HAL and Princess comparison?

[rkacruiser]

22 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I will admit that our latest cruise on MSC's Divina (in their Yacht Club) really blew me away!  We knew that the Yacht Club had received many good reviews here on CC, but were not completely prepared for how much we loved the experience.  

 

Your comments, as well as others whom I have read, are convincing me that I seriously need to consider a MSC Yacht Club booking for next Winter.  Not doing so makes me think that I would be missing a cruise experience that I would enjoy.  (Maybe at the level of the absolute best cruise experiences when I sailed on Royal Viking Sky?)

 

I wish MSC did not sail out of Miami.  I much prefer Fort Lauderdale.  

[rkacruiser]

22 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I will admit that our latest cruise on MSC's Divina (in their Yacht Club) really blew me away!  We knew that the Yacht Club had received many good reviews here on CC, but were not completely prepared for how much we loved the experience.  

 

Your comments, as well as others whom I have read, are convincing me that I seriously need to consider a MSC Yacht Club booking for next Winter.  Not doing so makes me think that I would be missing a cruise experience that I would enjoy.  (Maybe at the level of the absolute best cruise experiences when I sailed on Royal Viking Sky?)

 

I wish MSC did not sail out of Miami.  I much prefer Fort Lauderdale.  

[OlsSalt]

1 hour ago, racnwdow said:

.......  How many of you are partial to your first experience and tend to compare to that experience?

 

Our first long distance cruise experience was Crystal, which is why we ended up liking HAL so much.  Sometimes there can be "too much" of a good thing. Crystal was  certainly more than we wanted for our own level of travel interests. Crystal was nice, but   HAL still wins on so many other levels for us.

 

DH who had previously cruised Princess observed after our first HAL cruise and his prior Princess experience along with the prior Crystal one, that the HAL staff were nice even after you gave them the departure tips.

 

So it was those little things that made HAL overll better than our "first cruise experiences" on other lines.

Edited March 5, 2019 by OlsSalt

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Your comments, as well as others whom I have read, are convincing me that I seriously need to consider a MSC Yacht Club booking for next Winter.  Not doing so makes me think that I would be missing a cruise experience that I would enjoy.  (Maybe at the level of the absolute best cruise experiences when I sailed on Royal Viking Sky?)

 

I wish MSC did not sail out of Miami.  I much prefer Fort Lauderdale.  

Not sure we would ever agree that MSC (Yacht Club) compares to Royal Viking, which was a fabulous cruise line.  The thing about the Yacht Club is that it is a "ship within a ship" and what is outside the YC is more akin to Carnival then Royal Viking.  But inside the YC area (which is accessible only by key card) it does compare to some of the old lines.  What we find exciting is that now that MSC has some experience with the YC concept (only on some of its ships) they are going to soon build 4 new "Yacht Club" Quality vessels where the entire vessel will be upscale.   But we will have to wait a few years to see if this project delivers a high quality product or if its just more of the same.   

 

My long term vote is still out when it comes to MSC.  They seem to be trying to do lots of different things and one could certainly question whether they have the management and experienced staff to pull it off.   Their rapid expansion (adding about two ships a year for nearly the next decade) is already creating some obvious issues related to the lack of enough experienced staff. The YC generally gets the best of the best (including properly trained Butlers) but there are many lapses on the rest of the ship.  They need to find several thousand new staff every year and somehow get them all trained to a decent standard.  This is a real challenge.  On the Divina we met an old friend (a Senior Officer) who was lured over from HAL and another senior staffer who had previously worked for Celebrity. But raiding other cruise line's staff is only part of the answer.

 

Hank

[rkacruiser]

4 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

They seem to be trying to do lots of different things and one could certainly question whether they have the management and experienced staff to pull it off.   Their rapid expansion (adding

 

Thanks for your reply!  And, this comment brings this thought to my mind.  MSC is a private company.  What little I know, there is much $$$ available for them to develop their company.  Being a private company with no shareholders or financial analysts to please, will that make a difference for the company's future plans?

 

 

[rkacruiser]

9 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Their rapid expansion (adding about two ships a year for nearly the next decade) is already creating some obvious issues related to the lack of enough experienced staff. The YC generally gets the best of the best (including properly trained Butlers) but there are many lapses on the rest of the ship.  They need to find several thousand new staff every year and somehow get them all trained to a decent standard.  This is a real challenge. 

 

I think the challenge of employing and training of properly qualified staff is a major issue for all of the cruise companies.  

 

 

[AncientWanderer]

On 3/4/2019 at 3:20 PM, Hlitner said:

I do not completely disagree with some of the negative Princess comments.  On the other hand, we could also write a long post about HAL issues.  Bottom line is that we still cruise both lines (among others) despite their shortcomings.   There are certainly pros and cons to each line (and other lines).  But unfortunately, cut-backs have become the norm on just about all the mass market lines.  In our case it has also driven us to book other lines which are more up-market and more expensive.  Since we do a lot of cruising we find that a mix of many lines best meets many of our personal cruise wants.   I will admit that our latest cruise on MSC's Divina (in their Yacht Club) really blew me away!  We knew that the Yacht Club had received many good reviews here on CC, but were not completely prepared for how much we loved the experience.    I think the good news for cruisers is the added competition from MSC (especially their Yacht Club), Viking Cruises, and the soon to come Virgin Cruises will hopefully drive the other lines to improve their product...rather then continuing the constant parade of cut-backs.

 

Hank

 

I'm curious, Hank...your post about MSC really intrigued me.  But then I looked and saw that the ships are really, really big.  Did you find it a problem at port stops that so very many people flooded the ports?  The Yacht Club portion sounds lovely, but what about the ports?  Over-impacted?  I'd love to hear your experience on this.

[Hlitner]

I really did not want to turn the HAL blog into an MSC thing.  We did that Divina cruise on a whim because we had been getting fed up with cut-backs, maintenance issues, etc. on HAL and the other mass market lines that we have long favored.  So, in a sense, booking a simple MSC Caribbean cruise was an act of desperation by a couple of older (we are seniors) cruisers looking for something different and good.  And we did get different and better then good!   I will try to answer some of the questions. 

 

Yes, the Divina is a large ship.  But within the YC it was like being on a large yacht.  When we went elsewhere on the ship it was crowded in places which was fine since we could always escape back into the quiet world of the YC.  As to the ports, DW and I could care less about Caribbean cruises  We have done dozens of cruises in those waters and also vacationed (for weeks) on a few islands.  If we even bother to get off the ship it is to go to a favorite beach, shop. etc.   The size of our ship had little bearing on any port since most Caribbean ports will have multiple ships on any given day.

 

As to the structure of the MCS company.  Since we assume that some cruisers have no clue we will explain.  They are one of the largest container ship companies on earth and have been in business a long time.  We are talking about a company with nearly 500 vessels that pulls in nearly 30 Billion Dollars a year in revenue.  Their cruise division is only a small part of the empire which is privately owned (mostly by a single Italian family).   But the companies base is in Switzerland since they are not stupid and put their headquarters in a European country with relatively low taxes (some in our own country could learn a lesson.....which is that big money will move to lower tax places).  Since it is still privately held, has no stockholders, and very deep pockets...it is in a position to make major decisions without the delays and hassles of a public company in the USA.  MSC is a well known cruise line among many Europeans but is still a new guy on the block for most Americans.

 

Most of their ships are new and they are quickly phasing out their older vessels.  Within 7 years they will have 29 cruise ships (by my count)...nearly all of which are relatively new.   The ships will range in size from the 4000+ passenger mega ships to the soon to be built smaller Yacht Club type ships which are still somewhat of a mystery.  We have heard those 4 ships will be about 600 passengers....but others have talked about them being smaller.  Time will tell.  

 

When they brought their first ship to the Caribbean market, the company tried to "Americanize" the ship to make it more attractive to the North American market.  Our experience on the Divina was kind of a mix between a European cruise line and an American cruise line.  But  a large majority of our fellow passengers were from Europe (we loved this fact).   The cuisine has a Euro/Italian tilt....but there is plenty of Americanized stuff like the usual salad bar, burgers, etc.  We enjoyed the Euro centric menu in the Yacht Club's private restaurant (Le Muse) where pasta was usually freshly made (and al dente), veal tasted like real veal, and service was attentive.

 

So, now a personal lecture to my fellow HAL lovers.  Many of you are living the past!  You want small to medium size ships with great HAL service, the high quality cuisine we "used" to have on HAL,  the wonderful HAL atmosphere, etc.  You want all that for mass market prices!  I think that is rapidly becoming history!  

 

Hank

[creel5857]

We have been on 8 cruises with 5 princess and 3 HAL.  Our decision is based on the following: itinerary and price........the lines are very similar.  There are a few differences as mentioned:  you can usually get a room with mini sofa or better seating in HAL for less money than princess,  we have enjoyed entertainment on princess better, HAL usually has minister for church services on board or at least more often than princess.   We have also done royal and Caribbean and do not prefer those brands at our age/stage in life due to the noise and non stop business ........we are in 60 and 70’s and go for relaxation and dining and sight seeing but not needing the pool parties and karaoke bars and water park features and non stop games.  With both cruise lines it can depend on the ship as to whether the service and furnishings are as pleasant as we hope........but i would go with either if i can get good price on room with small sofa and balcony.

[Perkins52]

34 minutes ago, creel5857 said:

We have been on 8 cruises with 5 princess and 3 HAL.  Our decision is based on the following: itinerary and price........the lines are very similar.  There are a few differences as mentioned:  you can usually get a room with mini sofa or better seating in HAL for less money than princess,  we have enjoyed entertainment on princess better, HAL usually has minister for church services on board or at least more often than princess.   We have also done royal and Caribbean and do not prefer those brands at our age/stage in life due to the noise and non stop business ........we are in 60 and 70’s and go for relaxation and dining and sight seeing but not needing the pool parties and karaoke bars and water park features and non stop games.  With both cruise lines it can depend on the ship as to whether the service and furnishings are as pleasant as we hope........but i would go with either if i can get good price on room with small sofa and balcony.

 

[Perkins52]

I agree with price and itinerary are what we look for as well.  Have cruised with HAL ,Princess and Celebrity and would cruise with anyone of them again.

[Perkins52]

On 2/24/2019 at 8:44 PM, Hlitner said:

We have been Elite on Princess for over 15 years and also 5 Star Mariners on HAL.  Currently, we cruise on both lines along with a few others.  Trying to compare Princess and HAL is difficult because there are many differences not just between the lines but also between various ships of each line.  To be  very honest we still enjoy both lines although there have been cut-backs on both lines that certainly change things from what used to be.  

 

Not sure we understand the comment about Princess getting folks out of the cabin to spend money.  Like all mass market lines, each line does its best to separate passengers from their money.  But we do not spend much money on either line except tor our drinking habits.  On many Princess ships we love to spend time at their International Café (open 24/7) where we enjoy their fresh donuts, pastries, and other snacks during the day.  This is all free!  The IC does charge for coffee/tea concoctions (as does HAL at its coffee place) but we are able to swap our free mini-bar (an Elite benefit) for coffee cards (loaded on the cruise card) so pay nothing for coffee related items.  On HAL we get 50% Off but still must pay something.  Princess also gives us a lot of free Internet while HAL makes us pay for any Internet and only offers a small discount because we are 5 Star Mariners.  So in a sense, we pay more money for onboard stuff on HAL then we do on Princess.

 

Princess also has more late night (after 10) life then found on most HAL cruises where it seems like they roll up the decks shortly after 10.   When we did the Voyage of the Vikings cruise (a very popular HAL voyage) DW and I would often be among the last 4-6 passengers in the piano bar after 11.  In fact, Barry from Boston (the Piano Bar entertainer) would sometimes do the appropriate Sesame Street song equating to the number or folks still in the bar and the number "4" was not rare.

 

As to food,  there are some things that each line does better, but overall we would rate it close to a toss-up.  We would give the entertainment advantage to Princess except that on most of their ships the main theater does not offer enough seating to handle a full cruise.  Those that dine early on Princess will find that they may need to go to their show at least 20  min early to simply get a seat.  The shows for the later diners (which includes me) are generally not nearly as crowded.

 

Trying to debate cabins and décor really depends on the ship and cabin category.   But we have never had an A/C problem in any Princess cabin....while we have had quite a few HAL cabins that would never get as cool as we prefer.  On Princess, those that want a little more cabin space and seating should consider booking one of their mini-suites (not really a suite).  I should also mention that the new Princess Internet service called "Medallion Net" is lightyears faster then any Internet we have had on HAL.  While this service is currently only on a few Princess vessels it is gradually being expanded fleet-wide.

 

Hank

 

[Perkins52]

On 2/24/2019 at 8:44 PM, Hlitner said:

We have been Elite on Princess for over 15 years and also 5 Star Mariners on HAL.  Currently, we cruise on both lines along with a few others.  Trying to compare Princess and HAL is difficult because there are many differences not just between the lines but also between various ships of each line.  To be  very honest we still enjoy both lines although there have been cut-backs on both lines that certainly change things from what used to be.  

 

Not sure we understand the comment about Princess getting folks out of the cabin to spend money.  Like all mass market lines, each line does its best to separate passengers from their money.  But we do not spend much money on either line except tor our drinking habits.  On many Princess ships we love to spend time at their International Café (open 24/7) where we enjoy their fresh donuts, pastries, and other snacks during the day.  This is all free!  The IC does charge for coffee/tea concoctions (as does HAL at its coffee place) but we are able to swap our free mini-bar (an Elite benefit) for coffee cards (loaded on the cruise card) so pay nothing for coffee related items.  On HAL we get 50% Off but still must pay something.  Princess also gives us a lot of free Internet while HAL makes us pay for any Internet and only offers a small discount because we are 5 Star Mariners.  So in a sense, we pay more money for onboard stuff on HAL then we do on Princess.

 

Princess also has more late night (after 10) life then found on most HAL cruises where it seems like they roll up the decks shortly after 10.   When we did the Voyage of the Vikings cruise (a very popular HAL voyage) DW and I would often be among the last 4-6 passengers in the piano bar after 11.  In fact, Barry from Boston (the Piano Bar entertainer) would sometimes do the appropriate Sesame Street song equating to the number or folks still in the bar and the number "4" was not rare.

 

As to food,  there are some things that each line does better, but overall we would rate it close to a toss-up.  We would give the entertainment advantage to Princess except that on most of their ships the main theater does not offer enough seating to handle a full cruise.  Those that dine early on Princess will find that they may need to go to their show at least 20  min early to simply get a seat.  The shows for the later diners (which includes me) are generally not nearly as crowded.

 

Trying to debate cabins and décor really depends on the ship and cabin category.   But we have never had an A/C problem in any Princess cabin....while we have had quite a few HAL cabins that would never get as cool as we prefer.  On Princess, those that want a little more cabin space and seating should consider booking one of their mini-suites (not really a suite).  I should also mention that the new Princess Internet service called "Medallion Net" is lightyears faster then any Internet we have had on HAL.  While this service is currently only on a few Princess vessels it is gradually being expanded fleet-wide.

 

Hank

 

[Perkins52]

Agree with Hank--easy to be picky but believe you have to look at whole package and decide if this is how you want to spend your hard earned money.  The one thing that does not concern me is internet---can check things when I get into a port but enjoy being away from email etc for a few days.