Holland America vs Norweigan Australia and NZ

[turkeygrind]

Trying to decide between Norweigan Jewel or Holland America Maasdam for a cruise to Australia and New Zealand.  Also are there ports that are must-see?

[Kiwi_cruiser]

It depends on what you like to do on the cruise ships.

 

Maasdam has now turned in to a expedition cruise ship, so in the evening there is no production shows nor no singers or dancers.

 

You might get a local group come on to sing and dance or a band might come on to perform.

 

Most night they might have some one giving a talk on New Zealand or Australia.

 

If you don't mind that type of thing then Maasdam could be for you.

 

Other wise look at Norweigan Jewel.

Hope this is of some help!

[GUT2407]

All the Ports are Must see, they also tend to do similar Ports on those runs.

[cruisermsoon]

Two very different cruise lines, and certainly two very different ships.

Small vs large.

Restrained vs ebullient.

Individual vs mass market.

You really need to work out what your "style" is.

[GUT2407]

21 minutes ago, cruisermsoon said:

Two very different cruise lines, and certainly two very different ships.

Small vs large.

Restrained vs ebullient.

Individual vs mass market.

You really need to work out what your "style" is.

Yep it’s so personal I guess that’s why there are so many lines.

 

also in my experience there’ll be an older crowd on HAL than NCL.

 

Te next question is how the itineraries compare.

[MicCanberra]

Agree with the posts so far that it really is two differing styles.

However, I would like to add, that on HAL's Maasdam which is generally doing EXC cruises now, that it has lots of very interesting lectures on sea days, these can be on any topic but usually have a tie in with the areas being visited. Nature, architecture, culture, etc. There is generally a show each night but usually it is guest entertainers (definitely no production shows) but there is also several different venues with music of various types, strings, duets, singers and bands.

[Beejay4016]

Two very different lines - classic v not. For me it would be a no-brainer, but we love HAL. Also, while HAL seems to be definitely for an older crowd in the USA, here in Australia that's not really the case. We have more holidays than you get in America, for instance - 4 weeks a year is the basic standard, with many people getting more than that - and so cruising is quite a popular holiday for people for whom taking 2 weeks or more on a cruise is no issue. We've done four cruises in this region with HAL and the average age was probably mid-50s to 60, and much the same on Celebrity. Sure, RCI is very much a family line, Carnival tends to attract the 20-somethings a lot. I think Norwegian is a fairly evenly spread demographic.

 

In New Zealand, I do hope that whichever you choose stops at Akaroa as it is a really lovely spot. Picton is a gorgeous place to visit (if you're interested in aviation or wartime history do an excursion to Peter Jackson's (oh, in NZ do refer to him as Sir Peter Jackson) fabulous Omaka Aviation Museum. It will blow you away. Probably our favourite port is Napier, the art deco town that oozes charm. Wherever your cruise takes you in NZ, though, you will find friendly people and stunning scenery. If the only way we could visit New Zealand was on a Carnival ship full of drunk 20-somethings, we'd probably take it - just make sure we only ventured out of our cabin to eat or go ashore.

[Bubbeh]

I can't comment on the cruise line as my knowledge is limited to Royal Carribean, CMV or Princess.  However, what I can do is assure you that everyone who lives in Australia or NZ is gonna recommend their own home port as the best to visit.  In my case that would be Fremantle but, having said that, good luck with getting any cruise going to NZ to visit Fremantle. 

 

A lot of people like Sydney but I find it too impersonal, noisy and dirty.  It's a very big city and therefore has the issues that all big cities have.  While, you might find that attractive, for my money I'd recommend Melbourne and Hobart as must dos.  Melbourne has the footy and great cultural experiences while Hobart is beautiful, historic and quaint, but it can be very cold, even in summer.

 

In terms of NZ, you must try to visit Akaroa.  I fell in love with this town when we were there and I'm hugely jealous of the lucky ones who get to live there.

 

Hope you have luck in working out where to go and what to do and that the input of those on this Board will assist you, Dee.

Edited May 10, 2019 by Bubbeh

[OzKiwiJJ]

33 minutes ago, Bubbeh said:

I can't comment on the cruise line as my knowledge is limited to Royal Carribean, CMV or Princess.  However, what I can do is assure you that everyone who lives in Australia or NZ is gonna recommend their own home port as the best to visit.  In my case that would be Fremantle but, having said that, good luck with getting any cruise going to NZ to visit Fremantle. 

 

 

Didn't Celebrity do a run from NZ over to Fremantle and back last season? Sold as two separate cruises, in February or early March. I'm not sure whether it included all the NZ ports though. We had to do our two-yearly Catch up with friends and family cruise much later in the season than I would have preferred.

 

I agree about Akaroa. It's a very special harbour.

Edited May 10, 2019 by OzKiwiJJ

[Bubbeh]

3 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Didn't Celebrity do a run from NZ over to Fremantle and back last season? Sold as two separate cruises, in February or early March. I'm not sure whether it included all the NZ ports though

Thank you for that, I bow to your greater knowledge.  Yet another moment that proves, every day is a school day.  😁

[GUT2407]

A few years back celebrity and maybe royal Caribbean were doing Auckland to Perth (across the bottom) then or before, Syd to Perth or other way around the top.

 

i know Royal Caribbean are doing Syd-Perth folled by Perth-Sydney Via NZ

[lyndarra]

Have done two cruises that called in to Adelaide, one from Sydney via New Zealand (RCI)and one Ex Fremantle to Sydney via New Zealand (Celebrity). Pretty sure the some passengers disembarked Adelaide rather than going on to Fremantle. May have been a special deal for SA residents.

[Beejay4016]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Didn't Celebrity do a run from NZ over to Fremantle and back last season? Sold as two separate cruises, in February or early March. I'm not sure whether it included all the NZ ports though. We had to do our two-yearly Catch up with friends and family cruise much later in the season than I would have preferred.

 

I agree about Akaroa. It's a very special harbour.

They did, and we were on that cruise. It was fantastic - Auckland to Perth via a few NZ ports, Sydney (which, unlike Bubbeh, I think is a fabulous city with superb scenery and heaps to do), Hobart (always gorgeous), Adelaide, and then on to Perth. It was a top trip, but for people who don't handle swells possibly not the best - I think quite a few people found it a tad rough sometimes.  Re the NZ ports, it was Auckland, Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, and Picton, so for people wanting to visit Fjordland, Christchurch etc it's no good.

[Bubbeh]

21 hours ago, Beejay4016 said:

They did, and we were on that cruise. It was fantastic - Auckland to Perth via a few NZ ports, Sydney (which, unlike Bubbeh, I think is a fabulous city with superb scenery and heaps to do), Hobart (always gorgeous), Adelaide, and then on to Perth.

OK, ok, ok, I accept I was wrong (hangs head in shame 😟), seems that there are a number of cruises going to Fremantle which include NZ.  So now, OP, you can visit the best port in Oz while coming to our part of the world.

[Kiwi_cruiser]

On 5/9/2019 at 7:04 AM, Beejay4016 said:

Two very different lines - classic v not. For me it would be a no-brainer, but we love HAL. Also, while HAL seems to be definitely for an older crowd in the USA, here in Australia that's not really the case. We have more holidays than you get in America, for instance - 4 weeks a year is the basic standard, with many people getting more than that - and so cruising is quite a popular holiday for people for whom taking 2 weeks or more on a cruise is no issue. We've done four cruises in this region with HAL and the average age was probably mid-50s to 60, and much the same on Celebrity. Sure, RCI is very much a family line, Carnival tends to attract the 20-somethings a lot. I think Norwegian is a fairly evenly spread demographic.

 

I have done 2 HAL cruises in Australia / South Pacific region and have found the crowd to be older and I have also done a HAL cruise from the USA to Australia and found the crowd older.

The only time I have found HAL to have a younger crowd was when we did the Christmas / New Year cruise on the Noordam (2018/2019).