First time cruise: Norwegian Pearl vs. Crown princess vs. Westerdam?

[Markanddonna]

We have been to Alaska on both these ships and the experiences were more similar than different. Whoever mentioned that Pearl doesn't have a naturalist is incorrect. The Glacier Bay experience was pretty much identical on both ships except HAL has the "pea soup on deck" tradition. They both had naturalists come aboard the entire day and they did the same program.

 

Overall, we enjoyed the Pearl experience more because we LOVE Skagway. Sitka was cute and I'm glad we went but going on that train in Skagway to the Yukon was magnificent. We took Chilkoot tours our first time and did the train and then transferred to a van. The second trip was with a rental car.

 

Westerdam has a retractable roof over the pool which is nice if the kids think that all cruises should have swimming as a must feature.

 

I would do either again. Don't let anyone tell you that HAL does Alaska better. You hear that a lot on this board. They were on par with NCL. I asked children and their parents about the kids areas and they loved HAL and NCL equally. While HAL is generally for "more mature cruisers", you don't see that on Alaskan cruises between June and August.

[quercus alba]

Did you make your decision? Just curious. I am finding myself in the same position: trying to decide between Norwegian Pearl and Crown Princess for summer trip. I am looking into a mini-suite for my two sons (12 and 15) and myself on each. We will also be traveling with my dad (age 69 who is not a fancy eater) and my BIL and SIL (30-somethings) who do like good food. Our travel agent is encouraging Celebrity, but I don't like the itinerary as well, and we would need 2 balcony cabins for me and the boys (since there are no mini-suites) and that would be quite pricey. Just curious as to which way you wound up leaning. So hard to decide!

 

The deck 11 mini-suites on Pearl are a great location for teens & tweens, btw--easy access to buffet, pool deck, and kids' clubs.

[3Fluffies]

Just a tidbit on budgeting - don't assume that the prices you see online are the be-all, end-all. I assumed at the beginning that a balcony cabin would be way beyond my budget for a solo cruiser.

 

However, when oceanview cabins turned out to be scarce, I told my travel agent to go ahead and find out what the actual cost of a balcony cabin would be. He found me a very good one that was within my budget (if only just) and from all my research, Alaska is one itinerary worth the splurge for a good view.

 

Travel agents can often wheedle out good discounts that are unlisted on the cruise line websites.

 

Also, I've not cruised on HAL or Princess, but the advice my travel agent gave me was that HAL caters to an older, quieter crowd, while Princess caters more to young families, and NCL probably has the broadest range of ages.

 

I'm also curious to hear what you ultimately choose! (I'm on the Norwegian Sun, Vancouver to Seward.)

[Wishing on a star]

I know a few people who cruised Alaska on NCL. While this was some time ago, but their feedback was just not good (bad, actually). And, mirrored the reviews that I have read.

 

For us, we chose Princess.

 

Which type of stateroom is purely preference.

To try to stay within budget we did go with one of the best OV categories.

This was still a lot less than any balcony, as balconies on Alaskan cruises can come at a price.

 

Research the ship(s) and you might find that there are certain OV staterooms that are better than others. I think I would just have to pay for a balcony if the smaller OV rooms with the little window above the bed were the only ones available.

 

It is easy to think, Seattle is convenient, so we will choose one of those itineraries.

But, it could possibly be worth it to consider Vancouver.

Edited March 29, 2016 by Wishing on a star