A Princess Cruiser Cruises HAL

[BlueCat1105]

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....

 

Judith

 

We had a balcony stateroom on Eurodam, so maybe you would like the new ships. Not a veranda suite, but a veranda.

[Coral]

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.

 

 

They have had balcony cabins for quite a while so it must just be their older ships. At least from the Zuiderdam and later (2002). Not sure about ships before that.

[Love the beach]

They have had balcony cabins for quite a while so it must just be their older ships. At least from the Zuiderdam and later (2002). Not sure about ships before that.

 

Yes, their Vista Class and Signature Class ships all have balcony staterooms as well as balcony suites.

Vista-class

 

ZUIDERDAM - 2002 - 81,769 GT - 1,848 pax

OOSTERDAM - 2003 - 81,769 GT - 1,848 pax

WESTERDAM - 2004 - 81,811 GT - 1,848 pax

NOORDAM - 2006 - 82,318 -1,918 pax

 

Signature Class

 

Eurodam - 2008 - 2,104 pax

Nieu Amsterdam--launching in July, 2010

[Coral]

Yes, their Vista Class and Signature Class ships all have balcony staterooms as well as balcony suites.

Vista-class

 

ZUIDERDAM - 2002 - 81,769 GT - 1,848 pax

OOSTERDAM - 2003 - 81,769 GT - 1,848 pax

WESTERDAM - 2004 - 81,811 GT - 1,848 pax

NOORDAM - 2006 - 82,318 -1,918 pax

 

Signature Class

 

Eurodam - 2008 - 2,104 pax

Nieu Amsterdam--launching in July, 2010

 

Question - are they going to have 2 ships with Amsterdam in their name this summer?

[Pam in CA]

Question - are they going to have 2 ships with Amsterdam in their name this summer?

Answer: Yes

[Pam in CA]

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.

My friend and I booked standard balcony cabins, i.e., they were not mini-suites, on the Zuiderdam. FYI, the Royal/Ocean/Pacific Princess all have lounges on the top deck far forward with the same type of view as the Crow's Nest. The view from Skywalkers on the Grand-class ships are, in my opinion, equally spectacular. You can get not only a forward but also an aft view from these lounges, depending on where you sit.

[boston_bookworm]

I'm a novice poster, but I thought I'd add my biggest difference maker between HAL (which I've cruised a couple of times with family) and Princess (which I tried for the first time last year). The Princess shore excursions were so much more organized than others--you'd check in, get assigned to a particular row in the theatre, and called tour by tour. I can't remember the HAL process right now, but I remember it being slightly stressful, although I know I'm overly sensitive to chaos. I like both, would gladly go back on both, but would give a slight edge to Princess on equal itineraries.

 

(And to answer an earlier question, on newer ships you can get a verandah stateroom on HAL w/out getting a minisuite, although I still think the balconies are better priced on Princess.)

[Pam in CA]

I'm a novice poster, but I thought I'd add my biggest difference maker between HAL (which I've cruised a couple of times with family) and Princess (which I tried for the first time last year). The Princess shore excursions were so much more organized than others--you'd check in, get assigned to a particular row in the theatre, and called tour by tour. I can't remember the HAL process right now, but I remember it being slightly stressful, although I know I'm overly sensitive to chaos. I like both, would gladly go back on both, but would give a slight edge to Princess on equal itineraries.

One other benefit to the Princess method of booking shore excursions is that you aren't charged anything until you board the ship and even then, you have 24 - 48 hours to cancel your tour without penalty. On HAL, you must cancel any tour embarkation day unless you book another tour in the same port. Otherwise, there's a penalty fee. There's a discussion on the HAL board now about those people who have pre-paid their shore excursions and are unable to fly to Europe for their cruise due to airports being closed. They are getting only a portion of their excursion money back. I know some people prefer to pre-pay their tour but sheeshh... I prefer the Princess tour booking system.

 

FYI, on my HAL cruise, disembarkation for tours was very disorganized and confusing for people. They had you sit anywhere in the lounge and then they'd call a tour. It was a mass exodus each time. The only time I've seen similar disorganization was several years ago on the Island Princess when Frankie was Assistant Cruise Director. It was a tender port and the shore excursion people had passengers organized by tour and number within the tour, and were sending them off to the tender in order. Frankie opened his big mouth and said "Everyone can go to the tenders" and literally hundreds of people flew to the nearest exit, practically knocking others over in their rush. It was awful. Worst chaos I've ever seen on a cruise ship.

[BalconyGal]

Thanks Pam, very informative. It sounds like it was a perfect cruise!

[DrivesLikeMario]

I appreciate both reviews, thank you. I have to agree with Pam about HAL's buffet. It is one thing that they do that really bugs me. I'm perfectly capable of picking out my own food and do not like being served in a buffet. IME, both cruise lines are very good and similar in many ways.