Past Carnival Cruiser thinking of switching to Holland America or Princess - help me choose

[missadventure85]

Background: I'm 38 and my spouse is 43, we have two children 8 and 5. We don't cruise heavily, I've been on 4 cruises total - One NCL when I was a teen and three Carnival as an adult, all before Covid, all without children. Honestly, for the value and experience, I wouldn't even be switching away from Carnival but for our next cruise I would like to go to Alaska and I think that a cruise tour makes the most sense which Carnival does not offer. I'm considering both Holland America and Princess.

 

We have only ever sailed on the Spirit Class ships from Carnival (88K / ~2,000 passengers). I don't think I would be interested in ships all that much larger than that. My ideal sea day on Carnival would include waking up early to room service coffee & fruit to eat on our balcony, heading to the gym to run or cycle for half an hour, using the fitness center shower and sauna before getting ready for the day. Next would be brunch at the main dining room. In the afternoon we'd likely hang out in the adult only area or our balcony. We would be going to afternoon tea in the MDR. We are very much into the shows and like to catch the earlier show and have the late set dining time in the MDR. Our wait staff have always been a highlight of a cruise and I much prefer set dining times to have the same wait staff every night. After dinner, we like to go to the Piano Bar or Comedy show most nights. I really value how much of this is included in the cruise fare on Carnival and don't like feeling like we are being "nickel and dimed" we aren't heavy drinkers, but usually get a package of 3 bottles of wine to have in the MDR in addition to our 2 bottles we bring on for in-room use.

 

While I haven't cruised with my children, I would like to have the kids join us for meals and wouldn't mind if they were in the kid clubs during the day while we had some adult time. My children are very used to going to restaurants and shows at home and would do just fine with a later dinner time. 

 

Any thoughts about what would be the best option for an Alaska Cruise Tour for me?

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

When you sail on Holland I would only recommend  for you 

The 3 Pinnacle class ships

Check out the Rotterdam.

[*Miss G*]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!  Based on your preferences, I honestly think that Princess would be a better fit for your family than Holland America.

[OlsSalt]

Seems the most material differences come down to Princess as 24 hour cafe food is available, with  more entertainment option. Whereas HAL has better free 24 hour room service, but  more limited entertainment options, except for the larger newer Pinnacle class ships. HAL has better libraries whereas this gets little mention on Princess ships, if this is any concern.

 

Others say HAL ships feel more open and have more access to sea views and 360 promenade walking deck; where as Princess feels more closed off and makes the cruising a more interior experience. Not sure if this is true for all Princess ships. 

 

For myself personally, I would choose the smallest ship and the one who has the fewest other ships in port on the same days - takes bit of research to find this out. Or pick one that leaves mid-week and avoids the multi-ship 7 day format that impacts essentially the same ports at the same time.

 

Both do Alaska well, so you really have a six of one half dozen of the other  type problem.  One is a blue-hulled beauty; the other is an ugly floating box - which one do you want in your photos? 🤭

 

[kazu]

50 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

When you sail on Holland I would only recommend  for you 

The 3 Pinnacle class ships

Check out the Rotterdam.

 

OP does NOT want to be on a ship that large as per their introduction in the first post.

[VMax1700]

1 hour ago, missadventure85 said:

our 2 bottles we bring on for in-room use.

 

On HAL you may bring on a "reasonable amount" of wine, but each and every one is charged $20 per 750 ml bottle whether for in room use or MDR use.

[kazu]

OP - I think you want to compare the itineraries between Princess and HAL and see which of the small ships sail when, how crowded ports are,etc.

 

If Entertainment is important,I would choose Princess.  I am unaware of the kids clubs on their smaller ships and other activities for them but Princess has more activities than HAL.

 

HAL’s kids club is very good.  I’ve seen it in action and heard from parents who had to “drag” their children out 😊. To the best of my knowledge there is a kids club (Club HAL) on all of the smaller ships.  

 

HAL’s room service is free (which is nice) but I think Princess has better hours in their equivalent of the Lido.

 

I prefer HAL and I have seen children very happy on her but I do know a lot of families like Princess.

 

I would check out both lines, what their smaller ships offer that are important to YOU and the itineraries and take it from there.

[luvteaching]

@missadventure85. Welcome to Cruise Critic. 

I've sailed over 20 times to Alaska out of Seattle on both Holland and Princess. The Princess ships out of Seattle are 3000+ and I find them to be too big. I'm not as big a fan of the buffet area either but that's more personal preference. I find it crowded. However we traveled on Princess when DH wanted to go to Skagway and ride the train. 

 

The two HAL ships out of Seattle are more in the 2000 passenger range. I've heard great things about the kids club but we haven't traveled with kids. One advantage, to me, is that you go to Sitka which is more of an authentic unspoiled town. I would think your kids would enjoy the Raptor Center, Fortress of the Bear and the Oceanography Center. Sitka is very walkable, lots to see about Russian history of the area, there's a great playground near the Oceanography Center and the Totem Pole park has wonderful walking trails. 

 

Both lines go to Juneau and Ketchikan. If you do Glacier Bay then the National Park rangers come on board and there is separate programming for the kids. On Princess, in Juneau, Libby Riddles may be on board. It's really what you want to see. 

Karen

[sunviking90]

If OP wants to do a cruise tour, those are usually out of Vancouver or Whittier. As far as I know there aren’t 1 way itineraries from Seattle.

We like Princess and HAL equally with Princess having an edge for food, both availability and quality. I know some of the HAL fans here may disagree, but that is our personal feeling having been on a number of cruises on both lines post pandemic. HAL has the edge on ship design. We love the classic ship look. You will also get a couch in all verandas on HAL, whereas only the deluxe verandas on Princess Royal class have them. Without going up to a minisuite you’ll find it tight with 2 children. 
If you are wanting a ship with less than 2000 people you won’t get that on Princess going to Alaska. The smallest is the Sapphire at 2600.

Another poster mentioned Rotterdam, but as far as I know it is always the Koningsdam going to Alaska and she does the round trips YVR-YVR, plus larger than you want. 
The Vista class HAL (usually Noordam in Alaska) would be good for you. I would also recommend southbound so your tour portion would be first. You enjoy a beautiful last sea day/ evening through the lower  inside passage and Seymour Narrows. We almost always see whales on the last day on this route. Northbound, you’ll go through overnight and miss a lot.

HTH.

[jeh10641]

missadventure85,

I have never been on a Princess ship, but they do have more "adult entertainment" (not a "bad" adult) in the evening than HAL. I cannot speak to kids' clubs but I think HAL is taking more interest in families than they used to.  Both companies have been doing Alaska for a long time and their land/cruise options are well done. Pinnacle class ships top out at 2600 passengers and to me that is a perfect size. I have been on larger ships (RCCL) and feel they are "too busy". I have been on Westerdan, Oosterdam and Rotterdam (the latter being a Pinnacle class) and loved them all.