Has anyone cruised HAL and Princess lately?

[sugarcharlie]

I'm posting this on both cruise lines sites because for the past three days I've read hundreds of posts but can't find many from folks who have sailed both lines recently.

I'm planning a March cruise with my daughter and her fiancé who are both in their thirties. Because they are school teachers we are limited to a specific date and either HAL or Princess. I've heard the old stories of HAL having a much older crowd and not much going on in the evening......also stricter dress codes for everyday and formal nights. We just want to relax and enjoy ourselves but are having a hard time choosing a ship. HALS island seems to be preferred by most but they also still allow smoking on the verandas. We don't smoke but will definitely have a veranda.

They've never cruised but I've been on Celebrity (which I loved) and Carnival which was too much of a FUN SHIP for my age and type.

Please give me your thoughts so I can book ASAP and quit spending hours on end looking at posts! Thanks in advance.

[RMLincoln]

Not sure what you mean by lately but.... Shorter HAL cruises usually have a comparatively younger demographic than HAL longer cruises, so I don't how long you will be sailing for but I'm assuming a short cruise to fit the teachers break time... which is a long way of say that the demographic on HAL at that time may be close to that of Princess, but the usual comparison would be that Princess usually will have more families and children especially during spring break.

 

We like HAL and Princess, also enjoyed Celebrity, very comparable to HAL in my opinion. Princess will have bigger ships, more entertainment, cabins not as nice as HAL in my opinion, for example, you may not get a couch in your balcony room on Princess.

 

You can't go too wrong with either cruise line so I'd look at dates, itinerary and prices. But that's me and you will likely get other responses.

 

Enjoy! m--

[G&G]

Sailed on HAL & Princess during past six months. Both are fine. It just depends what you want.

 

Both HAL & Princess have formal nights, shore excursions same but a little cheaper with Princess

 

My +++ for HAL: larger cabins, better organized Lido Restaurant, smaller ships. room service offers full breakfast & lunch plus dinner that is same as MDR menu for each night.

 

My +++ for Princess; better entertainment schedule and variety, larger ships. International cafe and entertainment in atrium, movie under the stars

[cruz chic]

I've sailed on both lines in the last six months. I find Princess to be more organized than HAL. Also the etertainment is better. I also like their lido better. I find HAL ships to be less crowded and more quiet. Food is about the same on both. HALs beds are way better.

[gaelan]

Having recently tried each of HAL, Princess and Celebrity we are taking a HAL cruise in December but would just have easily taken either of the other two cruise lines as it came down to the itinerary. Each have their strengths and weakness. Since you are asking opinions on HAL vs Princess based on our experience on the HAL Westerdam and the Crown Princess.

 

HAL: Pros: Refined ship and excellent crews with overall good service. The Crows Nest on the Westerdam was spectacular and we spent much time there. Smaller ships with a more intimate feel Cons: Food was average to less than good including the Pinacle Grill with the Lido the most disapointing....no salad bar.......Shows were also so-so.

Princess: Pros: Better food overall and the Chief's Table is a must. Movie Under the Stars very nice and overall better entertainment. Better stateroom design wth seperate space for clothes Cons: Who ever designed the Lido on the Crown should be shot.....chaos. We found from time to time a sewage smell on our deck.

 

Again would pick what looks like the more interesting itinerary and go!!!!

[GeriatricNurse]

I've sailed on both lines in the last six months. I find Princess to be more organized than HAL. Also the etertainment is better. I also like their lido better. I find HAL ships to be less crowded and more quiet. Food is about the same on both. HALs beds are way better.

 

 

Didn't you have an issue on your (Alaskan) Princess cruise with having to have your stateroom I.D. card "reloaded" several times because it had become ?"demagnitized"? Did you ever discover what was the cause of that happening? :confused:

[GeriatricNurse]

Having recently tried each of HAL, Princess and Celebrity we are taking a HAL cruise in December but would just have easily taken either of the other two cruise lines as it came down to the itinerary. Each have their strengths and weakness. Since you are asking opinions on HAL vs Princess based on our experience on the HAL Westerdam and the Crown Princess.

 

HAL: Pros: Refined ship and excellent crews with overall good service. The Crows Nest on the Westerdam was spectacular and we spent much time there. Smaller ships with a more intimate feel Cons: Food was average to less than good including the Pinacle Grill with the Lido the most disapointing....no salad bar.......Shows were also so-so.

Princess: Pros: Better food overall and the Chief's Table is a must. Movie Under the Stars very nice and overall better entertainment. Better stateroom design wth seperate space for clothes Cons: Who ever designed the Lido on the Crown should be shot.....chaos. We found from time to time a sewage smell on our deck.

 

Again would pick what looks like the more interesting itinerary and go!!!!

 

 

Chef's Table? :confused:

[realnurse2]

There is a salad bar in the Lido on HAL-not huge but quite adequate.

[ldog]

We sail mostly on HAL but I was on a week long Caribbean on the Crown last April with my sister and nieces.

 

HAL suits us better all around but Princess was fine.

 

The service was great on both. The food was great on both.

 

The Princess Chef's table which is specially booked dinner which includes a tour of the kitchen in full operation, a spectacularly special menu with white glove service and paired wines was amazing!

 

Princess private island was a disappointment. We rented a cabana because we needed shade and there was none. When I complained to Princess they gave us a $50 refund. When I subsequently wrote a letter (mail) to head office I got a reply that said that they don't every say that a cabana provides shade.

 

We only ate in the Lido on Princess once. It was awful.

 

We like the smaller HAL ships for the ambiance and friendliness.

 

That said, I'd go on either based on itinerary and price.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

We were on HAL in May and June and Princess in October. We like both - prefer smaller ships and friendly service on HAL, food about the same in the MDRs, prefer LIDO on HAL to Horizon Court on Princess which is a nightmare unless you know how to use it (you don't have to stand in line and wait if you want something from another station - but most people don't know that and give you dirty looks). And I think Princess ,because of their larger ships has more activities. It boils down to itinerary for us -Caribbean and Alaska itineraries -HAL; California Coastals -Princess.

[vbmom87]

op: be sure to let us know what you decide.

[sugarcharlie]

Right now I'm really leaning towards HAL for a few reasons.

1 consensus seems to be that HMC is far and away the best private island stop.

 

2. The Eastern Caribbean itinerary offers more interesting shore excursions and ports.

 

3. Because it is a first cruise for my daughter and her fiancé I think the smaller ship will be easier for them to handle.

 

The biggest worry I have is that because it is the line that allows smoking on the verandas, a lot of people who smoke will choose HAL because the other lines eliminated smoking on their balconies.

 

I am getting a lot of good responses from people so I may put off deciding for a couple of weeks so I can digest more replies to my post.

 

Thank you all for your input!

[powderhorn]

This is a review after taking back to back 7 day cruises. The first week (Feb7-14) was spent on the Ruby Princess, the latest addition to the Princess fleet. The second week (Feb14-21) was spent on the Eurodam, the latest addition to the Holland America fleet. This review will be focussed on comparing the ships and services of these competitors versus our particular itineraries which were both out of Fort Lauderdale, the western Caribbean on Princess and the eastern Caribbean on HAL.

 

First the cabins:

We had a balcony stateroom on Princess, an obstructed view on HAL but, other than that, here are the differences we observed:

Bathroom: The bathroom on HAL is bigger than Princess, with a bath/shower combination vs a small shower on Princess. The towels are bigger on HAL, softer on Princess. The shower hardware on HAL allows for more adjustment.

Storage: Although HAL has closets with doors which are aesthetically more pleasing than Princess which is basically an open closet rod adjacent to the bathroom, we found the Princess setup more practical. The closets on HAL are adjacent to the cabin and bathroom door which creates congestion. Also, because there are several closets (3 separate compartments) you need to remember where everything is and you are constantly opening and closing doors in competition with each other when getting dressed or undressed. Combined with the desire to get in and out of the bathroom it can make for some comical results! With Princess the storage area is open and well lighted....not so aesthetic to see all your cloths hanging there, but it is well lighted and just works better.

Mini Fridge: the HAL fridge was fully stocked with beers, wines, Perrier, soft drinks and bottled water. The Princess fridge had a few cans of coke and bottled water. They are essentially the same size.

Furniture: The HAL bed was adjacent to window with a couch adjacent to the bathroom and across from the desk/TV. It had a table in front of the couch. The Princess bed was closer to the cabin door and had a desk and console adjacent to the balcony doors. We find the beds on HAL more comfortable than Princess. The bedding on HAL has you sleeping between sheets, while Princess has you sleeping under a duvet. The waste can on HAL has separate compartments for paper and waste, Princess has a single compartment waste can. HAL’s desk comes with a lighted magnified make-up mirror. None on Princess. One thing we like about Princess is that their balcony door is a sliding patio door versus a hinged door on HAL. It is great to leave that sliding door open on Princess and go to sleep with the sound of the water on the hull of the ship. It is harder to do that on HAL as the hinged door of their balconies are spring loaded and designed to stay closed. In the past we have wedged them open with a chair. I believe the TV was larger on the Princess than HAL, however, I did not see a DVD player on the Ruby. The Eurodam comes equipped with a DVD player and the library has a good selection of movies for rent. The bedside tables are similar on each ship...a couple of drawers each with a cubby. The Princess bedside tables have deeper drawers which make them more useful. Princess has bedside table lamps which take up space. The Eurodam has neat wall mounted reading lamps on each side of the bed, leaving the top of each bedside table available.

Cabin Amenities: The bathrobes are better quality on HAL and are available when you arrive. The Princess robes arrived on the second day of the cruise as they were being cleaned. The soaps and shampoos are better quality on the Eurodam. No towel animals on Ruby. On the first three nights we received small presents at turn down in the evening on the Eurodam. The first night we had a special plate of sweets to celebrate Valentine’s day. The second night we received complementary Pinnacle invitations and a nice HAL tote bag for the beach or shore excursions. The third night we received our Mariner tiles. We were also impressed with the amount of personalized mail we received on the Eurodam. Dining arrangement confirmations etc. The small newspapers provided on HAL are not provided on Princess. HAL even provides an edition for Canadians!

 

Dining:

Main Dining Rooms: There a few things that set these two ships apart when it comes to their main dining room. We had ‘as you wish’ dining on each cruise. We identified a table we liked and made reservations everyday for that table which worked well. However, in the case of HAL, each afternoon a note was delivered to our cabin confirming our reservation. It was a nice touch and by presenting the note when we arrived for dinner, it eliminated any confusion or line-up. The food was good in both dining rooms. HAL serves cappuccino gratis after dinner, where on Princess it is an extra $2.50. The regular coffee is terrible on Princess...not fresh brewed as on HAL. What Princess serves for coffee....well, I`m not sure what it is. You would think they would try and get that right. Probably why the café in the Piazza became my favourite spot on the Ruby. They served great coffee and I ended up purchasing a coffee card for my daily fix.

With HAL we had better service. Two waiters plus a wine steward, whereas the waiters (2) on the Princess handled the wine as well. Service and quality of the food I would say was more consistent on the Eurodam.

 

Lido Dining: The Lido buffets are setup differently on HAL and Princess. On Princess there is more pre-prepared offerings and guests can help themselves, whereas HAL provides staff behind more food stations who prepare your plate of food and hand it to you. We found the line-ups for food about the same on each ship and they varied based on time of day. Again, the food was very good on both Lido decks. I would say the service was better on the Eurodam`s Lido deck. We noticed many staff carrying trays for passengers and they always greeted you warmly. Tables were cleaned and reset more efficiently on HAL. One other bonus for HAL was freshly squeezed orange juice in the morning.....didn’t see that on the Ruby.

 

Specialty Dining:

Each ship offers two specialty restaurants. Each has a restaurant focussed on Steaks - HAL with the Pinnacle Grill and Princess with the Crown Grill, which features an open galley. I have to say Princess wins the battle of the steaks, although the Crown Grill is more expensive. Sabatinis on the Ruby has a wonderful Italian tasting menu, where you enjoy many flavourful appetizers. You only need to order the Entre. The Tamarind on the Eurodam features an Asian fusion experience. Sabatinis was a very lively experience, while the Tamarind delivered a more refined dining experience. These are both great restaurants.

 

In Room Dining: There is a bigger selection on the in-room menu on HAL than on Princess by a long shot. Also, full breakfast is offered in-room on HAL versus a continental selection on Princess.

Common Areas:

This is where the Ruby really shines. The fit and finish on the Ruby is far superior to the Eurodam and the richness of her many entertainment venues are what larger ships are able to offer....and the Ruby delivers. From the rich wood panelling of her bars to the marble in the Piazza she is a beautiful ship. The Piazza is a lively centre of the ship with entertainment and events happening on a frequent basis. The lower level is very comfortable with the café offering designer coffees with full bar service and across the way is Vines which is a sushi wine bar. The shops are nicely laid out and the various bars all have their own purpose and personality. Also, we found the movies under the stars feature was neat. We sat on deck chairs one night after supper and watched a concert by Tina Turner. The sound system and video screen is impressive.

The Ruby offers 4 separate swimming pools versus two on the Eurodam. A couple of things we found more attractive on the Eurodam was the more expansive promenade deck with room for loungers and a full circuit around the perimeter of the ship all on one level...great for those walks in the morning or after dinner. Also the Crows nest on the Eurodam offers a venue to gaze forward, whereas the Ruby only offers that view from the gymnasium, which is very well equipped.

 

Conclusions:

We enjoyed both our cruise on the Ruby and the Eurodam. The Ruby offers a richer, livelier experience, while the Eurodam was a more refined atmosphere. I have to say the staff on the Eurodam seemed more friendlier than the staff on the Princess. I swear I said Good Morning to more staff on the first morning on the Eurodam than the entire week on the Ruby. While we felt there were many more things to do and places to be on the Ruby, I`m not sure that is what we were looking for in our cruise. Bottom line is that we preferred our week on the Eurodam better. It seems that HAL focuses on a refined, more personalized service versus a livelier albeit more impersonal product offered on the Ruby. We really enjoyed the opportunity to compare the two ships and the style of each cruise line. For anyone looking for 2 weeks to spend cruising I would recommend a back to back on these two fine ships.

[gaelan]

Chef's Table? :confused:

 

 

GN..... the Chef's Table is a not so well publiczed diinning event on Princess. You can only book once on board and from which only 21 people or so are selected per cruise. They divide into two groups with two seperate nights. If selected you have a prior group audience with the Maitre D who goes over the rules, process and procedures in advance. On the night of the event you meet near the main dining room and are given a wite coat to wear over your clothes (protects your clothes from food smells in the kitchen) and then escorted through the MDR....those who are in the know....applaud and cheer (they obviously know whats in store for you) as you walk through the MDR...kind fun.... and enter into the main kitchen for a behind the scene tour...you are escorted through each of the food stations where you are given the specifics on each area and fested with appetizers....food....wine and champagne including meeting the head of each area and welcomed by the head chef of the ship. Questions, joking and fun are manditory!!! At the end of the MK tour you are guided back through the MDR to a special table..again more applause and cheers....where the head chef cooks for you a special multi course meal...the sommellier serves accompanying wine, Maitre D and staff pamper you from begining to end. It was a fantastic experience excellent food and highly recommended.....

[howard6933]

I have been on 18 cruises with Princess and 15 cruises with HAL and they are both really first class with me. I have been leaning a little bit toward Princess, since I am an Elite member of the Captains Circle and get the nice perks like free laundry and dry cleaning, free use of the internet, and sometimes invited to luncheon with the captain and his officers. But this december I'm going on Westerdam's Southern Caribbean itinerary since we haven't been to Aruba and Curacao for a few years. I believe that you cannot go wrong with either of these cruise lines. ;)

 

By the way, I saw a post up above about someone's ID card being demagnitized. That happened to me once at a hotel, and I had to go to the desk where they told me that I must have carried my room card and my cell phone in the same pocket. Sure enough, that's what demagnitized the card. :rolleyes:

[TraelorMex]

Have cruised both. Take HAL...

[GeriatricNurse]

Right now I'm really leaning towards HAL for a few reasons.

1 consensus seems to be that HMC is far and away the best private island stop.

 

2. The Eastern Caribbean itinerary offers more interesting shore excursions and ports.

 

3. Because it is a first cruise for my daughter and her fiancé I think the smaller ship will be easier for them to handle.

 

The biggest worry I have is that because it is the line that allows smoking on the verandas, a lot of people who smoke will choose HAL because the other lines eliminated smoking on their balconies.

 

I am getting a lot of good responses from people so I may put off deciding for a couple of weeks so I can digest more replies to my post.

 

Thank you all for your input!

 

I thought so too until I cruised with DCL and "docked" at their private island called "Castaway Cay"! :);)

[sugarcharlie]

That was a very good review POWDERHORN. The only thing I'd like to ask you is whether you had attended the entertainment on either ship and what your experience was with smokers on adjacent verandas.

 

Starting in January smoking will be prohibited in cabins on both lines but still allowed on HALs verandas. I am leaning heavily toward HAL but I wonder if passengers that smoke will start taking more cruises on HAL after the new rules go into effect and create a majority of balcony smokers!

[cruz chic]

By the way, I saw a post up above about someone's ID card being demagnitized. That happened to me once at a hotel, and I had to go to the desk where they told me that I must have carried my room card and my cell phone in the same pocket. Sure enough, that's what demagnitized the card. :rolleyes:

No it wasn't that for me. I do not carry my cell phone with me on a cruise. Also kept it away from the magnetic closure on my purse. I don't know why I was going through so many cards on that ruise and I have no idea why that poster felt the need to post that information. It was really immaterial.

[GeriatricNurse]

This is a review after taking back to back 7 day cruises. The first week (Feb7-14) was spent on the Ruby Princess, the latest addition to the Princess fleet. The second week (Feb14-21) was spent on the Eurodam, the latest addition to the Holland America fleet. This review will be focussed on comparing the ships and services of these competitors versus our particular itineraries which were both out of Fort Lauderdale, the western Caribbean on Princess and the eastern Caribbean on HAL.

 

First the cabins:

We had a balcony stateroom on Princess, an obstructed view on HAL but, other than that, here are the differences we observed:

Bathroom: The bathroom on HAL is bigger than Princess, with a bath/shower combination vs a small shower on Princess. The towels are bigger on HAL, softer on Princess. The shower hardware on HAL allows for more adjustment.

Storage: Although HAL has closets with doors which are aesthetically more pleasing than Princess which is basically an open closet rod adjacent to the bathroom, we found the Princess setup more practical. The closets on HAL are adjacent to the cabin and bathroom door which creates congestion. Also, because there are several closets (3 separate compartments) you need to remember where everything is and you are constantly opening and closing doors in competition with each other when getting dressed or undressed. Combined with the desire to get in and out of the bathroom it can make for some comical results! With Princess the storage area is open and well lighted....not so aesthetic to see all your cloths hanging there, but it is well lighted and just works better.

Mini Fridge: the HAL fridge was fully stocked with beers, wines, Perrier, soft drinks and bottled water. The Princess fridge had a few cans of coke and bottled water. They are essentially the same size.

Furniture: The HAL bed was adjacent to window with a couch adjacent to the bathroom and across from the desk/TV. It had a table in front of the couch. The Princess bed was closer to the cabin door and had a desk and console adjacent to the balcony doors. We find the beds on HAL more comfortable than Princess. The bedding on HAL has you sleeping between sheets, while Princess has you sleeping under a duvet. The waste can on HAL has separate compartments for paper and waste, Princess has a single compartment waste can. HAL’s desk comes with a lighted magnified make-up mirror. None on Princess. One thing we like about Princess is that their balcony door is a sliding patio door versus a hinged door on HAL. It is great to leave that sliding door open on Princess and go to sleep with the sound of the water on the hull of the ship. It is harder to do that on HAL as the hinged door of their balconies are spring loaded and designed to stay closed. In the past we have wedged them open with a chair. I believe the TV was larger on the Princess than HAL, however, I did not see a DVD player on the Ruby. The Eurodam comes equipped with a DVD player and the library has a good selection of movies for rent. The bedside tables are similar on each ship...a couple of drawers each with a cubby. The Princess bedside tables have deeper drawers which make them more useful. Princess has bedside table lamps which take up space. The Eurodam has neat wall mounted reading lamps on each side of the bed, leaving the top of each bedside table available.

Cabin Amenities: The bathrobes are better quality on HAL and are available when you arrive. The Princess robes arrived on the second day of the cruise as they were being cleaned. The soaps and shampoos are better quality on the Eurodam. No towel animals on Ruby. On the first three nights we received small presents at turn down in the evening on the Eurodam. The first night we had a special plate of sweets to celebrate Valentine’s day. The second night we received complementary Pinnacle invitations and a nice HAL tote bag for the beach or shore excursions. The third night we received our Mariner tiles. We were also impressed with the amount of personalized mail we received on the Eurodam. Dining arrangement confirmations etc. The small newspapers provided on HAL are not provided on Princess. HAL even provides an edition for Canadians!

 

Dining:

Main Dining Rooms: There a few things that set these two ships apart when it comes to their main dining room. We had ‘as you wish’ dining on each cruise. We identified a table we liked and made reservations everyday for that table which worked well. However, in the case of HAL, each afternoon a note was delivered to our cabin confirming our reservation. It was a nice touch and by presenting the note when we arrived for dinner, it eliminated any confusion or line-up. The food was good in both dining rooms. HAL serves cappuccino gratis after dinner, where on Princess it is an extra $2.50. The regular coffee is terrible on Princess...not fresh brewed as on HAL. What Princess serves for coffee....well, I`m not sure what it is. You would think they would try and get that right. Probably why the café in the Piazza became my favourite spot on the Ruby. They served great coffee and I ended up purchasing a coffee card for my daily fix.

With HAL we had better service. Two waiters plus a wine steward, whereas the waiters (2) on the Princess handled the wine as well. Service and quality of the food I would say was more consistent on the Eurodam.

 

Lido Dining: The Lido buffets are setup differently on HAL and Princess. On Princess there is more pre-prepared offerings and guests can help themselves, whereas HAL provides staff behind more food stations who prepare your plate of food and hand it to you. We found the line-ups for food about the same on each ship and they varied based on time of day. Again, the food was very good on both Lido decks. I would say the service was better on the Eurodam`s Lido deck. We noticed many staff carrying trays for passengers and they always greeted you warmly. Tables were cleaned and reset more efficiently on HAL. One other bonus for HAL was freshly squeezed orange juice in the morning.....didn’t see that on the Ruby.

 

Specialty Dining:

Each ship offers two specialty restaurants. Each has a restaurant focussed on Steaks - HAL with the Pinnacle Grill and Princess with the Crown Grill, which features an open galley. I have to say Princess wins the battle of the steaks, although the Crown Grill is more expensive. Sabatinis on the Ruby has a wonderful Italian tasting menu, where you enjoy many flavourful appetizers. You only need to order the Entre. The Tamarind on the Eurodam features an Asian fusion experience. Sabatinis was a very lively experience, while the Tamarind delivered a more refined dining experience. These are both great restaurants.

 

In Room Dining: There is a bigger selection on the in-room menu on HAL than on Princess by a long shot. Also, full breakfast is offered in-room on HAL versus a continental selection on Princess.

Common Areas:

This is where the Ruby really shines. The fit and finish on the Ruby is far superior to the Eurodam and the richness of her many entertainment venues are what larger ships are able to offer....and the Ruby delivers. From the rich wood panelling of her bars to the marble in the Piazza she is a beautiful ship. The Piazza is a lively centre of the ship with entertainment and events happening on a frequent basis. The lower level is very comfortable with the café offering designer coffees with full bar service and across the way is Vines which is a sushi wine bar. The shops are nicely laid out and the various bars all have their own purpose and personality. Also, we found the movies under the stars feature was neat. We sat on deck chairs one night after supper and watched a concert by Tina Turner. The sound system and video screen is impressive.

The Ruby offers 4 separate swimming pools versus two on the Eurodam. A couple of things we found more attractive on the Eurodam was the more expansive promenade deck with room for loungers and a full circuit around the perimeter of the ship all on one level...great for those walks in the morning or after dinner. Also the Crows nest on the Eurodam offers a venue to gaze forward, whereas the Ruby only offers that view from the gymnasium, which is very well equipped.

 

Conclusions:

We enjoyed both our cruise on the Ruby and the Eurodam. The Ruby offers a richer, livelier experience, while the Eurodam was a more refined atmosphere. I have to say the staff on the Eurodam seemed more friendlier than the staff on the Princess. I swear I said Good Morning to more staff on the first morning on the Eurodam than the entire week on the Ruby. While we felt there were many more things to do and places to be on the Ruby, I`m not sure that is what we were looking for in our cruise. Bottom line is that we preferred our week on the Eurodam better. It seems that HAL focuses on a refined, more personalized service versus a livelier albeit more impersonal product offered on the Ruby. We really enjoyed the opportunity to compare the two ships and the style of each cruise line. For anyone looking for 2 weeks to spend cruising I would recommend a back to back on these two fine ships.

 

By having done this, don't you think that would affect the a/c "distribution" on your deck as it apparantly does by doing this same thing on a HAL ship? :confused:

[LindaM]

Someone may have mentioned this, but we are told to NOT leave them open for a reason. It messes with the A/C in the surrounding rooms. That is the reason HAL doesn't make it easy, most likely.

[GeriatricNurse]

No it wasn't that for me. I do not carry my cell phone with me on a cruise. Also kept it away from the magnetic closure on my purse. I don't know why I was going through so many cards on that ruise and I have no idea why that poster felt the need to post that information. It was really immaterial.

 

 

Immaterial? :confused: Well, you DID mention it on a post during the course of describing your (Alaskan) Princess cruise! ;) So, I was just wondering if you had ever discovered why your I.D. card was being demagnetized so often on that cruise, (so that it may assist anyone else who would possibly want to ever cruise with Princess)!;)

[cruz chic]

Immaterial? :confused: Well, you DID mention it on a post during the course of describing your (Alaskan) Princess cruise! ;) So, I was just wondering if you had ever discovered why your I.D. card was being demagnetized so often on that cruise, (so that it may assist anyone else who would possibly want to ever cruise with Princess)!;)

Really? I've never noticed that being an issue on the Princess board:confused:.

[Hawaiidan]

Ships, and buildings are built on the same principal of creating a positive pressure inside the building or vessel. AC/HVAC engineers make ther calculations on that posiitve pressure, safe and healthy air flow circulation. It also functions to keep the corrosive and humid air from attacking the ships inside...your cabin and everything thats metal.

Something very destructive to the health of the ship and its reliability salt air has lots of bio stuff ( mold. milldew), in it as well as plenty of salt and humidity.

 

 

If you open a door and keep it open its just like punching a hole in a pipr or bucket. The air pumps/fans will sence the rapid loss of pressure and try to compensate, till they max out.

In the case of a ship a lot of cabins down stream for the hole will expereince drastic loss of AC and fresh air.

 

In many hotel they have installed a trip switch, which if the door is left open the AC and vent system will shutoff totaly. I dont know if Princess has these. HAL has the heavy door for this reason, keep good air in and bad air out. If not your cabin would be chockfull of mold, fungus and rust in a matter of days.!

Now if done for several days you will build up lots of airboure crap in your room so that when you do re-seal the room, it get sucked into everybody elses room and all over the ship. ( ever notice that there are lots of colds and respiriatory infections in Carribe short term cruises.... the guy in the cabin next to yours may be filling yours with his hightly ciltures...

 

Folks if you want sleep on the veranda dont punish others by your wants. Keep the doors shut... they serve a purpous..Go outside if you want fresh air,

[powderhorn]

That was a very good review POWDERHORN. The only thing I'd like to ask you is whether you had attended the entertainment on either ship and what your experience was with smokers on adjacent verandas.

 

Starting in January smoking will be prohibited in cabins on both lines but still allowed on HALs verandas. I am leaning heavily toward HAL but I wonder if passengers that smoke will start taking more cruises on HAL after the new rules go into effect and create a majority of balcony smokers!

 

As for entertainment, I think the Princess ships that are bigger, like the Crown, or Ruby Princess have more venues for entertainment. They are livelier than the HAL ships...more choice for entertainment.

 

We are both non-smokers, and whatever traces of cigarette or cigar smoke we encountered, it was not sufficient to be a deterrent or bothersome.

 

I am sure you will enjoy your cruise, whichever line you decide to cruise on.

Nice to have such good choices!:)