Atmosphere of Princess & HAL

[Ravenne]

Please tell me about the atmosphere and vibe of Princess and HAL. I fell in love with Alaska and would love to do it again, but not with DCL. We have kids who will be teens by the time we cruise again. Which line would be more family friendly? Which line tends to have a more younger crowd? I know nothing about either cruise line, so what should families with kids/teens expect?

 

[southerngirl528]

Please tell me about the atmosphere and vibe of Princess and HAL. I fell in love with Alaska and would love to do it again, but not with DCL. We have kids who will be teens by the time we cruise again. Which line would be more family friendly? Which line tends to have a more younger crowd? I know nothing about either cruise line, so what should families with kids/teens expect?

I think you would get a younger mix of people if you went with Royal Caribbean and neither HAL, which typically is an older clientele, and from what I've heard about Princess it is somewhat the same?

 

[Dug720]

I have not cruised Princess, but I found HAL just this side of a retirement home. And I'm not one who needs/wants a lot of "stuff" to do. But HAL was NOT a good fit for me.

 

[Ravenne]

Aww that's a bummer. I found some AK packages at Costco that includes spending several days on land in interior Alaska (Fairbanks, Denali etc), but Princess and HAL are the only 2 cruise lines that are included in those packages.

What about Celebrity? I think there was one option with Celebrity. How's the vibe on that?

 

[southerngirl528]

What about Celebrity? I think there was one option with Celebrity. How's the vibe on that?

Haven't sailed with them, but have a few friends that swear by them. I would not mind giving them a try myself. As for how many teens they would have?? Celebrity is a bit more of a luxury line so I wouldn't expect the ships to be crawling with teens, but likely more than HAL?

Does Costco not book RCCL??

 

[Ravenne]

Does Costco not book RCCL??

Ah ha! It does seem like they do for their land/sea AK tours. It was buried pretty deep in the searches, with HAL and Princess being much more prominent for AK. Thanks!

 

[lilsonicfan]

I agree that both Princess and HAL are likely geared toward slightly older crowds though we have cruised Princess and have generally enjoyed it. The one thing I found annoying was that we did a 4 day cruise on Princess to Alaska (basically just Ketchikan, I think) and they didn't have room for all of the kids on board in their kids clubs. I do not know if that is how they always operate. On our next Princess cruise, that didn't seem to be an issue.

 

[tutumomickey]

Our first Alaska cruise was on the Wonder. We loved Alaska and wanted to return but, found Disney prices out of reach. We opted for the Oosterdam from HAL. We loved it and are no where near a retirement home. We had a nicer balcony cabin than on the Wonder for 1/3 the price. We booked through Costco and got some excellent perks. The on board credits ended up paying for all our excursions and drinks. It is worth noting that the Oosterdam was built by the same shipyard that the Wonder was built by, just a year later. It is almost exactly the same size. Our biggest concern was the staff because, let's face it, we were there for Alaska, not the food or the entertainment.The staff was amazing! Kind, courteous, and efficient. There are NEVER any housekeeping carts or room service trays in the halls. Our room and all the public areas were spotless. The food was a pleasant surprise. I actually found it tastier and hotter in the MDR than on Disney. The portions are smaller(which I liked) but there was never any problem requesting more. On glacier day the deck on the bow of the ship was open to everyone.You were so close it felt like you could touch the glacier. They also handed out hot, delicious split pea soup.There was no shortage of activities. Plenty of trivia,cooking demos, music and lectures on sea days. We were off the ship all day on port days. The entertainment in the main theater at night did not come close to Disney caliber but, we weren't there for for the shows. There were more children and teenagers on this cruise than any of our Disney Panama Canal cruises(Yes, I know there are very few children on the PC cruises) They all seemed to be enjoying themselves, especially in the covered pool.Do not let the 'floating rest home' rumors scare you off. My friends were on a Celebrity cruise the same week as us. They paid a little more up front but then found themselves paying extra for everything they wanted on the ship. If we are fortunate to enough to visit Alaska again, HAL will be our first choice. Also, their ships have been visiting Alaska for 71 years.I felt I learned more about the history and culture of this state from HAL than Disney. My recommendation:if you are sailing to enjoy the ship,pick Disney-if you want to enjoy Alaska, pick HAL.

 

[southerngirl528]

Ah ha! It does seem like they do for their land/sea AK tours. It was buried pretty deep in the searches, with HAL and Princess being much more prominent for AK. Thanks!

Yay!!

 

[Soham KB]

How about the Norwegian Bliss?

I’ve cruised on NCL 4 times, including on the newer Breakaway and Getaway.

They have a good kids program, and I’ve heard that their teen program is good.

Overall, I’d say if you don’t want to do Disney, do NCL.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

We've sailed Celebrity and it was a very nice upper class of ship. Exquisite adult bars with wide views of the waters ahead. Great food and service. Don't know about teens or children because we just didn't see them around the ship. It was in March, so school was probable in session.

 

[MomOTwins]

We cruised Princess for our honeymoon and loved it (amazing food; stunningly good service; fantastic port excursions; beautiful indoor and outdoor heated pools) but we definitely felt like young-uns compared to the other cruisers. I think that is why they paired us at dinner with literally the only family with a teenager I saw on the entire cruise, and she looked like she was bored out of her mind and plotting to murder her parents the entire time. Would probably pass if your teens want any kind of socialization, but if you are "family stays together" kind of cruisers you might like it.

 

[ludari]

My first ever cruise was on HAL where I sailed on a B2B cruise that started in Alaska and ended in San Diego before I even tried sailing with Disney. The cruise was nice and I enjoyed it very much and the service and food seem okay (I'm really not a foodie) and the entertainment was okay but sailing was DCL was definitely a step up in regards to the service and entertainment. At the time of my HAL cruise I was in my early 40's and I considered myself one of the younger people on board the ship. The second part of the cruise from Vancouver to San Diego seemed a little more lively as we headed towards warmer temperatures. I would definitely sail with HAL again but it's definitely hard a give up DCL.

 

[cadien]

My folks act younger than I do, and they love HAL. Also, Alaska cruises are different for both Princess and HAL because all of those seniors are bringing two or three generations of their families along. There are plenty of other kids. Not so much on the other itineraries, but they really know what they're doing with Alaska.

 

[cadien]

I agree that both Princess and HAL are likely geared toward slightly older crowds though we have cruised Princess and have generally enjoyed it. The one thing I found annoying was that we did a 4 day cruise on Princess to Alaska (basically just Ketchikan, I think) and they didn't have room for all of the kids on board in their kids clubs. I do not know if that is how they always operate. On our next Princess cruise, that didn't seem to be an issue.

That happens on NCL too. It was a pain in the butt.