Holland America vs Princess

Hey everybody!

Okay, so my boyfriend and I are planning our first cruise together, my first cruise ever. And I am having the hardest time trying to decide between the two. Celebrity and Norwegian aren't a huge option because we need something roundtrip out of the US. And we aren't really interested in cruising Carnival at this time.

I have read mixed reviews that Holland caters to an older crowd and Princess to a younger one. Is this true and should we take this into consideration since he is 28 and I'm 21?

Any tips and knowledge on the lines/ships would be greatly appreciated!

(We are thinking of sailing to Hawaii for our first cruise and want it to be 10+ days!) We are planning in advance so money isn't a huge concern either.

I think demographics are defined more by the destination than the cruiseline. Hawaii will be an older crowd than Caribbean. Also June will have more kids (under 18) than April.

My first Holland Cruise will be this November so I can't compare the two. But you and your boyfriend will either love cruising and get hooked or not. I was hooked. :)

We took a Holland America cruise out of San Diego to the Mexican Riviera in October. At the time we were in our mid 30s. It was definitely a more mature crowd and we felt a bit more snooty. We enjoyed our cruise and we went to the shows and what not but definitely a different vibe from the princess cruises we are used to. I never felt out of place or stared at on princess but yet even on formal night when I was in a full floor length gown there were older women on there that looked at me like I didn't belong...I compare it to the look that Jack got when he was on the "Upper decks" on Titanic. Even simply laying by the pool people looked at us like we belonged below...and all we were doing was lounging on the chair. So I started to look around and most of the people were out there in designer swimwear and all the fabulous jewelry...so perhaps they thought us in our normal swimwear with no designer name on it and not wearing any jewelry were lower class. After the first couple days I got over that..it was their issue not mine I paid my fare just as they did. But in general we didn't feel that they were overly chatty or friendly. Even our table mates were reserved and didn't chat much. Where on princess I am always finding and meeting new people and have made several friends I still keep in contact with. My choice would be Princess...if the price doesn't matter and the itinerary is the same my vote would be for Princess. The other aspect is on Princess they use calm colors, lots of creams blues soft tones. We were on the Oosterdam and it was lots of bright orange, red yellows. Also had a very European or Ikea feel with the furnishings...but again this is just our thoughts and take on our 1 cruise. Hope this helps

We took a Holland America cruise out of San Diego to the Mexican Riviera in October. At the time we were in our mid 30s. It was definitely a more mature crowd and we felt a bit more snooty. We enjoyed our cruise and we went to the shows and what not but definitely a different vibe from the princess cruises we are used to. I never felt out of place or stared at on princess but yet even on formal night when I was in a full floor length gown there were older women on there that looked at me like I didn't belong...I compare it to the look that Jack got when he was on the "Upper decks" on Titanic. Even simply laying by the pool people looked at us like we belonged below...and all we were doing was lounging on the chair. So I started to look around and most of the people were out there in designer swimwear and all the fabulous jewelry...so perhaps they thought us in our normal swimwear with no designer name on it and not wearing any jewelry were lower class. After the first couple days I got over that..it was their issue not mine I paid my fare just as they did. But in general we didn't feel that they were overly chatty or friendly. Even our table mates were reserved and didn't chat much. Where on princess I am always finding and meeting new people and have made several friends I still keep in contact with. My choice would be Princess...if the price doesn't matter and the itinerary is the same my vote would be for Princess. The other aspect is on Princess they use calm colors, lots of creams blues soft tones. We were on the Oosterdam and it was lots of bright orange, red yellows. Also had a very European or Ikea feel with the furnishings...but again this is just our thoughts and take on our 1 cruise. Hope this helps

Yes, HAL does seem to have an older demographic, but it really depends on the length of the cruise and the itinerary. Both lines provide a very good product and would not hesitate to sail either one, depending on what we're looking for. We have two Princess cruises booked for 2018 and 2019.

Hey everybody!

Okay, so my boyfriend and I are planning our first cruise together, my first cruise ever. And I am having the hardest time trying to decide between the two. Celebrity and Norwegian aren't a huge option because we need something roundtrip out of the US. And we aren't really interested in cruising Carnival at this time.

I have read mixed reviews that Holland caters to an older crowd and Princess to a younger one. Is this true and should we take this into consideration since he is 28 and I'm 21?

Any tips and knowledge on the lines/ships would be greatly appreciated!

(We are thinking of sailing to Hawaii for our first cruise and want it to be 10+ days!) We are planning in advance so money isn't a huge concern either.

I know you said you weren't really considering Celebrity, but if I were going to Hawaii, I'd look into it. Princess' only Hawaii cruises are roundtrip, which is convenient, but gives you very little time in the islands.

On Celebrity, you can take a 10-day cruise there (or back from there) and spend a week on land while there. As much as I like Princess, I like Hawaii too much to go there and just turn around and come back.

Jim

If you aren't aware of it...Princess has the "Hawaiian Ambassador" program (not sure what HAL does).

This season the Star Princess has the originators of the program (Elua = Dave & Leialoha), they (along with Dave Cole) started it all and they're very good. There are others on the other Hawaii ships, but Elua was the first.

Lectures about Hawaii, hula lessons, ukulele lessons, crafts, etc. Some of the craft classes cost a little $, but most are free. They make leis and other things associated with Hawaii.

They also do music around the ship at various times and venues.

It makes for a very immersive Hawaii experience before you even get there.

We are Platinum with Princess and 3 Star Mariners with HAL. Just returned from 2 weeks on Koningsdam in Europe. Never, not once, did I see people flaunting designer clothes and expensive, fabulous jewellery, at the pool or otherwise. In all our cruises with HAL, I have never experienced what you describe. The people we met were lovely and warm and friendly. Princess is very comparable Sometimes our perception of things are just in our imagination.

Yes, HAL does seem to have an older demographic, but it really depends on the length of the cruise and the itinerary. Both lines provide a very good product and would not hesitate to sail either one, depending on what we're looking for. We have two Princess cruises booked for 2018 and 2019.

As I stated it was simply what my husband and I saw and felt. We did run into another younger couple while waiting to get off and they too said they felt out of place...they had typically done Celebrity and felt that they were constantly being looked up and down. We saw the jewelry flaunt on all days...now I don't know if it was real or not, not my place or concern but it was hard to miss the size of the diamond on the ladies hands, ears and necks, then we sat by the main pool deck and all the ladies had on the jewelry and swim wear that had the logos of the designers either on the item or as the gold/silver connections in belts, straps etc. The gentleman also seemed to wear more speedos than we have ever seen on a cruise...so perhaps there was a big group of some kind on board that were from somewhere else...it was hilarious dh felt out of place in his normal board short swimwear as most men were in speedos...my dh asked I wonder if there is a European group on board as he hadn't seen so many speedos since he was back home. He is from Iraq and said those are worn all the time over there so he thought it was neat/funny to see so many on board...we tried making conversations with tablemates or others while waiting for this show or that but the tone in which we were spoken too made it clear that they didn't want to speak with us for whatever reason and then to have the constant stares from them throughout the show...at one point I wanted to ask shouldn't you be watching the show and not me. That particular lady ended up leaving mid show grumbling about how the comedian was crass and couldn't be around such low class talk and people who thought he was funny and with that and a huff she got up and stormed out....we laughed at her and continued to enjoy our night, but as I said while we did enjoy our time and it didn't bring us down or make the trip a nightmare I personally wouldn't do HAL again, OP asked for advice I gave mine.

We took a Holland America cruise out of San Diego to the Mexican Riviera in October. At the time we were in our mid 30s. It was definitely a more mature crowd and we felt a bit more snooty. We enjoyed our cruise and we went to the shows and what not but definitely a different vibe from the princess cruises we are used to. I never felt out of place or stared at on princess but yet even on formal night when I was in a full floor length gown there were older women on there that looked at me like I didn't belong...I compare it to the look that Jack got when he was on the "Upper decks" on Titanic. Even simply laying by the pool people looked at us like we belonged below...and all we were doing was lounging on the chair. So I started to look around and most of the people were out there in designer swimwear and all the fabulous jewelry...so perhaps they thought us in our normal swimwear with no designer name on it and not wearing any jewelry were lower class. After the first couple days I got over that..it was their issue not mine I paid my fare just as they did. But in general we didn't feel that they were overly chatty or friendly. Even our table mates were reserved and didn't chat much. Where on princess I am always finding and meeting new people and have made several friends I still keep in contact with. My choice would be Princess...if the price doesn't matter and the itinerary is the same my vote would be for Princess. The other aspect is on Princess they use calm colors, lots of creams blues soft tones. We were on the Oosterdam and it was lots of bright orange, red yellows. Also had a very European or Ikea feel with the furnishings...but again this is just our thoughts and take on our 1 cruise. Hope this helps

Hmm, will take that into consideration, thank you for your input!

Hmm, will take that into consideration, thank you for your input!

your welcome

Hey everybody!

Okay, so my boyfriend and I are planning our first cruise together, my first cruise ever. And I am having the hardest time trying to decide between the two. Celebrity and Norwegian aren't a huge option because we need something roundtrip out of the US. And we aren't really interested in cruising Carnival at this time.

I have read mixed reviews that Holland caters to an older crowd and Princess to a younger one. Is this true and should we take this into consideration since he is 28 and I'm 21?

Any tips and knowledge on the lines/ships would be greatly appreciated!

(We are thinking of sailing to Hawaii for our first cruise and want it to be 10+ days!) We are planning in advance so money isn't a huge concern either.

From the look of your ages,I think you would enjoy Royal Caribbean more.Look for cruises on one of the bigger ships on RC.I,ve been on RC Oasis of the seas and it was a fantastic cruise.Ton's of thing to do.I have also been on Princess and Celebrity.All cruiselines have closed loop cruises in the US. Just got off Celebrity Equinox and it was round trip out of Miami.Older crowd but a fantastic cruise over all.Celebrity and Holland America have older crowd.If your looking for a fun filled cruise concider Royal Caribbean cruise line!!

I think 20-somethings will find more to interest them on Princess than HAL. We were on a Princess cruise in December and a HAL cruise six weeks later. Even for us (in our mid-50s/early 60s), HAL is sedate. They don't have a lot of activities going on. Our HAL cruise was 10 nights (to the Panama Canal). But we could see the Coral Princess, doing a similar itinerary, at a couple of the ports. I'd guess the average age on our ship was 65. On the Coral, it was around 50.

I've cruise both Princess and HAL. I've been on Princess more than HAL. In general, they both offer a good cruise experience, but HAL is more sedate and trends to an older demographic. I met really lovely and warm people on HAL. I never found anyone flaunting their designer clothes or jewelry, but everyone has different experiences. I think you'll find more activities on Princess. There won't be a lot of people in their 20's on Princess either. I've done the 15 day Hawaii cruise three times and love it, but there are a lot of sea days. You have to be prepared for that. There will be activities every day, but it's also good to be able to relax, read, lay by the pool on warm days, etc. The Hawaiian cultural program on board is nice if you want to take part in it.

(We are thinking of sailing to Hawaii for our first cruise and want it to be 10+ days!) We are planning in advance so money isn't a huge concern either.

Much depends on what time of year you will be taking the cruise.

Cruises during the school year will often have an older average age of passengers because families will not want to take their kids out of school. This is true for any cruise line.

Cruises of more than a week will also tend to have less children (and their parents) although holiday times can be an exception.

We are Princess fans for many reasons- we have seen all ages on our Princess cruises. Our one HAL cruise was not our favorite. The ship was older and in need of renovation; not many activities either. I do not know if you are a smoker, we are not, and we much prefer the Princess smoking policy. On HAL, our balcony neighbors smoked constantly and it was tough enjoying our balcony.

Enjoy your cruise!

Holland ships go to sleep at 9. If you go to bed early, this won't affect you. My hubby calls Holland a walking morgue. Really.

Keep in mind on a longer cruise people will be older.

I personally have had a blast on my Carnival Hawaii cruises.

We took a Holland America cruise out of San Diego to the Mexican Riviera in October. At the time we were in our mid 30s. It was definitely a more mature crowd and we felt a bit more snooty. We enjoyed our cruise and we went to the shows and what not but definitely a different vibe from the princess cruises we are used to. I never felt out of place or stared at on princess but yet even on formal night when I was in a full floor length gown there were older women on there that looked at me like I didn't belong...I compare it to the look that Jack got when he was on the "Upper decks" on Titanic. Even simply laying by the pool people looked at us like we belonged below...and all we were doing was lounging on the chair. So I started to look around and most of the people were out there in designer swimwear and all the fabulous jewelry...so perhaps they thought us in our normal swimwear with no designer name on it and not wearing any jewelry were lower class. After the first couple days I got over that..it was their issue not mine I paid my fare just as they did. But in general we didn't feel that they were overly chatty or friendly. Even our table mates were reserved and didn't chat much. Where on princess I am always finding and meeting new people and have made several friends I still keep in contact with. My choice would be Princess...if the price doesn't matter and the itinerary is the same my vote would be for Princess. The other aspect is on Princess they use calm colors, lots of creams blues soft tones. We were on the Oosterdam and it was lots of bright orange, red yellows. Also had a very European or Ikea feel with the furnishings...but again this is just our thoughts and take on our 1 cruise. Hope this helps

We also sailed the Oosterdam last Sep. for an E. Med. itinerary. I have to state that we had a very different experience than what you observed on your cruise.

I guess that it's all a matter of personal perspective.

That stated, (for the OP), for first time cruisers thinking of taking a cruise(longer than 7-10 days) w/ a lot of consecutive days at sea, I would suggest that Princess may be a better fit. There is more to do on Princess cruises, especially in the evening. If sunning/laying by the pool all day is the main desire and/or looking for a super relaxing cruise, HAL could work for that too.

Both Princess and HAL cater to a more mature (avg. 50-60+ y.o.) crowd, however we find that we prefer that environment a little more than sailing on a 'party ship'.

We primarily cruise for the itinerary. Sea days are nice as they can provide for a day of rest after a stretch of days in port, or after/before a long day of travel. However, having taken a handful of cruises to-date, I've found that after a couple of days at sea, I'm ready to visit a port. Sea days on board can be a little boring for active types -- if one is looking for stuff to do beyond meals/pool-time/bingo etc. If preferring to be more sedate during the day, then there is plenty of opportunity to be sedate during the day on board.

Our 1st cruise was a (RT) out of San Juan, PR. It was a 7-day(5 port/1 sea-day) Caribbean cruise. We enjoyed it so much that we've booked 1 (or 2) cruises a year since then. I've found that I prefer a ratio of at least equal port days/sea days as a minimum when looking for itineraries to sail -- A minimum of 3 (preferably 4)full port days on a 7-day cruise...Ideally, 6 port days on a 10 day cruise. 7-9 port days on an 11-12 day cruise. We've yet to sail more than 14 consecutive days(having once done a b2b on two separate lines). Yet, I have to admit, as much as cruising is pretty cool, and I've enjoyed each and every one I've taken.... After about 14 days(or so), I'm ready to get off the ship.

We may find ourselves taking a longer Panama canal or Transatlantic at some point in the future, but those two itineraries often have many consecutive sea days. So...........There's a reason that we've yet to take a Hawaii cruise. 5 sea-days there/5 sea-days back for only 4 port days (as an itinerary based cruiser) isn't the best ratio IYAM. That's why the DW and I are instead opting to fly to Hawaii this winter to stay for a couple of weeks.

The reason I'm stating all of this is that you may want to consider taking a shorter cruise for your first time to see if cruising is right for you. For die-hard experienced cruisers(like those that frequently post on this board) that have been to multiple ports many times over, the ship itself may be as much of a destination as the ports-of-call may be. Younger and/or more active types may find being stuck on a ship with a few thousand fellow passengers with only so much to do, and only so many places to go on board a little dull for multiple consecutive sea-days. However, if a nice relaxing 'escape completely/come back new' type of vacation is desired, a longer Princess cruise can provide for that.

Wife and I avg age <40 y.o. FWIW.

to get to your original question. We cruised on HAL when we were younger. We definitely noticed the difference in age, however it did not make a difference. At dinner we were paired with another couple about our age.

The cruise was a lot more formal. I liked the traditions they have, entertainment was great and being younger won most of the sporting type games. It was a passport to fitness cruise and we won about everything they gave out.

The one question you need to ask yourself is how important is it to have others in your age group. There will be some younger couples on board, just not many. It certainly not a rowdy crowd like Carnival. We love princess and have more cruises with them but that is not because of age.

We have sailed with HAL for the last four summers and agree with a lot of the posts it is a more mature crowd and the ships have been deserted by 9pm.

However they all have been on port intensive cruises around the med, and there always seems a lot of people from Australasia doing all the big sites in one go, whilst they are in Europe so that could explain some of it. We like HAL and our only criticism is the entertainment is not as good as we have had on other lines, with the exception of the R&B club.

Doing our first Princess Cruise in September and really looking forward to it!!!

Just some general information:

-A 15 day RT Hawaii will have an older demographic on HAL and Princess. Older people are mainly the ones that have enough time off to take a longer cruise.

-The first 2 to 3 days over and the last few days on the return are normally not tropical sitting around the pool weather. Some Princess ships have indoor pools as do some HAL ships.

-Princess runs a Hawaii culture program on these cruises with uke lessons, hula, lei making and other Hawaii activities.

-Princess has free ZUMBA each day

-Having sailed on both Princess is more lively during the day and evening with more live bands, dancing, shows, and other activities.

-daytime activity is generally the same on both lines, trivia, bingo, silly games,etc.

A Caribbean cruise might be more to a 20 something's liking, with pool lounging on sea days and lots of beaches, boating, snorkeling tours plus shopping on shore days. There are 10 day, 14 day and also back to backs that can get you the few weeks you desire.

Hey everybody!

Okay, so my boyfriend and I are planning our first cruise together, my first cruise ever. And I am having the hardest time trying to decide between the two. Celebrity and Norwegian aren't a huge option because we need something roundtrip out of the US. And we aren't really interested in cruising Carnival at this time.

I have read mixed reviews that Holland caters to an older crowd and Princess to a younger one. Is this true and should we take this into consideration since he is 28 and I'm 21?

Any tips and knowledge on the lines/ships would be greatly appreciated!

(We are thinking of sailing to Hawaii for our first cruise and want it to be 10+ days!) We are planning in advance so money isn't a huge concern either.

Wow ... I see some red flags here! I love cruising and love my sea days but would have never considered this itinerary on my first cruise. Just a couple of things to consider:

- With those cruises being 14 / 15 nights, you will most likely be the youngest people onboard ... certainly on Princess and most definitely on Holland.

- If it is your first cruise, you can't be sure that you will even like cruising. I would start out with something shorter in case you don't like it! 14 /15 nights is pretty long for a first cruise without even knowing if you are going to like it. You will be at sea and see nothing but ocean for 4-5 days out and 4-5 days back. I love it ... maybe you will, too. Do you know for certain that you will, though?

- These crossings of the Pacific can be terribly rough. We've done that sailing three times, twice of out San Francisco and once out of LA ... rough seas all three times. I recall a pair of sisters that where on one of these sailings ... we met them at dinner the first night and I lent one of them my wrist bands (for sea sickness) ... never saw her again. We did see her sister a couple of times but they reached Hawaii and got off to fly back home, as did many others ... they were that sick. Well, you have to pay a fee (or a fine) to do so ... due to the PVSA. I did ask why those chose what is known to be a sailing with rather rough seas for their first time out and they asked, how do you know it was going to be rough? I can't say it is rough all the time but certainly, it can be is usually it is.

- So, that leads me to the question, do you get sea sick? If you do and you still really want to go, I would suggest a room on a lower deck, smack dab midship.

- The ships they tend to use on these sailings are not the best of the best ... probably no real wow factor!

- You may not mind but the first couple of days out and the last couple of days back can be quite chilly. I know that there are a couple of the Princess ships that don't even have an indoor pool. I would never consider one of these ships for an ocean crossing. It probably won't be tropical weather ... no matter what time of the year you are going. Take for instance, it is the end of June here in the San Francisco bay area and it was 50 degrees and quite breezy this morning and isn't expected to get to 60 degrees by mid day. It would be even cooler out on the water.

I hate to sound like I am trying to talk you out of this itinerary, as it might be something you'd really enjoy. But, I also feel so bad when seeing people spending so much of their hard earned vacation dollars on something that they may regret for the reasons listed above.

It seems that your concern with Carnival is there being lots of kids. By that I assume you are talking about school-age kids, not the young "kids" your age, right? I've cruised Carnival, HAL, Princess, NCL, etc. and I would not recommend either Princess or HAL for a 10+ day cruise because the longer cruises almost always draw older people because they are the ones who generally have more vacation time (retirement) than younger families.

You're not saying what time of year you are planning your cruise so if you want to avoid young kids, simply don't travel during the summer "school's out" period or the two big school holidays, Easter and Christmas.

If I were your age, I would still try Carnival or Royal Caribbean and simply not cruise during the periods I mentioned in previous sentence.

Another thing to consider, if you are set on making it a 10+ day cruise, why not try what is called "back to back" (B2Bs) cruises. They can be two cruises with the same cruise line but with differing itineraries. Because they are generally 5-7 day cruises that can be combined, you might find a younger crowd because many will only be taking one of the cruises, not both. These types of cruises are generally more available out of Florida. For some, Florida is an easier port and definitely has a greater selection of itineraries than the west coast.

I pay no attention to those who claim HAL is a much older crowd than Princess. I've cruised both and if Princess is 55-80 then HAL is 55-85. I don't really see that much difference. They're both a much older crowd than what you are hoping for.

BTW to the person who mentioned smoking on HAL. They no longer allow smoking on their balconies. Their smoking rules are now the same as for Princess.