HAL or Princess

[nancycoop1]

We have sailed HAL, but mostly Princess the last few years. We are considering HAL again for our next cruise. Does anyone have any thoughts on the comparison between the two? We love the coffee cards, our free internet minutes (platinum on Princess) and entertainment on Princess, but on our last cruise were a little disappointed in the food and seminars. Thanks

[TraelorMex]

Princess: cold and efficient. HAL: warm, friendly and efficient. Plus, beds are more comfortable and food is much better.

[George C]

We switched from Princess to HAL a few years ago, I think food is about the same on both, both allow you to bring in wine. I just thought the Princess ships were so crowded since they increased ## of cabins on all the newer ships and didn't increase the size of the theatre etc etc. Aftrer a few cruises were we were unable to see the show we tried HAL, Hal ships never seem crowded, we like the entertainment, I also think the pay resturant "the Pinnacle" on HAL is nicer with better food that the pay resturants on Princess. ( Pinnacle is 25 per person, there also is a itilian resturant that is free on most ships and 10 dollars on a few)

[kazu]

We prefer HAL to Princess too -

 

- no free internet on HAL

 

- entertainment is probably better on Princess as far as shows go - however HAL's adagio strings and piano bar along with a couple of other things are superior to princess IMO.

 

- I find HAL's food better (but food is subjective) - same with the Pinnacle Grill and the Tamarind (if you are on the Eurodam or Nieuw Amsterdam).

 

- I like some of the niceities that I didn't see on my last Princess cruise - fresh squeezed oj in the Lido or the MDR at breakfast.

 

- Adagio Strings

 

- amazing staff - warmth - great service

 

- bread pudding

 

- better rooms, better beds and no feeling of being crowded on HAL ships.

 

- despite being mass market - Hal's ships mostly rate right up there in space to passenger ratio.

 

- the wonderful, wonderful promenade deck

 

- the marvelous little corners you can find on the ship

 

- orchids in the Lido

 

- real hand towels in the public washrooms

 

- exquisite flower arrangements

 

- beautiful art and pieces of history throughout the ship

 

- best library at sea

 

Overall, we prefer HAL to Princess. Last Princess cruise I found myself wishing I was on HAL. so we went back :) again:) and again:)

 

always open to other cruise lines - but we like interesting itineraries and so far, no one has offered what we were looking for and HAL good provide.

 

Warning - HAL is a bit of a 'make your fun/entertainment" line. You will not be inundated with 85 announcements a day.

 

Just my quick synopsis - give it a try - a change is as a good as a rest:)

[Hawaiidan]

because of size and ship design princess ships are flat out ugly to me

 

Holland America puts 50% less people on a ship. Too Holland ships are more low key and not all entertainment oriented. Princess, to me seems like a floating Las Vegas or Miami hotel, not a cruise. same with many others like Celeb... has almost deck space, and a lawn... ( Lawns are nice for a home, they are obscene on a ship.) We could care less about shows, specialitiy dining, faux elite pandering and spas. We go for the intrinsic value of ocean travel on a ship

 

I will, if given the choice always opt for the smaller ship and less passengers. Food being very subjective. I have never had a bad meal on any ship.

 

One final thing is clientel the ship attracts. Holland, a more well mannered, well traveled group with few kids. Other Lines market to a broad spectrum of folks and families

[DeepWaterMariner]

We cruise both Princess and HAL. I think you'll enjoy HAL again if for no other reason, because it is a change to something different than the usual. If we are on Princess we enjoy things like the International Cafe, the themed diners in the Caribe Cafe, twice a day trivia, and the more varied entertainment options...plus our Elite perks. On HAL we enjoy the DVD player with the large library of movies, the cooking classes in the Culinary Arts Center, a theater that has easily accessible seating, and a buffet that prepares most things to order.

[Maryandi]

We are Elite on Princess and 4-star Mariners on HAL, we like them both and have no trouble choosing either one if the itinerary is what we want.

 

MaryA

[mr green]

Princess: cold and efficient. HAL: warm, friendly and efficient. Plus, beds are more comfortable and food is much better.

 

While I enjoy both lines, I would reverse the above statements, in reference to HAL and Princess.

 

john

[djhsolara]

When people ask us about Princess we always use the word "generic" to describe the experience. When we describe HAL we always say lovely ships, good food and great service. Also to us the HAL ships are a bit more manageable in size. I know my Mother was a bit intimidated by the size of the Caribbean Princess but has no problem navigating a HAL ship.

 

One other thing that sells us on HAL is that fact that their ships have a covered pool. If there is bad weather there is still a pool to use on HAL. I know some Princess ships have covered pools, but neither on which we've sailed.

 

 

Douglas...Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hlitner]

When you ask this question on the HA boards you are going to have a lot of HA "cheerleaders" and many others who have never or seldom been on Princess. We are Elite with Princess and 4 Star with HA (not boasting but establishing credibility) and enjoy both cruise lines (Celebrity is our currrent favorite mass market line). You will not get any free internet time on HA (one of my big complaints) but we do not see any big deal about coffee cards (you really do not save much and have to remember to carry that card). We think that Princess entertainment is generally better then on HA (but it does vary by ship and cruise) and Princess tends to have more of a late night crowd. If you are taking a longer HA cruise it can be rare to see anyone awake after 11:30 :). And that is the key to much of the comparison. On HA and Princess the size of the ship and length of the cruise have a huge impact on the entire atmosphere aboard and the age of passengers. We have been on HA cruises where the young passengers were in their 60s. There are few children on many HA cruises. One other major factor (at least to us) is the smoking policy. Although HA has finally implemented some anti smoking rules (i.e. no smoking in cabins) they still permit smoking on verandahs. Hence we will not book a balcony cabin on HA because we do not enjoy smoking other peoples smoke! Princess has banned smoking on balconies (and in the cabins) which is a good thing. Of course the best anti smoking policies are on Celebrity and Oceania.

 

One other negative thing about HA is the way they have taken a few of their ships (such as the Rotterdam) and converted their aft swimming pool into a "bird bath" which is about 5 inches deep (true). This leaves these ships with a single pool and if there are a few kids or teens aboard they can quickly take over that one pool. Not a good thing! And if you want to know why HA converted some of their aft pools into bird baths it was to add a few additonal passenger cabins (on the deck below). The attitude at HA seemed to be that it was OK to inconvenience several thousand passengers in order to generate a few extra dollars of revenue.

Hank

[3rdGenCunarder]

I would definitely choose HAL over Princess. On Princess, the only quiet space we could find was our balcony. Music or the soundtrack of the jumbotron movie played on all the deck areas. I hated what seemed like constant announcements, especially the Bingo announcements. If we wanted to sit outside and read, we had to sit on our tiny balcony. I like that HAL has lots of places to sit. You can find shade and quiet to relax on a sea day.

 

I did not think the shows on Princess were good. The performers may have had talent, but the show design/themes were bad and gave the performers little chance to do anything but yowl. The shows on Princess were amplified to the point of being deafening.

 

Evenings on HAL are quieter than on Princess, and that's fine with us. The shows are OK. The jazz combo (Neptunes) and the Adagio strings were wonderful.

 

Service on HAL is better. On our Princess cruise, the front desk staff were playing "Liar's club." I expected somebody's pants to burst into flame any second! Shorex staff were rude. Shorex staff on HAL were very pleasant and helpful.

 

I'd say food and service at dinner in the MDR is a tie. We usually have lunch and breakfast in the buffet. Princess gets points for longer hours. But HAL has more fresh food--fresh-squeezed OJ and omelets to order at breakfast, as opposed to premade (no choice of contents) omelets on Princess. MDR breakfast on Princess had the same premade omelets.

 

And, as others have said, the HAL ships are a pleasant size and not as crowded.

[Appygirl]

For me it would depend on the itinerary and if all things were equal then the better price gets it.

 

I find the food better on HAL and the entertainment and cabin stewards better on Princess. But all of that is subjective.

 

The other thing you might want to consider is whether or not you're a smoker. HAL allows smoking on balconies and designated areas around the ship. Princess does not allow smoking on balconies but has designated areas on the ship.

[sammiedawg]

Both offer good products for the money. I don't care for the oversized 3100 passsenger ships Princess is rolling out, poor passenger space ratios. Princess offers some great perks- free Internet after 6 cruises which is worth a couple hundred dollars (given the slow Internet speed at sea). Princess also gives military discount to anyone who served in the military, we got $100 by faxing in a military discharge paper.

[kazu]

While I enjoy both lines, I would reverse the above statements, in reference to HAL and Princess.

 

john

 

Really not surprised you said this - knowing your past posts - but honestly to say Princess' beds are better:confused: Now that is really going to the extreme:) Even some luxury cruisers will state that HAL's are the best.

 

One of the best things about HAL are their beds - we sleep well in them.:D

[New Jersey Pat]

We are three star on HA and took our first Princess cruise on the Coral Princess in January.

On the plus side for Princess their wine list is far better and their new wine packages are great. Also, enjoyed the promenade deck which has not been plagued by lanai cabins that are on some HAL ships. Never thought I would find the service better than on HA, but did on our Princess cruise.

On the negative side, we missed the string quartet and a decent size shower. The showers on Princess were very, very small. This may vary from ship to ship, however.

 

Bottom line, we would be happy on either Princess of HA.

[mr green]

Really not surprised you said this - knowing your past posts - but honestly to say Princess' beds are better:confused: Now that is really going to the extreme:) Even some luxury cruisers will state that HAL's are the best.

 

One of the best things about HAL are their beds - we sleep well in them.:D

 

I sleep well anywhere, however IMO the best part of Princess has always been the staff. Always friendly, never uptight, as soon as my wife and I get on a Princess ship we always feel 'at home, wanted, among friends?' While that feeling is hard to put into words, I/we have never quite found it on HAL.

 

john

[PathfinderEss]

Prefer Hal, food is much better. Crew is also much friendlier.

[johnmik1]

We have sailed HAL, but mostly Princess the last few years. We are considering HAL again for our next cruise. Does anyone have any thoughts on the comparison between the two? We love the coffee cards, our free internet minutes (platinum on Princess) and entertainment on Princess, but on our last cruise were a little disappointed in the food and seminars. Thanks

 

We sailed on both HAL and Princess in January and the lines are very similar.We found the menus on HAL a bit nicer but we were probably so used to Princess that any change was for the better.The buffet was much better on HAL with more options and food that was actually hot.On HAL the cabin was much noisier and we did not care for the balcony door configuration.The casino was much smaller on HAL, as was the ship.The Princess ship was much nicer,IMHO and the HAL crowd was much older.I would sail HAL again but their pricing is much higher than Princess.I did book a FCC on HAL but my next 3 cruises are on Princess.

[swedish weave]

I prefer Princess over HAL. Crew seem to be more relaxed and friendlier.

[wwbill4]

We've done both. It kinda comes down to what ports the ships are going to. Actually the best ship hands down was the Oasis. It's in a class by itself.

We would do that ship again if they only changed the route.

Bill

[iancal]

I think it really depends of whether you prefer Ford over Chev or Toyota over Nissan.

[dakrewser]

WE find Princess to be adequate if not as enjoyable as HAL. The on-board experience with Princess just seemed more bland (as is the food, if you can imagine).

[sassyredhat]

We took our 2nd PCL cruise in April to Hawaii. We have taken 2 HAL cruises to Hawaii.

 

PCL offers a fine product, very similar to HAL. For us, the HAL cabins are larger, and I like that bathtub HAL offers. Well, the beds too. :) Our DS, 44, and DIL, 35, found more activities on PCL.

 

We found the crew to be similar, food similar with a slight edge to HAL. Didn't care for the buffet on PCL, but it was adequate. I'm kind of a picky eater though.

Also, PCL was outstanding in accomodating my dietary restrictions, which I'm sure HAL would be also.

For us, we now look at itinerary and price when we decide. But~~HAL is like wearing a comfy, fuzzy pair of slippers.

I think our 2015 Hawaii cruise will be with HAL.

Pat

[OCruisers]

Yes, we have been on both Princess and HAL. More on Princess. There is a reason for that. We like Princess better and it's a better fit for us. HAL is the one we consider for VERY port intensive cruises when we always want a very early evening each night.