HAL vs NCL Alaska Cruise? (similar itineraries)

Hello!

I am currently looking at two round trip Alaska Cruises from Seattle, the Holland America Westerdam and the Norwegian Cruise Line Pearl. I've narrowed it down to these two cruises because I have a tight date window and these two cruises fit schedule wise.

I have been reading on this board that you should pick an Alaska cruise based on the itinerary. The tricky thing is that these two itineraries are almost identical, except one has Sitka and one has Skagway. Additionally, they both cruise glacier bay which I definitely want to do.

Therefore, I'm having trouble deciding which cruise to take. I have only done small ship cruising before (seaborn, windstar), so I am trying to understand the differences between these ships and these itineraries. I am looking at balcony rooms for both cruises. Since I haven't done a big cruise ship before, it is a bit overwhelming trying to distill the differences and pros/cons of each of these ships/cruiselines and itineraries.

Additionally, it sounds like NCL is more casual than HAL, but it also seems like perusing this board, NCL seems to be a less favorited cruise line and that HAL may have better food, so I'd love any feedback, thoughts, opinions on these cruise lines, ships and itineraries.

Additionally, it looks like if I booked NCL for this cruise there is a promotion where I'd get an free "unlimited adult beverage package" which is making me lean towards NCL, but I'm not sure if that's a mistake and would love someone to correct me if that's a rookie move!

Thanks so much!!

Have you looked at EACH of the ports on both itineraries? Frankly- each is very different from the other, and for some, touring the ports is half your trip. There are BIG differences in Sitka and Skagway, that I suggest you look at- unless, you won't be doing any tours for whatever reason?

There is a perceived "ranking" of cruise lines, that some seem to proclaim. But I definitely disagree. EACH cruise line has it's pluses and negatives. NCL does a great job in Alaska and so does HAL. Demographics are very similar. What you will find- are rave reviews about everyone's Alaska cruises.

So your choice may be the perk of the NCL line? Costs? Rank what is important to you.

Hi Budget Queen,

Thanks for the reply!

What do you mean about looking at "each" of the ports?

Both itineraries do the following same ports:

Juneau

Glacier Bay, Alaska - Cruise Only

Ketchikan, Alaska

Victoria, British Columbia

and one does Sitka and the other does Skagway--I will research these ports but I'm curious about the differences/similarities of these ships since the itineraries ARE so similar.

Thanks!

Hi Budget Queen,

 

Thanks for the reply!

 

What do you mean about looking at "each" of the ports?

 

Both itineraries do the following same ports:

Juneau

Glacier Bay, Alaska - Cruise Only

Ketchikan, Alaska

Victoria, British Columbia

 

 

and one does Sitka and the other does Skagway--I will research these ports but I'm curious about the differences/similarities of these ships since the itineraries ARE so similar.

 

Thanks!

 

 

What are you planning on doing in ports? If your priority is Alaska, then this is essential, you take a look at what touring is available, and YOUR preferences. Start with the shore excursion lists to see what is available.

If it doesn't matter, then take some time and read the ship reports for the particular ship details.

Pick the one with the port which speaks to you the most. Both NCL and HAL are just fine. Good food, entertainment, great staff and crew.

Hmm.... Skagway and Sitka are close to one another (actually Sitka is closer to Juneau/Ketchikan). Skagway offers White Pass Railway, Liarsville, Yukon, and the Red Onion.

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I've never been to Sitka.... what does it offer? I've heard about whale watching was popular. I too wanna go there to check it out one day.

Hmm.... Skagway and Sitka are close to one another (actually Sitka is closer to Juneau/Ketchikan). Skagway offers White Pass Railway, Liarsville, Yukon, and the Red Onion.

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I've never been to Sitka.... what does it offer? I've heard about whale watching was popular. I too wanna go there to check it out one day.

Close?? How?? If distance, only, Juneau and Skagway.

As I already mentioned, there are several tours, specific to ports, that are NOT available at others.

Sitka's boat tours are the highlight with the only inside passage puffin rookery accessibility with tour, sea otters, and humpbacks, orcas and greys seen. .

If the difference is Sitka vs. Skagway, then my vote would be Sitka, and it is not even close IMO.

We booked NCL based solely on the itinerary with Glacier Bay and Sitka for May of 2016. We did take advantage of the free beverage package.

As a first time Alaska cruiser we went with HAL Westerdam from Seattle.

Have been on NCL and I believe the Pearl is sailing this itinerary also although I thought Sitka was a HAL port. Have heard great things about it being 'unspoiled'.

That said what attracted us to HAL was free drink package, itinerary, BB King club, expanded room service menu. I am hoping that HAL has retained some of its more formal touches but I do think in general all the mainline ships (X, Princess, HAL,NCL) are more alike than different.

If one were booking a full suite I do think NCL has a big advantage with their suite experience.

One tour we are taking that may not be offered on NCL depending on port time in Juneau, is a small boat excursion to Tracy Arm.

Good luck- I am sure this is one decision that despite being difficult will have a wonderful outcome regardless of your choices.

Thanks Chisoxfan,

I also just realized there is a cruise on the Crown Princess at the same time with a very similar itinerary as well. It is a bit more exepensive than HAL and NCL, but in the running as well. It just seems hard to decide and pull the trigger on one, since there are so many reviews of these ships and cruise lines with so many positives and negatives.

I think you're right, that no matter what we'll have a great time, but still hard to decide which ship to take!

thanks for the input!

Thanks for your comments Supatraveler. Our first cruises were on Princess and we like the line very much. However over the past four years we have not cruised them. We even have a future cruise credit that will be expiring soon that we never used. We always look at Princess but their prices seem less competitive and their promotions less attractive.

Good Travels,

Hmm.... Skagway and Sitka are close to one another (actually Sitka is closer to Juneau/Ketchikan). Skagway offers White Pass Railway, Liarsville, Yukon, and the Red Onion.

 

<SNIP<

 

 

I've never been to Sitka.... what does it offer? I've heard about whale watching was popular. I too wanna go there to check it out one day.

Definitely Google Sitka and find out more about it. It is a true jewel and I am looking forward to getting back there this year.

Thanks for the input everyone. I've gone ahead and eliminated Princess due to the price compared to the other one.

The HAL cruise is slightly less than NCL which sounds great because they go to Sitka, but we've only been offered a free beverage package on NCL. Is there any way to get that offer on HAL? (I know that sounds like a dumb question...)

Does HAL have a "freestlye"-like dining option, like NCL does?

Thanks!

HAL does offer the open dining as do all the mainstream lines. When we have cruised NCL we have not seen it handled any better than Princess or HAL, IN fact we have been on two NCL cruises where it was done poorly (long waits),

We have a beverage oackage on our upcoming HAL Alaska cruise that was part of and Explore 4 promo last year. The HAL package is not (IMHO) as good as other packages but it was offered "free".

We do not go on Carib cruises anymore without this package and have standardized pretty much on X because of this. We are on the ship extensively, the weather is hot, pool time...... ie we can drink a lot.

On an Alaska cruise, port intensive, cool weather, probably not as much. What I would suggest is that you make a guesstimate of how much you might drink and apply this to compare cruises.ie on an Alaska cruise I might figure 4 waters, 2 specialty coffees, a cocktail or two and maybe a glass of wine or two with dinner. In this case perhaps 60 bucks a day per cabin? X 7 that is 420. HAL drinks are limited to 7 or 7.95 (I don't remember exactly) each and 15 pp per day.

Whatever you think your package is worth I would use in comparing prices.

The only caveat to this is that a drink package can be a very 'liberating'

bonus in that one does not have to be concerned with the 'end of cruise'

tally. IMHO really important on a Carib cruise with high ship time and perhaps less important on an Alaska cruise. We wouldn't book without this perk any longer on our winter carib cruises but it was a nice feature for Alaska.

Hope these comments are somewhat helpful.

Thanks for the input everyone. I've gone ahead and eliminated Princess due to the price compared to the other one.

 

The HAL cruise is slightly less than NCL which sounds great because they go to Sitka, but we've only been offered a free beverage package on NCL. Is there any way to get that offer on HAL? (I know that sounds like a dumb question...)

 

Does HAL have a "freestlye"-like dining option, like NCL does?

 

Thanks!

All the cruiselines have open dining. It would depend on what offers, at the time, cruiselines have. I expect most to be ending soon.

Our first cruise was HAL Westerdam to Alaska last July. We loved it! The ports are intensive and early morning excursions. Not many people up and about after 11PM I don't know if it's the air or what, but you get tired! Loved the wood promenade and the elegance of the Westerdam.

I don't think you'll utilize the drink package on this trip.

Thanks for the post Zuki!

Do you mean that one doesn't drink much on the Alaska cruises, so a beverage package isn't worth it?

I've never done a large cruise ship before, so this may sound like a silly question, but are cups of water, juice at breakfast, iced teas, etc, included or do you have to buy each of those separately? Ideally I'd love to not be "nickel and dimed" on a cruise for each beverage, but I know I'm pretty spoiled having mostly sailed on seabourn.

Thanks!

We did not drink much alcoholic beverages. We even brought on wine and didn't touch it.

We got the coffee card and the soda card. I can't remember the price, but fairly reasonable.

As far as water, the water is excellent to drink from the tap. bring your own water bottle and keep filling up. You can add ice to keep it cold.

Thanks for the post Zuki!

 

Do you mean that one doesn't drink much on the Alaska cruises, so a beverage package isn't worth it?

 

I've never done a large cruise ship before, so this may sound like a silly question, but are cups of water, juice at breakfast, iced teas, etc, included or do you have to buy each of those separately? Ideally I'd love to not be "nickel and dimed" on a cruise for each beverage, but I know I'm pretty spoiled having mostly sailed on seabourn.

 

Thanks!

Correct, those are included beverages on all the "regular" lines.

Thank you both for your comments and insight! I really appreciate it.

I'm still torn between both of these cruises--I was leaning towards HAL but my travel agent reminded me that HAL is more 55+ crowd, but i'm worried about NCL as it does the half off 3rd & 4th traveler, which makes me think there would be a lot of kids. My boyfriend and I are in our late 20s, so I don't know if it's better to be on the younger side on the HAL ship or dealing with kids (which we don't love) on the NCL trip. I am also leaning towards HAL since they go to Sitka.

Hmmmm....

Thank you both for your comments and insight! I really appreciate it.

 

I'm still torn between both of these cruises--I was leaning towards HAL but my travel agent reminded me that HAL is more 55+ crowd, but i'm worried about NCL as it does the half off 3rd & 4th traveler, which makes me think there would be a lot of kids. My boyfriend and I are in our late 20s, so I don't know if it's better to be on the younger side on the HAL ship or dealing with kids (which we don't love) on the NCL trip. I am also leaning towards HAL since they go to Sitka.

 

Hmmmm....

If you choose HAL when schools are on vacation, there will be more families with kids (more even distribution of ages). If you sail with HAL, while kids are in school, you will find a higher average age with empty-nesters and retirees.

HAL Kids is a club that provides a great vacation for kids by offering cooking classes, video games, dance lessons, movies, games. Kids are organized by age groups for relevant activities. They kids have so much fun that you will probably never see them on-board except for Embarkation Day.

Sitka is not visited by every Alaska cruise line. Via one excursion you can see otters, whales, eagles, and brown bears. Just walking the streets of this quaint former-Russian city is very interesting.

Count on your BF to make your cruise fun and not count on your fellow passengers to do so. HAL is not a party ship although some of the Pub Crawls can get rather boisterous.

Hi Crew News,

I am definitely counting on my boyfriend to make the trip fun haha!

I'm leaning toward HAL a bit more now. I feel like I'm finally gettin somewhere in making a decision.

Thank you both for your comments and insight! I really appreciate it.

 

I'm still torn between both of these cruises--I was leaning towards HAL but my travel agent reminded me that HAL is more 55+ crowd, but i'm worried about NCL as it does the half off 3rd & 4th traveler, which makes me think there would be a lot of kids. My boyfriend and I are in our late 20s, so I don't know if it's better to be on the younger side on the HAL ship or dealing with kids (which we don't love) on the NCL trip. I am also leaning towards HAL since they go to Sitka.

 

Hmmmm....

I'll speculate your agent does NOT have multiple sailings in Alaska, may not have even been there.

Frankly your concerns are insignificant on Alaska cruises. ALL the cruise lines, have a wide range of demographics, with all of them skewed older, compared to the Caribbean where the differences are vast. I would suggest you not take either- too old or too young into consideration, with an Alaska selection. They are very similar. Not sure, but for me, it makes NO difference who is sailing with me.

Yeah, that makes sense to me and agree, especially because we would not be doing group dining, we would be eating solo at every meal.

My agent just gave me a Celebrity option for the same date range, but it doesn't go to Glacier Bay and instead goes to Tracy Arm.

I think for our first Alaska cruise I'd like to travel Glacier Bay, so I think I'm almost certain we'll go with HAL. I just need to do a bit more research on the cabins and food options and then I think we'll be ready to pull the trigger.

Appreciate everyone's insight!