A Princess Cruiser Cruises HAL

[Pam in CA]

I mostly cruise on Princess and have 244 days sailed; but I also cruise HAL and now have 77 days sailed. I’m an “Elite” on Princess; a 3-star Mariner on HAL. My last Princess cruise was in January, 15 days from LA to FLL via the Panama Canal on the Coral Princess. This cruise, on the Zuiderdam, is a round-trip out of Ft. Lauderdale with a partial Panama Canal and stops in Half Moon Cay (their private island), Aruba, Curacao, and Puerto Limon (Costa Rica). The only port duplicated with my January cruise is Aruba. The two ships are comparable in size and age with the Coral built in 2002, 964’ long, 88,000 tons and 1950 passengers; the Zuiderdam was also built in 2002, is 936’ long, 82,305 tons and 1916 passengers.

Since these are sort of similar cruises, I thought I would post my impressionsand experiences between Princess and HAL as part of my review. HAL has some good points, Princess has their good points.

My friend and I booked aft balcony cabins, side-by-side, 5186 and 5184, as singles. Our cabin steward, Yudi, opened the door between balconies so we could go back and forth. These are terrific cabins, with very large balconies fully covered although they did get sun in the afternoon. We loved the location and our balconies. We have both been through the Panama Canal a couple of times before and our intention on this cruise was to relax, get warm and do as little as possible. The only show we went to was “Island Magic” when they had an afternoon performance and we went to the movies one day. Otherwise, nada. We also didn’t plan on doing any formal nights. Generally, I enjoy dressing up but we wanted to just veg. We got Open Seating so we could be flexible and wound up going to the dining room only one night. The rest of the time we either went to the new Canaletto (fantastic… more later) or did room service. We spent the rest of the time on our balconies.

I flew from CA to FLL on March 29th and stayed overnight with a friend who lives in Davie, FL, near the airport. The next day, I picked up my friend, Pat, at the airport and then we went to Everglades Holiday Park for an airboat ride. What a hoot! I printed out a discount coupon off their website so it was very good value. We just showed up, paid our money and went off on the next boat. http://www.evergladesholidaypark.com/

HAL luggage tags went to paper before Princess so now they are very similar, i.e., pre-printed pieces of paper that you fold over. My friend and I stayed at the Renaissance on 17th street. I'd stayed there twice before and both times, it was a dump: smelly, dirty, definitely not even 3-star. I got our rooms on Priceline for $100/each and was very pleasantly surprised to have a lovely corner room with views of the port and Ft. Lauderdale. The bed was comfortable as was the room. Good value for the $100. Negatives are that there's no free parking if you have a rental car, no shuttle to/from the airport or the pier, and no breakfast included.

My friend and I met for breakfast at about 9:30am and planned to head to the port at about 11am. We got a taxi right away and were at the ship within 10 minutes. Our luggage was taken right away and we were directed to check-in which took just a few more minutes. Then we were directed to a lounge to wait for boarding. At 11:30am, they started calling the numbers; ours was called at about 11:50 and we were onboard and in our cabin just after Noon. Normally, you can't go right to your cabin on a HAL ship because people don't have to leave their cabins until they disembark. The Zuiderdam had just come from the Bahamas overnight from drydock so the cabins were ready. FYI, a tornado went through the Bahamas dock area yesterday morning and we learned this afternoon that the ship did have some minor damage. The tornado came within 300 yds of the ship. In comparison on Princess, you can always go right to your cabin without waiting. Check-in is similar and equally efficient. I personally prefer the Princess system because I want to go to my cabin, drop off my carry-on, and start my vacation rather than have to hang around for an hour or two.

The cabin was comfortable and the balcony is huge, much bigger than a Princess Caribe deck balcony and fully covered. I'm guessing 10' x 12' (or larger.) The furniture is a fake wicker and I have a large, comfortable chair and hassock, a padded lounger, a table and another chair... with plenty of room for lots more. One thing I really like about the cabin is that there is a drape that goes across the hallway to the outside door so you can block out hallway noise. The bathroom is similar to a Grand-class mini-suite bathroom; very nice with tub/shower. One negative is the desk which has the refrigerator on one side and two very small and narrow shelves on the other, one with the hair dryer, the other with glasses so if you use the desk to do your hair or make-up, there's no place to put anything. The impression is that the cabin is larger than a Princess cabin but I don’t think that’s really the case. It could be and if it is, it’s not by much. I think it’s the configuration of the bathroom and the fact that on a Princess ship, you have a good-sized dressing area and a very large, open closet with an entire cupboard of shelves in which to put your underwear, T-shirts, etc. I prefer a shower over a tub as I hate stepping into and out of a tub; and I’ve never had a problem with the so-called “intimate” shower on Princess. A matter of personal preference. I also didn’t like the dark, heavy shower curtain so when you were taking a shower, there wasn’t much light. I found the night tables next to the bed very low… so low that I was accidentally swinging in my sleep and knocking things off. I think they could add an open shelf and make them higher so there’s a little more storage.

There is always discussion of HAL beds vs. Princess beds. I've gotten back problems with all of my previous HAL cruises so to me, they aren't comfortable. On Princess, I get the egg crate and have been perfectly comfortable. On this cruise, my HAL bed felt almost exactly the same as my Coral Princess bed with the egg crate. Both were comfortable.

The Zuiderdam had just come from dry dock and I was somewhat disappointed that there were still obvious signs of wear and tear. There were stains on my cabin carpet, the shower mat was mildewed, and the yellow leather (?) chair in my cabin was cracked and black from dirt on the arms and back. There were also issues with the elevators. The service elevators in the back of the ship weren’t working even upon embarkation so the passenger elevators were used for luggage on embarkation day and by room service throughout the cruise. Often, I had to wait for two or three elevators because they were full of room service carts. The day before we disembarked, all of the elevators in the forward part of the ship weren’t working. I found these elevator problems surprising on a ship that had just come from drydock.

After putting away our carry-ons, Pat and I went to explore the ship and have lunch. We wanted to change from early (5:30pm) fixed seating to Open seating. Done in seconds with no problem. I had booked a cabana and butler package for Half Moon Cay the next day so I stopped by the Shore Excursion Desk to hand in my lunch order. I was picked up at my cabin by Bruno, my butler, escorted to the tender, and then to my cabana. They had food and drinks (unlimited beverages for the day, including beer, wine and house liquor) and our fins (for snorkling) ready.

Lunch at the Lido buffet was good but they didn’t have any self-serve items, not even coffee, tea, water or lemonade for several days. I'm sure this is to prevent Noro but it meant there were long lines for everything as they had only one person at each station serving people. It was 10-15 minutes to get a salad, another 10-15 minutes to get some Asian food, etc. If you wanted more than one thing, it meant that the first thing you got would be cold before you could sit down and eat it. I'm sure it's a good thing to prevent Noro but annoying to have to wait so much. After a few days, they had a self-service salad bar but everything else was served. If you didn’t mind waiting, the food in the Lido at lunch was pretty good. People unfamiliar with the Princess “organized chaos” buffet find it intimidating but once you get used to it, it’s quick and easy to find what you want, take it, and go on to the next station. You can still get food prepared for you if you’re willing to wait. The Princess system works much better than HAL on port days when people are trying to get breakfast quickly and leave. Also, on Princess, there were staff constantly wheeling a tray with coffee, decaf or tea in the morning; iced tea, water or lemonade in the afternoon. No such thing in the Lido on HAL. Also, there are no trays on HAL and you get just a small plate on which to get food. Since you also have to get your drinks with no one serving or helping you, it means a couple of trips back and forth if you want, for instance, salad, sandwich and iced tea. On Princess, you get a large platter on which you can put a bowl for salad, get an entree and still have room to put a glass of iced tea on. Plus goes to Princess on this.

The other thing about the Lido that turned us off is that the first night, we decided to go to the Lido for the outdoor BBQ instead of the dining room for dinner. BIG mistake. We waited until 6:30pm, hoping the first crowds after sailway would be gone but the lines were still very long. Took us about 20 minutes to get a little bit of salad, a couple of bbq ribs, and a baked potato. They had steak and salmon (which Pat said was very good) but again, you had to wait for someone to serve you everything from bread to butter. The ribs were tasty but very fatty. We were still hungry so we decided to go into the buffet to get something else. No dice. The entire place was closed down unless you wanted ice cream or pizza. Also, the outdoor tables were all taken so if you wanted to eat indoors, there was no table clearing, no table set-ups, etc. If you wanted a napkin or utensils, you had to go all the way out to the pool. Neither one of us was impressed with the service or organization. Very poorly done IMHO. No alternative. We never went back to the Lido for dinner. A plus for Princess is that their buffet is open 24/7 so if you come back from a tour late or you want a late night snack, you have a number of food options. HAL’s lido is closed up tight by 8pm.

Muster was outside under “our” lifeboat. Remind me next time to play deaf to the first, second and third entreaty to go to a HAL Muster. We got there on time and wound up standing on deck behind some very tall people, unable to see or hear much, for almost half an hour. They tried to put tall people at the back but then more people kept coming so that didn't work at all, particularly since they had crew who couldn't have been much taller than 5' demonstrate how to put the life jacket on. Only the people right in front of him could see anything. It really was a joke. The only good thing is that HAL no longer requires you to wear your life jacket to Muster; you leave it in your cabin and “watch” the demonstration. I know it’s not possible on HAL to have Muster in lounges because they’re not on the same deck as the lifeboats but I very much prefer the Princess ship design so you can go to a lounge, be comfortable and clearly hear the instructions. If there is an emergency, you can bet that the first thing the Captain doesn’t do is order people to go to lifeboats. I was on the Prinsendam when there was a fire and we were told to stay in our cabins. Knowing where “your” lifeboat is doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to find it in an emergency (you’d be surprised at very experienced cruiser’s reactions when there is an emergency) nor that it’ll even be usable.

The first afternoon after Muster, Pat and I lazed on our balconies, chatted back and forth, read, talked to balcony neighbors, and had a glass of wine. I'd give it a 10. :)

After our “dinner” we headed to the Owl's Nest, a lounge on the top deck above the Bridge. There, they had a 2:1 drink special after 7pm and they also had hot hors d'oeurves, which we scarfed down in about 2 seconds flat. We had lemon drop martinis, very good. Excellent service. Very comfortable chairs, almost like Eames chairs, for looking out over the bow. They even reclined but there's no place to put your feet unless you're over 6' tall or have very long legs so you're leaning back but your legs/feet are dangling. I like the HAL hors d’oeurves; a plus for them.

The next morning, we were picked up at 9:30am by our luxury cabana/butler, Bruno, for our HAL Half Moon Cay experience. :) One big plus to HAL is that they have a full-service breakfast room service menu. Negative is that the hot food is cold. I ordered room service quite a few times for breakfast and the toast was always cold, not even lukewarm. One day, it didn’t come and I wasn’t alone. That was the day of our Cruise Critic get-together and a couple in a cabin below us also didn’t get theirs until well after the scheduled time. Others got phone calls to say it’d be late (I didn’t.)

Anyway, Half Moon Cay is lightyears better than Princess Cays. There were plenty of loungers in the shade even if you hadn’t ordered a cabana. The water is gorgeous and the sand is like walking on baby powder. I had reserved the “Eggshell” cabana and it was a terrific location, right near the bathroom. There were two loungers with 6” padding… very, very comfortable… with a fan blowing on both. Inside the cabana was a table set for four and an air conditioner. The open part of the cabana was shaded by trees until about 1pm. The food provided with the Butler package was incredible. HUGE shrimp, filet you could cut with a fork, etc. It comes with unlimited soft and hard drinks. I took the extra cans of soda back with me on the ship. J We didn’t go in the water as it was a bit cold but it was a GREAT day. Loved it and would do it again.

Pat and I ordered room service for dinner most nights and after the first time with food arriving cold, we ordered salads and sandwiches. Even then, they got our orders messed up quite a few times. For instance, one night we ordered the Caesar salad with chicken and got shrimp… and blue cheese dressing instead of the Caesar dressing. The shrimp cocktail was pretty good; we asked for extra sauce which made it even better. It’s a plus to HAL for offering hot food via room service but IMHO, it should arrive hot or at least warm. The last night, we ordered off the dining room menu and it arrived warm and was pretty good. Perhaps we should have done that the other nights. We found that when we ordered room service, the order taker's command of English was very poor so it was constantly a problem communicating what we wanted.

We had dinner a couple of nights in the new Canaletto that was added during drydock the week before our cruise. FANTASTIC. I’d consider it fine dining. It’s located in a section of the Lido and while it’s free, you need to make reservations. The food was very, very good. It started with bread, including garlic bread (yum!) and then antipasto. Pat had a salad and I had the minestrone. For an entrée, Pat had Cod the first night we went, which she said was incredibly good, and I had the veal Milanese, which was great. The portions aren’t huge but it was certainly enough food. We went two of the formal nights and dressed nice smart casual. The service was outstanding. The only negative was the Maitre d’ who we found to be officious. The second time we went, I’d made a reservation for two. I was very clear about that. I received a confirmation which said the reservation was for one but I didn’t notice that until I handed it to the Maitre d’. Pat was with me and he asked, “Who’s she?” I told him I’d made the reservation for two and she was with me. He said, “No, your reservation is for one.” I said, “No, you made a mistake.” He huffed and puffed before seating us. What difference did it make? We sat at a table for two.

In Aruba, we did the “Catamaran Snorkel and Beach Getaway” tour. When I was on the Coral Princess in January, several Cruise Critic members had taken this tour and said it was disorganized and overcrowded on the catamaran. I figured that there were only a couple of ships in port the day we were there so perhaps it wouldn’t be as bad. Yeah, it was. Very disorganized. You disembarked the ship and went to a table to hand in your ticket and get a waiver form to sign, which I did. I was directed to sit on the side where there were chairs. After almost 30 minutes of waiting, I realized that no one else anywhere had the green form in their hand so I went up to the Shore Excursion people to ask when the tour was leaving. They said, “You should be outside!” I was led outside and then was told, “You should have a wristband!” Well, sorry, the guy checking me in and taking my ticket didn’t give me an armband. He came and gave me one, acting as though I was deliberately causing him problems. While I was inside sitting, everyone else on the tour had been standing outside on the steps waiting to leave. Not sure I would have been happy about that. We were led to the catamaran and boarded, only to find that 12 people (including us) didn’t have seats. They’d oversold the boat. It wasn’t until we were underway and out of the harbor area that they opened up the front of the catamaran and some people moved up there so we could sit down. I’ve never seen this before on any tour in any port over a lot of years. The snorkeling was “OK”, not great, and then we stopped at a dock where people could shop or get something to eat. We wound up getting back to the ship’s dock two hours late (yup… 2 hours) only to find that we were let off the catamaran in a fenced off area that was locked. We waited there for 30 minutes for someone to show up and let us through the gate but no one seemed to have the key. So, we had to load back onto the catamaran which then went around to the other side and we were finally disembarked and able to get back to the ship. We were 2.5 hours late and any hope of doing any shopping on the pier had disappeared completely.

In Curacao, we did the Sea Aquarium and Snorkel where we snorkeled with sting rays, groupers, etc. We then saw a dolphin show and watched the sharks be fed. It was an “OK” tour.

In Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, we did the river tubing tour. OMG! What a hoot! LOVED it! We were loaded onto a van for a two-hour drive to the changing building. You could put your things in a locker. We were then taken by a tractor several miles away to the start of the tubing. They were two-person round tubes and it was like bumper cars the whole way. For about 2.5 hours and about five miles, we went over rapids, rocks, calm water, etc. hooting, hollering, screaming, and laughing. It was fantastic. It’s rated as an intermediate activity but I think it’s more challenging than that as to get to the tubes and get out, you have to walk over rocks which are slippery. You also do a lot of paddling. If you do it, I strongly advise you to put sunblock on your face, arms and legs before you leave the changing building. I would also wear a long-sleeved shirt as both Pats and my underarms were rubbed raw by the rubber tube as we paddled. I highly recommend this tour.

Coming home, I used the luggage service which worked great. They printed out my boarding passes and American Airlines luggage tag. I put it out the night before and wasn’t supposed to see it until I got to Orange County (SNA.) As it worked out, I had door-to-door service as my flight from FLL to DFW left an hour late and I had ten minutes to make my flight to SNA. I made it but my luggage didn’t. AA delivered it late last night. I’d do this again.

Our cruise was everything we wanted and exceeded our expectations. We like HAL and would cruise with them again without hesitating. There are some things I like better about HAL, others I like better about Princess.

[dforeigner]

Welcome back Pam. Thank you for taking time to write a review.

[u2cruiser]

Thank you very much for your review. I feel like I've just been on a HAL cruise. I really like the comparisons and the small details, but it is still obvious you had a great, relaxing cruise.

 

I especially like your description of the sand being like baby powder on Half Moon Cay. :)

[kywildcatfanone]

Pam,

 

Really enjoyed reading your experiences, thanks for taking the time to put it on paper (sort of :)).

 

Mike

[Hlitner]

Welcome home. We really enjoyed your review and there is much with which we can agree. We are Elite with Princess (about 180 days of cruising) and only have 49 days with HA (with another 42 days booked next month) and enjoy both lines. It sounds like your Lido experience was a Code Red situation for Noro which is a problem when it happens on any cruise line. If you don't mind we will add a few more comparisons. We like the pizza on Princess (the best pizza at sea) but think that Princess coffee is awful! On HA we love the free fresh sqeezed Orange Juice (in the Lido or main restaurant) and also love their Eggs Benedict Bar in the mornings (they make several speciality egg dishes to order). At lunch we love the sandwich bar in the Lido on HA ships where they custom make almost any kind of sandwich. We think that Princess generally has better entertainment then HA, but this can vary a lot from cruise to cruise. My wife and I spend a lot of time in deck chairs (we love to read) and seldom have a problem getting a chair in the sun on HA ships. As to Princess, I guess many of us have horror stories about trying to get a decent deck chair....which is difficult because of the notorious chair hogs (who are never in the chairs). We completely agree with Pam that there things to like and not like on both lines.

 

Hank

[fridaythecat.u.k.]

Thanks for the comprehensive review and comparisons :)

[Coolmama_1]

Thanks for the review and comparison.

[fourcruises]

Very much enjoyed your review Pam and since I just sailed the Westerdam thought I would give some of my impressions/comparisons (just my impressions of those things that we find important) of Princess and HAL ships, suites and service (no port reviews). I have sailed Princess 29 times (my husband 24) and this was our third HAL cruise. Our 1st was on the Veendam out of Tampa and 2nd in 2003 on the Zuiderdam out of FLL, both 7 day Caribbean. The Westerdam was a 7 day Southern from FLL with Half Moon Cay (too rough to tender so we had an extra day at sea), Aruba and Curacao as the ports. For all cruises we stay in a full suite.

 

Our HAL cruise was great...in fact the second most relaxing cruise ever! My husband read 5 books...he cruises to totally relax as he is self employed and tends to work 70 hour weeks. There were A LOT of kids onboard (babies to young teens)and they were mostly very well behaved. With all the kids I'd say the average age was mid to late 40's which put us in the older crowd (60 and 61). The age mix felt much the same as a Princess cruise with lots of families.

 

Service was great, food (with a few exceptions) was better than Princess. The exceptions-Princess pizza is much better as is their eggplant parm and french onion soup which are three of my favorites. HAL has better burgers and more options in the buffet. The first 2 days in the Buffet you had to be served as I think they had had noro on the previous cruise so it was quite slow but after that it was fine. Everyday at lunch they have a taco bar by the pool (very good) and in addition once they set up an Indian curry out there and another an Indonesian buffet. The curry was great...didn't try the Indonesian. Inside they have two salad stations, two sandwich stations (fresh made deli style), a hot food station, an asian (stir fry, rice, sushi etc) station, the pizza and pasta station and pastries and ice cream.

 

We had open seating and only ate in the Main dining room the first night which was very chaotic...but then it is usually with Princess too...but HAL still has wine stewards which does make a big difference in the service. This is one area were I think Princess really cuts corners and it shows. For the other nights we ate at the Pinnacle 3 nights (alternative steakhouse $20pp and much better in terms of food and service than the Sterling Steakhouse), on our balcony 2 nights and one night in the buffet which is far superior to Princess....they set aside a section with table clothes and have bar service. Any cabin category can order room service from the full dinner menu and you can get full room service breakfast on the disembarkation day and stay in your stateroom till you leave....a BIG plus for HAL.

 

We brought 5 bottles of wine onboard (HAL lets you bring as much wine as you like) that worked out great...pre-ordered from Total Wines and picked it up on the way to the hotel. We also bought 2 wine cards that were the best deal ever...$77.61 (includes gratuities) for 20 glasses of house wine (pinot grigio, chardonnay, merlot and another red) which works out to 3.85 per glass. We only used 1 card so I hope that they keep them so we can use the second one on another cruise. We brought one of the bottles to dinner in the Pinnacle and paid an $18 corkage fee but even with that the cost per bottle was around $15!

 

I got "busted" for my coffee pot!! On the third morning I got a call from the Concierge (they were great and the lounge itself is terrific see below) saying that housekeeping had reported that I had a coffeemaker and this was not allowed..I said "huh" I have never had a problem as it is thermostatically controlled...she said that it was company policy and they would have to get it by the end of the day. I later asked where it said that coffeemakers were not allowed as I had read through the entire Contract of Passage that I had with me and it said nothing. She said she thought it was in the "Know Before You go" information online. When I got home I checked and it is definitely not there...in fact quite the opposite they offer free power bars if you need them (I'm not sure for what:confused:) and only forbid irons. This is what it says:

 

"Electrical Appliances: All staterooms are equipped with standard 110 AC and 220 AC outlets. Guests with pre- or post-cruise hotel packages may want to bring converters and/or adapters for their hotel stay. All staterooms are equipped with hair dryers. If more outlet space is necessary,only Holland America Line provided power bars are to be used. Please contact the Front Office for more information.For safety reasons, ironing is prohibited in your stateroom. Ironing facilities are available at the self-service laundryrooms for your convenience on ships except the ms Eurodam,ms Noordam, ms Oosterdam, ms Westerdam and ms Zuiderdam.Full laundry and valet services are available on all of our ships."

 

This is a problem for me since I need my coffee the second I wake up :eek: and I can't stand the ships coffee. The suites have access to the Neptune Lounge which is a terrific suite perk...another area where Princess lags. In the lounge they have a coffee machine and you can get coffee (didn't care for), cappucino, latte and espresso...all of which were good. They have fruit and pastries in the morning and mid day snacks and appetizers in the evening. The Concierge service is terrific...they make dinner reservations, get DVDs, book excursions, cash travelers checks etc....basically your own pursers desk The suites also get free laundry and dry cleaning and you can disembark at whatever time you want.

 

As for a comparison of the suites...I like the balcony of the HAL suites better as it is fully covered (more private) and the furniture is much more comfortable. We normally get Vista suites on Princess (aft covered balcony). I think that the HAL suite may be a bit larger...but this may not be so...but I prefer the Princess suite setup. HAL has no curtain to divide the sitting area from sleeping area (my husband often wakes in the middle of the night and reads on the couch so he can close the curtain and the light will not awake me.) There is no comparison for the suite bathrooms. HAL has a small shower with shower curtain that attacks you, small whirlpool tub and double vanity all in one small room. Princess has two separate, but connected, rooms...one with sink and toilet and the other with a good size shower and whirlpool tub. Princess baths are beautiful marble and HAL has rather shabby tiles.

 

As you can tell our focus for us is on our cabin accommodations and food (we go to chill and relax and spend a lot of time on our balcony) so this is where I concentrated my comparisons. I would have enjoyed seeing Half Moon Cay to compare to Princess Cay as we have never been able to stop there.

 

Well that's about it. I definitely enjoyed this cruise and think that Princess does some things better and HAL does some things better. If I can kick my coffee addiction I will cruise HAL again.

[BlueCat1105]

I just returned from my first HAL cruise and I completely agree about Half Moon Cay. It was terrific compared to the Princess island, which didn't do much for me. Other than that, and the fact that HAL was a little less "hard sell" on its additional purchases, we prefer Princess. You can't beat those mini-suites, and I like their Sanctuary better than HAL's Retreat.

[readytogo2]

Welcome home Pam and thanks for the great review and comparisons, ..your presence was missed on CC. ;)

[TorontoTL]

Thanks for both of the HAL reviews. I was starting to look at a Bermuda cruise on HAL since Princess doesn't do any Bermuda cruises.

[themerle]

Thanks for the review and the comparison between the lines. I agree with a lot of your points.

[rdsqrl]

Pam and fourcruises, thank you both so much for your thoughts. I've seen photos of Half Moon Cay and it certainly looks like a much nicer beach than PC. I do want to give HAL a try sometime, so I appreciate the comparisons. Thanks again to both of you.

[Toddy709]

Thanks for the great review, Pam. Makes me feel good about trying HAL one of these days!

[janina]

:)Pam, thanks for taking the time to write a really good review. I love the Half Moon Cay part and butler.........uuuummm maybe I need to try Holland just for that. Sounds like you had a great time with your friend, real relaxing.

[Whimsy]

Thank you for the review. We have considered HAL and would like to try them in the future.

[maninmontreal]

Hi Pam...Great review. I have done 4 HAL cruises and will be doing my first Princess this year, so reading your comparisons and contrasts was helpful.

My last cruise on the Westerdam was one like you describe. The purpose was to 'veg' with most of my time spent on my balcony with a book, skipped formal nights and lots of room service. It was fabulous !:D

[Toto2Kansas]

Thanks for the review Pam, great comparison. :)

[Wormy53]

Just another one that says thanks for the review. It was very thorough and entertaining. We have been looking at going on HAL for that Sea of Cortez cruise - haven't done the Mex Riv, and that one looks better. I would like a bit more to do in the evenings, so this has kind of delayed us. Good to hear you had a nice time!

[sunsetbeachgal]

Pam and Fourcruises,

 

Just found this interesting thread, thanks to Coral (I was away when it was posted), and enjoyed reading both of your well-written comparisons. It has been about 8 years since I have cruised HAL-no reason, just that Princess consistently wins out each time we compare each cruise we book for itin, price, etc. I need to give them a try again soon!

[Elizabeth K.]

Thanks Pam and Fourcruises,

 

I am also interested in comparisons after 5 Princess cruises. Am considering the Westerdam (same itin as fourcruises) for next winter. I have a few more Q's. Does the Westerdam have a coffee bar for non-suite cruisers like the international cafe? Is there anything similar to Vines wine bar? Or a central area/atrium to people watch and have a glass of wine before dinner? And do you have any idea how the wine prices compare to Princess? I don't have to have the exact same experience, but I just think these are a few things I might miss otherwise:)

 

Elizabeth

[fourcruises]

Thanks Pam and Fourcruises,

 

I am also interested in comparisons after 5 Princess cruises. Am considering the Westerdam (same itin as fourcruises) for next winter. I have a few more Q's. Does the Westerdam have a coffee bar for non-suite cruisers like the international cafe? Is there anything similar to Vines wine bar? Or a central area/atrium to people watch and have a glass of wine before dinner? And do you have any idea how the wine prices compare to Princess? I don't have to have the exact same experience, but I just think these are a few things I might miss otherwise:)

 

Elizabeth

 

I did not see anything like the International Cafe or Vines on the Westerdam....we were on the Crown last March and for the first time experienced the International Cafe and Vines, both of which we loved! On the Westerdam there was the Ocean Bar on the Promenade Deck which was around the Atrium and good for people watching and wine. As for prices I think that HAL was a little more expensive for wine but that is just a feeling as I don't have a real number comparison...as I said the wine cards were a great deal with a choice of 2 red house and 2 white house that were fine.

[Woobstr112G]

I mostly cruise on Princess and have 244 days sailed; but I also cruise HAL and now have 77 days sailed. I’m an “Elite” on Princess; a 3-star Mariner on HAL. My last Princess cruise was in January, 15 days from LA to FLL via the Panama Canal on the Coral Princess. This cruise, on the Zuiderdam, is a round-trip out of Ft. Lauderdale with a partial Panama Canal and stops in Half Moon Cay (their private island), Aruba, Curacao, and Puerto Limon (Costa Rica). The only port duplicated with my January cruise is Aruba. The two ships are comparable in size and age with the Coral built in 2002, 964’ long, 88,000 tons and 1950 passengers; the Zuiderdam was also built in 2002, is 936’ long, 82,305 tons and 1916 passengers.

 

Since these are sort of similar cruises, I thought I would post my impressionsand experiences between Princess and HAL as part of my review. HAL has some good points, Princess has their good points.

 

My friend and I booked aft balcony cabins, side-by-side, 5186 and 5184, as singles. Our cabin steward, Yudi, opened the door between balconies so we could go back and forth. These are terrific cabins, with very large balconies fully covered although they did get sun in the afternoon. We loved the location and our balconies. We have both been through the Panama Canal a couple of times before and our intention on this cruise was to relax, get warm and do as little as possible. The only show we went to was “Island Magic” when they had an afternoon performance and we went to the movies one day. Otherwise, nada. We also didn’t plan on doing any formal nights. Generally, I enjoy dressing up but we wanted to just veg. We got Open Seating so we could be flexible and wound up going to the dining room only one night. The rest of the time we either went to the new Canaletto (fantastic… more later) or did room service. We spent the rest of the time on our balconies.

 

I flew from CA to FLL on March 29th and stayed overnight with a friend who lives in Davie, FL, near the airport. The next day, I picked up my friend, Pat, at the airport and then we went to Everglades Holiday Park for an airboat ride. What a hoot! I printed out a discount coupon off their website so it was very good value. We just showed up, paid our money and went off on the next boat. http://www.evergladesholidaypark.com/

 

HAL luggage tags went to paper before Princess so now they are very similar, i.e., pre-printed pieces of paper that you fold over. My friend and I stayed at the Renaissance on 17th street. I'd stayed there twice before and both times, it was a dump: smelly, dirty, definitely not even 3-star. I got our rooms on Priceline for $100/each and was very pleasantly surprised to have a lovely corner room with views of the port and Ft. Lauderdale. The bed was comfortable as was the room. Good value for the $100. Negatives are that there's no free parking if you have a rental car, no shuttle to/from the airport or the pier, and no breakfast included.

 

My friend and I met for breakfast at about 9:30am and planned to head to the port at about 11am. We got a taxi right away and were at the ship within 10 minutes. Our luggage was taken right away and we were directed to check-in which took just a few more minutes. Then we were directed to a lounge to wait for boarding. At 11:30am, they started calling the numbers; ours was called at about 11:50 and we were onboard and in our cabin just after Noon. Normally, you can't go right to your cabin on a HAL ship because people don't have to leave their cabins until they disembark. The Zuiderdam had just come from the Bahamas overnight from drydock so the cabins were ready. FYI, a tornado went through the Bahamas dock area yesterday morning and we learned this afternoon that the ship did have some minor damage. The tornado came within 300 yds of the ship. In comparison on Princess, you can always go right to your cabin without waiting. Check-in is similar and equally efficient. I personally prefer the Princess system because I want to go to my cabin, drop off my carry-on, and start my vacation rather than have to hang around for an hour or two.

 

The cabin was comfortable and the balcony is huge, much bigger than a Princess Caribe deck balcony and fully covered. I'm guessing 10' x 12' (or larger.) The furniture is a fake wicker and I have a large, comfortable chair and hassock, a padded lounger, a table and another chair... with plenty of room for lots more. One thing I really like about the cabin is that there is a drape that goes across the hallway to the outside door so you can block out hallway noise. The bathroom is similar to a Grand-class mini-suite bathroom; very nice with tub/shower. One negative is the desk which has the refrigerator on one side and two very small and narrow shelves on the other, one with the hair dryer, the other with glasses so if you use the desk to do your hair or make-up, there's no place to put anything. The impression is that the cabin is larger than a Princess cabin but I don’t think that’s really the case. It could be and if it is, it’s not by much. I think it’s the configuration of the bathroom and the fact that on a Princess ship, you have a good-sized dressing area and a very large, open closet with an entire cupboard of shelves in which to put your underwear, T-shirts, etc. I prefer a shower over a tub as I hate stepping into and out of a tub; and I’ve never had a problem with the so-called “intimate” shower on Princess. A matter of personal preference. I also didn’t like the dark, heavy shower curtain so when you were taking a shower, there wasn’t much light. I found the night tables next to the bed very low… so low that I was accidentally swinging in my sleep and knocking things off. I think they could add an open shelf and make them higher so there’s a little more storage.

 

There is always discussion of HAL beds vs. Princess beds. I've gotten back problems with all of my previous HAL cruises so to me, they aren't comfortable. On Princess, I get the egg crate and have been perfectly comfortable. On this cruise, my HAL bed felt almost exactly the same as my Coral Princess bed with the egg crate. Both were comfortable.

 

The Zuiderdam had just come from dry dock and I was somewhat disappointed that there were still obvious signs of wear and tear. There were stains on my cabin carpet, the shower mat was mildewed, and the yellow leather (?) chair in my cabin was cracked and black from dirt on the arms and back. There were also issues with the elevators. The service elevators in the back of the ship weren’t working even upon embarkation so the passenger elevators were used for luggage on embarkation day and by room service throughout the cruise. Often, I had to wait for two or three elevators because they were full of room service carts. The day before we disembarked, all of the elevators in the forward part of the ship weren’t working. I found these elevator problems surprising on a ship that had just come from drydock.

 

After putting away our carry-ons, Pat and I went to explore the ship and have lunch. We wanted to change from early (5:30pm) fixed seating to Open seating. Done in seconds with no problem. I had booked a cabana and butler package for Half Moon Cay the next day so I stopped by the Shore Excursion Desk to hand in my lunch order. I was picked up at my cabin by Bruno, my butler, escorted to the tender, and then to my cabana. They had food and drinks (unlimited beverages for the day, including beer, wine and house liquor) and our fins (for snorkling) ready.

 

Lunch at the Lido buffet was good but they didn’t have any self-serve items, not even coffee, tea, water or lemonade for several days. I'm sure this is to prevent Noro but it meant there were long lines for everything as they had only one person at each station serving people. It was 10-15 minutes to get a salad, another 10-15 minutes to get some Asian food, etc. If you wanted more than one thing, it meant that the first thing you got would be cold before you could sit down and eat it. I'm sure it's a good thing to prevent Noro but annoying to have to wait so much. After a few days, they had a self-service salad bar but everything else was served. If you didn’t mind waiting, the food in the Lido at lunch was pretty good. People unfamiliar with the Princess “organized chaos” buffet find it intimidating but once you get used to it, it’s quick and easy to find what you want, take it, and go on to the next station. You can still get food prepared for you if you’re willing to wait. The Princess system works much better than HAL on port days when people are trying to get breakfast quickly and leave. Also, on Princess, there were staff constantly wheeling a tray with coffee, decaf or tea in the morning; iced tea, water or lemonade in the afternoon. No such thing in the Lido on HAL. Also, there are no trays on HAL and you get just a small plate on which to get food. Since you also have to get your drinks with no one serving or helping you, it means a couple of trips back and forth if you want, for instance, salad, sandwich and iced tea. On Princess, you get a large platter on which you can put a bowl for salad, get an entree and still have room to put a glass of iced tea on. Plus goes to Princess on this.

 

The other thing about the Lido that turned us off is that the first night, we decided to go to the Lido for the outdoor BBQ instead of the dining room for dinner. BIG mistake. We waited until 6:30pm, hoping the first crowds after sailway would be gone but the lines were still very long. Took us about 20 minutes to get a little bit of salad, a couple of bbq ribs, and a baked potato. They had steak and salmon (which Pat said was very good) but again, you had to wait for someone to serve you everything from bread to butter. The ribs were tasty but very fatty. We were still hungry so we decided to go into the buffet to get something else. No dice. The entire place was closed down unless you wanted ice cream or pizza. Also, the outdoor tables were all taken so if you wanted to eat indoors, there was no table clearing, no table set-ups, etc. If you wanted a napkin or utensils, you had to go all the way out to the pool. Neither one of us was impressed with the service or organization. Very poorly done IMHO. No alternative. We never went back to the Lido for dinner. A plus for Princess is that their buffet is open 24/7 so if you come back from a tour late or you want a late night snack, you have a number of food options. HAL’s lido is closed up tight by 8pm.

 

Muster was outside under “our” lifeboat. Remind me next time to play deaf to the first, second and third entreaty to go to a HAL Muster. We got there on time and wound up standing on deck behind some very tall people, unable to see or hear much, for almost half an hour. They tried to put tall people at the back but then more people kept coming so that didn't work at all, particularly since they had crew who couldn't have been much taller than 5' demonstrate how to put the life jacket on. Only the people right in front of him could see anything. It really was a joke. The only good thing is that HAL no longer requires you to wear your life jacket to Muster; you leave it in your cabin and “watch” the demonstration. I know it’s not possible on HAL to have Muster in lounges because they’re not on the same deck as the lifeboats but I very much prefer the Princess ship design so you can go to a lounge, be comfortable and clearly hear the instructions. If there is an emergency, you can bet that the first thing the Captain doesn’t do is order people to go to lifeboats. I was on the Prinsendam when there was a fire and we were told to stay in our cabins. Knowing where “your” lifeboat is doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to find it in an emergency (you’d be surprised at very experienced cruiser’s reactions when there is an emergency) nor that it’ll even be usable.

 

The first afternoon after Muster, Pat and I lazed on our balconies, chatted back and forth, read, talked to balcony neighbors, and had a glass of wine. I'd give it a 10. :)

 

After our “dinner” we headed to the Owl's Nest, a lounge on the top deck above the Bridge. There, they had a 2:1 drink special after 7pm and they also had hot hors d'oeurves, which we scarfed down in about 2 seconds flat. We had lemon drop martinis, very good. Excellent service. Very comfortable chairs, almost like Eames chairs, for looking out over the bow. They even reclined but there's no place to put your feet unless you're over 6' tall or have very long legs so you're leaning back but your legs/feet are dangling. I like the HAL hors d’oeurves; a plus for them.

 

The next morning, we were picked up at 9:30am by our luxury cabana/butler, Bruno, for our HAL Half Moon Cay experience. :) One big plus to HAL is that they have a full-service breakfast room service menu. Negative is that the hot food is cold. I ordered room service quite a few times for breakfast and the toast was always cold, not even lukewarm. One day, it didn’t come and I wasn’t alone. That was the day of our Cruise Critic get-together and a couple in a cabin below us also didn’t get theirs until well after the scheduled time. Others got phone calls to say it’d be late (I didn’t.)

 

Anyway, Half Moon Cay is lightyears better than Princess Cays. There were plenty of loungers in the shade even if you hadn’t ordered a cabana. The water is gorgeous and the sand is like walking on baby powder. I had reserved the “Eggshell” cabana and it was a terrific location, right near the bathroom. There were two loungers with 6” padding… very, very comfortable… with a fan blowing on both. Inside the cabana was a table set for four and an air conditioner. The open part of the cabana was shaded by trees until about 1pm. The food provided with the Butler package was incredible. HUGE shrimp, filet you could cut with a fork, etc. It comes with unlimited soft and hard drinks. I took the extra cans of soda back with me on the ship. J We didn’t go in the water as it was a bit cold but it was a GREAT day. Loved it and would do it again.

 

Pat and I ordered room service for dinner most nights and after the first time with food arriving cold, we ordered salads and sandwiches. Even then, they got our orders messed up quite a few times. For instance, one night we ordered the Caesar salad with chicken and got shrimp… and blue cheese dressing instead of the Caesar dressing. The shrimp cocktail was pretty good; we asked for extra sauce which made it even better. It’s a plus to HAL for offering hot food via room service but IMHO, it should arrive hot or at least warm. The last night, we ordered off the dining room menu and it arrived warm and was pretty good. Perhaps we should have done that the other nights. We found that when we ordered room service, the order taker's command of English was very poor so it was constantly a problem communicating what we wanted.

 

We had dinner a couple of nights in the new Canaletto that was added during drydock the week before our cruise. FANTASTIC. I’d consider it fine dining. It’s located in a section of the Lido and while it’s free, you need to make reservations. The food was very, very good. It started with bread, including garlic bread (yum!) and then antipasto. Pat had a salad and I had the minestrone. For an entrée, Pat had Cod the first night we went, which she said was incredibly good, and I had the veal Milanese, which was great. The portions aren’t huge but it was certainly enough food. We went two of the formal nights and dressed nice smart casual. The service was outstanding. The only negative was the Maitre d’ who we found to be officious. The second time we went, I’d made a reservation for two. I was very clear about that. I received a confirmation which said the reservation was for one but I didn’t notice that until I handed it to the Maitre d’. Pat was with me and he asked, “Who’s she?” I told him I’d made the reservation for two and she was with me. He said, “No, your reservation is for one.” I said, “No, you made a mistake.” He huffed and puffed before seating us. What difference did it make? We sat at a table for two.

 

In Aruba, we did the “Catamaran Snorkel and Beach Getaway” tour. When I was on the Coral Princess in January, several Cruise Critic members had taken this tour and said it was disorganized and overcrowded on the catamaran. I figured that there were only a couple of ships in port the day we were there so perhaps it wouldn’t be as bad. Yeah, it was. Very disorganized. You disembarked the ship and went to a table to hand in your ticket and get a waiver form to sign, which I did. I was directed to sit on the side where there were chairs. After almost 30 minutes of waiting, I realized that no one else anywhere had the green form in their hand so I went up to the Shore Excursion people to ask when the tour was leaving. They said, “You should be outside!” I was led outside and then was told, “You should have a wristband!” Well, sorry, the guy checking me in and taking my ticket didn’t give me an armband. He came and gave me one, acting as though I was deliberately causing him problems. While I was inside sitting, everyone else on the tour had been standing outside on the steps waiting to leave. Not sure I would have been happy about that. We were led to the catamaran and boarded, only to find that 12 people (including us) didn’t have seats. They’d oversold the boat. It wasn’t until we were underway and out of the harbor area that they opened up the front of the catamaran and some people moved up there so we could sit down. I’ve never seen this before on any tour in any port over a lot of years. The snorkeling was “OK”, not great, and then we stopped at a dock where people could shop or get something to eat. We wound up getting back to the ship’s dock two hours late (yup… 2 hours) only to find that we were let off the catamaran in a fenced off area that was locked. We waited there for 30 minutes for someone to show up and let us through the gate but no one seemed to have the key. So, we had to load back onto the catamaran which then went around to the other side and we were finally disembarked and able to get back to the ship. We were 2.5 hours late and any hope of doing any shopping on the pier had disappeared completely.

 

In Curacao, we did the Sea Aquarium and Snorkel where we snorkeled with sting rays, groupers, etc. We then saw a dolphin show and watched the sharks be fed. It was an “OK” tour.

 

In Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, we did the river tubing tour. OMG! What a hoot! LOVED it! We were loaded onto a van for a two-hour drive to the changing building. You could put your things in a locker. We were then taken by a tractor several miles away to the start of the tubing. They were two-person round tubes and it was like bumper cars the whole way. For about 2.5 hours and about five miles, we went over rapids, rocks, calm water, etc. hooting, hollering, screaming, and laughing. It was fantastic. It’s rated as an intermediate activity but I think it’s more challenging than that as to get to the tubes and get out, you have to walk over rocks which are slippery. You also do a lot of paddling. If you do it, I strongly advise you to put sunblock on your face, arms and legs before you leave the changing building. I would also wear a long-sleeved shirt as both Pats and my underarms were rubbed raw by the rubber tube as we paddled. I highly recommend this tour.

 

Coming home, I used the luggage service which worked great. They printed out my boarding passes and American Airlines luggage tag. I put it out the night before and wasn’t supposed to see it until I got to Orange County (SNA.) As it worked out, I had door-to-door service as my flight from FLL to DFW left an hour late and I had ten minutes to make my flight to SNA. I made it but my luggage didn’t. AA delivered it late last night. I’d do this again.

 

Our cruise was everything we wanted and exceeded our expectations. We like HAL and would cruise with them again without hesitating. There are some things I like better about HAL, others I like better about Princess.

 

Pam;

 

Thanks so much for writing your review.....:):):)

 

Bob

[JudithLynne]

Hi Pam…

 

Great review. Thank you. We are also Elite on Princess and have done 6 cruises on HAL. My one objection to HAL is that to get a balcony, you have to book a minisuite. They don’t have standard staterooms with a balcony. (Unless that has changed with their newer ships.) That being said, it is a wonderful cruise line with great service. The Crow’s Nest is the best lounge at sea and unbeatable for the view, particularly of Alaska.

 

Our favorite cruise with HAL is to do B2B Alaska. (Vancouver to Seward and back.) You get two trips to Glacier Bay and you see both Haines (our favorite port) and Skagway. You end up with a full day and evening in Seward and there is a lot to see there. The price is unbeatable as their B2B is specially priced significantly lower than if you booked each lap separately. Furthermore, while on board, you are treated as VIPS and there is even a private cocktail reception with the crew for B2B passengers. We have done this cruise twice and will undoubtedly do it again. On our last B2B cruise with HAL, 12% of the passengers were B2B’ers.

 

Judith

[cruisergal 1]

THx for the comparison cruise review Pam. We've never tried Hal before, been on numerous Princess, RCL, Costa, Carnival, cruises. Think we'll keep that Hal option open now.