Bucket List Adventure

We traveled first for 30 days on the Holland America Noordam visiting Southern Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. From there we went on the Norwegian Jewel visiting Northern Australia, Southeast Asia, China and Japan for 40 additional days. Comparing the two ship experiences, we liked the Holland America cruise experience better but they both had pros and cons. In general, even though the Holland America ship had less restaurant choices, their food was of a much better quality. Except for the specialty restaurants, the food on the Norwegian ship was often cold and the meat was tough, dry and over cooked. There was much more staff/passenger ratio on the Holland America ship. Have to say that in some of the ports, on both ships, the shore excursions left something to be desired and were often redundant. Loved the Lincoln Center Stage performances on the Holland America ship. We had an opportunity to do a land shore excursion on the Jewel which was excellent. There were a few ports in Northern Australia that we could have skipped like Darwin and New Castle. We had a junior suite on the Holland America ship and it had great storage --- I was pleasantly surprised! On the Jewel we had a 2 bedroom suite which came with concierge service --- my husband is hooked, he loved the added benefits. Our reason for going was to see and do as much as we could and we did just that. We chose these particular cruises because it gave us an opportunity to visit a part of the world we had never been before. We saw some incredible natural sights and my husband learned to pray in many different religions --- he says now he has all bases covered. It was a trip of a lifetime!