HAL vs Princess

[Fat Bottom Gurl]

I've cruised twice in the past - both times with Princess. One of the reasons I used Princess was due to their generous wine policy (we could bring on all we wanted). However, that has recently changed.

 

I understand that HAL allows passengers to bring on wine (no limit). We like to enjoy wine in our stateroom, getting ready for supper. We buy wine at dinner too (or bring along a bottle). We have cocktails in the bars too.

 

Anyway - my husband's family is thinking of doing an Alaskan cruise in September and one them is a die-hard Princess fan. I'd like to suggest HAL. I've noticed that HAL has bigger staterooms.

 

Who has done both of these cruiselines and what are your thoughts.

 

Thanks!

FBG

[TraelorMex]

we've done both. spent the entire cruise with princess wishing we were on HAL ;)

[LindaM]

I've cruised twice in the past - both times with Princess. One of the reasons I used Princess was due to their generous wine policy (we could bring on all we wanted). However, that has recently changed.

 

I understand that HAL allows passengers to bring on wine (no limit). We like to enjoy wine in our stateroom, getting ready for supper. We buy wine at dinner too (or bring along a bottle). We have cocktails in the bars too.

 

Anyway - my husband's family is thinking of doing an Alaskan cruise in September and one them is a die-hard Princess fan. I'd like to suggest HAL. I've noticed that HAL has bigger staterooms.

 

Who has done both of these cruiselines and what are your thoughts.

 

 

Wow...I didn't know Princess was seriously going to enforce the wine rule. Have to admit we love buying wine in port and being able to drink it in our cabin. You will like HAL the same as Princess. To me, they are virtually the same. The difference is that HAL allows smoking on balconies. I would suggest a balcony for Alaska (we didn't have one and regretted it).

[George C]

I did not know Princess has changed it wine policy, what is the new one??, Hal allows all you want I normally bring on a case and they charge 18 corkage if you have the wine in a public room. I have done several Princess cruises but found them a little too crowded for my taste, was not able to see shows a few times since room was full. I think the food and service is about the same on both lines, all of there ships have a Pinnacle grill that is excellent ( 25 for dinner) I perfer Pinnacle the steak resturants on Princess. I think you will like Hal. Hals ships are smaller but never seem crowded.

[0bnxshs]

I've only sailed small Princess ships (as you can see in my signature) and not the biggest HAL ships. We have found that the experience is virtually the same with small differences. We prefer PCLs smoking policy but HALs wine (water and soda too) policy. HAL rooms are typically bigger with more storage but older and more used (in our experience.) We wouldn't hesitate, though, to choose either line if either offered an itinerary we wanted at a time we could go on one of the smaller ships. Of course, my opinion, like everyone else's, is subjective. Others will differ. Good luck on choosing. I don't think you'll be disappointed with either line.

[mkazmer]

We have sailed both lines - only 3 cruises though on HAL and 10 on Princess - just off the Nieuw Amsterdam- we will be going back to Princess - we just prefer their "Grand" class ships - we loved the NA as a ship - the service in both the dining room and the lido left much to be desired - especially at dinner. We like the layout of Princess better but that is a personal taste. Both lines are good.

 

That being said, I have heard from many friends who have been to Alaska on HAL that they just can't be beat on that itinerary - they are the best. We don't go to places like Alaska-we like to stay warm.

 

Happy sailing - my two cents worth! LOL

[djhsolara]

We have done both and always prefer HAL. We've been twice on Princess and both times walked away saying that there was nothing wrong with it but also nothing stood out to us either. Their dining was very "regular" and their specialty Italian restaurant was highly promoted to us but it was not all that.

 

I will say that our balcony stateroom on Ruby was by far the smallest stateroom we ever had. Not even room for a table/chair.

 

We did find the Princess ships to be very difficult to navigate. Some sections of the ship are 18 decks, much more than the largest HAL ship and there are several decks that you can't walk through from the bow to the stern.

 

If it makes a difference to you, many of the larger Princess ships do not have a covered pool, whereas most HAL ships do. We missed that fact on a pre-Christmas Princess sailing a few years ago. We were in the Bahamas but it was very windy and chilly outside and we were not able to use the pools.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Douglas...Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Fat Bottom Gurl]

Wow...I didn't know Princess was seriously going to enforce the wine rule. Have to admit we love buying wine in port and being able to drink it in our cabin. You will like HAL the same as Princess. To me, they are virtually the same. The difference is that HAL allows smoking on balconies. I would suggest a balcony for Alaska (we didn't have one and regretted it).

 

A friend of ours is taking a princess cruise next month and we told him how we bought several bottles of lovely wine from Total Wine in Ft. Lauderdale and how nice it was (this was in Feb. 2012). He has been told, by Princess reps, that the wine policy has changed and that passengers are only allowed to bring on 1 bottle each. I've been reading the Princess forum on Cruise Critics and right now it seems to be hit or miss with enforcement, but what I gather is that once all the old passenger contracts are over (say in a couple of months) that the wine policy will be enforced. Such a shame too. We still spend in the bars and at dinner, but we like to buy some really good wines in the stores (especially since we are Canadian and buying wine in the STates is like being in a candy store).

 

As for the no smoking on balconies - I personally like that (being a nonsmoker). I understand that smoke can drift over and make it unpleasant to sit out on the balcony - plus butts being flung around can start fires.

 

I have already done the Alaskan cruise - inside passage and only had an ocean view room (on Deck 5) it was awesome - those waves were right at our noses. I don't mind not having a deck in Alaska but it is a must for the warmer climates.

 

I am looking at the Vancouver to Vancouver cruise this time round - that way having to avoid an additional airfare (my husband's family is from Vancouver so it's not a big deal for them, but we are from the prairies).

 

Thanks to everyone who has commented. Sounds like both cruiselines are similar - but I expect many Princess fans are going to be jumping ship to HAL.

[Hlitner]

We have cruised on both lines more then a few times (Elite on Princess and 4 Star Mariners on HA) and actually like both lines. There are pros and cons to each line and even to the different class ships within each line. Although DW and I are both Oenophiles, we would never make our decison based on how many bottles we can carry aboard. It is true that HA enforces no limit (we actually saw a passenger bring aboard his own handcart with 3 cases....this past spring) we have never had a problem bringing wine on Princess. Not sure if their published policy is actually enforced outside the shorter Caribbean cruises so I guess we will have to wait and see.

 

As to the standard staterooms, they do vary in size among the various classes of HA ships. Personally, we never had a problem with the standard cabins on either line although we have always loved the Caribe Deck balconies on the Grand Class ships. Both cruise lines have a good reputation with their Alaskan cruise/tours (this includes the land extensions before or after their cruises) and we would book with either line for Alaska. For us, the deciding factor would probably be price and the actual itinerary.

 

You can also expect to have more kids on the Princess cruises then on HA (Princess has a better kids program and tends to attract a slightly younger crowd) if this is an issue. We also have an issue with a couple of the HA ships (such as the Rotterdam) where they only have a single pool (they turned the aft pool into a large "bird bath" to cram-in a few more cabins. You will also find that most of the Princess ships have far more balconies then on many HA ships....which often leads to much better deals on Princess if you want a verandah.

 

Hank

[Mary Ellen]

I've sailed on both Princess & HAL. I did find the cabins smaller (and the shower definitely smaller) on Princess, but not a deal breaker. The beds are far superior on HAL but I understand Princess is fleetwide replacing the mattresses for better ones. While I do prefer HAL I wouldn't hesitate to sail on Princess again.

 

With the Alaskan climate, the retractable pool covers mentioned above is an important consideration if one would like to use the pool.

 

When we did a multigenerational family cruise to Alaska, what made us choose HAL over Princess was that HAL ships have much more public deck space. In Alaska the scenery is all around the ship. To fully enjoy it you need to be able to easily move around the ship. Also something similar to the Crow's Nest on HAL ships isn't found on Princess. That is a great place to enjoy the scenery.

 

HAL and Princess have always been my only recommendations for Alaska cruises. The nod going to HAL.

 

Good that you've decided on sailing from Vancouver. Seattle would be easy enough to get to, but why? The best scenery is found on the Vancouver sailings. :D No need to change from perfection.

[Classiccruiser777]

Good that you've decided on sailing from Vancouver. Seattle would be easy enough to get to, but why?

 

Why? Because you would miss out on the opportunity to drive by HAL headquarters!

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have cruised on both Princess and HAL to Alaska.

In fact our first cruise to Alaska was back in the 80's on Princess -- and we loved it!!

We have done quite a few Alaskan cruises on Princess, HAL and NCL.

We do not concern ourselves with how much wine we can bring onto a ship (we have never brought even 1 bottle onto a ship) -- we are more concerned about the itinerary!! Pick an itinerary that has either Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier. Alaska is all about the scenery.

[Typhoon1]

we've done both. spent the entire cruise with princess wishing we were on HAL ;)

 

Same here.

[avalon1025]

Princess (I was on the Grand last) felt a notch down from HAL and not as elegant. What I missed most was the crows nest, the Princess ship felt like a mall with most bars around the atrium with people coming and going.

[mtnmusic]

We did Alaska on both Island Princess and MS Amsterdam and the most glaring difference was the food. Nobody likes coffee made from syrup (ala Princess)! Also, while HAL hires their crew primarily from Indonesia the Princess crew seemed to come from all over and had difficulties communicating with one another and even more with passengers. On HAL our stewards greeted us by name the entire voyage.. not so on Princess.

[PathfinderEss]

We have cruised on both. Food quality on Hal is better then Princess. On the whole, Hal cabins are bigger then Princess. I generaly like Hals service better the Princess.

[SwissMyst]

I'...... Alaskan cruise in September and one them is a die-hard Princess fan. I'd like to suggest HAL. I've noticed that HAL has bigger staterooms.

 

Who has done both of these cruiselines and what are your thoughts.

 

Thanks!

FBG

 

When one is a "die hard" fan of a particular cruise line do you think they will spend their time "comparing" all the details that he/she finds different or not to their liking?

 

That could ruin it for the others in the group if you take a chance with a HAL, even though by many reports HAL and Princess are more similar than not? From the Princess website and what we know about HAL ships, it appears there are stylistic differences, maybe no substantive ones. Will this matter?

[lovetocruise2020]

New wine policy? Just ANOTHER reason we cancelled our Royal Princess cruise. Such a shame.

[geoherb]

We just got back from our cruise on the Westerdam. We sailed on the Sapphire Princess in August. The two are fairly much the same in terms of food and service. Princess outshines HAL in terms of activities. There just was not much to do some days--not that we have to have things scheduled 24/7, but it would have been nice to have had a trivia in the morning and in the afternoon each day.

 

Our next cruise may be on a HAL ship since the date we're looking at works out better on HAL than on Princess. (DH teaches at a community college and we have to book our vacations around his breaks.)

 

I have future cruise deposits on both lines and plan to use them both eventually. It will come down to price and itinerary when we finally get around to booking our next cruise this spring.

[regnig]

Perhaps this, our comparison, will help.....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1603771

 

Guess it all depends on what features Princess has that created that "die-hard Princess fan" traveling with you. IMHO on an Alaskan cruise the itinerary should be the deciding factor.

[Cindy]

We just took our first HAL cruise -- on the Noordam, and we loved it! Here's a link to my review, with comparisons to Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1750733

[hrhdhd]

Also, while HAL hires their crew primarily from Indonesia the Princess crew seemed to come from all over and had difficulties communicating with one another and even more with passengers. On HAL our stewards greeted us by name the entire voyage.. not so on Princess.

 

Interesting. We've always had more difficulty communicating with the servers and stewards on HAL. Perhaps Indonesians are able to communicate better with other Indonesians, but we've had several HAL cabin stewards whose English has been unintelligible. On Princess, we are always called by name and our stewards have understood our (few) requests the first time.

 

We're coming back to HAL after a couple of cruises elsewhere, so we like HAL, but I'd give the nod to Princess.

[George C]

Interesting. We've always had more difficulty communicating with the servers and stewards on HAL. Perhaps Indonesians are able to communicate better with other Indonesians, but we've had several HAL cabin stewards whose English has been unintelligible. On Princess, we are always called by name and our stewards have understood our (few) requests the first time.

 

We're coming back to HAL after a couple of cruises elsewhere, so we like HAL, but I'd give the nod to Princess.

 

I perfer Hal over Princess but agree that there seems to be some communicating problems with some of the crew. Had to repeat my drink order several times one time and they still got it wrong.