please help! carnival spirit vs ncl pear vs HAL Volendam

[9olivia]

Hello,

 

Thank you all for the great information that is to be found on here! I have been researching and have narrowed my search down to 3 itineraries. Round trip from Seattle or Vancouver is a must. This trip would be for me (35) my sister (30) and my daughter (7). One thing I wanted to mention is that we really want to see Alaska, the ship is less important. We are not nightlife people and are generally early to bed and early to rise.

 

First is Carnival Spirit;

Pros: We've sailed Carnival before and loved to have lots of activities. My daughter loved the kids club. Covered pool. Lowest cost.

Cons: Only goes to Tracy Arm, no glacier bay. This cruise cost less so we would definitely take the extra excustion into Tracy Arm to see the glacier up close. Plus, the video and pictures I have seen or Tracy Arm are gorgeous, particularly from the small excursion boat.

 

NCL Pearl:

Pros: Goes to Glacier Bay instead of Tracy Arm. Everything I have been reading says Glacier Bay is a must. Modern ship with lots of activities. Gets positive reviews of kids club.

Cons: No covered pool, my daughter would really enjoy swimming.

 

HAL Volendam:

This is where I am torn. This seems to be the best itinerary which is important to me but the reviews of this ship are just not good!

 

Pros: Goes to both Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay. This I think is the best itinerary and that would be the reason I would choose it.

Cons: From Vancouver so we would most likely take a bus from Seattle which would add an extra cost. I'm a little worried about having enough activities on the ship. Will the crowd skew older or is there really not much difference in Alaska?

 

Right now I am leaning toward the Volendaam because of the itinerary.

 

Can anyone compare these ships? Thanks!

[TheCalicoCat]

HAL Volendam:

This is where I am torn. This seems to be the best itinerary which is important to me but the reviews of this ship are just not good!

 

Pros: Goes to both Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay. This I think is the best itinerary and that would be the reason I would choose it. Also if one doesn't have "prime" weather, you have a second shot. Also I booked the Tracy Arm excursion - to better my odds of getting close to the glacier.

Cons: From Vancouver so we would most likely take a bus from Seattle which would add an extra cost. I'm a little worried about having enough activities on the ship. Will the crowd skew older or is there really not much difference in Alaska?

 

Right now I am leaning toward the Volendaam because of the itinerary.

 

Can anyone compare these ships? Thanks!

 

We chose Volendam based on itinerary.

 

We are flying to Seattle & taking the train to Vancouver - yes extra money, but we are using frequent flier miles to get to Seattle for the cost of baggage.

 

We are travelling with our 3.5 year old son & not one bit worried about the kids activities. My son does not need a lot of variety. We also do not need a lot of variety - I see my activites to be the following: sleep, shower, eat, watch the scenery, repeat. (It will still be light outside when my body clock says that it is time to sleep.)

 

I hear different things about the demographics, but am not worried. In the past we sailed in the "off" season so there were fewer families & it was o.k.

 

I take all of those reviews with a grain of salt. Seriously can it be "that" bad, some people are just negative, some people blame the weather, food is subjective, entertainment is subjective, I allow everyone to have a "bad" day including my waiters, some people expect Ritz service on Motel 6 budget, etc.

 

I have no experience with NCL - though I doubt that it would be a good fit for us based on their multiple eating venues...

 

Carnival Spirit has a lot of balconies & on the 4th floor the rooms are the size of balcony cabins, but they only have glass doors because of the lifeboats. (We liked those cabins on our last Carnival cruise.)

[Budget Queen]

I have taken all these lines to Alaska, and each would offer you a good cruise. I have sailed all these routes.

 

 

If the priority is truely "One thing I wanted to mention is that we really want to see Alaska, the ship is less important" then your only choice is HAL.

 

 

You have to have an extra day with a round trip Seattle flight. Amtrak does have kids rates, and AAA rates. IF you stay at a cheaper airport hotel, you can take the light rail into Seattle for any touring the day before, as well as to the train station. The tricky part can be the return, so check your timing of available trains, only two, and flights. You may need another night in a hotel.

 

Besides Amtrak, there are one way car rentals, cruise contracted buses, independent buses for the transfers between Seattle and Vancouver. Be aware of the pick ups/drop offs, all different.

[9olivia]

Thank you both your for your help! I spend some time looking at the HAL boards and people really seem to like the Volendam. I think maybe it is just the people who have bad experiences or unrealistic expectations that take the time to write the reviews, lol.

 

I am really leaning toward Volendam right now since the itinerary seems to be the best. :)

[teaach]

We took the Spirit in May of 2008. It goes to Glacier Bay in May only. Had a great trip and wouldn't go to AL without Glacier Bay

[mmr923]

For what it's worth, my husband took his kids to Alaska on NCL about 8 years ago - the youngest would have been about your daughter's age. The kids all had a great time and had fond memories of cruising based on that experience. My husband had not so fond memories of only having the buffet as a non-upcharge dinner option (not sure if that's still true now on NCL) and was not overly impressed with the ship in general.

 

My husband and I took the two youngest kids (now teens in high school) on a spring break cruise on HAL last year. While they still have fond memories of their Alaska trip, the only "fondness" is for the activities they did, and the parts of Alaska they saw (no Glacier bay though!), and they now RAVE about HAL as being much prettier, classier, better food, and fun! They had a great time. I know they are now much older than your daughter, but they loved their Club HAL counselor and spent lots of time with her and the few other teens who weren't "too cool" to hang out with Club HAL (lol!).

 

I, personally, have not been to Alaska yet, but am going this year with hubby and we chose HAL based on the itinerary (Glacier Bay a must, and we have friends who did the Westerdam and said Sitka is totally worth a visit so we're excited about that, too). We're telling the kids it's a reconnaisance trip for possible high school graduation trips... Ha! They're dying to go back to Alaska, and based on the Spring Break cruise would love to do it on HAL.

[Budget Queen]

on NCL ..... My husband had not so fond memories of only having the buffet as a non-upcharge dinner option (not sure if that's still true now on NCL) and was not overly impressed with the ship in general.

 

QUOTE]

 

Sorry, this has never been true. Always, dining room meals were available at no extra charge, including the Mexican and Italian restaurants, were also no extra charge, until a few years ago.

[Budget Queen]

We took the Spirit in May of 2008. It goes to Glacier Bay in May only. Had a great trip and wouldn't go to AL without Glacier Bay

 

For many years, Carnival also runs a Glacier Bay sailing in Sept.

[MSMcDuffy]

I was on the Volendam in '06. My only complaints about the ship at that time were that some of the furnishings were "worn" (i.e. couch pillows) and on one port day a couple of the public restroom toilets were backed up (noticed only because we were in a hurry to find a functioning one before getting off the ship). I'm sure it has been refurbished since then.

 

The only other negative thing I can think of is that the movie theatre was really small and not at a slant so anyone tall in front of you would block your view; we had to switch seats a few times. But the cabins & other public areas were very comfortable and classy looking and the food and crew were amazing. It was a good sized ship for viewing and getting around and has a nice, covered pool.

 

As far as the crowds, if you're going during Jun-Aug when school is out, the demographics should be similar between the cruise lines. I don't recall how many kids were on the Volendam but on our Oosterdam cruise there were a lot of kids (I know this 'cause I was traveling with my sisters' kids and we called to see how many were on the ship--you can call the cruise line to find out the age breakdown).

 

Good luck w/your decision:)

[9olivia]

Thank you guys all for your advice. I think we are going with the Volendam. Since it has both Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay I think it's the best choice, although from what I'm reading it doesn't always make it into Tracy Arm. Still, if we miss it then we have an excuse to go back the next summer! :)

[Budget Queen]

Thank you guys all for your advice. I think we are going with the Volendam. Since it has both Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay I think it's the best choice, although from what I'm reading it doesn't always make it into Tracy Arm. Still, if we miss it then we have an excuse to go back the next summer! :)

 

When are you looking at going? HAL most often does transit Tracy Arm, early season passengers can have an Endicott Arm transit, but I do not know specifically if HAL does this?? Take a look at trip reports this past year.

 

It isn't a matter of not "making it into Tracy Arm", the issue is making the FULL 30 mile dead end transit to the glaciers, at the end.

[1of4]

We chose the Volendam for our family cruise in August of 2011. Our kids, 7 and just turned 10 loved Club Hal and the ship. DH and I loved the library and we never went to a show.

 

The kids still both talk about the cruise and all the fun they had and the friends they met. We loved seeing BOTH Tracy Arm Fjord and Glacier Bay plus sailing the true inside passage in daylight on the return to Vancouver AND being the only ship in port on 2 of the 3 ports we visited (we were one of 4 or 5 in port In Ketchikan).

 

We started looking at Alaska as a possible vacation destination because Disney was going. The more research I did the more HAL kept coming up as what we wanted. We were not sorry and loved every minute we spent on the Volendam, even with an inside room (2664 on Main Deck) we have no complaints. In fact, the kids were talking about the cabin yesterday and want to go again. To them the upper bunk was exciting and they loved scrambling up there eventhough DS slept on the sofa bed. There was lots of room for the 4 of us with formal wear and 1 extra week of clothes we used before bording the ship.

[9olivia]

When are you looking at going? HAL most often does transit Tracy Arm, early season passengers can have an Endicott Arm transit, but I do not know specifically if HAL does this?? Take a look at trip reports this past year.

 

It isn't a matter of not "making it into Tracy Arm", the issue is making the FULL 30 mile dead end transit to the glaciers, at the end.

 

 

We are going in August, probably the 15th sailing.

 

 

Since we are going to Glacier Bay as well I am not too concerned about going all the way to the glacier in Tracy Arm. It's just that Tracy Arm itself looks so beautiful I want to at least see some of it, which I think we should be able to in August.

[9olivia]

We chose the Volendam for our family cruise in August of 2011. Our kids, 7 and just turned 10 loved Club Hal and the ship. DH and I loved the library and we never went to a show.

 

The kids still both talk about the cruise and all the fun they had and the friends they met. We loved seeing BOTH Tracy Arm Fjord and Glacier Bay plus sailing the true inside passage in daylight on the return to Vancouver AND being the only ship in port on 2 of the 3 ports we visited (we were one of 4 or 5 in port In Ketchikan).

 

We started looking at Alaska as a possible vacation destination because Disney was going. The more research I did the more HAL kept coming up as what we wanted. We were not sorry and loved every minute we spent on the Volendam, even with an inside room (2664 on Main Deck) we have no complaints. In fact, the kids were talking about the cabin yesterday and want to go again. To them the upper bunk was exciting and they loved scrambling up there eventhough DS slept on the sofa bed. There was lots of room for the 4 of us with formal wear and 1 extra week of clothes we used before bording the ship.

 

 

Thanks for your report! We are doing inside too. It's practically half the price of a balcony and we aren't the type who would want to be in the room anyway.

 

We will only have 3 of us so we will probably just use the sofa bed but I am sure my daughter will want the upper bunk if there is one.

 

I think between the covered pool and club hal she should be quite happy. She will be 7 when we sail, just like yours.