Holland or Princess with kids?

[socalgalz3]

\We are planning an Alaskan cruise in late July/early August.  My husband and I are in our early 50s with 3 daughters, ages 21, 18 and 10.  We are pretty active and look forward to the excursions, but my youngest is looking forward to the activities on the ship.  She doesn't like kid's clubs, so we're hoping to have a ship with activities we can do as a family when we're not out exploring.  This could be swimming, mini-golf, shows, cooking demos, movies, etc.  We don't need activities past 10:00 lol.  Are the pools heated so that at least my 10 year old can jump in?  We plan to do a round-trip, either from Vancouver or Seattle and would like to see Glacier Bay, so that leaves us with Princess from Seattle and Holland (HAL) from Vancouver.  I understand that the route from Vancouver is more scenic and has less open water, but it seems like HAL doesn't have as much to do.  We live in Portland, so Seattle is a fairly quick drive for us compared to Vancouver and we limited on time, so the Vancouver route would need to be significantly superior to let go of the ease of traveling to Seattle.

[Coral]

The Ruby Princess does not have a covered pool. The Star Princess does but doesn't go to Glacier Bay. It is amazing how kids do swim in Alaska in outdoor pools. I am not sure which HAL ship you are looking at. I do give the edge to Glacier Bay.

 

Princess does have Movies Under the Stars which really is movies all the time out by the pool. Sometimes it is concerts but outdoor entertainment, at night movies and sometimes during the day. 

 

Princess does do a cooking demo on the last sea day and tour of the galley. Holland is known more for their cooking demos but I think I only went to one also.

 

Here are some activities Princess does in Alaska: https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/onboard-experience/  

 

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I haven't done Holland America in Alaska - hopefully someone pipe in with info. The important thing about Alaska is the ports and times in port. I would look at that carefully.

[socalgalz3]

Thanks!  The HAL ship is Volendam.  Both itineraries are similar, except that the HAL goes to the Tracy Arm Inlet and more time in in the inner passage.  Princess goes to Victoria, but I see it's pretty late at night, so I'm not sure that's even a consideration.  Does the Princess ship see the inner passage at all or does it bypass it completely?  Did you find yourself doing enough of the activities on the ship to warrant going with Princess?  My youngest is more excited about the ship than the ports, although I know she'll love the outdoor activities when we get there. If it were just my husband and me, we would pick scenery over ship activities, but I want to honor what she's interested in, too.  Right now here's how I see it:

 

Princess Pros

Easier to leave from Seattle (3 hour drive)

More to do on ship

better quality entertainment

rooms next to each other

 

Cons

More time on open seas

Not as much of the inner passage

Miss Tracy Arm Inlet

 

Holland Pros

Inner Passage scenery

Tracy Arm Inlet

Can possibly spend time in Vancouver (my husband and I have been but not the kids)

 

Cons

Will need to fly or longer trip just to get to Vancouver
Rooms further apart

[luvteaching]

Holland has the Eurodam and Oosterdam doing 7 day trips out of Seattle. They go to Glacier Bay which is wonderful. Sitka is a fun port to wander and the Totem Park is a fun place to wander. You are in Victoria from 7:00 PM to midnight. It's plenty of time to walk into town and see the parliament buildings all lit up. 

Karen

[Coral]

Ok - Looked at HAL's itinerary.

 

Yes - first and last day are going to be more scenic with HAL since you are going out of Vancouver.  I hate HAL's website so I had to look elsewhere for the times. The stop at Tracy Arm is important as there is an excursion where you transfer to a small boat and go into Tracy Arm to see Sawyer glaciers. Basically only those who get off and do this excursion will benefit from being here. If you don't plan on doing this excursion, the stop here doesn't mean anything. This is an excellent excursion and highly rated. It is sort of expensive but worth it.

 

Most who love Alaska strive to be on the smaller ships which would be the Volendam (over Ruby Princess). Holland America has great frontal viewing areas.

 

People do get off in Victoria. It is scenic and worth walking around but you are right, it is late and you can't do much. It is a required stop to visit a foreign country. Your kids would enjoy Vancouver.

[beck75]

We live in Seattle and are making the drive to Vancouver for a HAL in June. Have 2 kids, ages 14 and 12.  

 

It definitely would have been a lot more convenient to do a round trip from Seattle, but I didn't like the options I was finding. (I thought I recalled seeing only one way cruises out of Seattle for Princess, but this was a long time ago I was looking at itineraries).  I also did not have an interest in making a stop in Victoria, since we have been there several times. Beautiful city -- my daughter and I are doing an overnight in April there. Just not a port I wanted during our Alaskan cruise. We also have Nexus cards, which helps for the border crossing. 

 

I am hopeful that the ship offers enough for the kids, and I know many of the guests on HAL skews a bit older. So I will be extra mindful that my kids are behaved and respectful. Hopefully they will enjoy spending some time in Club Hal. I know my 14 year old son will enjoy his many trips to the buffet. 🙂

 

Good luck with your planning. 

[martincath]

3 hours ago, socalgalz3 said:

\... my youngest is looking forward to the activities on the ship...  I understand that the route from Vancouver is more scenic and has less open water, but it seems like HAL doesn't have as much to do.  We live in Portland, so Seattle is a fairly quick drive for us compared to Vancouver and we limited on time, so the Vancouver route would need to be significantly superior to let go of the ease of traveling to Seattle.

Princess in general does have more Stuff to do than HAL, but the stereotypical 'only fogeys sail HAL' seems less true in Alaska - especially in summer when kids are off school. Lots of fogeys are grandparents who may encourage their families to come along remember;-) Quality of the entertainment I wouldn't say there's much difference, there's just a little more on Princess - and both lines should check off the standards of stage musical shows, comedians, piano/singers, small classical groups. It would be your 18/21 kids who might find HAL less enjoyable than Princess if they're night owls and might want to go 'clubbing' after you and the little 'un are in bed - but even then Alaska tends to be port-intensive so they might also be worn out and want to hit the sack early.

 

Route-wise Vancouver is more efficient and nicer for three key reasons: a shorter distance to travel so usually more time in at least some of the ports; cruising up the full Inside Passage so there are things to see on both sides of the ship instead of neither side (Seattle cruises stick way far out west of the Island) - and while some happens in the dark of course, you have lots of daylight in July/Aug; no Victoria stop (Victoria is like Disneyland for retired English ladies, but while there's some good beer it's nothing compared to Portland unless you're a fan of true Brit-style beers served warm & flat, and the great museum and a couple of kid-friendly attractions have to be weighed against the port times - usually a very short 4-6 hours with arrival after 6pm so most sites are closed already).

 

As to the 'getting to the cruise' part - since Princess sails from Smith Cove on the Northwest side of downtown Seattle, you will have the crappiest bits of the drive to do regardless (Olympia/Lacey/JBLM/Tacoma/Seatac/through downtown Seattle on I5) of whether you drive up to Vancouver or stop in Seattle. The parts from Everett on up are never a problem (except when bridge work was being done or there's a random major incident that blocks lanes).

 

I'd be happy to share our optimal timing since we do the Vancouver/Portland drive a lot - we reliably achieve 5hr 15min driving time door to door including border crossing (so stopping for gas, a quick meal, and even another brief rest-stop visit can be done while keeping the entire trip to 6hrs) from the Pearl to downtown Vancouver. If you don't have NEXUS the border would take longer for you - but the times we arrive the Joe Q Public queues are mostly ~20min (as opposed to our average of 5min).

 

The only big difference would be if you were planning to drive up on the day of the cruise - the sweet-spot we've found for minimal drive time sees us arriving in Vancouver around 2pm, which may be tighter than you're comfortable with. To get here earlier and still avoid Seattle busy times you'd have to leave home by ~4am so that you were completely through Seattle by 7am to avoid morning rush (once you get to downtown the commuters are coming in from the North on the other side of the highway).

 

Since you mention spending time in Vancouver though, I'd encourage that to be pre-cruise so that you have no concerns about getting to the port on embarkation day - risks removed! Cruising afterward means you have the running-around part that you have to organize yourselves up first, then once you board you can chillax and let the ship look after you all. Oh, and if by any chance your 18yr old turns 19 by the time you cruise, you can bring her along when you compare & contrast the breweries of Vancouver to those of Portland (the little 'un will have to make do with kombucha, craft sodas, and mocktails which are enjoying a bit of a trend these days).

 

TL;DR - look at the post right above this one: even a Seattleite thinks leaving from Vancouver is better;-)

[socalgalz3]

Thank you to both or you! We've driven to Seattle many times and I recently flew to Vancouver for work, but it's been years since we've driven to Vancouver. My DH and I are taking an anniversary trip (25 Years!) earlier in the year, which is limiting the number of vacation days for this trip and making the logistics a little more complicated than usual. Seattle is appealing mainly for this reason, but it seems to be the overwhelming recommendation to go via Vancouver. Now I'm wondering if we should put off the cruise until we have more time or push through the logistical challenges. I appreciate your help.

 

[Coral]

Every cruise is a compromise. I actually like Seattle as much as Vancouver. I find Vancouver very expensive.

 

I say go. You can always return to Vancouver if you go on another cruise.

[luvteaching]

I also like Seattle just as much as Vancouver, in some ways moreso. I find the parking easier in Seattle and I like the ports we go to. With HAL it's Sitka that is the draw - it's not nearly as touristy as the other ports. I'd also take Hubbard or Glacier Bay over Tracy Arm any time!

 

Karen

[martincath]

13 hours ago, socalgalz3 said:

...Now I'm wondering if we should put off the cruise until we have more time or push through the logistical challenges...

 

If it comes down to 'cruise this year from Seattle' or 'wait at least a year to do it from Vancouver' I'd pull the trigger on a Seattle itinerary. Plenty of people do them, it's still an Alaskan cruise, and there are probably random factors that you can't control that would make more of a difference than Seattle vs Vancouver - what kind of wildlife sightings you get, if you have tablemates you really click with, is the weather fantastic/terrible, that sort of stuff.

 

Then when you want to cruise AK again you can do it from Vancouver, maybe make it a one-way cruise spending time here and up in Alaska (there are non-stop flights PDX-ANC) and you'll be able to look back and say "OK, we totes enjoyed the first one out of Seattle but this was even better!" 😉

[missync]

I can only comment on HAL for Alaska and Princess for Caribbean so I can't compare them in the same locations and I also can't comment on kids activities for either BUT what I will say is the HAL ship I was on in May 2018 (Noordam) was primarily older people.  There were some children on board but it was mostly the older population.  There were not many people my age on board (mid 30's) and I didn't see many teenagers at all.  I don't know if that's a HAL thing or an Alaska thing but based on what I know I'd go Princess purely for that reason.  Plus I just liked Princess better and thought the food was WAY better.  HAL has an odd menu.  It was still delicious but very odd choices that picky eaters might not like.  

[OCruisers]

Both HAL and Princess provide excellent cruises to Alaska.

For your family, Princess would be my choice because there is more to do on Princess ships and they will be more likely to meet others their ages.  

[terrydtx]

You will find even on HAL that many more families and kids will be on the ship than other HAL itineraries,  because its summer and its Alaska. WE are on the Noordam in July with our 10 year old grandson in a Signature Suite. The add on cost to have our GS in our cabin was only $449 and that included the 5 day land portion. Our choices came down to HAL and Princess but a comparable cabin and class with the 3rd person in the cabin with Princess cost $1500 more than HAL. Either cruise company will be a great cruise, but I have been told the whole inside passage is a must see for your first time to Alaska. The Noordam spends our first day cruising the Inside Passage, never leaving sight of land on both sides of the ship.  Most cruises departing from Seattle do the open sea far west of Vancouver Island with very little to see from the ship.

Edited January 30, 2019 by terrydtx

[Coral]

3 hours ago, terrydtx said:

You will find even on HAL that many more families and kids will be on the ship than other HAL itineraries,  because its summer and its Alaska. 

I have been to Alaska many times, RT Seattle, RT Vancouver and one ways. I have not done HAL in Alaska either (did it to Mexico) but I have to say that for the most part, Alaska itineraries don't have a lot of kids, especially the one ways. That is not to say kids will not have fun as there is a ton for kids to do in Alaska but it is an itinerary for mostly older individuals. RCCL and NCL have put some "very kid friendly" ships in Alaska doing RT Seattle but they have crappy itineraries.

 

You will find the most kids on RT Seattle trips but you can't compare it to the Caribbean and summer by any means.

[Rippo]

We'll be leaving on the Eurodam on May 25th from Seattle.

 

1st time cruisers, we're a couple and our 13 year old.

 

Everything we read was that although HAL is typically older folks, Alaska is more of a mix. Daughter will probably hang more with us and use the pool daily, its covered, so that helped our decision.

 

Key for us was airfare cost to Seattle and Glacier Bay being included.

 

If it wasnt Alaska with the ports, maybe we'd be more concerned keeping her entertained, but we think the week will go fast.

 

Whatever you choose, have fun.

[luvteaching]

We've done both Princess and Holland America to Alaska but not with kids. However, both ships had lots of kids on them. Both have good kids programs, from what we've heard. The people we talked to who had kids said that they never lacked for anything to do. On HAL, when in the glaciers, the forest rangers come on and there is a separate kids' program for the kids. Alaska is about the ports and you'll have so much to do in them! The ship is your transportation and either line will have plenty of things for the kids. 

[Coral]

2 hours ago, luvteaching said:

 On HAL, when in the glaciers, the forest rangers come on and there is a separate kids' program for the kids. Alaska is about the ports and you'll have so much to do in them! The ship is your transportation and either line will have plenty of things for the kids. 

This happens on all ships that visit Glacier Bay. National Park Rangers come on the ship and give educational programs for all ages - one is unique to kids.