HAL compared to Carnival for Solo Cruiser

I have been on 2 cruises- both on the Carnival Sensation. Had a great time! I was pricing cruises for a last minute trip and I found a 10 day Panama Canal and a 7 day Eastern Caribbean on Holland that both look good. Carnival, Royal and Norweigan are all limited availability and very high rates right now... I have read comments that Holland is an older demographic. I am 42 yrs old and This cruise is more about relaxing than "living it up"... What do you think?

My opinion--based on zero Carnival cruises and exactly 1 HAL cruise--is that you should go for it, particularly if it's on the Eurodam or Nieuw Amsterdam. Those are their bigger, newer ships and between that and the fact that it's in the Caribbean for a 7-day cruise, you will have a range of ages onboard.

I was very worried about the cruise I took on HAL because of HAL's geriatric reputation. I am about a decade older than you but my cruise (which was a longer cruise, in the Baltic, during the school year, so not likely to attract many young people) was surprisingly not elderly. So I think you'll be fine especially if you're looking for a relaxing time and not nonstop entertainment and crazy partying.

If you're trying to choose between the two, keep in mind that the 7-day Caribbean will most likely have a slightly younger demographic than the 10-day Panama Canal (if general demographic is a deciding factor for you).

At 42, you're very young for HAL. I'm 66, I will only travel on HAL with a group, and even then I feel like one of the youngest and most active people on board.

But if you want "relaxing", then HAL is a good choice.

I've done solo cruises on both and enjoyed them all. I say give HAL a try.

Roz

I have done one HAL, one NCL, and about twelve Carnival cruises.

One solo on NCL and two solos on Carnival.

The HAL cruise was to Alaska and I noticed it was an older crowd, but spent the entire time taking photos. What I did notice is the night-life petered out by mid-night where-as on Carnival and NCL there were somethings still open at 2 AM at night.

However, my last trip was 21 days on the Carnival Dream Oct. 4-25 and I notice not only was it on average a far older crowd (a lot of retirees) but also when we tied up on piers besides a Holland America ship that the people coming off seemed to be younger than the people I saw on my Alaska trip.

Also talking to the HAL people as we all walked the pier to the welcome centers, it came up that these were all one week trips.

From this I conclude, the older people are the ones with the time free to take the longer cruises. So the longer the cruise the more likely the people on the ship will be older.

Also there were fewer families/children on-board as the sailing in October meant the children were at school. So sailing during school time means an older crowd.

What I really liked about HAL, they had the best breakfast spread of the cruise lines in the buffer areas. I really like how they laid out the library and classic music area together. If you just want to sit down and relax, HAL wins hands down.

I would say take the shorter HAL cruise.

I've had the same experience as Earl Colby. Time of year and length of cruise are big determining factors in the demographics onboard.

Roz

I have cruised Carnival, NCL, RCCL, Celebrity and HAL.

HAL had the best food and the least entertainment and an older crowd. My HAL cruise was to Alaska in late August.

I agree with the other posters that the 7 day would probably have a younger crowd than the 10 day, but we can only guess.

Check the roll call for the cruises you are considering and if there is not one you could start one.

Good luck and Happy cruising...

I've only 1 recent cruise & it was on HAL. I'm 63 and I thought the majority of people were older couples. However, I didn't really navigate the ship much as I was seasick the whole trip. There were some young people on the cruise b/c I met some on the zip-line excursion. And, if you select HAL, that would be my suggestion, look for the excursions that are designated as high activity and sign up for a few at your first ports. You'll either meet young people or the young at heart people.

I was on one 14N Caribbean on HAL. Maybe 5 -7 years ago .Probably my age then upper 60s,Female. I still remember the shabby treatment by these older couples, even staff. You would have thought I was after their husbands. One of the worst of over 50 cruises. Consider either Celebrity or Princess. Both treat solos nicely.

As a solo cruiser, I've always been treated respectfully by HAL crew and staff.

Roz

I was on Westerdam in November and didn't like the ship. The aft pool was stark, teak decking in serious need of refinishing, crummy tables. There is just about no atrium. Guest Services seems like it's in the basement. Could Not get waited on in MDR at brunch or dinner.

Staff all very nice. Mid enclosed pool area was very pretty. Easy to navigate. There was a mix of ages. They did some surprisingly rowdy pool games!