Considering Princess...will we be disappointed???

[NancyIL]

Comparing the large Crown to a Vista Class or Signature Class HAL ship most definitely. Now if you compare Princess to a S or R class ship on a longer itinerary I would say they were about equal. In all the 7 days cruises we have done I have never encountered so many mobility scooters, walkers, and oxygen tanks. The scooters alone were part of the problem with the elevators. Several times we would wait for an elevator at mid ship to have 5 or more people with scooters waiting to get on. In all honesty I have never encountered this on HAL maybe because the Crown is so much larger compared to HAL I am not sure. But our sailing was definitely a larger percentage of Seniors compared to a Vista Class HAL ship and I have been on plenty.

 

My HAL experiences are limited to the Zaandam in the Caribbean in Feb. 2004 and the Veendam in Alaska in July 2008. I expect a lot of seniors on Alaska cruises, but I saw more families on my HAL Alaska cruise than in the Caribbean. There's a reason for the HAL stereotype.

[milleruszk]

The main deal breaker for me on HAL would be their smoking policy which appears to be that anyone can smoke anywhere that they want to. Princess has many more areas where you can breath clean air.

DON

 

Don,

 

Holland America may be thinking of changing their smoking policy. We were given a survey about smoking on our Holland America cruise last week. One of the questions asked whether we would stop cruising on Holland America if they prohibited smoking in cabins.

 

Tom

[RuthC]

The main deal breaker for me on HAL would be their smoking policy which appears to be that anyone can smoke anywhere that they want to.

That's a gross exaggeration of HAL's smoking policy. There are very limited indoor areas in which passengers may smoke, and the outside is also quite restricted.

It's unfair to those who don't know any better to lead them to believe that HAL is one big smoking section. It is not.

[cruisemom42]

That's a gross exaggeration of HAL's smoking policy. There are very limited indoor areas in which passengers may smoke, and the outside is also quite restricted.

 

It's unfair to those who don't know any better to lead them to believe that HAL is one big smoking section. It is not.

 

I would agree. I don't think there's a lot of difference between HAL and Princess in terms of where smokers can smoke onboard. Perhaps the other poster just happened to be on a cruise with more smokers than usual.

 

(Not a smoker, btw....)

[RuthC]

(Not a smoker, btw....)

Neither am I. But fair is fair, and that depiction wasn't.

[PescadoAmarillo]

We have sailed Princess many times and have just done a HAL cruise on the Maasdam. Considering what everyone said about how I would love HAL, I was disappointed.

Gosh, I was really enjoying reading about how HAL was at least as good as and probably better than Princess. With over 200 days on Princess, we're embarking soon on our first HAL cruise...on the Maasdam! But we go with very open minds and with the attitude of seeing something "different". Say what you will about Princess, but most of their ships are carbon copies of the others.

 

When we go from Celebrity (around 140 days) to Princess, we think, "gees, this and that was better on Celebrity". But it works the other way too. They all (includes RCCL but not NCL for us!) have goods and not so goods. Too bad we can't design the perfect cruise line with our favorite parts of all of them.

[bobalink]

Gosh, I was really enjoying reading about how HAL was at least as good as and probably better than Princess. With over 200 days on Princess, we're embarking soon on our first HAL cruise...on the Maasdam! But we go with very open minds and with the attitude of seeing something "different". Say what you will about Princess, but most of their ships are carbon copies of the others.

 

When we go from Celebrity (around 140 days) to Princess, we think, "gees, this and that was better on Celebrity". But it works the other way too. They all (includes RCCL but not NCL for us!) have goods and not so goods. Too bad we can't design the perfect cruise line with our favorite parts of all of them.

 

I am a fan of Princess and just returned from my first HAL cruise on the Noordam. The first few days I did the same thing, compared everything.

I had to intentionally make myself stop comparing everything on HAL to Princess, because it was silly, and was starting to get in my way of enjoying my hard-earned vacation.

 

There were wonderful things about HAL and ms. Noordam, and I just had to embrace the differences. IMO, there are more things similar than different.

 

I went on the cruise with some expectations that were not realistic, in part because of what I read on this board.

 

HAL fans will say that the service is excellent. I didn't think it was any better than what we have experienced on Princess. In fact, some times it was not as good. Especially in the Lido seating area, the waitstaff was almost non-existent.

 

Some folks on these boards think they are being "cheerleaders" for "their" cruise line. When in fact, some of the things that are perpetuated are simply not true for every passenger on every cruise. It turns out to be a disservice to the cruise line.

 

For instance, there is so much (wasted) discussion about smoking, the dress code, the average age of passengers, which is the right direction to walk on the Promenade deck, and (oh, no) the Fashion Police.

 

I was beginning to wonder if I had made the right decision by choosing HAL. Well, let me just clear it up for anyone else who may be concerned about those things.

 

On my cruise...

 

* I was NEVER bothered by anyone smoking. Not once. (I am a non-smoker) There were many Europeans on our cruise (round-trip Rome) and they tend to smoke. It never interfered with my cruise.

 

* The dress code is not always enforced. I saw people in bathing suits and bare feet in the Lido numerous times. No one said a word to them. In the MDR, very few men wore tuxes. Young men took their jackets off as soon as they sat down. Some ladies wore gowns, most just added some bling to a nice outfit. The HAL dress code was no different than any other cruise line that I have been on.

 

* The passengers were of EVERY age, lots of families with children. I don't recall seeing any geriatrics racing with walkers.

 

* Passengers walk in BOTH directions on the Promenade deck and it doesn't matter! There were even some runners, and guess what, no one cares.

 

* I never saw the Fashion Police - at least they weren't giving out tickets.

 

So, everyone put down your pom poms, allow people to express their opinions about their cruise.

 

Bon voyage!

[Linda&Vern]

I am a fan of Princess and just returned from my first HAL cruise on the Noordam. The first few days I did the same thing, compared everything.

I had to intentionally make myself stop comparing everything on HAL to Princess, because it was silly, and was starting to get in my way of enjoying my hard-earned vacation.

 

There were wonderful things about HAL and ms. Noordam, and I just had to embrace the differences. IMO, there are more things similar than different.

 

I went on the cruise with some expectations that were not realistic, in part because of what I read on this board.

 

HAL fans will say that the service is excellent. I didn't think it was any better than what we have experienced on Princess. In fact, some times it was not as good. Especially in the Lido seating area, the waitstaff was almost non-existent.

 

Some folks on these boards think they are being "cheerleaders" for "their" cruise line. When in fact, some of the things that are perpetuated are simply not true for every passenger on every cruise. It turns out to be a disservice to the cruise line.

 

For instance, there is so much (wasted) discussion about smoking, the dress code, the average age of passengers, which is the right direction to walk on the Promenade deck, and (oh, no) the Fashion Police.

 

I was beginning to wonder if I had made the right decision by choosing HAL. Well, let me just clear it up for anyone else who may be concerned about those things.

 

On my cruise...

 

* I was NEVER bothered by anyone smoking. Not once. (I am a non-smoker) There were many Europeans on our cruise (round-trip Rome) and they tend to smoke. It never interfered with my cruise.

 

* The dress code is not always enforced. I saw people in bathing suits and bare feet in the Lido numerous times. No one said a word to them. In the MDR, very few men wore tuxes. Young men took their jackets off as soon as they sat down. Some ladies wore gowns, most just added some bling to a nice outfit. The HAL dress code was no different than any other cruise line that I have been on.

 

* The passengers were of EVERY age, lots of families with children. I don't recall seeing any geriatrics racing with walkers.

 

* Passengers walk in BOTH directions on the Promenade deck and it doesn't matter! There were even some runners, and guess what, no one cares.

 

* I never saw the Fashion Police - at least they weren't giving out tickets.

 

So, everyone put down your pom poms, allow people to express their opinions about their cruise.

 

Bon voyage!

Thank you for posting this...especially your comment I highlighted above in red. I have always worried when someone reads some of the comments here and then posts "I'm going to cancel" or "I think I made a mistake booking HAL." No one should base their upcoming cruise expectations on the small percentage of cruisers that post here compared to the number of passengers who sail on each ship. The forum is great for learning different opinions of different situations, i.e., what is this cabin like - what deck should I be on - what port should I visit - what ship should I sail? How else would I have learned about "no trays in the Lido!" But new HAL cruisers need to do as you seem to have learned you needed to do...approached your cruise with an open mind. I hope you had a relaxing and very enjoyable vacation! :D

[Stevesan]

CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?:rolleyes:

[bobalink]

No one should base their upcoming cruise expectations on the small percentage of cruisers that post here compared to the number of passengers who sail on each ship. The forum is great for learning different opinions of different situations, i.e., what is this cabin like - what deck should I be on - what port should I visit - what ship should I sail? How else would I have learned about "no trays in the Lido!" But new HAL cruisers need to do as you seem to have learned you needed to do...approached your cruise with an open mind. I hope you had a relaxing and very enjoyable vacation! :D

 

We had a wonderful cruise, thank you!

[donaldsc]

That's a gross exaggeration of HAL's smoking policy. There are very limited indoor areas in which passengers may smoke, and the outside is also quite restricted.

It's unfair to those who don't know any better to lead them to believe that HAL is one big smoking section. It is not.

 

Have you been in the Crows Nest recently? I have been in bars that smelled better.

 

DON

[RuthC]

Have you been in the Crows Nest recently? I have been in bars that smelled better.

Yes. As a matter of fact, I have. It was less than two weeks ago that I was in the Crows Nest on the Amsterdam, where there was no smell of smoke.

However, that has nothing to do with your statement that "anyone can smoke anywhere that they want to". Your statement is patently false.

[sassyredhat]

Sheeesh you guys !!!~~~~~~:eek:

 

Shall I stir the pot and post on the HAL board how much I like RCI's Radiance of the Seas ??? :D

 

I think each line has pros and cons. Our line of choice happens to be HAL, but we have several CCL cruises (not our favorite), because DH likes golf tours.

 

Any cruise is better than no cruise. We are in a bit of a 'ship drought' here on the west coast.

 

Pat

[PescadoAmarillo]

Shall I stir the pot and post on the HAL board how much I like RCI's Radiance of the Seas ??? :D

If you don't, I will. ;) That class of ship (we've been on the Radiance and the Serenade) is my favorite class of ship of any we've been on. Perfection afloat. I just wish RC had stopped at that size, and made more just like them.

[krewzin]

Next weekend we will be heading off to FLL for our first Celebrity cruise and I am trying not to have any expectations for this except I am sure I will be doing a close comparison to HAL ;)

 

 

We cruised Celebrity Solstice for the first time July 25th....and loved it. To us, it was very much like HAL with a smoke-free casino. Ship was modern, and beautiful.

[Northshorecruisers]

We have sailed HAL & Princess, and for me HAL wins. We only sailed Princess once and I don't know what was wrong with the crew on that sailing. My TA sails Princess every once in awhile and he's never had the problems I encountered. But, he did have a simalar experience on a Celebrity ship - just goes to show it can happen with any cruise, any time.

The problems I had with Princess (and please keep in mind that I am very, very picky) were:

 

• We had anytime dining and 3 nights out of 7 that we had to wait to be seated or be sent to another area of the diningroom were we also had to wait a bit.
  
• Dinner with "anytime" seemed very rushed
  
• When a member at our table wasn't happy with the meal he was server, he asked for something else - the waiters reply was "I'll have to check".
  
• My husband kept ordering the same drink every afternoon - but it was very different every time
  
• I would go to the lido bar every day between 3 & 5 and request a Dirty Banana. Every time the bartender had to run to get the items to make the drink.
  
• I didn't care for the layout of the Grand Princess. You need to take certain elevators to get to certain floors. It was always a joke in the elevator with other passengers that "You can't get there from here"
  
• Our room steward was very nice but on 3 occasions we came back to the cabin and it was being cleaned. It was done more discreet on HAL
  
• Friends of ours that joined us on the cruise kept getting gifts delivered to their cabin. The husband is blind and most nights the gift would arrive while his wife was in the shower. So, the husband would just accept. One night the wife finally asked who had sent them an extremely expensive bottle of wine. Turns out, our friends were in Cabin A735 and our sailing was 735. When people ordered gifts for their friends, they were being readelivered to our friends cabin.
  
• The wife of the couple that sailed with us took some class. The whole time she was there she could hear ship staff complaining about their jobs and the management aboard ship.
  

• we had set a private excursion for our stop in Jamaica. When we got into port the weather was rain, fog, and wind. The people who booked through the cruise line had their excursions cancelled. The excursion we booked, he asked if we wanted to see other things on the island or if we wanted to cancel. and get our money back. We ended up saying that he should just give us a tour and we'd be happy. What a great tour we had!! I still haven't been to Dunn's River Falls, they were a mudslide when we were there....but I'll just have to go another time.

  
  

• At the time we sailed, my son was 16 and we brought a friend of his that was 18. On several nights my son met an "older" woman (probably all of 35 - because we all know how old that is) at a bar and she would buy him and his friend a bucket of beer. My son would stand there when she handed it over.

  
  

Like I said at the beginning of this post - I am very picky. Our cruise on Princess did not meet my expectations on how I wanted my vacation to go. I felt like I had wasted our money. I have never felt that way on HAL. When we leave our HAL ship, we always feel that we have gotten more than our monies worth.

 

JMO

Deb

[aquablu1]

I can't comment on the Owner's Suites, but we've happily sailed Crown Princess twice now, and would gladly sail on her again. She's an excellent ship - larger than the Vista-class ships, but not uncomfortably so. Crew are attentive and friendly, and Princess puts on a great cruise.

 

My only complaint about Princess on the whole is I find their beds to be a little too much on the 'firm' side for my tastes. Other than that, a great choice for those who enjoy HAL but are looking for something different.

 

We agree. Ask for a mattress topper to be delivered to your cabin from

special services!;) We are trying the Noordam soon. Sailed on the Carribean princess last Feb. Had a wonderful relaxing time. Great Balcony cabin on Caribe.

[xeena]

We mainly sail on HAL but decided to do the Crown Princess last December. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Booked on the Emerald Princess this December AND on the Ryndam in Jan. I like them both, but do love the smaller ships.....Hal has those sailing from ports we would use.

 

Service has been great on both lines....food comparable. Entertainment perhaps a tad better on the Princess ship.....but not enough to sway us. Itineraries and price dictate our cruises. If money was no object, I would try Regent or Crystal !!

 

In my book, there almost is NO bad cruise.

[Typhoon1]

We hated Princess, once was enough.

 

Those ships are just too large and crowded.

[donaldsc]

What you will not find on Princess is free fresh OJ, an eggs benedict bar (now I am getting picky).

 

Hank

 

I do not think that you are getting picky. Eggs benedict are a very important part of cruising. IMHO, the eggs benedict on Princess are worse than McD's Egg McMuffen.

 

I also felt that many things that were free on HAL such as premium coffee at meals and computer lessons were extra cost items on Princess.

 

DON

[dennbr9]

If you expect to be disappointed you probably will. If you expect to thoroughly enjoy your cruise and embrace the differences, you will have a great time for sure.

 

We love Princess and the Grand Class Ships. Have a great time!

[tropicgal2]

I am relatively new to cruising again because after our first cruise in 2001 on NCL we swore off cruises, and kept with land vacations. After coming back in 2009 on a Princess Alaskan cruise, that changed our minds and now we are hooked. I have been on Princess twice with mostly everything good, although I found the food to be a bit better the first time.

 

Like Northshorecruiser said above, On my last Princess cruise, I also ordered the same drink almost every day, and it always seemed different, 2 times, so bad I had to return it and order something else. It did not ruin the cruise for me, because I am pretty easy going about things like that, but they really need to train their bartenders better on Princess.

 

Next year we would like to try HAL or Celebrity for a change of pace.

Any opinions on the difference between the 2? Thanks!

[iancal]

We have never, ever been bothered by smoking or anything else for that matter on HAL, Princess, Celebrity, Crystal, RCI, NCL or Carnival. They all have their strenghs which vary by ship. It really depends on your preferences and expectations. If you like expensive import cars and you switch for an expensive American product (heaven forbid) then you will may disappointed in several areas. One is not particularly bad or less good, it just comes down to expectations, perceptions, and personal likes/dislikes. We really think the food is very similar between HAL, Princess, and Celebrity. We find larger variations in food between ships in the same line. Competition means things are always changes-for better or worse, so some of the comparisons may be point in time comparisons. If the price, itinerary, and ship were right we would jump on a Princess cruise in a heartbeat.

 

There are certain HAL, Princess, Celebrity, etc. ships that we would not sail on-not because of the cruise line but because of the attributes of the particular ship and the reputation of the respective officers and crew. The converse is also true. We would never consider a cruise on a HAL ship that just came out of drydock or was within it's first few months of service. Nor would we consider a cruise on certain HAL ships if we were sailing in warm periods. These issues with HAL do not in our minds reflect on the entire cruise line . Same with different things of other lines.

[dixieagle]

My point of view is this; you're on a cruise and not at work - how bad can it be? ;)

 

We've not sailed as much as many of you, but our history goes way back to the Enchanted Seas, an older ship that used to cruise out of New Orleans, many years back. Loved it, and have loved every cruise since, even when we had been prepared to be disappointed after reading reviews (Norwegian Spirit.) Actually, on the Spirit, we were treated like royalty and had a ball. We loved the Coral Princess (Alaska) and the Noordam (Eastern Mediterranean.)

 

Now, I'm sure that there are snakebitten cruises/ships, but we've been fortunate thus far. Hope our luck holds on the Westerdam next March!

[Hlitner]

We hated Princess, once was enough.

 

Those ships are just too large and crowded.

 

Princess has 3 ships (Pacific, Royal, and Ocean Princess) that are each 680 passenger vessels and smaller than even the Prinsendam. Princess has several other ships that are smaller than the Eurodam. The fact that Princess has 17 ships in all size ranges does work to satisfy most folks. HA is also doing a great job keeping different size ships although we sure hope they hold on to the Prinsendam :)

 

Hank