Why does HAL seem to cost a lot less than Princess?

[zhuangcorp]

In my city, in November a 7 night HAL cruise is currently priced at $360. Also in November, 7 night Princess cruise is priced at $560.

 

Why does HAL seem to cost a good deal less than Princess? From what I have seen, the 2 experiences are largely the same. Maybe the only significant difference that I see is that Princess has Broadway-style production shows, while HAL has a more tame production.  

[Guest ldtr]

12 minutes ago, zhuangcorp said:

In my city, in November a 7 night HAL cruise is currently priced at $360. Also in November, 7 night Princess cruise is priced at $560.

 

Why does HAL seem to cost a good deal less than Princess? From what I have seen, the 2 experiences are largely the same. Maybe the only significant difference that I see is that Princess has Broadway-style production shows, while HAL has a more tame production.  

It varies by specific cruise and demand.  On most cruises I have seen HAL runs higher than Princess, though have seen a few where HAL is less.  When planning I expect to pay around 20% more per person per day on a HAL cruise than a Princess cruise.

[Taters]

What my question has always been is, why is Princess so much more expensive than HAL or many other brands?  I've been on a couple of Princess cruises and honestly, there is not much of a difference in experience.  I would have sailed on them more often if their pricing was more competitive.  Now with most of their fleet being megaships, I no longer even consider them.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Taters

[FlaMariner]

It varies....and we think the opposite. 

 

We jumped on our first (and last) Princess cruise in March because the rate was half the price of HAL (Eastbound TA).....

 

And we've been wondering why Princess is so much cheaper than what we saw from HAL....So it does vary.  Even though we are price sensitive, never again will we be sucked into the Princess low fare....We learned a lesson.

 

(And we all need to fight that Medallion thing if it is ever mentioned for Hal)

 

Smooth sailing.....

[MISTER 67]

2 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

It varies....and we think the opposite. 

 

We jumped on our first (and last) Princess cruise in March because the rate was half the price of HAL (Eastbound TA).....

 

And we've been wondering why Princess is so much cheaper than what we saw from HAL....So it does vary.  Even though we are price sensitive, never again will we be sucked into the Princess low fare....We learned a lesson.

 

(And we all need to fight that Medallion thing if it is ever mentioned for Hal)

 

Smooth sailing.....

It all depends on when and where you are going, we have had some great deals on both lines. The newer ships also are going to have higher fares.

[zhuangcorp]

4 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

It varies....and we think the opposite. 

 

We jumped on our first (and last) Princess cruise in March because the rate was half the price of HAL (Eastbound TA).....

 

And we've been wondering why Princess is so much cheaper than what we saw from HAL....So it does vary.  Even though we are price sensitive, never again will we be sucked into the Princess low fare....We learned a lesson.

 

(And we all need to fight that Medallion thing if it is ever mentioned for Hal)

 

Smooth sailing.....

What was wrong with the Princes cruise?

[Heartgrove]

It really depends on where you are sailing and if the itineraries are close to being the same. Perhaps price the cruise on the cost per day for a better comparison. Just remember with Princess that you need at least a mini-suite to have a simple thing like a couch in the stateroom.

[sergel02]

Someone on Reddit was wondering this too. They’re HAL cruise in the Pacific was a lot cheaper than even Carnival or Royal.

 

For me, I priced out the Rotterdam and Celebrity Silhouette at the end of May next year to the Fjords and HAL was overall $1500 cheaper. 

 

I do wonder why it seems cheaper. Not sure if they’re cutting costs elsewhere or they found a system that works well for them.

[Anubi]

I found that the two HAL cruises we've booked (one was cancelled) were quite a bit more than Princess.  We are itinerary driven cruisers and HAL's itineraries are just amazing.  Next year we are doing the Nieuw Statendam to Norway and HAL's itinerary was amazing when compared to the other cruise lines.  Add to that the size of the HAL ships and Princess is no longer our Go To cruise line.  Its a matter of your personal choice and there is choice for everyone.   

[Hlitner]

I am tempted to respond by saying that Princess is worthy of a higher price!  But I cannot say that because it would get me flamed by all the HAL fans (if they can stay awake).  

 

The truth is that although HAL is generally less expensive than Princess this is not always the case.  HAL does up their prices on the most popular itineraries (such as the Voyage of the Vikings).   And we do think that we generally get more for our money, on Princess, than on HAL.  For us, the only major attraction (that remains) of HAL are their fantastic itineraries when they actually happen and are not cancelled or curtailed by COVID.   All things being equal we would choose Princess over HAL..even at a slightly higher price point.

 

HAL fans do not want to hear it, but HAL has become a budget line out of necessity.  While we would still book HAL, it would only be for cruises with unusual and excellent itineraries.  Otherwise, if we were thinking mass market (we also book luxury lines) Princess, Celebrity, and MSC (Yacht Club only) would be at the top of our list.   We have significant experience with all these lines, and they are currently the mass market lines that we find the most satisfying.

 

So, what is wrong with HAL?  We could start with "sleepy ships" (somebody else recently said this about their first HAL cruise), lack of Production Shows, minimal live entertainment, downgraded cuisine in both the MDR and Pinnacle, add-on items in the MDR (shrimp cocktail?), an issue with "deferred maintenance,"     Some things are hard to explain, but the differences are stark.  If I sit at the International Cafe on Princess, just about anywhere on MSC, and the Atrium on Celebrity, the ships are alive from 8am until nearly midnight!  On HAL I am likely to encounter areas with folks dozing in their chairs, doing their knitting, etc.   DW and I can quickly become comfortable on HAL ships, but we get more overall enjoyment on many other lines.

 

Hank

[vicd1969]

It depends on the itinerary. HAL isn’t as competitive on Caribbean routes because their ships are not “resort” type ships that attract a younger family demographic. It is likely OP is comparing Caribbean sailings if it’s November. Shipboard activities matter more in that region. HAL’s Alaska and European sailings are relatively pricier because they have of an advantage with itineraries mattering more. 

[Florida_gal_50]

I guess I’m unlucky.  I pay quite a lot for Mexican Rivera cruises.  Would love to see these great deals.

[FlaMariner]

15 hours ago, zhuangcorp said:

What was wrong with the Princes cruise?

 

Dining:  Had to beg & plead each night for the same table/same waiters.  Lido was a hassle to figure out line and wait for coffee/tea.  Nothing freshly prepared at Lido buffet.  Lido burgers bad.  Breakfast in MDR was one "special" entree.  Pizza restaurant required queuing at opening  if you want to avoid long wait.

 

Medallion:  Did not work except for room key.  Hype about ordering drinks, etc. never worked. Staff frustrations w/it.  Became a nuisance instead of an efficient time saver. Did not work to buy laundry tokens. On and on.   It's the size of a quarter so lost it promptly on day 2.  

 

Internet:  down 99.99% of the time. (TA cruise)

 

Entertainment:  No live music venues like Music Walk.  Went to Jazz bar once and boring (was what we call brunch jazz)

 

Ship:  Nowhere to walk laps if raining.  No retractable roof so lido is useless in bad weather. Ship is like being at the mall food court with the atrium. hydro suite nothing nice as HAL. Lido is loud with movies playing what seems like 24/7.  Balcony stateroom had no sitting furniture and the "inside" of the closet is visible just like motel 6.  No library.  (people were always asking us "where did you get those books" that we brought onboard.  Seems with no internet the book people were struggling)

 

It's funny how folks see stuff so differently and that's what makes cruising so great.  Different strokes for different folks.  

 

I'd suggest that HAL folks do what we do and go on a Princess cruise and try it out yourself.  As for us, we will never leave the reservation again.  LOL.  

 

Smooth sailing to all........

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2022 by FlaMariner

[Mary229]

I think many people were looking at that sale HAL was running for the past few weeks, now ended. When considering brochure rates, not sale prices,  I usually find Princess and HAL almost the same and when considering the various packages I usually find Princess slightly cheaper.   I always compare my chosen itineraries: HAL, Princess, Celebrity.  Adjusting for the inclusions I find the prices more or less equal.  I usually pick HAL as I sail longer  cruises not offered by the other two 

[Florida_gal_50]

7 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I think many people were looking at that sale HAL was running for the past few weeks, now ended. When considering brochure rates, not sale prices,  I usually find Princess and HAL almost the same and when considering the various packages I usually find Princess slightly cheaper.   I always compare my chosen itineraries: HAL, Princess, Celebrity.  Adjusting for the inclusions I find the prices more or less equal.  I usually pick HAL as I sail longer  cruises not offered by the other two 

I’ve never found Hal’s “sales” to be actual sales.  Maybe for people that book years ahead and never check prices.  As a matter of fact that sale was hiding my Mariners pricing.

[FlaMariner]

+1

 

Every time I see a HAL "sale" and check it out on the HAL website, I always find better pricing at my big internet TA.

 

[janmcn]

Have to compare not only itineraries but the cabins. HAL cabins are larger than Princess’ overall. I find HAL a bit more expensive but worth it.

[Mary229]

20 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I’ve never found Hal’s “sales” to be actual sales.  Maybe for people that book years ahead and never check prices.  As a matter of fact that sale was hiding my Mariners pricing.

That sale last month had some gems.  I picked up a transatlantic for me and the Sis cheap.   You are right though usually they are not so great

[StLouisCruisers]

13 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

 

Dining:  Had to beg & plead each night for the same table/same waiters.  Lido was a hassle to figure out line and wait for coffee/tea.  Nothing freshly prepared at Lido buffet.  Lido burgers bad.  Breakfast in MDR was one "special" entree.  Pizza restaurant required queuing at opening  if you want to avoid long wait.

 

Medallion:  Did not work except for room key.  Hype about ordering drinks, etc. never worked. Staff frustrations w/it.  Became a nuisance instead of an efficient time saver. Did not work to buy laundry tokens. On and on.   It's the size of a quarter so lost it promptly on day 2.  

 

Internet:  down 99.99% of the time. (TA cruise)

 

Entertainment:  No live music venues like Music Walk.  Went to Jazz bar once and boring (was what we call brunch jazz)

 

Ship:  Nowhere to walk laps if raining.  No retractable roof so lido is useless in bad weather. Ship is like being at the mall food court with the atrium. hydro suite nothing nice as HAL. Lido is loud with movies playing what seems like 24/7.  Balcony stateroom had no sitting furniture and the "inside" of the closet is visible just like motel 6.  No library.  (people were always asking us "where did you get those books" that we brought onboard.  Seems with no internet the book people were struggling)

 

It's funny how folks see stuff so differently and that's what makes cruising so great.  Different strokes for different folks.  

 

I'd suggest that HAL folks do what we do and go on a Princess cruise and try it out yourself.  As for us, we will never leave the reservation again.  LOL.  

 

Smooth sailing to all........

 

Since I was on a Princess cruise last month I feel like I can add some insight into different people's experience.  You did say, it's funny how folks see stuff so differently.

 

Sorry you lost your Medallion on day 2, but that's not their fault.  It comes on a lanyard which you can wear around your neck, or some people buy wrist bands to put it in but that's not necessary to use it.  The batteries in them last about 3 weeks, so we had to go to Guest Services for a new battery since this was a 34 day cruise.  Took a few minutes.  The Medallion worked fine for ordering food or drinks and we did that quite a few times.  After dinner one night we ordered cake and some cookies as we listened to music in a bar.  It was delivered right to our seats in Wheelhouse.  Unfortunate how yours didn't work for that.  🤔

 

Our cruise started as a TA.  The internet worked at least 80% of the time.  The two days it didn't work on my IPhone was admittedly frustrating, but DH had a small laptop with us and it worked in our cabin when the IPhone wouldn't.  Not sure why?  But internet being down 99% of the time??  

 

Our ship (Island Princess) had a covered pool and in fact we would take a plate in there to eat during the colder, windier days.  The outside pool had loud music playing so we didn't sit out there much.  We're not pool people.  We asked Housekeeping for a second chair for our cabin so we wouldn't have to have one of us sit on the bed.  It was delivered to our room a couple of hours later (more later).  The library had books and games but I didn't borrow any, I had my Kindle fully loaded.

 

We had music entertainment on our ship every night, both in Crooner's lounge and Wheelhouse bar.  That is the only entertainment we went to, and never went into the Princess Theater to stay out of crowds.  So I couldn't comment on the shows each night.  I'd probably seen them before anyway.

 

We ate in Lido for breakfast and some lunches.  For breakfast we could get eggs fixed any way we liked in the morning.  Omelettes, sunny side up, break the yolk and hard.  What did you want prepared for lunch?  Unfortunately there was no International Cafe on the ship, but you could eat in the MDR, Horizon Court (Lido), pizza spot outside, the outside grill where they had hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, pulled pork sandwiches, fries, etc. so plenty of variety.  After the first night we arranged for a secluded table for 2 near the entrance to our dining room so we had the same wait staff every night.  They were wonderful.  So was the bar wait staff.   I think food preparation/taste has suffered since the pandemic but I am hopeful all the cruise lines will improve with time. At least shrimp cocktails were no charge at dinner.  I ordered that several times.  All in all, the only employee I didn't care for was my room steward, but it's rare when we have a room steward who doesn't work their tail off trying to keep us happy.  This one did as little as he could to get by.  He came by to say he didn't know if he could get us an extra chair, but then his supervisor showed up with one a short time later.  Ask and you shall receive.

 

Sorry your experience was so horrific.  Like you said, it's funny how folks see stuff so differently.  

 

 

[Florida_gal_50]

6 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

That sale last month had some gems.  I picked up a transatlantic for me and the Sis cheap.   You are right though usually they are not so great

Excellent.  It’s good that some found good pricing. It sounded like the TA cruises were excellent pricing.  I couldn’t stand all those sea days but that’s my issue.  I should have added to my post that the price is not great for the cruises I personally book.

[iancal]

Supply and demand.  Our experience pre covid on late booking Med cruises was the same for three years.  

 

90-30 days out.  10 or 14 day itinerary. . Unobstructed balcony.

 

Celebrity was the least expensive.  Then Princess.  Followed by HAL at 30 percent higher than Celebrity.  

 

So we would book when our price hit because balcony cabins can disappear. 

 

But.....a week or two later all three would be at the same point give or take 5 percent.

 

Prices change all the time.  As does supply and demand.  Perhaps different lines use different revenue maximization logarithms.

 

When it comes down to these three cruise lines we pay far more attention to the ship than we do to the cruise line.

 

Edited July 16, 2022 by iancal

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, FlaMariner said:

+1

 

Every time I see a HAL "sale" and check it out on the HAL website, I always find better pricing at my big internet TA.

 

LOL  so true!  But many HAL loyalists are so set in their ways that they insist on booking through their PCCs.  So they live with HAL sales.  Telling them they can save 7-10% (and more) by shopping around is akin to spitting in the wind during a gale!

 

Hank

[Florida_gal_50]

18 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

LOL  so true!  But many HAL loyalists are so set in their ways that they insist on booking through their PCCs.  So they live with HAL sales.  Telling them they can save 7-10% (and more) by shopping around is akin to spitting in the wind during a gale!

 

Hank

I now use a ta.  Same price as hal.  I’ve recently switched  jobs and because so many of the tasks I do are all new to me so it’s taking me 10 x longer to do anything.  Also I work much longer hours.  I have no time to sit on the phone or hunt for someone that will save me 10 percent.  I’m not doing 100 day cruises so it makes little difference. My time is more valuable. This constant put down is really tiresome.  If you have nothing but time and come and go as you please makes it much easier to get deals.  You do you and don’t worry about others.  If I had a dollar for every time you’ve mentioned this I’d be retired too.

[iancal]

I book the cruises.  I use an on line TA.  Prior to retirement I could be hard to get hold of. Travel, meetings, etc.  Plus 2, sometimes 3 time zones.

 

Our TA was a top producer in her agency. She did not make money by idle chit chat about grandchildren.  She had no interest in becoming my new best friend.  It was a business transactions  I view buying a cruise as strictly a commodity buy.  Price and product, plus service.

 

Email worked perfectly for both of us.  No waiting on hold, no web site issues.  Everything by email until she would call for our credit card details.  The only time I would go to the web was to verify the cruise line booking number and agree the cabin and pricing details at some point.

 

The five or ten percent, and sometimes more, saving was a bonus.  The real bonus was great service, independent feedback based on her customer feedback , and an occasional heads up about alternate competitive offers that we not yet in the public domain.

Edited July 16, 2022 by iancal

[Florida_gal_50]

Too bad ta’s names can’t be shared on here.  My guess is that if you could no names would be shared.  Anyone can say anything.  Reality is can you back that up?