Princess vs. HAL

[Floflegs]

The Lotus Spa pool is not part of the Sanctuary, I know it seems that way where its located.

There are not very many loungers as its a small area.

Its open to anyone 18 or older.

 

Often the loungers have towels lying open on them but never anyone using them. I have been swimming for over half an hour and saw most empty but not available. No different to the chair hogs at the main pools.

Edited August 18, 2016 by Floflegs

[akeasley]

I've done two HAL cruises on the same ship. Overall, I really like the food on HAL and think the buffet is a step above Princess. I think Princess offers more shows but the quality of entertainment was better on HAL. I also really enjoyed the movie theatre on the HAL ship...much better than straining to hear what's being said on the MUTS screen.

 

With that being said, the loyalty program (IMHO) on Princess is so much nicer than what HAL offers. Also, the HAL ship that I've sailed on did not have refrigerators in the rooms and that was something that we really missed.

Edited August 18, 2016 by akeasley

[lovey1103]

We think the old people on Princess smell better than the old people on HAL :p

Very rude remark.

[jasmith52]

Very rude remark.

 

I believe that the post by gcvt was meant as humor

[gcvt]

Very rude remark.

 

I'm very sorry you feel offended by my joke. Might want to stay away from the comedy shows on Princess; you'll hear much worse :rolleyes:

Edited August 19, 2016 by gcvt

[Pam in CA]

I've done two HAL cruises on the same ship. Overall, I really like the food on HAL and think the buffet is a step above Princess.

The Royal and Regal Horizon Court and Horizon Bistro blow anything HAL offers out of the water. HAL doesn't come close by any standard. At least 3-4x more food options, made-to-order sandwiches, fresh made wok dishes, three salad bars one of which is a make your own chef's salad, etc. besides all the other standards and so much more I haven't mentioned. Love the make your own fajitas station and the fresh made kabobs.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Thanks to everyone for providing the information. Has anyone gone to the Sanctuary Pool area? Is it difficult to get a chair?

 

Thank you

 

The Lotus Spa pool is not part of the Sanctuary, I know it seems that way where its located.

There are not very many loungers as its a small area.

Its open to anyone 18 or older.

 

Often the loungers have towels lying open on them but never anyone using them. I have been swimming for over half an hour and saw most empty but not available. No different to the chair hogs at the main pools.

 

On many Princess ships the Sanctuary is above the Lotus Spa Pool, which is wonderful. You book your sun-lounger in the Sanctuary which is yours for however long you've booked it for, then you can go down a deck for a swim whenever you want.

[tinybiny]

This thread is making me so excited for my first Princess cruise next year. The all day buffet and the Sanctuary sound like what I always expected on a cruise. I used to watch the Love Boat when I was a kid, so I never really got over some of that stuff. :D

[mmckm]

Often the loungers have towels lying open on them but never anyone using them. I have been swimming for over half an hour and saw most empty but not available. No different to the chair hogs at the main pools.

 

The lotus staff or spa staff put towels on the loungers every morning around the pool. I was fooled by this thinking that they were chair hogs also.

[Skai]

The Royal and Regal Horizon Court and Horizon Bistro blow anything HAL offers out of the water. HAL doesn't come close by any standard. .

 

What about the rest of the Princess' fleet? How do those ships compare?

 

I don't have much to measure, but the buffets that we've experienced have been a little inconsistent in quality among the handful of Princess cruises we've taken to-date. Some have been good, some have been so-so.

 

We've yet to sail on either the Royal(newest) or Regal yet.

[geocruiser]

The Royal and Regal Horizon Court and Horizon Bistro blow anything HAL offers out of the water. HAL doesn't come close by any standard. At least 3-4x more food options, made-to-order sandwiches, fresh made wok dishes, three salad bars one of which is a make your own chef's salad, etc. besides all the other standards and so much more I haven't mentioned. Love the make your own fajitas station and the fresh made kabobs.

 

I agree! My DH love shell fish and I could not believe how much they had at lunch on day. They had it cooked to order. I have never seen so much sushi at lunch either.

[Pam in CA]

What about the rest of the Princess' fleet? How do those ships compare?

The rest of the Grand-class and similar ships are in my opinion similar to HAL. Some things are better, some not as good. HAL has more made-to-order items but I prefer the salad bar on any Princess ship to HAL's. I like that Princess has tables set with silverware and tableside beverage service. On HAL, I had to plan what I was getting in a specific order so that my hot dish wasn't cold by the time I made it to a table. I kept on forgetting to get silverware or my beverage which was a pain. Every station in the HAL buffet would have a line whereas on Princess, there are few lines for anything. At breakfast, Princess offers made-to-order omelets and while they do on HAL as well, on Princess they give you a slip to hand to waitstaff after you're seated and its delivered to your table.

[Skai]

The rest of the Grand-class and similar ships are in my opinion similar to HAL. Some things are better, some not as good. HAL has more made-to-order items but I prefer the salad bar on any Princess ship to HAL's. I like that Princess has tables set with silverware and tableside beverage service. On HAL, I had to plan what I was getting in a specific order so that my hot dish wasn't cold by the time I made it to a table. I kept on forgetting to get silverware or my beverage which was a pain. Every station in the HAL buffet would have a line whereas on Princess, there are few lines for anything. At breakfast, Princess offers made-to-order omelets and while they do on HAL as well, on Princess they give you a slip to hand to waitstaff after you're seated and its delivered to your table.

 

Have you had a chance to sail on a HAL ship with the updated "Lido Marketplace" theme yet?

 

From what I've read, (with the addition of this update on some ships) HAL now has silverware/glassware placed on the tables in the buffet and there are attendents that take/bring beverages orders tableside.

 

Apparently the layout is more station-themed than it is on other HAL ships.

 

I've also read that the pizza is noticeably improved(made-to-order w/ a selection of various available ingredients) in a more NY-style. A major upgrade from what I've read from many describing as inedible frozen pizza-like pies of the past. Guests are given a buzzer to notify them when their pizza is ready.

 

I've learned that the salad bar on HAL is not self-serve, rather there is an attendant that makes one's salad to the specs provided. I'm not sure how well this has been received and whether it may increase the wait times/lines involved with having a salad being prepared.

 

I'll be sailing on the Oosterdam in a few weeks (1st time on HAL), so it will be interesting to observe and make personal comparisons with Princess. I do like the idea of the more spread-out station theme -- This is something I've experienced sailing on Carnival ships w/ similar Lido-Marketplace layouts.

 

One of my qualms with the Princess buffet layout (on the Grand-Class ships I've experienced) is how congested the serving area can be at times w/ one entrance/exit and the confusion with some choosing to go clockwise and counter-clockwise around the middle island(s) -- where the salad offerings are usually displayed. Or those that need to see every item available before making their selections...then having to head back upstream against the flow to get their choices.

 

However, I've read that the Royal and Regal also employ an open floorplan layout for their updated buffets. Perhaps I'll give them a go at some point:)...

Edited August 20, 2016 by Skai

[colonialinnkeeper]

We have just returned from the Koningsdam and the new Lido Market buffet. Silverware and glassware are provided by the servers and they were circulating ready to get any kind of drink you wished. There is almost no "self-serve" in the Lido. Many times I had the salad from the salad bar and the numbers of salad add-ons were staggering. Rarely did I have more than one or two people in front of me in line and it went quickly as there were two lines on each side of the deck. I don't know if they are serving to cut down on the possible noro contamination or to cut waste. Either way, it did not impede a fairly smooth process to getting a meal.

 

The food was continually cooked in small batches. This meant there was very little "warming pan/cafeteria" quality food but rather a more freshly prepared taste. Sandwiches could be prepared as you ordered or also available pre-made to grab as you go. The full Lido offering usually ended by 2 p.m. however, the salad bar, sandwich bar, sweets, pizza and custom sandwiches offered in the N.Y. Deli (near the pool) and the Dive In for burgers, hot dogs and chicken sandwiches were available in the afternoon for cruisers coming back from shore. Free ice cream was available to mid-afternoon and then you could buy it from Gelato. Pizza was improved but still not the quality what we are accustomed to at home (I realize food is very subjective). The Asian offerings were delicious and unique in some respect to what we have had on other lines.

 

In addition to the above places one can grab something to eat, you have the Explorations Cafe (they have yummy coffee and tea drinks, both hot, iced and frozen) with tea sandwiches, fruit and sweets and the Dutch Cafe where you can get coffee, tea, salad, pre-made sandwiches and sweets).

 

All in all, we thought the Lido Market an improvement along with the new offerings of the N.Y. Deli. and the Dutch Cafe. One can hardly go hungry with all that was there at any given time.

[BocaEvRay]

We agree with your summary. One more thing. If you want vegetarian, Princess always has a selection. The tastes can be a bit different, but we find it worth the adventure to try the offering.

[colonialinnkeeper]

In the MDR, HAL also had several appetizers, an entree and sometimes the pasta dish were vegetarian--a welcome change from years earlier when those things seemed to be an after-thought.

[joeyancho]

We think the old people on Princess smell better than the old people on HAL :p

 

Funny. Mean but funny.

[kalliekae]

This is a very informative thread. We are considering a Princess cruise and have only sailed on HAL and Royal. I was very interested in Pam in CA's comparison and in colonialinnkeeper's post about HAL's newest ship, Koningsdam. Both were beneficial to us. Thanks!

[donswife]

I have been on 2 Vista class HAL ships and 2 super-grand Princess ships. I enjoyed all of them. There were things I preferred on each of the lines, but none were deal breakers. I would happily go on either again, if the price and itinerary suited my needs.

[jasmith52]

This thread is making me so excited for my first Princess cruise next year. The all day buffet and the Sanctuary sound like what I always expected on a cruise. I used to watch the Love Boat when I was a kid, so I never really got over some of that stuff. :D

 

Maybe you'll meet a millionaire to marry - just like on the Love-Boat. Look for the guy wearing the Ascot.

[Lucky TGO]

Maybe you'll meet a millionaire to marry - just like on the Love-Boat. Look for the guy wearing the Ascot.

Maybe she is a millionaire? :) Tinybiny if you are a millionaire then look for me I'm

The guy with the grey hair. LOL :D :D

Tony

Edited August 23, 2016 by Lucky TGO

[SeagoingMom]

I have limited (and somewhat dated) experience: 10-night Southern Caribbean on Zuiderdam in 2011, and 7-night Western Caribbean on Caribbean Princess in 2014. My answer to your question, "is the food and service as good as HAL?" -- no.

 

We found MDR food inconsistent on Caribbean Princess, while there was nothing we were not happy with in the MDR on Zuiderdam. We found our cabin service somewhat lacking on CB, though excellent on Zuiderdam.

 

Though we loved our HAL experience, I had long wanted to try Princess because of the enthusiasm for the line I had read on these boards and felt from folks I knew who had cruised on Princess. I am glad we finally tried Princess. We most likely will stick with HAL. There were so many things we liked about HAL (not necessarily having to do with food or service) that we did not find on Princess. I might be willing to try a smaller Princess ship at some point, though, as I think some of what I was disappointed with on Princess was due to the size of the ship (same as Ruby) -- too big for me!

 

IMO, what it is you like (or love!) about HAL will determine how you feel about Princess. They were very different experiences for us.

 

I hope you also posted this question on the HAL board: you will likely get a good balance of opinion if you get responses from sides. HAL cruisers who sometimes sail on Princess will probably have a different perspective than Princess cruises who have had some experience on HAL.

 

Of course, if you do choose Princess, I, for one, will want to read your opinions about your cruise when it's over!

[helenb]

Wow, third page and no one has yet mentioned my particular bugaboo. We did a cruise on the Maasdam to Canada/New England because of the itinerary and timing. The cruise itself was excellent, and most of the MDR food was fine, and I enjoyed the culinary classes they offered.

 

But I am a soda drinker. I love Diet Coke/Coke Zero and I drink multiple glasses every day. I enjoy having glasses refilled with my meal. Imagine my horror when I realized that they do not have an unlimited soda package on HAL. I spent most of our 2 week cruise nursing a few cans we had bought onshore (fortunately, cruising in the US and Canada, they were easy to obtain). For me, this had a negative impact on my experience, and cemented my desire to never sail HAL again.

 

It has been a few years, so I investigated. It looks like HAL is still way behind on drink packages. They still have no unlimited packages, only 'buy $XX on a prepaid card for a $10 discount' type deals. And their new 'signature' package where you can supposedly get whatever alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks you want is still limited to 15 drinks per day.

 

So IMHO, anyone who wants any kind of unlimited drinks package should not consider HAL.

Edited August 23, 2016 by helenb

[jasmith52]

Imagine my horror when I realized that they do not have an unlimited soda package on HAL.

 

Oh the sacrifices we make to go on vacation !

 

Perhaps you should switch over to Beer.

Edited August 23, 2016 by jasmith52

[helenb]

Oh the sacrifices we make to go on vacation !

 

Perhaps you should switch over to Beer.

 

LOL, even if I did, there is no unlimited package on HAL! ;)