Hal V Princess

[Chivalrygirl]

I have been researching a 10 day cruise of New England/Canada to coincide with a visit to our son in DC in September. It is looking more and more like we will have to go with Princess, it is just so much cheaper. This ship would be Grand Princess and we can get a mini suite on this ship at just $576 more than a C category on the Veendam, there are no balcony cabins for sale, only deluxe suites and they are a ridiculous price. As it is if we go with Princess it will be about $NZ.00 Eek

 

I personally would not expect much out of Princess compared to HAL, what do others think, perhaps someone can help me in my dilemma. I have a quote from an on line TA as recommended by some folk on Cruise Critic and I think it is rather reasonable. I kind of think that a balcony cabin would be much nicer for cruising in the St Lawrence river, or am I wrong? :confused:

[jhannah]

This thread is on page three, and is a fairly thorough discussion of Princess versus Holland America.

 

Both are fine products, each with its own pros and cons.

[jocelysue]

I have been researching a 10 day cruise of New England/Canada to coincide with a visit to our son in DC in September. It is looking more and more like we will have to go with Princess, it is just so much cheaper. This ship would be Grand Princess and we can get a mini suite on this ship at just $576 more than a C category on the Veendam, there are no balcony cabins for sale, only deluxe suites and they are a ridiculous price. As it is if we go with Princess it will be about $NZ.00 Eek

 

I personally would not expect much out of Princess compared to HAL, what do others think, perhaps someone can help me in my dilemma. I have a quote from an on line TA as recommended by some folk on Cruise Critic and I think it is rather reasonable. I kind of think that a balcony cabin would be much nicer for cruising in the St Lawrence River, or am I wrong? :confused:

 

Hi there,

 

I posted an answer to this on another thread but I would like to add some additional information pertaining to the particular cruise you are thinking of instead of only generalities.

 

September is a beautiful month for cruising the St. Lawrence. Mind yiu the weather can be brisk but it is rarely cold, the trees are just beginning to change colour, there is hardly any rain (usually).

 

Having travelled both HAL and Princess, I truly believe that you would enjoy Princess more on this trip, Reason? The balcony . Especially if you have a mini suite. But that's beside the point. Sitting or standing on your balcony going close to the Saguenay, sailing up the St. Lawrence to Quebec City and seeing the Citadel and Chateau Frontenac is a great site. (Secret: sometimes you can see whales at the confluence of the Saguenay and the St. Lawrence Rivers although that is not promisesd ).Smelling the sea air is a great bonus.

 

 

 

Princess and Hal are different (please refer to my prior post ) but are both great . Please don't feel that you are committing a great sacrifice if you choose Princess. Food is great, service is good and the beds are O.K. So you don't get as much choice for breakfast, but you get a better show at night. Plus the mini suites are great: 2 TVs , a sofa, a frig.+ A BALCONY

 

In a C cabin on Hal, you get a sofa, one TV, and no frig.

 

I truly think that it is worth the difference in price. Right now, DH and I are booked on a cruise with HAH but that's because we prefer the itinerary. We cruise both lines, and enjoy both of them.

 

Whatever you decide., you're the one who will make or break your cruise. And from your post, your mindset is to enjoy.

 

So BON VOYAGE.

 

Joce

[Chivalrygirl]

Hi there,

 

I posted an answer to this on another thread but I would like to add some additional information pertaining to the particular cruise you are thinking of instead of only generalities.

 

September is a beautiful month for cruising the St. Lawrence. Mind yiu the weather can be brisk but it is rarely cold, the trees are just beginning to change colour, there is hardly any rain (usually).

 

Having travelled both HAL and Princess, I truly believe that you would enjoy Princess more on this trip, Reason? The balcony . Especially if you have a mini suite. But that's beside the point. Sitting or standing on your balcony going close to the Saguenay, sailing up the St. Lawrence to Quebec City and seeing the Citadel and Chateau Frontenac is a great site. (Secret: sometimes you can see whales at the confluence of the Saguenay and the St. Lawrence Rivers although that is not promisesd ).Smelling the sea air is a great bonus.

 

 

Dear J

 

 

Princess and Hal are different (please refer to my prior post ) but are both great . Please don't feel that you are committing a great sacrifice if you choose Princess. Food is great, service is good and the beds are O.K. So you don't get as much choice for breakfast, but you get a better show at night. Plus the mini suites are great: 2 TVs , a sofa, a frig.+ A BALCONY

 

In a C cabin on Hal, you get a sofa, one TV, and no frig.

 

I truly think that it is worth the difference in price. Right now, DH and I are booked on a cruise with HAH but that's because we prefer the itinerary. We cruise both lines, and enjoy both of them.

 

Whatever you decide., you're the one who will make or break your cruise. And from your post, your mindset is to enjoy.

 

So BON VOYAGE.

 

Joce

 

Dear Joce

Thank you for that most informative info that is exactly what I am looking for. I wonder if you might be kind enough to send me an email at

chivalrygirl@gmail.com, that way if you don't mind I can pick your brains, so to speak :)

DH is not as keen on being on a ship as I am, but I think as this is a really port intensive cruise and he (a Londoner that got dragged kicking and screaming to NZ Many years ago) will see so much that he is really interested in. I am thinking if we make the most of our time ashore we will be ready for bed quite early, so I would like to ask lots of questions if that is OK with you. OMG the weather here in Auckland has just taken a turn for the worse, they call this summer ! Its blowing and raining cats and dogs. :confused:

Cheers Val

 

PS do we need to ask for a port or starboard cabin ?

[tinaparrotthead]

A good thing to know about a Princess mini suite is that the balcony is uncovered. This was an issue for us when we cruised the Golden Princess a couple of years ago in the Caribbean. It would rain during the night, the chair pads got wet and stayed wet.....if you are concerned about it being cool and windy on a balcony on most ships and cruiselines, then you might be concerned about a mini-suite on Princess and their uncovered balconies....just a thought

[agabbymama]

ChivalryGirl,

 

You might want to look at Celebrity too. For '06 I found the Fall Foliage cruise for 11 nights and it was about $300 cheaper than either HAL or Princess 10 night. I started out wanting to do HAL to see Quebec, then as I researched went to RCCL (they had a fantastic itinerary in '05), but was told they weren't doing New England/Canada in 2006 they recommended Celebrity. Then in January RCCL annouced they would be going to New England after all. But we had already booked a Concierge Class balcony cabin on deck 6 in amongst all the suites on Celebrity, so stayed with that. The balcony was triple the size of a normal balcony and the cabin about 20 sq ft larger. Cabin # 6143. It was a fantastic cruise. We had a couple days of rain but the foliage was absolutely beautiful. And we did see Beluga whales and gray whales at the mouth of the Saguenay River. The gray whales were right under our balcony. It seemed as though they were performing just for us. They were awesome.

 

I don't think you will be disappointed in this area. Bar Harbor Maine, Halifax Nova Scotia, Quebec, were all absolutely beautiful ports. Have a great cruise, whatever you choose.:p

[INSIDERS CABIN]

We have been on both - but always during high season-holidays and spring break. We have been on Hal more than Princess, but have very fond memories of Princess. We found Princess more lively with more entertainment venues, just because of the size of the ship. The Grand Princess never felt crowded, just well-populated! We really liked the mini-suites with balconies, plenty of room for our 4 person family. The food was certainly good--

 

Hal--we like the level of service and the ambience--the ship is quieter, more interesting in and of itself with the art collection.....

 

Both seem to attract enthusiastic passengers and lots of repeaters....both of the ships are lovely.....but i agree, the balcony is now so important to us that it would be the deciding factor! On today's ships the balcony cabin seems to be the only way to capture the feeling of the sea, otherwise, the large ships feel so much like a hotel!

 

Good luck! Glad you found a bargain......

[Jade13]

hated it. They went with their friend who was a TA and taking a group. They thought the ship was run down.

 

I have only been on one ship, HALs Veendam, and we loved that ship. We took a C cabin because it was the best available left. As it turned out we would never have used that balcony to eat as it was just too cold.

 

I'd go back on Veendam anytime. Btw, the C cabins come with fresh fruit and bathrobes and high end toiletries. We paid an extra $2.00 per day to have a refrigerator (book through ship services). Also note the ship is full of antiques and only about 600 cabins/1,200 passengers. Our cabin was on the Verandah deck (without the verandah) and if I recall only a flight down the stairs to the restaurant. We never used the elevator, ever.

[sammiedawg]

We enjoy trying different lines but our mainstays are HAL and Princess, have enjoyed all the cruises on each line and no complaints or issues for either one . There are endless comparison threads on this board, I dont think you could go wrong with either one

Price and Itinerary would be the deciding factor for me.

[LILynn]

I just booked my first HAL cruise so I cannot compare it to Princess. But I was on the Grand Princess this past September and it was by far the best cruise I was ever on. Although the Grand is large, I never felt that I was overwhelmed by its size or the number of passengers. The food was good and the service was wonderful. We had Anytime Dining which we absolutely loved. After spending the day in port it was great to come back to the ship, clean up and go to dinner when we were ready. It was easy to find something to do or a place to do nothing.

 

I really wanted to go on Princess again this year, but HAL had the itinery we wanted so I booked the HAL one. I will miss Anytime Dining on the HAL cruise as the ship we are taking is very port intensive this year too.

 

You will have a great time on the Grand - check out the Princess board - lots of Princess "cheerleaders" there!!!!

[Chivalrygirl]

Thanks all for your advice, it is making things clearer in my mind now. Got to get it right, it is for us a very expensive cruise, airfares and exchange rates etc. I am so appreciative to have all your inputs. Thanks

 

Val

[Chivalrygirl]

Thanks all for your advice, it is making things clearer in my mind now. Got to get it right, it is for us a very expensive cruise, airfares and exchange rates etc. I am so appreciative to have all your inputs. Thanks

 

Val

[griswalds]

We have cruised Princess 4 times and HAL once. Our last cruise was with HAL and we will not go again with them. We were on the Amsterdam and maybe a larger HAL ship would be better? Our opinion only.....see ship review for comments.

 

 

Griswalds