Thinking about trying Princess how does it compare to Holland and Royal

[JoeysMama]

I am sorry if this has been asked but I have been reading here a long time but just decided to start to post. My family and I have dones several Royal Carib and Holland Line cruises. We like them both but like Holland the best. We are thinking we might like to go out of Galveston Texas next summer in 2008. I do not see that they are doing that this summer. This year we are doing Alaska on Holland on the Noordam.

 

My question I guess is 2 parts how is Princess compared to the other 2 lines and what ships go out of Texas? I think I read where Princess and Holland is all owned by Carnival Corp so we have Carnival stock so I guess we would get ship board credit.

[AZbeachboy]

We have never had a bad cruise. But there are distinct differences. HAL service was great, but we happened to be on an older ship. Not just people wise, but the ship was the OLD Westerdam and it was not in good shape. It has since left the fleet. We enjoyed their private island better than Princess Cay or Royal Carribean's spot on Haiti.

 

Royal Carribean was just average for us. Good people, lots of activities on the Brillance, our cruise critic group was great. The Rhaposdy out of Galveston is a smaller ship and not as many activities. Still a great cc group. Facilities not quite as good. However it is being replaced in Galveston as I understand it. Check with RCL on that one. We did not think the food, especially the buffet was as good on RCL as other lines.

 

Princess has been our favorite. Great service, good food, and the nicest ships we have sailed on. We will be challenged this June on the Tahitian Princess in that it is a smaller ship but it is the itenerary that we are after.

 

So our personal prefence ratings would be 1. Princess 2 HAL 2 1/2 RCL. We wanted to try Celebrity next year, but cannot find a itenerary for what we want.

[wdrl]

I am sorry if this has been asked but I have been reading here a long time but just decided to start to post. My family and I have dones several Royal Carib and Holland Line cruises. We like them both but like Holland the best. We are thinking we might like to go out of Galveston Texas next summer in 2008. I do not see that they are doing that this summer. This year we are doing Alaska on Holland on the Noordam.

 

My question I guess is 2 parts how is Princess compared to the other 2 lines and what ships go out of Texas? I think I read where Princess and Holland is all owned by Carnival Corp so we have Carnival stock so I guess we would get ship board credit.

 

We have taken cruises on all three and found Princess is a better fit for our lifestyle. All of the lines you mentioned have something going for it that the other does not. RCCL - better entertainment, Holland has some of the most friendly (without being over the top) and polite crew we've ever encountered. Princess is a blend of the two cruise lines. A younger crowd with more active excursions, but still not dominated by younger generation(s). I understand that you will qualify for Captain Circle prices on a Princess cruise by being a past pax of Carnival. However, your membership as a past pax on Carnival does not apply on Princess. Our last cruise we met a couple that were Diamond level on Carnival and were very upset that they didn't get the same benefits with Princess.

 

Bad news, Princess has pulled out of Galveston after 2007. There's no indication she'll be returning. The Houston Chronicle had an article quoting a Carnival VP stating that the Caribbean market is not as profitable so they are moving ships around. They plan to move the Princess ships to Europe in the summer and moved the Grand to a Florida port for winter Caribbean season in 2008.

[Tak8]

I have been on all 3. I like Princess the best, but Holland and Royal are both good lines. I was on the Zuiderdam which is one of the newer HAL ships. They have the best buffet in terms of quality and variety. They also have an excellent alternative restaurant. The passengers do tend to be older, but there were families and folks in the 20s and 30s aboard. The later night life is quieter. Royal has the ice skatin rink and rock climbing wall which appeals to my teenager.

Princess would be my preferred line but if the other 2 had a better itinerary or an excellent price in comparison, I would go on either.

[Druke I]

We also have travelled with all three, but prefer Princess for the wide variety of itineraries, particularly their "exotics".

 

We've also recently travelled on Oceania (twice), with a 3rd booked. They are a fantastic small cruise line.

[8mpg]

I cant compare because I have yet to go on my first cruise (Golden Princess May12 to Alaska) but I can tell you, Princess had pulled out of Galveston at the beginning of 2008 and after April, RCCL will be out of there too :( Living in TX, it was the best way for us to go on a Caribbean cruise.

[melmarine]

My family has also cruised all 3 lines. Each one has something different to offer. My DH and I preferred Holland because food was better and we like fresh water pools. My kids (now 12 and 15) preferred RCI because there was more to do and more kids (skating rock climbing etc). We just got off the Caribbean Princess and are now officially Princess cruisers. We were on the Grand Princess a few years a go but were in a mini suite on Dolphin deck. The balconies on the Grand class ships on Dolphin deck are all wide open. This means that all balconies on the floors above you can look down on you. It also means that cigarette butts tossed overboard from 10 floors above can land on your deck. Yuck. Now that the kids are big we booked 2 balcony cabins on caribe deck. The balconies and the cabins were great. Showers a bit small but the water was still hot and wet and that really is the only true requirement of a shower. We all loved Movies under the Stars(MUTS). I'm not a big tv watcher but I think I watched a movie every day at poolside. My kids enjoyed the facilities and met lots of friends. The food was really amazing considering it was being prepared for 3600 people at a time. Overall everyone agreed that Princess it is for the next cruise. We can't wait to take our friends so they can enjoy Princess too.

[JoeysMama]

Thanks to everyone who answered, you are all so nice:) Looks like I need to try Princess. We usually have a Holland room that uses the Neptune Lounge. I think they call it Deluxe S. What type of room on Princess would compare to that? We really like the food and how they treat us on Holland. We did not like the food as well on Royal. We have mostly done Holland because my parents like it better and so does my husband but we wanted to try something different. It is too bad that every cruise line is pulling out of Galveston, I thought that would be good because we have non stop flights to Houston on both NW and Continental. With non stop it would be better for weather problems.

[Jacqueline]

In general the cabins on HAL are nicer/bigger. I also think that the dining rooms and service are great on HAL but my family prefers anytime dining. If you really like traditional dining you must book WAAY ahead as this is always waitlisted.

[mittenscat]

we have cruised Holland, Celebrity and princess. I think our fav was Princess. The service is better on Holland and Celebrity, but overall we liked Princess. Princess service is just fine, but they do not "fuss" over you like the other two.

[loving2cruise]

I am sorry if this has been asked but I have been reading here a long time but just decided to start to post. My family and I have dones several Royal Carib and Holland Line cruises. We like them both but like Holland the best. We are thinking we might like to go out of Galveston Texas next summer in 2008. I do not see that they are doing that this summer. This year we are doing Alaska on Holland on the Noordam.

 

My question I guess is 2 parts how is Princess compared to the other 2 lines and what ships go out of Texas? I think I read where Princess and Holland is all owned by Carnival Corp so we have Carnival stock so I guess we would get ship board credit.

 

I've never cruised on HAL yet. I would like to try once. I hear the cabins are big.....

I have been on 3 Royal Carribean cruises so I've been a huge RC fan....

BUT...I took my first Princess cruise on the Crown a few weeks ago and LOVED it. .....loved the cabin way better than RC's cabins.

The only thing was that on RC, the entertainment was much better than Princess by a long shot, especially the spectacular ice show that RC puts on and the nightly entertainment they have is more like watching Broadway actors and actresses perform with great chorography (but I really LOVED the Princess cruise line too, regardless of the entertainment).

[TexasMom2]

It's hard to believe that we only have Carnival from Galveston for summer '08. I keep thinking some other announcements will be made, but I guess schedules are out and it would be hard to change them now. We just have to hope that the Port of Houston will work out and there will be more choices, maybe for 2009.

[tetons]

I too have cruised on all three lines and agree with the posts mentioned above. We now pick our cruises by the itenerary not necessarily the cruise line. When you cruise the different size ships and lines you discover that you do really like certain aspects of all them and wish that the perfect ship could be built. Voyager with RCI will be in Galveston in 2008 which I cannot wait to go on again. It was the first larger ship I sailed and it was great. We sailed on the smaller Ryndam HAL and boy did I miss the activities that RCI and Princess offer. However the food and service were comparible. The one thing I do like about RCI, HAL, and Disney is that with a regular balcony room you have a bed and a small sofa but with Princess you have to pay extra and get a mini-suite to get the sofa which has never made any sense to me.

Overall for me:

Princess and RCI: entertainment better, more choices, several different shows to pick from every night, great food ...like RCI showers better because they use the hard plastic door rather than that curtain

Disney: best regular balcony room and fun changing dining rooms even for traditional but worst food

HAL: best for pure relaxation since there was not much to do during the day or night, great food

Any cruise is great!!!! What's not to like, pampering, no cleaning or cooking, entertainment, meeting new friends, dancing, exercises, seeing new places....etc....

[AAAAmerican]

We have cruised for a few decades now and a basic foul letter word well meant herewith:

LOVEHAL HOLLAND AMERICA LINE is wonderful attentive , leader in ecology and environmental methods the food on all ships is really banquet food. But HALs buffets ans so called snacks are by far the best with this comparison of lines Celebrity is tops by far in the formal dining rooms.. we do so enjoy a traditional dining venue and Princess has both, but we would like to see not 1 but two dining rooms on her larger ships afford the paying clients there choices desired..not wait listed like a different passenger classes had to years before now...:mad:

 

RCL well on food .. :o I feel you may want to bring your own provisions aboard.. we were on another one of her ships recently and it was ...a nicer word phrase.. well needed massive improvement in sanitary methods, quality and presentations....:eek: There ICE shows were phenominal! Everything has a plus and minus I guess...

 

The MS Noordam IV is such a joy to be aboard . We were abaord her for only 3 cruises so far...The only lacking in her is the onboard productions as they do need on all ship to hire and PAY entertainers and not by meerly giving passages to them (As most cruise lines do still)

 

On your Carnival Common Stock Holdings.. (CCL:NYSE and CUK:LSE) yes any amount larger than 100 or more shares qualifies for this Shareholder Benefit and the Annual Meeting last week did announce there that the Dividend was increased too as well the Equity benefit to Shareholders was extended another year.

 

So yes show your travel agent upon booking your holding of Carnival Common Stock ..even in a IRA and/or ROTH ..

 

Envy has emerged now as your going on the MS Noordam IV in Alaska.. ^~^

 

I guess the bottom line is KNOW before you go .

Personal choice is a wonderful American FREEDOM we all still have the ability to partake in.

 

I am sorry if this has been asked but I have been reading here a long time but just decided to start to post. My family and I have dones several Royal Carib and Holland Line cruises. We like them both but like Holland the best. We are thinking we might like to go out of Galveston Texas next summer in 2008. I do not see that they are doing that this summer. This year we are doing Alaska on Holland on the Noordam.

 

My question I guess is 2 parts how is Princess compared to the other 2 lines and what ships go out of Texas? I think I read where Princess and Holland is all owned by Carnival Corp so we have Carnival stock so I guess we would get ship board credit.

[silvercruiser]

The new cabin configurations on Princess are wonderful. Experienced it first on STAR last fall and found the closet setup far superior to the usual. Check out the plans and you'll see.

[AZbeachboy]

The new cabin configurations on Princess are wonderful. Experienced it first on STAR last fall and found the closet setup far superior to the usual. Check out the plans and you'll see.

 

Is that just a certain class of ship? Al the pics I see are still the same.

[wdrl]

Thanks to everyone who answered, you are all so nice:) Looks like I need to try Princess. We usually have a Holland room that uses the Neptune Lounge. I think they call it Deluxe S. What type of room on Princess would compare to that? We really like the food and how they treat us on Holland. We did not like the food as well on Royal. We have mostly done Holland because my parents like it better and so does my husband but we wanted to try something different. It is too bad that every cruise line is pulling out of Galveston, I thought that would be good because we have non stop flights to Houston on both NW and Continental. With non stop it would be better for weather problems.

 

I had heard of private lounges for suite guests on other cruiselines but not Princess. Here's a link to a news release that shows the amenties for a suite. http://www.princess.com/news/article.jsp?newsArticleId=na828&submit=pk

 

I think a Suite with Balcony is a comparible cabin, but I don't know if it's the same size as on HAL. HAL's cabins are really big. The Princess website says these suites vary in size from 525 to 706 square feet. Oh, I just checked on HAL's website and it states the Deluxe Veranda Suite on the Zuiderdam is 510 sf. with veranda. FYI they added the veranda to the footage, actually all of the cruiselines do.:rolleyes:

 

Does anyone else know if any of the Princess ships has this amenity?

[JoeysMama]

Thanks again for all the information, you are all so great. It sounds like there are some Princess cruises that would match what I am looking for. It is just too bad they will no longer go out of Galveston:( Because we cruise with several family members who like Holland we tend to all book it together. My husband and I are thinking of going on our own and leaving the family behind.;) I will look more at Princess.

Thank you

[vickie1ok]

Actually Royal Caribbean lists their cabin square footage and balcony separte, so you know how much is inside and how much is outside.

[Perki]

I am sorry if this has been asked but I have been reading here a long time but just decided to start to post. My family and I have dones several Royal Carib and Holland Line cruises. We like them both but like Holland the best. We are thinking we might like to go out of Galveston Texas next summer in 2008. I do not see that they are doing that this summer. This year we are doing Alaska on Holland on the Noordam.

 

My question I guess is 2 parts how is Princess compared to the other 2 lines and what ships go out of Texas? I think I read where Princess and Holland is all owned by Carnival Corp so we have Carnival stock so I guess we would get ship board credit.

 

We just got off our 1st Princess cruise in years and our cruise last year was my 1st on Royal Caribbean and I can say we found the service onboard Royal's AOS last year superior to the Crown this year. Never in all the years of sailing have I heard 'no' to a food request - did this year. Went to the Crown Grill to celebrate our Anniversary as well as the fact that we just renewed our vows the hour before onboard. My husband requested simple plain shrimp cocktail and he was told they don't have that in that restaurant but he could try some weird prawns with mustard something they had..sorry don't like mustard and all your other restaurants offer shrimp cocktail every night of ther week how hard can it be to get him some here...guess very hard cause we didn't get any. Also minutes later I got a dissertation as to why I shouldn't choose the whole Maine lobster I ordered with my filet steak, instead I was told to go with the Austrailian lobster tail. Had I wanted the tail I would have asked for the tail I wanted and asked for the Maine lobster (living in Las Vegas it is rare that I get an opportunity to enjoy the stuff) and certainly never have had anyone on any other ship nor in any other restaurant try and talk me out of my choice, I know what I want that is why I asked for it specifically. Did this ruin our cruise, no but it certainly will make me consider other lines before I consider Princess again.

 

Also when getting cash for traveler's check one morning at the pursers desk, like we have done every day of every other cruise we have been on, we asked for more small bills so we didn't have to worry about getting 'local' cash back for purchases made on the island nor worrying about breaking bills, etc. on the island. Well they didn't give us many $1 bills so we handed the lady behind the counter a $10 bill back and asked to get more $1bills. Her response was "five", not a question, it was a statement, and my husband said no I gave you a 'ten' again she said 'five' again my husband said I just gave you a ten I want ten $1 bills. Well finally one of the other guys behind the counter came over and said that they were short on $1 bills and what she was trying to convey was asking if we would take five $1 bills and a $5 - well why didn't she just say that? And I can't believe they didn't have $10 in $1 bills if they could give us 5 what was another 5, this was early in the cruise not towards the end when one might believe the could be low on bills. So just bad communication where it should have been a simple conversation over in seconds but it was made into an unecessary hassle.

 

All in all, we might consider another Princess if I see it has glowing service reports but this ship just left us feeling like some appreciated us, but where service should have been its best (upscale restaurant & service desk) it was at its worst. Other workers we saw and dealt with around the ship were wonderful always smiled and said hi when we did and sometimes before we did. Our room steward was more than accommodating when we asked for not one but two eggcrate bed toppers - my hubby has a rod fused to his back due to scoliosis as an early teen and has a hard time sleeping on hard beds. Also we asked for and always got 4 beach towels (we like one for the lounger and another to dry off with so sand and water isn't on the one on the lounger) he was great and helped make this a great cruise.

 

I have never had a bad cruise, and we still LOVED our vacation this time around, just some are better than others and it is the little things both good and bad that make one better than another. Our opinion Royal and Celebrity both are better than Princess in all around service, never been on Holland America but plan to some day. My 2cents, check the reviews of the ships, I think Caribbean Princess seems to have great service reivews as maybe one or two other ships, but I have a hard time putting Crown Princess over another Royal Caribbean or Celebrity. Good luck with your choice! We will be looking for our 2008 cruise in about 3 or 4 months time so will be reading reviews with much interest.

 

PS we are VERY laid back easy going people we are not picky by any stretch of the imagination so trust me when I say these were not misconstrued circumstances nor brought about by a bad attitude on our part we are always smiley happy people (can't have a screen name 'perki' without being that way ya know) and always ask for things with a smile and appreciatively so unfortunately they just have some persons on this ship that don't understand customer service.

[AZbeachboy]

Perki, my experience on the Brillance of the Seas last year was the same as your on the Crown this year. It seems about every meal I was being told NO! I got tried of it. They would send the head waiter around and he would get it for me, so it ended up yes, but not by the waiter or assist waiter.

 

It depends on personal expierence. No cruise line is perfect. I get upset with the tone and refuse to take no as an answer.

[AmyinGA]

I have been on Princess and RCCL. When we were on the Voyager of the Seas I started keeping a scorecard comparing the two lines. Princess edged out RCCL in the end. Overall our family felt that the food and entertainment was better on Princess. But RCCL won out in comparing Balcony cabins. The size of the balcony cabin felt more like a mini suite on Princess. The balcony cabin bathrooms were similar, but we preferred the door on the RCCL shower than the curtain on Princess. We also preferred the Princess decor, tv entertainment and on board activities. My DH liked the on screen account info...so he could keep track of my casino and bingo spending.

 

We will cruise both lines again, but if price and ports are the same I would go with Princess each time.

[Desert Cruizers]

Actually Royal Caribbean lists their cabin square footage and balcony separte, so you know how much is inside and how much is outside.

I agree. I have noticed on Princess's new ships they list room and Balcony separate. We have been only on Princess twice, Royal once, and depending on their itnerary, will stay with them. We have found the food, service, to be equal, entertainment better on Royal, better Pool games on Princess, all in all each will offer you a wonderful cruise.