HAL vs Princes

[ldubs]

We have been on quite a few cruises on Princess, RCI, Celebrity, and a handful on Carnival.  We have yet to experience HAL.  

 

We are curious how HAL and Princess compare.  Those of you HAL faithful who have experienced both in recent times, how do you compare Princess?  

 

Thanks!!  

[*Miss G*]

Rather than retype previous posts, here are a couple of links to my thoughts on HAL vs Princess:

 

POST #1

 

POST #2

[sunviking90]

We are Elite on Princess with about 6 of those cruises post pandemic. We have about 17 HAL cruises too with about 3 post pandemic and 2 in the last 2 months. 
What I love about HAL:

-Classic ship design with walkable promenade decks (also on some Princess Ships)

-Staterooms “mostly” larger with sofas and better bathrooms (no nasty shower curtains). I do prefer Princess open large closet areas tho. HAL’s closets are poorly located IMO.

-Activities for no cost such as bridge lessons, origami, etc. 
-Quieter more sedate environment with lots of quiet places to read. Princess seems to like noise and music everywhere!

-Dive In burgers. Not as good as they used to be, but still the best burger at sea.

-Berries! Seems a small thing, but they have them. You’re lucky to find a blueberry as a garnish with dessert on Princess.

-Breakfast menu. Much more extensive than Princess.

-Room service still free. 
What I don’t like about HAL:

-Short Lido hours. We aren’t big buffet people, but it is completely closed between 10-11:30 am, 4-5:30 pm and dinner ends at 8 pm. Some ships have Pinnacle ships have a few other eateries to fill the gaps, but in the other ships, it’s a burger or room service and everyone else is doing the same thing so waits are long.

-MDR food, service and menu options. After experiencing both lines on multiple ships in the last 2 years we agree Princess has HAL beat.

-No laundry rooms anymore. Not that I want to do laundry, but nice to have if needed.

 

[Bill B]

Good and bad on both. It depends on the ship, itinerary and how lucky you are. 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We consider Holland a step above princess.

[FlaMariner]

This is a cut/paste from my posting on this topic a while back.....we cruised on Princess in March 2022 (Princess Sky TA).  We've made it to 4*s on HAL.  No plans to book Princess. 

 

 

 

 

• no fixed dining (we had to beg every evening to be seated at our preferred table/servers at the same time every evening)
• no retractable roof over lido (so this area is of no use in inclement weather)
• loud lido pool deck with gambling on the TV screen and other loud events/annoyances
• atrium/decor was more like being at the mall food court than on a ship 
• no furniture to sit on in the balcony cabin/closet is open like motel 6
• pizza restaurant required 11am line up on sea days or long wait (no reservations taken). (I think now that is a $$$ restaurant)
• lido was difficult for us to figure out....salad bar was hidden in an alcove area, orange juice glasses were shot glass size, lots of going "here and there" to fill the plate...difficult to get a cup of "free" coffee.  wait in line for them to serve or perhaps someone may come by after finished with eggs. 
• Dive In Burgers were much better than whatever that burger was that Princess served on the lido.
• reliance on the medallion thing (size of quarter, lost in day 2) but it did not work for fetching drinks or whatever. 
• no reasonable "wine package" at dinner
• not much live music....jazz club was more like "brunch jazz" nothing like Music Walk choices.
• no reasonable laundry package....did clothes dorm room style down the hall.
• Thermal suite hidden in inside windowless area of ship....not as nice as HAL
• no shaded walking area around the ship

 

 

Food was fine. Staff was great. But Holland America Line has spoiled us w/the way they roll and it more fits us.  

 

Disclaimers:  These bullet points are my personal views and experiences and I understand others see things much differently.  I am open to other cruise lines as we have sailed Carnival, Celebrity, NCL other the years (with a Carnival cruise booked next year) but we are not interested in cruising Princess again.  And I understand YMMV. 

Edited January 20 by FlaMariner

[ldubs]

11 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

Rather than retype previous posts, here are a couple of links to my thoughts on HAL vs Princess:

 

POST #1

 

POST #2

 

Thank you.  That thread linked in your "Post #1"  from back in February got some action again about an hour or so after I posted my question.  

[SumoCitrus]

Food better on HAL.

HAL ships nicer, more elegant

 

 

Princess better for kids.

Princess better for shows.

Princess crew amazing (HAL too).

Princess more generous with certain perks.

Princess onboard tech better (medallions, etc.)

 

They are very close. My personal preference is HAL. I'd sail Princess again though. Ports usually guide my choice.

[Hlitner]

18 hours ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

We consider Holland a step above princess.

We consider Princess a few steps above HAL :).  That is based on our most recent cruises (with both lines) that happened in 2023.  Bottom line is you will find plenty of fans of both lines and nobody is right/wrong.  It is all about personal preferences.

 

Hank

[ldubs]

3 hours ago, SumoCitrus said:

Food better on HAL.

HAL ships nicer, more elegant

 

 

Princess better for kids.

Princess better for shows.

Princess crew amazing (HAL too).

Princess more generous with certain perks.

Princess onboard tech better (medallions, etc.)

 

They are very close. My personal preference is HAL. I'd sail Princess again though. Ports usually guide my choice.

 

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We consider Princess a few steps above HAL :).  That is based on our most recent cruises (with both lines) that happened in 2023.  Bottom line is you will find plenty of fans of both lines and nobody is right/wrong.  It is all about personal preferences.

 

Hank

 

 

My initial perception was the onboard experience would be similar with HAL and Princess.   I have learned of a few things that are different.  Not things that might keep me from trying HAL should a desirable itinerary pop up.  But if both lines offered that same itinerary, I would likely stay with Princess.

[TRLD]

27 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

 

 

My initial perception was the onboard experience would be similar with HAL and Princess.   I have learned of a few things that are different.  Not things that might keep me from trying HAL should a desirable itinerary pop up.  But if both lines offered that same itinerary, I would likely stay with Princess.

I would say quite a bit different.

 

HAL is built around music walk. Princess is built around the Piazza and multi use venues. That results is quite a bit being different that will appeal to different folks. 

 

We rate the MDR food and experience to be superior on HAL, buffet better on Princess with wider selection and far longer hours.

 

The music on HAL has very good performers, but is pretty regimented. Little variation between ships. The performers are selected and then brought together and select from the corporate play list. Variety reduced with the elimination of Lincoln Centers.

 

On Princesses the groups are brought in as a group with their own style and music selections. More variety between cruises. Can be good or bad but we find the variety to be mostly good.

 

The natures of the venues tend to impact the other activity in them. Far fewer other activies than on Princess. Activities being game shows, alternative acts, trivia, etc.

 

We sail HAL mostly for unique itineraries.

Edited January 21 by TRLD

[ldubs]

15 minutes ago, TRLD said:

I would say quite a bit different.

 

HAL is built around music walk. Princess is built around the Piazza and multi use venues. That results is quite a bit being different that will appeal to different folks. 

 

We rate the MDR food and experience to be superior on HAL, buffet better on Princess with wider selection and far longer hours.

 

The music on HAL has very good performers, but is pretty regimented. Little variation between ships. The performers are selected and then brought together and select from the corporate play list. Variety reduced with the elimination of Lincoln Centers.

 

On Princesses the groups are brought in as a group with their own style and music selections. More variety between cruises. Can be good or bad but we find the variety to be mostly good.

 

The natures of the venues tend to impact the other activity in them. Far fewer other activies than on Princess. Activities being game shows, alternative acts, trivia, etc.

 

We sail HAL mostly for unique itineraries.

 

Thanks, I am learning that there are more differences that I had thought.   I was not aware of the "music walk" before reading here.  Some of the music walk venues I think I would enjoy.  I do enjoy lounge music on Princess, including in the Piazza.  Over the past couple of years, I've also enjoyed the big musical productions in the theater.  I think Princess has stepped it up in that area.   

[OlsSalt]

I'll say it again. Which ship do you want in the foreground of your scenic photos if sharing the same itinerary routes, like Glacier Bay?

 

The ugly Princess ships, or the elegant traditional lines of HAL ships. That is the one deal breaker when most other reasons are a toss-up. This one consideration does require choosing Princess, in order to set up our elegant photo shoot foregrounds. 🤭