Love HAL but maybe Princess?

[lipoppop]

Would appreciate comments from people who have sailed with HAL and Princess. Especially interested in why one is preferred.

We have sailed HAL many times but some Princess itineraries, e.g. Tahiti, look very interesting.

[HighRoller]

Never sailed HAL just yet but have sailed 7 times on Princess and mostly exotic itineraries and will be going on the Tahitian Princess in Dec/04......I just love Princess!:cool: :eek: :cool:

[Jacqueline]

Tahiti isnt really like a typical Princess cruise- sort of like the Prisendam is to HAL. This ship was one of the R ships- so built for a different line and entirely different size (600pax) which renders an atypical Princess onboard experince.
One plus for a person who likes HAL traditional dining is that there is no personal choice- all dining is traditinal with early and late seating.
There is the most beautiful and largest library - esp for such a small ship! Obviously R was not giving a lot of thought to dedicating precious sq footage to revenue enhancing experienceing (the way all the newer ships are now designed).
This is an excellent itinerary.

[weluvcruisin']

We also have sailed Hal many times. In January we sailed Princess for the first time, we did enjoy it. Food maybe was not as good, and there were a few things we like better about HAL, but if the itinerary is what we want we will definitely sail Princess again.

[CruisinNana]

I have sailed both and prefer HAL; however, that may be because we have always had a suite, and when I went on Princess several years ago, there were absolutely no suite perks whatsoever. I understand that now there are the same perks for Princess suites as for the HAL suites, so that would not make a big difference.

The Princess suite was divided into a bedroom, a sitting room, and a bathroom. I felt more crowded in the divided suite even though the suite on HAL and the suite on Princess were about the same square footage. The bathroom on Princess was divided into two parts, and I liked that. The toilet and shower were in one part and the sinks were in another part.

I had mixed feelings about the Princess "dine whenever (freestyle??)" scheme. I think I prefer the same table, same waiters, same time each evening. I know we could have had the traditional service on Princess, but we tried the free choice. Several evenings we had to wait for a table, and several evenings, it took those of us traveling together longer to get together for dinner. We would say to meet at the dining room at 8:00, and it may have been 8:30 before everyone arrived. Somehow, some way, with the traditional dining, everyone seems to get to the dining room on time!

All considered, if each cruise line had the exact itinerary and the exact cabin I wanted for similar prices, I would choose HAL. If the price were lower on Princess, I would choose Princess and be very happy.

Hope that helped. :)

Dee

[HighRoller]

We'll I hope to be on a HAL Suite soemday, I have stayed just recently in a PS Cat on the Star and it was 537 sqft including a large balcony and since there suite services were upgarded it is just the same as HAL for included services.:cool: :eek: :cool:

[teencruiser18]

My aunt has been on HAL and Princess, and she said HAL to Princess is 51:49. HAL is a slight cut above.
Kerry

[rkacruiser]

Lipoppop,

If you enjoy the HAL experience, I would avoid the Royal Princess. As Jacqueline mentioned about the Tahitian Princess, the size and style of the ship offers a different kind of Princess cruise experience than their larger ships. There is much good to say about Royal Princess: she is easy to find your way around, the crew were very pleasant and efficient, cuisine was as good as HAL and menu selections on my recent cruise were better than HAL, and entertainment, with the exception of some of the lecturers, was good. Shore excursions were reasonably priced(I thought) and very well operated.

The negatives were the Lido Cafe operation. It in no way compares favorably with Holland America. Not enough space at prime meal time for breakfast and lunch, much difficulty in keeping foods at the proper temperature, layout of the serving line and presentation of food reminds me of my old school cafeteria were my major complaints. But, they do have a freshly made(while you watch) pasta dish each day at lunch--and that was always delicious, hot, and wonderful! The other negative was the number of public rooms available for passenger use during the day. Many of the rooms are used for activities in which I was not interested or were closed for entertainer rehearsals. I found that I was limited to only a couple of areas if I wanted a quiet place to read, for example. That contrasts with a HAL ship where there seems to be a greater variety of public rooms/spaces for passengers to enjoy.

The inability of the ship to provide a "Princess experience" comparable to their other ships is a major reason why Royal Princess will be transferred to P & O next year.

[lipoppop]

Thank you for your responses. Maybe will use Princess for Tahiti.

[HighRoller]

I am this year for there Marquesas Dec 3rd cruise and can't wait!:cool: :eek: :cool:

[johnlcruise]

Been on 6 HAL cruises in the last five years.
This Oct. I'm going to give Princess a try. Got a good rate for 10 days in the Caribbean.
Looking forward too comparing the two.
But to me any day at sea is a better day then in the office.

[olderpilot]

We have been on several HAL cruises and two on Princess. We enjoyed the Princess cruises, but thought they were just a tad below HAL in several respects, little things here and there. Our last cruise was on the Star and we decided that was just too big a ship for us.

We are trying Celebrity in February, but it is back to HAL next summer.

Jerry

[Aussie Gal]

We are HAL cruisers but in March went on the Tahitian Princess and had a wonderful cruise and experience.

We have booked for January 2006 on the Regal from Rio to Valpariso, but we are on the Prinsendam in October and the Maasdam next July for the Boston to Rotterdam cruise. The Regal has only the dining room and the buffet, no dine when you like, which suits us.

We have enjoyed both lines and find there are good and bad with both.

Jennie

[jhannah]

We have sailed both, and as already noted there are plusses and minuses with each. They are different products. We like each for what it is, but favor HAL for being a cut above in ambiance and service.