Age onboard HAL

[Sailor Gal]

We are considering HAL for our next cruise and our only hesitation is that we've been told by our travel agent that the line is typically used by "older" passengers. We aren't into partying and not at all interested in the Carnival atmosphere but we're not quite ready for a ship of seniors yet either. We like the classy feel of Princess ships and wondering if HAL is similar. Would love to hear from someone who can compare lines and address the age issue. Also is the food any better than RCCL or Princess? Thanks in advance.

[VTcruisenut]

WE have sailed twice on Holland America and I have been on one Carnival cruise. Let me tell you, that will NEVER happen again! Holland America is what I would call upper scale in comparison to Carnival. Yes, there are "older" people, but there is also a very good mix. What I did like was the people that we encountered were polite and nice. On Carnival the ship had so many passengers and kids that everyone was always in a rush, pushing and shoving. We could barely get into the pools on at sea days!

 

On Holland, it is relaxed and comfortable. The Veendam carries about 1266 passengers and the Zuiderdam had 1800+. Bot were wonderful cruises. The food was fantastic and the service impeccable. Carnival food was not great. And we got no where near the steward service we did with Holland. These lines are owned by the same parent company but the difference is like night and day. However, if you are traveling with children, Holland America doesn't have the kids activities that Carnival does. There were only about 50 -60 kids on our first cruise. As far as partying, you have the opportunity if you want to on Holland. We prefer the late dinner so we can have time to get back from the excursions, or enjoy an afternoon on the back deck by the pool, snag a nap and have a great dinner. Then we go to the late show, dancing in the Crow's Nest or one of the bars or into the casino.

 

My personal opinion is that you would love Holland AMerica. I haven't been or Princess or Norwegian lines.......as we prefer the smaller ships.

Hope this helps and maybe we will see you on a cruise sometime!

 

Vermonttraveler

Holland Veendam February 2005 Western Carribean

Carnival December 2005 Eastern Carribean

Holland Zuiderdam March 2007 Easter Carribean

Holland Veendam March 2008 Western Carribean

[VTcruisenut]

WE have sailed twice on Holland America and I have been on one Carnival cruise. Let me tell you, that will NEVER happen again! Holland America is what I would call upper scale in comparison to Carnival. Yes, there are "older" people, but there is also a very good mix. What I did like was the people that we encountered were polite and nice. On Carnival the ship had so many passengers and kids that everyone was always in a rush, pushing and shoving. We could barely get into the pools on at sea days!

 

On Holland, it is relaxed and comfortable. The Veendam carries about 1266 passengers and the Zuiderdam had 1800+. Bot were wonderful cruises. The food was fantastic and the service impeccable. Carnival food was not great. And we got no where near the steward service we did with Holland. These lines are owned by the same parent company but the difference is like night and day. However, if you are traveling with children, Holland America doesn't have the kids activities that Carnival does. There were only about 50 -60 kids on our first cruise. As far as partying, you have the opportunity if you want to on Holland. We prefer the late dinner so we can have time to get back from the excursions, or enjoy an afternoon on the back deck by the pool, snag a nap and have a great dinner. Then we go to the late show, dancing in the Crow's Nest or one of the bars or into the casino.

 

My personal opinion is that you would love Holland AMerica. I haven't been or Princess or Norwegian lines.......as we prefer the smaller ships.

Hope this helps and maybe we will see you on a cruise sometime!

 

Vermonttraveler

Holland Veendam February 2005 Western Carribean

Carnival December 2005 Eastern Carribean

Holland Zuiderdam March 2007 Easter Carribean

Holland Veendam March 2008 Western Carribean

[RuthC]

Yes, in general HAL has an older passenger base than some other lines. Across the board the rule of thumb is the longer the cruise, the older the passengers. On HAL, the Vista ships tend to have younger passengers than the S- or R-class ships. Also, certain itineraries will draw a younger crowd than others.

If you are looking for the youngest passenger base on HAL you should take a 7-day cruise on a Vista ship, to the Caribbean, on a school vacation week.

[Sailor Gal]

I'm not excited about Carnival either and think Princess is nice. We wanted to try HAL now and probably will. We are almost 50 with no grown children.

[las313]

We have cruised on Princess, HAL and NCL. We love the laid back HAl. We went on the Zaandam last time and are sailing on Maasdam in March. As said above, you will find a mixed age group and many activites to keep you busy.

Last year we went on Sun Princess just before Xmas. It was full of very old people. I have never seen so many walkers, cane and wheelchairs on a cruise. And we did 1 Carnival and won't do another.

Just my two cents.

Louise in FLA:cool:

[mrblack]

Poor Carnival!! It doesn't get much positive reviews. I've sailed Carnival, Celebrity and Hal. Most often on HAL. I think it depends on your budget and age which is the best match. We sailed carnival because we were paying for all the family and the ages of the family ranged from 18 to 84. The kids loved it, I thought it was oookkay but definitely not a first choice. Celebrity (2 cruises) was nice and the average age of cruisers was probably closer to our age (50's) I just sailed it in August to Alaska and there were lots (but not a problem) teenagers. We shared a table with a family with teens and it was very enjoyable. We've really enjoyed HAL (5) though. I found on Celbrity it was easier to meet people and easier to chat with them but who knows it just could have been the particular mix we ended up with. One thing I liked about HAL was the thermal suites and the gym area. It never seemed to be busy. Also it just seemed very uncrowded on the ship even though they were sold out sailings. Usually the HAL itineries just fit better for us tiomewise. One thing about the Carnival ship was we have one son who has severe asthma and there were about 4 floors that he could not even walk on because of the air quality. They didn't seem to have good air exchangers in any of the public areas where they allowed smoking or there were a lot more people smoking :p and these areas really seemed to trap and contain the smoke almost choking you when you walked through them on the way to somewhere else. Enjoy your cruise whichever line you choose!:D

[mr green]

HAL and Princess are similar in many ways, both enjoyable.

Age? Overall the longer the cruise the older the patrons, the first time we went through the Panama Canal on a Princess ship, the captain gave the average age as 76. We find that most older cruisers, this includes ourselves, 'think young', age in our opinion has little to do with the cruise itself, as long as the persons are polite, while being 'fun loving'. To be frank I have heard complaints of unruly teens, but we have never met up with any. This is probably a combination of longer cruises, not made during holiday times, and a little luck.

john