RCL or Holland America (out of Tampa)?

[kateharp]

I am a 20 year cruiser and have been shocked at how the quality of cruises have gone down over the years. (cost cutting?)

 

I want to take my aunt on her first cruise out of Tampa and am trying to decide between RCL or Holland America. I have never taken HA before.

 

I heard HA has great service, but I also read the passengers are really old and all they play is songs from the 40's.

 

I'm from San Francisco, she's from SC. She has diabetes (is 59 years old) and I am 55. I like laughing and don't really care where my cruise goes.

 

I want her to have a good time since she was just diagnosed with a serious illness and this may be the first/last real indulgent vacation she gets. I want to do at least a 7 day cruise out of Tampa.

 

Thanks for any opinions!

Edited November 20, 2015 by kateharp

[fishywood]

First, welcome to Cruise Critic. Second (as you were warned in the Community Guidelines you agreed to when you registered) be careful about leading your post with such a negative thought; this is first and foremost a fan community and you may not like some of the reactions such as mine:

 

It appears you would be most happy on one of the luxury cruise lines. It would be quite unfair to take your aunt on her first cruise just to listen to all your kvetching about how much better cruising used to be.

 

But since you are limited to ships sailing out of Tampa, I'm sure you have noticed that the ships are older and smaller without the bells and whistles of the current mega-ships. No other options as the ships have to fit under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

 

And where on earth did "all they play is songs from the 40s" come from? A rumor floated by your third cousin's boss's neighbor's mailman? I'll set the record straight: two years ago I took a two week repo cruise on HAL (longer open jaw cruises always skew older) and I found more variety of evening entertainment, more live music from before dinner to late night, and far better bar service than on RCI (or eveh their sister line Celebrity). Oh, and I was 49 at the time and found plenty of others with my same interests.

 

I'll admit being biased and will always choose a Carnival-family ship (such as HAL) over an RCI family ship. But whichever you choose it is best to leave any old comparisons and pre-conceived notions at the pier if you plan on laughing your cares away.

Edited November 20, 2015 by fishywood

[cruiserking]

Hello Kateharp,

 

It's jolly nice that you are taking your Aunt on a cruise. It's such a wonderful way to travel and she will love it.

 

Holland America Line

has some very beautiful ships. The service is first class and the food is very good. The passengers on board do skew quite bit older than Royal Caribbean.

 

The Vista Class ships on HAL are very nice particularly the Noordam. The much newer Signature Class including Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam are also very elegant and well appointed.

 

We have sailed several cruises with Holland America Line and have thoroughly enjoyed our cruises with them. The ships are beautifully maintained and we met some wonderful people on board.

 

However, the entertainment particularly at night on board HAL is pretty sparse. By 10 pm these ships are very quiet.

 

Royal Caribbean

On the other hand excels in entertainment and features a wonderful array on board production shows, audience participation events, tons of trivia. The RCCL ships have a wonderful playful and energetic vibe that will really lift your spirits. You can't help but be wowed on board Royal Caribbean.

 

January is a great time to cruise just after the holidays, the ships will be much quieter. The Voyager Class ships; Explorer, Voyager, Adventure.. are really elegant with numerous on board pursuits to keep you busy, they also feature a wonderful indoor boulevard (Royal Promenade) lined with shops a great place to wander on a cloudy day or after dinner.

 

Why not take a cruise out of New York on the brand new Anthem of the Seas. The Quantum Class ships are truly spectacular and you can't help but, be wowed and thrilled with every new space and venue you discover on board this marvelous vessels. Anthem sails 7 & 8-day Bahamas trips round trip from Cape Liberty, NJ along with longer 10 & 12-day trips to the Southern Caribbean.

 

We have sailed three times with Royal Caribbean and think they are just terrific. The food is delicious, the crew are top-notch, the ships are elegant, fellow passengers are very friendly and there are numerous things happening on board to keep you busy throughout your voyage.

 

Whatever it is you are seeking on a cruise you will find it on Royal Caribbean, this is a tremendous cruise line, you both will love.

 

Have a Great cruise.

 

Jonathan

[Scrapnana]

Just wondering why you chose Tampa. As fishywood mentioned you will find the older, smaller ships sailing from Tampa.

 

I have been on both lines and have met great people on both.

Edited November 20, 2015 by Scrapnana

[kitty9]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

There isn't anything in the guidelines that says you can't lead off with a negative comment. If that were the case, probably 40% of all posts would be against guidelines. This is, after all, Cruise CRITIC, and critiques can be negative.

 

If you're restricted to only Tampa, you're not going to have a lot of choices. And, nowhere in your post did I get the impression you would only be interested in a luxury cruise line. The ships that cruise out of Tampa are usually older ships. If you can cruise out of Ft Lauderdale, you'd have many more choices.

 

For me, personally, I'm not a fan of HAL, as I found their food and entertainment to be greatly lacking. And, on our 7 day cruise on Eurodam, we were among the youngest passengers, in our late 50's.

 

And, you're right, cost cutting has brought the cruise experience down in the past 7 or 8 years. I started cruising in the '70's, and compared to that time, some things really have deteriorated.

[kateharp]

Thanks for the feedback! -- Just to clarify, I'm choosing Tampa because it's easiest for my aunt. From what I've read there are only 2 ships that go out of Tampa that are HA and RC (both lines are cutting back for 2016) Now that I understand there is a small bridge there, that might explain the limitations.

 

I'm just trying to decide if it's worth paying the extra money for HA or if it will make that big of a difference. It's easy to fret over these things too much :) when you don't have info. That's why I came here.

 

I also noticed neither ships have fridges in the inside cabins (?) In the past all trips I've taken have always had them. (My aunt needs one for her diabetes meds.) I was planning on getting us private/separate rooms and was hoping to book low cost cabins.

Edited November 20, 2015 by kateharp

[SadieN]

Confirm if her insulin needs to be kept refrigerated. There are special bags to keep insulin cool without electricity.

You could book an interior and her into a closely cabin with a fridge.

Special needs might be able to provide a medical fridge, but this might use the only the convenient outlet in the cabin.

 

For more info ask on the HAL board.

[Keith1010]

kateharp, which are the ships sailing from this port and what itineraries are you looking at. I ask because all ships are not the same so helpful to know which ones you are looking at.

 

Your original post was fine and not sure why anyone would question it in the first place.

 

Keith

[Grandma Dazzles]

Thanks for the feedback! -- Just to clarify, I'm choosing Tampa because it's easiest for my aunt. From what I've read there are only 2 ships that go out of Tampa that are HA and RC (both lines are cutting back for 2016) Now that I understand there is a small bridge there, that might explain the limitations.

 

I'm just trying to decide if it's worth paying the extra money for HA or if it will make that big of a difference. It's easy to fret over these things too much :) when you don't have info. That's why I came here.

 

I also noticed neither ships have fridges in the inside cabins (?) In the past all trips I've taken have always had them. (My aunt needs one for her diabetes meds.) I was planning on getting us private/separate rooms and was hoping to book low cost cabins.

 

 

Regarding the insulin, on RC you can contact the special needs department. If the insulin needs to be refrigerated they will provide a medically approved true fridge. Otherwise the "fridges" in cabins are actually coolers, may not be cold enough for medication.

[flamomo]

The limitation on size of cruise ships porting in Tampa is, as already mentioned, due to the fact that the ships have to fit under the Skyway Bridge. It's far from a "little" bridge, but when it was built, cruise lines were not building the behemoths they are today.

 

Also, Carnival also cruises out of Tampa. so that's another possibility for you to consider.

 

I am a Princess cruiser, but did take one cruise on the Carnival Paradise out of Tampa in the summer of 2014, mainly because I had family doing that cruise and I wanted to join them. I expected to be disappointed because of many negative reports made by others about it being a "party boat", and my lengthy experience with the classiness of Princess, but ended up enjoying it, as the passengers were not a party hearty crowd. Under similar circumstances, I would do it again.

 

Occasionally too, Aida ships port in Tampa.

[marco]

We've sailed on both lines. While we prefer HAL, (we just prefer the layout of their ships, the overall fit and finish, comfort of their bedding, and the dome over the main pool in the event of inclement weather) but I'd base my decision on dates/price/itinerary, and if either line is offering any incentive perks. IE: OBC, pre-paid gratuities, beverage package, etc.

[cruzeluver]

I am fairly certain there is nothing in the community guidelines stating posts cannot open with negativity. As kitty9 pointed out, if that were the case an awful lot of posts would not last long.

 

To the OP, I would compare the individual ships vs. the cruise lines as there is a lot of variety within those two fleets.

[MOcruiserman]

I want to take my aunt on her first cruise out of Tampa and am trying to decide between RCL or Holland America. I have never taken HA before.

 

I heard HA has great service, but I also read the passengers are really old and all they play is songs from the 40's.

Of the three cruises I have been on two were on HAL and one on RCL.

 

While my wife and I enjoyed all three cruises we did see a definite difference between the two lines.

 

The most striking difference is your fellow passengers. I agree that HAL passengers tend to be older - 60 and above. RCL had lots of 40-50 year olds. HAL's passengers are also quieter and more refined. On our RCL cruise we noticed a lot of yelling and loud, raucus laughing - not so in our HAL cruises.

 

The HAL ships were more elegant than our RCL ship.

 

Food, nightly entertainment, service and cabin quality were comparable (though HAL gives you fresh-squeezed orange juice for free - you have to pay extra in an RCL ship).

 

One area where RCL shines is its fun factor. It had a more enthusiastic, fun feel to it than the HAL ships. Maybe it was the cruise director (who was terrific) or just the general approach of the cruise line but there were times when we had a blast on our RCL cruise. I can't say the same about our HAL cruises.

 

We would cruise again with either line.

Edited November 21, 2015 by cruisernewbieman

[cbr663]

Welcome to CC. When comparing cruise lines or individual ships, it would really be helpful if you write what types of things that you like to do. What exactly are you hoping to get from this cruise? What do you want to do on your cruise?

 

Some people like to party. Having lots of bars with current drink offerings may be important. Some people like to relax, so having lots of personal space and spa options may be more important. Some go for enrichment, some just to connect with the sea, some for food, some for entertainment......