Did I Err in Booking HAL Instead of Princess?

[Guardsy]

Cruised HAL years and years ago, then Princess in the last 30 years.  Coming up on 25th Anniversary and we got a GREAT offer from HAL, so booked it.  Now going through the HAL boards on cruise critic to find out what I need to know.

 

Oh, my gosh!  Did I make a mistake? I knew there would be changes, but.......

 

On Princess, the Princess Plus Package (we use it just for the drink package and the pre-paid, discounted tips) runs about $50 per person, per day and includes all coffees and non-alcoholic drinks and fruffy coffees.  HAL does not cover other beverages and does not include the tips.

 

The specialty dining on Princess is $29 per person per day in ANY of the restaurants.  HAL is all over regarding the fee.

 

Club Orange seems to be of very little use if you have a great cabin where you want it.

 

I have always known HAL was for a bit older passenger, but was comparable and more to Princess, and sometimes a bit higher because of it.  It doesn't sound like many of you even enjoy the food, no matter where it is served.

 

What else have I not found out about yet??

Edited June 21, 2022 by Guardsy

[cruisemom42]

Well if you're asking, the entertainment is pretty low-key compared to what you will have experienced on Princess. Very few "production" main lounge shows. 

 

Which HAL ship are you on? Their offerings vary.

[Guardsy]

Koningsdam.

[cruisemom42]

Koningsdam has Tamarind which is a good extra-cost restaurant, different from Princess and definitely worth it. And it has the new design with all of the new entertainment venues (Music Walk). Still not a lot of entertainment either daytime or evening compared with Princess. 

 

 

[zgscl]

Koningsdam is a Pinnacle class ship which have the most in terms of entertainment. If the main stage shows are not your cup of tea (as they are not mine) you still have 4 Music Walk venues to choose from. BB Kings and Rolling Stone Rock Room are both fantastic usually and are where we usually gravitate to at night. The live from threads in my signature all have photos of the daily programs which should give you a fairly good idea of what to expect. I would say that club orange is not worth it unless you are going to get a great cabin upgrade out of it. The food is good and having the special dining room is nice, but I would not pay the upgrade fee for that alone. The only cruise I have done on Princess was in 2002 and was on the Pacific Princess so that is probably not a good comparison to what they have now! 

[Mary229]

The drink package does cover coffees, specialty water and teas as well as soda in a can.  It also includes  the gratuity

[VMax1700]

6 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

The drink package does cover coffees, specialty water and teas as well as soda in a can.  It also includes  the gratuity

It includes the gratuity on the drinks.  I believe OP was referring to the daily Hotel/Service/Staff Appreciation charge (USD15.50 per person per day or USD 17 for suites).  

[Mary229]

All in all is the cruise going where you want to go?  Is the itinerary somehow superior?   Or is this just a budgeting decision?

[ontheweb]

And if you go through the Princess boards, you will also find a lot of complaints about the present experience on Princess!

 

For instance, if you read about the Crown Princess, you will weep!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Holland CREW is much better then Princess 

[CruiserBruce]

HAL may not be for everyone ( we prefer HAL over Princess), but I would suggest a little more in depth reading before questioning your booking. On both boards....not everyone finds Princess perfect, but Princess may be better for you.

[rodndonna]

From what I read of your post .. you used to sail HAL and then converted to Princess (which would imply it would be all things considered your preference). You got what you 'thought' was a 'great' deal only to investigate further and realize with everything considered, maybe not. 

 

It sounds like you know from your own experience Princess is a better fit, so what not stick with it? If you had said "or were thinking "it's been a while and I booked to see what HAL is like now"  it would be different.

 

 

[SargassoPirate]

I used to obsess over small details between two cruise lines or amongst three or more sometimes.  She Who Must Be Obeyed and I have cruises enough now that our needs are simple and or wants are few.  She needs a balcony and I need a full promenade. Food is subjective, but we've never gone hungry on a cruise. 

 

The list of our don't needs is probably longer.  For example, we don't need a floating county fair populated by feral children.  We don't need an over-amplified Caribbean band on the Melanoma Deck.  We don't need over-amplified production shows,  We don't need specialty restaurants.

 

Everyone has different needs and wants.  The key is to do your research.  Watch video tours of the ship you are interested in.  The ship and the itinerary to fit the bill is out there.

[syesmar]

Koningsdam also has the Grand Dutch Cafe for lighter bites, snacks and small meals: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2774470-grand-dutch-cafe/ The food is delicious.

 

[oaktreerb]

You got a great deal on a great ship.  Enjoy.

[ChicagoCruisin]

In my experience the biggest difference is Service.  HAL has excellent service, Princess has varied from pretty good to downright terrible. 

[iancal]

You will not know the answer to that until the end of the cruise.

 

The one attribute that both cruise lines have in common is inconsistency.

 

Go with an open mind.  No doubt you will have a good cruise.

[Traveling Dot]

Did you get Have It All with your great deal?  If you did then the drink package is included.  

[MISTER 67]

We have sailed with both Princess and HAL over 20 times, we love them both. Right now I would say the food in the MDR and the Buffett are about equal on the 2 lines. We don't spend extra money on specialty restaurants so I can't comment on which line is better.

The International Cafe on Princess is very good but HAL has added the Dutch Cafe on the new ships which I found to be pretty good also.

We like that HAL has a happy hour on their ships with drinks at half price as we aren't big drinkers and never 

purchase a drink package but we enjoy a cocktail before dinner.

Service is excellent on both lines. Entertainment is also about equal as Princess has better production shows but HAL has Music Walk. Princess always has some kind of entertainment going on in the Atrium. 

Both lines keep their ships very clean with a slight nod to HAL . We also like that HAL ships  have full promenade decks with the steamer deck chairs except for the newer Pinnacle class ships.

Cabins are larger on HAL except for Pinnacle class ships.

Edited June 21, 2022 by MISTER 67

[brovol]

I was debating between another Princess cruise (generally our favorite line) or HAL Nieuw Statendam, and had some of the same concerns.  We absolutely love both the Princess Plus value, and the medallion technology on Princess. Great deal, with game-changing convenience throughout the cruise process. The included internet with the Plus plan is incredibly good (able to do everything same as at home, including live streaming football games). 

 

Having said that, we picked the HAL NS for our cruise next March.  We have sailed HAL several times, and although we prefer Princess, we have enjoyed our HAL cruises too, and the pinnacle class ships really seem to offer a lot.  Great ship size and design, along with tremendous food and service.  I think the two lines are more alike than different. 

 

We have cruised over 30 voyages, on most of the mainstream lines, and both HAL and Princess are among the very best.  Do like me; pick one of them and dont look back.  You will be happy with either. I do wish though that HAL would follow the princess lead in terms of the Plus perks, and technology. 

[carolina_yankee]

14 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

We also like that HAL ships  have full promenade decks with the steamer deck chairs except for the newer Pinnacle class ships.

 

 

We are likely to take our first HAL cruise next summer for Norway. It looks like from the deck plans that the Lower Promenade deck on the Rotterdam has a full promenade with the old steamer chairs. Isn't Rotterdam pinnacle class? I'm still learning HAL . . .

[MISTER 67]

2 minutes ago, carolina_yankee said:

We are likely to take our first HAL cruise next summer for Norway. It looks like from the deck plans that the Lower Promenade deck on the Rotterdam has a full promenade with the old steamer chairs. Isn't Rotterdam pinnacle class? I'm still learning HAL . . .

The Rotterdam has the newer type promenade deck like on all the newer ships in the industry where basically the life boats block most of the views on the promenade deck. We just sailed on the Rotterdam in March and there were no steamer chairs on the promenade deck and it's not covered like on the HAL Vista and Signuture  class ships

[*Miss G*]

30 minutes ago, carolina_yankee said:

We are likely to take our first HAL cruise next summer for Norway. It looks like from the deck plans that the Lower Promenade deck on the Rotterdam has a full promenade with the old steamer chairs. Isn't Rotterdam pinnacle class? I'm still learning HAL . . .

 

You might be looking at the old Rotterdam, which did have the full prom with steamer chairs.  The new Rotterdam has a narrower wraparound prom, without the chairs.  The trade-off is that you get the music walk, additional eating establishments, and awesome walk-in glass showers.

[*Miss G*]

We (my parents, my sister, and myself) tried Princess — specifically, the Sky Princess — in March/April of this year.  It was a lovely ship and we really enjoyed Alfredo’s and the piazza concept.  They also had some excellent Nova Scotia lobster on one of the gala nights.  In addition, their entertainment was varied and very well done.  Unfortunately, their trivia was so well attended that we could never join in because it was in a small venue with people jammed in and standing room only into the halls.   Their beds were amazing.

 

We missed:

 

- Traditional dining (the Princess reservation system was a disaster and the medallion technology only worked to open your cabin door.)

- A full wraparound prom which didn’t end midship.  In addition, most of Princess’ prom was one person wide with a view blocked by lifeboats.

- A smart TV that worked, with great programming.

- A well organized embarkation process.

- A covered Lido deck for inclement weather.

- A forward view.  Princess had one but you had to purchase access to it.

- The Sky Princess had a tiny (and I mean tiny) aft section with the smallest pool I have ever seen.

 

The room service menu on Princess was abysmal.  Breakfast was one “hot” item, which was a really horrible egg McMuffin type sandwich.  The International Cafe food was terrible.  We gave it 3 tries, because everyone raves about it, but it was truly awful.  I think the MDR and buffet food are on par.  Staff on HAL most definitely trump staff on Princess.  There were some standouts, but I’d say that a large portion of the Princess staff most definitely hated their jobs and the company they worked for.  “Service-oriented” wasn’t in their vocabulary.

 

The Sky Princess ship focused on the interior, while the HAL ships focus on the sea.  Our preference is to sail with HAL.

 

Forgot to add that there was zero internet available throughout the entire voyage.  We all got our money back in OBC.

Edited June 21, 2022 by *Miss G*

[LJProk]

We just got off Noordam and had no complaints about the food in the MDR. Did not eat in the lido enough to have an opinion there. Husband and son also liked the Dive In.