Holland vs Princess

[csk]

We are seasoned cruisers, diamond plus on Royal Caribbean, elite on Princess and have cruised several times on other ships, but never on Holland. I just saw a 14 day itinerary on the Statendam that looks very good. We are have simple people, easy to please, and have no desire to dress formal anymore, we never do dining room n formal nights, just do the buffet. Do you think we will feel out of place, I get the feeling that Holland is still more formal than the other cruise lines. I know it is a older crowd and we are there (71 and 65) so not worried about that, just love itinerary, and would love to try it, but dont want to feel uncomfortable if we go the the show or have a drink in our jeans, thanks for your help

[cruz chic]

Holland is no more formal than princess. I cruise on both lines. I see lots of older people on princess too. Not much difference. The Statendam is an old ship so please be aware of that.

[dcsam]

We're long-time cruisers of both. But we much prefer HAL. We're booked for a 14 day Alaska cruise beginning this Sunday aboard the Oosterdam. Just hoping we won't find it as crowded as we experienced on our most recent cruise with Princess (Star). However, we enjoy the small Princess ships (i.e., Pacific, Ocean). And we love HAL's Statendam. Perfect size; much more intimate than the new mega ships out there.

[dcsam]

And I agree, that HAL is no more formal than Princess.

[Mary Ellen]

As to your concern about age:

For the past 8 consecutive years, the average age of a Princess passenger, fleetwide, year round has been 58.

 

For the past 8 consecutive years, the average age of a HAL passenger, fleetwide, year round has been 57.

[regnig]

We no longer do "formal" either and have found the food and atmosphere in the Lido suits us just find. And no, you will not feel uncomfortable if you go elsewhere on the ship. Also, if you have not read it here on CC, be aware that you can order dinner from the main dining room menu without charge if you chose to dine in your stateroom.

[visagrunt]

The last Statendam itineraries (before she's sold to P&O Australia) are all in Alaska where Formal Nights have the fewest adherents, in my experience.

 

You will most certainly not feel out of place, and you will find good company on the Lido.

[csk]

Thanks everyone, you have helped me make my decision, booked on the Statendam for August cant wait!!!

[KruzPrincess]

We are seasoned cruisers, diamond plus on Royal Caribbean, elite on Princess and have cruised several times on other ships, but never on Holland. I just saw a 14 day itinerary on the Statendam that looks very good. We are have simple people, easy to please, and have no desire to dress formal anymore, we never do dining room n formal nights, just do the buffet. Do you think we will feel out of place, I get the feeling that Holland is still more formal than the other cruise lines. I know it is a older crowd and we are there (71 and 65) so not worried about that, just love itinerary, and would love to try it, but dont want to feel uncomfortable if we go the the show or have a drink in our jeans, thanks for your help

 

I mostly cruise on Princess with a few side trips on other cruise lines. I fell in love with the Statendam Alaska itinerary, too. I just booked it last week. Last year, I cruised on the Veendam to Canada/New England. It was my first time on a HAL ship in over 12 years. My first HAL cruise many years back was not stellar. I wondered if I'd like it. I had the same questions that you have. In the end, I had a nice time on HAL. I read that HAL was more formal, etc. In the end, people dressed pretty much the same. I ate in the buffet one formal night and in the MDR on one formal night. I actually thought the buffet was decent on the Veendam. There are differences. Statendam is a small ship. It's older and will be leaving the HAL fleet soon. There aren't as many dining options at night as you'd find on Princess or RC. Sometimes, the buffet closes for a time during the day. It closes much earlier in the evening, so you have to pay attention to time. I think Alaska cruises tend to be a little more casual anyway. I think you'll do fine. It is a great itinerary.

[OCruisers]

And I agree, that HAL is no more formal than Princess.

 

Also agree! Dress is the same on both HAL and Princess!

 

LuLu

[igraf]

We were standing in the HAL embarkation line at Pier 91 in Seatle last week, and right next to us were all the Princess passengers standing in line. Both ships were sailing similar 7-day Alaskan itineraries on the same days.

 

I was able to easily discern two differences:

 

1. There were many more Princess passengers (Crown versus Westerdam).

 

2. The Princess passengers were noticeably younger as a statistical group. No question about it. By younger I mean more middle-aged passengers as opposed to retired passengers.

 

My observation occurred in late May while many schools were still in session, and so there were very few families with children in either population.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

As to your concern about age:

Quote:

Originally Posted by BruceMuzz

For the past 8 consecutive years, the average age of a Princess passenger, fleetwide, year round has been 58.

For the past 8 consecutive years, the average age of a HAL passenger, fleetwide, year round has been 57.

[Mary Ellen]

We were standing in the HAL embarkation line at Pier 91 in Seatle last week, and right next to us were all the Princess passengers standing in line. Both ships were sailing similar 7-day Alaskan itineraries on the same days.

 

I was able to easily discern two differences:

 

1. There were many more Princess passengers (Crown versus Westerdam).

 

2. The Princess passengers were noticeably younger as a statistical group. No question about it. By younger I mean more middle-aged passengers as opposed to retired passengers.

 

My observation occurred in late May while many schools were still in session, and so there were very few families with children in either population.

 

igraf

 

What can I say - I'm Platinum on Princess and 4* on HAL, so a decent amount of familiarity on both lines. I haven't seen any appreciable difference in age between the two lines on similar cruises. I'm not going to disagree with 'Bruce' who has managed ships for decades - on both lines. He is in a position to know facts, not anecdotal.

 

Are there going to be variations from cruise to cruise? Of course.

Edited June 3, 2015 by Mary Ellen

[clueless2]

From what I've seen on both lines - the longer the itinerary the older the passengers. It's hard for most people that work to take two weeks in a row off and anything more than that is pretty much impossible.

[tommui987]

My general impression is that Princess has more glitz than HAL. Also more passengers.

 

Both are enjoyable but I tend to go with HAL as the ships are generally much more smaller in size.

 

But my main focus is itinerary.

[qsuzi]

Bruce Muzz: Will you please post the links with the age data for Princess and HAL. Thank you.

[cruz chic]

We were standing in the HAL embarkation line at Pier 91 in Seatle last week, and right next to us were all the Princess passengers standing in line. Both ships were sailing similar 7-day Alaskan itineraries on the same days.

 

I was able to easily discern two differences:

 

1. There were many more Princess passengers (Crown versus Westerdam).

 

2. The Princess passengers were noticeably younger as a statistical group. No question about it. By younger I mean more middle-aged passengers as opposed to retired passengers.

 

My observation occurred in late May while many schools were still in session, and so there were very few families with children in either population.

 

igraf

 

Thx for your observations from seeing people from ONE cruise. I'm elite on princess and 4 star on hal. I think I might know a thing or two. My experince comes from actually sailing on ships not from observing one line getting on a ship.

[qsuzi]

Thx for your observations from seeing people from ONE cruise. I'm elite on princess and 4 star on hal. I think I might know a thing or two. My experience comes from actually sailing on ships not from observing one line getting on a ship.

 

As you know #1, more Crown vs Westerdam passengers is accurate. Crown: 3,062-3,674 and Westerdam: 1,920-2,304. Princess layout does a great job spreading those passengers throughout the ship. The only time I noticed many passengers on the Crown was embarkation day in the Lido. Source I use lists space ratio on the Westerdam as 36 and on the Crown 31. "Unfortunately, there is no single statistic that measure how well a cruise ship handles passenger flow. However, ships develop reputations over time as to whether they seem crowded."

Edited June 3, 2015 by qsuzi

[cruz chic]

As you know #1, more Crown vs Westerdam passengers is accurate. Crown: 3,062-3,674 and Westerdam: 1,920-2,304. Princess layout does a great job spreading those passengers throughout the ship. The only time I noticed many passengers on the Crown was embarkation day in the Lido. Source I use lists space ratio on the Westerdam as 36 and on the Crown 31. "Unfortunately, there is no single statistic that measure how well a cruise ship handles passenger flow. However, ships develop reputations over time as to whether they seem crowded."

 

I was speaking more of the age range. I would generally say that princess ships do seem more crowded but not uncomfortably so.

[qsuzi]

I was speaking more of the age range. I would generally say that princess ships do seem more crowded but not uncomfortably so.

 

Thanks for clarifying.

[igraf]

Almost sounds like you questioning if the people standing in line to get on the ships were actually the same people who sailed on the ships... :-)

 

My observation was valid for that day. I had the advantage of seeing a large number of passengers from both ships right next to each other with most other variables (location, date, cruise length, destination) all being the same. This was in fact a very well controlled comparison.

 

Observations from personal sailings would not be at the same time and place, and can easily be skewed by other circumstances. Not well controlled at all.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

Thx for your observations from seeing people from ONE cruise. I'm elite on princess and 4 star on hal. I think I might know a thing or two. My experince comes from actually sailing on ships not from observing one line getting on a ship.

[cruz chic]

Almost sounds like you questioning if the people standing in line to get on the ships were actually the same people who sailed on the ships... :-)

 

My observation was valid for that day. I had the advantage of seeing a large number of passengers from both ships right next to each other with most other variables (location, date, cruise length, destination) all being the same. This was in fact a very well controlled comparison.

 

Observations from personal sailings would not be at the same time and place, and can easily be skewed by other circumstances. Not well controlled at all.

 

igraf

 

I'm not questioning who you saw in line at all. What I'm questioning is how you could know the exact make up of passangers on princess is without sailing on their ships. It's like me looking at a line and telling you the average age on a RC ship. I'm thinking it would be pretty much impossible to see all 3000 plus passangers that got on the ship,that day.

[midwest 852]

We were standing in the HAL embarkation line at Pier 91 in Seatle last week, and right next to us were all the Princess passengers standing in line. Both ships were sailing similar 7-day Alaskan itineraries on the same days.

 

I was able to easily discern two differences:

 

1. There were many more Princess passengers (Crown versus Westerdam).

 

2. The Princess passengers were noticeably younger as a statistical group. No question about it. By younger I mean more middle-aged passengers as opposed to retired passengers.

 

My observation occurred in late May while many schools were still in session, and so there were very few families with children in either population.

 

igraf

 

 

I have observed the same. Even the porters try to direct younger passengers to the Princess entry doors.