Royal Cruiser with HA Questions

Considering a family Alaska cruise for 2018 and have some questions. I usually cruise Royal Caribbean, but I'm exploring other cruise lines for this cruise, especially since my understanding is Royal doesn't have permits for Glacier Bay.

Things I'm most interested in:

* Quality of food - in general but also if you have sailed Royal, how do the two compare?

* Room and bathroom sizes - these have been fine on Royal, but I'm interested in how they are on HA. I have sailed oceanview window, balcony, and junior suite on Royal.

* What is there for kids, who will be about 9 and 10?

* I have heard HA tends to be an older crowd, but that's just hearsay, I don't know how true it is. Are there a lot of families? And how are kids generally tolerated by other passengers? (I realize this can be different from crowd to crowd and that they need to be well-behaved - it seems someone is always compelled to point that out) Or would we just be better off on Royal for kids?

* How are the theater shows?

We have sailed both. I give the nod to HAL on food, although our OTS ships have had good food. Cabin sizes are comparable. HAL has Club Hal for kids, but I have no experience with that. The kids' spaces are colorful and look inviting. For an Alaska cruise, you'll find a good number of families. Showroom productions are quite good ... some better than others, but all are entertaining.

HAL ships won't have Flow Rider, a rock climbing wall, or ice skating rink. Otherwise, I think you'll find HAL offers a great product for cruising Alaska.

Which ship are you considering? I'm Diamond on RCI and 4-star on HAL, although my RCI experience has been mostly on the Radiance and Vision class ships. In terms of size, HAL's biggest Alaska ships are roughly the size of the Vision and Radiance, while the others are roughly 1/3 smaller.

I'm not a foodie but think in general HAL is a cut above RCI. I'll alert you to a couple of things. Let HAL know you've sailed Princess. There isn't a lot of interchange among loyalty programs among the lines under the Carnival umbrella, but you qualify as a 1-star mariner with HAL, probably 50% the level of benefits as C&A Gold. You do get to go to a cocktail party on embarkation day and a brunch where you get a souvenir tile.

One really nice think about HAL is what happens on turnaround day. Cabins are generally ready for occupancy as soon as you board (11:30) so you can usually drop your carryons in your room and go to the dining room for lunch, or go to a lido that isn't overflowing with people sitting at tables watching their stuff. You also get to stay in your room until you disembark.

Activities will be more laid back than on Royal. No bellyflop contests and activities are more likely to be in the culinary arts center than around the pool. In Alaska though you will often want to be out on deck.

I have no direct experience with Club HAL but it's often called "HAL's best kept secret". It has a great reputation.

Productions are less elaborate than on Royal but there's a lot more live music around the ship.

Have a wonderful cruise in the Great Land.

Roy

I'm not an expert on either line as we tend to "sail around" but my last cruise was on RCCL and my next is on HAL [incidentally it is to Alaska!]. I had sailed HAL in the past which is one reason it was my first choice for Alaska.

RCCL offers a fine product and we would not hesitate to sail with them again. However, I would say HAL is a cut above in terms of food and service. MDR food is similar with a slight edge to HAL, especially on presentation [although I LOVE that RCCL had escargot on the menu EVERY night which I've not seen on any other line]. I preferred the buffet on HAL [they do wonderful Indonesian and Filipino dishes as a nod to their crew's majority nationalities] and the overall layout is better than the circular roundabout that is RCCL's Windjammer [seriously that was the most confusing buffet of any line I've sailed]. Service on HAL is more refined and slightly more "formal" [for a lack of a better word] but with a genuine warmness. RCCL's service was fine [some, like our dining room team, were fantastic] but HAL is known for their service and it is evident why once you are on their ships.

HAL is an older crowd in general but not to the extremes you've likely heard about on here. People I met on HAL were very well-traveled and interesting [many, many repeat cruisers who have taken long voyages with the line]. September will be our first time to Alaska but posts on CC indicate it will attract more families than perhaps other HAL voyages. We don't have kids so cannot speak to the facilities offered for kids.

I saw your post in the Alaska forum that you were also considering Princess and I must state that we loved Princess as well...in fact they are a little bit of a middle-ground between RCCL and HAL. The one thing to consider though, is that HAL has smaller ships [really mid-sized but certainly among the smallest of the major lines] than either Princess or RCCL. To me that is a plus, but it does mean they don't have all the "extras" like rock walls and flowriders or movie screens on the lido deck.

Also, HAL has more calls at Sitka than other lines [which usually go to Skagway instead] so take that into account if it is of interest to you...it is one of the ports we are most looking forward to.

Totally agree with the above poster about the windjammer. We like the food better on Hal.

We went to Alaska in 2014 on Hal with our kids who were 10 and 6 at the time and loved it. They both loved the kids club.

Thank you for all the thoughtful posts! I've never known anything about Holland America, so this is helpful.