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Which of these cruise ships would you choose for Alaska cruise?



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 13th, 2005, 12:26 AM
Art
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Default Which of these cruise ships would you choose for Alaska cruise?

Due to time constraints and location, I am limited to about 6 different
cruise ships for my 7 day inside passage ALaska cruise from Vancouver.

They a
Holland America Volendam
Holland America Zaandam
Norwiegian Sun
Royal Carribean Radiance of the Sea
Royal Carribean Serenade of the Sea
Celebrity Infinity

Which would you rate as best cruise ship to go to from best to worst, based
on quality of food, service, cabins (standard inside cabin), port of calls,
etc.... and please state your reason why?

Thanks in advance


  #2  
Old February 13th, 2005, 01:22 AM
Tom & Linda
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"Art" wrote in message
news:5hwPd.370968$6l.130323@pd7tw2no...
Due to time constraints and location, I am limited to about 6 different
cruise ships for my 7 day inside passage ALaska cruise from Vancouver.

They a
Holland America Volendam
Holland America Zaandam
Norwiegian Sun
Royal Carribean Radiance of the Sea
Royal Carribean Serenade of the Sea
Celebrity Infinity

Which would you rate as best cruise ship to go to from best to worst,
based on quality of food, service, cabins (standard inside cabin), port of
calls, etc.... and please state your reason why?

Thanks in advance


Infinity.

Best Food. Service. Elegance. Pampering. Celebrity still offers bridge
tours. And I'm a fan of the Celebrity "style". Only downside is it doesn't
go to Glacier Bay.

--Tom


  #3  
Old February 13th, 2005, 01:49 AM
Art
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Default

Hi,

THanks for the reply. If you took Celebrity out of the picture, how would
you rank the rest of the cruise ships?

THAnks

"Tom & Linda" wrote in message
...

"Art" wrote in message
news:5hwPd.370968$6l.130323@pd7tw2no...
Due to time constraints and location, I am limited to about 6 different
cruise ships for my 7 day inside passage ALaska cruise from Vancouver.

They a
Holland America Volendam
Holland America Zaandam
Norwiegian Sun
Royal Carribean Radiance of the Sea
Royal Carribean Serenade of the Sea
Celebrity Infinity

Which would you rate as best cruise ship to go to from best to worst,
based on quality of food, service, cabins (standard inside cabin), port
of calls, etc.... and please state your reason why?

Thanks in advance


Infinity.

Best Food. Service. Elegance. Pampering. Celebrity still offers bridge
tours. And I'm a fan of the Celebrity "style". Only downside is it
doesn't go to Glacier Bay.

--Tom



  #4  
Old February 13th, 2005, 02:04 AM
Sue and Kevin Mullen
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Art wrote:

Due to time constraints and location, I am limited to about 6 different
cruise ships for my 7 day inside passage ALaska cruise from Vancouver.

They a
Holland America Volendam
Holland America Zaandam
Norwiegian Sun
Royal Carribean Radiance of the Sea
Royal Carribean Serenade of the Sea
Celebrity Infinity

Which would you rate as best cruise ship to go to from best to worst, based
on quality of food, service, cabins (standard inside cabin), port of calls,
etc.... and please state your reason why?


I have not been on HAL or NCL, but have cruised with Celebrity and
Royal Carribean. I have found the food and service on Celebrity to be
very good. On our recent Royal Caribean cruise the food was mostly
very bad, just a few good dishes here and there. The food on RCL has
been very uneven for some time now and you never know if it will be
good or not on your sailing. The service on Royal Caribean was very good.

sue

  #5  
Old February 13th, 2005, 02:55 AM
Benjamin Smith
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Art wrote:

Due to time constraints and location, I am limited to about 6 different
cruise ships for my 7 day inside passage ALaska cruise from Vancouver.

They a
Holland America Volendam
Holland America Zaandam
Norwiegian Sun
Royal Carribean Radiance of the Sea
Royal Carribean Serenade of the Sea
Celebrity Infinity

Which would you rate as best cruise ship to go to from best to worst, based
on quality of food, service, cabins (standard inside cabin), port of calls,
etc.... and please state your reason why?


Hmmm. I would go with Volendam or Zaandam, which are sister ships and
very similar to each other. They are HAL's last generation (a good
thing, IMO, as I don't care for HAL's latest generation). Don't know
much about NCL Sun. RCI ships are sister ships and very similar, part of
their Radiance class, their most recent. Celeb Infinity is one of their
Millennium class ships (2nd of 4), their latest generation. The HAL
ships are quite different in size from the others. The Volendam/Zaandam
are 60,000 tons and carry about 1400 people. The RCI ships are 90,000
tons and carry about 2300 people. The Celebrity ship is 91,000 tons and
carry around 2000 people. The NCL Sun should be in the 80,000 plus ton
range.

The thing is what a passenger is looking for and how they judge best to
worse. HAL probably has the best cabins, biggest, they provide fresh
fruit every day, and they now have the plushest linens and beds.
Celebrity and RCI both use cots for beds. Service is hard to say. RCI
has a certain style, NCL a certain style, HAL a certain style and
Celebrity a certain style and it depends on the product delivery at the
time of your sailing and what each individual encounters. If you go for
a style of service that is personalized and the service staff tending to
remember passenger preferences and addressing you by name then HAL's
service may be judged best. If you go for a more entertaining service,
overall, then RCI may be best. If you go for a more formal,
quasi-European style service, at least in the dining rooms, then
Celebrity may be considered best. If you like free choice and a variety
of dining rooms then NCL may work best. The for-pay restaurants on NCL
may be up to the quality standards of those on HAL and Celebrity. Or
close. Celebrity can be best overall in food, providing that they
deliver their A food product. Problem is Celebrity is inconsistent with
food delivery from sailing to sailing. HAL is also spotty, overall
ratings are respectable. RCI gets overall fair to poor ratings for its
food. NCL, may depend on what restaurant you choose.

Overall with cruise style, HAL and Celebrity may be somewhat more
pampering, RCI more entertaining, NCL more about free choice, especially
with dress and dining.

The ships are another thing. The newer, bigger ships feature tons of
balconies. Some feel these are a must-have but I don't go along with
that whatsoever. I feel the best ships for Alaska have the most open
deck space and I feel that the HAL ships are best if you don't mind
getting out of your cabin and going to a place to enjoy the Alaskan
scenery. HAL probably has the edge in ports of call as they've done
Alaskan longer than the other lines and have some port preferences. They
also do Glacier Bay, arguably the most vast and impressive glacier in
Alaska.

I'd pick HAL. Celebrity is fine, but on a different ship, one of the
earlier-generation ships that have more deck space. I enjoyed Alaska on
the Galaxy. RCI ships have lots of glass for viewing and this may be
advantageous when the weather is bad. But...HAL's pool area is enclosed
with a sliding glass roof over the main pool, and when the weather is
bad you can still stay in the area and enjoy the scenery.


Ben S.


Thanks in advance


  #6  
Old February 13th, 2005, 03:16 AM
Tom & Linda
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"Art" wrote in message
news:iuxPd.371002$8l.196808@pd7tw1no...
Hi,

THanks for the reply. If you took Celebrity out of the picture, how would
you rank the rest of the cruise ships?


I don't like RCI's food.

HAL has (based on the ships we've seen in ports, and friends who've gone on
them) a reputation for a very elderly crowd. And people who I trust say HAL
has declined quite a bit.

I like the Norwegian Dawn, but I'm not sure about the Sun.

Me...

I think I'd look at either Princess or look at the other Celebrity ships
(Summit or Mercury).

Princess would be my 4th choice. Celebrity would be 1, 2 and 3 (Infinity,
Summit, Mercury).

What I'd also do is see if I could find any good pricing on Crystal. If I
did, they'd move immediately to #1, dropping Celebrity down a notch. But
Crystal at high pricing... they price themselves out of my budget.

--Tom


  #7  
Old February 13th, 2005, 03:17 AM
SONNY
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My choice would be either
Royal Carribean's Radiance of the Seas or Serenade of the Seas

These ship are the same class ships and have more glass that any other which
should make a big difference on an Alaska cruise. I've been on 24 Royal
Caribbean cruises and have no complaints about the service or the food. We
will be on the Jewel of the Seas in two weeks are are looking forward to
some fine dinning and a great time. The Jewel is also a Radiance class ship.



  #8  
Old February 13th, 2005, 03:39 AM
Tom & Linda
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"Karen Segboer" wrote in message
...


I'm not Tom nor am I Linda, but I would look at Royal Carribean
Radiance of the Seas or Royal Carribean Serenade of the Seas.


Nah... Tom says thumbs down on Radiance/Serenade.

--Tom


  #9  
Old February 13th, 2005, 04:54 AM
Jean O'Boyle
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"Art" wrote in message
news:5hwPd.370968$6l.130323@pd7tw2no...
Due to time constraints and location, I am limited to about 6 different
cruise ships for my 7 day inside passage ALaska cruise from Vancouver.

They a
Holland America Volendam
Holland America Zaandam
Norwiegian Sun
Royal Carribean Radiance of the Sea
Royal Carribean Serenade of the Sea
Celebrity Infinity


Art,
Having been on two Holland America ships last year, the new Westerdam and
the Statendam to Alaska, I would reccommend one of the Hal ships...We are
close to booking another HAL ship, the Ryndam, this summer to Alaska again.
You did not indicate your age, but even though some people feel that HAL is
for the older passengers, we found many mid-age and young people on the
ship..HAL is changing that way with their concentration of attracting the
younger passengers; they are upgrading their ships with an expanded youth
program and facilities and unless you have sailed on one of her ships
recently and seen this for yourself, or you are the real partying type, you
would enjoy HAL...They have much more open deck space, both inside and out,
to view the absolutely gorgeous scenery and glaciers...They have good food
and the staterooms have plush Euro-top mattress and duvets.
Movie theatre with popcorn as well as entertainment in the show room. What I
really loved was the abundance of fresh flowers everywhere...

I also was on the Radiance of the Sea last year and although it is a
stunningly beautiful ship, its food did not measure up to the Carnival
Conquest nor HAL..You do not have as much open deck space and a wrap around
balcony as you do on the HAL ships. To me that is important when visiting
Alaska.

You might check the link below, click on fleet and see the two HAL ships
that you are considering..

http://www.hollandamerica.com/home.htm

Have fun deciding and happy cruising!

--Jean


  #10  
Old February 13th, 2005, 06:12 AM
Jean O'Boyle
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"Tom & Linda" wrote in message
...

Infinity.

Best Food. Service. Elegance. Pampering. Celebrity still offers bridge
tours. And I'm a fan of the Celebrity "style". Only downside is it
doesn't go to Glacier Bay.


Now WHY did I know that you would say that? ;-)
Sheree did tell us how much she like it...
For us this year, Glacier Bay & Sitka are a *must do*!
--Jean










 




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