Have you ever regretted sailing another line?

I have only ever cruised with HAL and recently we have been looking at Princess because of an itinerary we like, but something's off and I can't get excited about it, we just love HAL ships, the line, the corporation, every aspect of the experience is like family, anyone else feel like that? Or did you adapt to the different ships and services? I'd hate to spend all this money on a lengthy cruise and feel stuck. I know it's a highly subjective matter but we love the quiet ambiance of HAL's ships and fear not finding it elsewhere.

The cruise we're booked for is 28 days on the Emerald Princess and still refundable, it's during the school year so I'm inclined to think it will be a calmer crowd but I don't know the line or the ships. HAL is offering the same itinerary a few months after ours so it's doable on HAL if we can manage the time of year.

Have you ever left HAL and hated it? Were you filled with envy in port as you looked over to the HAL ships that were docked? Because we always feel lucky on HAL's ships and always snicker a bit at the pax filing on/off the gargantuan Princess and RCL ships.

Our first couple of cruises were on HAL, and then we decided to try Princess. And really enjoyed that cruise, so we cruised Princess again. After that we have gone back and forth between the two lines, and we have enjoyed every cruise.

We find the two lines very similar, and both provide a good product.

Princess ships tend to be bigger than HAL's, but we never found them to be too big, busy or crowded. Our favourite Princess ships are their biggest: Royal and Regal. But we really liked the Emerald too.

Hated it? No. We sailed 3 years ago on Dawn Princess, one of Princess' oldest ships, which lacked a few amenities, particularly for Suite pax and past cruisers (we sailed Princess in the 1990s, but have been on HAL for about the last 20 years, so have some status with Princess), so we weren't impressed. We know generally what Princess offers, and while Dawn has some nice features, it was also pretty outdated in several ways.

So were turned off Dawn Princess, but we would consider a desirable route on a newer Princess ship, in most cases.

No, no and no.

We’ve been on eight cruise lines. I can be objective. Many Holland America loyalists think it is better than everyone else. It was a lovely mass market line 10-15 years ago but it has slipped big time.

Princess is just as good or better sometimes. We’ve actually had better service on Princess than HAL. But we’ve received pretty good service on all lines. All crews want to please you.

If you are a die hard loyalist you are setting yourself up to dislike the new line. I’ve read some live reports in which the poster spent an inordinate amount of time rating, comparing. If you are a die hard loyalist you may miss the stroking and recognition you get as a frequent flyer, the “ do you know who I am “ factor.

I have sailed on Emerald Princess and her sister, Ruby Princess. We were worried they'd be too big, but they are our favorite ships. Much more to do than on HAL, better food, more food options (perhaps except for HAL's newer ships), better dining times, the list goes on.

Regardless of whether you cruise on Princess or another line, you will never know if your feeling of superiority is valid or not if you don't. :confused:

Never. There are several cruise lines I'm extremely unlikely to return to (Silversea and Celebrity especially come to mind) but despite disappointments I still had a great time and it was a valuable learning experience.

I'm a bit worried that you seem quite apprehensive about this and if you go into it with such doubts it could greatly color your experience. It may be that there needs to be a better time for you to branch out.

Roy

We love HAL and we love Princess, but I have to say that the 28 day trip on Princess has 17 sea days. Wowser! Too many for us.

We are booked on the 14 day HAL trip around French Polynesia (from Tahiti). Only 3 sea days and lots of wonderful places to visit.

We recently did a 28 day cruise on the Emerald Princess. I'm Elite on Princess so I know there product and there were no surprised for me, but it had been 7 years since my last Princess cruise with lots of days spent on HAL since. There are a few big differences. The Emerald felt much more crowded than what we are use too on HAL. This is most evident when trying to find a seat in the show room or at other venues with scheduled activities. Lines in the buffet or for Anytime Dinning were not a problem. I missed getting my Mariner discount on wine packages. Actually I missed the wine packages since Princess doesn't have them. I also missed getting a couple of free Pinnacle Dinners which my 5 star status would have provided on HAL.

There are pluses too with Princess. They have a large cruise staff so there are non-stop cruise staff driven activities. There are certain dishes that I've always enjoyed on Princess and it was nice to see they were still on the menu. It was also good to see some entertainment that we hadn't seen before.

Never. There are several cruise lines I'm extremely unlikely to return to (Silversea and Celebrity especially come to mind) but despite disappointments I still had a great time and it was a valuable learning experience.

 

I'm a bit worried that you seem quite apprehensive about this and if you go into it with such doubts it could greatly color your experience. It may be that there needs to be a better time for you to branch out.

 

Roy

I echo Roy's reply. My only difference is the cruise line I am unlikely to return to - Oceania.

I share the concern that you are apprehensive, OP.

A new cruise line and itinerary is an adventure. Don't go looking for HAL and you may be surprised how much you enjoy your cruise. There may be some things that you miss from HAL but you may well find new things that HAL doesn't offer that you like. So, go with an open mind and be prepared to enjoy :)

I have been on several lines and have had great times on all of them. I prefer HAL's smaller ship size. I could not see me on RCCI today with the rock climbing walls and 5,000 people+. The one trip I had with them many years ago was wonderful. I am trying Celebrity next November to see what it is like. The ship is not too big- about my limit (3,000 pax). There is nothing wrong with really liking one line and trying another just to see and compare. Good or not so good, it will be a nice trip....a cruise to me is always a good time! Give it a chance and go with the attitude that it is a new adventure! You may be pleasantly surprised. At one time in the beginning of my "cruise career" I just loved Carnival and couldn't see going on any other line. Then I tried RCCI, and said gee, this is nice too. Then I tried HAL and really loved it. From what I have heard Celebrity is nice too, many loyal fans there, so hoping I will like it too. So you never know!

We tried an older RCI ship (Soverign otS) and a newer Disney ship (Dream). There were a few things on the Disney ship that we liked better than HAL, but nothing on the RCI ship.

I have been on Carnval, Disney, Royal, NCL and most recently Celebrity, I just pick where I want to go and find a ship that fits what I want. Every line has been great. I'd rather be on any line than at work! Doing HA for the first time in Feb,

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We tried an older RCI ship (Soverign otS) and a newer Disney ship (Dream). There were a few things on the Disney ship that we liked better than HAL, but nothing on the RCI ship.

We sailed RCI onc e and never returned. las t time we sailed Princess, we said we would not do so gain and we never sailed them again. We did not like an tirude that was prevvalentg on that ship. they were niot highly motivated to please guests. Some were outright rtude.

We live in south Florida, so we have four cruise ports within a two hour drive of the house. A couple years ago, I found a CHEAP weekday cruise on RCCI's Majesty of the Seas from Port Canaveral. I booked a outside cabin (two port holes) and we left on a Monday. At the time, Majesty was RCCI's oldest ship. It showed. The cabin was TINY, a bed, a chair, a bathroom a closet and a 14" TV made up the whole cabin. The bed was TERRIBLE, hard and broke down. The food, both in the buffet restaurant and in the main dining room was COLD. The ship was terribly worn and in poor shape. YES, we really hated that cruise. You get what you pay for, and that cruise cost the two of us about $600 for five days. Money wasted. We just got off an 11 day HAL to the Panama Canal, and really had a great time. Lesson is, you cheap out, you get what you pay for.

Tom in Okeechobee, FL

We sail with 8 massmarket lines and only Carnival are definitely not on our list anymore.

Some lines we enjoy more - Princess and Celebrity - some less, but still a lot, some experiences were inconsistent - HAL - we feel we would like more, but geographically we don’t meet often , some we loved Cunard QM2, but I don’t see us being regulars.

We find pleasure in variety of choices and will never restrict ourselves to one line.

Try Princess. It is a very nice line with beautiful ships, great food and nice service. Love all the dancing on Piazza (Atrium)

We bounce between HAL, Princess, Celebrity and Azamara. We enjoy them all.

We have also cruised twice on MSC. We really enjoyed the first one in 2016 and returned a year later. Unfortunately, on that cruise, MSC was reinventing the MSC cruise experience for the US market and obviously has been influenced by the limitations of the first time MSC cruisers from Carnival, NCL, and RCCL. Hopefully, things will come back around to higher standards of the first cruise.

Lines I would never cruise again :Carnival (the experience lived down to my expectations), NCL, and RCCL (used to be our favorite but is now been down marketed to be a Carnival equivalent ).

Oh no... RCCL is not in any way Carnival, much nicer. NCL is also very different, but I agree Princess Celebrity and HAL (for the most part) are step above.

As others have posted, variety is the way to go. We jumped ship, so to speak, from HAL after cruising with them exclusively for over 20 years. Like you we were a bit apprehensive to jump ship, but the HAL experience had grown stale and we wanted something different.

We've never tried Princess. Yet. ;)

We decided to go big or go home and went on the Allure. We had an excellent time. There were differences, both positive and negative compared to HAL but nothing that would prevent us from wanting to go back.It was a refreshing change making us want to do other lines.

So now we split our cruises between HAL and others. Just got off Celebrity Equinox and HAL has a way to go to catch up. But we still like HAL and even have Alaska set for next year on the Zaandam. But the fall will be on the Anthem cruising up into New England area. 2019 is still unbooked but Galapagos Islands look promising.

So I can recommend you go for it and enjoy Princess.

Dan

With your reservations I would as least try a shorter cruise on Princess before committing to 28 days. Granted the shorter the cruise the more families but you will at least get a feel for their ships, cabins, food offerings etc. without such a large time and money commitment.

Oh no... RCCL is not in any way Carnival, much nicer. NCL is also very different, but I agree Princess Celebrity and HAL (for the most part) are step above.

My point is that RCCL is now an entry level cruise line as is Carnival and NCL. I am comparing the RCCL of twenty plus years ago to what it is today.

Thanks for all the excellent responses, I suppose we will give Princess a whirl, I certainly don't want to ever feel like it's HAL or nothing, there are actually lines I want to eventually try like Cunard, I just needed to hear some general opinions about the two lines and get an idea on how many HAL fans enjoy both indicating I can too.

Perhaps it's best to embrace the new, if anything to experience that special feeling similar to the first time I cruised, remember your first time:D?

We live in south Florida, so we have four cruise ports within a two hour drive of the house. A couple years ago, I found a CHEAP weekday cruise on RCCI's Majesty of the Seas from Port Canaveral. I booked a outside cabin (two port holes) and we left on a Monday. At the time, Majesty was RCCI's oldest ship. It showed. The cabin was TINY, a bed, a chair, a bathroom a closet and a 14" TV made up the whole cabin. The bed was TERRIBLE, hard and broke down. The food, both in the buffet restaurant and in the main dining room was COLD. The ship was terribly worn and in poor shape. YES, we really hated that cruise. You get what you pay for, and that cruise cost the two of us about $600 for five days. Money wasted. We just got off an 11 day HAL to the Panama Canal, and really had a great time. Lesson is, you cheap out, you get what you pay for.

 

Tom in Okeechobee, FL

SOMETIMES you pay for it bu do not get what you paid for. :( That happenedd us on our last Princess Cruise and we were in a large suite. thre was hardly any hing we liked about that cruise.:p

Just reading the title of this thread "Have you ever regretted sailing another line?", my mind went right to: "Yup, Princess".

We've taken two Princess cruises, and they were the most crowded ships (Golden Princess & Caribbean Princess) we've ever been on.

We also thought the food was pretty hit or miss, except Sabatini's, which we both really liked a LOT.

The beds were very hard, we thought; not comfortable at all.

We've taken 46 cruises, and the service on the two Princess cruises was by far the worst of all.

Personally, I wouldn't book another cheap week on a Princess ship, much less shell out a bunch of money for a long Princess cruise. On the other hand, I wouldn't hesitate booking another long long cruise on HAL. So,yes, If I were you, I'd get my deposit back & book something on HAL.

We always cruise with HAL, Princess or Celebrity, depending on itinerary and price. However, last year we decided to try NCL Breakaway to Bermuda. We have always sailed on Celebrity Summit to Bermuda so we thought we needed a change. WRONG! Everyday we walked by Summit with tears in our eyes. NCL is just not a good fit for us......disliked everything.

We've learned our lesson and now we stick with the Big Three!

Perhaps it's best to embrace the new, if anything to experience that special feeling similar to the first time I cruised, remember your first time:D?

LOL - that was in 1976. However, the last cruise I was excited about trying was the MSC Divina cruise in 2016.

The line still was maintaining its Italian heritage as to food and leisurely dining. The passengers came came around the world. Service was European, not the fawning of USA cruise lines.

And we enjoyed the cruise. Too bad the line "Americanized" on the last cruise in 2017.