Princess vs. HAL latest comparison

[kreemmer]

If interested in tne comparison read this review that I posted on HAL board. I thought readers might appreciate it here also. I just booked next April on Emerald Princess. Hope I will not be disappointed.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=40385.

 

Kathy

[grandmato4]

We haven't sailed HAL yet so I really enjoyed reading your review ! Thanks for posting.

[djhsolara]

Thank you so much for that wonderful comparative review. We have only sailed HAL and are going on our first Princess sailing in two weeks. We're looking forward to trying something different with Princess and you gave us some great points.

 

Thanks again!!!! :) :)

[Toto2Kansas]

What a great comparison review, loved it. We found close to the same thing when sailing on HAL a couple of times. They are close, but we still love Princess the best.

[Atomica]

Thanks for the great comparison! After two great Princess sailings, we've got our first HAL sailing in a couple years coming up soon. It will be interesting to see what we miss from Princess ;)

 

There's things we love about each line though, and I'd sail either in a heartbeat.

[PattiG]

I was on the same Noordam cruise two weeks earlier than the reviewer. I must say, I agree with 99% of what was said. Princess is usually our first choice, but we really enjoyed HAL also. We also felt there was not enough storage space on HAL and the food was inconsistent. They do have some nice touches though -- the cold towels and lemonade when arriving back to the ship (or hot chocolate in cooler ports), the full breakfast menu, the ability to stay in your cabin and order breakfast on the last day and really great ice cream.

 

I would sail either line in a heartbeat.

[Coral]

I also appreciated the comparison. I was on my first HAL cruise in December and very much enjoyed it. My next cruise will probably be Princess (I have some credits) but I plan on sailing HAL in the future. I prefer their smaller ships compared to the large ships Princess has.

 

I prefer Princess's dinners but otherwise, preferred HAL's buffet setup and HAL's breakfasts in the dining room.

 

It sounds like we had better entertainment on our sailing compared to yours.

[ssantow]

This past December we did two cruises back to back. First was on Caribbean Princess and second was on HAL Westerdam. You can read my comparative review of both here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=36026

[Travelrd]

I've only been on two cruises but I had a mini suite on each of them. The HAL mini suite is far superior to the Princess mini suite. The bed\s on HAL are incrediblely comfortable. The bed on Princess was terribley hard and very uncomfortable.

The larger bathroom on HAL had two sinks and separate bathtub and shower. The bathtub was a jacuzzi tub too!

The HAL mini suite has a flat panel tv with dvd player. The Princess mini suite has two small tvs but I was happier with the flat panel on HAL. The veranda on HAL is larger and the furniture is much nicer too. Its a faux rattan, but looks classier, where the Princess is simply just "plastic".

 

The room service menu is far superior on HAL to Princess. The selections are larger and more items are free on HAL. You can even order a hot breakfast served on your veranda with HAL. Princess only offers cold, continental breakfasts. I would write "eggs benedict" on the menu left in my room the night before and have it delivered at 8:30 every morning with juice, hot chocolate and bacon. Eggs benedict isn't even on the menu but it always arrived. Overall, I like the mini suite experience on HAL better than Princess, but Princess was ok just not as good as HAL

[dforeigner]

Thanks for the comparison/contrast review.

[otogocruisin]

Thank you for a very good comparison. We sailed the Noordam on her 3rd cruise out and loved the ship. We always book mini suites. We were upgraded after 1 day on Noordam to a suite which was fabulous. We do enjoy both lines. The benefits of the suites and mini suites are better on HAL. The breakfast room service on HAl is far superior. We do book on itinerary so will hopefully find the right one on HAL again soon.

Pam