My observations: Royal vs. Holland

[jimicaj]

My husband and I have taken exactly two cruises: we cruised Alaska on Holland America in July 2013 and returned from the Caribbean on Royal today. We are in our late 20's, no children, and travel several times per year for business and pleasure. The following is simply my opinion and comparison between our experience on Holland America (Amsterdam) and Royal Caribbean (Navigator). We very much enjoyed our experience on Holland and were not sure if Royal could measure up. So, here is our experience for all of you who are wondering if you can jump ship (ha!) and cruise another line. I'm going to submit these in several posts as I have broken it down into several different topics. I expect that many of you will have a different opinion or perspective from my own-which is perfectly fine, but please be nice :-) I'm also happy to answer questions to the best of my ability.

[jimicaj]

Stateroom:

We didn’t find any major differences between furnishings in the staterooms. My only complaint is the “tube shower” on RCI. Holland was equipped with a full tub in the ocean view room, and we found the tube shower to be very small and inconvenient. It also made the overall size of the bathroom much smaller. However, we felt the closet, although smaller on RCI, was better organized than on Holland. Our stateroom attendant was excellent. There were far fewer towel animals but that isn’t a huge deal to us. We did find it odd that there seemed to constantly be carts and bags of dirty towels in the hallways on RCI. On Holland, we rarely saw our stateroom attendant and rarely (if ever) would he have a cart out in the hallway. They were very fast and efficient on Holland, and seemed to use a nearby room to retrieve the supplies they needed, which kept the hallway free of clutter. Holland attendants just seemed to know when we would be out of our room and took care of things when we were out and about. I would choose a Holland stateroom over Royal just for the convenience of such efficient stateroom attendants and a better shower.

Edited December 29, 2013 by jimicaj

[jimicaj]

Dining:

On RCI, we felt the service was good. We knew the Head Waiter, Assistant Waiter, and Waiter by name and they all knew our names. We were impressed that even the Head Waiter would visit our table several times during the course of dinner and recognized us and greeted us at other times of the day as well. I thought the quality of food on Holland was better in the dining room, but Royal’s specialty dining food was higher quality. The food service on Royal was extremely slow, and the Windjammer crowded and poor traffic flow no matter what time we visited. On Holland, we visited both the steak restaurant and the Italian, and weren’t terribly impressed by either. On Royal, we visited the Italian and the burger joint. My husband had the steak at the Italian place and was impressed with it (he is extremely picky about steaks). We found the steak on Holland to be tough and dry, even at the extra fee steak place. We enjoyed Johnny Rockets, especially when the waiters sang, but weren’t very impressed with the burgers. I don’t understand why you have to pay extra to eat there and then extra again for a shake. You can get a burger and ice cream almost anywhere on the ship, why do they charge extra for this particular venue? Since I feel the MDR food was a little better on Holland, I’m going to give them the win on dining.

[jimicaj]

Entertainment:

There were far more entertainment options on Royal. Royal really wins in the area of live music and the guest entertainers were really great for the most part. Holland also had good guest entertainers but their live music was limited and not very exciting. There were so many great options for live music on Royal to visit every night after dinner. Royal also offered more late night options for entertainment like game shows, etc. I did not think the on board entertainment (Broadway-style shows) were any better than Holland. In fact, I think Holland did a better job of telling a story with their show rather than just doing one random Broadway tune after the other. However, they have nothing to offer that compares to the ice show on Royal, which we enjoyed. Overall, I would say Royal definitely wins in the area of Entertainment.

[jimicaj]

Public areas:

We had to work much harder on Royal to find a quiet area to relax. It seemed everywhere we turned there were crowds and lines. We knew things would feel a bit more crowded being on a much bigger ship, but it was really frustrating at times waiting in lines (which we never did on Holland), being bumped and jostled constantly, and dealing with large family groups who acted as if they were the only people on the ship. The Royal Promenade was interesting, but crowded, and we have no interest in shopping on cruise, so it held little allure for us. We felt the cruisers on Holland were more aware of others and were much more polite and calm. It was not unusual to have to step around people sitting on stairs, groups of people congregating in walkways, or even crew standing in walkways on Royal. I would choose Holland for public areas just because they are less congested and easier access to water views, even though Royal had much more variety (Royal Promenade) of public areas than Holland did.

[jimicaj]

The ship:

It’s a given that there is more to do and visit on a larger ship. The Royal Promenade on RCI was neat, but so crowded we never spent time there. We are also not interested in shopping on a cruise ship, so that did not draw us to the Promenade either. If we had children, we would probably be more excited about ice skating and rock climbing at sea. In fact, there were many activities that we felt my niece and nephew would enjoy. If we had the opportunity to take them on a cruise, it would definitely be on Royal. I am disappointed that they are adding more cabins to the Navigator during dry dock, as I felt there already wasn’t enough public space for the guests they can currently accommodate. We never had trouble finding a window seat in a bar or dining area on Holland, and never felt crowded. We constantly felt crowded on Royal. Even the adults-only Solarium was crowded and it was difficult to find chairs together. It’s really hard to compare the two ships, as they are so vastly different. I think if we cruised Royal again we would go for a smaller ship, unless there were children going with us. If we were going alone, we would probably want the elegance of Holland. So, I’m going to call it a tie on the ship since I don’t feel I can adequately compare the two.

[jimicaj]

Embarkation/Debarkation:

Embarkation was SO EASY on Holland-we basically walked right onto the ship in Vancouver. Galveston was a mess-it was terribly unorganized and people were frustrated and confused. It took 2.5 hours to check in, having arrived at the “recommended” time. I’m not sure how much Galveston is to blame or how much Royal could do to improve this situation. If Royal would even put up some ropes to help direct the line, that would be helpful. They could send more representatives outside to help direct people and answer questions. They also needed more representatives at the check-in desk, which would make the process much faster as well. Debarkation was a much better experience, but I was a little annoyed that we were required to wait in a lounge or dining area for our group rather than being allowed to wait in our rooms, like Holland does. There were huge lines and again, people were getting frustrated with the Royal experience during debarkation. For this reason, Holland wins.

[jimicaj]

Service:

We felt that we received good service on Royal. However, on Holland our room steward and waiters seemed to know our names without us ever telling them. There was also a level of professionalism and polish with Holland that Royal just didn’t have. I felt that Holland was more willing to go out of their to do anything for you-for example, in one of the bars I mentioned that I was hungry and one of the crew ran down to the kitchen and fixed a plate of hot hors d’oeurves for me. I didn’t feel this would even be an option on Royal, and there was always a wait for service at the bars. We felt like the “port shopping recommendations” were very in your face on Royal. Seriously, I don’t want to buy any tanzanite and I don’t care about your “guaranteed and recommended” shops. Yes, Holland had port shopping talks but we weren’t marketed to as we were leaving the ship or on public announcements. I think overall, Holland probably wins in the area of service.

[The Big Booper]

We took the Amsterdam to Alaska in 2003 and have also cruised the Navigator twice.

 

If you just got back today then you were on a Christmas cruise on the Navigator and most holiday sailings are at 110% or more of regular capacity so it will always seem extra crowded on these voyages.

 

HAL's cabins are a little big bigger, what category were you in?

[Clarea]

Thanks for the review, I don't often see a comparison to Holland.:)

[jimicaj]

On Holland we had an ocean view and royal an interior. I recognize that Holland's cabins are a little bigger but I didn't feel the difference was enough to sell me one way or the other. We don't spend much time in our room, but others may feel the extra space is important.

 

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[The Big Booper]

On Holland we had an ocean view and royal an interior. I recognize that Holland's cabins are a little bigger but I didn't feel the difference was enough to sell me one way or the other. We don't spend much time in our room, but others may feel the extra space is important.

 

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Insides on most ships are small. Royal's tube showers are the best because there is no curtain to let water run all over the bathroom floor and grope you while you are showering.:)

 

Did the HAL cabin have a balcony or just a window? On HAL we got upgraded from a regular balcony to a junior suite with a separate hot tub!

Edited December 29, 2013 by The Big Booper

[seaofwonder]

Thanks for the review. When you sailed Holland did you feel like you were too young? I had a fellow in Mexico who looked to be in his 70s remark that "everyone was too old and boring" on Holland.

 

We're trying to branch out to try new itineraries and I haven't seriously considered Holland before.

 

 

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[Daghis]

Thank you very much for your candid comparisons between Royal Caribbean and Holland America. I found them to be very interesting and appreciated seeing the differences from your point of view.

[bchalker]

Nice job on the comparison. Could you please aslo explain the price difference because I think that is an important difference.

[jimicaj]

We didn't feel too young, but we tend to keep to ourselves and do our own thing, so that may make a difference. There is s marked difference in the average age between royal and holland. There were a handful of couples our age and some families with children as well-but a quite a few retirees.

 

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[jimicaj]

No balcony, but holland had so many quiet balconies we didn't feel we missed out on anything. We got upgraded from an interior to an ocean view on holland.

Insides on most ships are small. Royal's tube showers are the best because there is no curtain to let water run all over the bathroom floor and grope you while you are showering.:)

 

Did the HAL cabin have a balcony or just a window? On HAL we got upgraded from a regular balcony to a junior suite with a separate hot tub!

 

 

 

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[TexCruise371]

Thanks for sharing :)

[The Big Booper]

HAL is known as the cruise line of the seniors. The Alaska run usually has a lower age group then HAL's Caribbean runs where you will find lots of scooter and walkers. We have never sailed out of Galveston but I have read here of complaints about how poorly it is run.

 

HAL did a good job boarding in Seattle and Tampa and getting off.

[jimicaj]

Daytime activities/misc.

I don’t recall participating in any of the daytime activities on Holland. On Royal, we attended the captain’s talk and played win a cruise bingo-only because I just KNEW we were going to win a cruise (turns out we wasted $32). By my observation, Royal has more daytime activities, but they are very family oriented. I don’t think we attended any daytime activities on Holland either. I’d much prefer to be outside reading a book on a quiet deck, watching the sea go by, or watching for wildlife than watch a belly flop competition or learning to fold napkins. But, I could see the draw of those activities for someone on a longer or TA cruise, or those with kiddos. We really enjoyed the captain’s talk on Royal. In fact, we really liked Captain Claus (perfect for Christmas) and were very impressed with him. He did most of the public announcements about position, weather, etc. On Holland, that was left to Cruise Director Rick (shudder). I felt the crew was much more visible on Holland in general-a daily coffee with officers was available (we didn’t go) and they were outside the venues after some nighttime activities just to greet cruisers.

 

OK, that’s all I can think of for now!!

[tazmancruiser]

Holland liked the therapy pool and cabanas

Royal shows better more glitz ship more style class

Could write more but I am lazy

Ha ha

[jimicaj]

Nice job on the comparison. Could you please aslo explain the price difference because I think that is an important difference.

 

Great question!!!! We paid about the same for an interior cabin during a major holiday (Christmas) on Royal as we did for an ocean-view on Holland. We originally paid for an interior on Holland, but were upgraded (when I called and requested an upgrade) when prices fell as the cruise drew closer.

[The Big Booper]

Great question!!!! We paid about the same for an interior cabin during a major holiday (Christmas) on Royal as we did for an ocean-view on Holland. We originally paid for an interior on Holland, but were upgraded (when I called and requested an upgrade) when prices fell as the cruise drew closer.

 

Holiday cruises are usually priced higher, much higher in some cases. HAL upgraded you to give themselves another cheap cabin to sell since the OVs were not selling. An empty cabin generates no revenue at all and the line has to cover some of the tips guaranteed the staff for that empty cabin.

 

Cruise line economics 101.

[jimicaj]

Great question!!!! We paid about the same for an interior cabin during a major holiday (Christmas) on Royal as we did for an ocean-view on Holland. We originally paid for an interior on Holland, but were upgraded (when I called and requested an upgrade) when prices fell as the cruise drew closer.

I should also mention that we got the resident rate for sailing out of Galveston, even though we live in Oklahoma. That made a huge difference in price for us.

 

 

 

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[matj2000]

I would do Holland no problem..