One more question.....HAL or Princes to Alaska

[SEAEDP]

Currently, I'm planning on going to Alaska on the Westerdam on May 3 from Seattle. The Golden Princess also sails that same day.

I'm a first time cruiser, so I'm not that bothered by the difference in ports. Does anyone have any general advice on which ship and line is better? I'm sailing alone and I'm in my 40s.

[CruiserBruce]

"Better" is a totally subjective opinion. We know nothing about you, so it would be difficult to recommend one or the other for you.

 

That being said, having sailed on both, in our opinion, HAL is better. Now 20 people will jump on with 40 different opinions. Because the topic is so subjective.

[SEAEDP]

Yes....you are correct. I am just trying to see if anyone has anything that is just a deal breaker on either side. Since I have no cruising experience, I'm sure I will love both Princess and HAL...I was just hoping to get some high level opinions.

[rjrpar]

All the mass market cruise lines provide very similar experiences. As someone said, ranking cruise lines is very subjective. Your question is impossible to answer. Pick one and have a great cruise

[mapleleaves]

You probably won't get too many responses due to the subjective nature of your question. It might behoove you to visit the REVIEWS section, specifically MEMBER REVIEWS of Alaska cruises where you can view MANY responses.

 

OR, look at the STICKY above called "2013 Alaska Cruise Review List"; go to reply #45 where all the reviews are sorted by cruiseline and ship.

 

OR, go to the library and borrow Ann Viponds book 'Alaska by Cruiseship' and Fodors "Alaska ports of Call". Both books discuss cruiselines, ships, ports, activities, etc.

Edited March 4, 2014 by mapleleaves

[TessM]

Currently, I'm planning on going to Alaska on the Westerdam on May 3 from Seattle. The Golden Princess also sails that same day.

I'm a first time cruiser, so I'm not that bothered by the difference in ports. Does anyone have any general advice on which ship and line is better? I'm sailing alone and I'm in my 40s.

 

I'm in my 50s and I cruise solo almost exclusively. I've cruised both HAL and Princess to Alaska. I haven't cruised on the Westerdam but I did get a tour of it years ago and I really like that ship. And, I'm going to be on the Golden Princess' May 17th sailing. I would say both HAL and Princess are similar especially on those two ships and especially roundtrip to Alaska out of Seattle.

 

I would suggest that you take a look at the itineraries. Even though all the ports might be new to you, see how much time you get in each of the ports. Both go to Glacier Bay. I agree though that there really doesn't seem to be much difference.

 

You're going to have a great time with either ship/cruiseline. I'm sure you will enjoy your cruise.

[CowPrincess]

Currently, I'm planning on going to Alaska on the Westerdam on May 3 from Seattle. The Golden Princess also sails that same day.

I'm a first time cruiser, so I'm not that bothered by the difference in ports. Does anyone have any general advice on which ship and line is better? I'm sailing alone and I'm in my 40s.

 

IMO on either you will have mostly couples, without a lot of kids, as school will not yet be out. I suspect that on HAL you will find a few more single older-than-you women, and on Princess you MAY find some singles more your age. Or you may not -- it is very difficult to predict.

 

My first cruise I was solo, early 40s, and went on HAL to Alaska. Had a wonderful time :D The two lines are quite similar IMO, and there is not really a "better" if you aren't concerned about ports.

 

There is a Solo Cruiser board here on CC. You might want to check that out. And if you have not yet joined your Roll Call, think about that. You may meet some nice people on your Roll Call, even before you cruise.

[agabbymama]

I've not been on the Golden Princess (I've only cruised on the Grand Princess her sister ship), and I haven't been on the Westerdam (but have been on her sister the Zuiderdam). The Golden Princess is 109,000 GT carrying 3700 crew & passengers. The Westerdam is 81,811 GT carrying 2648 crew & passengers.

 

I booked the Grand Princess against my better judgement for a Med cruise, and sure enough, once on-board, she was just too big for us. Not that we didn't enjoy the cruise, but we only made it to the showroom 1 time.

 

Princess didn't seem to care much about their independent travelers. We were often given misinformation, or no information at all. Thus the one cruise on Princess was enough for me. Just too many small glitches that added up to a lot of frustration and extra trips down to the Purser's Desk.

 

HAL has a teak wood Promenade deck that encircles the ship. If you get to the Promenade, you can get to anywhere on the ship. Not so on Princess, Celebrity or NCL ships I have been on. We were often told, you can't get there from here, you have to go up a deck or down a deck. The design of HAL ships is better (JMHO).

 

Just a couple of differences between Princess and HAL.

 

They both have a huge infrastructure in Alaska and both must do an excellent job, as they are still in business in Alaska after many many years. I'm older than you are, but I find the ambiance, atmosphere of HAL a better fit for me.

[kdzkatz]

I am not sure of the structure of HAL and Princess as we have only cruised on RCCL and NCL. We did not care for the traditional dining concept on RCCL. We LOVE the Freestyle approach of NCL. We live about 20 miles north of the pier and we are booked on our 6th Alaska cruise on NCL.

We like being able to eat where we want (MDR included), when we want and with who we want. On RCCL if we wanted to eat in the MDR it was at a specific time hungry or not, with people we did no select and even though we met other people we wanted to eat with it wasn't going to happen in the MDR. NOT FOR US! Lots of people do like that kind of structure but that is not how we like to vacation.

I do not think NCL is terribly activity intensive but it is also extremely casual. That also is for us and not for others. We are not offended if someone wants to eat dinner while wearing jeans. NCL has a "dress up or not night". As we don't like dressing up at home let alone on vacation that suits (no pun intended) us well.

It is a very personal thing so research as much as possible while keeping the research fun. CC has been a wonderful resource for us over the years. The great thing, you will be on a cruise to Alaska so I don't think you will have made a bad decision no matter who you go with.

Edited March 5, 2014 by kdzkatz
used wrong word