Holland America or Princess for Alaska next year?

[geofg]

Just got off the CB and loved it. Pre-booked on the diamond Princess for next year. Should I stick with them of go Holland America. Wanted to know if the food/service are a step up on Holland America. Also looking for little to no teenagers/kids

[montyone]

The Diamond is my absolute favorite ship of 21 cruises!! I've been on 3 HAL cruises and wasn't impressed with either of them. Take the Diamond in May like we did and there aren't too many kids on board.

[SPI_Rick]

It's been 10 years since I did my Alaska cruise on Holland-America, so my information is dated. I really did enjoy the cruise. I thought HAL did a great job with the condition of the ship and the food service. And I can tell you that HAL has much better furniture on their balcony cabins than Princess does.....that information is not dated, it comes from being docked next to the Osterdam on my last cruise. However, with that said, I think Princess does an excellant job also. My last two cruises were with Princess and my next two cruises have been booked with Princess. And I plan to stay with Princess as long as the itineraries meet my needs....just so I can qualify for some of the 'elite' status perks. I haven't been on the Diamond Princess yet......I have it scheduled for March 2006....but I have heard many favorable comments about it on this message board.

 

I don't think you can go wrong with either line....and remember they are both part of the same company, Carnival Cruise Lines.

[SPI_Rick]

I forgot to mention in the earlier post that if you are looking for a "no kids" cruise you may be out of luck. Any mid-summer cruise will likely have a large number of children.....regardless of the cruise line. If minimizing the number of kids onboard is a priority for you, then you might want to book Alaska either very early in the season or very late in the season. That way you might miss some of the younger passengers....but the trade-off is that the weather may be less predicable and some of the shore activities may not be available.

[RASHOPPER2]

Until We Went To Alaska With Them, We Only Sailed Holland America. Since Our Alaska Trip, We Have Never Sailed Them Again. Our Cruise Was Fine, But The Holland America Land Tour Was Terrible. They Had Untrained College Kids As Tour Guides. They Had A Bus Driver Who Took Our Documents Back To Anchorage Instead Of Taking Them To The Ship. We Waited Sometimes As Much As An Hour For A Bus To Pick Us Up. And For The Most Part The Accomodations Were Barely Adequate. By All Means Go Princess. You Will Have A Wonderful Cruise And If You Do A Land Tour, It Will Be Far Better Than Holland America.

[LuAnn]

We went on the Diamond Princess the first week in September last year...weather was great..only 1 day of rain...we have been on Princess many times but not HAL so can't really compare but we did have a great time!

[Coral]

I have done Princess and have been pleased (have also done RCCL but not HAL). I often go in May and there are practically no children in May because they are still in school.

 

I have heard Holland also does a great job in Alaska and I personally would not hesitate to sail them. They have some smaller ships which IMO is a bonus and they use Seward as a port (Princess uses Whittier). Whittier is much closer to Anchorage (airport) but Seward is more scenic and has more things to do (but is also 3-4 hours from Anchorage). One benefit Princess has is the anytime dining which makes dining times very flexible. Holland is going to be a little more structured.

 

I would look at the brochures and figure out which itinerary suits you best and go with that. You can't go wrong. Find an itinerary with Glacier Bay in it and you will not regret it!

 

There is a lot of info on the Alaska part of CC.

[sashas_mom]

Montyone,

 

We want to go to Alaska in 2006 and I loved the Diamond Princess which we took to Mexico last year. Would you fill me in on what the trip was like in May. Do you recommend that time of year? I'd like to go at the best time, yet enjoy the cruise before the kids are out of school (although I'm not sure this is a cruise kids are generally taken on). Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Sasha'smom

[D4]

Why not consider Celebrity? Their food and service is amazing!!!

[Coral]

Why not consider Celebrity? Their food and service is amazing!!!

 

There is more to Alaska then food and service (btw - the food and service on my Celebrity cruise was inferior to my Princess cruises).

 

Princess and Holland America can do Glacier Bay, Celebrity can not. Alaska is ALL about the destination!

[Host Caroline]

Just got off the CB and loved it. Pre-booked on the diamond Princess for next year. Should I stick with them of go Holland America. Wanted to know if the food/service are a step up on Holland America. Also looking for little to no teenagers/kids

 

IMHO the Diamond will have fewer families next year because it's doing the Northbound... there have always been more families on the roundtrip cruises we have taken.. The itinerary is great and if you loved the CB. I really didn't expect to like the Diamond as much as I did.. I wouldn't worry about the teens... and stick with the Diamond. Nothing against HAL but that 100 deposit can't be beat and you will cruise Glacier Bay which IMHO is "the" most important factor in that decision so far as cruising sites.

[Tak8]

I've been on both Holland and Princess. Everyone's taste's are different, but I thought the food was better on Princess. Holland may have a little more variety with the Lido buffet, but Princess wins with the dining room and specialty restaurants. The staff I dealt with on Princess were friendlier than what I experienced on Holland. That'snot to say Holland had a bad staff, but Princess staff were more involved especially in the food service area. As others have said, both will have kids. Princess has a more extensive kids program, so the kids may be occupied more on Princess.

[Iamthesea]

It's been 10 years since I did my Alaska cruise on Holland-America, so my information is dated. I really did enjoy the cruise. I thought HAL did a great job with the condition of the ship and the food service.

A lot has changed in 10 years. :rolleyes: One thing HAL does have going for them are the outstanding balconies and mini staterooms. Other than that, we didn't care for HAL. Our Princess cruise come up in October, so I cannot compare yet.

 

 

I am also a big advocate for Celebrity. So far the best in service and food IMO.

[Budget Queen]

http://www.cruisecritic.com/interests/groups.cfm?ID=87

 

 

I have a CC group cruise for you to consider. :)

 

 

But you may want to consider less the kid factor. Overall far fewer sail Alaska compared to the Caribbean. Round trip Vancouver is superior for scenery compared to round trip Seattle which Princess only does. One ways- I give a big edge to Seward, if you take advantage of the wonderful touring opportunities- plenty don't. :(

 

Look at several factors in your choice, ports, time in ports, route, glacier, price. Budget fully for costly excursions, you get only half a trip without them. :)

[montyone]

Hi sasha'smom... We enjoyed traveling in May so much that we are taking the Diamond NB next year. The weather was really nice..I like to bundle up a bit. The snow was still on the mountain tops which I just love! I honestly don't remember very many kids on the cruise though...we went this past June out of Seattle and there were alot more families. If you pick the Diamond, you can't go wrong!!

[tetons]

Princess!!!Princess!!!!Princess!!!!

My DH and I have used both lines for Alaska and hands down best was Princess. We chose Holland the 2nd time around because we just did the cruise part and were taking some elderly folks and wanted a smaller ship and wanted to see Sitka and Hubbard Glacier having seen Glacier and the College Fjords on a Princess land/cruise package. Holland was a completely different experience. It was an older crowd, older ship, fewer crew to passenger ratio (it seemed). We had to hunt people down to get drinks which is much different than Princess even in the theater areas. We unfortunately had the worst waiters known to man on Holland (which I know can happen on any cruise line from time to time). We had told three people with us what a fun experience dining is because of the great waiters. Thank goodness the wine steward was entertaining and saved the day. In general the passengers were older, there was less to do, but the food was awesome with the exception, that the waiter would not bring a shrimp cocktail every night for free (there was a charge). On Princess it is free every night if requested. DH enjoyed playing at the craps every night which he doesn't usually do and he actually made some money. I spent more time on my balcony at night than on any of my previous 7 cruises.

As far as time of year we did Princess in May/June and enjoyed the cool weather on the cruise part. The land part we experienced 20-80 degrees dependent on where we were. We did Holland Aug/Sept and did not need as many layers except on Hubbard day which was kind of nice. There were beautiful flowers also that time of year. If you want to see bears need to go in July or after which was another reason for our later cruise with Holland because May/June is too early for the salmon which is when you see more bears.

[alley524]

Just got off the Oosterdam last week on the 13th.

 

Service was bad both at dinner and in our room. We had a verandah which was nice. For some reason we couldn't get more than two wash clothes per day. If we took a shower in the morning they were replaced when room was cleaned but if we took a shower in the afternoon before dinner.....they weren't. We were out of luck the next morning.

 

We were out one day until 11:00 am. When we came back to our room it hadn't been touched.

 

There were socks left in our room from the previous pax or maybe the one before them?? Something, maybe another pair of socks or underwear in the safe. They were quickly grabbed up when the girl from the front desk came up to open our already locked safe so we could use it.

 

Kids.......yeah, they were running the halls, playing on the stairs and in the "Adults Only" pool.

 

Food.....Though there was lots of to choose from in the Lido, it was always the same. Dining Roon.......waited ungodly amount of time between courses.

 

We never recieved those nice canvas totes that were supposed to show up in our rooms the night before our first port day. Seems they didn't get enough loaded on the ship. They're mailing us some. Not that I'm really that petty but I was so ticked off I accepted the offer. Now, to see if they really do mail them.

 

Brother-n-law complained about the coffee for three days, too strong, not hot enough, then finally gave up.

 

Overall, wasn't impressed with HAL. Can you tell? Won't go back again! Royal Caribbean does a better job, IMO.

 

I took pictures of the Diamond at every port thinking to myself......That's where we should be.....

 

BTW, I wasn't the only one unimpressed. (yes, I talked to others onboard.) If this had been my first cruise, there wouldn't have been a second.

 

I'm sooo looking forward to our next cruise with Princess.

 

Sorry for being so long winded.......I need to go over to the HAL board and vent my opinion. :mad:

[Iamthesea]

I need to go over to the HAL board and vent my opinion. :mad:

I will have to go over to HAL and see what kind of bashing you get. We felt the same way about our Oosterdam cruise. Almost exactely the way you decribed.

 

We had no kids on our cruise.

[alley524]

I won't be doing another HAL curise. Didn't even go for their "Win a Free Cruise" Bingo in ship.. LOL From here on out.....it's Princess.

[Coral]

I took pictures of the Diamond at every port thinking to myself......That's where we should be.....

 

I have to laugh - when on the Radiance a few years ago - I thought the same thing. I kept looking over at the Princess ships in port saying "that is where I wish I was". I haven't returned to RCCL since.

[Iamthesea]

 

I won't be doing another HAL curise. Didn't even go for their "Win a Free Cruise" Bingo in ship.. LOL From here on out.....it's Princess.

__________________

We would cruise HAL again if a great deal came up for something we were interested in. We certainly did not have a bad time, just not the greatest where service was a consideration. Maybe it's just the Oosterdam. ;)

[Host Caroline]

Prefer Princess ... esp. in Alaska their dining options are wonderful and the onboard programs.. We cruised other lines for a variety of business reasons etc. for the past couple years (have 14 on Princess) and I was SOOO glad to be back onboard a Princess ship (Diamond) in June for our Alaska group. The '07 group will more than likely also be on Princess with a tour option at the beginning (partially escorted). In May there were few children.

There's a CC group on the Diamond on July 8 with very good rates (better than ours were in June this year!).

[alley524]

Okay, maybe I would do another HAL cruise.......if they came knocking at my door and offered one to me at no cost. I would know what to expect this time around. I think it was the hype on the HAL boards about how spectactular their line is.

[Iamthesea]

I think it was the hype on the HAL boards about how spectactular their line is.

That, I agree with, although they have been very nice to you over on the HAL board. I thionk the older ships tend to get the better service.

 

My uncle is a HAL-lite. He cannot get enough of HAL (old and new ships) and has never tried another line.

[alley524]

Yes, they have been nice. But I don't know where it turned into my trip being totally ruined by the lack of washcloths. LOL. I was simply pointing out they didn't have anything superior.

 

I can now look forward to my next cruise....on the Golden!