Can you tell me the Difference, pls

[CALMOM]

I have never cruised with HAL, not for any particular reason other then receiving past passengers with the other cruise lines I have sailed on. I enjoyed Carnival when the kids were younger, as I felt they had a great kids program. I have been sailing with Princess lately as I no longer need a great kids program, don't desire to see anymore Hairy Chest Contest or have heavy drinkers crowded at the pools. Princess is a happy medium, beautiful ships, great service and some fun ship activities.

 

However, I would like to sail out of my home town, San Diego and my only choices are Carnival or HAL. Can you tell me about HAL?

 

Is it similar to Princess?

Do they have fun activities on board?

If you have sailed on HAL & Princess, what was the difference, is any?

I don't want a boring cruise where everyone is in bed by 10 p.m. but I don't want to be with a bunch of party animals either.

 

Thank you so much in advance for your help.

[ridonkculous]

I'm going on my first HAL cruise this June. From my research (take it for what it's worth), HAL has been most compared to Celebrity...they market themselves as traditional, understated yet upscale, with Celebrity perhaps being a bit more modern). Princess, while not as wild and wacky as Carnival, is more like a floating resort...think more "Vegasy" (relative to HAL).

[CtheW0rld]

hal and princess are very, very similar. hal's regular cabins cabins are a bit larger, overall, and have a small couch. all outside cabins have a bath/tub combo as opposed to princess' showers. can't speak to the suite ammenities.

 

overall, i would say HAL has an much older demograpic.

 

if you like pricess, you wil probably like HAL.

[holacanada]

Never sail with Princess. Ever sail with HAL.

For me, no need to change.

 

Holacanada 44 years old (!) — French canadian from Quebec city. Travelling twice (Land, Exploration, Trek and Cruise) and more every years since I was 4...

 

Boarding Niew Amsterdam in 108 days, 7 hours, 31 minutes and 35 seconds

[seaproponent]

We've done two cruises on Princess, and four on Holland. Unlike some lines, we would gladly return to both. That said, HAL would be our preference between the two.

 

As with all decisions, there are trade-offs. Holland has an advantage in service and food IMO, particularly on their smaller (1300 passenger) vessels. However, it's demographic tends to be older, so night time activities more limited. I think the shows on Princess are better, and the overall activity level a bit higher, particularly on their larger (2500+ passenger) ships. Another advantage of the smaller Holland ships is boarding and tendering 1300 passengers is easier than 2500.

 

We've sailed out of San Diego on both the Oosterdam, and Ryndam; the small sized Ryndam was a far better experience.

[Sirdar]

I have never cruised with HAL, not for any particular reason other then receiving past passengers with the other cruise lines I have sailed on. I enjoyed Carnival when the kids were younger, as I felt they had a great kids program. I have been sailing with Princess lately as I no longer need a great kids program, don't desire to see anymore Hairy Chest Contest or have heavy drinkers crowded at the pools. Princess is a happy medium, beautiful ships, great service and some fun ship activities.

 

However, I would like to sail out of my home town, San Diego and my only choices are Carnival or HAL. Can you tell me about HAL?

 

Is it similar to Princess?

Do they have fun activities on board?

If you have sailed on HAL & Princess, what was the difference, is any?

I don't want a boring cruise where everyone is in bed by 10 p.m. but I don't want to be with a bunch of party animals either.

 

Thank you so much in advance for your help.

 

 

DW and I were loyal Princess patrons until a few years back after a cruise on the Caribbean Princess. We switched to HAL and have been satisfied. To answer your questions:

Hal is rather similar to Princess but a bit more subdued in atmosphere and style. There are differences which I'm sure many on this board will expand upon. The coffee on HAL is far superior( and you can have Cappuccino with your dinner at no extra charge--I found this charge on Princess quite off putting). Hal's beds are superior as is the size of the WC in your stateroom (I was amazed by how small it was on the CB given the size of the ship). The dining room offerings are roughly comparable although tates vary so much that I suspect you will find a divergence of opinion.

 

While HAL has cut back on cruise staff there remains a lot of daily activity (no hairy leg contests). Trivia, deck games, cooking demos, computer classes were all prominent when we sailed Westerdam in January.

 

The nightlife on HAL can be quiter than Princess. HAL's demographic skews to the older side and depending on how port intensive your cruise is you may find most folks seeking an earlier bedtime. The lounges are active in the evenings however and there is plenty of opportunity for socializing, drinks and dancing.

 

Overall I find HAL's ships because they are generally not mega sized more spacious and appealing. The CB was a cattle drive at times IMHO.

 

I suspect you will find HAL a pleasant and refined alternative to Princess.

[Willsot]

I am a HAL regular and just sailed Princess last month. To me the main differences are the ship sizes. HAL's smaller ships don't offer the number of choices in entertainment venues and this is not an issue for me. I would give HAL higher marks in service and dining room food quality and I have found the HAL beds to be much more comfortable. Yes, the HAL crowd is generally a bit older than on Princess, but that depends on the time of year you are sailing. As others have said, I have no problems returning to both lines.

[CALMOM]

Thank you, all of you for your opinions and feelings. I have been on Mega Ships and prefer smaller ships. You just can't beat the personal service you will receive on a smaller ship, that's for sure. I am not saying anything bad about the Mega Ships and I think they are great for families with children as they can offer many activities for the young ones. I personally go on a cruise to relax and meet my follow CC members. It looks like HAL would work great for me, thank you.

[DFD1]

We have sailed on both Princess and HAL.

 

Just this week, we were looking at two similar itineries for the fall, one with Princess on a 2500+ passenger ship, the other with HAL on a 1250 passenger ship. Costs were about the same.

 

We booked with HAL because of the size of the ship and the quality of the staff and crew.

 

I think you'll be happy with HAL.

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

I have sailed both. Vista on HAL and CB on Princess. Both larger ships. When it is all said and done, these mainstream lines have much more in common than they have differences (in my opinion). Some of the differences that come to mind (IMHO of course):

 

1) Bedding quality and bath products much better on HAL

2) Entertainment overall better (for me) on Princess (with the exception of Joel Mason if you can get lucky enough to draw him on your cruise).

3) I felt that the dinner buffet had much better choices on princess. Twice I had crab legs and lobster claws at the buffet. Didn't need to eat in the main dining room on formal night to have lobster (again, claw not tail which I actually like better).

4) For warm weather trips, I would choose Princess if everything else (price and itinerary) were identical (which they never are). I really really enjoyed MUTS and I"m not a movie buff. Plus there are two adults only pools (neither with a surcharge). All pools fresh water on Princess.

5) Vista class thermal room is far superior to Princess design

6) Room service is better on HAL. More choices and better delivery system.

7) Desserts burgers, and pizza much better on Princess (food is subjective).

8.)

 

I'd sail either line and let price and itinerary be my deciding factor.

 

Cheryl :)

[Copper10-8]

Princess' ships have nicer atriums; on the minus side, the Grand class look like glorified shopping carts with the handle being the night club

Princess' showers, on the avg, are much smaller than HAL's tub/shower combo's. The lady folk seem to like the tubs better (at least mine does)

HAL's Indonesian/Filipino staff beat Princess' international staff hands down, every time

Can't beat the HAL SOE beds/mattresses

Princess has better entertainment (They had half a pirate ship on stage once plus a hypnotist who had half the audience under his control)

Food is about the same

Princess does not have an Explorations Cafe

HAL doesn't have the Pizza restaurant Princess has (forgot the name on Princess, the one with the black & white tiles)

Dutch captains beat English & Italian captains, no contest!;)

[smslms]

We used to sail on Princess all the time, although lately we seem to be on HAL more often. I think the reason for that is that HAL's itineraries seem to suit us better lately - we like longer cruises.

 

The food on both is good. We used to like HAL better but I think I would give a slight edge to Princess these days. As far as entertainment is concerned I think you would find it to be a bit more varied on Princess. Princess has a pizza/pasta restaurant whereas some HAL ships have an Italian restaurant that is quite good (no surcharge). The specialty restaurants on both lines are good.

 

Generally speaking HAL ships tend to be a bit smaller than Princess, although we've never felt particularly crowded on either. Princess's sanctuary is a nice feature, but they don't have a forward looking top deck bar area such as the Crow's Nest on HAL. We've talked to people that are rabid about both sides of this equation, but for us there isn't that much to choose between the two so it mainly comes down to the itinerary.

 

Do you have a dart board?;)

[Pettifogger]

Copper:

Chris Turner had to come along and ruin your assessment of captains. Please forgive him.

[Copper10-8]

Copper:

Chris Turner had to come along and ruin your assessment of captains. Please forgive him.

 

Good one Pettifogger:D So, did James Russel-Dunsford, Peter Harris & Jonathan Mercer

[world~citizen]

...if you like pricess, you wil probably like HAL.

 

I would go as far as to say if you like Princess you will go crazy over HAL...but not necessarily vice-versa.

 

HAL loyalists will likely ( I think) be disappointed with the food, the serving staff and maybe even the bars. I think on the Grand Class ships there are no bars that look forward, they show views aft. At least we couldn't find one.

 

We went for dinner in one of the DR's and the Maitre D just pointed and shouted "we are full, go over there".

 

DW will not sail Princess again, so thats that.

 

Smooth saling...

[Infi]

Just took our first HAL cruise two months ago, we are platinum on Princess. I think you will find HAL to be a cut above Princess. The ships feel (and are) considerably less crowded than Princess ships, and there's nice little touches (fresh flowers around the ship, rolled cool towels and beverages after returning from port) everywhere. On Princess, I always feel a little nickel-and-dimed because it seems like the crew is almost always trying to sell me something (drinks, shopping specials, wine tastings) when I least expect or want it. On HAL, the crew is much more unobtrusive and you won't see them hawking limoncellos and cookbooks after a relaxing dinner in the MDR. IMHO, the food on HAL is also a cut above. Princess food is not bad by any means, but HAL food seemed to have better quality ingredients, better cuts of meat, etc. The cabins on HAL are much nicer - especially the beds! If you've ever suffered through a Princess bed sans eggcrate, the HAL beds will be a wonderful surprise.

 

The main place HAL definitely lags behind Princess is entertainment. The daily schedule will be considerably less full than a comparable one on Princess, and the same is true for evening activities. On Princess you'll find activities in multiple venues each night (mainly to distract from a single one from being overcrowded, but that's just part of the crowds). On HAL, there will be one show in the showlounge and maybe another gameshow or something in another lounge. We were on a Spring Break cruise and you could roll a bowling ball through the ship at 10pm. There was just nothing going on after that hour. I was really surprised.

The passenger mix will also be older than Princess. Like I said, we were on a Spring Break cruise and I got the feeling (due to some dirty looks my daughter recieved around the ship) that not all were happy with the increased amount of kids (200, almost all of whom were well-behaved) onboard. It's fine if you want your cruise to be kid-free - just don't sail during Spring break! :rolleyes: In any case, if you go into the experience expecting an older demographic and limited nightlife, you won't be disappionted. Just be aware ahead of time.

 

Go ahead, give HAL a try! We're happy we did, and looking forward to planning our next HAL cruise.

[Willsot]

Just took our first HAL cruise two months ago, we are platinum on Princess. I think you will find HAL to be a cut above Princess. The ships feel (and are) considerably less crowded than Princess ships, and there's nice little touches (fresh flowers around the ship, rolled cool towels and beverages after returning from port) everywhere. On Princess, I always feel a little nickel-and-dimed because it seems like the crew is almost always trying to sell me something (drinks, shopping specials, wine tastings) when I least expect or want it. On HAL, the crew is much more unobtrusive and you won't see them hawking limoncellos and cookbooks after a relaxing dinner in the MDR. IMHO, the food on HAL is also a cut above. Princess food is not bad by any means, but HAL food seemed to have better quality ingredients, better cuts of meat, etc. The cabins on HAL are much nicer - especially the beds! If you've ever suffered through a Princess bed sans eggcrate, the HAL beds will be a wonderful surprise.

 

The main place HAL definitely lags behind Princess is entertainment. The daily schedule will be considerably less full than a comparable one on Princess, and the same is true for evening activities. On Princess you'll find activities in multiple venues each night (mainly to distract from a single one from being overcrowded, but that's just part of the crowds). On HAL, there will be one show in the showlounge and maybe another gameshow or something in another lounge. We were on a Spring Break cruise and you could roll a bowling ball through the ship at 10pm. There was just nothing going on after that hour. I was really surprised.

The passenger mix will also be older than Princess. Like I said, we were on a Spring Break cruise and I got the feeling (due to some dirty looks my daughter recieved around the ship) that not all were happy with the increased amount of kids (200, almost all of whom were well-behaved) onboard. It's fine if you want your cruise to be kid-free - just don't sail during Spring break! :rolleyes: In any case, if you go into the experience expecting an older demographic and limited nightlife, you won't be disappionted. Just be aware ahead of time.

 

Go ahead, give HAL a try! We're happy we did, and looking forward to planning our next HAL cruise.

 

Great comparison. I was impressed by Princess entertainment choices and really enjoyed the atrium performers. Funny about the limoncellos. Last month on Princess I think I was the only one at the table one night refusing to order one and the dining steward looked at me like I was an outcast. The wine steward was also on us every evening hawking the wine-tasting event. Not that HAL doesn't do the same, they just don't seem to push quite as hard. I didn't hear about being able to ask for Princess eggcrate mattress toppers until after my cruise.

[Infi]

Great comparison. I was impressed by Princess entertainment choices and really enjoyed the atrium performers. Funny about the limoncellos. Last month on Princess I think I was the only one at the table one night refusing to order one and the dining steward looked at me like I was an outcast. The wine steward was also on us every evening hawking the wine-tasting event. Not that HAL doesn't do the same, they just don't seem to push quite as hard. I didn't hear about being able to ask for Princess eggcrate mattress toppers until after my cruise.

 

Thanks, Terry. I hate the limoncello hawking at the table, it's a little thing but it just really bugs me. Nothing ruins dinner faster than a salespitch! I have had the similar experience of being the "limoncello outcast", it was very awkward and uncomfortable. Everyone at the table who did order one regretted their decision, though - one man described it as "lemon pledge"!

As for the eggcrates - it's too bad you didn't know about them ahead of time. I think they're a must, those beds are rock hard otherwise. I'm not sure how people survive the cruise without them. :eek:

[Tailskid]

We have done both HAL and Princess very recently - and both times the Alaska trip - so the comparison is very fair. No complaints about either. Food: Equal. The only preference would be HAL because the ships are smaller - means more personable socialization with your fellow passengers. Had the feeling on Princess that the staff were having trouble keeping up with the greater number of passengers. Things did not run as smoothly as on HAL - but the staff were very nice just the same - perhaps a bit overworked. If you want fun - go Carnival. HAL is better for the older set - more laid back but nice! Fun wise - no difference between HAL and Princess except the Princess passengers may be a bit younger. My DW and I are booked out of San Diego on the 30 day Pacific Islands cruise in November and expect it to be more for "old fogies" like ourselves.

Tailskid

[velotaco]

I have never cruised with HAL, not for any particular reason other then receiving past passengers with the other cruise lines I have sailed on. I enjoyed Carnival when the kids were younger, as I felt they had a great kids program. I have been sailing with Princess lately as I no longer need a great kids program, don't desire to see anymore Hairy Chest Contest or have heavy drinkers crowded at the pools. Princess is a happy medium, beautiful ships, great service and some fun ship activities.

 

However, I would like to sail out of my home town, San Diego and my only choices are Carnival or HAL. Can you tell me about HAL?

 

Is it similar to Princess?

Do they have fun activities on board?

If you have sailed on HAL & Princess, what was the difference, is any?

I don't want a boring cruise where everyone is in bed by 10 p.m. but I don't want to be with a bunch of party animals either.

 

Thank you so much in advance for your help.

 

I've never chosen a cruise line based on "reputation". It's always been based on itenerary and cruise dates. In my experiance, there is little difference between cruise lines. They all, for the most part, seem to follow the same formula. The only line where I really noticed a difference was Oceania.

[world~citizen]

I've never chosen a cruise line based on "reputation". It's always been based on itenerary and cruise dates. In my experiance, there is little difference between cruise lines. They all, for the most part, seem to follow the same formula. The only line where I really noticed a difference was Oceania.

 

Well, Oceania is not comparable to HAL or Princess. Its apples and oranges. :)