World Cruise 2011 Questions

[Mattiejane]

Hello, I am new to this site. I need to find some opinions please...

My husband and I have cruised numerous times, we have been on about 25 cruises. The longest being 16 days.

We have been on the Holland line twice (on the Amsterdam 15 years ago )and one other Holland ship. We enjoyed them both immensly. All of my cruises have been wonderful!

Now, we are planning the cruise of a lifetime! The Big Kahuna! A world cruise!

What I want to find out is it better to go via Holland line around the world (on theAmsterdam) or go via a Princess ship. We have been on Princess twice and loved them as well.

I am 59 and my husband is 70. We are active and want to do this before we can't!

Any assistance would be helpful. Thanks so much,

Mattie Jane:)

[IRL_Joanie]

Hello, I am new to this site. I need to find some opinions please...

My husband and I have cruised numerous times, we have been on about 25 cruises. The longest being 16 days.

We have been on the Holland line twice (on the Amsterdam 15 years ago )and one other Holland ship. We enjoyed them both immensly. All of my cruises have been wonderful!

Now, we are planning the cruise of a lifetime! The Big Kahuna! A world cruise!

What I want to find out is it better to go via Holland line around the world (on theAmsterdam) or go via a Princess ship. We have been on Princess twice and loved them as well.

I am 59 and my husband is 70. We are active and want to do this before we can't!

Any assistance would be helpful. Thanks so much,

Mattie Jane:)

 

I've asked the hosts to move this to the Main Holland America Board so that you can get better answers for your FANTASTIC cruise!!

 

IF you can ask it there instead you will get better answers, much quicker also, than here.

 

I believe this thread should be moved to the Main Holland America Board for better answers. This thread is mainly about stateroom questions and photos of them.

 

I wish I were you though!! I am GREEN with Extreme envy!!

 

Joanie

[Host Walt]

These posts were moved into a new thread as suggested.

[IRL_Joanie]

These posts were moved into a new thread as suggested.

 

 

Thank you sir!!

 

Joanie

[rkacruiser]

I am wondering when you said that you were on the Amsterdam 15 years ago if you are not thinking of the former Nieuw Amsterdam. The Amsterdam is less than 15 years old; 10 years old, I think.

 

In my opinion, the two Princess ships that sail on world cruises are too small for such a long cruise. In 2008, I was fortunate to be able to sail on the full world voyage on the Amsterdam and really enjoyed it. The ship is large enough for one to find one's own little nitch, if you are so inclined. There are many public spaces for various activities to occur. If one does not want to attend such activities, there are other areas on the ship to which you can go.

 

I contrasted my 2008 cruise with an earlier one on the former Royal Princess: a 34 day Amazon and trans-Atlantic cruise. While I enjoyed that cruise, after 34 days, I was ready to disembark. I kept finding myself having to go to the same venues day after day because other areas where being used for activities that held no interest for me. I think the current Princess ships sailing world cruises are even smaller than Royal Princess was.

 

When the 2008 cruise returned to Fort Lauderdale after 113 days, I was not ready to disembark!

 

I also would recommend that you seek a travel agent whose specialty is long cruises. They have the experience to help you with your planning and often will have additional perks (i.e. on-board hosts, special on-board credits, etc.) in addition to what you will receive from HAL.

 

I hope this helps. Enjoy the planning!

[CruisinTexans]

We have done three Holland world cruises and loved all three. Our first in 2005 was suppose to be our trip of a lifetime, but before we knew it we were booked again in 2007. You can't go wrong with a HAL world cruise. We did the first on the Prinsendam (790 passenger capacity), next on the Amsterdam and the 2009 on the Rotterdam. I liked the smaller size of the Prinsendam but the modern bathrooms of the newer ships. Staterooms are larger on the Holland ships.

 

I think Princess will be using one of the old R Ships (passenger capacity about 700). They are lovely ships but their cabins are almost one-third smaller than Holland's. On a cruise that long we need the extra space.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Leslie & Handler

PS-18 days was the longest cruise we had done before our first world and they practically had to drag us off the Prinsendam at the end of 100 days.

[Harry1954]

It is gratifying to read the comments about the length not being an issue. We decided to just stick our toes in the water for this cruise - we are on only for the first half and get off/head home. We are a bit worried about that many days.

harry

[rkacruiser]

It is gratifying to read the comments about the length not being an issue. We decided to just stick our toes in the water for this cruise - we are on only for the first half and get off/head home. We are a bit worried about that many days.

harry

 

Harry,

 

During the sea days, there are so many activities that are offered that I find it is impossible to become bored. Enrichment lectures, shore excursion talks, arts and crafts, exercise classes, tai chi, dance classes, interesting people with whom to talk, and the list can go on and on. Maybe the best thing to do is just find a nice deck chair and curl up with a good book and/or watch the ocean, looking for wildlife. I hope you will find it enjoyable!

[Broadkill]

I'm a Travel agent. Look at the itinerary and size of ship. Which ports are the most important to you? How many overnights? What size ship do you prefer for stability? Remember there is a lot of '"sea" out there! How formal do you want to be? Budget? In which line have you cruised the most to be in their top tier for the perks? We were on the Cunard Queen Victoria world last year and loved it. 2000 pax, great entertainment, many formal nights...but it is all personal preference. Beside budget, ports and ship size I feel are the most important factors. Luisa

[HAPPY RETIREES]

Hi, We were on the 2008 world cruise on the Amsterdam and it was truly amazing. We are booked now for the 2011 world cruise on the Amsterdam and are excited already.

Princess use smaller ships and they do not have the facilities, ie. seperate movie theatre and the show lounge is quite small. We enjoy Princess too but for the World, gotta go HAL. Also Princess end their world cruise in Europe and who wants the hastle of a transatlantic flight, after such a wonderful cruise?.

We too would recommend that you consult a large travel company that specialize in cruises. You will get better pricing and extra 'goodies'.

Hope to see you on the 2011 world.:)