Princess or HAL

[ILOVEMEXICO]

Hi - we've only cruised twice - both times on Princess; 06 for a week on the Golden and 07 two weeks on the Crown. We absolutely loved Princess but have nothing to compare to. I apoligize I didn't write a review - we loved it all - we are a fairly easy going couple (60&59) who are grateful that we are able to go on such a wonderful vacation and pretty much just go with the flow and try to enjoy as much about where we are as we can, although we did not take many tours as we would prefer to stay on ship or just head to a beach on our own. We had two couples with us in 06 and for one week in 07. One couple said they would never go on another Princess Cruise - felt it was too much of a "family" cruise rather than an adult cruise - they liked HAL; however, they have not been on an HAL cruise for a number of years. We feel more people are now travelling with their families as there were quite a few children/teens on the cruise but it was spring break which we hadn't checked out before we booked. Only wish we had been in a position to take our family when they were young. We did take them to Mexico in 2005 - 2 grown sons and wife and girlfriend.

The children didn't bother us, but bothered the one couple alot.

Would appreciate comments from anyone who has cruised both recently and whether Princess is more family oriented.

Thanks a bunch - (we don't have any cruise plans for 08 as we are in the process of moving from our house and do not have a positive possession date for the new place - only early 08, so can't make any firm plans - maybe last minute but we would want a balacony, so not sure we could get one if we wait till the last minute - but there is always 09!!!)

Thanks again for any comments you may have. Happy Cruising to those who are cruising in the upcoming months.

[wizard-of-roz]

ILOVEMEXICO: Me too! We'd have so much fun together...I see things the same as you. And, if you like dogs, our service dog goes on the ship with us!

We're leaving on September 29th and November 24th (both to Mexico and both on the Golden Princess.) We've sailed on the Diamond Princess and loved her so much.

We did the Oosterdam in April and Carnival Elation in May.

Princess is truly the "complete package!" That said, we loved the Oosterdam; so sedate; so charming; so easy to maneuver. The doors leading to the outside, teakwood decks (you know how hard these doors can be to open), have a magnet on them, that grabs the door to assist in opening and the ledges leading out are all wheelchair friendly!

You will love HAL and her ships. Princess has more families on them because of the venue, Holland America has everything Princess has, just not so many families! Quieter (they literally roll-up by 11:00pm!)

The Oosterdam leaves out of San Diego, only!

The Elation had 24 hour ice cream; ships on a stick; great shows; okay food and a really noisey atmosphere. It was quite a culture shock to go on Carnival, right after HAL!

You'll have fun on any ship you choose because you have the right attitude.

Have fun! Half the fun is in the anticipation of the cruise itself! ;)

[MercedMike]

We love them both!

 

Our next cruise is on HAL, the one after that on Princess. Check our page in my sig below for reports on both.

 

HAL is perhaps just a bit more elegant, a bit more laid back. There may be fewer kids aboard, depending on itinerary. The shows are not quite as lively, the music in the lounges a bit more sedate.

 

If you like Princess, HAL would be a good line to try. I think you might enjoy Half Moon Cay.

 

OTOH, you are well on your way to Platinum on Princess, so never kick a winner in the behind!

 

Whichever you choose you will have a GREAT cruise!

[luv2c00k]

Cruised the Mexican Riviera in February of 2003 on the Star Princess and had a fantastic time. We enjoyed the "horse racing", dance lessons and many, many other activities that were offered during sea days. The Star Princess is a wonderful ship!

 

Cruised the Eastern Carribean in March of this year on HAL Zuiderdam. Again - had a fantastic time. No "horse racing" or dance lessons. We did enjoy the Trivia games. The Zuiderdam is a wonderful ship!

 

There were children on both sailings. The Zuiderdam is more "old world" and I felt there were not as many things to do. Good part was we were not rushing off to do something every minute - more time to relax and read a book.

 

We have booked another cruise on the Coral Princess - 10 day Panama Canal partial trans. Decision to return to Princess for this cruise was because our two sons (23 & 19) will be traveling with us and we thought Princess may offer more things for them to do.

 

I think you would enjoy either cruise line -

[Guillermo]

Hi - we've only cruised twice - both times on Princess; 06 for a week on the Golden and 07 two weeks on the Crown. We absolutely loved Princess but have nothing to compare to. I apoligize I didn't write a review - we loved it all - we are a fairly easy going couple (60&59) who are grateful that we are able to go on such a wonderful vacation and pretty much just go with the flow ---

 

 

 

Well, kids (my wife and I are 70), we took our first HAL cruise last fall -- Canada/New England. The cruise was great, except for the missed ports (a disappointment), but the ship was eerily quiet -- it may have been the itinerary, appealing to the elderfolk (fall foliage). But it was free of kids. The last day of the cruise, we met a friendly couple on deck; after a few minutes of chatting, he said, "Bill, I'm 70 years old; but does it seem to you that there are an awful lot of really old people on this cruise?" I had to say, "yes."

Every time we went to the upper deck dance floor, it was empty except for one or two couples-- it was like staying in a manufactured home park in Florida -- lights out at 9.

This Dec we're trying Princess for the first time -- but my guess is that if you avoid cruising during school holiday times, and take longer cruises (11 days plus), you'll find the ages more to your liking, with fewer younger families.

We're not exactly staid, but our grandchildren are growing up, and we've been through the raucous parts already --

Happy cruising -- as so many others have said, you're on a ship, the ship is moving, and everything is looked after for you. From your post, I think you'll be fine.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I've cruised on both lines, and I can't say Princess is more family-friendly than HAL.

 

On our HAL cruise, there were so many families, it was incredible. The ship was one of the newer ones and it was close to Spring Break, but not during it. I have never seen so many extended families on a cruise before. It was very common to see grandparents all the way down to their grandchildren.

 

From what we could tell, Princess and HAL are very similar, with HAL having just a few nicer touches starting with their documents, to their beds & bedding, to their balcony furniture and ship design.

 

I did prefer the more outgoing staff on Princess though and we did encounter more language barriers with the crew on HAL.

[YoPhilly]

You'll have fun on any ship you choose because you have the right attitude.

 

 

Perfect.

[m steve]

both feed the Carnival coffers and not a lot of difference in my mind.

[Starbright]

We love Princess and HAL. Last Sept/Oct we were on board the Zuiderdam for 21 nights for a repositioning cruise from Vancouver to Ft Lauderdale via the Panama Canal. As far as I know there were only two children on board - a little boy aged about 2/3 years and a baby girl about 11 months! The passengers tended to be older, although there were people in their 40s and 50s on board, but we loved the whole cruise.

 

I understand that when the Zuiderdam has been in the Caribbean there have been a lot more families with children on board, so I do think that the length of cruise and the itinerary has more to do with it than whether it's Princess or HAL. I think the two lines compare pretty well and would be happy to sail again on either.

[oskidunker]

Would not cruise that line again.

[Tak8]

I have sailed HAL twice and Princess once. There are some minor differences, but I think you would like HAL especially if you want to try a different line for comparison. I think HAL has the best buffet with their Lido buffet. Enjoy dinner selections more on Princess and more active day/night life on Princess. All my cruises have been Caribbean cruises, so there were families on both lines. In fact, I cruise with my teenage son so I'm looking for a line that he will also enjoy.

[bphman]

We just sailed the Maasdam in June and the Crown Princess 2 weeks ago (just wrote a long review of the Crown) but it is a difficult comparison. These were our first cruises on both lines. The Maasdam is small at 1400 passengers compared to a large Crown with 3400 passengers and you felt every one of them. Food was definitely better on the Crown but the buffet was a nightmare. I missed fresh eggs and omelets on the Crown so breakfast was a bust for me.

 

As far as family friendliness, Crown would be better only because we had 700 kids on board and a very active kids program. I didn't notice alot of kids on Maasdam but the ones we saw were very well behaved, not so on Crown. The ports of embarkation and itineraries may dictate the type of passengers so it is really difficult to make a direct comparison between these two distinctly different ships.

 

What we did learn is that my wife and I don't like the larger ships. We've been on all sizes of ships on various lines always with our kids except our Maasdam cruise when we sailed alone. Our prefenence is to HAL with our long term desire to try Crystal or Seabourn.