HAL Veendam VS Princess Crown Princess

[niceguyneastbay]

I have never sailed on Princess and thinking of giving it a try. Currently 3 * at HAL no status at Princess. Difference is size of ship, and departure port. Both are Mexican Rivera with same ports just different arrival and dpearture times. I think HAL has better times in each port than Princess.

 

Looking at getting a Mini-Suite on Princess. Who has sailed on both cruise lines. Looking for feedback both positive and neg about each cruise lines and the ships listed above.

 

Interested in hearing about the main dining room food as well as specialty restaurants.

 

Do you notice lots of children?

 

Does the ship quiet down after 10pm?

 

Let me know your thoughts.

 

Thanks,

 

Tim

[skynight]

I have never sailed on Princess and thinking of giving it a try. Currently 3 * at HAL no status at Princess. Difference is size of ship, and departure port. Both are Mexican Rivera with same ports just different arrival and departure times. I think HAL has better times in each port than Princess.

 

Looking at getting a Mini-Suite on Princess. Who has sailed on both cruise lines. Looking for feedback both positive and neg about each cruise lines and the ships listed above.

Interested in hearing about the main dining room food as well as specialty restaurants.

Do you notice lots of children?

Does the ship quiet down after 10pm?

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,

 

Tim

I have been on the Rydam , sister to the Veedam, and the Crown. They are different experiences. The Crown is a much larger ship with more venues for evening and daytime activities. Princess has a larger Cruise Director staff with more activities, more live music, more dancing opportunities, more games shows, I think better production shows, and additional guest entertainers. You could have a comic in Explorer's Lounge and a Production Show in the Theater going on at the same time.

Regarding food, I feel Princess DR selections are at least equal to if not better than HAL. I was not impressed with HAL's Chef's menu and remember having some difficulty finding a selection. Princess always has the 'always available' selections, the basics. HAL's buffet is better. Princess gets the big big edge with their International Cafe, Trident Grill and Pizza. The Crown Princess has Sabatini's (Italian) and The Crown Grill, current surcharge is $25/pp. They also have The Crab Shack some evenings in a section of the Cafe Caribe, surcharge $20/pp. These are all very good. I can't compare with HAL since I never tried their surcharge dining. Princess also has some special dining options at higher prices such as The Chef's Table, I think the price is in the $95 range, includes wine.

 

The amount of children on board depends on what week you select. Children in school, very few on board; children's vacation time, more on board. When we were on the Rydam it was loaded with youth and they totally monopolized the pool.

 

Princess has live music in the various lounges until around midnight, and in Crooner's lounge probably until 12:30 or 1. Sykwalker's Nightclub opens around 9:30 and stays open late. Movies under the Stars usually has two showings with final credits around 11pm or so. Select your cabin carefully and you will never hear anything once inside.

 

By the way, if it matters to you, no smoking in cabins or on balconies, and smoking areas are very limited on all Princess ships.

[f-mattox]

I have been on both Veendam and Ruby Princess, sister to Crown Princess. I would take Veendam any day--simply because I love the smaller ship and lower number of passengers. Veendam doesn't have all the bells and whistles and not as many entertainment venues and dining options. But it is a much more comfortable ship; easier to get around, and the food and service, both the main dining room and the buffet, are a cut above Princess. Veendam has only one specialty restaurant but it is better than any of the ones on Princess. I don't mean to be too hard on Princess: they are always a good value for the money. HAL is a little higher--although not all the time--but it is just a better cruise experience.

[avalon1025]

Veendam , far, far less crowded. More traditional experience and better, more personal service.

[aikensbest]

I find the food on Princess to be much better than Hal. Also with more choices in the MDR. I guess if you like early closing of most venues, then I would choose Hal. As to the ships I much prefer the larger Princess ship..been on it twice..with so much more to do and although larger never seemed crowded to me. I found the dining room staff to be much better on Princess and all staff to be more friendly.

[san diego sue]

Have been on both ships. Liked my cruises for different reasons.

I was looking for a totally restful get away (and wanted to cruise out of San Diego for convenience) so I booked the Veendam. Had sailed on HAL about 10 times but my real cruise experience and preference is Princess (with 35 cruises so far).Didn't expect much on Veendam cruise but was in for a big surprise. Hadn't been on that size ship for many years and loved it. But the biggest surprise was the entertainment, first class performers. Today a friend called me and asked which cruise to book and it was to Hawaii. Rather than have her book a Princess ship, which is what I always recommend, I told her to book the Veendam.

Reason: She has problems walking too far and this little ship is laid out well for her. Husband likes to gamble and never goes to shows so

the nightlife on Princess means nothing. I personally, with that many sea days would go on Princess. I like more activities during the day and into the evening and that is what Princess has over HAL.

Food is very comparable in dining room. On occassion we do go to Buffet at night instead. I hated the setup on Veendam. Long lines

to get main course. You got to the point where someone helps you and you tell them which main course and vegetables. A very slow process. ON Princess, you just take what you want and no lineup.

Room service breakfast on HAL, much better. You can order a hot or cold breakfast.On Princess, mostly cold except for a egg McMuffin type sandwich.

[jackyfromwyk]

We cruised the western Caribbean on the Crown Princess in 2011 and on the Veendam to Bermuda in 2012.

The Veendam is a nice smaller cruise ship and it is easy to get around. However, we found the food and entertainment much better on the Crown Princess. The food and service in the main dining room was sub par on the Veendam. I actually sent food back twice on a 7 night cruise. Also, the deserts on the Veendam were very uninspired. Fruit pie, some type of bread pudding and rotating flavors of ice cream each night. The "cafe" closed around 7:30 each evening with no snacks available after around 5pm.

We did enjoy the specialty restaurants on both ships. Both were equally good.

[casavaha]

If you want a ship that the a/c will probably not work, very little live music, toilets may or

may not flush, a disco that is really the officers pick up bar then travel on the Veendam.

I cannot think of a more disgusting ship afloat. I have only just started.

 

While the Grand class ships are larger, there is so much more to do. Good bands,

some really good entertainment. Different dining rooms to take part in. Actually to

even compare them is an insult to the Crown. We were just on the Crown. 3 bands

playing. Large dance floors.

 

But of course cruising is a very personal experience.

 

Greg

[sammiedawg]

I've sailed both. We were on Veendam several years ago when it was at Rock bottom, plumbing and AC problems affecting many cabins on our sailing. It was the most unpopular HAL ship, even HAL lovers turned on her. I believe considerable money was spent but she is still an old ship.

I would go with the Crown, as long as you understand the ship is much bigger with many more passengers. The ship is beautiful and very well maintained.

IMO Princess food is better and the service on board the Crown was much better than on Veendam.

[KruzeKrazy!]

Been on both HAL and Princess but only 2,000+ pax ships so far (doing our first smaller ship cruise on the Pacific Princess next year).

 

You will find personal preferences impact people's choices (understandably so) - especially on things like food and entertainment.

 

To us HAL is a bit "old world" classier, has a little higher quality food and presentation, and an older, more subdued crowd.

 

To us Princess is a bit more modern in terms of decor (but in a soothing, not in a gaudy way), has a more dining variety, and a bit more things to do.

 

And to us both have similar entertainment quality (taking personal preference and show type out of the equation) and enough to do without being party city (which we don't like as we cruise for R&R and scenic locations). And both get pretty quiet (which we like) after 10pm.

 

We will cruise both again and as I stated we're already booked again on Princess. And that is due to the location - if it was a HAL instead of Princess sailing we'd not hesitate one second to do that. And since we expect to love the smaller ship experience (and the Ocean going away from Princess in Q1 2016 and most predict the Pacific won't likely be a long-termer with Princess) we'll certainly be trying a HAL small ship in the future.

[OCruisers]

Tim, we have actually cruised on both HAL Veendam and Crown Princess.

Crown Princess is one of our favorite ships ... but we also enjoyed cruising on Veendam.

 

For sure get a mini-suite if you book Crown Princess. We are fine with a regular veranda cabin on HAL but need a mini-suite on Princess. ;)

 

The food in the MDR is about the same on both. We like Princess food a bit better BUT still need to go to a Specialty Restaurant for steak. Both have very good specialty restaurants.

 

Crown beats Veendam by a mile for entertainment ... so much better and more variety both day & night ... also while not a very late night ship, there are still things to do after 10 PM on Crown.

 

Service on both ships was equally good!

 

Veendam has way better offerings from Room Service ... but Crown has a large number of tasty treats 24 hours a day in the IC (International Café).

 

Happily, you can't make a bad decision between the two! :)

LuLu

[geoherb]

We've sailed on both ships. To me, it would come down to which ship is better for the itinerary. HAL has cut back on activities staff and entertainment. If it's an itinerary with a lot of days at sea, I'd rather be sailing on Princess. Our Veendam cruise was from Quebec to Boston, with lots of stops along the way. For that itinerary, the lack of daytime activities did not matter.

 

The food is good on both. We have enjoyed our Le Cirque dinners on HAL ships. The regular steakhouse menu is also good--but we have not done that in several years.