Impressions of my New England/Canada cruise on Maasdam (HAL vs. Princess)

[guy44134]

I’d like to present some impressions of my recent cruise from Boston to Montreal on Maasdam (5/19-5/26/12), rather than a full-fledged cruise review. Since I’m a Princess Platinum cruiser and have sailed on HAL now for the second time, I thought I’d compare and contrast the two lines.

 

Ship: This is my second cruise aboard a HAL S-class ship (first was Veendam, pre-retrofit). The ship was very clean and well-maintained. We only had one toilet issue (the morning of our departure the toilet wouldn’t flush, but this was quickly remedied) and there was a small fire in a dishwasher on my deck that woke the entire ship up at 2:30 a.m. We were kept apprised of the situation very well and given regular status updates for about a half hour. I enjoyed some of the newer venues on Maasdam, especially the Mix lounges, although I found them rather small for some of the events held there. For example, we could not secure seats for musical trivia with the piano player nor the Cruise Director’s trivia a few times. And the redesigned Crow’s Nest is a real winner with dynamite views, comfy seating, and a cool bar. Although for trivia events and such the sight lines and seating were quite awkward. The theater on Maasdam is much smaller and has poorer sight lines than on Princess ships. The biggest difference in ship layout between HAL and Princess was the atrium. Because of the differences, that was largely wasted space on the Maasdam, compared to the bustling hub of activities on Princess ships. I do like the nice wide promenade on Maasdam, all on one level and great for walking. The new lanai staterooms look interesting, although they seem quite expensive. The muster drill takes place on deck at your assigned lifeboat station, requiring you to stand for quite a time on a packed deck while an oral role call takes place. I prefer Princess’ muster drill in a lounge/theater with electronic scanning of your cruise card and actual practice putting on your life vest.

Cabin: Here’s where HAL has the greatest edge. My outside cabin on deck 5 aft was roomier, with a sofa bed, and more stylishly decorated, than what I’ve seen on Princess. The renovated bathroom, with new grayish-brown tile, as well as a real bathtub, was also nicer than in similar cabins on Princess ships (no more clingy shower curtain—hurray!), and included nice Elemis products including great smelling shower gel. The closets were opposite the bathroom at the entrance to the cabin and provided a great deal of storage, but only had pants hangers with those metal hooks (we asked for more regular wooden hangers and they only had extra wire hangers). Black powdery residue was emanating from the A/C, but this was fixed quickly with the installation of a filter, after being assured there was nothing to worry about.

 

Food: The food in the main dining room ranged from good to excellent. Presentation was nice, portion sizes just right, and service fine (more on that later). I think I enjoyed the change of pace on HAL, particularly the different menus (as Princess’ haven’t changed significantly in several years). The 2-level dining room was very nice, and open seating worked fine, although one night we came at an “odd” time, probably about 20 minutes after the first fixed seating began and were seated at an open table upstairs. We were politely asked to leave our table at about 10 minutes to 8:00, as they had to get ready for the next seating. Bar staff acted as wine stewards and provided good service, although we found out half-way through the cruise that the dining room wine list did not contain the entire selection available (we found several reasonably priced sparkling wines on the wine list at the Mix champagne bar that were not on the dining room list—HAL lost some business due to this inconsistency). The Lido buffet seemed to have less variety than Princess’ Horizon Court, although I like the layout on HAL better, love the Asian & Italian stations, as well as the great free ice cream/sherbet and delicious bread pudding offered in the Lido. HAL also starts each cruise with precautions in the Lido so as to prevent the spread of Noro virus. Staff serve you everything and this greatly slowed down the service on the first two days. Also, on busy port days, breakfast service, particularly for the cooked-to-order items, seemed to bog down (a few extra cooks seem like they could have come in helpful). Also, one morning, the future cruise consultant was actually serving pastries at the Lido, leading me to believe that the ship was understaffed!

 

Entertainment: While I did not like the actual venue very much, the Showroom at Sea, due to odd sight lines, the large cast of singers were the best I’ve ever heard on a cruise ship (although one, who I think was supposed to offer comic relief, was kind of lame). They all had great voices and put on several; great shows. There were only two female dancers and no male dancers, and the production numbers, sets, special effects, lighting, etc. were not nearly as lavish as I’ve seen on Princess. The ventriloquist/comedian was very funny and the Indonesian cruise show was enjoyable as usual. The onboard travel guide gave several talks about our ports, including the history, natural history, flora/fauna, etc. This added a lot to our cruise and was greatly appreciated. I wish Princess provided more intellectual stimulation on its cruises (although this was more of a focus on my Panama Canal cruise as well as in Alaska). I missed a mid-sized venue like the Vista Lounge and Explorers Lounge for smaller entertainment options which are abundant on Princess, but were lacking on this cruise. Overall, the cruise (or Explorations) staff on HAL was smaller, more serious and less “goofy” than I’ve seen on Princess. They were also less fun, in my opinion. I’d love to combine the best aspects of both.

 

Service: While I was generally pleased with the level of service, I noted a decline since the last time I cruised with HAL in 2007. Prior to this cruise, I would have rated HAL’s service slightly superior to that on Princess. However, this time, the crew seemed much busier and much less personable. For instance, our two cabin stewards did not introduce themselves. In fact, my sisters in the next cabin did not even recognize them as we walked down the corridor five days into the cruise. My travel partner spoke Malaysian (closely related to Indonesian), so I think this might have helped us a bit. Also, only one waiter took the time to introduce himself in the main dining room (and we managed to snag a table with him 2 nights in a row), but not once did the assistant waiters talk with us; I suppose because they were working so hard and constantly running back & forth with our orders. In general, the ship seemed under-staffed; at least that was my perception (see my comments under Food above). There were a few evenings that dinner lasted much longer than I would have liked, while other nights it seemed to flow much better (perhaps there was a big crew change recently or there was not a full ship’s complement?). I also noticed the lack of service in the entertainment venues, particularly the main theater. It was difficult to attract a bar staff’s attention to order a drink. And it took forever for happy hour drinks to arrive (20 minutes sometimes). This is unlike my experience on Princess, where they were constantly hustling for business. Another impression—there was less overt selling of everything on HAL-fewer jewelry sales, t-shirt clearance sales, a much less “robust” art auction, etc. Depending on your perspective, this could be a good or bad thing.

 

Summary: I enjoyed the cruise on Maasdam greatly, particularly the itinerary, and would not hesitate to book another cruise on HAL. However, I would love to try a newer, bigger HAL ship someday. As mentioned above, I wish HAL would adopt some of Princess’ best features and vice versa. Also, I hope my impressions of a decline in service levels are not indicative of all of HAL’s cruises.

[chipq]

Thanks for sharing your comparison between PCL and HAL.

 

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[jody]

guy44134,

Thank you so much for your timely review! I'm also Platinum on Princess and am taking your exact cruise at month end and it will be my first time on HAL. I appreciate your insight and comments on the differences. It was very helpful and now I will know a bit more what to expect.

Thanks!

[madera1]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[aliaschief]

Thanks for the review. Very well done.

[erewhon]

Thank you for your review.

Had you finished eating your meal when you were asked to leave the upper dining room?

[PathfinderEss]

Thaniks for taking the time to write up a review of your cruise. Sounds like you had a good one.

[guy44134]

Thank you for your review.

Had you finished eating your meal when you were asked to leave the upper dining room?

 

We were finishing up dessert/coffee, so essentially, yes, but we might have lingered a bit longer, were we not asked to leave.

[kazu]

thanks for the review and the comparisons. Very interesting. I have avoided open dining/any time dining in the past. So, it's always interesting to hear reports on it:)

 

Comparisons are always fun - thanks for sharing:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

 

Yes -- HAL is cutting crew all the time. Thus making those left work even harder.

 

We had fixed dining and our waiter had to take our drink orders on the Maasdam -- just one more job for him to do. It was explained to us that by having the waiters take the drink orders and the wine stewards to do only bottles of wine -- they were able to cut back 4 wine stewards on this ship. This new practice should be on all ships by now.

[George C]

Thanks for the review, I find these two lines very similar in general having sailed both of them several times.

[mijello]

Thanks for the detailed review. HAL has always been one of our favorite cruise lines,but, it has been five years since we last sailed on them. We are going on a transatlantic cruise this October on Massdam.

[alpal1993]

Thanks for the review.We leave Saturday Look forward to seeing all the new Venues.I agree the Lanai Rooms are very pricey,but I still love that deck and would have loved to be in one.

[PetNanny]

Thanks for your review and the comparisons.

[Himself]

I’d like to present some impressions of my recent cruise from Boston to Montreal on Maasdam (5/19-5/26/12), rather than a full-fledged cruise review. Since I’m a Princess Platinum cruiser and have sailed on HAL now for the second time, I thought I’d compare and contrast the two lines.

 

Ship: This is my second cruise aboard a HAL S-class ship (first was Veendam, pre-retrofit). The ship was very clean and well-maintained. We only had one toilet issue (the morning of our departure the toilet wouldn’t flush, but this was quickly remedied) and there was a small fire in a dishwasher on my deck that woke the entire ship up at 2:30 a.m. We were kept apprised of the situation very well and given regular status updates for about a half hour. I enjoyed some of the newer venues on Maasdam, especially the Mix lounges, although I found them rather small for some of the events held there. For example, we could not secure seats for musical trivia with the piano player nor the Cruise Director’s trivia a few times. And the redesigned Crow’s Nest is a real winner with dynamite views, comfy seating, and a cool bar. Although for trivia events and such the sight lines and seating were quite awkward. The theater on Maasdam is much smaller and has poorer sight lines than on Princess ships. The biggest difference in ship layout between HAL and Princess was the atrium. Because of the differences, that was largely wasted space on the Maasdam, compared to the bustling hub of activities on Princess ships. I do like the nice wide promenade on Maasdam, all on one level and great for walking. The new lanai staterooms look interesting, although they seem quite expensive. The muster drill takes place on deck at your assigned lifeboat station, requiring you to stand for quite a time on a packed deck while an oral role call takes place. I prefer Princess’ muster drill in a lounge/theater with electronic scanning of your cruise card and actual practice putting on your life vest.

Cabin: Here’s where HAL has the greatest edge. My outside cabin on deck 5 aft was roomier, with a sofa bed, and more stylishly decorated, than what I’ve seen on Princess. The renovated bathroom, with new grayish-brown tile, as well as a real bathtub, was also nicer than in similar cabins on Princess ships (no more clingy shower curtain—hurray!), and included nice Elemis products including great smelling shower gel. The closets were opposite the bathroom at the entrance to the cabin and provided a great deal of storage, but only had pants hangers with those metal hooks (we asked for more regular wooden hangers and they only had extra wire hangers). Black powdery residue was emanating from the A/C, but this was fixed quickly with the installation of a filter, after being assured there was nothing to worry about.

 

Food: The food in the main dining room ranged from good to excellent. Presentation was nice, portion sizes just right, and service fine (more on that later). I think I enjoyed the change of pace on HAL, particularly the different menus (as Princess’ haven’t changed significantly in several years). The 2-level dining room was very nice, and open seating worked fine, although one night we came at an “odd” time, probably about 20 minutes after the first fixed seating began and were seated at an open table upstairs. We were politely asked to leave our table at about 10 minutes to 8:00, as they had to get ready for the next seating. Bar staff acted as wine stewards and provided good service, although we found out half-way through the cruise that the dining room wine list did not contain the entire selection available (we found several reasonably priced sparkling wines on the wine list at the Mix champagne bar that were not on the dining room list—HAL lost some business due to this inconsistency). The Lido buffet seemed to have less variety than Princess’ Horizon Court, although I like the layout on HAL better, love the Asian & Italian stations, as well as the great free ice cream/sherbet and delicious bread pudding offered in the Lido. HAL also starts each cruise with precautions in the Lido so as to prevent the spread of Noro virus. Staff serve you everything and this greatly slowed down the service on the first two days. Also, on busy port days, breakfast service, particularly for the cooked-to-order items, seemed to bog down (a few extra cooks seem like they could have come in helpful). Also, one morning, the future cruise consultant was actually serving pastries at the Lido, leading me to believe that the ship was understaffed!

 

Entertainment: While I did not like the actual venue very much, the Showroom at Sea, due to odd sight lines, the large cast of singers were the best I’ve ever heard on a cruise ship (although one, who I think was supposed to offer comic relief, was kind of lame). They all had great voices and put on several; great shows. There were only two female dancers and no male dancers, and the production numbers, sets, special effects, lighting, etc. were not nearly as lavish as I’ve seen on Princess. The ventriloquist/comedian was very funny and the Indonesian cruise show was enjoyable as usual. The onboard travel guide gave several talks about our ports, including the history, natural history, flora/fauna, etc. This added a lot to our cruise and was greatly appreciated. I wish Princess provided more intellectual stimulation on its cruises (although this was more of a focus on my Panama Canal cruise as well as in Alaska). I missed a mid-sized venue like the Vista Lounge and Explorers Lounge for smaller entertainment options which are abundant on Princess, but were lacking on this cruise. Overall, the cruise (or Explorations) staff on HAL was smaller, more serious and less “goofy” than I’ve seen on Princess. They were also less fun, in my opinion. I’d love to combine the best aspects of both.

 

Service: While I was generally pleased with the level of service, I noted a decline since the last time I cruised with HAL in 2007. Prior to this cruise, I would have rated HAL’s service slightly superior to that on Princess. However, this time, the crew seemed much busier and much less personable. For instance, our two cabin stewards did not introduce themselves. In fact, my sisters in the next cabin did not even recognize them as we walked down the corridor five days into the cruise. My travel partner spoke Malaysian (closely related to Indonesian), so I think this might have helped us a bit. Also, only one waiter took the time to introduce himself in the main dining room (and we managed to snag a table with him 2 nights in a row), but not once did the assistant waiters talk with us; I suppose because they were working so hard and constantly running back & forth with our orders. In general, the ship seemed under-staffed; at least that was my perception (see my comments under Food above). There were a few evenings that dinner lasted much longer than I would have liked, while other nights it seemed to flow much better (perhaps there was a big crew change recently or there was not a full ship’s complement?). I also noticed the lack of service in the entertainment venues, particularly the main theater. It was difficult to attract a bar staff’s attention to order a drink. And it took forever for happy hour drinks to arrive (20 minutes sometimes). This is unlike my experience on Princess, where they were constantly hustling for business. Another impression—there was less overt selling of everything on HAL-fewer jewelry sales, t-shirt clearance sales, a much less “robust” art auction, etc. Depending on your perspective, this could be a good or bad thing.

 

Summary: I enjoyed the cruise on Maasdam greatly, particularly the itinerary, and would not hesitate to book another cruise on HAL. However, I would love to try a newer, bigger HAL ship someday. As mentioned above, I wish HAL would adopt some of Princess’ best features and vice versa. Also, I hope my impressions of a decline in service levels are not indicative of all of HAL’s cruises.

 

Thank You for the Review. I have been known to travel on the Nieuw Amsterdam and that is a big ship that I just love.

[cruiseapril]

Nicely written review. We have been on Princess, so appreciate the comparisons.

 

What did you do in the ports? Any HAL excursions?

[MARYVB]

I am surprised that no one thought to mention that the ship was probably understaffed due to a norovirus outbreak. The OP said that the future cruise consultant was dishing out the pastries in the Lido. It is my experience that this is always the result from so much regular crew being ill. I have seen it happen on several voyages, where the purser staff, medical personnel, and even the area head chef was serving to compensate for absent crew members. It is a team effort to cover the food service in a crisis. I really appreciate that these people jump in when the ship needs them. It does slow down the service, but they are inexperienced and do go slower. I have NO problem with that. I try to be extra nice and friendly to compensate for the people who say not so nice things. The truth is once I told a lady on line off for giving a Gal from the front desk a hard time when she was serving salads to us. That was on a Hawaii cruise out of San Diego. Well, I just thought the OP should know that her slow service issues were probably caused by staff illness instead of HAL cutbacks. I know they are cutting back but not to the point of using the future cruise consultant as a server. My next cruise is Alaska in August on Volendam. I hope there is no virus present on her.

Mary

[Cruising-along]

I am surprised that no one thought to mention that the ship was probably understaffed due to a norovirus outbreak. The OP said that the future cruise consultant was dishing out the pastries in the Lido. It is my experience that this is always the result from so much regular crew being ill. I have seen it happen on several voyages, where the purser staff, medical personnel, and even the area head chef was serving to compensate for absent crew members. It is a team effort to cover the food service in a crisis. I really appreciate that these people jump in when the ship needs them. It does slow down the service, but they are inexperienced and do go slower. I have NO problem with that. I try to be extra nice and friendly to compensate for the people who say not so nice things. The truth is once I told a lady on line off for giving a Gal from the front desk a hard time when she was serving salads to us. That was on a Hawaii cruise out of San Diego. Well, I just thought the OP should know that her slow service issues were probably caused by staff illness instead of HAL cutbacks. I know they are cutting back but not to the point of using the future cruise consultant as a server. My next cruise is Alaska in August on Volendam. I hope there is no virus present on her.

Mary

 

We were on the Maasdam 2 sailings before the OP and did indeed have Noro for nearly the whole cruise. And the future cruise consultant (Michael Gardner) did indeed help out at the buffet --- but he was helping out before and after the Noro broke out too, so I think maybe he does it as additional duties. :confused: We saw him there every day, Noro or not.

[aloisia]

Thank you for your review. We love both Princess & HAL! Emerald Princess & Eurodam are our favorites so far. (DH would like HAL to offer the Retreat Cabanas on more ships - very relaxing). :)