Thinking of jumping ship

[TRLD]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

I think everyone should try a variety of cruiselines, based on their budget.  
Everyone enjoys something different.  While we don’t exactly relish having a ton of screaming kids onboard, obnoxious adult passengers can be so much worse. So, our style of cruising is actually met quite nicely on Princess,  that wasn’t always the case.  We loved Celebrity and have a have elite status on that line.  But, last year we went on Celebrity, followed up with a Princess cruise.  We stepped onto Princess and felt at home and entertained after being rather bored on Celebrity.  To each his own, I say!  We didn’t used to feel that way so there are constant changes on every cruise line happening.  
Cruise on another line or two, maybe even on 3 or 4 different lines.  See what works best for you!  That just speaks to good planning and choices.  
You’ll easily find something that fits your style.  We all work too hard to save our money only to be disappointed with our vacation choice.  Bon voyage with whatever you choose.  

We will be on 7 different lines this year.

We tried P&O for the first time during a UK school holiday.  Lots of kids we still enjoyed the cruise.

[TRLD]

45 minutes ago, dog said:

Well, I sailed on the Oosterdam twice.

Like night & day each time.

Old, bug bite in bed, had package- they cancelled my excursion and none suitable as a replacement they said- would no t let me use excursion credit elsewhere on ship.  Can water.  No Diet Coke until second day. No bacon for 2 weeks.  Food quality  suffered a lot. A newer ship maybe much different. TA was like a retirement home atmosphere to us.  But hey, I paid less then $900 pp CAD fare plus the package.

Princess has come out with newer ships that will attract families.SUN. Adding:

I was not able to make dining reservations pre cruise. Long line ups. I asked at restaurant & GS and was told we could eat up in the buffet on formal night.

 

Glad to see others have had enjoyable cruises on HAL like I did the first time.

 

 

When did you sail?  The first 12 to 18 months  after restart was really not representative of any of the lines.  They all had supply chain issues, staffing issues, training issues, etc. Lately all of the lines seem to be back to normal.

[TRLD]

1 hour ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

If you love smaller ships, HAL is definitely a better choice. It you really enjoy production shows, Princess is. Live music?  Definitely HAL. Educated, informed destination specialists and enrichment speakers?  Princess. Food and dining ease?  HAL, all the way. Longer, more interesting itineraries?  HAL. Crews are about even. Years ago, HAL crews seemed stiffer, but that’s changed quite a bit. We’ve found them to be as welcoming as on Princess (where they are nearly always great). 
 

I would cruise solely HAL;  DH likes Princess. So we cruise more on Princess but are always watching for HAL cruises that might work for us. 

Agree on most.  Disagree on the live music aspect.  While HAL has the music venues, the play selection is (IMO) too regimented and too repetitive if you sail them very often.  The live music on Princess tends to be more variable. When we board a HAL ship we have a very good idea of exactly what we will hear.  On Princess we will be surprised (sometimes in a bad way, often in a good way) with a fair variety and different playlists with each different group.  HAL eliminating  Lincoln Center did not help.

 

Unfortunately the structuring of entertainment around the music walk on HAL tend to result in less flexible venues for other activities.

Edited January 21 by TRLD

[dog]

10 minutes ago, TRLD said:

When did you sail?  The first 12 to 18 months  after restart was really not representative of any of the lines.  They all had supply chain issues, staffing issues, training issues, etc. Lately all of the lines seem to be back to normal.

Spring 2023.

 

[Hlitner]

Folks expect miracles, but that rarely happens.  Cruise on any mass market cruise line during school holidays and there will be plenty of kids/teens.  Less on HAL, but it only take a few to bother some folks.  The alternative is to choose one of the few cruise lines that do not allow kids (i.e. Viking) or go on an upscale expensive line that (such as Seabourn, Silversea, SeaDream, etc) that does not generally attract families with kids.  

 

Hank

[leck57]

3 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Just my opinion (and it's probably not worth 2 cents!) but if you are limited to traveling during school holidays then you're going to have some disappointments on *any* cruise line you pick.

 

The main difference with HAL for us is that the children on there are grand children or great grand kids! Compared to Princess we found HAL a near death experience. 

We will give them another go on their newer ships but the Westerdam was almost dead after dinner except for only one area. Overall not many activities throughout the day.

[Bedruthen]

P&O have adult only ships which are a good alternative during school holidays, though they are likely to be Europe based. Otherwise, we would choose HAL, then Celebrity. 

[tulok]

The big playground ships I will never do again. We had a family reunion on NCL with all the slides and go carts and it was chaos from day one. The kids were behaved, that isn’t the main issue, it was the huge crowds, around the pools, buffet, night venues, etc. And everything was geared to <30 year olds. I just wouldn’t want to have that as my vacation again. We were on Celebrity to Bermuda in summer 2022 and had low number of families. It was a nice cruise. We have really made the switch to river cruises and it will remain our main type of vacation for now.

We chose Princess for a small family reunion with only adults in our party, June on Emerald. I am a little apprehensive about the larger ship as I have enjoyed all our small ship ocean cruises much more. But looking forward to trying Princess .  I wish I had found a line I loved that much to stay with them. This is probably our 20something ocean cruise and I have only sailed a few of them more than twice. For a lot of factors, gone bankrupt, can afford more, itinerary, dates because of work schedule, cost, experience, etc. 

[Steelers36]

8 minutes ago, tulok said:

The big playground ships I will never do again. We had a family reunion on NCL with all the slides and go carts and it was chaos from day one. The kids were behaved, that isn’t the main issue, it was the huge crowds, around the pools, buffet, night venues, etc. And everything was geared to <30 year olds. I just wouldn’t want to have that as my vacation again. We were on Celebrity to Bermuda in summer 2022 and had low number of families. It was a nice cruise. We have really made the switch to river cruises and it will remain our main type of vacation for now.

We chose Princess for a small family reunion with only adults in our party, June on Emerald. I am a little apprehensive about the larger ship as I have enjoyed all our small ship ocean cruises much more. But looking forward to trying Princess .  I wish I had found a line I loved that much to stay with them. This is probably our 20something ocean cruise and I have only sailed a few of them more than twice. For a lot of factors, gone bankrupt, can afford more, itinerary, dates because of work schedule, cost, experience, etc. 

These days, Emerald is not all that large a ship.

[Lady Arwen]

10 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

I think everyone should try a variety of cruiselines, based on their budget.  
Everyone enjoys something different.  While we don’t exactly relish having a ton of screaming kids onboard, obnoxious adult passengers can be so much worse. So, our style of cruising is actually met quite nicely on Princess,  that wasn’t always the case.  We loved Celebrity and have a have elite status on that line.  But, last year we went on Celebrity, followed up with a Princess cruise.  We stepped onto Princess and felt at home and entertained after being rather bored on Celebrity.  To each his own, I say!  We didn’t used to feel that way so there are constant changes on every cruise line happening.  
Cruise on another line or two, maybe even on 3 or 4 different lines.  See what works best for you!  That just speaks to good planning and choices.  
You’ll easily find something that fits your style.  We all work too hard to save our money only to be disappointed with our vacation choice.  Bon voyage with whatever you choose.  

Your post made me smile.  We cruised over New Years on Celebrity Ascent, their newest ship, and my DH said “Well,  now we’re home”.  It was wonderful.  No complaints whatsoever.  We are Elite+ and Celebrity loyalty level benefits far exceed Princess.

 

We also have HAL  Nieuw Statendam and HAL Rotterdam booked for 2024 and 2025.  We love the Pinnacle class ships.  We love HAL for providing a very relaxing cruise experience, which we occasionally need.  My DH likes the traditional old time cruise feel.

 

There is a cruiseline and a ship that just fits what you’re looking for at the time.  We will continue to sail with Princess if something suits our fancy.  However, at this time Princess is running third on our list of favs.

[Cruise Raider]

9 hours ago, TRLD said:

We will be on 7 different lines this year.

We tried P&O for the first time during a UK school holiday.  Lots of kids we still enjoyed the cruise.

We’ve also cruised on many different lines, including the ‘family oriented lines’, such as Carnival, RCCL and Norwegian.  We’ve always had great cruises.  We had settled in on Princess recently, mainly because they require short or no flights for us.  But, I like what they’ve done with their format for keeping passengers entertained since the post CoVid restart. They’ve had such creative ideas for games, shows, crafts, cultural events, lectures, etc.  I also love that venues to grab a bite to eat at various venues.  Our go to place is the piazza ..and oftentimes, the kiddos that join in on these competitions are so much fun to watch, especially when they compete against the officers.  Their enjoyment is infectious.  
We sailed on a 5 night 4th of July cruise from LA and as you can imagine, there were so many children onboard.  The activities staff actually created some fabulous events for the kiddos and it was so much fun to watch!  They even had Baby Races in the piazza one afternoon.  Never were we bothered by any of the many children onboard that sailing.  They were really a well behaved demographic and that’s sometimes a rarity.  

[JF - retired RRT]

11 hours ago, Hobby3333 said:

We love HAL but going to cruise Princess for the first time July.  Service on HAL is very good and the food is good.  I would advise you to do Club Orange if the ship you choose has a separate dining room for Club Orange.  We are looking forward to experience the difference between Princess and HAL.  

never mind

Edited January 21 by JF - retired RRT

[Lady Arwen]

2 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

We’ve also cruised on many different lines, including the ‘family oriented lines’, such as Carnival, RCCL and Norwegian.  We’ve always had great cruises.  We had settled in on Princess recently, mainly because they require short or no flights for us.  But, I like what they’ve done with their format for keeping passengers entertained since the post CoVid restart. They’ve had such creative ideas for games, shows, crafts, cultural events, lectures, etc.  I also love that venues to grab a bite to eat at various venues.  Our go to place is the piazza ..and oftentimes, the kiddos that join in on these competitions are so much fun to watch, especially when they compete against the officers.  Their enjoyment is infectious.  
We sailed on a 5 night 4th of July cruise from LA and as you can imagine, there were so many children onboard.  The activities staff actually created some fabulous events for the kiddos and it was so much fun to watch!  They even had Baby Races in the piazza one afternoon.  Never were we bothered by any of the many children onboard that sailing.  They were really a well behaved demographic and that’s sometimes a rarity.  

You sound like a very sweet, kindhearted person.  I love that you enjoy watching the kids having fun.  I wish I could be as kind as you.  We cruise to try to get away from the noise and the hustle and bustle of our life.  We’re constantly fostering husky pups and it’s very loud and very exhausting, although immensely rewarding.  I’m sure parents with children onboard with you are very grateful to have a lovely nonjudgmental person sailing with them.  Kudos to you!

[elaine5]

9 hours ago, leck57 said:

Compared to Princess we found HAL a near death experience. 

We will give them another go on their newer ships

Just got back from Rotterdam. We expected an older crowd. But, on our sailing, I'd guess at least 25% were 50 and under, with 25% in the 50-75 age group. A few children and young adults. Music walk was full in the evenings. On the Orange party night, the venue (at BB King's) was packed at 10pm. The Orange bar hop was at capacity at 9:30. Someone at HMC (young adult) said she felt that her (older) HA ship was mostly a quite old crowd.

[Cruise Raider]

7 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Your post made me smile.  We cruised over New Years on Celebrity Ascent, their newest ship, and my DH said “Well,  now we’re home”.  It was wonderful.  No complaints whatsoever.  

I love that ‘Now we’re home’ feeling, no matter where one gets it.  Happy fellow passengers makes for a better cruise for everyone.  
There was really nothing wrong with our Celebrity cruise, we just felt kind of bored.  
We missed the ongoing activities and all the live music venues, both day and evening.  
Don’t get me wrong, there were things I really love on Celebrity and if they ever came back to the SF, I’d hop on them in a heartbeat.  I like the newer ships and they don’t seem to be home porting them on the west coast.  We cruise for the ship experience and not really for the ports of call.  Oftentimes, we never even get off the ship when in port.  
One huge plus that Celebrity has that Princess won’t seem to consider is their nonsmoking casino.  We enjoy some gambling and we just get smoked out of there.  The Royal is the only Princess ship that has a true nonsmoking area, but it is small and doesn’t have a good variety of machines.  Now they’ve sent her to Australia, there’s not much of a chance we will be cruising on her for awhile.  On the Discovery, they’ve really done a disservice to their passengers for not putting doors into their casino as you sometimes can’t even enjoy a drink in nearby Crooners when the casino is open.  
If only I could design all the ships .. LOL!  

 

[Cruise Raider]

9 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

You sound like a very sweet, kindhearted person.  I love that you enjoy watching the kids having fun.  I wish I could be as kind as you.  We cruise to try to get away from the noise and the hustle and bustle of our life.  We’re constantly fostering husky pups and it’s very loud and very exhausting, although immensely rewarding.  I’m sure parents with children onboard with you are very grateful to have a lovely nonjudgmental person sailing with them.  Kudos to you!

I am sure you are a very kind person!  I can tell that just by following many of your posts and learning that you foster pups.  
 

[Sea Hag]

13 hours ago, charliedalrymple said:

 

Thanks, Sea Hag!  I like the idea that these perks are available to all passengers (not just suite/elite passengers like on Princess).  That's a pretty reasonable price and we would definitely be inclined to try it.

You should know that it doesn't show up if you book online and that they only sell a limited number for each voyage. You need to call them (or have your TA do it) and ask if it's available for the sailing that you want. What I've done is to put a hold on a down level cabin, call in and ask about Club Orange, finalize the booking, then get CO added and get the cabin upgrade to where I actually want to be. This sounds cumbersome, but it's worth it to me. CO gives us the things we like about Reserve Collection on Princess but for a much lower cost.

[ldubs]

There are two current threads over on the HAL forum comparing HAL to Princess (one is linked earlier in this thread).  One of the things I'm seeing from those who have cruised both is that HAL is considered a little less noisy and a calmer atmosphere.  

[TRLD]

2 minutes ago, ldubs said:

There are two current threads over on the HAL forum comparing HAL to Princess (one is linked earlier in this thread).  One of the things I'm seeing from those who have cruised both is that HAL is considered a little less noisy and a calmer atmosphere.  

Away from music walk, sedate almost becomes sedated. Fortunately we read a lot. HAL is good with great unique itineraries, with the smallest average ship size of the main stream lines. They have a classic ship design with a pool with a close able roof. It is very good for those that do not need a lot of entertainment, because outside of music walk it is limited compared to other mainstream lines.

[lahlah57]

15 hours ago, charliedalrymple said:

 

Thanks for flagging that, Elaine. I've read through the entire thread, and I'd say we would still choose HAL over Celebrity--although Celebrity sounds like an improvement over Princess (at least for us).

If you are looking for sedate with little to no kids...do HAL. Do celebity but stay away from holiday and summer break periods. Do princess but stay very far away from holidays and summer break periods. Do carnival if you love demon seeds along with their drunk irresponsible parentages.

This I speak from experience. 

 

[nasa1974]

17 hours ago, memoak said:

The Royal class ships have the huge piazza and the sound just echoes like crazy. We much prefer the Grand class ships which are a little smaller and less deafening. 

I was on the Crown in October and the piazza entertainment was so loud that when at the passenger service desk, you had to shout at each other. Even they were complaining about the volume. 

[Wishing on a star]

18 hours ago, charliedalrymple said:

We are considering dumping Princess as our preferred cruise line, but I'm not sure that we're ready to pay the hefty fares on Viking, Virgin and the premium lines. 

 

It seems that Holland America is the most sedate of the mass market cruise lines, and we are thinking of giving them a try. Can any Princess loyalists comment on the differences between the two?

 

I was interested when I first heard about Virgin...  But, after seeing the feedback and videos the past couple years..  NOPE.

One person mentioned the entertainment on cruise ships, Celebrity in specific, always had some aerialist 'twirling'.....   Seems you might change that word for 'twerking' with Virgin.   And, one TINY crowded pool for the entire ship....  I'll pass.

 

I would love to try other lines, like Viking, but honestly, they are above our pay grade.

 

I am looking forward to the new Sun Princess.

(where, yes, the entertainment onboard seems to be ala-Celebrity)

Edited January 21 by Wishing on a star

[Wishing on a star]

19 minutes ago, nasa1974 said:

I was on the Crown in October and the piazza entertainment was so loud that when at the passenger service desk, you had to shout at each other. Even they were complaining about the volume. 

Wow,  that seems to be a problem more specific to that cruise and ED/CD...

The PTB onboard should have addressed that!!!

 

Some of the best music we have seen on Princess has NOT been the onboard scheduled entertainers.  But when the ships staff, those who play instruments and sing, get together and put on a show one night.  The first time we saw this take place was on the Regal, pre-pandemic.

They hyped up the show, they were gonna have ROCK music in the Piazza, and they were gonna play it loud, as god intended.  OMG, it was great!!!!!

Another time, it was a similar occurrence.  They were setting up in the Piazza that afternoon, and doing 20 second clips of songs to make sure everything was good to go...  It was like  "More!!!  More!!!...

Edited January 21 by Wishing on a star

[elaine5]

I'll also put in a plug for Cunard. We sailed QV to France/Spain last summer as we got a great deal and it fit out time parameters. We expected a stuffy, boring cruise--not--we enjoyed it very much. There were very few children, even during UK summer holidays. Good food in MDR and buffet. Entertainment was the main drawback-headliner show was salute to 20/30s songs. But there were several nights that were very good (crazy cellist). Theater was Victorian style-beautiful. We also enjoyed watching cruisers ballroom dancing very much-some were very good. At it was fun watching the host/hostess teach others to dance. If we wanted a refined, fairly sedate cruise to relax, read, get some sun, this would be it for us if we wanted to mix it up from Princess and Celebrity. 

[nini]

17 hours ago, charliedalrymple said:

 

Thanks for flagging that, Elaine. I've read through the entire thread, and I'd say we would still choose HAL over Celebrity--although Celebrity sounds like an improvement over Princess (at least for us).

 

Same here. We were on the Celebrity Reflection in October 2018........... never again. Dark and closed-in feeling, quite the snooty staff, extremely slow dining room service, and flies all over the buffet food. NOPE!

There are no kids on Viking either, however, we do not want to be required to make full payment a whole year before the cruise date.

I have heard good things about Oceana too.

We were on HAL once and it is too sedate for us. "Shut down" time is about 8:00 pm. But we liked our balcony cabin in 2008.