Princess vrs. Holland america

Considering a cruise with friends to Hawaii on Princess and would like someone who has recently been on that line to compare it to HAL. Thanks in advance.

Just off the Star Princess last week, had a great time.

We are a early 40's/late 30's couple, eight cruises, 5 HAL, 2 Princess, 1 other. This opinion is subjective and based on our own experience.

We consider HAL our "A" line, and Princess our "A-" line. Basic differences in our experience could be best described as "take ten years off the average age of a HAL passenger, and add one or two more activites each day". You will find a Princess ship, generally speaking to be a bit more lively until about 11 PM.

The basic experience is the same, though. The usual shopping and destination sales and presentations, triva each day, comedians, ship dancers, magicians and such for the main entertainment. Food and drink presentations, bar specials, naturalists in Alaska, casino, theme nights.

HAL ships in general have wider promenade decks (the three HAL ships we have been on vs the two Princess ships). HAL ships appear to have nicer and more deck loungers on the Promenade deck.

We find the food to be varied and quite good in all venues on both lines; the new Lido Market is a step up from the current Princess buffets, HAL has better burgers, Princess better pizza, HAL has more ice cream but not milkshakes, but again, all of this is not enough to really notice if you are not looking. Princess does have a 24 hour bar/cafe available, and that is a nice improvement over HAL. Anytime dining on Princess can be a bit hectic at the early seating. Crown Grill and Sabatini's on Princess are great, on par with Pinnacle and Canaletto (my girlfriend did prefer Sabatini's to Canaletto; she finds Canaletto to be bit heavy on the anise and fennel)

Service on both is great, but it is a bit more refined on HAL; I think the training and expectations are just a bit more strict or well defined than Princess, but again, this is an "A" to "A-" comparison. Princess staff don't work any less, they just have slightly less stringent standards.

This is all subjective and its entirely possible others may hate Princess, but while we will always see HAL as our first choice, I also would not hesitate to book Princess to experience a ship or itinerary that HAL does not have (which was the case this time; Princess had a longer, return cruise down the California coast this autumn, and HAL did not)

We are returning to HAL for our next trip, on Volendam to Alaska.

Considering a cruise with friends to Hawaii on Princess and would like someone who has recently been on that line to compare it to HAL. Thanks in advance.

In my opinion, the biggest advantage to Princess is entertainment. All around, it is much better than on HAL, and there are more activities.

The advantage to HAL is stateroom design and ship crowding. Princess ships tend to be crowded and their cabins are very cramped. In order to get a couch on Princess, you have to book an upgraded room.

Princess still requires taking your life jacket to muster.

I'd rate food and service as equal.

We have sailed many times both with HAL and Princess. To be honest, I think our preferences go more to the ship and not the cruiseline. Our favourite ships are HAL Koningsdam and Royal Princess. Both very comparable except Koningsdam excels on their outdoor areas. Food and service are very close. International Cafe on Princess is better than the Dutch Cafe on Koningsdam. Entertainment is better on Princess, but we prefer HAL casinos. We're booked on Sapphire Princess for a Med cruise in April 2019, but expect to be on Koningsdam in 2018.

You cannot go wrong with either line or ship. Both offer a terrific product. Hmmmm, we also really like Celebrity S class ships. So many choices!

My last 3 cruises were a Princess Panama Canal (10 night), a Princess Japan (7 night) and a HAL Transatlantic (Voyage of the Vikings - 18 night). Bearing in mind that the lengths and locations of the cruises do impact the demographic, I would say that the biggest appreciable difference would be in the average age of the passengers. HAL tends to skew older, but then, such a long cruise would. There was definitely more classical music on HAL. HAL has a good library, which I definitely made use of, since we had many days at sea. I couldn't even tell you about Princess's library facilities, to be honest. Also, I did find that HAL had good port talks that focused more on history and culture than on where to shop. To be fair, I couldn't say how Princess did in that regard. I wasn't really paying that much attention, because we were shorter on free time.

There is usually a priest on HAL cruises. Not that it mattered to us, but the masses were well attended and we dined with the priest one night. He was a very interesting guy.

We had mini-suites for all 3 and found them similar and comfortable. I found the food to be overall pretty similar as well.

IMO HAL has at least one very significant advantage over Princess: only HAL has a Roman Catholic priest (who celebrates daily Mass) on board every one of its cruises. Since spiritual renewal is an important component of our vacation experience, HAL is our hands-down choice.

Smooth sailing t t t

We do not care about the library, the wrap around deck, the Catholic priest/mass, the room service options, or the Mariner perks.

For us, based on our preferences, there is very little difference with the exception of the ship itself.

Thank you all.

In my opinion, the biggest advantage to Princess is entertainment. All around, it is much better than on HAL, and there are more activities.

 

The advantage to HAL is stateroom design and ship crowding. Princess ships tend to be crowded and their cabins are very cramped. In order to get a couch on Princess, you have to book an upgraded room.

 

Princess still requires taking your life jacket to muster.

 

I'd rate food and service as equal.

I second this, and would only add that food availability is much better on Princess.

HAL vs Princess. Hmm, that's like asking which twin you prefer! We've sailed both on numerous occasions and on the same itineraries. To us they are comparable. We prefer a smaller Princess ship, but often HAL has a better itinerary. All of the Princess Alaska itineraries are 7 days, except the one from SF. HAL has a 14 day round trip that does not duplicate ports.

We like the way Princess does the muster drill. Yes, we have to bring our life jackets, but we muster INSIDE and usually can get a seat. I hate standing outside for 30 minutes, sometimes in the wind or drizzle.

HAL has a promenade deck that goes completely around the ship. Sometimes we have to go up a level at the bow, but it goes all the way around. On many of the Princess ships the promenade goes only part way around and then you have to turn back or cut across inside.

Food in the MDR is comparable.

Princess has more activities during the day than HAL. HAL has better evening venues. This is subjective of course.

Over the course of the last 25 years we've seen the service levels decrease on both lines. However the hotel staff (cabin stewards, waiters, etc) is still first class.

Princess Roll Call groups tend to be more active than HAL's.

We do not care about the library, the wrap around deck, the Catholic priest/mass, the room service options, or the Mariner perks.

 

For us, based on our preferences, there is very little difference with the exception of the ship itself.

Far from a devout Catholic here but..I don't get why a priest being on a ship is a qualifier(or not) for passengers.:o

A friend who usually sails on HAL recently did two cruises on Princess. Despite the size of the ships she was on (3500 ish passengers each time) she thought that Princess was just fine. She didn't feel crowded, and she thought the food was a notch better than her last two experiences with HAL.

One striking difference is the limited evening hours of the Lido compared to Princess and to all of the other mass market cruise lines that we have enjoyed. We find that room service pales in comparison to being able to go to a buffet when dining later in the evening.

We sailed on the Grand Princess to Hawaii. I enjoyed the cruise, the entertainment, and the movies under the stars and cookies and milk in the afternoon. I did find the cabins on HAL to be larger. I think that you will have a good time; we did.

Far from a devout Catholic here but..I don't get why a priest being on a ship is a qualifier(or not) for passengers.

For many, mass is a highlight of any day, and for even more, Sunday mass is vital.

For many, mass is a highlight of any day, and for even more, Sunday mass is vital.

Yes but to place such emphasis on it like it makes HAL superior to every other cruise liner out there? :confused:

Yes but to place such emphasis on it like it makes HAL superior to every other cruise liner out there? :confused:

I don't think that having a Catholic priest on board and conducting a daily mass makes HAL a superior line per sae.

I think for someone who desires this it makes HAL more preferable. It would be akin to saying that a cruise line is superior because they still have a baked alaska parade and/ or a formal night.

It comes down to personal preferences and how one ranks them.

Far from a devout Catholic here but..I don't get why a priest being on a ship is a qualifier(or not) for passengers.:o

Yes but to place such emphasis on it like it makes HAL superior to every other cruise liner out there? :confused:

HAL is the only cruise line that still has a Roman Catholic priest on every cruise which is a legitimate "qualifier" for anyone who places a high priority on being able to attend daily Mass. As such, IMO HAL is clearly superior to all other cruise lines.

That said, I recognize the futility of trying to explain why this is such an important matter in my life. For me, it's a matter of faith. And, if you don't understand that, no explanation is possible, whereas if you do "get it", no explanation is necessary.

In any event, I am grateful to HAL and AoS-USA for providing this very valuable service.

We sail on and like both lines, so we choose based on a combination of itinerary/dates, price, and ship in that order. As with anything else in life there are some trade-offs, but nothing that would make me definitively cruise exclusively with one over the other. If there are specific things that are important to you just ask! My two most recent cruises were HAL Westerdam in April/May and Regal Princess earlier this month. I have recent memories and lots of pictures![emoji16]

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We sail on and like both lines, so we choose based on a combination of itinerary/dates, price, and ship in that order. As with anything else in life there are some trade-offs, but nothing that would make me definitively cruise exclusively with one over the other. If there are specific things that are important to you just ask! My two most recent cruises were HAL Westerdam in April/May and Regal Princess earlier this month. I have recent memories and lots of pictures![emoji16]

 

 

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I definitely liked the food on Princess.Just as good as HAL's.. some interesting choices for dessert in the MDR.

More options as far as entertainment goes..that being said,I do love BB King's

One striking difference is the limited evening hours of the Lido compared to Princess and to all of the other mass market cruise lines that we have enjoyed. We find that room service pales in comparison to being able to go to a buffet when dining later in the evening.

in addition to this being a difference of options, it also causes a bit more crowding in the Lido during dinner hours in my experience. On cruises with the buffet being 'always open' it helped spread out the congestion of everyone heading to the Lido at the same time.

in addition to this being a difference of options, it also causes a bit more crowding in the Lido during dinner hours in my experience. On cruises with the buffet being 'always open' it helped spread out the congestion of everyone heading to the Lido at the same time.

International Cafe as well.

WRT the lido being congested..I'm an early riser so haven't noticed it at breakfast..more so as the day goes on especially at lunch(which is why lunch tends to be the Dive In!)

Thanks all. it seems I can't go wrong on either line. Now I have to decide between Hawaii on Princess with friends or a HAL Russia cruise I have a deposit on. Both are the same time frame.:)

Yes but to place such emphasis on it like it makes HAL superior to every other cruise liner out there? :confused:

What's wrong with that? Everyone has their own reason why they prefer one line over another.