Why a Princess Elite passenger now prefers HAL

[Mimg Pao]

My dh and I have taken 21 Princess cruises, most of them back to back, and all of them 30 days or longer. We have also sailed on Carnival, P and O, Odessa America and Star Cruises but since our first Princess cruise, we felt this was the cruise line for us until a very bad experience on the Sea Princess December 2012 when we decided it was time to try another cruise line. Because of our elite status and our many Princess perks, dh took a lot of convincing and we signed up for a 30 day cruise Dec. 21/13 from Hong Kong to Singapore. -we are so glad we chose HAL and have signed up for another cruise Dec. 22/14 from Singapore to Hong Kong.

 

My reasons why:

1. We have travelled to more than 100 countries so itineraries are very important to us. When I compare itineraries (primarily exotic) HAL offers far more interesting destinations and HAL does more overnights than Princess. Also, when comparing similar itineraries, HAL is usually longer.

For whatever reason, Princess no longer offers really interesting (at least to us) itineraries as they did in the past, e.g. Bangkok to Venice or Istanbul to Capetown or Capetown to Valpariso - all of which we have done.

 

2. Room service breakfast on HAL is 100% better than on Princess (where you get a cold continental only), whereas on HAL, you have a large choice of hot breakfast. Also the breakfast menu in the dining room has a much better and bigger selection than Princess.

 

3.Meals themed to destination - on Princess, we have found you can be in any part of the world and still eat the same food - I was told the menus are designed in the States for all ships of the fleet - no matter where they are located except for Australia based Princess ships where they serve a lot of lamb that tastes like beef. I was particularly impressed with the Asian Night Market on our HAL cruise.

 

4.Cooking demos - usually one only on a Princess ship with a comedic type theme whereas on HAL there is a purpose built demo kitchen.

 

5. Little HAL touches like inviting all b2b passengers to a special themed lunch and having cocktail parties for passengers of a particular country - loved the Canadian party. I have never seen this on a Princess ship.

 

6. Daily news sheets - Princess discontinued this service about 5 years ago. HAL has news sheets from several countries available.

 

7. Smaller ships - we are not fans of big ships and our favorite Princess ships are the Ocean and the Pacific, unfortunately more expensive than the bigger ones.

 

8. Problems - when I have had issues on Princess ships, it has taken quite a long time to resolve, if at all, in spite of my Elite status and 400 cruise days. On HAL, there were a few problems and they were quickly resolved.

 

Lynne

[mamaofami]

Welcome to Hal. Interesting comparison.

[RuthC]

Welcome to HAL! Glad your first HAL cruise delighted you so much, and hope that continues to be so for a long time. HAL does offer some very good itineraries.

 

What ship were you on? I know the Oosterdam, Volendam, and Rotterdam are all in that area, and expect it was one of the last two ships you sailed.

[pris993]

My dh and I have taken 21 Princess cruises, most of them back to back, and all of them 30 days or longer. We have also sailed on Carnival, P and O, Odessa America and Star Cruises but since our first Princess cruise, we felt this was the cruise line for us until a very bad experience on the Sea Princess December 2012 when we decided it was time to try another cruise line. Because of our elite status and our many Princess perks, dh took a lot of convincing and we signed up for a 30 day cruise Dec. 21/13 from Hong Kong to Singapore. -we are so glad we chose HAL and have signed up for another cruise Dec. 22/14 from Singapore to Hong Kong.

 

My reasons why:

1. We have travelled to more than 100 countries so itineraries are very important to us. When I compare itineraries (primarily exotic) HAL offers far more interesting destinations and HAL does more overnights than Princess. Also, when comparing similar itineraries, HAL is usually longer.

For whatever reason, Princess no longer offers really interesting (at least to us) itineraries as they did in the past, e.g. Bangkok to Venice or Istanbul to Capetown or Capetown to Valpariso - all of which we have done.

 

2. Room service breakfast on HAL is 100% better than on Princess (where you get a cold continental only), whereas on HAL, you have a large choice of hot breakfast. Also the breakfast menu in the dining room has a much better and bigger selection than Princess.

 

3.Meals themed to destination - on Princess, we have found you can be in any part of the world and still eat the same food - I was told the menus are designed in the States for all ships of the fleet - no matter where they are located except for Australia based Princess ships where they serve a lot of lamb that tastes like beef. I was particularly impressed with the Asian Night Market on our HAL cruise.

 

4.Cooking demos - usually one only on a Princess ship with a comedic type theme whereas on HAL there is a purpose built demo kitchen.

 

5. Little HAL touches like inviting all b2b passengers to a special themed lunch and having cocktail parties for passengers of a particular country - loved the Canadian party. I have never seen this on a Princess ship.

 

6. Daily news sheets - Princess discontinued this service about 5 years ago. HAL has news sheets from several countries available.

 

7. Smaller ships - we are not fans of big ships and our favorite Princess ships are the Ocean and the Pacific, unfortunately more expensive than the bigger ones.

 

8. Problems - when I have had issues on Princess ships, it has taken quite a long time to resolve, if at all, in spite of my Elite status and 400 cruise days. On HAL, there were a few problems and they were quickly resolved.

 

Lynne

 

Appreciate your comments. We are elite on Princess, elite on Celebrity, 2 star on HAL, cruise Cunard and NCL recently. We also have 22 cruises on Princess.

 

Ref your comments:

 

Suspect you are correct about better itineraries on HAL. We do not have the resources to do cruises longer than 14-16 days, so this has been a non issue for us.

 

Princess recently has added "a hot item" to the room service breakfast menu. The good news is I did find we could write in other typical hot breakfast items and we did receive them.

 

One of the things we like about Princess and HAL, is the option for ordering off menu in the MDR. We do this on both cruise ship lines and find they both respond well. This is not true of Celebrity or NCL. Cunard also does a good job.

 

We really like having a tub in most HAL cabins, only mini or suites on Princess have tubs.

 

The traditional style on HAL with the promenada deck is a real plus as well.

 

Love the free internet minutes on Princess and the free mini bar set up for elite passengers on Princess.

 

Glad HAL adopted the option to bring wine on board and pay a corking fee similar to Princess. If HAL had not modified its recent policy to allow for a corking fee, we probably would cruise less on HAL in the future. We especially enjoy shopping for wine in the Mediterranean.

 

We are not loyal to any one line, we are booked on the Nieuw Amsterdam this April, the Celebrity Silhoutte in October and then the Star Princess next year in the spring. Cruising different lines keeps it interesting for us.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We are also Elite on Princess but gave them up years ago -- food was the same old thing all the time and not very good -- JMO.

Thank you for comparing the 2 lines.

[san diego sue]

We have 31 cruises with Princess. Can't beat the Elite perks. Nice on long cruises, bring less clothes and laundry is done.

However, we have just about memorized the dining room menu and can tell you whats for dinner before we see the menu.

So we mix it up and book HAL too. No perks since we are 3 star. We look at value and itinerary before we book any cruise. Sometimes easier to pay for things you would get for free(with Princess) and go with HAL

for a better value cruise.

On HAL we have always been treated special.

Only thing I don't think is comparable is HAL's room stewards. They do a good job but the last few years, seems like our cabins are made up later and later in the morning. We are early risers and leave cabin by 8:00am

for breakfast.It is annoying when we return at noon and cabin still not

attended to.

[RJ2002]

Welcome to HAL!

 

We are Platinum on Princess, but over the past several years have sailed on HAL primarily. We will return to Princess for at least one more cruise as we have a future cruise deposit to use.

 

IMO, both lines have strengths and weaknesses. We think they both offer a fine product overall.

 

I am sorry to hear that you had a bad experience on Princess which prompted you to consider HAL. It certainly can happen, on any cruise line, including HAL. You read about it from time to time here on the HAL forum. And in fact, all across CC, you can come across instances where people have had a terrible experience on a cruise line and are "switching". Thankfully, there are enough quality cruise lines out there that we do have choices.

 

Enjoy your upcoming HAL cruise!

[DaveOKC]

Minor item to add - remember that on HAL you can write in additional items on your room service card for breakfast - as long as the items are on the MDR breakfast menu. Further, on HAL for diner you can order from the MDR menu for room service (ask onboard how to do this as each ship's procedures vary).

 

Welcome to HAL.

 

DaveOKC

[dag144]

If you spring for a Neptune category suite, you will enjoy the lounge which is for the use of Neptune suite passengers. I understand that Princess put a similar but much smaller and less elaborate arrangement on the new Royal Princess.

 

Also I think that the Verandahs on HAL are nicer and definitely more private than those on most of the Princess ships.