My observations: Royal vs. Holland

[seaofwonder]

We have sailed almost exclusively with RCI, but just yesterday I was looking ahead to 2015 and a Panama Canal cruise on HAL. Thanks for your comparisons. We too are quiet cruisers and are quite content to spend at sea days in the solarium reading and people watching. We enjoy the ice shows on Royal, but sometimes you have to sail on a different type of ship to go to the desired destinations.

 

Well said! We have been doing the same. Will be giving NCL another try because they are one of the only ones sailing Europe in winter.

 

Princess and HAL also have some really interesting itineraries that I have been eyeing.

 

We stayed loyal because we liked the cruise line (and the perks)...but we've realized that those perks don't outweigh wanting to experience new places!

[Lady Chew]

We have sailed quite a bit on Royal and HAL; we like them both for different reasons. Royal is for Fun-in-the-Sun, cruising the Caribbean, and twice the Med. HAL has wonderful long itineraries that take us exploring around the world.

 

We've had great service on both lines, and some not-so-good experiences on both. We prefer the food on Royal. They also have the best mix of activities & entertainment by far. HAL ships are indeed beautiful, but Royal ships are jaw-droppingly amazing. We loved our cruises on Oasis & Allure, and are planning to book Anthem for 2015.

 

We have had one Grand Voyage on HAL, and the service in all areas was incredible ... I can't imagine better service anywhere.

 

We've had one cruise on Celebrity (Summit), didn't care for it, probably won't go back. We've been wanting to try Princess but haven't yet found an itinerary that fits. We've got a cruise booked on Oceania next year, it had the right itinerary at the right time at an unbelievable price ... but it might be too "country clubby" for us! I guess we'll find out ...

[MVPinBoynton]

Thank you so much for the very objective comparison. We will be taking our first HAL cruise in a couple months. Looking forward to finally being able to see how different they are. We love Celebrity and Royal and hope we like HAL just as much.

[JayinAZ]

Interesting comparison, thank you. I'm all for trying different cruiselines but reviews like this seal the deal to not try something like HAL. As someone who needs constant stimulation, I don't think I could handle a HAL ship for very long. I sailed Carnival Magic out of Galveston a few months ago but we are platinum level so we had some perks. Of note, there were no issues with getting on or off the ship. We left without hassle and grabbed an awaiting cab for the somewhat long ride to Houston airport. Fortunately for all, there are lots of options for cruising so something is sure to please everyone's tastes.

[FirstAlto]

Thanks for the review =)

 

The one drawback I see is that I think you are comparing two very different cruises, not just the cruise lines. An Alaska tour is going to be a little quieter and less crowded by default, and the Navigator has the added ding that it just recently completed a repositioning and from what I understand, is still settling into the new routine. I hope you won't write off all of RCI's ships based on just that tour, however if you aren't so into the whizzbangs I think you might enjoy trying one of the smaller ships in the fleet or even Celebrity better next time.

 

I have to agree though, about feeling crowded sometimes on Royal. When we did Liberty we felt like it was impossible to really have space to ourselves, compared to the Voyager class. Makes me a little hesitant to try the Oasis despite all the goergeousness.

 

Yes - I agree with this poster totally !!

Try an Alaska summer cruise on RCCL and a Christmas holiday cruise on Holland American and THEN give us a subjective review - apples to apples instead of apples to oranges ;)

[anandaindonesia]

Thank you for sharing your experience. This is a very interesting topic.

 

HAL is on my wish list. Hope we will find a suitable itinerary soon.

 

Keep cruising!

[The Big Booper]

Thanks for the review =)

 

The one drawback I see is that I think you are comparing two very different cruises, not just the cruise lines. An Alaska tour is going to be a little quieter and less crowded by default, and the Navigator has the added ding that it just recently completed a repositioning and from what I understand, is still settling into the new routine. I hope you won't write off all of RCI's ships based on just that tour, however if you aren't so into the whizzbangs I think you might enjoy trying one of the smaller ships in the fleet or even Celebrity better next time.

 

I have to agree though, about feeling crowded sometimes on Royal. When we did Liberty we felt like it was impossible to really have space to ourselves, compared to the Voyager class. Makes me a little hesitant to try the Oasis despite all the goergeousness.[/quote]

 

On an Oasis class ship, you never feel the crowds like you do on the Freedom or Voyager classes. The ship is big and tall and so wide that people disperse all over. Which is by design as it was developed from the ground up to spread the crowds out.

 

Aside from events in the Royal Promenade such as the two parades or 70's night, you wonder "Where are all the people and why don't I have to elbow my way thru the ship":)

[Jsail32]

thank you for breaking down comparisons with Royal and Holland. I have not sailed Holland, but am looking into doing a more interesting itinerary this Spring, so might consider. I too found Royal to have the best entertainment from the lines I have sailed. Very classy, but lively and diverse, as opposed to Carnival, which I have sailed 5 times. Entertainment on Carnival got worse and tackier each time. My first cruise had live classical and jazz music. my last had basically no live music at all, a dj instead of a calypso band, and a piano bar singing trashy/dirty songs. I like Celebrity too, and as far as food would give it the edge. I am also looking into Azamara for my Spring cruise.

[American Bear]

Wow really? We were on Allure in August and found it horribly crowded, except for port days. We vowed never to cruise that class again (unless it was a port intensive cruise, such as Europe).

 

 

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A couple comments!

We agree, Allure and Oasis are just too many people, and its lines everywhere!

The largest we go now on RCL is the Radiance Class!

 

The OP would be better served cruising on Celebrity then HAL! Far better in almost everything!:D

[jimicaj]

Woops! We just booked a canada/NE cruise on HAL for June 2015. Thanks for your advice. Maybe we will try celebrity next time.

A couple comments!

We agree, Allure and Oasis are just too many people, and its lines everywhere!

The largest we go now on RCL is the Radiance Class!

 

The OP would be better served cruising on Celebrity then HAL! Far better in almost everything!:D

 

 

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[Cindy]

A couple comments!

We agree, Allure and Oasis are just too many people, and its lines everywhere!

The largest we go now on RCL is the Radiance Class!

 

The OP would be better served cruising on Celebrity then HAL! Far better in almost everything!:D

 

We've taken two HAL cruises...one we enjoyed and one we thought was awful, and one Celebrity cruise. We thought every aspect of Celebrity -- ship, food, service, and entertainment -- was better than HAL.

[Miaminice]

Thanks for the interesting comparisons!

 

In no way do I want to criticize them in any way, I would just like to add some remarks for your future cruises.

 

HAL and Royal are hard to compare (and you did a good job doing it). Actually they are almost in different leagues. HAL and Celebrity are a better match.

 

Also on our many cruises with different lines we realized that the experience on the same line can be totally different dependig on the destination (or even time of the year). On caribbean cruises with Royal you will find more families and young people than on a cruise with Royal in Alaska. I am not saying one experience is better than the other - just different.

 

Only way to really find out and draw a bottom line: more cruising!

 

So cruise some more and write some more reviews - because we enjoyed this one ;)

[George C]

We did 4 Hal cruises in a 3 year period before returning to RCCL this year. Both are good lines, but if you want some activity after 11pm I would not cruise Hal. One of the main reasons we cruised Hal was they used to allow you to bring on unlimited amounts of wine. The 2 other things I liked on Hal is there pay restaurant Pinnacle is so much better than chops or other pay restaurants on RCCL, much more elegant. I also love that they have some sailing out of NYC ( I rather avoid NJ )