Grand Princess, Splendour of the Seas or Oosterdam - Which one???

[dcsam]

Can't decide between the following trips - all are Christmas cruises:

Grand Princess out of Galveston - Western Caribbean

Splendour of the Seas out of Galveston - Western Caribbean

Oosterdam out of San Diego - Mexican Riviera

Traveling with my husband. Also my brother; his wife and two kids (16 and 18); his mother-in-law and my mom. (late 70's).
My brother and his family live in San Diego and say the Mexico trip seems too close to home. On the other hand, they'd have airfare to cruise out of Galveston. ANY and ALL suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks much!
Caroline

[JDee]

Caroline: I don't think any of them would be a bad choice.

Did the Grand a few years ago, don't regret it, but it would not be my first choice. While the ship is certainly big, with around 3,000 plus pax at Xmas time, it will feel crowded. Just not enough public spaces to accomodate that many pax. Upper levels of the show lounge makes you feel like you are in Yankee Stadium. Thought the DR was rather noisy. Their Lido configuration is a maze. However, the food, service, entertainment & accocomations were very good. With that many pax, was surprised as to the speedy tendering service. They two departure points, 1 forward & 1 aft. Returns were also speedy.

Have booked the Splendour for 2/26 Carib cruise. Have never been on it, but have Platimun status on RCI having been on the sister ships Grandeur and Legend a few times. Their pax is about 2,000 but never felt crowded. Their Windjammer (Lido) is very nice. Been a few years since cruising with RCI and never had a bad experience. Food probably not equal to HAL, no up-scale alternate dinning, coffee lounges, & such, as this ship is probably in the 10 year old range, but I would expect food, entertainment, service & accomodations to be very good & possibly a few things excellent. Am looking forward to it.

Never been on Oosdam, but did Zuiderdam a few years ago. Thought it was a good cruise and was very satisfied. With HAL, I prefer the smaller R or S class, but would sail again on any Vista class if the price & timing was right. However, the Oosterdam would be good choice.

My preference order would be Splendour, Oosterdam & Grand.

Happy cruising....

[dcsam]

Wow! Thanks for taking the time to offer your opinion. Now we have it narrowed down to the two.
Thanks again.
Caroline

[777steve]

Haven't sailed on the Grand ..... Princess cabins seems a little smallish to me.

Have sailed out of Galveston on Rhapsody and had an excellent experience with RCI (since we live in Houston it was also made easier). If you want to discuss more details about pre-cruise in the area, feel free to email me offline.

I have sailed on Oosterdam once out of Ft. Lauderdale.... we hated it so much we did the same itinerary in less than year on the Westerdam. Hated it again so much we've booked the Oosterdam out of San Diego for December (the short 5 day Sea of Cortez - so we can also do Disney and SD Zoo)....

Don't know what kind of cabins you're going to do but you should know that HAL's lower tier cabins are uniformly larger than RCI - HAL's smallest are 185sf. On RCI you have to get to the JS level to get 241 plus a 64sf vernadah. The Suites on Oosterdam are very nice (except for the rather blah bathroom) .. and if you're a verandah nut like we are the Aft corner S suites on deck 5 are unbeatable - we've had 5186/5187 and 5187 again coming up on the Oo. HAL's Lido is arguably easier than RCI Windjammer and the food in the Lido is probahly up a few notches from RCI. I'm not a real epicure nor am I fond of mass feeding - just thought I'd throw those tidbits in for what they're worth. The casino on HAL also seemed to be MUCH friendlier (not just to me but to others who have had multiple experiences in both).

Anyway ... all things being equal:

RCI - great if you go with JS or better (the stateroom sizes get MUCH better in the GS/OS level - RCI's GS is only slightly smaller inside than HAL's S) and the OS is MUCH larger at 511 square feet before you get to the Verandah. Also, the RCI bathrooms in GS and above are much nicer.

HAL - newer ship, very nice accomodations all around - the beds are OUTSTANDING - 100 times superior to RCI.

It's a tough call - although based on reports and my own needs, I would definitely rule out Princess Grand, would book Splendor in heartbeat and would just sail forever if the Oosterdam left from Galveston!

Cheers!

[dcsam]

Thanks again. It's going to be a tough choice. But we've definitely ruled out the Grand.
Caroline

[capeboy96]

I'm a 30 yo guy from Massachusetts, somewhat addicted to cruising. Been on 17 already and head out in 2 weeks for the Norwegian Star to Mexico. I've sailed on Carnival, NCL, RCI, HAL, Princess, Regal, and Crystal. Thought I'd add my 2 cents here.

Just did the Grand Princess over Christmas and I would never go on that ship again over the holidays. Way too many rude and obnoxious kids. I think there were well over 700 on board. The adult only pool was a joke as several days you couldn't get in the hot tubs as there were too many kids in them. I got prank phone calls in the middle of the night and got a breakfast delivered by room service one morning at 6am which I hadn't ordered. The ship itself was nice and I wouldn't hesitate to sail on it again provided that it's during a time school is in session.

I went to Alaska a couple of years ago on the Legend of the Seas, a sister to the Splendour. Beautiful ship and I really liked the size. The Grand at times felt a little too big. I think RCI and Princess offer a fairly comperable package with the only significant differnce being Princess offers anytime dining as an option.

Have not been on the Oosterdam or any of the Vista class ships on HAL yet. I have sailed on the smaller Maasdam and Statendam and enjoyed them both. After Crystal, HAL would be my my next favorite line. Excellent service, entertainment, and ships never feel crowded. Not sure there would be a whole lot of teens on board though. If I had teens, guess I'd lean more towards the Splendour.

[dcsam]

Thanks so much!!!
You guys are a huge help!
Caroline

[shipcafe]

I have a Splendour Review :

http://www.shipcafe.net/shipcafe/splendour/sp_review.htm

and obviously have a lot of the other HAL ships on my site as well.

Steve

[joyus]

Thank you, shipcafe, for such an interesting and informative website. What a wonderful way to share your experience with the rest of us.