Holland America vs NCL to Bermuda?

I am planning on going to Bermuda August 2010. We have taken 11 cruises but not on either on these lines. Both Holland America and NCL have ships that go that cruise.

Holland America - Veendam from New York

At sea

St Georges 8am

St Georges 2pm

Hamilton 4pm

Hamilton

Hamilton 2pm

At sea

NCL - Spirit from Boston

At sea

Kings Wharf 11am

Kings Wharf

Kings Wharf

Kings Wharf 6am

At sea

Taking Holland America would cost a couple thousand more for a balcony than NCL.

Would like help deciding which cruise to take?

Well, if money is no object, although that is hard to believe sometimes, I would take the HAL just because I love St. George's. King's Wharf is some distance from things and sort of out there.

Both nice cruise lines. HAL has the edge on elegance for sure. Plus, better lounge chairs.:)

Well, if money is no object, although that is hard to believe sometimes, I would take the HAL just because I love St. George's. King's Wharf is some distance from things and sort of out there.

Both nice cruise lines. HAL has the edge on elegance for sure. Plus, better lounge chairs.:)

I've been to Bermuda on what was, at the time, Radisson, on the Navigator. Because it is a smaller ship (even smaller than the Veendam), it didn't need to dock on the west end (King's Wharf).

I'd much prefer to dock in Hamilton/St. George's than King's Wharf, Hamilton is especially convenient to sample what Bermuda has to offer. King's Wharf is somewhat removed from the rest of the island, although public transport (buses) and the water taxi to Hamilton help with this issue.

The Spirit I believe has recently undergone a retrofit, I have a feeling it would have a few more bells and whistles than the Veendam. I am guessing that the Veendam might have a different demographic, as well, a little bit more subdued crowd. That would be fine with me.

If it were my choice, and cost was not an issue, I would opt for the HAL sailing.

I wouldn't consider docking at King's Wharf if a cruise ship was available that went to Hamilton and St. George, if I could possibly afford the price difference. And I would scrimp and save to make it possible.

Holland, hands down.

Better port areas, better service onboard.

RCI used to have 7 day to Bermuda but cut them back to five.

A five day cruise isn't worth packing underwear for.;)

The NCL Spirit is one of the best ships I've sailed in terms of service (many Phillipine and Indonesian crew members, like HAL)...and she's a darned attractive little ship! I love the freestyle concept, and the Blue Lagoon has some of the best comfort food afloat. The main dining rooms are good, too. I'm really no expert: I eat, not dine. I only tried one of the specialty restaurants and while good (and free at the time), it wasn't special enough to repeat.

The Spirit has a full promenade, with interesting murals and artwork to view as you take your morning/evening constitutional. The pool area is lovely, as are the public areas.

The only thing about the Spirit I don't like are the 3-compartment bathrooms, but inside cabins have a normal bathroom with a huge sliding glass door shower.

When in Bermuda, I don't mind being out at the Dockyards, but I like taking the ferries and bus service over to Hamilton and St. George.

I don't think you can go wrong with either ship, but thought I'd put in my two cents on the Spirit.

I've been to Bermuda on what was, at the time, Radisson, on the Navigator. Because it is a smaller ship (even smaller than the Veendam), it didn't need to dock on the west end (King's Wharf).

I'd much prefer to dock in Hamilton/St. George's than King's Wharf, Hamilton is especially convenient to sample what Bermuda has to offer. King's Wharf is somewhat removed from the rest of the island, although public transport (buses) and the water taxi to Hamilton help with this issue.

The Spirit I believe has recently undergone a retrofit, I have a feeling it would have a few more bells and whistles than the Veendam. I am guessing that the Veendam might have a different demographic, as well, a little bit more subdued crowd. That would be fine with me.

If it were my choice, and cost was not an issue, I would opt for the HAL sailing.

I took that Radisson cruise also. Did you like the Navigator? We thought it was the worst ride we ever experienced. Dollar for dollar it is hard to top the value rec'd on HAL.

Thanks for all the information.

Can anybody compare Holland America to NCL. We have been on Princess, RCI, and Carnival with Princess as our favourite. We have had inside, oceanview, balcony. We like a choice of good food, anytime dining compared to a set time, enterntainment (shows) in the evening, and the slots in the casino.

There might be 3 adults in the cabin. There would be about $2,000 difference in price between the two cruises - NCL BC and Holland America BB.

Thanks for all the information.

 

There might be 3 adults in the cabin. There would be about $2,000 difference in price between the two cruises - NCL BC and Holland America BB.

You should check out the cabin size on each ship. The Veedam definitely looks like the cabin size is larger. For Oceanview it is 157 sq Ft on NCL vs 197 sq ft on the Veedam. NCL Balcony is 201 vs 294 for HAL. And the inside is on the NCL is a 147 vs 182 on HAL.

I took that Radisson cruise also. Did you like the Navigator? We thought it was the worst ride we ever experienced. Dollar for dollar it is hard to top the value rec'd on HAL.

Actually, one of the best cruises we ever did (my 50th b-day). We loved Radisson, the food was great, the all inclusive nature is a plus. Two bottles of high end liquor (liter size!) your choice to start, beer and soda replenished daily. When we ordered room service for dinner, they just sent up our choice of a bottle of wine. Navigator has the well documented vibration problems which we noticed, but very little in the stateroom, which was beautiful. I thought the price point was really favorable for this cruise.

We got lucky on the weather, the Atlantic was like glass for our cruise. I can imagine in a bigger sea, this smaller ship might give a rough ride.

3 adults makes a difference. The few 200 sq ft inside cabins on the Spirit are perfect for one or two, but a third would have to use a bunk coming from the ceiling. Many 3rd beds on the Spirit are trundles, leading to wall-to-wall beds.

For that many people, the Veendam is a better choice, unless you want to move to suite accomodations.

You might also consider the NCL Dawn out of NYC to Bermuda as well. The Dawn is a bigger ship and has a fun feel to it. The entertainment on the Dawn was good. I sailed this run last October and enjoyed the laided back feel of the cruise and not having to get so dressed up for dinner. Sailing to Bermuda is like using the ship as your hotel and restrauants so if you want a bigger room and better food and don't care about the entertainment then go with Hal.

I am planning on going to Bermuda August 2010. We have taken 11 cruises but not on either on these lines. Both Holland America and NCL have ships that go that cruise.

 

Holland America - Veendam from New York

At sea

St Georges 8am

St Georges 2pm

Hamilton 4pm

Hamilton

Hamilton 2pm

At sea

 

NCL - Spirit from Boston

At sea

Kings Wharf 11am

Kings Wharf

Kings Wharf

Kings Wharf 6am

At sea

 

Taking Holland America would cost a couple thousand more for a balcony than NCL.

 

Would like help deciding which cruise to take?

Holland America would be better than NCL. If you want to do a larger ship, I would do the Celebrity Summit. Both HAL and Celebrity will have much better food and better service than NCL.

Enjoy!

Kel:)

ITINERARY

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART SunAug8Bayonne, NJ 4:00pmMonAug9At SeaTueAug10At SeaWedAug11King's Wharf, Bermuda 8:30amThuAug12King's Wharf, Bermuda FriAug13King's Wharf, Bermuda 4:30pmSatAug14At SeaSunAug15Bayonne, NJ 7:00am

To dock at St George's and Hamilton is a big plus.

King'w Wharf -- been there --done that -- don't like that pier.

I totally agree with the previous posters Docking in St. George and Hamilton would be my preference over King's Wharf.

We cruised there twice (both times on Celebrity) and loved both these ports. We did go out to King's Wharf one day and I was very dissappointed.

So another vote for HAL from me.

The better comparison would be the Veendam vs the Norwegian Dawn since they both sail from the same New York terminal on the same day. Having sailed on both, they both have their advantages.

The Veendam gives you an extra half day in Bermuda and can dock in St. George and Hamilton. The Dawn has many more balcony cabins at a much lower price and gives you a choice of 10 dining venues. I think these two ships would provide an ideal back-to-back Bermuda cruises from New York. We enjoyed both of them.

I have sailed on both these lines. We were on the Dawn to Bermuda this past June. We were reluctant to cruise with NCL but it was the best choice for us this year.

Differences between the two lines -

Dress - NCL is casual - all the time - there are "dress up or not nights" rather than the formal nights you will find on HAL.

Food - we prefer the food on HAL, but food is subjective and we didn't have anything that was "bad" on NCL. It was all pretty good. NCL has a lot more pay restaurants than HAL.

Cabins - we had a suite on both lines. The suites on NCL were MUCH bigger than those on HAL. But both were equally comfortable and kept clean. The service on both lines was very good.

Entertainment - seemed to be a lot more venues on NCL than on HAL. We liked the casino on NCL better than that on HAL.

Dock - we didn't have a problem with being in King's Wharf. We were able to get wherever we needed to be with little effort.

I know is looks like I prefer NCL but we really love HAL. The Dawn Bermuda cruise was surprisingly very nice!

I have sailed on both these lines. We were on the Dawn to Bermuda this past June. We were reluctant to cruise with NCL but it was the best choice for us this year.

 

Differences between the two lines -

 

Dress - NCL is casual - all the time - there are "dress up or not nights" rather than the formal nights you will find on HAL.

 

Food - we prefer the food on HAL, but food is subjective and we didn't have anything that was "bad" on NCL. It was all pretty good. NCL has a lot more pay restaurants than HAL.

 

Cabins - we had a suite on both lines. The suites on NCL were MUCH bigger than those on HAL. But both were equally comfortable and kept clean. The service on both lines was very good.

 

Entertainment - seemed to be a lot more venues on NCL than on HAL. We liked the casino on NCL better than that on HAL.

 

Dock - we didn't have a problem with being in King's Wharf. We were able to get wherever we needed to be with little effort.

 

I know is looks like I prefer NCL but we really love HAL. The Dawn Bermuda cruise was surprisingly very nice!

Appreciate your honest comments on your Norwegian Dawn Bermuda cruise. We started cruising on HAL and did over 100 days on her various ships. We decided to try NCL when they began sailing year round out of New York (getting tired of flying to Florida). The Norwegian Dawn was our first NCL ship and we were very pleasantly surprised. We are sailing to Bermuda on the Dawn in October but look forward to sailing again on the Veendam to Bermuda next fall.

My major issue with the Dawn was that there was only ONE pool for EVERYONE... unless you wanted to pay $$ for use of the indoor pool

My major issue with the Dawn was that there was only ONE pool for EVERYONE... unless you wanted to pay $$ for use of the indoor pool

I totally agree and considering the fact that the Dawn was sailing year round out of New York, the pool should have had a retractable glass roof similar to those on most HAL ships. It should be noted that the Dawn does have a small children's pool behind the gazebo in the Oasis pool area.