what cruise line or ship would be better caribbean princess vs zuiderdam

[mets]

i am want to find out what would be a best to go on  caribbean princess or  the hal zuiderdam  who has the best food its a 10 day panama  canal cruise  cp has been referb in 2019  a litter bigger may not sailed on the both lines  any thing would help   thank you al

[skynight]

HAL is much more subdued. Not as many activities especially in the evening. Does not have as much live music.

Food? Tossup.

[Gabrielle R.]

Food is really subjective... My DH and I  and my uncle and his wife (Both in their early 80's)  Found HAL to have really bland food.  We really had a hard time finding something we liked on HAL.  My aunt felt that the food was over cooked on HAL.  

HAL has very pretty ships.  Generally very good service.  We had better things to see and do on Princess- more activities, we did realize that things quiet down early on HAL..... but we tend to be early risers, so tend to poop out by 10:30. 

We are platinum on Princess because we like the service and food better, we do book based on price and itinerary.  We will Cruise Caribbean Princess for the 2nd time this December.  We do like that style of ship, so booking a 14 day cruise was easy.

I guess I would compare, where the ships stop, the price, what you like to do, Look at what people say about both... food is subjective.... and then see what you think.  You will obviously get more Pro-Princess here and Pro-HAL on the other board.

 

I guess if it was me, I'd look at where and price.  We always find food to eat and we can entertain ourselves.  The Panama Canal is amazing did a partial on HAL and did a full on Princess.  BOTH were good, we did think Princess was better for that trip.  BUT we were on the much smaller Coral Princess.

 

Hope some of this helped.

Gabrielle

[BarbinMich]

2 hours ago, mets said:

i am want to find out what would be a best to go on  caribbean princess or  the hal zuiderdam  who has the best food its a 10 day panama  canal cruise  cp has been referb in 2019  a litter bigger may not sailed on the both lines  any thing would help   thank you al

Have you been on a cruise before?  If so, have you been on either Princess and/or HAL?  We've been on both lines:  HAL for 16 cruises--71 days and Princess for 31 cruises--347 days.  Most of the HAL cruises occurred during the early days of our cruising (mid-90s).  We started on Princess about the same time and ultimately chose it as our favorite.  We did to a TA on the Zuiderdam in April 2017 when I realized we had moved up a a loyalty level (3*) and wanted to experience that (plus the itinerary included some new ports and many past favorites).  We usually eat all our meals in the buffet and only occasionally eat in the dining room.  The buffets on Princess are better IMHO than on HAL.  But we did enjoy the Zuiderdam.  We also sail on Celebrity occasionally.  Finally, the onboard activities are more plentiful on Princess ships since they're larger, but for a Caribbean cruise that probably doesn't make much difference.  

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

2 hours ago, mets said:

i am want to find out what would be a best to go on  caribbean princess or  the hal zuiderdam  who has the best food its a 10 day panama  canal cruise  cp has been referb in 2019  a litter bigger may not sailed on the both lines  any thing would help   thank you al

Cruised on both. The Holland Zuiderdam ship with the outside elevator is nice to use. We had a state room next to it. Do not do that. Those on the elevator can look directly into your cabin when it stops on your floor. As for which ship. If you are a Veteran Princess will give you OBC. 7 day cruise $100.00. Both ships are very nice. We prefer the Princess line. If you like ice cream, Princess hands down. Food about the same. 

[Pam in CA]

I'm Elite on Princess and a 3-star Mariner on HAL. Been on both and one is not "better" than the other. They're both nice ships and I've had really good cruises on them.

 

To me, it really would depend on the itinerary. If you like sea days, the CB is probably the "better" ship as there'll be more activities and entertainment. If you like port days, the Zuiderdam is probably "better" because with a lot fewer passengers, disembarking and re-embarking is faster plus in smaller ports, fewer passengers means a better port experience.

 

While HAL tends to have older passengers and not as good entertainment, their lecturers are for the most part far better than Princess. On my 10-day HAL Panama Canal cruise, our lecturer was the curator for the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum and she gave several talks about the US space program. Their culinary arts center is much better than on Princess.

 

It's a toss-up. I'd go with itinerary and pricing.

[patrickmoran]

Depends whether you want to experience the old canal locks or the new ones. The CB is too big for the old locks. The operation of the old locks with the mules is much more elaborate. If you haven't been through the old locks, I recommend the Z.

[Tak8]

I've been on both ships.  I prefer Princess, but have done two HAL cruises both on the Zuiderdam.  Pros and cons for both ships.  Zuiderdam is a little smaller if that is a factor you use to decide on a ship.  Princess has better and more night entertainment options.  I really liked the buffet on the Zuiderdam.  Otherwise, I give the edge to Caribbean Princess on food.  

[mets]

thanks for you all help al

[foodsvcmgr]

Been on both, enjoyed both and would sail either again.

Overall more similarities than major differences.

The deciding factor here would be old vs new locks in the Panama Canal.

Read about both then decide.

Also if one was considerably less costly for a comparable cabin or offered better perks.

[skynight]

Also on Princess if you are a veteran you can get the military benefit OBC.

https://www.princess.com/military_benefit_program/

[capriccio]

I would chose whichever ship (if either) will go through the original locks. I know the Caribbean Princess is too large to go through them.  I don’t know about the Zuiderdam.  Make sure you read David McCullough’s The Path Between the Seas about the building of the original locks.

[geoherb]

I took the Zuiderdam on a partial Panama Canal cruise for my retirement nearly three years ago. I'm going next month on the Caribbean Princess. We chose the Zuiderdam then because the Island, doing about the same itinerary, was substantially more. This year, the CB cost a lot less. I'd do either ship again. I love the culinary hostess and her activities on HAL ships. I dislike the cutbacks HAL has made in entertainment and activities.

[seacruise9]

Hi, 

 

I have cruised aboard both ships. I did a 10-day partial Panama Canal transit cruise on the Zuiderdam. Also, I have done two Caribbean cruises on the Caribbean Princess. The Caribbean Princess is larger and has more activities as well as better entertainment. The Zuiderdam is smaller and more subdued. I think the food and service are fairly comparable on both ships. I would choose the cruise based on the itinerary.

 

Chuck

[cr8tiv1]

I agree that the Canal Experience will be better on HAL (historic locks), but Caribbean Princess (new locks) will have more to do.

[BarbinMich]

Re Zuiderdam's outside elevators (in the mid-ship, near the inside elevators):  are those newly installed?  We were on her in Apr 2017 for a 16-day TA and I don't remember those.  But perhaps because we had the most forward cabin (or one next to it) on Main deck so wouldn't have needed to use mid-ship elevators.

[I Love Cruising 3]

If your basing it on the food alone I would go with the Zuiderdam any day. The food on the CB wasn't nearly as good, especially the buffet which left a lot to be desired. The DR was comparable on both ships. 

[orientodyssey]

I have traveled many times on HAL, and relatively new to Princess (twice).  We found both lines are up to good standard in similar conservative way, with good food and good services.  If you are looking at a light hearted party cruise, then  you need to look else where.  HAL & Princess' main dinning room service, and food are both high quality, we enjoy them enormously.  Buffet wise, Princess is the winner in term of quality and choices.  Entertainment wise, Princess has more music venues than HAL but we feel both the quality is high.  Both ships provide high quality classic cruising experience, without all the new gizmos like large water slide / wave runner / etc.  If you enjoy classic cruising experience, then you will not be disappointed on either of them.  You might want to compare the itinerary, and the cost.  For Panama Canal and south Caribbean, we find HAL sometimes offer better prices in the suite level.  

[sergeant655]

On 11/13/2019 at 1:21 PM, BarbinMich said:

Re Zuiderdam's outside elevators (in the mid-ship, near the inside elevators):  are those newly installed?  We were on her in Apr 2017 for a 16-day TA and I don't remember those.  But perhaps because we had the most forward cabin (or one next to it) on Main deck so wouldn't have needed to use mid-ship elevators.

they were a feature that debuted for Hal on the zuiderdam and are now on all the newer ships. It would be easy to miss them if you use only the forward or aft banks or the inside mid ship elevators. I been on both ship so for me the locks the ship passes thru would determine which ship and cb has slightly better production shows .  Just saw bravo last night and enjoyed it.  Cb also has game shows while Hal has America’s test kitchen and Lincoln Center stage

[geoherb]

We had a balcony cabin beside an outside elevator on the Westerdam. It didn't bother us that people could see us when we were on the balcony. We were never doing anything that people couldn't watch.

[Lucky TGO]

On 11/10/2019 at 1:28 PM, Pam in CA said:

I'm Elite on Princess and a 3-star Mariner on HAL. Been on both and one is not "better" than the other. They're both nice ships and I've had really good cruises on them.

 

To me, it really would depend on the itinerary. If you like sea days, the CB is probably the "better" ship as there'll be more activities and entertainment. If you like port days, the Zuiderdam is probably "better" because with a lot fewer passengers, disembarking and re-embarking is faster plus in smaller ports, fewer passengers means a better port experience.

 

While HAL tends to have older passengers and not as good entertainment, their lecturers are for the most part far better than Princess. On my 10-day HAL Panama Canal cruise, our lecturer was the curator for the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum and she gave several talks about the US space program. Their culinary arts center is much better than on Princess.

 

It's a toss-up. I'd go with itinerary and pricing.

Hi Pam,

Another great answer for a tough question. Your the best. 👍😁

Tony