Canada - New England Cruise August 2023 NCL Pearl vs. Holland Zaandam

[travelhome]

I will be staying with my mom in Boston for the month of August (next month). So I am planning an once-a-life-time mother daughter trip for late August!

 

This is really last minute and the choices narrow down to the following two below:

$1049pp Inside cabin for NCL Pearl 7 days 8/25 - 9/1 Boston roundtrip, Port of Calls: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island • Sydney, Nova Scotia • Halifax, Nova Scotia • Portland, Maine • Bar Harbor, Maine

$1493pp Oceanview for Holland Zaandam 11 days 8/23 - 9/3 Boston - Montreal one way, Port of Calls: Portland, Maine • St. John, New Brunswick, Canada • Halifax, Nova Scotia • Corner Brook, Newfoundland • Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island • Cruise Gulf Of St. Lawrence • Saguenay, Quebec, Canada • Quebec City, Quebec • Montreal, Quebec

 

My mom will be turning 80 December this year. She is relatively healthy, mobile and would be happy visiting interesting sites, but we may have to use wheelchair for long walks. 

 

I would have wanted a Balcony cabin, but at this last minute, Balcony is either not available (Holland) or too expensive ($3199 Pearl). I will just take the lowest cost cabin available and spend $$ elsewhere. I am not familiar with these two ships and these ports. My questions / considerations are:

1. How's NCL Pearl compared with Holland Zaandam, in terms of restaurant choices, senior friendly amenities, activity choices for sea days etc. 

2. How are these itineraries stack against each other, for senior that cannot take too long a walk. 

3. Since Holland Zaandam ship will be Boston-Montreal one way, is it possible to catch the flight to Boston at 8:15am after the ship docks at 7am? If not, we might spend the day tour Montreal and take a later flight back to Boston. But not sure whether we can keep the luggage at the port or somewhere? 

4. Not sure whether the one way trip will be too aggressive and too much of a hassle, compared to the Boston roundtrip one. 

 

Would really appreciate it if you could share your knowledge about the ships, the itineraries and senior travel. It will actually be my very first time traveling with my mom alone, no kids, no husbands, just two of us! 

 

Thanks a lot!

Tiffany

 

 

 

 

[navybankerteacher]

There are several reasons I would suggest Zaandam:  HAL’s food and service is markedly superior to that on NCL - unless you pay extra for their better restaurants; Zaandam carries about 1,400 passengers (typically more mature and thus more compatible for your Mother) and Pearl about 2,500 - more likely to be younger adults, many more children; an ocean view does make a great difference in just being comfortable in your cabin; the itinerary is obviously superior.  
 

It would be tough to catch an 8:30 flight — I would suggest a noonish flight.

[Got2Cruise]

I would definitely take the Holland with your Mom. That NCL will be a party ship. It says OPEN BAR — which is fine if that’s what you want. But that if I want a nice peaceful cruise I wouldn’t chose that. Plus the itinerary looks better on Holland. 

[njhorseman]

38 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

I would definitely take the Holland with your Mom. That NCL will be a party ship. It says OPEN BAR — which is fine if that’s what you want. But that if I want a nice peaceful cruise I wouldn’t chose that. Plus the itinerary looks better on Holland. 

Holland America may be the better choice for the mother, but not because the NCL Pearl will be a "party ship" due to "Open Bar".

It's not uncommon for upscale and luxury cruise lines to also include alcoholic beverages in their cruise fare, but they aren't "party ships ". 

[princeton123211]

16 hours ago, travelhome said:

1. How's NCL Pearl compared with Holland Zaandam, in terms of restaurant choices, senior friendly amenities, activity choices for sea days etc. 

First of I think this is Zaandam all day long. If the 11 days fits into your schedule, even dollar for dollar, the Holland America trip is a vastly better value vs the 7 day NCL trip for similar cost. HAL is going to be much more in line with senior friendly amenities than NCL will be but also with plenty of things that will appeal to you. 

 

16 hours ago, travelhome said:

2. How are these itineraries stack against each other, for senior that cannot take too long a walk.

These itineraries don't stack against each other-- the Zaandam trip up the St Lawrence with stops in Quebec City and ending in Montreal is vastly superior. 

 

16 hours ago, travelhome said:

3. Since Holland Zaandam ship will be Boston-Montreal one way, is it possible to catch the flight to Boston at 8:15am after the ship docks at 7am? If not, we might spend the day tour Montreal and take a later flight back to Boston. But not sure whether we can keep the luggage at the port or somewhere? 

Not 8:15am but a later flight would be feasible and a much later flight would give you time to enjoy Montreal which is a wonderful city. A nice hotel would be happy to store your luggage for the day for a nice tip and a trip to their restaurant. 

 

16 hours ago, travelhome said:

4. Not sure whether the one way trip will be too aggressive and too much of a hassle, compared to the Boston roundtrip one.

You give up a bunch here for the convenience of the round trip-- I would say that the addition of Quebec City and Montreal provides the significant advantage in this one. Not to mention you have another 4 days aboard for a similar cost. 

 

5 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Holland America may be the better choice for the mother, but not because the NCL Pearl will be a "party ship" due to "Open Bar".

It's not uncommon for upscale and luxury cruise lines to also include alcoholic beverages in their cruise fare, but they aren't "party ships "

Very fair point. The last time we sailed with HAL we had an included open bar and I would describe it more as a rowdy retirement community than a party ship. They're cute at that age...

[electro]

On 7/14/2023 at 12:40 PM, Got2Cruise said:

I would definitely take the Holland with your Mom. That NCL will be a party ship. It says OPEN BAR — which is fine if that’s what you want. But that if I want a nice peaceful cruise I wouldn’t chose that. Plus the itinerary looks better on Holland. 

If the "free at Sea" ie included drink package(open bar), makes NCL a party ship then I guess the "Have it all" ie included drink package, must make HAL a party ship!

[princeton123211]

14 minutes ago, electro said:

If the "free at Sea" ie included drink package(open bar), makes NCL a party ship then I guess the "Have it all" ie included drink package, must make HAL a party ship!

You're not wrong, but NCL and HAL definitely cater to different age brackets. 

[electro]

21 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

You're not wrong, but NCL and HAL definitely cater to different age brackets. 

Yes they do but neither are a very young crowd. NCL is mostly families and 40 - 60 age and HAL is 60 and above, neither being really party crowd age, except maybe on short cruises, but that goes for most lines.

[lx200gps]

Not sure of this is interesting to you, but Princess just opened up Boston sailings for Canada/New England for July 2024 on the Emerald, and we are considering them seriously. I priced pretty much every cruise line for around the same time, Canada/New England, and HAL and Celebrity were far more expensive. NCL was also more expensive, though not as bad as HAL or X. Princess would be a better fit for the OP than NCL, pretty much on par experience-wise as HAL.