May2008 14day Alaska: HAL Zaandam or Diamond/Coral Princess?

[ryokousha]

My family of 5 (2 adults and 3 children ages 16, 13 and 11) are planning to take a 14-day Alaska Cruise. The schedule of HAL Zaandam fits our plans perfectly, departing Vancouver on May 11 and I found the cruise fare for the oceanview cabin quite reasonable.

Questions:
1. on the Holland America website, there are no more balcony cabins for this sailing. Does that mean they are sold out or they may still open up later once the cruise line sells out the lower category ones?

2. Will it matter a lot that we are not in a balcony cabin on an Alaskan cruise? Our first cruise was on Norwegian Jewel (Egypt & Greek Isles) this year and we were in a mini suite.

Second option: I found a similar departure date for Diamond Princess on May 10, 2008 for a 7 day itinerary from Vancouver to Whittier. We plan to disembark in Whittier and spend 2 nights before taking the Coral Princess:Whittier to Vancouver on May 19, 2008. This will give us a 16day roundtrip with 14 cruising days.

More questions:
1. As I was comparing ships and reviews, I noted that the Zaandam is a smaller and older ship. My understanding is that both the Diamond and the Coral Princess are similar in size to the Norwegian Jewel. How does the Zaandam compare? What things would be missing in Zaandam that the bigger ships Coral & Princess would have? Pros and Cons of each?

2. The cost for a 14day cruise for my family on Diamond Princess (booking inside cabins for first 7 days) and Coral Princess (booking mini suite for the 7day return trip) is double that of 14day Zaandam in 2 oceanview cabins. Around $5t more for Princess. Taking this into account, and the size, age and features of the ships, general cruise experience, should I pick Zaandam or Princess?

3. On the bathroom issue, I noted in some reviews that the Zaandam has shower curtains, not glass partitions? What about on the Diamond and Coral Princess? Can you compare? I can see photos of staterooms of the ships but I have no idea how the bathrooms of these 3 ships look like.

I am posting this in both the HAL and Princess boards to get opinions from those who have cruised these lines.

All advise will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[RuthC]

Let me start by saying I've never sailed Princess, so I can't answer any questions about that line, nor make a comparison.
I have sailed HAL extensively on all classes of ships, and spent 15 days on the Zaandam last October. She's a lovely ship. :) I love the music theme.

I find the R-class ships (of which the Zaandam is one) a good size---it's big enough to have lots of places to sit and read, talk, watch the scenery go by, yet small enough to get from here to there without any difficulty. There's four lounges at night---how many watering holes does anyone need? ;) There's a show lounge and a movie theatre with fresh popcorn! :D
There's plenty of outdoor deck space from which to enjoy the view---that's very important in Alaska. You can even access the bow during some scenic cruising! I book inside cabins, so I will say that a balcony is not a necessity; I love the more sweeping view from an aft deck.
All the inside cabins have shower only---with a curtain. The shower is plenty large enough, and the curtain is weighted so it doesn't blow in the breeze---or stick to the bod. Outside cabins have a tub w/shower.

HAL provides a more traditional cruise than some other lines. There's lovely artwork, fresh flowers, cloth towels in the public restrooms, and a gracious crew that will wait on you with a smile.

Whatever you choose, have a great time in The Great Land.

[mr green]

For myself I would take a 'back to back', on Coral Princess, my favourite ship, 91,000 tons, but only 1,970 passengers, two per cabin.
Both lines are good value in my opinion, but I favour Princess over HAL for entertainment, tours, and staff. Princess also has better bar prices.
Cabins are probably better on HAL, BUT, only the better grade cabins on HAL have a 'frige.
Because of its popularity Coral, and Island Princess 'its sister ship' seldom offer 'Special Prices,' for any cruise. Coral also has more balconies, I would advise one when going to Alaska.
Good luck.

john

[ryokousha]

Thank you for your replies Ruth & John.

What a tough choice.. The kids may also prefer the size of the Princess ships but the low rate on Zaandam is just too tempting. For the price difference, we can already pay for our shore excursions. Personally, (although I haven't sailed on a smaller ship as I've only cruised once on NCL Jewel which is a large ship), just based on my imagination, I think my husband and I may like the ambience on the Zaandam, being more intimate.

Ruth, do you think we'll feel more motion on the smaller Zaandam than on the larger ships?

Does Princess also offer special rates for booking back to back cruises or do I just add up the total for the 2 7day cruise?

More comments from those who have cruised on both HAL and Princess?

Thank you again Ruth & John.

[RuthC]

Ruth, do you think we'll feel more motion on the smaller Zaandam than on the larger ships?
Oh, please don't put me in the position of trying to guess! How much a person feels the motion of the ocean can vary so much I wouldn't want to predict. I didn't feel any excess motion on the Zaandam, but that's not to say that no one else aboard on that same cruise didn't; I simply don't know.
The largest ship I have sailed is the Noordam, and I felt like I was on land while it was at sea. I preferred the sense of rocking on the Zaandam.

[photodoodle]

I cruised one way on the Statendam, which is similar to the Zaandam, and I really liked it. We had an outside view cabin. I have not sailed on Princess in the last 10 years, so I can't be helpful with a comparison. I chose the Statendam, because I want a smaller ship and I liked the itinerary. The bow deck was a great place to enjoy the scenery and it was open all the time as far as I'm aware. I wouldn't worry too much about shower curtains and such. Alaska, itself, will capture most of your attention.

What are the two itineraries? Are they different enough to be a factor?

I'm sure a balcony would be nice, but we saved on the cruise cabin and splurged on excursions. I happen to think excursions are important on an Alaska cruise. If you just stroll around town, you will be missing some spectacular opportunities. Just my opinion.

[Tinknock50]

Thank you for your replies Ruth & John.

What a tough choice.. The kids may also prefer the size of the Princess ships but the low rate on Zaandam is just too tempting. For the price difference, we can already pay for our shore excursions. Personally, (although I haven't sailed on a smaller ship as I've only cruised once on NCL Jewel which is a large ship), just based on my imagination, I think my husband and I may like the ambience on the Zaandam, being more intimate.

Ruth, do you think we'll feel more motion on the smaller Zaandam than on the larger ships?

Does Princess also offer special rates for booking back to back cruises or do I just add up the total for the 2 7day cruise?

More comments from those who have cruised on both HAL and Princess?

Thank you again Ruth & John.


Well I am booked on the May 11th Back-to-Back cruise. Could not pass up a bargain like that!
Our cabin is on the wonderful wrap-aroung Promenade deck.....a wonderful covered area from which to enjoy the Alaska scenery!

I have been on the Island Princess (sister to the Coral) and it does seem roomier and more highly decorated. I liked it. But I would not pay a lot more to take it.

If you think you may like a more intimate ship, the Zaandam will be fine for you.

[mr green]

I have sailed several times in Alaskan waters, in ships from 46,000-91,000 tons with no motion problems. We are doing a round trip next year, Vancouver - Hawaii on the Zaandam, and we never gave motion of the ship a thought! Don't worry about it.:)

john

P.S. In my opinion the Diamond would be too big for a relaxing cruise, however May is the driest month for Alaska

[NancyIL]

My first cruise was on the Zaandam in 2004, and I wasn't too impressed with the ship at that time. We did a northbound cruise on the Coral Princess to Alaska this past June, and I loved the ship and the way Princess does Alaska. I want to return to Alaska next summer, and HAL's Veendam has the itinerary I like best. I booked it - hoping for a better experience than on my first HAL cruise.

If it were me, I wouldn't do b2b cruises on the same ship with the same itinerary. I'd go northbound on the Veendam (Fridays), going to Ketchikan, Haines, Juneau, Sitka, Hubbard Glacier, and ending in Seward. Spend the weekend on the Kenai Peninsula, then cruise southbound on the Coral or Island Princess (Mondays) from Whittier, going to College Fjord, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan.

Both HAL and Princess allow travel agents to discount, so don't book directly with either line, unless you plan to transfer the reservation to a discount agency. I originally booked the least expensive inside cabin on the Coral (with shower curtain), then upgraded to an obstructed oceanview cabin last December when prices dropped. I've never had a balcony cabin, so I never knew what I was missing! The Coral has great front deck viewing on the Baja and Caribe decks.

**By the way, the Tahitian Princess will do a 14-day roundtrip cruise from Vancouver in 2008. Although from what I've read, it isn't as kid-friendly as the larger Princess ships.

[NancyIL]

Have you considered doing a one-way cruise, with the remainder of your time spent traveling around the interior of Alaska with a rental car? We did that for 8 days after our northbound cruise ended, and I loved the land trip as much as the cruise - maybe even a bit more.

[cruzrpup]

Hi ryokousha,
I am comparing the 2 cruiselines for a June '08 sail and would love to hear what you finally decide.
Thanks!

[ryokousha]

Thank you to everyone who replied. I have been quiet for some time trying to decide which cruise line to take for Alaska.

I personally like the idea of a more intimate, "quieter" ship with a lot of open space to read a book, AND a moviehouse with popcorn. The major thing that was holding me back was the size of the ship. Being smaller, I was worried about the motion issue because my sister, who will go on her first cruise, is prone to motion sickness. But based on advise, I shouldn't even worry about this.. I also read that Holland America does a good job with their Alaska itineraries and the more I read up on HAL, the more I convinced I was that we should give it a try.

So today, I placed my reservations for my family on the Zaandam together with some of our friends and family travelling with us. Then I was surprised to find that there were so very few cabins left that some of us were assigned cabins on the aft while the others are in the fore section of the ship. Not too convenient for a group of family and friends travelling together...And the ones who wanted a verandah cabin are on waitlist (but we knew this from the start.)

Upon checking with Princess, I found more cabin choices are open. So now, we are reconsidering Princess, depending on the final cabins we can get on the Diamond Princess May 10 and the Coral Princess May 19.

Our first choice is still HAL if we can manage to solve the cabin location issue. But we will go Princess otherwise.

Again, thank you so much for all the valuable advice.

[Vacationschedule]

This is a tough choice. Both cruise lines are very good. If you decide on Princess I would suggest the Coral over the Diamond. Just my two cents worth. :) Love the size of the Coral.

[NancyIL]

The advantage of HAL is that you get one change of port on the southbound cruise: Haines instead of Skagway. Is there no way you could make a Friday cruise on the Veendam? Going northbound on the Veendam on Friday and south on the Zaandam or Volendam on Sunday would give you different glaciers and 1 different port.

[Tinknock50]

Thank you to everyone who replied. I have been quiet for some time trying to decide which cruise line to take for Alaska.

I personally like the idea of a more intimate, "quieter" ship with a lot of open space to read a book, AND a moviehouse with popcorn. The major thing that was holding me back was the size of the ship. Being smaller, I was worried about the motion issue because my sister, who will go on her first cruise, is prone to motion sickness. But based on advise, I shouldn't even worry about this.. I also read that Holland America does a good job with their Alaska itineraries and the more I read up on HAL, the more I convinced I was that we should give it a try.

So today, I placed my reservations for my family on the Zaandam together with some of our friends and family travelling with us. Then I was surprised to find that there were so very few cabins left that some of us were assigned cabins on the aft while the others are in the fore section of the ship. Not too convenient for a group of family and friends travelling together...And the ones who wanted a verandah cabin are on waitlist (but we knew this from the start.)

Upon checking with Princess, I found more cabin choices are open. So now, we are reconsidering Princess, depending on the final cabins we can get on the Diamond Princess May 10 and the Coral Princess May 19.

Our first choice is still HAL if we can manage to solve the cabin location issue. But we will go Princess otherwise.

Again, thank you so much for all the valuable advice.

Hi, I noticed you said "assigned cabins".....didn't you request cabins by number?

If you would like, perhaps I can help you figure out how to get cabins close together......email me at the address below.