4* mariner trying RCL and star class for the time

[mrspeck]

Excited to do a bit of a comparison review this Alaska season.  We are booked on RCL Quantum of the seas in a star class suite out of Seattle and then later on the Zuiderdam in a Pinnacle suite out of Vancouver.  Anyone done both and have any words of wisdom?  We’ve not been in a Pinnacle suite for quite a few years and never been on RCL.

[canadianbear]

Can’t help but always like the opinion of others and comparing.  Please report back if possible.  Would enjoy reading about your experience.  

[FlaMariner]

....we are 3 Stars and thought we needed to "leave the reservation" and try Princess.....We were quickly reminded why we were 3 Star Mariners and we've learned not to "leave the reservation" again!

 

Lesson learned and we appreciate HAL much more than before after experiencing Princess.

 

Good luck and please do tell post cruise!

[atexsix]

1 hour ago, FlaMariner said:

....we are 3 Stars and thought we needed to "leave the reservation" and try Princess.....We were quickly reminded why we were 3 Star Mariners and we've learned not to "leave the reservation" again!

 

Lesson learned and we appreciate HAL much more than before after experiencing Princess.

 

Good luck and please do tell post cruise!

We're doing the same thing next month because we liked Princess' itinerary, we're excited about it, but feel like fish out of water, and there's things that bother us already (not the medallion) that I'll get into when I do my comparison review upon our return. 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2022 by atexsix

[FlaMariner]

8 hours ago, atexsix said:

We're doing the same thing next month because we liked Princess' itinerary, we're excited about it, but feel like fish out of water, and there's things that bother us already (not the medallion) that I'll get into when I do my comparison review upon our return. 

 

 

 

Good luck.  We went with an open mind but never again on Princess for us.  HAL has spoiled us and fits us.  It was very good for us to cruise Princess though so that we will no longer take HAL for granted and we learned a lot about what we like and do not like. 

 

 

[Radbooks]

I've been on about 7 Princess cruises and about 24 Holland Cruises and one on RCCL many years ago. My favorite by far is Holland, but I've also enjoyed the Princess ships. I'm still working so sometimes I have to just find a cruise that fits my school breaks. 🙂   The size of the RCCL ships is what generally turns me off, but the one I was on was very nice.

[Dancing Shoes]

I tried HAL for the first time in 2018 to Alaska on the Volendam.  I liked the size of that ship, food and people.  Princess uses apps now for everything, ugh. RCCL too big.  Trying Celebrity to Alaska.  HAL didn't have the itinerary I wanted.  

[aliaschief]

We learned this year change can be good. Go enjoy your decision and cruise.

[atexsix]

6 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

 

Good luck.  We went with an open mind but never again on Princess for us.  HAL has spoiled us and fits us.  It was very good for us to cruise Princess though so that we will no longer take HAL for granted and we learned a lot about what we like and do not like. 

 

 

If it were up to me I'd be on a HAL ship in a heartbeat.  But they are the only cruise line with no Skagway itineraries from Seattle, for some unknown reason you have to go to Vancouver and that won't work for us.  I'm thinking of booking Eurodam for late in the season just to get our HAL fix.

[BermudaBound2014]

On 4/16/2022 at 11:14 PM, mrspeck said:

Excited to do a bit of a comparison review this Alaska season.  We are booked on RCL Quantum of the seas in a star class suite out of Seattle and then later on the Zuiderdam in a Pinnacle suite out of Vancouver.  Anyone done both and have any words of wisdom?  We’ve not been in a Pinnacle suite for quite a few years and never been on RCL.

I have sailed both the Zuiderdam and Anthem (sister to quantum) twice. The ships are very different. Quantum is high tech. 270 is probably the nicest venue at sea (imo). The entertainment will be substantially better (and more varied) on Quantum. I don’t know your age (I am early 50s) and I LOVED ifly. One of the coolest things I’ve ever done on a ship. We also did the bumper cars, bionic bar, north star (which has the potential to be outstanding in Alaska), etc… there are more activities onboard than you can possibly do in a week.  The solarium is outstanding. Of course, Flowrider is weather dependent and may not be great in Alaska. Be sure to make your reservations for ifly, North Star, flowrider,  asap.  At 168,000 gross tons, this ship is twice the size of Zuiderdam and can feel crowded at bottlenecks (like when shows let out).
 

Zuiderdam is what I consider classic cruising. Ship is not too big, not too small. The size makes everything easy onboard.  Entertainment options are just  “regular”, there is nothing unique offered, but I was never bored.. IMO, HAL does a better job in terms of food quality and service. It’s a much more sophisticated vibe. 
 

I would think that the week on zuiderdam will be significantly more relaxing than your week on quantum, especially if you plan to take advantage of all that quantum offers. I would sail either again. Hope this helps 🙂

Edited April 18, 2022 by BermudaBound2014

[FlaMariner]

6 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

We also did the bumper cars, bionic bar, north star (which has the potential to be outstanding in Alaska), etc… there are more activities onboard than you can possibly do in a week.

 

Sounds fun!  Not knocking it but this helps me know that Holland America Line fits us better.   

[BermudaBound2014]

4 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

 

Sounds fun!  Not knocking it but this helps me know that Holland America Line fits us better.   

 

Absolutely. The activities Quantum offers are not the typical idea of cruising. In this case comparing Vista Class to Quantum Class, there are very distinct differences. In terms of ship size, it's apples to oranges.

 

However; In general, I believe the main stream cruise lines have more in common than they have different. As the industry has evolved it is the size of the ship that makes the largest difference in experience. If the OP was sailing on a Vista Class and a Radiance Class ship back to back, the differences would be minimal since both ships are relatively the same size (81,000 GT/90,000GT).

 

Another variable that can make a significant difference in experience is age of the ship. Newer ships are built to maximize profit, having more cabins and reducing the space available for passengers. Nearly always, newer ships will feel more crowded.  The flip to the crowded feeling is that newer ships tend to be better designed to meet the current wants of passengers. Ironically, the only mega ship I have sailed that does not feel crowded due to it's floorplan is Oasis class, which is a behemoth 236,000 GT~ nearly three times the size of Zuiderdam. IMO, most people should experience Oasis class at least once. It really is an engineering feat.

 

I recommend people avoid eliminating RCL from your choices based on a comparison between Quantum and Vista Class. I do believe that overall HAL has the edge in offering unique itineraries.  After trying both, it maybe true that the subtle differences lead you back to HAL, but IMO the two lines offer a very similar product at a similar price point when you compare apples to apples in ship size.

 

Of course, some people are perfectly happy with a single cruise line and prefer to remain loyal. Nothing wrong with that either :). 

 

 

Edited April 18, 2022 by BermudaBound2014

[mrspeck]

9 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Absolutely. The activities Quantum offers are not the typical idea of cruising. In this case comparing Vista Class to Quantum Class, there are very distinct differences. In terms of ship size, it's apples to oranges.

 

However; In general, I believe the main stream cruise lines have more in common than they have different. As the industry has evolved it is the size of the ship that makes the largest difference in experience. If the OP was sailing on a Vista Class and a Radiance Class ship back to back, the differences would be minimal since both ships are relatively the same size (81,000 GT/90,000GT).

 

Another variable that can make a significant difference in experience is age of the ship. Newer ships are built to maximize profit, having more cabins and reducing the space available for passengers. Nearly always, newer ships will feel more crowded.  The flip to the crowded feeling is that newer ships tend to be better designed to meet the current wants of passengers. Ironically, the only mega ship I have sailed that does not feel crowded due to it's floorplan is Oasis class, which is a behemoth 236,000 GT~ nearly three times the size of Zuiderdam. IMO, most people should experience Oasis class at least once. It really is an engineering feat.

 

I recommend people avoid eliminating RCL from your choices based on a comparison between Quantum and Vista Class. I do believe that overall HAL has the edge in offering unique itineraries.  After trying both, it maybe true that the subtle differences lead you back to HAL, but IMO the two lines offer a very similar product at a similar price point when you compare apples to apples in ship size.

 

Of course, some people are perfectly happy with a single cruise line and prefer to remain loyal. Nothing wrong with that either :). 

 

 

Thanks for the run down!  I realize that they are very different ships, but look forward to being able to compare things beyond ship and activities.  Very curious how staff and service will compare.  We feel so at home with HAL staff and have enjoyed NCL staff; however, we struggled to relate to the staff on the MSC sailing we did.  Also excited to experience RCL’s star class suite product.  From what I’ve read it has HALs suite product beat by leaps and bounds. (But we do love our HAL suites).  I guess we’ll soon find out!

[mrspeck]

On 4/17/2022 at 8:27 AM, FlaMariner said:

....we are 3 Stars and thought we needed to "leave the reservation" and try Princess.....We were quickly reminded why we were 3 Star Mariners and we've learned not to "leave the reservation" again!

 

Lesson learned and we appreciate HAL much more than before after experiencing Princess.

 

Good luck and please do tell post cruise!

This kinda scares me!  We are booked on 34 day on the Coral Princess next year.  This is a bucket list adventure that includes Easter Island.  7 day cruises make up the majority of our cruise history, so hoping we find it to be tolerable!  If HAL was offering the itinerary, I would definitely be booked with them!

[BermudaBound2014]

9 minutes ago, mrspeck said:

Thanks for the run down!  I realize that they are very different ships, but look forward to being able to compare things beyond ship and activities.  Very curious how staff and service will compare.  We feel so at home with HAL staff and have enjoyed NCL staff; however, we struggled to relate to the staff on the MSC sailing we did.  Also excited to experience RCL’s star class suite product.  From what I’ve read it has HALs suite product beat by leaps and bounds. (But we do love our HAL suites).  I guess we’ll soon find out!

funny - MSC is so hit and miss. My experience in the YC was not “all that”. But some people rave. 
 

I can’t compare star class for you, but In general (at least pre-covid), I found HAl’s service is a bit more formal and polished. 

[mrspeck]

2 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

funny - MSC is so hit and miss. My experience in the YC was not “all that”. But some people rave. 
 

I can’t compare star class for you, but In general (at least pre-covid), I found HAl’s service is a bit more formal and polished. 

Same here…yacht club, while it’s inclusions we’re generous, just didn’t feel comfortable like HAL.  I tend to think that HAL staff builds more comradery amongst themselves and that team mind set shows through and just makes the staff pleasant to be around while I found the broad mishmash of staff on MSC almost felt at times like they were working against each other which changes the atmosphere so much.