How Would You Compare Hal To Celebrity Or Princess?

[many cruises]

We are very excited about our upcoming HAL cruise on the Westerdam. How would you compare HAL to Celebrity or Princess in terms of dining, service, staterooms, decor on ships, etc? ;)

[geocruiser]

Hi

We have been on all three lines. O HAL we have been on Old Westerdam, new Westerdam, old Noordam, And three times on Zaandam. Celebrity, two times on Galaxy, three on Zenith. Princess two times on old Crown Princess and two times on Sun Princess. How do I rate them (over all).

#1 Westerdam
#2 Zaandam
#3 old Westerdam
#4 old Crown Princess
#5 Galaxy
#6 Sun Princess
#7 Zenith and OLD Nordam

You will just love Westerdam. When are you going? We were on her Dec 2005.

Geo

[jhannah]

All three lines offer good cruising experiences. But for us, Holland America ships provide something special. Their ships' decor features brass and warm woods. Fresh flowers and fine artwork are throughout. The Filipino and Indonesian crew members provide a special level of service. HAL's staterooms are a bit larger than industry standards. The Westerdam is one of their newer and larger Vista class ships. (I've been on all of them except for the Westerdam.) I'm sure you will have a great cruise, and will quickly discover what so many of us find unique about cruising with Holland America.

[Neil in Vancouver]

We have cruised with HAL four times (old and new Westerdams, Oosterdam, Veedam) and with Princess once (Island Princess). My assessment is this:

We are very happy with HAL for the reasons mentioned above. We thought the Island Princess was a somewhat nicer ship than the HAL ships, but this is a matter of taste. The food in the Horizon Court on Princess was better than the Lido on HAL, but the dining room meals were comparable. The cabins were comparable as well.

What really turned us off Princess was the crew. The Asian crew on HAL are wonderful people, very attentive, very polite and very happy. This is typical of what I have experienced in a number of business trips to Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. The Princess crew were largely eastern European, and we found them to be more brusque, and worst of all, they were much more aggressive at hawking wine, after dinner drinks, bar drinks, photos, spa packages, and anything else they could make a buck on. It became offensive after a while.

I wouldn't rule out another trip with Princess if they had the intinerary we wanted, but HAL woud be our first choice hands down.

There's my two (Canadian) cents' worth.

[Sheebah]

I've sailed Princess twice and HAL once and here are my opinions....very subjective:

You can't go wrong with either line in my opinion and I can't wait to sail them again soon....but my next two cruises are booked with HAL.

HAL's Pro's and Cons:
Pro's- Beds are wonderfully comfortable, service is (as others just mentioned) superior and special. Free espresso with or after dinner in the dining room, yum! Traditional dining/seating (for the most part). Embarkation was a breeze on the one cruise I sailed on. Room service menu is varied and delicious. Hot omellettes for breakfast, yum! Free ice cream with liquor to put on top in the buffets was fun. Clientele is a bit more upscale. People really dress for dinner.
Cons (if you can really list any!)- In my opinion, the decor is a tad guady on HAL. The Lido buffet with multiple stations I found to be complicated...but the buffet food quality was EXCELLENT. I prefer a straight buffet where it doesn't take 20 minutes to get through a line to get a sandwich, then have to in another line to get a salad. Didn't like waiting in line to get into the dining room each night, so we'd arrive 10 minutes late and sail in.

Princess- Pros: beatiful ships and interiors, mini suite category on some ships is a wonderful, huge alternative to a regular balcony cabin and is very affordable. I prefer the 24 hour buffet concept on Princess....the buffets on HAL always seemed closed to me...that was irritating. Website is superior to HAL's for many reasons,but HAL is improving.

Princess Cons: beds are hard and uncomfortable. Service is great, but not outstanding after you've sailed HAL.

[lougee1043]

never been on princess-- was on x galaxy in 2005 and i thought it compared well to hal -- but my heart belongs to hal and im scheduled to be back on the odam in january

[mick70]

In my HO HAL wins and CEL is a close second;
HAL on every thing but food but it is very close.

[ande12]

Been on 2 HAL cruises and 6 on Princess.both have pluses and minuses-depends on your own preferences.My wife and I like to ballroom dance on cruises and the venues on princess are superior to HAL.Much bigger floors and the bands,trios etc. play constantly.The dining room on HAL ships are better and there is a stringed quartet playing also.

[COLGATE]

While the two lines are very close in terms of overall amenities, our expereience suggests that HAL has the definite edge in the following:

1 - Service. The Indonesian and Filipino staff of HAL are among the friendliest, warmest people we have ever met, and this translates into a customer service that is, we feel, unmatched by CELEBRITY. You are made to feel truly welcome, as opposed to being merely a client.

2 - Cabins - HAL's cabins are larger, and the bedding is unmatched by any other line.

3 - Dining - While individual tastes obviously differ, we believe that HAL doesn't really give away anything to CELEBRITY in the dining experience, and HAL's Pinnacle Grill is an extraordinary experience. While CELEBRITY'S Olympic may be somewhat more ornate, we believe the level of service in the PINNACLE was superior.

4- Overall appearance - Both lines are good at ships' upkeep, but again we feel that HAL has the edge in this department.

Whichever you choose, you should have an excellent experience,

[dougnewmanatsea]

Dining - HAL and Celebrity both offer very good food in the dining room. HAL's buffets offer better quality and more variety though Celebrity's are fine. I haven't been on Princess in a few years but unless something major has changed I would rate their dining room food very slightly below HAL or Celebrity, and their buffets on par with Celebrity (not as good as HAL).

Service - I have always had good service on all three lines. Normally, I would say there is not much to choose between them. However, despite the fact that I had great service on Celebrity last month, I would have to put them in last place in this area strictly because, from reports from friends and colleagues, it is obvious that there is a major problem with consistency at Celebrity right now, with great service on some ships and awful service on others. Hopefully this will be rectified soon.

Cabins - First place goes to HAL, second to Celebrity, third to Princess. HAL's cabins are the biggest, followed by Celebrity and then Princess whose cabins are really quite small. HAL has luxury bedding on all their ships, Celebrity on only one (CENTURY) and Princess are still in the dark ages with no plans to upgrade bedding at all.

Decor of Ships - This is difficult since not all ships in the same line are the same. However, notwithstanding "exceptions to the rule" which are older than a fleet's other ships and/or not built for the same company (with HAL this is PRINSENDAM, Celebrity it is ZENITH, Princess it is the former Renaissance ships and REGAL PRINCESS), one can still make a comparison. I would put HAL and Celebrity in a joint first place, with Princess in a distant third. Celebrity's ships are the most modern and impressive-looking, while HAL's have more intimate spaces and make me feel at home right away. Princess ships, to me, are just dull, with vast expanses of pastel colors, medium-toned fake wood, marble and boring artwork.

[MercedMike]

I concur with many posters above that Princess and HAL are very comparable and that if you like Princess you should like HAL.

I do want to add my opinion about the servers on both ships. The Indonesians and Philipinos on HAL are definitely friendly, and it is true that the international staff on Princess may seem a bit more brusque and standoffish compared to them, as some stated.

The counterpoint is that I think the service on Princess is just a bit more polished and professional in small ways. For example, it seems that most waiters I have had on HAL do not quite place the plate squarely on the table in front of me. Often they leave it hanging a half inch off the edge! This doesn't happen on Princess. Also, while the HAL waitstaff are very friendly, I have seldom found them knowledgable about the food. For example I asked a waiter how the scallops were prepared, and he called the headwaiter over, who simply read me the description on the menu. On Princess if I ask about the preparation of a dish, the waiter is usually able to explain it, and if not the headwaiter will prove to be fully informed about exactly how it is cooked. Now don't get me wrong, I love the friendly Indonesians on HAL but I also love the professional and well informed Eastern Europeans on Princess!

Mike

[NHCruisr]

I have been on all three lines and have enjoyed each cruise very much. I do think that the question about quality should not be just among the different cruise lines. I think that the quality varies also from ship to ship.

We have been on several Princess cruises. The two trips (full transit Panama Canal, Alaska) on the Coral were outstanding. The others - two on the Regal, two on the Grand, one on the old Star, one on the Sun - were very good.

On Holland America our trip on the Oosterdam was outstanding. Our trip on the Zuiderdam was very good. We have trips booked on the Westerdam and the Amsterdam.

On Celebrity, we've only cruised on the Zenith. It was very good.

Service on all ships was excellent. I really enjoy the HAL service. It is friendly, well informed and elegant. The Princess dining rooms are also lovely. The service is wonderful. I like that there are both men and woman servers in the dining room. We have not found an "attitude" with the servers on Princess. We've been very pleased. Celebrity was excellent as to service, but I felt the food and service a bit better on HAL and Princess. On another Celebrity ship, I might have been more impressed.

The bottom line for us is that we accept that the lines and the ships are different. We go with a positive and kindly attitude. We enjoy meeting new people, having good food and enjoying the cruising experience. I wouldn't shy away from any of these three lines. And as a postscript, less you think we are overly positive and not discriminating, we went on one NCL cruise and it was not good and we were not pleased. This reinforced our positive feelings about the other cruise lines.

[hammybee]

I have been on Millie and Connie. I enjoyed the Cirque du Soleil White Night party and applaud Celebrity for the attempt at entertainment innovation. The thermal pool is heaven.

I have never had a bad cruise.

Princess is the only mid market line I have yet to sail.

I always come home to HAL.

[Patinthehat]

My friend is cruising on the Maasdam, and all this info helps a lot.

Thanks!

Pat

[kelmac]

After 24 cruises, (RCL, HAL, X, NCL, Princess) I would have to agree with Doug's assessment. Here is my own breakdown:

Dining room food: Celebrity 9.5 -- HAL 9.1 -- Princess 8.2
Buffet: HAL 9.3 -- Celebrity 9.0 -- Princess 7.8
Alternative Restaurants: Celebrity 9.9 -- HAL 9.2 -- Princess 8.6
Cabin comfort: HAL 9.6 -- Celebrity 8.5 -- Princess 8.0
Cabin decor: Celebrity 9.0 -- Princess 8.8 -- HAL 8.2
Entertainment: Princess 9.3 -- Celebrity 8.7 -- HAL 8.2
Service: Celebrity 9.4(formal) -- HAL 9.2(warm) -- Princess 8.4(efficient)
Ship decor: Celebrity 9.1 -- Princess 8.8 -- HAL 8.6
Deck space/Pools: Princess 9.3 -- Celebrity 9.0 -- HAL 8.3
Relative space (uncrowded feel): Celebrity 9.3 -- HAL 9.2 -- Princess 7.4
Itineraries: HAL 9.5 -- Princess 9.2 -- Celebrity 8.8
Promenade Deck: HAL 9.6 -- Celebrity 8.8 -- Princess 8.3
Overall Cruise Experience: Celebrity 9.5 -- HAL 9.3 -- Princess 8.8

For the money, you can't beat Holland America and Celebrity!

Enjoy!
Kel

[crossstitcher]

I have sailed on both lines but I lean more towards Princess. I just loved the suite on the Veendam and the oversized private veranda. Even the deck chairs were comfy and the teakwood was a very elegant touch. The Neptune lounge was great - only had to walk down the hall a short distance for morning coffee and pastries. What I didn't like about this ship was the lack of "nightlife" They had two shows each evening (the same show in two time slots for the dinner hours). That was about it. There were no lounge acts or bands or any audience interactive events with the cruise director staff. The nightclub had a little 3 piece band that played the basic music. I don't think there were more than a dozen people in the club under the age of 60 - and the dance floor was emply. The piano bar was full - but I don't care for this kind of music. The Desk staff admited that the activities on this ship were more accomidated to the senior citizens as HAL is very popular for that age group. Good thing we were in a suite and had DVDs available to us after 10 pm. Very clean and the staff was excellant but I think Princess has far more to offier unless you like going to bed at 10 PM - this is just my personal take - HAL did not have what we were looking for.

[kryos]

What really turned us off Princess was the crew. The Asian crew on HAL are wonderful people, very attentive, very polite and very happy. This is typical of what I have experienced in a number of business trips to Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. The Princess crew were largely eastern European, and we found them to be more brusque, and worst of all, they were much more aggressive at hawking wine, after dinner drinks, bar drinks, photos, spa packages, and anything else they could make a buck on. It became offensive after a while.

I agree with just about everything you say. The service staff on Princess, in my opinion, is far inferior than that which you will find on HAL. I am sure there are plenty of exceptions ... aren't there always? ... but some of the things I overheard or saw on Princess you would never see on HAL. For example, walking through the hall on the way back to my cabin after breakfast one morning on the Island Princess, I hear a couple of cabin stewards in the hall bickering and complaining. Apparently the one woman got assigned to help out a new steward and she was complaining quite loudly to a co-worker, in front of the person she had apparently been asked to help, that she already had too much work to do. Now, I'm not saying she didn't possibly have a valid complaint ... but that complaint should have been aired behind closed doors, perhaps in her supervisor's office or another area out of earshot of the passengers.

I have never seen anything like that on HAL ... ever.

Princess is a nice line ... and I've enjoyed both of my sailings on her. But I always feel so much better on embarkation day if it's a HAL ship that I am getting ready to board.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[many cruises]

Thank you for your great descriptions of these cruise lines. HAL sounds just like what we're looking for...can't wait until November for our cruise on the Westerdam!;)

[TWELVEOHONE]

We are very excited about our upcoming HAL cruise on the Westerdam. How would you compare HAL to Celebrity or Princess in terms of dining, service, staterooms, decor on ships, etc? ;)

Instead of giving you my opinion I will tell you what the readers of Conte Naste Travel. The rating were based on the premium class of ships i.e. Celebrity, Pincess and HAL

Celebrity was rated numer 1 on seven of the 10 criteria and number 1 overall

Princess came in a far 2nd with HAL a close to Princess 3rd

Please don shoot the messenger

[sweetcat]

Last fall we took a different back to back. First we took a week on the Westerdam HAL and then got off and went to the other pier and a week on Millenium Celebrity. Very different and enjoyable for different reasons.

We had a balcony on each and similiar layout. The beds on HAL are much superior. I did not want to leave they were so comfortable.

The employees seemed more friendly and smiling all the time on Westerdam but this was subjective and could just be due to the different cultures. Seemed a little more experienced on HAL. The cabin steward showed us how he carries a beeper for communication with his passengers, gave us his usual working hours and introduced his assistant. Coffee shop was kind of plain and unused but we got good Starbucks qualtity coffee (paper cups) each day and used the room to pay games.

I call the Millenium the NY supper club cruise. Very elegant and refined. Lots of people having cocktails and dancing in the evening. Even the coffee shop was refined with fine china and well dressed waiters. Softer lighting and colors. The buffet area had wonderful glass walls and even porthole windows in the floor to see the ocean.

We had a fun time on Westerdam and enjoyed the more relaxed atmosphere. hard to exactly describe it. Brighter in lights and colors. Food was great. Of course once I had the muescli for breakfast on HAL nothing else compared. (and the bread pudding, yummmm)

When we missed one port due to rough seas the captain of the Westerdam got us into the dock! at Key West and we had a wonderful day there. Almost a highlight since there was a lot to do just getting off the ship.l Key West is a wonderful day trip.

Note: I think the Millenium has the special spa food area and it is great. What they can do with low calorie food is a wonder. And it is available to all (if you can find it). Both ships had wonderful grills going for hamburgers, etc. I had to try really hard to stay away because the smell was so incredibly goodl.

So pick based on what is important to you. We are going on the Noordam this November to try a different HAL ship. Trying to figure out which one to take to Alaska next May.

[mike35]

2 - Cabins - HAL's cabins are larger, and the bedding is unmatched by any other line.


We're going on our first HAL cruise (Statendam) on 12/22/06. This thread had been quite valuable in highlighting the greats, goods, and not-so-goods on HAL.

I must take issue, however, with Colgate's blanket (no pun intended) statement regarding HAL's bedding. We're avid Oceania cruisers. and I would guarantee that Oceania's bedding is at least as comfortable and luxurious as HAL's. Perhaps the comparison is meant to be against Celebrity and Princess.

Mike

[helenp2]

We're going on our first HAL cruise (Statendam) on 12/22/06. This thread had been quite valuable in highlighting the greats, goods, and not-so-goods on HAL.

I must take issue, however, with Colgate's blanket (no pun intended) statement regarding HAL's bedding. We're avid Oceania cruisers. and I would guarantee that Oceania's bedding is at least as comfortable and luxurious as HAL's. Perhaps the comparison is meant to be against Celebrity and Princess.

Mike\\


Mike - I have sailed on both lines and while I agree Oceania does have good bedding, it can not compare to the bedding on HAL. If for no other reason than the beds on HAL are bigger in both width and length. Hope you enjoy your upcoming cruise.

[nurseblissful]

why do you rate the noordam last?

[kelmac]

Last fall we took a different back to back. First we took a week on the Westerdam HAL and then got off and went to the other pier and a week on Millenium Celebrity. Very different and enjoyable for different reasons.

We had a balcony on each and similiar layout. The beds on HAL are much superior. I did not want to leave they were so comfortable.

The employees seemed more friendly and smiling all the time on Westerdam but this was subjective and could just be due to the different cultures. Seemed a little more experienced on HAL. The cabin steward showed us how he carries a beeper for communication with his passengers, gave us his usual working hours and introduced his assistant. Coffee shop was kind of plain and unused but we got good Starbucks qualtity coffee (paper cups) each day and used the room to pay games.

I call the Millenium the NY supper club cruise. Very elegant and refined. Lots of people having cocktails and dancing in the evening. Even the coffee shop was refined with fine china and well dressed waiters. Softer lighting and colors. The buffet area had wonderful glass walls and even porthole windows in the floor to see the ocean.


Sweetcat,

Very interesting! Lauren and I are matching the Millennium and the Westerdam for a BtoB this December. We love the fact that both ships are doing the eastern caribbean, but they travel to totally different ports. For us, HAL and Celebrity are pretty much interchangeable. They are different, but excellent in their own ways.
Enjoy!
Kel

[Freedom55]

why do you rate the noordam last?

Nurse.....Are you on the Star Princess March 03 2007???

If you are come to my roll call!! (Just started it!)