Cruiseships vs cruiseferries?

[Laurino]

We'll be going on our first ever cruise, next May to Alaska on Zuiderdam. We live in Northern Europe where we travel on ferries and overnight cruiseferries a couple of times per year. We're wondering what the shipboard experience on Zuiderdam will be like, compared to for example "Silja Symphony/Serenade" or "Crown of Scandinavia"?

 

Apart from the obvious differences such as car decks / cargo capacity etc - I'm really hoping that food, service, cabins and entertainment will be of significantly higher quality?

 

(Have traveled on: Silja Symphony/Serenade, Silja Europa, Crown of Scandinavia, Princess of Scandinavia, Stena Scandinavia/Germanica and various others... Silja are the best ones sofar...)

[PirateShark]

If the car ferries in your part of the world are anything like they are in British Columbia and Alaska, the difference is night and day. Think accommodations and amenities at say a youth hostel vs. the Ritz Carlton (disclaimer - not saying the Zuidy is the exact same as the Ritz - just the jump in comfort, style, etc. from one type of accommodation to the other). You will thoroughly enjoy your Alaskan cruise and the Zuiderdam :)

[uppitycats]

We travelled this year on the Hurtigruten ferry around the coast of Norway. We LOVED it.

 

But here is a comparison between it and a "usual" cruise ship:

 

We didn't have access to food 24 hours a day. The ferry had set dining times, and between those times (and after around 9 p.m. at night) there was not food to be had. On a cruise ship, there is almost always food available, some place, some time! Maybe not full course meals outside of the dining hours, but snacks, pizza, sandwiches, small meals, room service, etc., most of it part of your cruise fare.

 

There was no room service on the ferry.

 

The ferry food was excellent -- but was typical Norwegian fare - -meat, potatoes, vegetables, fruits. Not any exotic or unusual food (like some cruise ships will have a Japanese restaurant, sushi, Chinese, Italian, etc.) but plenty of food...during dining hours.

 

The bar on the ferry opened at 3 pm., closed around midnight. On cruise ships the bars are open..or you can get liquor service through room service...24 hours a day.

 

The cruise ship has lots of entertainment -- comedians, dancing, casino, bingo, sometimes card games, broadway style shows, sometimes movies. There were "lectures" that are disguised sales pitches, telling you what's available in the next port, where to shop, sometimes with coupons giving you a discount.

 

The ferry had a few lectures during the course of the 12 day cruise -- on the geography and history of the area, one on foods of Norway, one on some traditional crafts. They had maps available of the ports, with tourist attractions marked, and the main shopping center (if there was one), but you were pretty much on your own to find it.

 

The cruise ship has lots of organized excursions available..for a price..at nearly every port. The ferry had a few, but most folks just launched off on their own.

 

The cruise ship is like a small city -- 2,000+ passengers, another 1,000 crew. The ferry we were on had a passenger capacity of 385; the one we'll be on next year is double that..but obviously still under 1,000, and another 200+ crew.

 

The ferry did have a small library and game room, but neither seemed used much. A few folks had brought decks of cards and had a few games going -- self-initiated, not through the ferry crew. Lots of folks brought their own books, or sewing, or other such crafts.

 

So quite a different experience is before you. Have a lovely cruise. We're very much looking forward to our 12 days on the Hurtigruten ferry in April 2011!

[CtheW0rld]

We travelled this year on the Hurtigruten ferry around the coast of Norway. We LOVED it.

 

But here is a comparison between it and a "usual" cruise ship:

 

We didn't have access to food 24 hours a day. The ferry had set dining times, and between those times (and after around 9 p.m. at night) there was not food to be had. On a cruise ship, there is almost always food available, some place, some time! Maybe not full course meals outside of the dining hours, but snacks, pizza, sandwiches, small meals, room service, etc., most of it part of your cruise fare.

 

There was no room service on the ferry.

 

The ferry food was excellent -- but was typical Norwegian fare - -meat, potatoes, vegetables, fruits. Not any exotic or unusual food (like some cruise ships will have a Japanese restaurant, sushi, Chinese, Italian, etc.) but plenty of food...during dining hours.

 

The bar on the ferry opened at 3 pm., closed around midnight. On cruise ships the bars are open..or you can get liquor service through room service...24 hours a day.

 

The cruise ship has lots of entertainment -- comedians, dancing, casino, bingo, sometimes card games, broadway style shows, sometimes movies. There were "lectures" that are disguised sales pitches, telling you what's available in the next port, where to shop, sometimes with coupons giving you a discount.

 

The ferry had a few lectures during the course of the 12 day cruise -- on the geography and history of the area, one on foods of Norway, one on some traditional crafts. They had maps available of the ports, with tourist attractions marked, and the main shopping center (if there was one), but you were pretty much on your own to find it.

 

The cruise ship has lots of organized excursions available..for a price..at nearly every port. The ferry had a few, but most folks just launched off on their own.

 

The cruise ship is like a small city -- 2,000+ passengers, another 1,000 crew. The ferry we were on had a passenger capacity of 385; the one we'll be on next year is double that..but obviously still under 1,000, and another 200+ crew.

 

The ferry did have a small library and game room, but neither seemed used much. A few folks had brought decks of cards and had a few games going -- self-initiated, not through the ferry crew. Lots of folks brought their own books, or sewing, or other such crafts.

 

So quite a different experience is before you. Have a lovely cruise. We're very much looking forward to our 12 days on the Hurtigruten ferry in April 2011!

 

very interesting post. thanks!

[Laurino]

Thanks for your reply! Haven't actually tried Hurtigruten yet, would like to sometime in the future. Interesting comparison. The ferries between Stockholm (SE) and Helsinki (FI), such as Silja Line and Viking Line, are more geared towards partying and tax-free shopping I believe. They are also a lot larger than Hurtigruten, with up to 3000 pax.

[uppitycats]

Thanks for your reply! Haven't actually tried Hurtigruten yet, would like to sometime in the future. Interesting comparison. The ferries between Stockholm (SE) and Helsinki (FI), such as Silja Line and Viking Line, are more geared towards partying and tax-free shopping I believe. They are also a lot larger than Hurtigruten, with up to 3000 pax.

 

Those are HUGE for ferries! Most that I've been on here in the States are much much smaller, even smaller than the small Hurtigruten we were on!

 

so my comparison means nothing! :o

 

But we still love Hurtigruten :)

[epixx]

We, a family of 4, sailed Silja line from Stockholm to Helsinki and back from Helsinki to Stockholm. The Silja cabin was beautiful, but we were in the Commodore class, I believe. On HAL (Amsterdam) we sailed in an inside quad, which was the cheapest cabin for 4. The Silja ship had a nicer, more spacious cabin, but I believe that's because we were in one of the highest categories on that ship. We didn't find much in the way of entertainment on either ship. The food is definitely superior on HAL, although we did find the Scandinavian smorgasbord on the Silja ship quite interesting and tasty. The service was certainly superior on HAL. HAL also has a couple of nice pools and a small exercise room, while the Silja ship had none.

[Laurino]

Thank you, that comparison between Silja and HAL was just what I was looking for!

 

BTW since Norway has been brought up, how do you think the Alaska cruise scenery compares to that of the Norwegian fjords?

[uppitycats]

Thank you, that comparison between Silja and HAL was just what I was looking for!

 

BTW since Norway has been brought up, how do you think the Alaska cruise scenery compares to that of the Norwegian fjords?

 

Each is spectacular, in different ways. In Alaska, you're not that close. The mountains and glaciers are quite far away. There are excursions that put you on a smaller vessel and take you right up to the face of a glacier, and others where you actually walk on a glacier, but Alaska is SO huge, the horizon SO expansive, you easily lose a sense of just how BIG it is, until you see a tiny little kayak along side a glacier...or realize that that "dot" you see on shore is a bull moose...

 

Whereas in Norway we were right next to the fjords, cruising right up the "fingers". Houses still looked small, but more "life sized" in comparison.

 

We'll be comparing our first trip, which was in/out of the fjords along the lower half of Norway and up to Oslo, with our next trip which will be all the way north to the northern tip of Norway..different from the first trip, for sure!

[RuthC]

BTW since Norway has been brought up, how do you think the Alaska cruise scenery compares to that of the Norwegian fjords?

I agree with uppitycats---they are similar and different at the same time.

I've done five trips to Alaska (including two touring on land), and at least twice that many trips to Norway. The mountains look quite different. In Norway, you feel like you can reach out and touch the sides of the fjords.

 

But both are full of gorgeous scenery, and I can spend endless hours on deck breathing in that scenery, along with the clean air.