Holland America Zuiderdam vs. Princess' Island Princess

[tarheelmjfan]

My DH & I are trying to choose between these 2 ships for an October, Panama Canal cruise. We've never sailed with either of the lines. We like the HAL itinerary a bit better. Unfortunately, Zuiderdam seems to have a lot of problems.

 

Our number one priority is food choices & quality. We'd also like the ship to be nice. We'll book a balcony cabin on either ship. Entertainment isn't as important to us. We don't care who the captain, cruise director, etc. is. Those things aren't important to us at all.

 

For reference, we've sailed with Celebrity & I have sailed with NCL. We love X & have cruised with them a few times. I've only sailed on NCL once. I would sail NCL again, but only if we ate as many meals as possible in the specialty restaurants. I found their MDR very disappointing.

 

Taking all of that into consideration, which ship would you recommend for us? Thanks in advance. :)

[Tweedy]

My DH & I are trying to choose between these 2 ships for an October, Panama Canal cruise. We've never sailed with either of the lines. We like the HAL itinerary a bit better. Unfortunately, Zuiderdam seems to have a lot of problems.

 

Our number one priority is food choices & quality. We'd also like the ship to be nice. We'll book a balcony cabin on either ship. Entertainment isn't as important to us. We don't care who the captain, cruise director, etc. is. Those things aren't important to us at all.

 

For reference, we've sailed with Celebrity & I have sailed with NCL. We love X & have cruised with them a few times. I've only sailed on NCL once. I would sail NCL again, but only if we ate as many meals as possible in the specialty restaurants. I found their MDR very disappointing.

 

Taking all of that into consideration, which ship would you recommend for us? Thanks in advance. :)

 

Hi there;

 

I have sailed on the Zuiderdam and the Island's sister ship the Coral Princess both back in 2009.

 

Line comparison: I find HAL and Princess very comparable and honestly wouldn't put NCL in the same category. I agree with you on the main dining room with NCL... disappointment for sure. I am going on my first Celebrity cruise in a couple of weeks and have heard it is comparable to the other two lines.

 

Food: The food on both ships was very good. We enjoyed the specialty restaurant on the Princess ship and didn't try one on the Zuiderdam.

 

Entertainment: I thought the entertainment on the Zuiderdam was fantastic and enjoyed the entertainment on Princess as well.

 

The Island/Coral Princess is a nice size ship with great areas for viewing. We did the Coral Princess through the Panama Canal. I don't know what it would be like on the Zuiderdam. Both have good promenade decks. I would have liked to have been able to go onto the forward deck of the Coral like you can on the Zuiderdam.

 

My personal experience was I was happy with both ships.

 

Feel free to check out the photos in my signature.

[CruiserBruce]

I think if you "loved" X, HAL will be more to your liking. Nothing wrong with Princess, but HAL will be more to your tastes.

[Starbright]

I've done the Panama Canal on board the Zuiderdam and just loved it. In fact I loved the whole 3 weeks we were on board. Beautiful ship, great service, lovely food, good shows. In fact everything was first class in my opinion. We had a balcony cabin, but went onto the top deck for the transit of the canal. The crew were serving iced lemonade up there the whole time during the transit. When we first approached the entrance to the canal we were able to go right to the bow of the ship for a great view. I love Princess too, but would always choose HAL if I possibly could.

[tarheelmjfan]

Hi there;

 

I have sailed on the Zuiderdam and the Island's sister ship the Coral Princess both back in 2009.

 

Line comparison: I find HAL and Princess very comparable and honestly wouldn't put NCL in the same category. I agree with you on the main dining room with NCL... disappointment for sure. I am going on my first Celebrity cruise in a couple of weeks and have heard it is comparable to the other two lines.

 

Food: The food on both ships was very good. We enjoyed the specialty restaurant on the Princess ship and didn't try one on the Zuiderdam.

 

Entertainment: I thought the entertainment on the Zuiderdam was fantastic and enjoyed the entertainment on Princess as well.

 

The Island/Coral Princess is a nice size ship with great areas for viewing. We did the Coral Princess through the Panama Canal. I don't know what it would be like on the Zuiderdam. Both have good promenade decks. I would have liked to have been able to go onto the forward deck of the Coral like you can on the Zuiderdam.

 

My personal experience was I was happy with both ships.

 

Feel free to check out the photos in my signature.

 

Thanks for the comparison. It's a tough decision. Obviously, both ships have pros & cons.

 

I think if you "loved" X, HAL will be more to your liking. Nothing wrong with Princess, but HAL will be more to your tastes.

 

Why do you say that? I'm just curious. We haven't been on a cruise in a couple years. (Our DS doesn't like cruising. He's going off to college this fall, so we're back to cruising. :D) I've been reading X's food has gone downhill recently, but we thought it was very good on the cruises we've taken with them. We really like the atmosphere on X ships. We don't get many chances to dress up, so I like being able to get really dressed up & not look out of place. I've read HAL has an older demographic. We're 50 & 44, but the age of the passengers doesn't matter to us. We like people of all ages, as long as they're well behaved. :)

 

I've done the Panama Canal on board the Zuiderdam and just loved it. In fact I loved the whole 3 weeks we were on board. Beautiful ship, great service, lovely food, good shows. In fact everything was first class in my opinion. We had a balcony cabin, but went onto the top deck for the transit of the canal. The crew were serving iced lemonade up there the whole time during the transit. When we first approached the entrance to the canal we were able to go right to the bow of the ship for a great view. I love Princess too, but would always choose HAL if I possibly could.

 

Thanks for the info. How long has it been, since you sailed on Zuiderdam? I'm reading a lot of reports of toilet issues & A/C problems. A little wear & tear doesn't both us. Major toilet & A/C problems would. The reported condition of the ship is the only thing that concerns me about the HAL cruise.

[CruiserBruce]

Because Celebrity is most similar to HAL.

 

Don't worry about the age issue. You are planning a long cruise. It won't be a young crowd on any line.

[momofmeg]

We chose the Zuiderdam because of the ports. We preferred the private island to Grand Cayman and Curacao to Columbia.

[momofmeg]

Because Celebrity is most similar to HAL.

 

Don't worry about the age issue. You are planning a long cruise. It won't be a young crowd on any line.

 

So true Bruce-the HAL Vista class and newer class ships attract a younger crowd anyway. Our last 2 HAL cruises the Westerdam and Zuidersam, we WERE the old folks being in our fifties. Average age would have been 35.

 

Now our Statendam Alaska cruise years ago,we were the "kids" and we were in our mid forties at the time. Average age on that ship 65.

 

I do think also the Caribbean attracts a younger crowd than Alaska also.

[momofmeg]

Now that I have done a partial transit, unless I could do a full transit, I would be just as happy doping Celebrity Equinox. I do want to go back, but we stayed on ship to watch the locks on the Zuiderdam, I would like to take that train to the Pacific and then the bus back next time.

[tarheelmjfan]

Because Celebrity is most similar to HAL.

 

Don't worry about the age issue. You are planning a long cruise. It won't be a young crowd on any line.

 

Thanks for getting back to me. That's a good reason. :)

 

We chose the Zuiderdam because of the ports. We preferred the private island to Grand Cayman and Curacao to Columbia.

 

We prefer the HAL itinerary too. We also like the fact that we can order from the dining room for room service breakfast. Breakfast on our balcony is one of our favorite things about cruising. We usually have breakfast there every morning. It's not the HAL line in general that I'm concerned with though. It's the reports on the condition of Zuiderdam. I was just reading a thread from a couple weeks ago where 60% of the ship didn't have A/C. We'll have a balcony, so we could deal with that. The reports of plumbing problems are a different story. That would really ruin a trip for me. Anything else I could handle. How long has it been, since you were on Zuiderdam?

 

Now that I have done a partial transit, unless I could do a full transit, I would be just as happy doping Celebrity Equinox. I do want to go back, but we stayed on ship to watch the locks on the Zuiderdam, I would like to take that train to the Pacific and then the bus back next time.

 

We would book an X cruise, if there was a cruise in the area for our dates. Our 20th anniversary is in October, & we want to be on the ship on our anniversary date.

 

We're debating whether or not to take a tour at the PC. I'd love to book the ferry tour. Unfortunately, my health isn't good. I'm afraid I'd be having a bad day, & wouldn't be able to handle the long day the tours require. It would be great, if there was a tour that was just a few hours.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Right now with all the problems that the Zuiderdam is having with toilets and air conditioning -- I would not consider that ship.

[momofmeg]

Thanks for getting back to me. That's a good reason. :)

 

 

 

We prefer the HAL itinerary too. We also like the fact that we can order from the dining room for room service breakfast. Breakfast on our balcony is one of our favorite things about cruising. We usually have breakfast there every morning. It's not the HAL line in general that I'm concerned with though. It's the reports on the condition of Zuiderdam. I was just reading a thread from a couple weeks ago where 60% of the ship didn't have A/C. We'll have a balcony, so we could deal with that. The reports of plumbing problems are a different story. That would really ruin a trip for me. Anything else I could handle. How long has it been, since you were on Zuiderdam?

 

 

 

We would book an X cruise, if there was a cruise in the area for our dates. Our 20th anniversary is in October, & we want to be on the ship on our anniversary date.

 

We're debating whether or not to take a tour at the PC. I'd love to book the ferry tour. Unfortunately, my health isn't good. I'm afraid I'd be having a bad day, & wouldn't be able to handle the long day the tours require. It would be great, if there was a tour that was just a few hours.

 

Celebrity does not go through any of the locks which is why many people look at HAL or Princess. As far as it not being your anniversary, ours is in January-and we wanted to do a transatlantic a few years back for our 25th. We took a TA about 3 and half months early.

 

Next Jan. is our 30th and we are taking a Med cruise in June- we consider this our 30th anniversary gift to each other.

 

Anyway, my point, don't get hung up on the date-you can still be celebrating your anniversary/years together. I especially feel people should not get hung up for a big year like 10th, 25th, 30th, 40th,etc. I looked at the options for Med cruise sin January-not good-LOL! or at least not what we were interested in doing for a first Med cruise.

 

 

BTW-we did take our Zuiderdam southern Caribbean cruise in January 2010-that was our 27th!

[Starbright]

Can't comment on Zuiderdam's problems as it's a few years since we were on her. Surely if the problems are that bad they'll be doing something to fix them?

[ercoupe]

We did the 11 day Panama canal cruise the end of March. My issue with the ship was the food. Breakfast meats, sausage and bacon, were such poor quality they were not edible. I love large breakfasts and this was not acceptable.They had a rancid taste. The steaks were tough and full of gristle. Waiters were so busy, that if you sent something back, they never returned. Would not travel with them again.

[tarheelmjfan]

Thank you all for the additional feedback. I just told my DH what all of you had to say. We had gotten excited about the HAL cruise, but the condition of the ship is a major concern. It's too bad, because that cruise had so many positives. We've decided it's time to get excited about the Princess cruise instead. I'm sure it will be great. We'll try a HAL ship someday, when the circumstances are right.

[momofmeg]

Thank you all for the additional feedback. I just told my DH what all of you had to say. We had gotten excited about the HAL cruise, but the condition of the ship is a major concern. It's too bad, because that cruise had so many positives. We've decided it's time to get excited about the Princess cruise instead. I'm sure it will be great. We'll try a HAL ship someday, when the circumstances are right.

 

Check recent reviews-I would not go by a couple of negative posts here. Granted it has been 2 years, but the ship was in excellent shape-especially considering it is 7 years old.

[tarheelmjfan]

Check recent reviews-I would not go by a couple of negative posts here. Granted it has been 2 years, but the ship was in excellent shape-especially considering it is 7 years old.

 

Unfortunately, recent reviews & posts are what caused concern. Everything I've read on Zuiderdam recently has mentioned toilet &/or A/C problems. I can't imagine why they continue to sail a ship with reoccurring problems. I read there's a dry dock scheduled in Nov. Maybe, they're trying to hold off & wait for that. If we knew the problems would be corrected by Oct., we'd go ahead & book the HAL cruise. These problems seem to have occurred over several cruises though. It doesn't look promising.

[cruiseaholic777]

Princess would be my choice. My sister is a travel agent and she says Hal is a much older crowd. Not that it is a bad thing, just for me (55) and my wife (54) we prefer a little more energy. The food on both will be good, not as good as Celebrity but good. We love Princess and i hope you will also. Either way have a great cruise. :rolleyes:

[momofmeg]

Princess would be my choice. My sister is a travel agent and she says Hal is a much older crowd. Not that it is a bad thing, just for me (55) and my wife (54) we prefer a little more energy. The food on both will be good, not as good as Celebrity but good. We love Princess and i hope you will also. Either way have a great cruise. :rolleyes:

 

I was 55 when we cruised the Zuiderdam for the partial Panama Canal-average age that cruise was 35.

 

However you definitely NEED air for that area of the world. That is why I would pick Princess. BTW I have found travel agents stir you to the cruise companies THEY like. Everyone has opinions not just travel agents. I recommend everyone read reviews to get a broader view of things. You get a better idea of what is the bet fit for YOU.

[momofmeg]

Unfortunately, recent reviews & posts are what caused concern. Everything I've read on Zuiderdam recently has mentioned toilet &/or A/C problems. I can't imagine why they continue to sail a ship with reoccurring problems. I read there's a dry dock scheduled in Nov. Maybe, they're trying to hold off & wait for that. If we knew the problems would be corrected by Oct., we'd go ahead & book the HAL cruise. These problems seem to have occurred over several cruises though. It doesn't look promising.

 

Then you did the best thing-you did not allow a couple of replies to sway you. Just like the last post before mine. His sister the travel agent says HAL is an older crowd. He is 55. ON this particular cruise I was the "old gal" compared to most. There were also plenty of options for entertainment in the evenings.

 

BTW-although I enjoyed that cruise-I found it way too smoky. (I'm a non smoker) This was shortly after Celebrity had gone stricter and did not allow smoking on their balconies or in staterooms. It seemed many of the former smoking Celebrity loyalists had defected to HAL and we had an unusually high number of smokers-like 35 or 40%? We like to walk on the promenade deck and it was really a problem for us on the one side of the ship.This is the reason why we have not cruised with HAL again.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I think if you "loved" X, HAL will be more to your liking. Nothing wrong with Princess, but HAL will be more to your tastes.

I agree .....