Which ship?

[GLCAS]

Hello, we are a couple in our 50's and have only ever cruised with Princess and Carnival. We enjoy Princess for it's quiet, dignified ways and Carnival was a few years back when we had teenagers. How would you compare Princess and Holland America, when it comes to food and entertainment? And which ship would you suggest? Nooradam, Eurodam or Nieuv Amsterdam? (Sorry for the spelling). We are always in bed by 10 and enjoy our balcony alot of the time, so activities etc are not high on the list. Mostly just enjoyable food and good entertainment at night is all we are looking for. Perhaps a spa day...:) Any input would be appreciated. Oh yes we are looking at the 14 day over xmas and new year. Thanks!

[oldbluff]

Welcome, GLCAS. We have not cruised Princess but have done Carnival. Sounds like HAL will fit your lifestyle. We enjoy the food, especially first/last/formal nights in the MDR and anytime in the Pinnacle and Tamarind specialty restaurants. The entertainment has varied; the string quartets/trios have consistently been great. The libraries have extensive collections for those wanting to relax with a book by the sea. The full wraparound promenade deck is still a favorite.

 

We cruised on the Oosterdam, sister ship to the Noordam, and the Nieuw Amsterdam. While I prefer smaller ships to larger, the Asian cuisine Tamarind restaurant is a great addition. I believe it is only found on the N.A. and sister ship Eurodam. In fact, we are doing a last minute early December cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam because our experience on it last Thanksgiving was superb.

 

Many others here have also cruised Princess and can give you that contrast. I am confident we will sail with them at some point. Enjoy your holiday sailing.

[mollyanne]

We had 6 cruises on Princess before our first on HAL - and our second on HAL is 3 weeks away. We just loved everything about the Westerdam (though I don't see it on your list ;)) The crew was stellar and called us by name the second day. The food was terrific! We're not big show people but enjoy spending time in our cabin and on the balcony. We were spoiled after being upsold to an SA suite but if it doesn't come around this time we have no worries. The cabins are much larger on HAL than Princess and most have sofas and baths with both tubs and showers.

 

It was hard to make the change from Princess - as we did love it - but so glad we did.