HAL vs. Princess

[Cruisin'40]

For those of you who have sailed Princess and HAL, what are the similarities and differences in dining, service, ships, etc...
We have only sailed Princess, however, we are looking at some Europe cruises that HAL offers.
Also rumer has is that HAL has some fresh water pools (big plus), is this all the ships and all the pools or just a select few?
Thanks.

[Pilot70D]

Rather than rewrite a lot of text let me invite you to read a thread I started titled "Live From The Volendam A Dialy Report" (yes, i did misspell 'daily' but not intentionally). In this thread I do a lot of comparing between Princess and HAL.

For the years previos to 2004 we had cruised with Princess on their 'Grand' class ships. We enjoyed each of these cruises and then in 2004 decided to try the Volendam just to experience something different. HAL has now displaced Princess as our first choice. We were booked on the Caribbean Princess in December of last year but we decided we wanted to take a longer cruise so put the Caribbean Princess reservation in a state of suspended animation and booked the ten day Volendam cruise. We are now booked on the Veendam for a two week cruise leaving this November.

Let me disspell one rumor which I didn't address in the Live From The Volendam thread. We had heard through the rumor mill that the average age of the passengers aboard HAL ships was around 238. This wasn't the case. We had a good mix of all age groups on our cruise. Another false rumor was that nothing stirred on a HAL cruise after 10:00 P.M. or so. Not true - see the 'Dancing The Night Away' part of my thread.

Please don't misunderstand - we're not unhappy with our Princess cruise experiences. It's just that HAL does a little better job an almost every aspect of the cruise. The one BIG thing that we do miss from Princess is personal choice dining. HAL just doesn't offer PC dining yet but we keep hoping.

So if you decide to do that next cruise with HAL welcome aboard. We hope you enjoy that next cruise as much as we have all of our cruises.

[johnlcruise]

I was on my first Princess cruise in Oct.2004.
I have done over 5 HAL cruise.
I did enjoy the Princess but I did miss the little things that HAL offers.
Fresh O.J.
free popcorn at the movies
Appitisers in the lounges before dinner.
bigger rooms.
I did find the food about the same. But I dont go cruising to eat but to enjoy myself.
would I do Princess again? Yes. If I can find the great deal I got and the great stops we had.
A cruise is what YOU make out of it.
I allways have a great time.

[TWA4Ever]

We had heard through the rumor mill that the average age of the passengers aboard HAL ships was around 238. This wasn't the case.

Dang!! And we were hoping to get away from all them young whippersnappers on Princess!

[fllcruiser]

I have been on both Princess and Holland America. In march I will be going on a 10 day Princess cruise and although I am happy to be cruising, I wish I was cruising on Holland. I am sailing with friends from out of state and they chose the ship and itinerary. I have sailed Princess many times and have not had a bad cruise yet I just prefer Holland, better service, food, cabins,dining room etc.

[jhannah]

We have sailed both Princess and HAL, and prefer HAL. We find Holland America to be a cut above. Nothing drastic, but just a finer ambiance. Yes, cabins on most HAL ships are a tad larger than industry standard. Freshwater pools. Great food. (A subjective judgment, of course, but we've never been disappointed.) Would we sail Princess again? Sure, as noted above, if the itinerary and price was right. But HAL is our preference.

[kryos]

We have sailed both Princess and HAL, and prefer HAL. We find Holland America to be a cut above. Nothing drastic, but just a finer ambiance. Yes, cabins on most HAL ships are a tad larger than industry standard. Freshwater pools. Great food. (A subjective judgment, of course, but we've never been disappointed.) Would we sail Princess again? Sure, as noted above, if the itinerary and price was right. But HAL is our preference.
I have sailed on HAL three times now, Princess once. Of course, it's personal preference, but the only differences I noted where Princess lagged behind was Lido Buffet. HAL has it hands down over Princess' Horizon Court, in my opinion. Also, the HAL ships seem a bit more elegant than the Sun ... the art work, decorations, etc. Other than those two areas, I found I received better service on the Sun, a friendlier staff, etc.

Please don't take this as HAL-bashing ... to be honest, I've never had a bad cruise yet. I could go on another Princess cruise tomorrow that won't hold a candle to HAL. I think a lot of it is subjective, and depends on the ship and on the sailing ... more than on the line itself. You could go on a HAL cruise tomorrow that does not meet your expectations because perhaps you don't draw a good wait staff, or maybe your cabin steward is new or overwhelmed. You could go on a Princess cruise next week that doesn't meet your expectations because perhaps the CD isn't up to par and doesn't fill those sea days as you would like to see them filled.

Bottom line ... I cruise to cruise. I've tried two lines so far ... and am booked for a future cruise on both of them. Until I have a really bad experience, there is no way I would swear off of any one line. And ... if the opportunity presents itself (itinerary, price, availability of spendable cash), I'll try other lines too.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[Tak8]

I sailed the Zuiderdam during her first year and the Golden Princess last. I would sail on either line again and I will be on the Z. this summer becaue of the itinerary that includes Tortola. Some of these comments may be do to the fact that the Z. staff was new and hadn't worked togther as a team long, but I liked the service on Princess better. Friendlier, faster staff. The food was about even. HAL's Lido buffet is the best. Princess' dining room was slightly better, but both were good to very good. I enjoyed the selections on Princess more and that is simply personal choice. Having a child, I liked the fact that my son could go with me to the fitness center. I don't know of many cruises line that allow that.

[marco]

The past 6/8 years we have been alternating pretty much between HAL Princess and Celebrity, though we have taken several others. Though all have their differences, we find these 3 to be the most similar to each other. The thing we like best on HAL is the glass domes over the pool area, the thing we like best about Princess is the pools/hot tubs open 24/7. The other differences (asd even these two features) are not significant enough for us to choose one line over the other. Price/timing/itinerary determine which line we take.