Holland vs Princess

[lmccray]

I need opinions Please!!

 

I would like to do a Eastern Caribbean cruise sailing in December. I've only been on Royal (Oasis, Freedom, Majesty(3 times) doing Eastern, Western and Bahamas cruises. Currently Royal is out of my price range for the two ports I want to see which are San Juan Puerto Rico and St. Marten. I've found cruises through Holland and Princess but someone told me that I wouldn't enjoy Holland because the cruisers are very old and boring and to try Princess. We are 48 and 51 years old. We don't drink but like to dance and this cruise will be his first and I want to have him watch Quest, Belly Flop and the usual hilarious things that occur on cruises.

 

Please give me your opinion or suggestions.

 

Thank you

[HELENPSL]

I need opinions Please!!

 

I would like to do a Eastern Caribbean cruise sailing in December. I've only been on Royal (Oasis, Freedom, Majesty(3 times) doing Eastern, Western and Bahamas cruises. Currently Royal is out of my price range for the two ports I want to see which are San Juan Puerto Rico and St. Marten. I've found cruises through Holland and Princess but someone told me that I wouldn't enjoy Holland because the cruisers are very old and boring and to try Princess. We are 48 and 51 years old. We don't drink but like to dance and this cruise will be his first and I want to have him watch Quest, Belly Flop and the usual hilarious things that occur on cruises.

 

Please give me your opinion or suggestions.

 

Thank you

 

Carnival has an 8 day Eastern Caribbean cruise leaving on Dec. 12 that goes to both places you mentioned. I've never sailed on Princess but HAL will not be the line for belly flop and hairy chest contests. Carnival is definitely the party ship. Hope this helps.

 

Helen

[Krazy Kruizers]

First check the times you are in each port.

Some cruise lines stay longer in ports than others.

HAL doesn't have belly-flop contests or Quest anymore.

Depending on what HAL ship you are looking at depends on how many dance options there will be. There is always dancing in the Ocean Bar in the evenings. Some ships have a DJ and late night dancing in the Crows Nest. The Vista class and Signature class ships have the Northern Lights disco dance area.

[lmccray]

Trying to go around the holidays.

 

Well I better do some more searching or pay extra.

 

Thanks

[OCruisers]

HAL would definitely not be a good fit for you. For the type of activities you want him to see ... you might not be happy with Princess either.

Have you considered Carnival?

 

LuLu

[lmccray]

It appears Carnival, Royal or Norwegian will be the line I need to look into. :)

[OlsSalt]

HAL passengers are polite, self-contained, well traveled and interesting. I can see why you are concerned if someone told you they were "old and boring". i would stay away from HAL ships entirely if I were you because it does not sound like a good fit at all. Sounds like Carnival or NCL are better. Celebrity is also known to be livelier. Lots of choices out there in the Caribbean.

[Cruzaholic41]

HAL passengers are polite, self-contained, well traveled and interesting.

 

If that isn't the euphemism of the day, I don't know what is.

[lmccray]

Thank you all for your opinions. I gave him an update on what I've been told. He really doesn't want to go on Carnival due of his concern of the ship being "too lively" for him as he stated he wants to relax and not be around drunks...blah blah blah (which will be on all cruises) - you're on vacation. :) He want me to pick the cruise line/ports but I would hate for him not to enjoy and see all that a cruise have to offer. I would hate to do a 3 day cruise because it's so quick and costly then going on a 7 day cruise...decisions. :rolleyes:

[OlsSalt]

Checking 90-Day Ticker for Eastern Caribbean, 7 day that includes St Maartan there is also Costa Cruiselines and Crosieres de France to consider - more European, probably younger and very lively. Disney also goes there and they get very good reviews, even for adults only and they would be a younger crowd too - parents want to have fun on cruises too.

Edited September 18, 2015 by OlsSalt

[lmccray]

I took your advice and looked at the port times. Westerdam stay in San Juan from 12 pm to 11 pm but it stops in St Thomas from 8 am - 6 pm and Zuiderdam stay in San Juan from 12 pm - 6 pm and stops in St. Maarten from 8 am - 3 pm.

 

Thanks for suggesting I look into this.

[lmccray]

I took your advice on the port times. Zuiderdam only stay in San Juan for 6 hours and Westerdam stay in San Juan for 10 hours. Zuiderdam goes to St. Maarten for only 7 hours and Westerdam goes to St. Thomas for 9 hours.

 

First check the times you are in each port.

Some cruise lines stay longer in ports than others.

HAL doesn't have belly-flop contests or Quest anymore.

Depending on what HAL ship you are looking at depends on how many dance options there will be. There is always dancing in the Ocean Bar in the evenings. Some ships have a DJ and late night dancing in the Crows Nest. The Vista class and Signature class ships have the Northern Lights disco dance area.

[cruiseelady]

Funny how I came across this thread as I was about to start exactly the same one. I am also trying to decide between these two lines. I am in my late 30s(practically 40). What I love on a cruise is dance lessons and maybe some other activity that is interactive, maybe cooking classes(not demonstrations). Not interested in lectures of any kind either.

 

I like a quiet and calm atmosphere and don't mind older crowd at all. If it helps to know I am interested in a 7 day Caribbean cruise for next year.

 

I have been on Carnival and NCL and decided to never again. Technically they are not much different from each other.

[OlsSalt]

Have you looked at Costa, Celebrity MSC or Disney?

[cruiseelady]

Have you looked at Costa, Celebrity MSC or Disney?

 

I am not sure if you are asking me or the person with the original post?

 

I personally not interested in any of those. I am just trying to decide between those two.

[OlsSalt]

7 days, port intensive may not make much difference which cruise line you pick. It is when there are long extended sea days that the ship activities seem to matter more.

 

Things get pretty quiet on HAL ships after dinner. The larger the HAL ship, the newer and the shorter the cruise the more likely you will not get the typically older HAL passenger.

 

Don't know about Princess cruises. Celebrity seems to have the best reports about more interactive activities and it also in the same class as HAL and Princess. But I know you were not asking about Celebrity.

 

We faced the same choices when we first started cruising (Hal vs Princess) but it was easy for us - we collect countries and HAL offered one more port stops and more new countries for us. But we didn't know why one would be better than the other. Lucky for us, but we are considerably older, HAL was a perfect fit for us - but we like libraries, quiet reading nooks and lectures.

 

I don't think of HAL ships being particularly interactive as a rule, but there are a few activities and certainly joining a larger table for dinner will bring more contact too.

[cruiseelady]

7 days, port intensive may not make much difference which cruise line you pick. It is when there are long extended sea days that the ship activities seem to matter more.

 

Things get pretty quiet on HAL ships after dinner. The larger the HAL ship, the newer and the shorter the cruise the more likely you will not get the typically older HAL passenger.

 

Don't know about Princess cruises. Celebrity seems to have the best reports about more interactive activities and it also in the same class as HAL and Princess. But I know you were not asking about Celebrity.

 

We faced the same choices when we first started cruising (Hal vs Princess) but it was easy for us - we collect countries and HAL offered one more port stops and more new countries for us. But we didn't know why one would be better than the other. Lucky for us, but we are considerably older, HAL was a perfect fit for us - but we like libraries, quiet reading nooks and lectures.

 

I don't think of HAL ships being particularly interactive as a rule, but there are a few activities and certainly joining a larger table for dinner will bring more contact too.

 

Thanks for your input.

[Hlitner]

HAL passengers are polite, self-contained, well traveled and interesting.

 

This does sound like many folks definition of "boring." And we would have to say that your comment does fit a majority of our HAL cruises (and we have about 350 days on the line).

 

After reading the OP's post we would probably suggest Princess as a good option. In fact, our most recent Princess cruise (Ruby Princess) was very satisfying.

 

Hank

[OCruisers]

Thank you all for your opinions. I gave him an update on what I've been told. He really doesn't want to go on Carnival due of his concern of the ship being "too lively" for him as he stated he wants to relax and not be around drunks...blah blah blah (which will be on all cruises) - you're on vacation. :) He want me to pick the cruise line/ports but I would hate for him not to enjoy and see all that a cruise have to offer. I would hate to do a 3 day cruise because it's so quick and costly then going on a 7 day cruise...decisions. :rolleyes:

 

From this post it does seem Princess would work out quite well for HIM.

About all Princess is missing that you want would be wild and crazy pool activities and Quest. :)

 

LuLu

Edited September 19, 2015 by OCruisers

[KruzPrincess]

Neither HAL or Princess has crazy pool games. Princess may have some pool activities like a boat race, pool golf, etc. The boat race is where you build a boat and compete with other passengers. Princess does have dancing in the disco every night, but it all depends on the demographics ( that being who books the individual cruise ) as to how many people stay up and go there. The newer large ships (Royal and Regal) probably have more nightlife. I'll be going on the Royal for the first time soon, so I don't have personal experience yet. I've been on Celebrity, HAL and Princess and I find, in general, that there are more evening activities on Princess. Some of them will be games, some will be live music and, of course, there are production shows and entertainers. HAL has evening entertainment, too, but I found it more sedate. I enjoy both cruise lines, but I think Princess is a bit livelier.

 

cruiseelady: As for interactive activities, Princess usually has Zumba most mornings. Early port days may be excluded. They do have some dance lessons. I've recently been doing their Hawaii cruises and they had hula and ukulele classes. On a Caribbean cruise, I've seen other dance classes like line dances and others that don't need partners. I honestly don't recall hands on cooking classes. There are food demonstrations on both. HAL has really good food demos. The new Princess ships (Royal/Regal) have a lot more activities because the ships are bigger and there are more passengers. You may want to ask this question on the Princess board if you haven't already done so. Princess is pretty calm in comparison to Carnival if that's what you want, but there's always something to do.

[regnig]

.....HAL doesn't have belly-flop contests or Quest anymore.

 

......Neither HAL or Princess has crazy pool games......

 

Must disagree just a bit. HAL does still have "pool games" held at the Sea View pool. While they don't do belly-flop competition there are several rather humorous (some might call them crazy) competitions between two teams of people. Additionally, also at the Sea View Pool, there will be a music trivia game kind of like "Name that Tune", or Name that Artist or year song was recorded. While some HAL passengers may "be old" :eek: most do not have one foot in the grave. :D

[iancal]

I am not certain why some people declare so much disdain for these events. I strongly suspect that they like to think of themselves as belonging to a different class...perhaps more sophisticated or elegant. It seems more aspirational than anything else.

 

We have been on a number of ships where these events were present. We never bother with them and they certainly have never interrupted our time at the pool. Perhaps because we do not let them.

 

The truth of the matter is that they last all of about 15 minutes and are usually concentrated around the bar area of the adults pool. The will only bother you if you either want to be bothered or if you want to feign being bothered. I think we have had them on Princess, RCI, NCL,Carnival, and maybe Celebrity. We survived to tell the tale. Better than being run over by one of those scooters!

[SetAnOpenCourse]

Originally Posted by OlsSalt

HAL passengers are polite, self-contained, well traveled and interesting.

 

This does sound like many folks definition of "boring." And we would have to say that your comment does fit a majority of our HAL cruises (and we have about 350 days on the line).

 

After reading the OP's post we would probably suggest Princess as a good option. In fact, our most recent Princess cruise (Ruby Princess) was very satisfying.

 

Hank

Alas, the interesting are indeed found boring by many folks. If only HAL had the passengers who imbue a ship with greater banality.

 

-

[sckal]

I believe you have similar tastes to myself, go on Princess. Like it or not folks, HAL is old, boring, has very few "active" short excursions. You will find yourself dodging walkers, wheelchairs, etc a lot on HAL.

[lmccray]

My brother did a 7 day on Norwegian Sky to the Eastern Caribbean and enjoyed it and my sister did one on Carnival Splendor and said it was okay but she didn't care for the atmosphere as much.

 

I'm leaning toward doing Royal or Norwegian on a 4 day to the Bahamas so he can get an overview on cruising but I have feeling HAL may still be "my choice" :). Cruising is an experience I never thought I would do five years ago but I;m hooked.

 

Funny how I came across this thread as I was about to start exactly the same one. I am also trying to decide between these two lines. I am in my late 30s(practically 40). What I love on a cruise is dance lessons and maybe some other activity that is interactive, maybe cooking classes(not demonstrations). Not interested in lectures of any kind either.

 

I like a quiet and calm atmosphere and don't mind older crowd at all. If it helps to know I am interested in a 7 day Caribbean cruise for next year.

 

I have been on Carnival and NCL and decided to never again. Technically they are not much different from each other.