Princess vs Holland America

[scubacruiserx2]

How do the Regal Princess full suites compare to the Holland America Neptune Suites ?

[getting older slowly]

Just a quick glace at the web sites, Neptune would be similar to Penthouse suite on the regal

 

Three differences the Penthouse suite has separate shower, toilet is in with vanity in separate room from bath and shower, and there are two sets of doors opening onto the balcony.

 

Cheers Don 

[RocketMan275]

6 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

How do the Regal Princess full suites compare to the Holland America Neptune Suites ?

The Neptune suites balconies are far larger.  Other than that, the suites on Holland can vary considerably.  Which ship?

[scubacruiserx2]

8 hours ago, getting older slowly said:

Just a quick glace at the web sites, Neptune would be similar to Penthouse suite on the regal

 

Three differences the Penthouse suite has separate shower, toilet is in with vanity in separate room from bath and shower, and there are two sets of doors opening onto the balcony.

 

Cheers Don 

 

Thank you Don .

[scubacruiserx2]

8 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

The Neptune suites balconies are far larger.  Other than that, the suites on Holland can vary considerably.  Which ship?

 

The Zuiderdam was our last cruise and the Regal next .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you know the perks difference any or insider tips ? Thanks .

Edited August 27, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[RocketMan275]

It's been awhile since we sailed Princess so I can only refer you to the benefits listed on the websites.  We switched to HAL because of the miniature balconies on the new Princess ships.  If you think that suite on Zweiderdam had a large balcony, you should see the ones on deck five.  As one HAL cruiser noted, they're just the right size for a cocktail party for forty.  We've been a deck five aft suite on Oosterdam and Westerdam.  We have one booked on Zweiderdam and a deck eight on Nieuw Amsterdam.

 

I think the big difference will be the size of the ships.  Regal is so much bigger than the Vista/Signature Class.  HAL has little to compare with Club Class Dining unless you're on a Pinnacle Class ship.

[kstrittm]

I've sailed in suites on both the Royal class Princess ships and on HAL.  In my opinion, the room size is a tad larger on the Regal.  Additionally, the "bedroom" can be closed off with a curtain from the "living room".  In my case, with insomnia, that is a huge benefit.  There are also TVs in both rooms.

 

The balconies on HAL are larger than Regal.

 

The Concierge Lounge/Neptune Lounge are comparable, but Princess never offers the Honor bar with alcohol (if that is important to you).  The lounge on Princess is open 24 hours a day, whereas the Neptune Lounges are only open set hours.  If you want early morning coffee, Princess wins that battle!

 

I assume Club Class dining is comparable to Club Orange dining, but I haven't been on HAL since that was implemented (will be on the Nieuw Amsterdam in a couple of weeks, though).

 

I may be wrong on this, but I think Princess only offers dry cleaning, whereas HAL offers laundry and dry cleaning.  Somebody else can pipe in here.

 

I enjoy the free mini-bar set-up on Princess.  HAL does provide a welcome bottle of champagne, though!

 

I'm sure there are more differences - these are just a few off the top of my head.

 

[scubacruiserx2]

24 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

It's been awhile since we sailed Princess so I can only refer you to the benefits listed on the websites.  We switched to HAL because of the miniature balconies on the new Princess ships.  If you think that suite on Zweiderdam had a large balcony, you should see the ones on deck five.  As one HAL cruiser noted, they're just the right size for a cocktail party for forty.  We've been a deck five aft suite on Oosterdam and Westerdam.  We have one booked on Zweiderdam and a deck eight on Nieuw Amsterdam.

 

I think the big difference will be the size of the ships.  Regal is so much bigger than the Vista/Signature Class.  HAL has little to compare with Club Class Dining unless you're on a Pinnacle Class ship.

 

Thank you . We too have been on HAL and also had 5191 on the Zuiderdam .

 

 

 

We did take a cruise on the Nieuw Statendam and didn't care for it . That's part of the reason why we booked the Regal for the East bound TA and the Zuiderdam for the West bound next year . We have only had a full suite on the Caribbean Princess and we thought that we would try the Regal suite .

[victory2020]

This has nothing to do with the suites, but I was on my first HAL cruise in 18 years & I found it to be superior to my 29 Princess cruises.

[scubacruiserx2]

32 minutes ago, kstrittm said:

I've sailed in suites on both the Royal class Princess ships and on HAL.  In my opinion, the room size is a tad larger on the Regal.  Additionally, the "bedroom" can be closed off with a curtain from the "living room".  In my case, with insomnia, that is a huge benefit.  There are also TVs in both rooms.

 

The balconies on HAL are larger than Regal.

 

The Concierge Lounge/Neptune Lounge are comparable, but Princess never offers the Honor bar with alcohol (if that is important to you).  The lounge on Princess is open 24 hours a day, whereas the Neptune Lounges are only open set hours.  If you want early morning coffee, Princess wins that battle!

 

I assume Club Class dining is comparable to Club Orange dining, but I haven't been on HAL since that was implemented (will be on the Nieuw Amsterdam in a couple of weeks, though).

 

I may be wrong on this, but I think Princess only offers dry cleaning, whereas HAL offers laundry and dry cleaning.  Somebody else can pipe in here.

 

I enjoy the free mini-bar set-up on Princess.  HAL does provide a welcome bottle of champagne, though!

 

I'm sure there are more differences - these are just a few off the top of my head.

 

 

 

Thank you for your time and insight ! We did try Club Orange on the Neiuw Statendam in a non suite cabin and didn't care for it at all . We are glad that we couldn't book a NS because they eliminated the breakfasts at the Pinnacle Grill and changed it to Club Orange .

 

 

We hope that you have a great cruise on the Neiuw Amsterdam .

[scubacruiserx2]

17 minutes ago, victory2020 said:

This has nothing to do with the suites, but I was on my first HAL cruise in 18 years & I found it to be superior to my 29 Princess cruises.

 

That's a lot of Princess cruises ! What made the HAL cruise superior to the Princess cruises ?

[victory2020]

The regular rooms had a love seat - with that you don't need the "barrel chair" they've removed, better room service breakfast (veggie & goat cheese omelette  burned my mouth) which is also offered disembarkation morning, they let you wait in your room disembarkation morning also. Had great drink specials everywhere. Better food in general ie crab legs & peel & eat shrimp in Lido one lunch. Also, nice touches like honey packets for tea in buffet. Great dining room breakfast ie crab benedict & fresh berries. I was told NO to berries for breakfast on Princess. No problem with anytime dining - they also called you by your name & remembered you at the front desk. Also, my brother was really impressed with the sugar free desserts. These are just the few things I remember at the moment.

[Gracie115]

19 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

How do the Regal Princess full suites compare to the Holland America Neptune Suites ?

 

Hi!

We were in a Penthouse Suite on the Regal last year and a Neptune on the Noordam in 2017.  We loved the Penthouse suite, while the Neptune suite just felt like a larger room than a normal veranda.  The Penthouse has two rooms separated by a heavy curtain, two TV's, 2 entrances to the balcony, and 2 entrances to the bathroom, with a toilet and sink area that closes off from the rest of the bathroom which has both a shower and tub. We also had a shower & tub in the Neptune suite but the shower was set up in such a way we couldn't use it without soaking the room.  I think a better comparison would be to a Celebrity Suite on X when looking at a Princess Penthouse Suite.....with one caveat....the balcony.  The Penthouse suites balconies are very narrow, but we were still able to have the Ultimate Balcony Dinner on it.  (which was amazing and booked because of YOUR recommendations and pictures)

 

This  coming Spring we have opted for an Owner's Suite on the Sky, which in essence is the same as the Penthouse Suite except that it is an aft suite and has a much larger wrap around balcony.  We've also booked one of those for our Regal cruise this October.  We REALLY like the Penthouse Suite set up and hope that the aft version will be even better....

 

With the full suite you also get "Club Class Dining" which we really liked AND the wonderful breakfasts at Sabatini's!!!!

 

 

Edited August 27, 2019 by Gracie115

[scubacruiserx2]

39 minutes ago, victory2020 said:

The regular rooms had a love seat - with that you don't need the "barrel chair" they've removed, better room service breakfast (veggie & goat cheese omelette  burned my mouth) which is also offered disembarkation morning, they let you wait in your room disembarkation morning also. Had great drink specials everywhere. Better food in general ie crab legs & peel & eat shrimp in Lido one lunch. Also, nice touches like honey packets for tea in buffet. Great dining room breakfast ie crab benedict & fresh berries. I was told NO to berries for breakfast on Princess. No problem with anytime dining - they also called you by your name & remembered you at the front desk. Also, my brother was really impressed with the sugar free desserts. These are just the few things I remember at the moment.

 

Thank you , much appreciated .

[scubacruiserx2]

2 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

 

Hi!

We were in a Penthouse Suite on the Regal last year and a Neptune on the Noordam in 2017.  We loved the Penthouse suite, while the Neptune suite just felt like a larger room than a normal veranda.  The Penthouse has two rooms separated by a heavy curtain, two TV's, 2 entrances to the balcony, and 2 entrances to the bathroom, with a toilet and sink area that closes off from the rest of the bathroom which has both a shower and tub. We also had a shower & tub in the Neptune suite but the shower was set up in such a way we couldn't use it without soaking the room.  I think a better comparison would be to a Celebrity Suite on X when looking at a Princess Penthouse Suite.....with one caveat....the balcony.  The Penthouse suites balconies are very narrow, but we were still able to have the Ultimate Balcony Dinner on it.  (which was amazing and booked because of YOUR recommendations and pictures)

 

This  coming Spring we have opted for an Owner's Suite on the Sky, which in essence is the same as the Penthouse Suite except that it is an aft suite and has a much larger wrap around balcony.  We've also booked one of those for our Regal cruise this October.  We REALLY like the Penthouse Suite set up and hope that the aft version will be even better....

 

With the full suite you also get "Club Class Dining" which we really liked AND the wonderful breakfasts at Sabatini's!!!!

 

 

 

Fantastic ! It sounds like there's room to roam which is always nice , especially on the longer cruises like a TA . We have not had a suite on Celebrity but we did get a couple of Family rooms with extra room and or a nice balcony . The wrap balconies are always nice . We had a meal or 2 in the Regal's Sabatini's which was much nicer than the the Caribbean Princess version so we're looking forward having breakfasts there . We do like the Ultimate Balcony Dinners also and remember an excellent Chef's Table on the Regal which we would love to try again .

On a different note , we see that all of the suites are sold out on the trip around Japan and the TP . Is this correct or have they not been released yet ?

[Gracie115]

23 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

Fantastic ! It sounds like there's room to roam which is always nice , especially on the longer cruises like a TA . We have not had a suite on Celebrity but we did get a couple of Family rooms with extra room and or a nice balcony . The wrap balconies are always nice . We had a meal or 2 in the Regal's Sabatini's which was much nicer than the the Caribbean Princess version so we're looking forward having breakfasts there . We do like the Ultimate Balcony Dinners also and remember an excellent Chef's Table on the Regal which we would love to try again .

On a different note , we see that all of the suites are sold out on the trip around Japan and the TP . Is this correct or have they not been released yet ?

 

We plan to do the Chef's Table on the Regal this fall too.  I've read such great things about the Princess Chef Table!!

 

We opted for Aqua on the first leg of the Japan trip as the only suites open when we booked were Sky Suites and were priced at over $10,000 per person...which was just too much for that room, the Sky Suites on "M" class ships are quite small.  Because that cruise is SO port intensive we thought Aqua would be fine as we wouldn't be in the room that much.

 

We did book a CS for the TP and note now that the only suites left on that are accessible Sky Suites.  I would keep watching that sailing though because I've seen both CS & RS pop open a few times since we booked back in April.  Would love for you to join us on that cruise.  I don't know if you remember Sue & Dennis that did the tour from Southampton to London with us but they are also going on the Japan trip!

Edited August 27, 2019 by Gracie115

[scubacruiserx2]

15 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

 

We plan to do the Chef's Table on the Regal this fall too.  I've read such great things about the Princess Chef Table!!

 

We opted for Aqua on the first leg of the Japan trip as the only suites open when we booked were Sky Suites and were priced at over $10,000 per person...which was just too much for that room, the Sky Suites on "M" class ships are quite small.  

 

We did book a CS for the TP and note now that the only suites left on that are accessible Sky Suites.  I would keep watching that sailing though because I've seen both CS & RS pop open a few times since we booked back in April.  Would love for you to join us on that cruise.  I don't know if you remember Sue & Dennis that did the tour from Southampton to London with us but they are also going on the Japan trip!

 

 

We'll have do keep our eyes open and ears to the ground for Japan . While my camera has a photographic memory my mind does not so I don't remember Sue and Dennis . We do have some good memories of our Chef's Table on the Regal - thanks to the photos !

 

 

The Chef's Table . We met the other diners and the Maitre d'Hotel Francisco Patricio , at Bellini's Bar

 We then headed down to the galley for a change into white coats and a through hand washing . And moving rapidly through the hot and busy galley ( after all - it was dinner time ) , we met The Executive Chef Naveen Quadros .

 

 

 

 

He conducted the tour and is serving us our first hors d'oeuvre , Blue Crab and Shrimp Margarita with Avocado and Mango

 

 

 

 

Yum !

 

 

 

Next up , Sushi Grade Ahi Tuna Tartare with Wasabi and Pickled Ginger

 

 

 

 

The third appetizer was Roasted New Potatoes with Sour Cream and Osetra Caviar

 

 

 

 

 

And then came an amazing Bistro Fontina Cheese Mini Tartlet and Black Truffle !

 

 

[Gracie115]

34 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 

We'll have do keep our eyes open and ears to the ground for Japan . While my camera has a photographic memory my mind does not so I don't remember Sue and Dennis . We do have some good memories of our Chef's Table on the Regal - thanks to the photos !

 

 

The Chef's Table . We met the other diners and the Maitre d'Hotel Francisco Patricio , at Bellini's Bar

 We then headed down to the galley for a change into white coats and a through hand washing . And moving rapidly through the hot and busy galley ( after all - it was dinner time ) , we met The Executive Chef Naveen Quadros .

 

 

 

 

He conducted the tour and is serving us our first hors d'oeuvre , Blue Crab and Shrimp Margarita with Avocado and Mango

 

 

 

 

Yum !

 

 

 

Next up , Sushi Grade Ahi Tuna Tartare with Wasabi and Pickled Ginger

 

 

 

 

The third appetizer was Roasted New Potatoes with Sour Cream and Osetra Caviar

 

 

 

 

 

And then came an amazing Bistro Fontina Cheese Mini Tartlet and Black Truffle !

 

 

 

 

This looks wonderful!!!!  

[scubacruiserx2]

12 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

 

 

This looks wonderful!!!!  

 

It was and more to come .

[scubacruiserx2]

Our last hors D'oeuvres was a Breaded Brie Lollipop and Port Wine and Plum Reduction for dipping .

 

 

 

 

A look at some edible art

 

 

 

 

 

A Carmen Miranda seahorse sculpture

 

 

 

I was glad to see that the galley part of the tour was ending as juggling a camera , food and a bottomless flute of champagne was taxing my abilities .

And with the galley part of the tour over it was time to move out to the dining area . As we were seated , our menus were waiting for us .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was now time for some serious eating !

[BarbinMich]

4 hours ago, victory2020 said:

This has nothing to do with the suites, but I was on my first HAL cruise in 18 years & I found it to be superior to my 29 Princess cruises.

Would you be more specific?  What was the itinerary?  Which HAL ship?

 

We've done 30 cruises on Princess for a total of 340 days onboard compared to 7 cruises on HAL for a total of 71 days.  We book regular OV cabins and the ones on HAL are certainly larger since they have a couch (converts to a bed if a 3rd pax) and lots of cabinet storage across from the couch.  Usually we choose Princess because the ships are livelier and the price is less (we used to cruise 3x a year).  However, our last cruise was a TA (our preferred type of cruise) on the Zuiderdam and I really liked that ship.  The slots, in particular, were very kind <g>.

[scubacruiserx2]

After being seated at our table , it was time for the ceremonial closing of the light curtains !

 

 

 

 

You can see a video clip of it here :

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lighted center piece of the table

 

 

 

 

 

It reminds me of a Giant Sea Anemone

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

What's next ? Synchronized service and....

 

 

 

 

...Lobster and asparagus risotto - as rich as it looks ! With Danzante Pinot Grigio

 

 

 

 

Roasted Orange and Ginger Sorbet

 

 

 

 

 

Served with Grey Goose Vodka gravy

 

 

 

 

Flame on flambe

 

 

 

 

See the flambe video here :

 

 

 

 

And Executive Chef Naveen served as his own Saucier !

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

With the steak cooking complete , it was time for the second meat course : Dijon crusted Roast Rack of Lamb .

 

 

 

 

Enjoy !!

 

 

 

 

And don't forget the wine - Zeni Amarone Classico

 

 

 

 

With the meat course eaten and enjoyed , we were beginning to feel very full and content . The cheese course was a Baked Camembert De Meaux . And save some room for dessert !

 

 

 

 

And with dessert , a dessert wine : A late harvest Sauvignon Blanc .

 

[Gracie115]

29 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

What's next ? Synchronized service and....

 

 

 

Joe, I have to tell you that Princess has Celebrity beat HANDS DOWN for a Chef's Table dinner.  This just looks wonderful!! I can't wait to see the rest!!