Same cruise, smaller ship - if not double, how much more would you pay?

[Joanandjoe]

It's pretty clear from Rev Real's poll that most people on the HAL board won't pay twice as much as HAL for a smaller and/or more luxurious ship. (Many of the people who would pay more are on the CC boards of the small and luxury cruise lines). How much extra, then, would you pay? We wanted a Canada-New England cruise this September, saw that Radisson was about 20% more than Maasdam's veranda rooms (on a now-discontinued 2-for-1 deal), and grabbed it. I bet others would do the same, but probably wouldn't pay double.

[Joanandjoe]

My cuttting and pasting from another thread failed. The fifth category should be: Would pay 25+ to 50% more. I've asked CC to correct this, but I don't know if it can be corrected.

[Druke I]

Voted 10-25% more, but it would have to be a very good itinerary.

[DFD1]

Lots of variables could come into play, but I would probably pay up to a third more, all other things being equal.

[jazzsea]

I selected the "10 - 25%". I would pay more for Radisson but would not pay more for Oceania.

 

I also would pay more to sail on Wind Star even though there is no way to compare the experience to a Holland America Line vessel.

[localady]

If you look at the current pricing of the PRINSENDAM, IMHO we are already paying a "premium" to sail her. HAL's pricing on the Prinsendam seems higher than their other ships. This said, we are eager to sail her in the Baltic!:cool:

[kryos]

It's pretty clear from Rev Real's poll that most people on the HAL board won't pay twice as much as HAL for a smaller and/or more luxurious ship. (Many of the people who would pay more are on the CC boards of the small and luxury cruise lines). How much extra, then, would you pay? We wanted a Canada-New England cruise this September, saw that Radisson was about 20% more than Maasdam's veranda rooms (on a now-discontinued 2-for-1 deal), and grabbed it. I bet others would do the same, but probably wouldn't pay double.

Right now, I prefer the larger ships ... I assume by small, you mean luxury cruising ... something like 300-600 people max on the boat.

 

I haven't been on all that many cruises yet and for now, I prefer the larger ships with all the ammenities. Maybe after I've cruised a couple dozen times, though, I will be ready to try something smaller.

 

My main fear is that since I travel solo most of the time, I would be bored on the smaller ships. I hear that they don't have very much going on after dinner ... maybe a port lecture, a combo playing in one of the bars ... but not much else.

 

While I am not a party animal, I do prefer to have options after dinner ... attend a show, listen to some music that I enjoy, etc.

 

Now the only small ship that I have been looking at ... and will definitely plan a cruise on one day, is Windstar. They really have a nice SCUBA program with PADI-rated divemasters as part of their crew. It seems they set up some very nice dives at each port. But, that is a trip for "one day," not right now.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Slinkiecat]

Rita, I hope you will read more of the HAL boards and find out about the smalller ship Prinsendam, which just completed a world voyage in May. There was more to do after dinner than we could handle, including the stage show every night (8:15 for early diners and 10:15 for late). This is a 700+ passenger ship and has many single ladies who sail on her all the time just because of the amenities extended to this group, including the dance partners who seek out the singles in all the dancing spots. Some of those single ladies go on cruises every year with HAL just because they are catered to so well.

 

We loved the ship and while we had a couple of rough nights (out of 112) the ship rode the waves very well for the most part. We took along our laptops and used them to catch up with friends, relatives and groups at home during sea days, so we were rarely bored. TV was pretty much lacking though.

 

Check on the log from our trip on this board, posted by Grumpy1.

 

Slinkie

[kryos]

We loved the ship and while we had a couple of rough nights (out of 112) the ship rode the waves very well for the most part. We took along our laptops and used them to catch up with friends, relatives and groups at home during sea days, so we were rarely bored. TV was pretty much lacking though.

Oh, I didn't realize the Prisendam only carried 700 passengers. I had assumed it was a bit larger than that.

 

Yes, I've read your travelogue and loved it. I guess when I said small ship, I was thinking something along the lines of Cruise West or the Yachts of Seaborne. I really don't think those ships have very much at all going on at night. In fact, reading some of the reviews of Windjammer confirms that. They pretty much have a lecturer who covers what they will do in port the next day and maybe some music up on deck.

 

The Prisendam, though ... yeah, I think I could definitely stay occupied on there. :) Your cruise sounds so wonderful!

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita