Comparison wanted: HA/Princess on-board activities

[fletcher57]

Hi, Somebody posted recently that HA's on-board activities is a weak area of their cruises. I would be interested to hear a comparison between HA and Princess on-board activities, specifically on Alaska cruises. I understand Princess has rangers aboard to talk about Alaska. Does HA do the same thing on its Alaska cruises? Thanks. Joyce

[x lindsay x]

HAL will bring rangers on for glacier bay scenic cruising. They also usually provide a port lecturers (not to be confused with the shopping people) for these cruises that give very detailed information about the ports/route of travel on things like the gold rush, etc. Also they will bring people on in the ports to give lectures, for example, on my last Alaska trip they brought a native Tlinglit woman on board to give a history of the tribe in the theater. There are probably about 3-5 lectures each cruise if not more.

 

As for activities you won't have too many sea days on an Alaskan cruise as the itineraries are all very port intensive and personally I go for Alaska and the scenery and wildlife and not trivia on the ship or the casino (which yes, is available).

 

What kind of on board activities do you want to know about specifically.

[fletcher57]

HAL will bring rangers on for glacier bay scenic cruising. They also usually provide a port lecturers (not to be confused with the shopping people) for these cruises that give very detailed information about the ports/route of travel on things like the gold rush, etc. Also they will bring people on in the ports to give lectures, for example, on my last Alaska trip they brought a native Tlinglit woman on board to give a history of the tribe in the theater. There are probably about 3-5 lectures each cruise if not more.

 

As for activities you won't have too many sea days on an Alaskan cruise as the itineraries are all very port intensive and personally I go for Alaska and the scenery and wildlife and not trivia on the ship or the casino (which yes, is available).

 

What kind of on board activities do you want to know about specifically.

 

Hi, Thanks for your response. The lectures are just the type of activities I am interested in so that I may more fully appreciate the various ports before we arrive there. I am not interested in bingo or trivia, but am definitely interested in spending some time in the casino in the evening and on sea days on the penny slots and quarter pusher. Joyce

[Hawaiidan]

Princess cruises are much..much larger ships Holland are way smaller, and they looked like flolating hotels with a drivein.....

 

Best obesrvation will be on top deck starboard side because the port side wiii be packed and when the ship turns 180 DH you will be in the prime for light and view. There will be several ranger activites on the ship.

 

The National Park Service will board several rangers for the full day in the bay....0700 to 1600.

 

Also in Sitka and Skagway and Ketchikan there are NPS visitor centers and rangers to help you learn....non commercial... the real deal....( gee I didnt know diamonds are the things to buy in Alaska)

 

In fact departhing from Seattle, there is a Klondike Gold Rush Nationa Historical Park in Seattle... very worth while. If you arrive 2 to 3 days prior the the criuse I would suggest a wonderful day trip to Mount Rainier 98 miles south for the sheer natural beauty... a great warm up act North Casscade national park too.

[SwissMyst]

Hi, Thanks for your response. The lectures are just the type of activities I am interested in so that I may more fully appreciate the various ports before we arrive there.....

 

We have found the HAL enrichment lectures to be good to excellent and one feature we really like about HAL ships. This is a big plus when we choose a cruise line as we also liked Voyages of Discovery which was very enrichment lecture oriented and next Voyages to Antiquity which also offers similar fare, and neither ship has a casino, but they do have trivia games which are great ice breakers to get to know other passengers.

 

So yes, HAL port lectures and cruise enrichment activities get a B to B+, and I am comparing them to the A+ lectures we got on Discovery. Shopping is not my thing nor do I find the shopping lectures helpful, but others might. Those I avoid. And I would never go to any of the spa "infomercials" about any topic, but I had a very competent and well-priced salon service on the Statendam just a few weeks ago.

 

The HAL Library and reading room is fabulous - the Explorations Cafe area on all HAL ships. It is a big feature on their ships not just a tucked away corner, but a well-stocked, well-equipped wonderful spot where to spend a great deal of time.

[WisconsinFan]

The "educational" experience is one reason HAL was chosen for our Alaska adventure. With 4 kids along, the grandparents wanted them to learn something :D. Grandma and Grandpa were so eager the grandkids learn something they wanted them to write a report on Alaska before we left :eek:. I was able to convince them that would not be a whole lot of fun for the grand kids!

 

There will be rangers on board as others have said and for the 12 and unders they can work on the US Park Rangers "Jr. Ranger" program.

 

Should be lots of good lectures to hear.