Which Line should I go on? Holland America, oosterdam. Or Norwegian Spirit?

Question

I'm going on a cruise to mexico and I can't decide which cruise I want to go on. When you look at the pictures they both seem so breathtaking. They're both 7 days, and both to mexico. The oosterdam for the mexican rivera, and The Norwegian Spirit goes to the gulf of mexico. I'm so confused to check out the pictures that I've seen for both just click the links.

http://travel.travelocity.com/ecruise/CruiseDetailsPublicArea.do?sailing_date=Dec+20%2C+2008&resSt=&pagerIndex=&resultsIndex=0&lead_price=449.00&currency=USD&gtCty=&cruiseId=2693&promolink=&deckId=&pPc=&action_code=Select&price=&srRt=

that was for the oosterdam,

this one is for NLC:

http://travel.travelocity.com/ecruise/CruiseDetailsPublicArea.do?sailing_date=Apr+12%2C+2009&resSt=&pagerIndex=&resultsIndex=22&lead_price=499.00&currency=USD&gtCty=&cruiseId=7990&promolink=&deckId=&pPc=&action_code=Select&price=&srRt=

Answer 1

It sounds like maybe you need to do a little research.  These cruises are totally different - one is on the Pacific coast, the other is in the Caribbean, if your info is accurate.

Holland is much more upscale than NCL - better food and service - but will probably be much quieter.  Holland tends to have older, more well-traveled passengers.

Go to your library and get a book on cruising and/or go to CruiseCritic.com, click on "Boards" and/or "Reviews" [be sure to click on passenger reviews, too] and get all the info you could possibly want.

Have fun!

Answer 2

I have cruised on the NCL spirit but on a different itinerary.  Its a nice ship but its not as nice as the Holland America ship.  The HA ship was just launched in 2003 and the other was launched some time before that. The cabins on HA are larger and much nicer.

I have also done the Mexican Rivera cruise out of San Diego,  but on a NCL ship rather than HA.  Our cruise did the same port stops except we also did Acapulco.  The Mexican Rivera is nice but I don't think its as nice as in the Caribbean if you want beach time to enjoy swimming, sunning and just getting wet.  The Caribbean beaches are much prettier then those on  the Pacific side of Mexico.  The place that I liked best on the Pacific side was Cabo.  The other places were OK.

You are comparing here two different cruise lines as well as two different itineraries.  I have been on many NCL cruises but I don't care for their "freestyle" cruising at all.  Freestyle means that the cruise is very informal and you do not select a time for dinner but just go any time after about 6:00 PM that you want.  But I experienced some problems with that; like never having the same wait staff and table, and some laxity in service.  

You can actually request the same type dinner procedure on Holland America if that's what you like.  But as someone who has done almost 20 cruises during the past 15 or so years I prefer the traditional (old style) cruising where I have "my" table and "my" wait staff and I enjoy all of the benefits that brings in the way of personalized service, even them addressing me by name rather than as "sir/madam".

So my recommendation is the Holland America cruise because the ship is newer, the cabins and ship will be better, the food and service will be better, the cruise will be more special because its more upscale and classy.  The HA line has older and more reserved passengers.  Go on the HA cruise.

Answer 3

If you are looking for the better of the two I would go with Holland.  Holland is better or many levels such  as accom, food, service, ect......Good Luck and Enjoy!