Princess or HAL?

[CinWin]

Thinking of booking a cruise on either the Crown Princess or HAL's new ship, the Eurodam. I'm wondering if I would like the Crown since it holds so many more passengers. I last sailed on Carnival's Liberty and thought it was too crowded. Need thoughts of those who have sailed on the Crown Princess.

Thanks,

Cindy

[newmexicoNita]

Cindy,

 

What you like about cruising could be the decider; HAL has great food, a nice buffet, choice of dining options just like Princess and the ships are beautiful. the cabins are larger and I personally love the service. But the activities are a bit limited as normally, the age of the passengers are older than Princess. I know some who are in their 30s love HAL, most under 50 find it a little too subdued. If you are into night life Hal may not be for you. Oh, the do have the piano bar, the shows, etc, but the ship is pretty quiet after 10:30pm.

 

Our only experience with Princess so far has been the Golden. She is a beautiful ship. I think as pretty as the Amsterdam, but I prefer HAL.

 

This is my opinion. You are going to get all sorts of comments. You may want to ask the same question on HAL if you haven't already.

 

Nita

[CinWin]

I did ask the same question on HAL board and naturally got very favorable replies. We are an "older" couple and love the shows and the piano bars on the ships but never go to the Disco (DH doesn't dance), but we always find something to do and never go to bed early. Don't know if we would find HAL boring. Oh yes, one of our favorite things to do on a ship is play Bingo. :D One of the problems with our recent Carnival Liberty cruise was that there were so many things to do at the same time, naturally there was no time to do everything. We never even got to see some of the lounges on an 8-night cruise. The one thing in favor of the Crown Princess cruise though is that we like the itinerary a little better than the one on the Eurodam. :confused:

Cindy

[King Neptune]

We've sailed on both and like both. We were on the Caribbean Princess which also has more passengers than the Eurodam but it never felt crowed, it actually felt less crowded than our trips on the Zuiderdam.

 

I would agree that there is a more varied activity schedule on Princess if that was important.

[CinWin]

I did ask the same question on HAL board and naturally got very favorable replies. We are an "older" couple and love the shows and the piano bars on the ships but never go to the Disco (DH doesn't dance), but we always find something to do and never go to bed early. Don't know if we would find HAL boring. Oh yes, one of our favorite things to do on a ship is play Bingo. :D One of the problems with our recent Carnival Liberty cruise was that there were so many things to do at the same time, naturally there was no time to do everything. We never even got to see some of the lounges on an 8-night cruise. The one thing in favor of the Crown Princess cruise though is that we like the itinerary a little better than the one on the Eurodam. :confused:

Cindy

[Hoyaheel]

We're a couple in our 30s (well, our next cruise is for my husband's 40th birthday, but I'm still in my 30s:p ) Anyway, we loved both HAL and Princess and would choose based on itinerary (then price if the itin. is similar) Ship size is very important to us, so we tend to lean more towards HAL unless we can get on one of the small Princess ships. I'm just not up for 3000+ passengers--my preference;) So if you like the itinerary on the Crown Princess, it will probably be a good choice for you.

[BJS]

We are "Senior" cruisers and much prefer Princess over HAL. HAL was nice but we would only cruise with them again if the itinerary was something we could not get on Princess or the price was too good to turn down.

 

We like the anytime dining, feel the entertainment is better, and feel there is more to do on Princess than HAL. For some reason the entertainment - choice of music, etc.- seemed to be geared for a very old age group on HAL. Princess seems to gear their entertainment for a much larger age group. We don't care for some of it but much better variety of what we do like. Princess does have BINGO twice a day on sea days but they also offer more other things to do than HAL. HAL does have good lectures but we have also attended some good ones on Princess. With more cruises on Princess it also stands to reason there have been more poor ones.

 

Our last cruise on the Amsterdam was in a top suite which was lovely but the service there and especially in the dining room was a big disappointment. Three cruises with HAL and only once was the service equal to or better than Princess.

 

.

[newmexicoNita]

We are "Senior" cruisers and much prefer Princess over HAL. HAL was nice but we would only cruise with them again if the itinerary was something we could not get on Princess or the price was too good to turn down.

 

We like the anytime dining, feel the entertainment is better, and feel there is more to do on Princess than HAL. For some reason the entertainment - choice of music, etc.- seemed to be geared for a very old age group on HAL. Princess seems to gear their entertainment for a much larger age group. We don't care for some of it but much better variety of what we do like. Princess does have BINGO twice a day on sea days but they also offer more other things to do than HAL. HAL does have good lectures but we have also attended some good ones on Princess. With more cruises on Princess it also stands to reason there have been more poor ones.

 

Our last cruise on the Amsterdam was in a top suite which was lovely but the service there and especially in the dining room was a big disappointment. Three cruises with HAL and only once was the service equal to or better than Princess.

 

.

I agree with some of what you are saying, but we found the service on HAL to be much better thus I think it depends on the ship and any given week. Activities are much more varied on Princess you are right. We too like anytime dining, of course HAL now offers the same as Princess. We did think the entertainment on Princess a little better.

 

Nita

[Tak8]

I prefer Princess, but like HAL. I have sailed on the Zuiderdam and on the Crown. For the most part, I like smaller ships like the Golden Princess, but there were only a few times I really noticed the crowds. Returning from ports were the times I noticed the larger crowds waiting to get back on board.

Both have good to very good food. Service is very good to excellent on both. I do believe Princess has more active activities than HAL. I like the freshwater pools etc.

I would sail on either line, but prefer Princess. The right itinerary would get me back on a HAL ship.

[Coral]

Every year I seem to sail sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas on Princess. This year I sailed on HAL on December 8th on the Oosterdam. I have to say that the age demographics on my HAL cruise was no different on HAL then any of my Princess cruises during that same time period.

 

In addition - I very much enjoyed the entertainment. I am in my 30's and sailed with a couple in their 20's and some friends in their 40's. We all enjoyed the entertainment. We had Joel Mason who did Elton John songs (was fantastic - best cruise entertainer out there), we had a Piano Player in the bar who specialized in Billy Joel, we had a comedian (Julie Barr) whose stand up routine appealed to all of us and we had Lance Ringnald who is currently entertaining on the Radiance. The entertainment on this ship was better than any Princess, RCCL or Carnival cruise I have been on.

 

There were also plenty of activities on the ship. I actually participated in more activities on this ship than I have on my previous Princess cruises.

 

Not sure if I caught an excellent week on HAL but the experience exceeded my expectations. I thought it would be a quiet, dull week.

[soraya]

Hi, We're a couple in our 40's and have cruised with both HAL and Princess and enjoyed both. We choose our cruises based on itinerary and price. To be honest, I am surprised that we've been on so many Proncess cruises. I would love to cruise with Celebrity but they never seem to be doing the cruise itinerary and price that we want.

 

We found that the food on HAL was better than Princess but more conservative in choices. HAL we found to be more into their linen and crystal which we loved. HAL we found more elegant although the people were a lot older on our Baltic Capitals cruise.

 

But what we liked about Princess was the positive attitude of the people onboard. If you ever travel on P&O UK, you know that we Brits love a moan but the Princess cruisers love to get the last bit of enjoyment out of their cruise.

 

I don't think you can go wrong with either!

[ellbon]

I am sailing on the crown for the second time. I am doing 2 weeks out of SJ. I go for the ports. I never been on HAL but I am always being told I am too young and i am 50. I wish the food was more interesting on Princess but i lvoe my cabin- mini sutoe and have enjoyed most of the shows.

I go for the new ships or i go for the ports.

[grape farmer]

Husband and I (mid 40's) just got off the Crown a few weeks ago. We'd been worried about the size, but never felt over crowded. We had a mini on the dolphin (d619) and almost always took the stairs -we were actually surprised how little we ran into people either in the stairways or our floor walking to our cabin. We were the only ones at the pool one morning by 10 -I think we're more early people. Our previous Carnival trips we thought were too crowded; this time we had anytime dining, and never had a wait-I just remember on Carnival always having lines for disembarkation/dining. Never had that on the Crown for whatever reason. Good luck in your choice!

[Cruise Meister]

Hi,

 

We just got off the Princess Crown, this Sunday....Great Itinerary in S. Carribean!

 

After three Princess and three HAL cruises... We prefer the smaller ships with SERVICE.

Thats what the Holland America Line is all about... they provide exceptional service to their passengers. Not to knock Princess... which does a fine job.

 

But ... at the end of the day: the service staff on a smaller ship works best for me and my BH (better half)

 

The Princess has more hot tubs, which we like, and more "energy" than HAL.

but when you go away it comes back to SERVICE. and HAL wins.

The Crown is a beautiful ship... but it is way too big

 

We will be focusing on HAL and X from now on

 

Good luck.

R&L

[Coral]

But ... at the end of the day: the service staff on a smaller ship works best for me and my BH (better half)

 

I have cruised ships from 6x,000 tonn up to 13x,000 tonn and I have to admit the correlation between service levels and size of ships. I have had excellent service on all of my smaller ship experiences and mediocre to OK service on the larger ships.

 

I will always take an older, smaller ship over a larger, newer ship for the same reason that mention. As ships get larger, service declines.

[Pam in CA]

I think it's six of one, half a dozen of the other. Generally-speaking, I don't think the food and service on HAL is any better than on Princess. Food is very subjective but I feel that the always available choices on Princess make for a more flexible dinner menu. I didn't think the food on HAL was any better and the wait in line in the buffet, which is not self-serve, was so long (15 - 20 minutes) that I gave up most days.

 

Your perception of a cruise depends on your cabin steward and waitstaff. I had a terrible steward and poor waitstaff on my HAL cruise; just a few months later I had a poor waitstaff and my sister and BIL had a terrible steward on the Royal Princess. Personally, I think they're probably pretty equal so I book a cruise, and cruiseline, based on itinerary, cabin availability and cost. Like Coral, I prefer the smaller ships but my recent experience on the Royal kind of changed that. I'd had a GREAT experience on the "old" Royal Princess, not so great on the "new" Royal Princess.

 

One thing that I do think HAL has a definite advantage on is that you can order a full breakfast from room service. You can only order a continental-type breakfast on Princess. Also, on HAL, they bring around hot hors d'oerves from about 5PM on that are delicious.

[flvol77]

We have been looking at Hal - we are younger both 30 but we are VERY different from most couples that are 30. We both got our party days out of our system by 25 - we had a good time but we both work VERY demanding jobs and have a busy schedule with work, the house, the gym, church etc.....so when we cruise its all about R and R. In fact our cruise we just got off of we didn't go to one show (of course we have seen them all three times) We did enjoy MUTS this time but that was only one night.

 

I see that Hal has a form of Anytime dining, you can get a bag of laundry cleaned for $12 so less clothes to take and they have great beds which would be a plus vs Princess. My question is how formal are they? I hate wearing a jacket, if I had to I would but I am not wearing a suit. I dress up every day and a suit isn't going to happen.

[Pam in CA]

My question is how formal are they? I hate wearing a jacket, if I had to I would but I am not wearing a suit. I dress up every day and a suit isn't going to happen.

On my 18-day HAL cruise last summer, there were five formal nights, and they were very formal. Most of the men were in tuxes or dark suits and the women were all gussied up. The last formal night, my friend and I decided we really didn't want to do another formal so we went up to the buffet and had a fabulous meal. We ordered our entree and then served ourselves appetizers, soup and salad. When we were done, our entrees were served (we both had filet mignon that was butter soft tender). It was a very nice experience.

[Coral]

 

I see that Hal has a form of Anytime dining, you can get a bag of laundry cleaned for $12 so less clothes to take and they have great beds which would be a plus vs Princess. My question is how formal are they? I hate wearing a jacket, if I had to I would but I am not wearing a suit. I dress up every day and a suit isn't going to happen.

 

I did a 7 night cruise to Mexico on HAL. I would say that they were equally as formal as Princess on that specific cruise. I think when you get into longer cruises like Pam, it does get more formal.

 

I liked HAL. I am in my 30's.

[Coral]

I think it's six of one, half a dozen of the other. Generally-speaking, I don't think the food and service on HAL is any better than on Princess. Food is very subjective but I feel that the always available choices on Princess make for a more flexible dinner menu. I didn't think the food on HAL was any better and the wait in line in the buffet, which is not self-serve, was so long (15 - 20 minutes) that I gave up most days.

 

 

Pam - while I have no doubt the wait times were long on your cruise, on the Oosterdam, it would surprise me if I waited more then 4 minutes for anything at lunch at the buffet. This was probably at the carving station and the pasta station (which is prepared special for you). Everything else was immediate (Asian, pizza, hamburgers).

[CinWin]

I'm the one who started this thread, and I finally did book a HAL cruise on the "Eurodam". I'm sure we would have enjoyed a Princess cruise but felt that this time HAL won out. Thanks to all who answered. :)

Cindy

[CinWin]

I'm the person who started this thread, so I just wanted to report that after much consideration, I did book a cruise on HAL's Eurodam. It was a tough choice but this time HAL won out. Thanks to everyone who answered my post. :)

(Explanation of 2 posts - first one didn't seem to take so I posted this one afterward)

Cindy

[newmexicoNita]

I think it's six of one, half a dozen of the other. Generally-speaking, I don't think the food and service on HAL is any better than on Princess. Food is very subjective but I feel that the always available choices on Princess make for a more flexible dinner menu. I didn't think the food on HAL was any better and the wait in line in the buffet, which is not self-serve, was so long (15 - 20 minutes) that I gave up most days.

 

Your perception of a cruise depends on your cabin steward and waitstaff. I had a terrible steward and poor waitstaff on my HAL cruise; just a few months later I had a poor waitstaff and my sister and BIL had a terrible steward on the Royal Princess. Personally, I think they're probably pretty equal so I book a cruise, and cruiseline, based on itinerary, cabin availability and cost. Like Coral, I prefer the smaller ships but my recent experience on the Royal kind of changed that. I'd had a GREAT experience on the "old" Royal Princess, not so great on the "new" Royal Princess.

 

One thing that I do think HAL has a definite advantage on is that you can order a full breakfast from room service. You can only order a continental-type breakfast on Princess. Also, on HAL, they bring around hot hors d'oerves from about 5PM on that are delicious.

Yes we like the full breakfast idea as well even though I do think having a full meal in a cabin can be a bit crowded unless you have a minu suite; the hot d'oerves are a treat and the room service menu offers a good variety of appitzers with no additional charge. This works well if you want to have a drink in your cabin prior to dinner. Princess' room service menu is very limited.

 

I am surprised about one statement you made and maybe I misunderstood: that was you waited so long in the buffet lines. Was this for lunch? We never had this problem. Again, we all know, as we experienced a couple weeks ago; things can happen to one couple and not to others, like you have mentioned. Our service on HAL was almost flawless and this wasn't the case on Princess.

 

Nita

[sppunk]

My wife and I (who've sailed on Princess three times now - all since May 2007) have booked HAL for an Alaskan cruise on the Westerdamn this May.

 

We love Princess, but the price and what I forsee as available deck space and itinerary are winning us over. I fully expect our HAL cruise to be a step up in service, but neither of us are huge service hounds.

 

We, like flvol77 (go figure since we cruised with him and his wife on our first Princess cruise) are young but old at heart. :) We're in our mid 20s but hate loud music, partying, drinking, pool games, etc. Alaska won't have that for sure, and being on HAL is a double-layered protection plan for us.

 

Needless to say, we're excited - and will post our opinions after our trip!

[bigredcrusier]

My wife and I are trying Princess for our 3rd cruise. My parents are HAL cheerleaders, but were looking for the same service with some more things to do on the ship. Our first HAL cruise I think we were the youngest couple of the ship. The second cruise there were a few other our age (late 20's early 30's). I did not mind the age difference, but my wife felt out of place. We are looking to book a family cruise for 2009 and I hope we can be able to make a push for Princess :)