Princess Elites try Holland America

[Kruzkrazy]

I also posted this on the HAL board:

 

My wife and I have had more than 30 cruises on Princess, making us "Elite," and our recent cruise on the Westerdam was our first on HAL. I'll give you some of my thoughts on how the two lines compare, within this limit: We've cruised all classes of Princess ships, but mostly on the Grand class, which forms the backbone of the Princess fleet. We love these ships because they're big enough to provide all the services we want without being obnoxious in size or revenue-generating mania (that would be the Royal, but that's a sad topic for another day). The Westy, built in 2004, is of about the same vintage as many of the Grand ships, so I feel these comparisons to Grand-class ships are valid. But this cruise was our only one so far on HAL, so keep that in mind.

 

Boarding: We joined the Westy in Seattle for a seven-day cruise to Alaska. Let's face it, the boarding process is always a bit of a pain. But this was as smooth as any we've experienced on Princess. Seems to me that the cruise industry has done about all it can in this area, and has brought a reasonably high degree of order to a situation that could easily devolve into chaos. Boarding the Westy was indistinguishable from boarding a Princess ship. This category is a wash.

 

First impression: The Westy is a fine ship, beautifully maintained and spotlessly clean at all times. We've come to expect this on Princess and have never been disappointed. This category is another wash, I'm pleased to say.

 

Stateroom: We had a "signature suite" on the Westy, about equivalent to a "mini-suite" on Princess. It was roomy enough, yet it seemed somewhat smaller than the Princess minis. The Princess minis have two TVs, one facing the sleeping area and one facing the lounging area. Our signature suite had one TV, placed on a desk at a right angle to the bed, so we had to lie on our right sides to watch it. It could be swiveled to face the couch, but forget about watching TV in bed. The bathroom on Westy was spacious, with a tub and stall shower. The balcony (excuse me, "verandah" in cruisespeak) had plenty of room with really nice furniture. This included two lounge chairs with ottomans and a table with two upright chairs. Very nice. This Alaska cruise was a bit on the cold side, so we didn't get as much use out of the balcony as we would have liked, but that's hardly the ship's fault. Lots of closet and drawer space. Bed was firm and comfy (DW and I prefer a firm mattress, so keep that in mind). No real complaints about the accommodations but, because of the bizarre placement of the single TV on Westy, a small advantage to Princess -- except for the balcony, which HAL wins. NOTE: HAL permits smoking on balconies; Princess does not. I'm not going to get into the endless debate about that. I'm just reporting.

 

Stateroom service: In all our years of cruising on Princess, we've never, and I mean never, had a bad cabin steward. They always provide great service with a smile. And I'm happy to report that our first HAL cruise was the same. We had two stewards, Adam and Zam, and these hardworking guys were terrific. I truly hope HAL is reading this. Princess vs. HAL on cabin service is another wash, but a good one.

 

Muster drill: A major problem area for HAL. Everyone on board gathered on the Promenade Deck beneath their assigned lifeboats, and a crewmember had to take roll call orally by calling out cabin numbers. This took a good 20 minutes, during which everyone had to stand in one place; no chairs available. This is a real problem for a lot of people including me. I have a bad back and can't stand in one place for long, so I had to sit down on the deck. One elderly couple, apparently hard of hearing, didn't know when their cabin number was called and were nearly marked as not attending the drill, which can result in being ejected from the ship. This system is just plain bad as compared to Princess' system, in which passengers report to a muster station such as a lounge or the casino and merely have their cruise cards scanned to prove attendance. No muss, no fuss, no standing around. In addition, on Princess everyone brings their life jackets to the drill and must practice putting them on, which is good. On HAL life jackets are left in the cabins, so, if there's a real emergency, no one will have practiced putting them on. HAL needs to join the 21st century on this. Big advantage, Princess.

 

Norovirus protection: In the Westy's Lido Restaurant (Horizon Court on Princess) no passenger handles a buffet-line utensil for the first 48 hours, presumably because norovirus will have reared its ugly head during that time. After the first two days, it's self-service as usual. Last time we sailed on Princess, maybe six months ago, everyone was handling those big spoons and tongs right from the get-go. HAL clearly has the right idea here. but I wonder if they shouldn't just keep the no-self-serve policy throughout the cruise -- someone could pick up the virus during a shore excursion, couldn't they? Still, norovirus is a real PR problem for the cruise industry, and HAL is certainly more pro-active in this area. Again, this assumes that Princess has not changed its policy in the last half-year, but I've no reason to think this has happened. Major advantage, HAL.

 

Food: Yes, yes, I know. It's subjective. True. Still, comparisons can be made. In general, the quality of HAL's offerings is pretty much on a par with Princess'. But HAL's buffet line is bigger and has more variety than Princess' Grand Class. (Royal Princess' Horizon Court is a big improvement over the Horizon Court of the Grand Class. That's the only thing I liked about the Royal. My wife, by the way, didn't care for the Royal's Horizon Court, so there you go). Lido Restaurant's coffee seems better than Horizon Court's. I ordered cappuccino every night in the MDR, so I don't know about the ordinary coffee there. But Princess serves its cappuccino in a cup that's bigger than a regular coffee cup, while HAL's cappuccino comes in a regular cup. There's an extra charge for cappuccino in both venues, and considering there's a charge for it, Princess wins on this one. If memory serves, Princess' MDR menu had more variety, too. We went to Westy's Le Cirque one night -- that's the French-themed restaurant that's set up once per cruise in what's normally the extra-charge steak house, equivalent to Crown Grill on Princess. I had a chateaubriand to die for, as good as anything I've ever had on any ship. Love Crown Grill, too, though. Oh, and yes, Princess' pizza is way better. You win some, you lose some when it comes to food on a cruise. Once again, El Washo.

 

Entertainment: A couple of really excellent shows on Westy with terrific background effects. One show (I can't remember the title, unfortunately) featured a singer with an absolutely killer voice. She sang the theme from "Skyfall." Holy cow, what a show-stopper. Just so you'll know her on sight if you see her, she's a tall, short-haired blonde named Brooke. They never give last names. As a guy who couldn't carry a tune if it had a handle, I can tell you this girl has the real juice. The other show I liked featured three (I think it was three) wild and crazy drummers in an act that was half-music, half-cardiopulmonary workout. Everyone in the audience received drumsticks, and we beat them together in time to the music. Try to imagine that racket. What fun. On the downside, the music in the main showroom on many nights was often so loud it was painful. We've had this complaint on Princess, too, and I don't know why ships insist on doing this. Also, the shows on Westy had canned music, not a live band. I can only believe this is a money-saving thing. Sad, sad, sad, but I think this is spreading in the industry. Overall for this category, on the basis of these two shows, I have to say advantage HAL.

 

Ship design: Interior design is a major departure from Princess. On Princess ships (all classes) there's a large central atrium that serves as the ship's focal point. It's a place to sit, schmooze, people-watch, plan your day and even see some entertainment acts. You can get coffee and food away from the bustle of the buffet. Don't know about other HAL ships, but Westy doesn't have this. It does have something it calls an atrium, but it's far smaller and doesn't have a feel of being the heart of the ship, as on Princess. There are few places to just sit without being in a bar. I like the Princess design, though that could be because I'm just used to it. HAL devotees might say the HAL design is more intimate, and maybe you can make a fair case for this. One more thing: Princess ships have self-serve laundries on all decks; on Westy, no. Again, it's subjective, but advantage Princess.

 

Demographics: Conventional wisdom says HAL is for old people. Boy, was that ever not the case on this cruise. People of all ages, and lots of kids (school's out, I guess), and a lot of these kids were out of control. The screaming and yelling in the pool area got to be unbearable at times. Why can't parents exercise some control over their offspring? Princess has a "Youth Patrol" program on some ships to try to corral this problem, but I don't have a reading on the success of that, or lack of same. Royal Caribbean, Disney and Carnival, with all their kid-oriented facilities, would seem to be a better fit for families with young kids. A wash.

 

Would we sail on HAL again? Certainly, though we're still partial to Princess because of its loyalty program and some other factors. Hope I haven't bored you to death with my long-winded tome. Take it for what it's worth, if anything.

 

See you on the high seas,

 

Ron

[ggprincess2004]

Very well-written, thoughtful and informative. Thank you for taking the time to share this. Having never cruised HAL, I do appreciate the review!:)

[cdngrl]

my co-worker only cruises hal, I cruise princess but have always wondered what hal is like. thank you for this, it was helpful!

[jean s]

Thanks for your very comprehensive comparison of the two lines. We have cruised many times on Princess and have been considering HAL for a change. Your comments have encouraged us to look at taking a 7 day cruise on HAL.

[Nebr.cruiser]

Thanks for a nice balanced review; we've cruised on Princess about 10 times, -and about 20 times on a variety of other lines, but have never sailed HAL. It sounds like we'd like it just fine--so far we've never had a cruise we didn't like on as many as 8 different cruise lines (some now defunct).

 

Although we really like Princess, sometimes it's fun to have a change.

[Pam in CA]

Thank you for the excellent comparison. In my experience on HAL (I'm a 3-star Mariner), they have excelled in their educational lecturers and individual entertainers but their production singers and dancers not quite up to Princess. And Princess isn't the best in the business. :)

 

A comment on HAL's Muster being held on deck: they have no choice due to ship design. Almost all HAL ships do not have large public spaces or lounges on Promenade deck so they can't hold inside Musters. In an emergency (and in spite of what they tell you at Muster), you are asked to remain in your cabin. I've been to HAL Musters in the heat, rain, freezing cold, etc., seen people faint and others have to be helped medically. It's no fun to stand outside in the rain for Muster, pushed to the back so you can't see or hear anything but unless HAL ships are designed differently, that's where Muster has to be held.

[Lucky TGO]

Hi Ron,

This was a great review!! My wife and I are going on a B2B on the Royal Princess in Jan. 2015 I will let you know how it was when we get home.

 

Thank You,

Tony

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review.

[Mud_Shark]

We are taking our first cruise ever in October (on the Grand to Hawaii). If cruising is "our thing", we are considering a HAL cruise for 2015.

 

Some of the things that interest me:

 

Are there movies on HAL like on Princess?

What about shipboard games and enrichment programs?

Mini Golf course? Walking/Jogging track?

 

Thanks

 

Appreciate what you have already said.

 

Don

[san diego sue]

You didn't mention room service.Full hot breakfast is available on HAL. Really great choices.

 

We cruise mostly Princess but do sail HAL once a year. HAL ships are not as modern.

The thing that bothered me the most about HAL's buffet in the evening. You stood in a huge line, couldn't just take your main course and sides. Had to tell person behind the counter what you want. Only thing you could take on your own was the salad, and it was already made.Took forever to get your food.

And this was any day on their cruises, not just the first couple of days. Lunch was a normal buffet and you helped yourself after the first 48 hours.

We always find dining room service and food on both cruise lines very comparable.

Edited June 16, 2014 by san diego sue

[pjs9876]

My main complaint is the buffet line on "Westy" is divided so that it is impossible to get warm eggs, sausage and toast to the table at one time due to length of terrain between locations. This is now true on Royal. The other cabin comparison was that Hal has less flat places for items in the cabin (we needed charging areas for phones, cameras, etc) plus CPACs, etc. We also had a towel taken from the beach and were treated like felons by HAL. I did like their shows and food was good in the Dining Room.

[RNGALNG]

Thank you for your comparison. Looks like you tried to be very impartial. That could help a lot of out in deciding to try HAL!

[west coast cruiser]

Thanks for this review and the comparison between both lines. I am now Elite on Princess but have sailed several times on HAL. I really like their larger cabins which are the equivalent of a Princess mini suite. The Elite perks are a real hook to stay with Princess. I miss traveling on other lines though.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Please assure me you didn't miss the sweet potato fries at the grill or the crepes in the Lido at breakfast. ;) I never eat a French fry or crepe at home, but on HAL it's a must.

 

Thanks for your thoughts. We've now been on four HAL cruises, and I know there will be more in our future. If they had self-serve laundries on all their ships, I think we'd book even more HAL cruises. There is a lot to like about the cruise line. I equate it more to Celebrity than Princess but most open minded Princess fans would enjoy it.

[fishywood]

While I am just shy of Elite (and have never indulged in the suite life) I too recently gave HAL a first try on Maasdam last October. Agree with much of your review but will offer this:

 

Pam in CA beat me to the comment on HAL muster drills--but it is Princess that is behind the times in being one of the very few still requiring life jackets be brought. The hazard of thousands of passengers running back to their cabins after the drill to return their life jackets--having failed to close them up and re-secure the long straps--outweighs the benefit of trying them on at the drill. And my observation was that verifying attendance went much quicker with small groups at each lifeboat instead of cramming everyone into the Princess Theatre and Explorer's Lounge with the crew pacing the room asking over and over if everyone has had their cruise card scanned.

 

If you don't mind my brief personal rankings...

Advantage Princess:

Better starters and much better desserts in MDR.

Plenty of snacks available during off-peak dining hours--huge ad. to IC. (And HAL's pizza slices would have to be promoted three ranks to get to merely inedible)

Live music and bar service during pre-dinner peak; impossible to get service on HAL during 4:00-5:00 happy hour.

Singers and dancers more talented and much better rehearsed; better variety of guest entertainers.

Much nicer outdoor pools; HAL held all of their sailaways and on-deck activities at their indoor pool, even when weather was fine.

Advantage HAL:

More traditional-style entrees in MDR.

Well above average variety and quality of buffet offerings more than made up for limited hours.

Had 8:00 dinner seating and was always finished in plenty of time to find a good seat for 10:00 show.

Better entertainment scheduling; no one-time events at same time as dinner.

Best bar service in main showroom of any ship--and they all knew my name after a couple nights.

Far, far better organized shore excursion dispatch (admittedly a consequence of only 1200 pax onboard).

Front desk staff actually followed up with phone calls to make sure my queries were sufficiently answered.

Wash:

Cabins. Firm mattress--check. Hot shower--check. Why hang out there when so much to do onboard--double check.

MUTS or lack thereof. Meh.

Atrium/Piazza or lack thereof. Overrated and over relied-on by Princess IMHO.

Demographics. Plenty of opportunities to meet my fellow passengers when I feel like it. Also plenty of opportunities to chill out on my own without worrying about who else is doing what else. What more could you ask of a vacation?

Edited June 16, 2014 by fishywood

[Ethel5]

Thank you for your thoughts and a well balanced comparison.:)

[Sailaway John]

Great report Ron. Both wife and I have travelled on HAL and Princess but we still prefer Princess. WE are only Platinum at the moment.

Happy Cruising.

[caribill]

 

Pam in CA beat me to the comment on HAL muster drills--but it is Princess that is behind the times in being one of the very few still requiring life jackets be brought. The hazard of thousands of passengers running back to their cabins after the drill to return their life jackets--having failed to close them up and re-secure the long straps--outweighs the benefit of trying them on at the drill.

 

I disagree here. Practicing putting on life jackets correctly can make the difference between surviving or not surviving a serious incident at sea.

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Pam in CA]

I disagree here. Practicing putting on life jackets correctly can make the difference between surviving or not surviving a serious incident at sea.

I agree. As easy as it seems to us, I've seen people needing assistance to put on their life jacket. I rarely if ever see anyone dragging a life jacket back to their cabin unsafely. Yes, it's a pain to bring it back to your cabin but enough people need help that I think it's worth bringing the life jacket.

 

I've been on a ship when the alarms went off just before 2am the day after Muster and you'd be surprised at how many experienced cruisers suddenly don't have a clue what to do next. Fortunately, everything was OK after about 20 minutes but most people were out in the hallway in their PJs and nightgowns. None had their life jackets in hand or on.

[NSWP]

Thanks for review we have done many Princess cruises, but would like to try HAL, you have convinced me to have a go.

[A1A]

As a future HAL customer, I appreciated your review, thanks for taking the time to post!

[dorisis]

As a past passenger on both lines, I think your comparison nailed it. I am not one to make comparisons on cruises. they are what they are and I enjoy all lines. The only comparison I will make is on the past passsenger rewards. Princess has no competition! Hal is pretty much at the bottom there. I do think days onboard should be the way rewards are figured and Hal has done that forever.

 

The one advantage HAL has for us is that they have a ship going out of Tampa and we live a short distance from Tampa. Princess is Ft Lauderdale and that takes a long drive and an overnight in a hotel which adds to the expense of the cruise.

Edited June 16, 2014 by dorisis

[sunsetbeachgal]

I am also a Princess Elite who has found HAL again, primarily because of great itineraries (too much same old, same old for Princess itineraries)

 

You really did a great summary and i agree with almost everything. Glad you had a nice trip!!

[SadieN]

Most of the HAL ships have pax laundries. Unfortunately the Westerdam, her sisters and the Nieuw Amsterdam do not. We prefer HAL slightly smaller ships, the Amsterdam and her sisters over the larger ones.

 

FWIW our muster station on the Sapphire was a stand up station, lined up outside the Internet area.