Can a HAL fan convince me to switch from Princess for Alaska cruise?

[rkacruiser]

On 11/6/2021 at 11:53 AM, cruisemom42 said:

I'm not a fan of the Royal-class ships at all, for the reasons stated above.

 

The Royal Class sized ships--and beyond--have no business in sailing in Alaska other than to fatten the cruise lines' of whatever company bottom line.  The Coral Princess is the proper sized ship that is appropriate for Alaska cruises.  HAL's Vista Class ships are also appropriately sized.  Larger?  Haven't sailed on any of those in Alaska, but, I'd have some concerns.  

 

'I will again state that I found a qualitative difference to the onboard Alaska program between my sailings on Westerdam and Coral Princess in 2019.  Both were quite acceptable and I enjoyed them both.  But, for variety of experiences, Princess won the competition.  

[Hlitner]

Interesting thread.  Have cruised Alaska with HAL, Princess and Seabourn.  Seabourn blew the other two lines out of the water.  And the weird thing is that SB was actually less money then decent suites on both HAL and Princess.   It was also nice getting to those Alaskan ports on a ship with fewer than 400 passengers.

 

But choosing between HAL and a Royal Class Princess vessel would be tough.  We do agree with some of the negative comments about the Royal Class ships...however we have done 4 cruises on those vessels are there is much to enjoy.  The HAL ships are definitely better if you want lounges with a decent view,  And if you are happy to trade Princess Pizza and souffles for HAL Meatloaf then your decision is easy.

 

Hank

[rkacruiser]

22 hours ago, Hlitner said:

.however we have done 4 cruises on those vessels are there is much to enjoy.

 

My sole cruise on a Royal Class vessel was a New Year's Cruise on Royal Princess.  Much to enjoy on the ship, but, the mass of guests in the Atrium at Midnight on December 31st was an experience that I don't ever want to experience again.  More civilized that the "crowd rushing" that too many experienced a few days at that concert.  But, it was far too many people in too constricted a space!  

[Mary229]

I liked princess shore excursions much better - there were many more active options.  Of course, it is very easy to arrange your own shore excursions.   The last princess Alaska cruise was a family cruise and the kids really weren’t all that thrilled with the ship but in Alaska you are in port most days.   I agree with the sentiment to see Alaska on the smallest ship you can afford but my first consideration would be itinerary and timing.  I have not taken HAL in Alaska but am going to give them a try next summer mainly for the land package into the Yukon.  

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

My sole cruise on a Royal Class vessel was a New Year's Cruise on Royal Princess.  Much to enjoy on the ship, but, the mass of guests in the Atrium at Midnight on December 31st was an experience that I don't ever want to experience again.  More civilized that the "crowd rushing" that too many experienced a few days at that concert.  But, it was far too many people in too constricted a space!  

On the other hand, you could find yourself on a HAL ship at midnight in the lobby and you would likely be along with the night cleaning crew.  Today we had to cancel an Oceania cruise because O severely screwed up their itinerary and moved the final embarkation port 1500 miles!  Within minutes we booked a cruise (for the end of the month) on a new Princess Royal Class vessel.  I actually look forward to relaxing at the International Cafe (open 24/7) in their atrium people watching.  I also enjoy people watching on HAL when we can find a few that are awake (only teasing).  

 

But seriously we do love variety in our travel and cruising.  There is a place for Princess and HAL!  But Princess does know what they are about.  I am no longer so sure about HAL.  Time will tell.  I do know when we board the new Enchanted Princess in a few weeks, DW and I will head directly for Alfredo's for our embarkation lunch.  But on Princess when we head to their Production Shows we will be able to think about our beloved HAL where they no longer even have Production Shows.  Kind of sad.

 

Hank

 

[PACD_JG]

Thanks for all the comments.  I'm still following, haven't pulled the trigger yet as the "sale" on a big box TA goes through 11/14, and I was holding out hope that there might be a Veterans Day sale on the Holland site.  Watched a video about the Koningsdam going through Norway on a show called Mighty Cruise Ships (Paramount Plus).  Quite a beauty.

[StLouisCruisers]

3 hours ago, PACD_JG said:

Thanks for all the comments.  I'm still following, haven't pulled the trigger yet as the "sale" on a big box TA goes through 11/14, and I was holding out hope that there might be a Veterans Day sale on the Holland site.  Watched a video about the Koningsdam going through Norway on a show called Mighty Cruise Ships (Paramount Plus).  Quite a beauty.

 

I love that episode.  I keep it on the DVR to watch when I need my cruise "fix".

[Mary229]

HAL has an announcement on the website that they are planning a Black Friday sale.  For you the kids sale free sale, if it is still going, is a winner.  Anyway you can cancel until final payment day, just be sure to book with a refundable deposit.  

[nocl]

17 hours ago, Hlitner said:

On the other hand, you could find yourself on a HAL ship at midnight in the lobby and you would likely be along with the night cleaning crew.  Today we had to cancel an Oceania cruise because O severely screwed up their itinerary and moved the final embarkation port 1500 miles!  Within minutes we booked a cruise (for the end of the month) on a new Princess Royal Class vessel.  I actually look forward to relaxing at the International Cafe (open 24/7) in their atrium people watching.  I also enjoy people watching on HAL when we can find a few that are awake (only teasing).  

 

But seriously we do love variety in our travel and cruising.  There is a place for Princess and HAL!  But Princess does know what they are about.  I am no longer so sure about HAL.  Time will tell.  I do know when we board the new Enchanted Princess in a few weeks, DW and I will head directly for Alfredo's for our embarkation lunch.  But on Princess when we head to their Production Shows we will be able to think about our beloved HAL where they no longer even have Production Shows.  Kind of sad.

 

Hank

 

I think that HAL knows what it is about, it is just not the same as what it used to be.  From what I have seen on recent HAL cruises it is now starting to attract younger demographics, even as the long time HAL cruisers dislike the changes. They still have production shows, it is just that they have changed to dance and light shows, instead of the old musical song and dance shows.

[cruisemom42]

20 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Today we had to cancel an Oceania cruise because O severely screwed up their itinerary and moved the final embarkation port 1500 miles!

 

I saw the "O" board gave no quarter regarding how helpful Oceania would/should/could be. They are a tough-love bunch.

[Hlitner]

4 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I saw the "O" board gave no quarter regarding how helpful Oceania would/should/could be. They are a tough-love bunch.

LOL, tis part of the game here on CC.  Every cruise line has its cheerleaders.  That particular cruise had several hundred empty cabins before their major changes.  Now they are going to have a lot of cancellations with no time to sell more cabins.  We actually were pretty lucky because we have been able to recover all of our air/hotel arrangements.  We just found a future O cruise of some interest so that is always possible.  By the way, looking at that cruise line's pricing in the future they are up to around $500 per person/day for a balcony room.  Like many lines they gave out lots of FCCs because of COVID cancellations and then jacked up the prices of all their future cruises to essentially devalue the FCCs.  Pretty smart business strategy.

 

Hank

[rkacruiser]

20 hours ago, Hlitner said:

On the other hand, you could find yourself on a HAL ship at midnight in the lobby and you would likely be along with the night cleaning crew.

 

THAT IS A COMPLETELY UNTRUE POST for New Year's Eve!  I have sailed on Nieuw Amsterdam on New Year's Eve.  The largest celebration was around the Mid-Ship Pool at Midnight with music.  The area was packed.  A quieter celebration with live music, dancing, and  a big screen erected for a Midnight countdown was in the Crow's Nest.  

 

Volendam, 2019 and Zaandam, 2018, the Midnight Countdown and New Year's Eve celebrations were certainly NOT with only the cleaning crew.  The Ocean Bar was "hopping" with the main celebration taking place in the Showroom.  Volendam's Captain's wife was on the dance floor.  When the band played "I Will Survive", I joined her.  

[RuthC]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

THAT IS A COMPLETELY UNTRUE POST for New Year's Eve!  I have sailed on Nieuw Amsterdam on New Year's Eve.  The largest celebration was around the Mid-Ship Pool at Midnight with music.  The area was packed.  A quieter celebration with live music, dancing, and  a big screen erected for a Midnight countdown was in the Crow's Nest.  

Hank has a penchant for hyperbole. Or, put another way, gross exaggeration. 

[PACD_JG]

Was about to cancel Princess for Holland, so I checked my Princess account one last time, and they added Glacier Bay back on....so conflicted.

 

[bennybear]

4 hours ago, PACD_JG said:

Was about to cancel Princess for Holland, so I checked my Princess account one last time, and they added Glacier Bay back on....so conflicted.

 

Is it outside of Vancouver island or the inside passage?  That would be a deal breaker for me.  And IMO the Food on HAL is better than Princess.  Also consider being on a ship with well over 1000 more passengers. 

[OlsSalt]

Another factor is checking how many other ships are in port on the same day. Try looking up "Who's In Port" or other port calendar search engines.  Always think it nicer when there are fewer ships.

 

If you are down to shaving the last points of difference, port traffic just might make the difference. Good news when it is this close, either choice will work out just fine. After years of all cruise lines doing this often same itinerary, there is little final difference. Only the Alaska weather which is both highly changeable and unpredictable - no cruise line has control over that. 

 

However, I remember doing the very same thing back in our early days with slips of paper all over the kitchen trying to compare three different cruise lines for an introductory Caribbean cruise. HAL ultimately won because they offered one extra port stop - not knowing anything about HAL or what even mattered about different cruise lines back then.  

 

That began our own 600 day plus love affair with HAL ships and we never looked back, though we have sailed other cruise lines from time to time. Nothing beats the entire package HAL offered us --- smaller ships, wonderful crews, just enough sailing traditions and formalities to make it feel special, fantastic itineraries, older, quieter passenger groups, real libraries, great enrichment programs add overall sense of value for the dollar. With four trips to Alaska in almost every season now,  we would go again on HAL in a heart beat.

 

Used to be (but no longer) HAL would run its 7 day -Sat to Sat Alaska cruises out of Vancouvers which would pretty much match what other cruise lines were offering with several ships being in ports on the same day.

 

But they would also run a smaller HAL ship that left mid-week and managed to slip in-between the larger ships dates in the same ports, making it a much more intimate experience.  But best of all were the Alaska itineraries on their smaller ships going well beyond the standard stops and much further north - the best HAL Alaska cruises of all. (Sitka, Dutch Harbor, etc Nome even -the towns not yet hit by mass tourism.)

[rkacruiser]

7 hours ago, PACD_JG said:

Was about to cancel Princess for Holland, so I checked my Princess account one last time, and they added Glacier Bay back on....so conflicted.

 

 

It's a good itinerary and many rate the visit to College Fjord better than to Hubbard Glacier.  Port times are good, although Ketchikan is a bit short.  I appreciate you being conflicted as to what to do.  

[OlsSalt]

I personally preferred Hubbard - lots of thundering ice falls calving off its wide expanse.

 

College Fiord certainly had far more glaciers, but over a much wider area so we did not stay long at any one of them. There was not much time to observe them if they were also active and were all off at a distance. This may well depend on different times of the year.

 

I loved the route into Hubbard and the sweep of its wide glacier view, from beginning to end. If the call were between Glacier Bay and Hubbard which can sometimes also happen, I would probably now side with Hubbard. But that is probably because we were the only ship and all alone with that stunning stretch of nature. It was magnificent.

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

I personally preferred Hubbard - lots of thundering ice falls calving off its wide expanse.

 

College Fiord certainly had far more glaciers, but over a much wider area so we did not stay long at any one of them. There was not much time to observe them if they were also active and were all off at a distance. This may well depend on different times of the year.

 

I loved the route into Hubbard and the sweep of its wide glacier view, from beginning to end. If the call were between Glacier Bay and Hubbard which can sometimes also happen, I would probably now side with Hubbard. But that is probably because we were the only ship and all alone with that stunning stretch of nature. It was magnificent.

 

100% agree with your thoughts and experiences.  Ships often visit College Fjord on their way to Whittier.  That time period interferes with the late last day needed activities prior to embarkation.  HH, dinner, packing, getting luggage out to be picked up by the crew:  all interfere with sightseeing opportunities. 

 

If the glacier at Hubbard decides to calve while one is observing, it's a magnificent experience.  The sail into/from the glacier is also worthwhile to experience.  

[Boatdrill]

On 11/9/2021 at 7:15 PM, Hlitner said:

On the other hand, you could find yourself on a HAL ship at midnight in the lobby and you would likely be along with the night cleaning crew.  .....  we booked a cruise (for the end of the month) on a new Princess Royal Class vessel.  I actually look forward to relaxing at the International Cafe (open 24/7) in their atrium people watching.  I also enjoy people watching on HAL when we can find a few that are awake (only teasing).  

 

This sums up something that some people don't think about when they book a cruise.  Besides considering the itinerary, size of ship and its rooms, public space, service, etc,  consider the type of people you will be cruising with. Not relatives, or friends, but strangers. Do you  want to be with people who are experienced travelers ?  People who dress and behave appropriately ?  Or who are obnoxious in public ?    I have friends who were repeat Princess cruisers, and took their first HAL cruise with a large group. Post-cruise, the husband's comment about the difference between the two lines was "It's so  much saner on Holland America"  meaning the  HAL onboard experience was calmer than on Princess.   He also said there were no annoying games at the pool, and they could relax. He was pleasantly surprised, and they haven't returned to Princess since. Now they know to consider who their fellow passengers will be when choosing a cruise line, and if that's the kind of experience they want.      

[Hlitner]

52 minutes ago, Boatdrill said:

This sums up something that some people don't think about when they book a cruise.  Besides considering the itinerary, size of ship and its rooms, public space, service, etc,  consider the type of people you will be cruising with. Not relatives, or friends, but strangers. Do you  want to be with people who are experienced travelers ?  People who dress and behave appropriately ?  Or who are obnoxious in public ?    I have friends who were repeat Princess cruisers, and took their first HAL cruise with a large group. Post-cruise, the husband's comment about the difference between the two lines was "It's so  much saner on Holland America"  meaning the  HAL onboard experience was calmer than on Princess.   He also said there were no annoying games at the pool, and they could relax. He was pleasantly surprised, and they haven't returned to Princess since. Now they know to consider who their fellow passengers will be when choosing a cruise line, and if that's the kind of experience they want.      

I guess there are times when I should bring out our more then 45 years of cruise experience on 16 lines from budget to luxury.  There is no question that the passengers (and the crew) make the cruise.  We have never had a bad cruise but have had a few cruises with a less than ideal group of passengers.  But we never found it an issue of cruise line or even ship as much as the length of the cruise and timing.  So, for example, take a 7 day cruise during spring break time and many adults will not be happy.  Or take shorter (less then 2 weeks) during the summer and it might not be the best for folks that prefer not to be around a lot fun loving teens and kids.    I will admit that on our HAL cruises (we are 5 Star Mariners) we have never had anything but nice cruisers :).  But we have been on many HAL cruises where most of those wonderful fellow passengers were back in their cabins by 10 (or earlier).  

 

As to Princess, DW and I have long enjoyed this particular line.  Sure, we have cruised with a few obnoxious passengers but folks have mostly been very nice, friendly, and enjoyable.  On Princess we understand that we must adjust to the routine of that line just like we must adjust when on HAL, MSC, Celebrity, or Seabourn.  Each cruise seems to have a Rythm and we try to adjust.  So we have an upcoming cruise on the new Enchanted Princess.  We are not fans of the blasting Movies Under the Stars (actually sun) that blasts all day long so we avoid sitting anywhere near that pool.  There is another quieter pool or perhaps we will spend some of our OBC and book the very quiet Sanctuary (which is plush, quiet, and has great service).  And the Sanctuary is limited to folks 18+.  But once the sun goes down we know we will have a lot more fun on Princess then we would have on the much more sedate HAL.  Princess is not going to try and pass off a BBC documentary as the main show of the evening.  And Princess still has a piano bar (unlike most of the HAL ships).   The next time we go on MSC we know that we can always escape into a very luxurious and upscale place which is the Yacht Club (this is the only way we book that line).  If we are on Seabourn I look forward to enjoying my first cocktail hour with decent French Champagne and my own serving of caviar (all included).  

 

Unlike some fellow cruise lovers, DW and I do love lots of variety on our cruises which is why we book many different lines.  Our last two cruises (Aug and Oct) were on Seabourn and they were near perfect cruises on what is arguably one of the two or three best cruise lines in the world.  But now that we are going on Princess we will adjust to the mediocre cuisine and larger crowds.  On the other hand, I just love heading to the International Cafe and grabbing a coffee and a pastry and enjoying the early mornings near the atrium.   And the thing about Princess is that we will have a wonderful time at less than half the cost of most luxury lines.

 

Speaking of HAL vs Princess I do love that the International Cafe is open 24/7.  It is great for when folks cannot sleep as you can always go to the IC, get some coffee/tea and a snack and simply relax.  On HAL your only option would be room service which is not a good option when you do not want to bother/wake your mate.

 

Hank

[zgscl]

11 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

But once the sun goes down we know we will have a lot more fun on Princess then we would have on the much more sedate HAL.  Princess is not going to try and pass off a BBC documentary as the main show of the evening.  And Princess still has a piano bar (unlike most of the HAL ships). 

How do you find the daytime activities on Princess vs HAL? Have always loved the cooking demos, and the EXC talks since they launched. Wondering how similar Princess activities are in the day. I have no doubt the PM entertainment completely outshines HAL, though we do like the Music Walk. I assume there is music on Princess somewhere in the evenings also. 

[Hlitner]

47 minutes ago, zgscl said:

How do you find the daytime activities on Princess vs HAL? Have always loved the cooking demos, and the EXC talks since they launched. Wondering how similar Princess activities are in the day. I have no doubt the PM entertainment completely outshines HAL, though we do like the Music Walk. I assume there is music on Princess somewhere in the evenings also. 

Princess actually has more activities than HAL but what is offered will depend on the length of the cruise and number of sea days.  I do not recall much about cooking demos since we seldom get involved on either HAL or other lines.  My DW is a terrific cook (I call her my personal chef) and she has been underwhelmed by many of the cooking demos on HAL because she was not impressed with much of what was being demonstrated because she found most of classes too basic.  On longer cruises with lots of sea days Princess will also have some lectures and just like on HAL it is hit and miss.  The best two lecturers we ever heard were on the HAL (Dr. Alan Wright and Danny Catt) but we have also heard some awful lecturers on HAL.  As to the EXC thing we will leave that to others.  The thing about HAL is that so much depends on which ship and which cruise.  So, if you did some of those EXC cruises on the Massdam it was somewhat different than what was offered on other HAL ships.  You mention the Music Walk...but how many HAL vessels do not have the Music Walk?  It is the same with the BB King groups which used to be on about half the HAL ships.  And my big complaint about the BB King groups (often stated here on CC) is that they seldom played any BB King (or similar) music.   By the way, Princess does some ridiculous activities that are an awful lot of fun.  While the idea of watching an egg drop (the idea is to find a way to drop eggs 3 or 4 stories without them breaking) sounds ridiculous in practice it is a riot and lots of fun.  When we did the Grand Med cruise on HAL (Prinsendam) one major daytime activity was "Animal Toss" where passengers tossed stuffed animals at targets.  So yes, this kind of stuff happens on HAL. 

 

As to pool games on Princess, we have not seen that old stuff in years but volleyball games (in the pool) are not uncommon and fun for both participants and those watching. And if you think that is silly imagine being on Seabourn when Senior Officers, fully clothed in their white uniforms, serve caviar from the pool (or the surf if a beach party).   I mention Seabourn (a sister company of HAL's) because that line is like night and day when compared to HAL.  Seabourn actually does a lot of fun things on board (surprising for a luxury line) and they are better attended then most things we have seen on other lines.  On a recent Seabourn Odyssey cruise with only 130 passengers, a 9:30pm deck party was crowded with at least 100 of those passengers and many members of the crew.  We have been on some HAL cruises with over 1000 passengers when they had deck parties and there were not even 100 folks.   By the way, Princess has "Movies Under the Stars" which often draws a nice crowd of folks who cuddle on deck chairs (which are adorned with covers) under blankets while they eat their popcorn and watch some decent movies.  It is a lot more fun than being crammed into the tiny Wajung Theater.  While I strongly dislike that Princess uses that MUTS system during the day, watching a decent movie or sporting event at night (under the stars) is fun and MUTS has a truly amazing speaker system not to mention huge screen.

 

I do love music and the best variety (and quantity) I have heard in many years happens on MSC!  Go figure.  Since MSC deals with a very international clientele they tend to emphasize music since that works in any language.  But you will not find comedians on that line and rarely any kind of lecture (what language would they use?).   We still remember when HAL had decent musical Production Shows that also used a real 7-piece band!  HAL still remains the only cruise line we have been on that has "dark nights" on some of their longer cruises.  And on HAL when DW and I go for our cocktails around 6:30 it is pretty normal not to find any live music anywhere on the ship!  That would not happen on Princess, Celebrity, or MSC.  

 

For DW and I our favorite activity during long sea days is curling up on a deck lounger (weather permitting) with a good book.  But a decent lecture does get our interest.  On the other hand, when we cruised on the Queen Mary 2 we really enjoyed going to daytime Shakespeare productions (they had their own Shakespeare company aboard) and the Planetarium Shows.  My point is that each line has various options while HAL seems to live or die with Team Trivia.  

 

Hank

[mcrcruiser]

On 11/5/2021 at 5:44 PM, Aquahound said:

For those who haven't sailed Princess Royal Class and seen their pathetic balconies, this is a standard balcony.  There are larger available, but this is the vast majority of them.  

 

More looks like a condo balcony in Manhattan 

[mcrcruiser]

Have you  considered  doing a round trip from San Francisco  in Ruby Princess , much better sized ship with much better balconies  ? This is a 10 night  cruise to Alaska .