriages differ in detail; the journey does not.
Weather is the great leveller too, and it is worth saying because people occasionally choose a line hoping to buy their way out of it. Denali is famously shy — the mountain is hidden behind cloud on the majority of summer days — and no lodge, no railcar and no line has any influence over whether you see it. Anyone booking a cruisetour principally to look at the mountain should book it for the tundra, the wildlife and the scale of the park instead, and treat a clear day as a gift.
The recommendation
Choose Holland America if you want the quieter ship, if the Yukon and the gold-rush history appeal more than a lodge-hopping itinerary, if you value a consistent mid-size fleet, or if the onboard atmosphere matters more to you than the range of things to do on it. It is also the safer choice for travellers who have found mainstream ships too busy in the past. Our Holland America Alaska pages set out the current deployment.
Choose Princess if you are travelling with a mixed-age group, if you want the widest possible choice of cruisetour routings and lodges, if a newer ship with more balcony inventory matters to you, or if you want the largest set of dates to choose from — its Alaska programme is simply bigger, which in a permit-limited region is a practical advantage when you are hunting for a specific combination. The detail sits on our Princess Alaska pages.
If you are still genuinely torn after that, here is the tiebreak we use most often with clients: stop comparing the lines and compare the two specific itineraries in front of you. Does it enter Glacier Bay. How many nights on land and at which lodges. How many passengers on the ship. Which direction the Gulf routing runs. Those four answers will separate two sailings far more decisively than the badge on the funnel, and either badge is a good one. We work through that comparison in the context of the wider region in our Alaska cruise guide.
Common questions
Which line is best for Alaska?
Both are top-tier; the choice is style and cruise-tour routing rather than access.
What is an Alaska cruise tour?
A cruise combined with an inland land tour, typically by rail to interior lodges.
Do both enter Glacier Bay?
Both hold permits for some sailings; it must be confirmed per itinerary because entry is limited.
Which has smaller ships?
Holland America generally operates the more mid-size fleet.
The reassuring conclusion is that this is a choice between two well-run options rather than a trap. Nobody sails either of these lines to Alaska and comes home feeling they picked the wrong one. The mistakes that actually spoil an Alaska holiday are structural — the wrong month, no land extension when you wanted one, or an itinerary that never enters the park you assumed it did.
We sell both of these lines along with eight other majors, and we are paid by the cruise line rather than by you, which means we have no reason to steer you to either. Tell us what you want the week to feel like and we will tell you which of the two does it better on your dates.