Which is the better itinerary?

[LadyBerard]

Portland, ME; St. John, NB; Halifax, NS; Sydney, NS; Bar Harbor, ME    OR

 

Halifax, NS; Sydney, NS; Charlottetown; Bar Harbor, ME?

 

Trying to decide whether to book Holland Volendam vs. Emerald Princess for July 2024.  We are in our early 60s, and prefer smaller ships, and prefer not to have lots of children on board.  That being said,, we also like to go out dancing (think 60s, 70s, 80s music) and do enjoy live music.  What would you do???  

 

Monetarily wise, the Holland Volendam is pricing considerably higher than the Emerald Princess.  Can get a balcony for a few hundred less on Emerald Princess (with Princess Plus) than an inside cabin with drinks, wifi, pp gratuities, $100 pp shore excursion credit and one specialty dining for us on Holland Volendam.  Decisions, decisions.

[LadyBerard]

As a side note, it has been a little over 10 years since we've last cruised on Princess, but we have cruised on Rotterdam and Nieuw Statendam within the last year-and-a half, so we do know what to expect "food wise" on Holland.

[BklynBoy8]

Portland, ME; St. John, NB; Halifax, NS; Sydney, NS; Bar Harbor, ME

[1025cruise]

One thing to keep in mind, HAL's cruises tend to be one way versus round trip. You need to keep that in account.

[LHT28]

Are they round trip or one way ?

Are they both the same length?

 

go for the one with the ports you want to visit most

[BklynBoy8]

Cunard Line does it as a 14 day NY-NY.

 

Our two 7 day sailings from the Mid Point was last September. We opted for the

14 days and loved it.

Edited July 12, 2023 by BklynBoy8

[LadyBerard]

22 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Are they round trip or one way ?

Are they both the same length?

 

go for the one with the ports you want to visit most

They are both 7 night round trip Boston.

Edited July 12, 2023 by LadyBerard

[GTJ]

I generally base my choice on the itinerary rather than on the vessel. To me, the difference between the two is that one calls at Portland, Me., and Saint John, N.B. (no, it does not call at "St. John"), while the other calls at Charlottetown, P.E.I. The former has the objective advantage of more ports called upon. As to the quality of the ports, Charlottetown is really a small community. While it is the birthplace of Confederation, and one can visit the Anne of Green Gables site, there is not all that much there. In comparison, much urban activity is available at Portland, and even Saint John. Had I not been to Charlottetown before (but I have) then I might consider it; otherwise, I would opt for Portland and Saint John unless the fare was substantially higher.

[LadyBerard]

59 minutes ago, GTJ said:

I generally base my choice on the itinerary rather than on the vessel. To me, the difference between the two is that one calls at Portland, Me., and Saint John, N.B. (no, it does not call at "St. John"), while the other calls at Charlottetown, P.E.I. The former has the objective advantage of more ports called upon. As to the quality of the ports, Charlottetown is really a small community. While it is the birthplace of Confederation, and one can visit the Anne of Green Gables site, there is not all that much there. In comparison, much urban activity is available at Portland, and even Saint John. Had I not been to Charlottetown before (but I have) then I might consider it; otherwise, I would opt for Portland and Saint John unless the fare was substantially higher.

The fare is MUCH higher on Holland America Volendam, as I expected it to be, as it is only about half the size of the Emerald Princess.  I will be booking an inside on the Volendam.  I could have gotten a balcony on Emerald Princess for a few hundred less than the inside will cost on Volendam.  But as this is a mid summer cruise, after taking everything into consideration, I'm going to stick with Holland America, as I'm certain there will be less children on board.

[GTJ]

8 minutes ago, LadyBerard said:

The fare is MUCH higher on Holland America Volendam, as I expected it to be, as it is only about half the size of the Emerald Princess. I will be booking an inside on the Volendam.

For us, the stateroom is much less important than the itinerary. Almost always we book the lowest stateroom category possible, using it only for sleeping (and for which inside is always better than an outside). So we would be conscious of the cost differential, and would weigh that cost against the itinerary choice . . . we would not vary our stateroom selection to compensate.

 

Sometimes children can be a nuisance, but so too can be some putative adults. But living in a very dense neighborhood as we do builds up the ability to ignore others. I have never had any serious incidents with children (though I have not sailed Disney . . . maybe that would influence me?), and I don't think consideration of children on board would affect our decision-making.

[dizgal64]

We are about to go on our second New England/Canada cruise, both were/are 10 nights. First one was RC, this next one is Princess. I LOVED Charlottetown! We rented a car, got in the Anne of green gables site, stoped at a great restaurant way out of the way that had mussels. Fantastic! The town is cute too with a bunch of neat shops. This time we will do some shopping in town, eat mussels at a restaurant (near the port/water probably) and we have tickets to see “Anne and Gilbert, the musical”. So excited! Loved Portland, Halifax and Bar harbor a must! This time our itinerary also takes us to Boston. Never been and I’ve always wanted to do freedom trail. Both cruises also started or ended in Quebec City which is my fav city ever! 
So I don’t know which itinerary I’d pick of yours. Is there a third option that can get more in? Are these 7 days?

[ddaz]

On 7/12/2023 at 9:41 AM, LadyBerard said:

Portland, ME; St. John, NB; Halifax, NS; Sydney, NS; Bar Harbor, ME  

 

This would be my preferred itinerary

[Haljo1935]

Getting to both Bar Harbor and Portland gets my vote.

Either will be lovely.

We are going on our 3rd CA/NE cruise in Sept. It's on Carnival, previous have been on HAL and Princess. LOVED both of them.

Safe travels  - enjoy your cruise!