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Convince me--HAL or Princess?


barbaraanne

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Hi all,

 

We are trying to decide on a longer than 7 day cruise for next year. We've previously cruised Carnival and Princess. For overall experience, we prefer Princess of those two, although we found the food to be comparable on both. We especially loved the fresh water pools on Princess, as well as many adult only areas. We are looking into the southern Caribbean and a longer cruise this time.

 

We're in our late 40's-early 50's and our kids are finally all off to college or beyond--yippee! I've taken our kids on many cruises on Carnival, simply because they do cater quite a bit to kids and especially teens.

 

Now none of that matters! My DH and I did a cruise alone on Princess last year that we thought was wonderful. We do not have our nose in the air! We just want good value (foodwise, poolwise, and servicewise); and we'd like a nice comedian now and then.

 

We've read what great food Hollland America has, and how elegant the service is.

 

I am just asking what the clientele Holland America is like, how the food is, how expensive the extras are onboard, and I'm not looking for late night stuff! But we do want to have a fun time. We like fresh water pools, or adult only pools, and lots of water submersion possibilities on ship!

 

Do you think we would fit in at Holland America?? How formal is the dress? Is it possible to get a table for 2, even if you don't book a suite?

 

Thank you,

barb

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Good question and answering is not so easy. We routinely cruise on both Princess ahd HA (we cruise about 60 - 70 days a year) and enjoy both cruise lines. Our most recent HA cruise was a 26 day Noordam cruise this past April (loved every moment). Keep in mind that the longer the cruise, the older the cruisers. As a general rule, we find that HA attracts an older clientele, many of whom have lots of cruise experience. Generally speaking, we find that HA has better food and service than Princess....but Princess has much better entertainment. Also keep in mind that there are many differences between the various classes of ships on Princess since they have everything from 700 passengers ships to 3000 passenger. We think that HA really is a step above when it comes to their buffet eating area..in fact, we think nobody does this better. On HA you have made to order sandwich bars, free ice cream (with toppings) all day and evening, an Eggs Benedict station at breakfast (very unique idea where they make lots of variations) etc etc. Based on our experience over the past 2 years we think that HA is now the best line for the money (and we have cruised on 11 cruise lines). One caveat is that if you really like the huge mega-ships with all the space and amenities you might find the HA ships a bit small (many HA fans think that the larger 70,000+ ton HA ships are too large).

 

Hank

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Good question and answering is not so easy. We routinely cruise on both Princess ahd HA (we cruise about 60 - 70 days a year) and enjoy both cruise lines. Our most recent HA cruise was a 26 day Noordam cruise this past April (loved every moment). Keep in mind that the longer the cruise, the older the cruisers. As a general rule, we find that HA attracts an older clientele, many of whom have lots of cruise experience. Generally speaking, we find that HA has better food and service than Princess....but Princess has much better entertainment. Also keep in mind that there are many differences between the various classes of ships on Princess since they have everything from 700 passengers ships to 3000 passenger. We think that HA really is a step above when it comes to their buffet eating area..in fact, we think nobody does this better. On HA you have made to order sandwich bars, free ice cream (with toppings) all day and evening, an Eggs Benedict station at breakfast (very unique idea where they make lots of variations) etc etc. Based on our experience over the past 2 years we think that HA is now the best line for the money (and we have cruised on 11 cruise lines). One caveat is that if you really like the huge mega-ships with all the space and amenities you might find the HA ships a bit small (many HA fans think that the larger 70,000+ ton HA ships are too large).

 

Hank

 

Thank you so much! This is a great help!

 

One question--how decked out to passengers get for formal nights on HA? Do I need a long gown?

 

thanks!

 

barb

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We chose HAL for our first (and so far only) cruise, and were very happy that we did. It suited us perfectly. The service everywhere was awesome, from room stewards to dining room service. The food was excellent, with lots of choices everywhere. We did room service breakfast, Lido buffet for lunch and the open seating in the dining room for dinner.

 

There was always something to do, and the evening entertainment ranged from classical string quartet to live rock band to late night disco, not to mention the wonderful shows in the showroom.

 

If you choose HAL, you won't be sorry. We will sail HAL again someday. (soon, we hope!)

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Ooops, in my enthusiasm, I forgot to answer a few of your questions.

 

Not many people used the pool on our cruise, mainly because it was an Alaskan cruise, and was port intensive. In addition to the 2 pools (1 indoor, 1 outdoor) there is the hydrotherapy pool. We did not use that, but heard raves about it.

 

Not many children/teens on board, I would venture to guess the average ages of passengers to be between 30 & 70. Mostly active adults.

 

The extras aren't bad expense wise, the drink prices are reasonable. The specialty restaurant, the Pinnacle Grill is $20/pp. Soda costs extra, also.

 

There are a couple of formal nights, most everyone followed the guidelines. If you don't want to dress formal, you can always dine in the Lido or order room service. Other than the formal nights, you can dress however you please, except they don't allow beach wear in the dining room.

 

You can get a table for 2 by making your reservations early in the day for that particular evening if you have open seating. If you want fixed dining, you specify that you want a table for 2 at the time of booking.

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My 2 cents worth - probably not worth that much though. We started with Princess and enjoyed them very much. We did a Panama Canal transit, a trans-atlantic, couple of caribean, and an alaska cruise. We really liked them and think they are a great line. If you want activities, entertainment, and lots of stuff going on, hard to beat them. However, if your "cruise style" is more to finding places to read a book, few announcements, nice folks, and smaller ships (relatively speaking), then HAL may be for you. We took our first HAL cruise last fall with our family (including a 2 year old) for our 40th Wedding Anniversary. We did a 10 day on the Noordam and fell in love with HAL. It "fits" the way we like to cruise. In one port, there was a Princess ship and a HAL ship. We could hear announcements on the Princess ship about every 15 minutes all over the town. I never heard one from HAL. It seems the Cruise Director staff on Princess is much larger than on HAL. So if you want activities all day and night and a great trip - chose Princess. If you want great cruising with quiet time, nice spaces, etc. and still good entertainment and food, try HAL. You are truly the only one who can make the decision on what you like. For example, our first cruise was a Great Lakes Cruise on the MS Columbus (about 400 pax). It was truly superb and my wife I think still considers it one of our best trips. But good luck making a decision. We have a Alaska Cruisetour in about 3 weeks and another one our of Tampa after Thanksgiving - both on HAL. We will be better able to compare HAL and Princess in Alaska then.

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We have cruised both lines and love them both...HAL is elegant with great service and beautiful ships...we are both in the 50's and love the things the young crowd likes, that being said, the Vista class ship's would be the one's to book for the Caribbean...bigger, more people in your age group.

Dress on formal night is really no different than you find on Princess....all of this is my opinion on the two lines and sure there will be those that will have a different opinion......but I don't think you can go wrong with HAL.

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If you do decide to take a cruise with HAL and you find you don't like it, you can always go back to Princess. We did that with a Celebrity cruise. The cruise was okay, just not marvelous, so we returned to Princess.

 

We happen to like Princess, but they have built themselves out of the market for us. Their big ships are too big and their small ships (which we love) generally are not in the Caribbean.

 

We tried HAL and found we really like the line. The service really is marvelous. Also, in general, HAL costs a bit (not a lot) less than Princess.

 

I think Princess has better activities. However, HAL has what we want - smaller ships in the Caribbean.

 

Live adventurously for one cruise. It's only one vacation of many.

 

Roberta

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Thank you so much! This is a great help!

 

One question--how decked out to passengers get for formal nights on HA? Do I need a long gown?

 

thanks!

 

barb

I have to defer to my wife on this question. We think that everyone is dressing down more and more partially because of all the airline luggage weight restrictions. On our recent Noordam cruise on the formal nights (we had 6 formal nights) the ladies wore everything from simple dresses (my wife calls that work clothes) to formal gowns and about anything in-between. My wife thinks that ladies were a bit better dressed on the HA cruises, but she attributes that to the older age group we had on our cruises (remember, we generally are taking cruises at least 14 days). We see more of the mix and match outfits (nice tops matched with fancy pants or skirts) that can be varied for the multiple formal nights. As to men, I always take a tux...but that is because I own a tux and it is no more bother than taking a suit. I would guess that about 1/3 of the men on the Noordam had tuxes with a majority wearing a suit.

 

Hank

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We've done 2 Princess cruises, and 3 HALs (with two more booked). Obviously, we think HAL has the edge -- food being a key reason. Re cost of "extras", HAL is the only mid-tier line I know of that allows you to bring your own wine on board. They gladly will move it to your room along with your luggage. There is a corage fee if you bring a bottle to the dining room, but none in your cabin.

 

We actually prefer HALs smaller (1300 passenger ships -- "R" & "S" classes). But since you seem to enjoy pools and activities, the larger Vista class vessels might be a good choice. (We're not convinced that the food/service on the latter is as good as on the former however).

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So much in choosing the cruise line is how you like your cruise to be. We have sailed HAL twice and Princess once. We will never do another Princess cruise.

 

As a first cruise,I think Princess would be OK. I didn't like the way the staff would grumble about how unhappy they were - even when passengers were around. I don't like standing at the bar waiting for the bartender to run and get the "fixins" for the same drink I order everyday at 4pm. Just lots of little things that HAL does that makes my vacation special.

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We've done 2 Princess cruises, and 3 HALs (with two more booked). Obviously, we think HAL has the edge -- food being a key reason. Re cost of "extras", HAL is the only mid-tier line I know of that allows you to bring your own wine on board. They gladly will move it to your room along with your luggage. There is a corage fee if you bring a bottle to the dining room, but none in your cabin.

 

Princess also allows you to bring your own wine aboard and we take on own wine onto both Princess and HA. We have even seen folks bring cases onto Princess. Personally, we only bring wine to enjoy on our balcony and will usually buy wine in the dining room.

 

Hank

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We have been on both Princess and HAL. Same age range as you. We like them both. They both have things that they do better than the other.

 

HAL - Better library by far, better Internet Cafe, crows nest lounge, thermal spa is usually located with an outside view.

 

Princess - more diverse dining room menu, mini putt, better onboard medical services

 

We have been on large 3,000 passenger ships and smaller 1,400 passenger ships. We didn't think we would like the smaller ships but we did.

 

If you going to Alaska then go one of the smaller HAL ships. Much better viewing. When going though Glacier Bay they allow you on the front of the ship.

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Hi all,

 

We are trying to decide on a longer than 7 day cruise for next year. We've previously cruised Carnival and Princess. For overall experience, we prefer Princess of those two, although we found the food to be comparable on both. We especially loved the fresh water pools on Princess, as well as many adult only areas. We are looking into the southern Caribbean and a longer cruise this time.

 

We're in our late 40's-early 50's and our kids are finally all off to college or beyond--yippee! I've taken our kids on many cruises on Carnival, simply because they do cater quite a bit to kids and especially teens.

 

Now none of that matters! My DH and I did a cruise alone on Princess last year that we thought was wonderful. We do not have our nose in the air! We just want good value (foodwise, poolwise, and servicewise); and we'd like a nice comedian now and then.

 

We've read what great food Hollland America has, and how elegant the service is.

 

I am just asking what the clientele Holland America is like, how the food is, how expensive the extras are onboard, and I'm not looking for late night stuff! But we do want to have a fun time. We like fresh water pools, or adult only pools, and lots of water submersion possibilities on ship!

 

Do you think we would fit in at Holland America?? How formal is the dress? Is it possible to get a table for 2, even if you don't book a suite?

 

Thank you,

barb

 

Book a HAL cruise and you won't be disappointed. The extras onboard are like any other ship. I think you spend less on HAL because the food is much better as well as 24 hour included room service. HAL does let you bring wine onboard...bring a cork screw in your checked bag. If you want to bring your own wine into the D.R. there is a $15 corking fee.

The pools are nice and usually very quiet unless you cruise during a vacation/Holiday period when more families are on board. The adult pool is the aft pool. It is rare to find more than a few children in the Lido pool. HAL cruises are not packed with kids running about.

Formal is always questioned. A jacket and tie work. A very few wear a tux. Many men wear dark suits. Women will be in a wide range of dress. I recommend dressing like going to a nice restaurant....not real casual. Shorts, t shirts, jeans are not acceptable in the D.R. for dinner. If you don't want to dress for dinner, and also on formal nights, there are other options rather than the main D.R.

A table for 2 will be available for AYWD. You may have to wait for one. It depends on what time you go. They are always available at breakfast and lunch. Also once on board, you can request a table for 2 if none were available when you booked.

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A table for 2 will be available for AYWD. You may have to wait for one. It depends on what time you go. They are always available at breakfast and lunch. Also once on board, you can request a table for 2 if none were available when you booked.
:confused: All of the dining venues on the ship are 'AYWD'. I sure wouldn't guarantee that a two-top would be available in fixed seating.
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So much in choosing the cruise line is how you like your cruise to be. We have sailed HAL twice and Princess once. We will never do another Princess cruise.

 

As a first cruise,I think Princess would be OK. I didn't like the way the staff would grumble about how unhappy they were - even when passengers were around. I don't like standing at the bar waiting for the bartender to run and get the "fixins" for the same drink I order everyday at 4pm. Just lots of little things that HAL does that makes my vacation special.

You should given Princess a try again. That may have been a one off. I've never found Princes to be that way. I've had several disappointing cruises on HAL and now Princess is my favorite. That said......cash is king with me right now and HAL has a much better price then Princess. I hope my next 2 cruises will remind me what I liked with HAL.

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I gave Princess a second try, but again I felt very underwhelmed by the spotty service and the incredible crowding of the ship (Caribbean Princess).

I would pick HAL over Princess without a second thought.

Much, much better service from a happier, friendlier staff, and plenty of elbow room (or as DH calls it: "Waggin Space":)) on HAL.

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I gave Princess a second try, but again I felt very underwhelmed by the spotty service and the incredible crowding of the ship (Caribbean Princess).

I would pick HAL over Princess without a second thought.

Much, much better service from a happier, friendlier staff, and plenty of elbow room (or as DH calls it: "Waggin Space":)) on HAL.

That is one big ship! I've been on the smaller ships mostly of Princess so maybe that is the difference. The last one I was on was the Grand....2600 pax....still smaller then the Caribbean Princess.

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Been on both several times. Just back from two 12 days b/b in the MED on Oosterdam. A few answers to your questions. 1. the pools on HAL. We made the mistake of booking on the second half during July 1 week when 250 children from all over the world decended on our otherwise quiet first half. As HAL is trying to attract younger people, they let the little ones use the AFT pool which is supposed to be for adults. One man even said he was sitting in the hot tub when a youngster jumped in on him. Many did address this issue on evaluations so maybe HAL will take note.

2. Formal dress. I agree due to airline cutbacks on luggage it is smart for women to bring a few pretty jackets, black pants and skirt to interchange.

I did bring one rollup gown as it was our anniversary and wanted pictures.

A man at our table ordered his tux for the 24 days on board but brought his own bowties and cummerbunds so he looked dapper each time.

3. food - the best bargain for keeping this aspect up to par I feel is HAL.

Just having escargots and bread pudding kept hubby happy and we were able to select low-salt options each night for the next day.

4. Wines - Our three couples at main seating all ordered the wine packages to try and share. At $89 (3) and $150 (5) it was well worth it and they keep unopened bottles for you for the next day. They also did not charge us corkage fees when we brought wine from a shore excursion

winery,etc. maybe because we had the wine packages.

Hope this helps- we like both lines, but the upgrades we get for rooms, the service, food and quiet times with good entertainment equal HAL.:)

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That is one big ship! I've been on the smaller ships mostly of Princess so maybe that is the difference. The last one I was on was the Grand....2600 pax....still smaller then the Caribbean Princess.

True, Caribbean Princess is a big ship.

Still, at 113,000 tons, it carries 3100 passengers, and that's just 2 to a cabin, not figuring 3 or 4 to some cabins.

Do the math. The space ratio works out to about 36.45.:eek:

Take Westerdam's stats. At 81,769 tons, it carries 1848 passengers (2 to a cabin). Westerdam's space ratio is about 44.25. That's a significant difference.

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True, Caribbean Princess is a big ship.

Still, at 113,000 tons, it carries 3100 passengers, and that's just 2 to a cabin, not figuring 3 or 4 to some cabins.

Do the math. The space ratio works out to about 36.45.:eek:

Take Westerdam's stats. At 81,769 tons, it carries 1848 passengers (2 to a cabin). Westerdam's space ratio is about 44.25. That's a significant difference.

Interesting.....I've never done the math and I'm an accountant:D. I have to admit there were times on the Grand when it felt very crowded. I don't feel that the staff however is any better on one line or the other.

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Although I'm one of those people who would be happy in a dinghy being pulled by any ship LOL I have some points I liked much better on HAL than Princess. #1 - THE BEDS - HAL has far superior bedding

#2 - THE FOOD - Princess' choices are more diverse but the food quality seemed better on HAL

#3 - ENTERTAINMENT - better mega shows on Princess, but great small entertainment venues on HAL I loved the piano bar

#4 - EFFICIENCY - Getting on and off the ship was a breeze on both lines but HAL seemed to be more organized

#5 -SERVICE - I was treated far better on HAL than on Princess and I didn't get bad treatment on Princess. Little things like having my name or desires known on HAL gave them the edge.

#6 - CABIN - I liked the size of the HAL cabins and the fact that just an outside with a partially obstructed view landed me the holy grail of cruising a full sized tub

#7 - SPA - I don't usually make use of this area but checked it out pretty thoroughly on both lines. The week long pass for the Hydrotherapy pool and the thermal suites was one of the best travel investments I've ever made.

 

Have a super cruise!

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