Hal questions from a Princess cruiser.

[silverwillow]

We usually sail Princess but have sailed Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. I haven't had the pleasure of sailing Hal yet and I wondering how they compare next to Princess. We prefer princess over Royal and celebrity and from what I have read Hal will be similar to Princess?

 

My husband loves the food on Princess and its the highlight for him to be spoilt with lovely dishes when on a cruise, how does Hals food compare to Princess?

 

Also is the kids clubs open on port days?

 

We are looking at a 24 night Mediterranean cruise in 2015 with our then 9 year old daughter on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Has any one done a similar cruise with kids. How did they cope with such a port intensive cruise?

 

Thanks

[FoghornLeghorn]

I've only been on the Westerdam. But, I found the crew was very friendly and extremely helpful. The food was good to very good.

One thing I liked better on Hal was the fact you got a sofa/loveseat without having to get a mini-suite or above.

We also had a tub, instead of just a shower....that was nice, too.

Edited June 9, 2014 by FoghornLeghorn

[PathfinderEss]

Its been a few years since we sailed on Princess, and I do like their ships and cabins. Food wise, I said I would go on a diet on Princess because I thought there food was not very good. Much prefer Hal's food.

[sayaguru]

It's interesting you say that Melodie. I have found the food on Princess pretty good.

 

Does that mean I'm going to put on even more wiight when I go on HAL.:eek:

 

And after my cruise that includes cocktails, I'm in for a LOT of trouble. :rolleyes:

Edited June 9, 2014 by sayaguru

[liketraveling]

The cabins are larger on HAL. The food on Hal is good to very good. On princess I would rate the food fair to good.

 

Entertainment on Princess is much better than HAL.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[silverwillow]

Oh dear:

Entertainment on Princess is much better than HAL.

I thought the entertainment was bad on Princess. Oh well. Are the lectures and enrichment programs good on Hal? We love learning about the places we visit.

[Krazy Kruizers]

It has been a while since we sailed on Princess. But we didn't think that their food was that great.

And HAL's cabins are larger than Princess.

[Tarpeian Rock]

Different strokes. The MDR food on our one Princess cruise last October - the Grand to Hawaii - was far superior to our last two HAL cruises. On the other hand, we found HAL's Lido buffet significantly better than that on Princess.

[boulders]

Also is the kids clubs open on port days?

 

We are looking at a 24 night Mediterranean cruise in 2015 with our then 9 year old daughter on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Has any one done a similar cruise with kids. How did they cope with such a port intensive cruise?

 

Thanks

 

We did that cruise in 2012, with ds15, dd13 and ds7. The kids club is open on port days. The hours are similar to Princess. There were 300 kids on board. I did not take every child into every port. DS7 probably did about 8-10. I tried to do every port, got heat illness in Mykonos and had to skip the next port, which was Ephesus.

[cruisemom42]

I prefer the MDR experience on Princess more than on HAL. HAL's MDR seems understaffed. Food is subjective, but I prefer Princess' greater variety of fish dishes, very good pasta choices, and excellent soufflés. The food on Princess generally seems better seasoned (HAL is a bit bland for me). The Lido buffet on HAL seems slightly better.

 

HAL beds are better than Princess.

 

Princess has more evening entertainment options than HAL, if you enjoy doing something in the evening -- however, that may not be an issue for you on a long and port intensive trip. (HAL lets you borrow DVDs for in-cabin use; not my favorite thing to do on a vacation but I did resort to it a couple of nights on my Med cruise as there was nothing else going on.)

 

I hope you have port lecturers. I have not had one on either HAL Med cruise I've been on, but others have said they've had excellent ones. :cool:

[silverwillow]

Thanks cruisemom42 I am thinking we will have to choose lighter itineraries for our day trips or use the kids club while in port on some of the days. I am assuming that some of the Greek ports are more relaxed beach days? We are planning on doing this cruise mid September so I am thinking there may be less kids at this time of year?

[cruz chic]

The food is about the same on Hal. Hal struggles way more in the mdr than Princess does. Entertainment is better on Princess. Some posters mentioned the beds. My last bed on Princess was as good if not better than HAL. It didn't used to be that way.

[cruisemom42]

Thanks cruisemom42 I am thinking we will have to choose lighter itineraries for our day trips or use the kids club while in port on some of the days. I am assuming that some of the Greek ports are more relaxed beach days? We are planning on doing this cruise mid September so I am thinking there may be less kids at this time of year?

 

Sounds like you're being wise. Without knowing your exact itinerary, some ports should lend themselves to an easier day (Mykonos or Corfu, for example) and others will mean a longer day. Don't try to do everything. As another experienced poster above already said, that is the path to exhaustion!

[CJcruzer]

based on my one Princess cruise (Crown) 5 years ago -

 

the morning breakfast buffet was crowded, and food not hot/warm - finally the server at the waffles told me if I wanted them heated up, I have to tell him to microwave them :eek:

 

Lunch buffet, IIRC, was okay -

 

Dinners in the MDR were very good.

 

Service was poor all around on the ship - snippy, cold and impersonal...you had to practically beg someone to wipe a table down or take away a stack of dirty dishes. Not so in the MDR though.

 

We had a very port intensive itinerary - so entertainment was not a big factor. There were comedians we have seen before, and since, on HAL.

 

We chose the Crown for its itinerary -

 

Carol

Edited June 9, 2014 by CJcruzer

[Roz]

I've done one Princess cruise, back in late 2012, and would sail them again. I thought Princess did a better job with service levels in the main dining room, and the food was on a par with HAL. As for the Lido, I avoided it. Not nearly the selection of HAL, and it was always crowded.

 

Roz

[lazey1]

I have never done a Princess cruise nor have I ever cruised with a child but I am a mother. I would suggest that you rethink your plan to leave your child in the kids area while you go ashore. What if either of you become ill or get hurt? What if you miss the ship and have to catch up at the next port? To much uncertainty and to much potential upset while in a foreign land.

[chrisbu315]

We usually sail Princess but have sailed Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. I haven't had the pleasure of sailing Hal yet and I wondering how they compare next to Princess. We prefer princess over Royal and celebrity and from what I have read Hal will be similar to Princess?

 

My husband loves the food on Princess and its the highlight for him to be spoilt with lovely dishes when on a cruise, how does Hals food compare to Princess?

 

Also is the kids clubs open on port days?

 

We are looking at a 24 night Mediterranean cruise in 2015 with our then 9 year old daughter on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Has any one done a similar cruise with kids. How did they cope with such a port intensive cruise?

 

Thanks

I've recently sailed on the Westerdam, Volendam, Veendam, and Ruby Princess below are my humble opinions:

 

- Food can be inconsistent on both lines however, I found there to be fewer bad dishes on HAL.

- The coffee in the Explorations Café on HAL is far better than the coffee in the Princess International Café. Also, I find it really nice to have an ocean view in a comfortable chair while drinking my coffee - advantage HAL.

- My bed on the Ruby Princess was extremely hard - even after adding an egg crate. Beds on HAL are wonderful.

- HAL has no MUTS. Most HAL enthusiasts consider this a benefit. I like MUTS - advantage Princess

- Virtually all HAL ships have a pool with a retractable roof. This can be great on bad weather days when traveling with children.

- On Princess you can always find a food venue virtually 7X24. Not so with HAL (except for room service). Not an issue with me personally but can be an issue when sailing with children.

[sunsetbeachgal]

We are primarily Princess cruisers but did a HAL cruise in November and have another booked. The two lines are very similar..I missed the International Cafe that larger P rindless ships have on HAL...there is a small coffee bar but it really pales in comparison. MDR was pretty much a push between the two lines. Buffet better on HAL with the exception being the Royal Princess which has a much better buffet than the other ships. I much prefer the hours of the buffet on Princess. I give the edge to Princess on entertainment.

 

I think HAL's standard cabins are much better designed and like that you can get a small tub in many standard cabins.

 

Can't comment on kids program, as we had grandkids with us on Princess but not on HAL. On a cruise that long you may not have many kids unless yiu are doing two back to back voyages in which cars there may be more families. We did a Med.cruise last July on Princess and there were a lot of kids and families.

Edited June 9, 2014 by sunsetbeachgal

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We think Holland is a step up over Princess..

[geocruiser]

Over all I like Princess better. The best food I had was on Emerald Princess. I find that food is different from ship to ship even within the same cruise line.

[akeasley]

It's been awhile since my HAL cruise. I know there isn't MUTS like Princess, but are movies shown anywhere other than your cabin tv?

[julia]

It's been awhile since my HAL cruise. I know there isn't MUTS like Princess, but are movies shown anywhere other than your cabin tv?

 

On Eurodam there was a nice "Screening Room"... a small theater-like place that looked comfy.

[RuthC]

...are movies shown anywhere other than your cabin tv?

I believe you have the Maasdam listed as a future cruise. If that's the ship you are asking about, movies are shown in the Wajang Theater. It's a comfortable spot, which is also used as the Culinary Arts Center.

[eandj]

Food and entertainment are so subjective. We find food pretty good on both. Entertainment choices much better on Princess. From our experience, the cruises draw an older and quieter crowd on HAL, if that matters. Certainly earlier and quieter nights.;)

Edited June 10, 2014 by eandj

[Susie51]

It has been our experience that if there are not enough children on board the kids club will be closed and the children's staff is assigned to work in other areas such as helping with shore excursions.