Which line??

[Chade5772]

I posted a thread a few days ago and was stating that we wanted an itinerary that Celebrity didn't sail. Of the three lines that sailed this itinerary we ruled out Norwegian quickly. We are stuck between Princess the ship is The Grand Princess or HAL the ship is Veendam. Have any of you cruised on these ships and prefer one over the other? Again food is very important to us :).

[BurBunny]

If you're wanting better food, I think I'd opt for the Veendam. While I've not sailed her, I've sailed some of her sisters, and overall I feel HAL's food is a bit better than Princess.

That said, you're looking at very different ships. Grand Princess is a mega ship with pretty high activity levels and broad demographics. Veendam is much more mid-size and traditionally more laid back. I'm presuming you're looking for the Galveston departure on these ships? For that, I think HAL's traditional cruiser base (more experienced and often older passengers) will not be as apparent as in other markets, but it likely will still be a factor.

What other factors in addition to food are important to you?

[Lois R]

:) Amber~...hi there...sorry to get off topic for just a second....how was the CENTURY?? I emailed you twice...is your email working?....good to see you again!!

[wv4891]

Chade5772,

We did a Western Caribbean on the Grand Princess two years ago. The ship had it's good points and not so good points. The good points were: We loved the wrap around promenade deck. Great to walk up to the bow of the ship and look out. Also it's public area's were laid out nicely, with a very nice lounge on the aft that had a lot of entertainment everynight. Also it had the best CD I had ever seen on any ship, Graham Seymour (sp??). As to the not so good points. We did the traditional dining and thought the physical layout of the dining room was terrible. It had very low ceilings and sight lines were very bad. You had the feeling of being in a very small room that was very noisey do to the low ceilings. Also, the food was not as good as in the past (not as good as Celebrity IMHO). Everytime I cruise on Princess, I think their food gets just a little worse than the previous cruise. Also, I said the public rooms were nice, but I thought that they had kind of chopped them up a bit, to give the ship a feeling of being smaller than it was. Just my thoughts. Would I go on it again, probably not, as there are so many ships and places I have not been to yet.

Bill

[Desertbelle]

That is so funny because we had Graham Seymore on the Star Princess and I thought he was a big loser. :rolleyes:

The Star is the sister ship to the Grand, and I thought it was a very nice ship and nice crew.

Not sure why you elimiated the NCL ship (I don't know which one you were thinking of) but our experience with NCL on the Sun was very good. Food was from very good to excellent, with many different restaurants to choose from each night. The crew were very pleasant and helpful and the cabins were nice...once you get past the unusual color choices. :D

I feel your pain, Chade5772. :D We just went through the decision of picking from Princess, RCI and Celebrity for our 2005 Europe cruise. They all looked like great itineraries, and the prices were similiar. We haven't sailed Celebrity yet, so we thought we'd give it a go. We are a little nervous about the dynamics of a Celebrity cruise. We are rather laid back cruisers, and very active for our age...plus we will be traveling with our son and his friend who are 24. I would hate for it to be too "old" for us. I am hoping the summer timing will bring out the young people. :)

[Chade5772]

Hi Amber,
Sorry I haven't updated my profile. My address has changed. I have not been on the Infinity, and Mercury, not the Century. However my sister-in-law went on the Century and loved it. Obviously not a mega ship but very elegant mid-size ship, and said the food was better than to her than the Infinity. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. If I said I said Century, I meant Celebrity. Any other questions let me know. Sorry for the confusion.

[Chade5772]

When I mentioned Norwegian everyone said NO. The food was bad, and atmosphere worse. So I have heard ALOT of negatives about Norweigan.

[c-cruise]

I have sailed on both the Grand and Veendam and would sail either of them again depending on the itinerary. Personally I prefered the Grand because of amount and variety of activities and entertainment available on a ship of that size. Also, the Grand has far more balcony rooms and mini-suites available than the Veendam if that is something you are interested in. And if you are in to alternative restraunts Sabatinis on Princess is great.

Veendam is of course a much smaller ship with many less passengers. As a result there is not nearly the crowding at peak buffet times as you will find on the Grand. On Veendam you will find the more traditional two story dining room as compared to the multiple single deck dining rooms on the Grand. When I was on the Veendam it had a movie theater (does it still?) something that you won't find on the Grand. Veendam just got out of dry-dock about a month ago in Seattle, so it should be in great condition.

These ships are both great, but are extremely different from each other. If you are looking for a mega-ship with non-stop activities and thousands of people go for the Grand. If you want a small ship feel with a more traditional cruise experience go for the Veendam.

[stephy1]

I was on the Veendam a few years ago. It's a great ship, I think it's the perfect size. The food & service was great. I've never been on Princess so I can't compare the two. However, we tend to go back and forth between Celebrity and HAL. As always every cruise line does something better than the next one, so it's not like comparing apples to apples.
If you enjoyed Celebrity, you'll like HAL. The thing I really like about HAL is the wrap around promenade deck with the deck chairs in the shade.

Stephanie

[olderpilot]

Chade5772,

We have cruised on the Star (sister ship to the Grand) and on the Veendam as well as several of her sister ships.

We much prefer HAL for a variety of reasons. The cabins are slightly larger (as are the verandas). The dining room is much more spacious, the Lido cafe is not as crowded. Additionally, HAL has lots of extras - hors d'oeuvres during the cocktail hour every evening in all the bars. Iced tea and lemonade served on the decks in the afternoon. Popcorn outside the movie theater.

As has been previously stated the Grand will about 900 more passengers aboard and as a result there will be a greater variety of entertainment available. The Veendam is not a small ship, however. You should find plenty of things to keep you busy if you so desire.

You will have a good cruise on either.

Jerry

[chazaroo]

wv4891 said: Everytime I cruise on Princess, I think their food gets just a little worse than the previous cruise.

Funny, we had the same experience on Celebrity. We were on Millenium in 2001 and Summit in 2003. Food on Millenium was fabulous. Food was noticably worse in 2003 on Summit. Maybe it was the difference between the two ships. Or maybe cost cutting by Celebrity parent, Carnival. We actually had one meal that was inedible in 03. (Stay away from the lobster). Cova Cafe is another example. The one on Summit had far fewer items than we remembered from Millenioum. At any rate, we've given up on Celebrity and are giving Oceania a shot next. We cruise for the food and Celebrity (and app
arently all the major lines) has/have cut costs in the dining rooms. Pity. We're hoping Oceania is the solution.