Europe on Celebrity, Holland American or Princess? DCL dates don't work

[simivalleysarah]

We have traveled DCL for years (7 cruises on every ship at least once) and were planning on going to Russia in 2019 but a family member just got engaged and the wedding date is causing us to cancel this trip. Just looking to see if anyone has any experience on Celebrity, Holland American or Princess Cruises. DD10 really enjoys going to the kids club. Waterslides and pool are fun but she doesn't typically spend a huge amount of time swimming. We typically enjoy the shows (although we have seen majority of them) and food is important too.

Looking for your tips and experiences

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We have traveled DCL for years (7 cruises on every ship at least once) and were planning on going to Russia in 2019 but a family member just got engaged and the wedding date is causing us to cancel this trip. Just looking to see if anyone has any experience on Celebrity, Holland American or Princess Cruises. DD10 really enjoys going to the kids club. Waterslides and pool are fun but she doesn't typically spend a huge amount of time swimming. We typically enjoy the shows (although we have seen majority of them) and food is important too.

Looking for your tips and experiences

Of those three I'd suggest Princess. They have pretty good reviews on their kid's clubs.

I've been on both HAL and Princess. The shows are not what I call all that great. There are a few shows I've seen (on both lines) that were quite good. For the most part the shows are sort of watered down Vegas-style reviews.

Food on both lines are comparable to Disney. Although I'm not really fond of the overabundance of Italian-style food on Princess.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We have traveled DCL for years (7 cruises on every ship at least once) and were planning on going to Russia in 2019 but a family member just got engaged and the wedding date is causing us to cancel this trip. Just looking to see if anyone has any experience on Celebrity, Holland American or Princess Cruises. DD10 really enjoys going to the kids club. Waterslides and pool are fun but she doesn't typically spend a huge amount of time swimming. We typically enjoy the shows (although we have seen majority of them) and food is important too.

Looking for your tips and experiences

Have you considered RCCL or Norwegian? They are both a lot more family friendly than the others. I apologize if I’m overstepping my boundaries with this reply, I just thought I’d throw that out there.

 

[Pens Fan]

Have you considered RCCL or Norwegian? They are both a lot more family friendly than the others. I apologize if I’m overstepping my boundaries with this reply, I just thought I’d throw that out there.

I agree with this. If someone is going to "jump ship", I think that NCL and RCCL offer a lot for families. While they don't have Mickey, they do have rock walls, flow riders, rope courses, etc. I also think you'll find a lot of families with younger children on board (at least in the Summer or during school holidays). I'm not too familiar with RCCL's itineraries, but I know that NCL has the Getaway running the Baltic itinerary next summer. We haven't sailed on that ship, but it's loaded with activities that should keep kids happy.

Since you mentioned food, I'll add that we love NCL's food. But I will warn that it's completely different than DCL. There are no set dining times. You eat when and where you want, but you will need to make reservations for the specialty restaurants and some of the shows. Some people don't want to fool with that, and that's OK, but we actually prefer it.

As for shows, well honestly this is where Disney excels when it comes to families with young kids. You don't even have to think twice about whether something is appropriate for them. That's not going to be the case on some of the other cruise lines, but a little research should help you out with that.

I recommend checking out Cruise Critic's specific cruise line forums. If you read on there a bit, you should be able to get a feel for the vibe on all of the lines you are considering. Good luck!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I can’t speak for HAL or Princess (other than what I’ve read), but I can speak for Celebrity.

Demographic: The crowd will be older on Celebrity than Disney, but likely not as old as HAL. Also, if you aren’t travelling during school holidays and if it’s a longer cruise, expect a small number of kids. There’s about 150 people in my roll call for my upcoming 2 week Celebrity cruise, and we’re the only ones so far with a child. I’m fully expecting perhaps as few as a few dozen kids on our cruise and I’m fine with that. My son is introverted and will do well with the peaceful environment and extra attention that comes from an uncrowded kids club. An extroverted child might not feel the same way.

Cabins and Decor: The win goes to Disney due to its classical elegance and cabins designed well for families. But Celebrity (particularly S-class ships) provides some good competition with its beautifully modern ships and cabins that have sofabed space for kids. I’d love to try Princess one day - on paper it looks great. But where it always falls flat in my online comparisons is that it’s cabin categories (lower than a mini-suite) look really cramped if you’re a party bigger than 2. Plus the decor on some of Princess’ ships does look a bit dated.

Evening Entertainment: I much preferred Disney’s evening shows.

Daytime Entertainment for adults: I think the slight edge goes to Celebrity. I’m not interested in ‘Name that Disney Tune’ trivia and found Disney’s organised adult activities severely lacking. Celebrity does offer a bit more, but not without mentioning that some of Celebrity’s so-called ‘enrichment’ activities are thinly veiled sales pitches (avoid any spa and gym talks). On paper, Princess looks better than both.

Kids Activities: This will be the first time my son has sailed with us on Celebrity, so I can’t make a direct comparison of the kids clubs, other to say that I think he will enjoy Celebrity’s as much as Disney’s, but for different reasons. However, when you also throw in the likes of the Aqua Duck, Detective Agency, Character Meet and Greets etc, Disney obviously offers a lot more for kids. Only you know if your child needs all these extra things to keep her entertained, and if so, I think the suggestions above to try NCL and RCCL are good ones.

Food: The win goes to Celebrity. Apart from Palo, I was really disappointed by Disney’s food. I found it under-seasoned and unmemorable.

Value for Money: The reason I’m a repeat Celebrity customer and not yet a repeat Disney customer is cost. Dollar for dollar, I think Celebrity offers quite a bit more, especially if you book during a promotion that includes 2 or more perks (one being the drink package).

Onboard Service: Tie. I’ve found service to be exceptional on every cruise I’ve been on, even the low budget cruise lines.

I hope this helps.

 

[ldo]

My mid-older teens loved Princess. We just did British Isles in July. For 10 yr old: kids club, good food, very good shows with decent variety, magician, broadway singers, fake beatles, etc. almost all totally G/PG (one comedian was a bit more PG13). There are movies under the stars every night--a few are G, some PG, and some lighter R. The stronger R will be shown in a lounge. Teens enjoyed grabbing pizza or popcorn and watching at night as a family after the earlier show. Movies were such as black panther, murder on Orient, Darkest Hour. There will be at least 2 that would be good for a 10 yr old.Princess also does good cultural things like folk dancers, etc.
They tend to run a really good special about 4-6 months out, many times with free or reduced 3rd person-keep an eye out. We took $1K off our bill with 2 teens fare getting reduced by an extra $500 each 5 months out.
We have also sailed RCCL and NLC in Europe. They were fine--a lot more kids--somewhat overwhelming for my shy teens.
Princess would be our go to after DCL. NCL and RCCL shows are not all appropriate for under 14, IMHO.

 

[dcassetta]

I think Princess is a little better for families, but for a nature-related cruise, I would give the edge to HAL. They have a relationship with BBC Earth that offers a lot of nature programming - https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/onboard-activities/cruise-activities/bbc-earth-experiences.html

 

[FSU Girl]

When I was a kid my family only sailed on Princess. The kids clubs were a lot of fun and watching movies on the pool deck is great. I think Norwegian could also be a great choice. It'll have a lot of fun activities onboard.

 

[Dug720]

I think Princess is a little better for families, but for a nature-related cruise, I would give the edge to HAL. They have a relationship with BBC Earth that offers a lot of nature programming - https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/onboard-activities/cruise-activities/bbc-earth-experiences.html

Princess has a partnership with Discovery and its family of channels with excursions and programs alike. I've not cruised Princess - and if HAL had the BBC Earth partnership a few years ago when I was on them in AK they didn't advertise it (they did have a National Parks Service ranger on board for Glacier Bay) - but they do make a pretty big deal about Discovery at Sea on the website anyway.

 

[dcassetta]

Princess has a partnership with Discovery and its family of channels with excursions and programs alike. I've not cruised Princess - and if HAL had the BBC Earth partnership a few years ago when I was on them in AK they didn't advertise it (they did have a National Parks Service ranger on board for Glacier Bay) - but they do make a pretty big deal about Discovery at Sea on the website anyway.

I think the HAL programs are relatively new. There was an amazing stage show with photography from around the world and then one that was northern focused. Both were accompanied by live musicians and the music and images together were incredible. There were also education programs and cool trivia with nature images.

I haven't sailed Princess in 15 years, so have not experienced the Discovery programs myself. Nephews said they preferred the kid's clubs on Princess but the family activities on HAL.

 

[owensamo]

We've sailed Celebrity twice with a teen (Alaska and Italy/Greece) and my teen loves the ship. I like that she hangs with us more - but she's an introvert, so loved being able to find a quiet nook to hide in with her iPad and read. She really enjoyed being able to run to the buffet pretty much anytime day or night and find food, and also got a kick out of joining us at the specialty restaurants - since they aren't adults only. There's a *lot* of artwork on Celebrity ships, and we all enjoyed that. We prefer the Solstice-class ships (we sailed the Reflection in Europe) over the Millennium-class, but would sail any Celebrity ship again if sailing an itinerary we were looking for.

I will say that, from a family standpoint, I think the entertainment on the Reflection was better than the Millennium. There were a number of stage shows, and even a matinee of their "kid-friendly" show, but I don't recall seeing anything from the entertainment staff that kids wouldn't enjoy. We did enjoy the Naturalist on the Alaska cruise - he was very engaging and entertaining while still being educational. I did not find any similar presentations in Europe, which I was disappointed in.

 

[starvenger]

Princess has a partnership with Discovery and its family of channels with excursions and programs alike. I've not cruised Princess - and if HAL had the BBC Earth partnership a few years ago when I was on them in AK they didn't advertise it (they did have a National Parks Service ranger on board for Glacier Bay) - but they do make a pretty big deal about Discovery at Sea on the website anyway.

I think both Princess and Celebrity are trying to go with a “STEM” concept with their kids clubs. Which is not a bad idea, as it distinguishes them from DCL, Royal and Carnival. It’s actually one of the things that makes me want to go on Princess again, as I know my kids would like it.

 

[FutureDisneyEventPlanner]

In my TA office, we typically sell Holland to those in the 50+ demographic. I will be traveling on Celebrity to Europe next year, but I chose it actually to avoid children. Princess would probably be the best for kids. I would also recommend Royal Caribbean or Norwegian like previous posters suggested, especially for children.

 

[Vicki106]

We sailed Princess this past June on the Ruby Princess on an Alaska Inside Passage cruise. We had 2 staterooms, one inside and a mini-suite across the hall. The mini suite was spacious and the closet was huge. The inside was smaller than on DCL, but fine for sleeping. We would probably sail Princess again, but we did fine areas that were of much lower standard than DCL. (To be fair, for the Alaska itinerary it was MUCH cheaper than DCL.) We found the guest services to be not too helpful and not very friendly. We found it annoying that multiple restrooms throughout the ship were out of order for days at a time. We never really saw our cabin steward after the first day and he didn't leave any towel animals - a big disappointment to my kids.) The Broadway-style shows were really NOT.GOOD.At.ALL. We did, however, really enjoy the comedian and the singer. Those shows were great! The other entertainment/education that we really enjoyed was the Naturalist program and the North To Alaska enrichment presentations. I can say enough about those. The food IMHO was only meh, and there was way too much junk from the stores cluttering up the atrium. I mean tables blocking of lots of walking space trying to sell junk from the stores at "discounted" rates. My son (10) didn't really spend much time in the kids club so I can't give an honest assessment of that. My teenagers did enjoy some of the late night activities with the teen club staff.

Overall, we had a great time! Alaska is wonderful and very port intensive, so we didn't spend too much time on the ship. We prefer DCL, but we would sail Princess again if the itinerary and the price was right.