My husband & I have sailed 2X on Hollan, last time Oosterdam Deluxe suite. Bed was the best bed!!!
All the perks were great but the entertainement on Holland isn't good. Found activities not good. Now we are thinking Holland for Alaska or Royal Carib. We would be doing a pre 3-4 night land tour and would want a suite. I know what Holland offers in way of rooms are their tours comp. to Royal and what perks if any do you get with Royal when booking a suite.?
Any info would be of help.
Thank you

Holland America owns Westours, the granddaddy of all Alaska tour operators. Their RR cars have the view domes now, as RCCL's. They are familiar with Alaska for many years and have a real commitment to the area - for those reasons I would prefer HAL over RCCL in Alaska.

thanks Karen:
My husband didn't want to go back on HOlland not for the room or service but shows are boring and activities are a bit dull. Holland does give you many perks in the suites, plus being a repest cruiser you do get the perks. My husband does not like the beach or sitting by the pool. Holland was #1 for years doing Alaska. Have you been to Alaka on Holland?
If I do not book a suite he will not go.
By the way we are in our mid 50s although my husband in his mind thinks he is 30

My husband & I did HAL to Alaska in 2000. It was wonderful. You do Glacier Bay with HAL. There was a naturalist on board who would let us know when something noteworthy was passing by, and explain what we were seeing. There was a woman from the Tklinglit tribe who did cultural lectures and explained what we would see and talked about the Native American cultures and their contributions to the areas we were visiting. The morning in Glacier Bay we had hot split pea soup served on deck. There was Dutch hot chocolate on deck at 4:00. You won't find pool side barbeques or late night hoot-n-hollar parties, but it with less than 2000 passengers, it was a great trip. HAL has been doing Alaska for years, and does it right. We didn't do the land package, but a friend who did said it was wonderful.

Gatorgirl, to answer your question, I have not yet done Alaska on HAL, but have had several friends who did, and loved it. We did our AK cruise on a small-ship line, which was perfect for us. Princess also does a nice job in AK, and has its own lodges, which look wonderful - rustic yet classy.

I did the Island Princess in Alaska. They also had a naturalist onboard. They had a wonderful Alaskan buffet up on the Lido deck one day. You got to try alot of the different Alaskan fish and caribou, etc. When I went on one of the formal nights Princess had the Champagne tower. Very impressive to watch. Princess and HAL have been up in Alaska the longest and they get the most permits to go into Glacier Bay. If you are going to do the land and cruise, Princess' new train station in Whittier is very streamlined. Definetely Princess or HAL for Alaska.

Thank you all for your thoughts. We didn't want to go back on HAL but after reading many reviews & thoughts I think HAL is going to ne our choice a few reasons.
1. HAL & Princess have beeen doing Alaska long before the others. I am not a PRincess fan, been on 1 one theri ships.
2. HAL has wonderful service
3. Their suites are just right for us plus they give you many extras plus the Neptune lounge
Now their entertainment in my opinion is poor & their activites aren't great, but I am going for ALASKA and we will be busy wiith tours. Now if we were going on a cruise where we would be on the ship 4 days of seeing no ports then I would have to go with another line.
I remember when we were on the Hal our head waiter remembered everyones name after the first night and had our drinks waiting for us when we arrived at our table every night. Little things like this are special. We do not ahve any kids so that isn't a factor. We will also be taking a pre tour package.