Princess Vs Holland

[aklarsen]

We are trying to decide between Holland America and princess. Are you able to compare the highlights of each? Holland America has a better schedule but I hear Princess is better for kids. What are your thoughts and what are we giving up if we take Holland America over Princess?

[mikefang]

That's an easy question with difficult answers! I have cruised mostly on HAL but more recently on Princess. I have posted reviews and comparisons on these boards.

IMHO if you like one you will like the other. We found Princess to have more entertainment options; such as pre-dinner cocktail opportunities, and we found more post dinner options on Princess. HAL's are not bad, just different.

The age difference is there but not as great as some posters would indicate-perhaps it was the cruises we took, not across the board.

Can't speak to taking kids but from my observations, fading memory taken into consideration, Princess seems to have the edge, depending on your definition of 'kids', i.e. 17 months or 17 years.

We now consider both lines to be primary choices.

Better beds on HAL and food is too subjective to comment on.

Mike

[Woobstr112G]

Haven't cruised on HAL since 1996. From what I've read on the boards, Hal's nightlife falls a little short comparing it to Princess. I also agree that food is too subjective to comment on. I also agree that if you like one, you'll most definitely like the other.....:):):)

 

Bob

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

We sail both and depends on the itinerary. We prefer the smaller ships of Hal. Don't know about the children issue as we have none. Food is basically the same on both. Lido on HAL is better organized that Horizon Court on Princess. Night life similar but probably more sedate on HAL. All depends on what you are looking for.

[BlueCat1105]

I found HAL to be too sedate for us - and we're by no means big party people. We went on the Eurodam in March, so we figured it would be a little livelier around spring break, but found that "lively" was just not something they do. It was very nice, but very staid.

[jam82]

Sorry I can't compare the two because we haven't cruised Princess yet. We cruised HAL to Alaska in June and loved almost everything about it. They do roll up the sidewalks early and we would have liked to have seen a little more action after dinner, but it worked out OK as we had mostly very early morning excursions.

 

The one thing that will keep us from cruising HAL again was the kids program. Like the others have said, it depends on your kid's age. We brought our 3 year old and the program for him was absolutely awful. The counselors were snotty and uncaring. The activities were geared for older kids, using skills like reading and writing that my 3 year olds can't do. He wasn't the only one who couldn't be successful with the activities and they made all the kids who couldn't do them sit on the line and watch the others. They didn't get another choice of activities, the only choice was to leave or watch the older kids. Needless to say, once we saw this happening, we didn't send him, so the club was useless to us. If your kids are older, then the program may be fine for them.

 

Our next cruise is on Princess and we're hoping to find a great kids program.

[Atomica]

I enjoy both HAL and Princess, but each for different reasons.

 

Princess is a little more diverse with its evening entertainment, whereas HAL definitely has a more laid-back feel to it. Not that it's really a problem, but might be something to consider if you have kids in tow.

 

You should probably take an in-depth look at the itinerary and ship for both lines, and make a decision that way. Make sure the ship appeals to you - it's your home-away-from-home for a while, after all!

[vegasbill]

I have not yet sailed Princess but did sail HAL a bit over a year ago. The only thing that I am concerned about with Princess is that until you get to the mini-suite there is no sofa in the room. HAL, as you know, has a small sofa in even the inside cabins. at least that is on the OOsterdam. I found the nightlife AOK on the OO as I am not a late night person and the piano bar and Joel Mason were wonderful. I am hoping there is as good on Princess in March for 14 night to Hawaii!

[epixx]

We, a family of 4 with kids ages 16 and 12, have sailed Celebrity, NCL, RCI, Carnival, Disney, Princess (x 1), and, most recently, HAL (x 1). We very much enjoyed the 14 day Alaska cruise with HAL in August, but the kids were much happier on Princess. At their ages, they don't find much to do in the kids programs, but they find other kids their own ages to spend time with. Both of them found many more activities they liked on Princess. They watched movies on MUTS, went to the disco parties, went to the shows, went to the arcades, practically had their own pool and hot tub (aft) to themselves, and went to the nighttime parties. We, the parents, also found the activities on Princess more to our liking. We're just not the string quartet and piano bar types. Note that the food was far superior on HAL.

[marie61]

There IS a sofa in the mini-suites on Princess; at least on all the grand class ships (Emerald, Star, Grand Princess). It becomes a pull-out bed for the 3rd and 4th people in the cabin.

 

perhaps the small Princess ships have different room arrangements.

[sarge98]

The wife and I was on the Caribbean Princess in a balcony cabin last Feb. There was a safe in the cabin then.

[amistad]

For me and my husband I love HAL, but when we travel with our grown kids and grandchildren I pick, CCL, NCL or Princess. HAL is just so quiet, and nice I don't feel like our grandchildren would fit if that makes any sense. I do like the itineraries that HAL offers and the beds are so comfortable, I also wish some of the other lines would serve a full warm breakfast in the cabin like HAL.

[Coral]

I found the nightlife AOK on the OO as I am not a late night person and the piano bar and Joel Mason were wonderful. I am hoping there is as good on Princess in March for 14 night to Hawaii!

 

IMO - Joel Mason is the best entertainer at sea. I have yet to have anyone top him on any cruise ship I have been on.

[Coral]

I like both lines and if the lines would ever merge - it would be such a great product!

[Pam in CA]

I have not yet sailed Princess but did sail HAL a bit over a year ago. The only thing that I am concerned about with Princess is that until you get to the mini-suite there is no sofa in the room. HAL, as you know, has a small sofa in even the inside cabins. at least that is on the OOsterdam. I found the nightlife AOK on the OO as I am not a late night person and the piano bar and Joel Mason were wonderful. I am hoping there is as good on Princess in March for 14 night to Hawaii!

No, there are no small sofas in Princess cabins other than mini-suite and above categories. However, there is a large, open closet/dressing area with about 5' of rod space plus a floor-to-ceiling wardrobe with shelves for your clothes. Princess cabins have much better storage space. The standard bathroom on Princess is smaller than on HAL and you won't have a tub with less than a mini-suite.

 

In my limited experience on HAL (only a 3-star Mariner with 76 days), I've found the cabin and waitstaff much better on Princess. Food is very subjective but overall, I think Princess has more, and better, "Always Available" options for dinner.

 

On my HAL cruises, whenever I walked through the Explorer's Lounge, for instance, with a trio playing, etc., it's been absolutely empty. NO one there. I felt so sorry for the entertainers.

 

Captain Chris Turner of HAL is, IMHO, the best Captain I've ever had on any cruise/cruiseline.

 

If you like HAL, you'll probably like Princess. There are differences and different ways they do things but the overall cruise experience is similar.

[geoherb]

We like both. The biggest attraction for us on HAL ships is the thalassotherapy pool area. It's one splurge we indulge in--buying a pass for the whole cruise. I also enjoyed the culinary arts center on our last HAL cruise on the Westerdam. They had lots of great things scheduled in it.

 

But we've taken Princess for our last three cruises and are schedule on Princess again for Christmas. We enjoy our Platinum benefits (especially the free Internet minutes) and the variety of entertainment options in the evening.

[echotumi]

princess for us had better food. hal had better staterooms and beds,we like small ships so we like hal there .shows and music princess is better,one thing Hal has i really like is wash clothes in the bathroom and towels every where out side ,one thing i have found odd on Hal is not that many women on the crew,hal also has more fresh flowers every where,would sail on either myself ,i did find that my wife and i are 50 and we where on the young side on Hal .

[Jana White]

We just got off the Crown Princess last week and it was a great cruise, but we found ourselves comparing HAL to Princess and HAL came out on top for us.

 

Many people compare the food and the anytime dining experience on both. For us the food is just as good on either. We have never had to wait for dinner on either line whether we are sitting at a table alone or choosing to share that night. We are not big into entertainment, so that is not an issue for us on either ship.

 

Where we differ is in the ship design itself. Now I will say we have not been on all the Princess or all the HAL ships so we do not know if this is true to all, but this is our experience.

 

The library on Princess ships leaves much to be desired. Our library at home has almost as many books. We love the layout of the library, internet, coffee bar, games section all being together on the HAL ships. HAL calls this their Explorer Lounge and it is WONDERFUL. We were delighted to have a special cruise day in Greenland on Princess last week and I went to the library to find out where we went. There was not a good atlas. HAL ships have many great atlases.

 

Also on most HAL ships there is a retractable roof in the center pool area. It is so nice to be able to sit out there at anytime. The roof is opened or closed based on the temperature. A great place to relax.

 

On HAL there is a forward facing lounge so you can look at where the ship is going. We have not found that on Princess unless you are in the gym.

 

All that being said, we loved Vines and Sabatini's on Princess.

 

We would sail either as we sail strictly for itinerary, but find ourselves more comfortable on HAL, at least we think so. :)

[Bexhillgirl]

On price and grade, the cabins on Hal are slightly bigger. Food, for me I think Hal had the edge. For service, friendliness and general atmosphere, I much prefer Princess. We found Hal slightly officious and beaurocratic and Princess falling over themselves to please....and the Princess minsuites are great!

[Pam in CA]

Where we differ is in the ship design itself. Now I will say we have not been on all the Princess or all the HAL ships so we do not know if this is true to all, but this is our experience.

 

The library on Princess ships leaves much to be desired. Our library at home has almost as many books. We love the layout of the library, internet, coffee bar, games section all being together on the HAL ships. HAL calls this their Explorer Lounge and it is WONDERFUL. We were delighted to have a special cruise day in Greenland on Princess last week and I went to the library to find out where we went. There was not a good atlas. HAL ships have many great atlases.

 

Also on most HAL ships there is a retractable roof in the center pool area. It is so nice to be able to sit out there at anytime. The roof is opened or closed based on the temperature. A great place to relax.

 

On HAL there is a forward facing lounge so you can look at where the ship is going. We have not found that on Princess unless you are in the gym.

Your comments all depend on the ship. :) I agree that the Grand-class ships do not have the best library but the Coral-class have a really good one with large, comfy leather chairs with hassocks where you can sit back, relax, read or watch the waves. And, the Royal/Ocean/Pacific have the best library you will ever see on a cruise ship. HUGE with stacks and stacks of books, views out three sides and it's set up like an English study. Beautiful.

 

The other Princess ships have a covered roof; unfortunately, the Crown and newer ships don't. I do not agree with this decision but they did away with the covered roof to make way for MUTS on the newer ships. This makes these ships strictly warm weather. Which is unfortunate.

 

HAL has the Crow's Nest; the Royal/Ocean/Pacific have the exact same type of lounge. On the other hand, HAL doesn't have Skywalkers so it's probably six of one, half a dozen of another.

 

One thing I like about HAL is that their ships are smaller; they don't have the large ships that Princess does and is planning on building.

[Jana White]

Your comments all depend on the ship. :) I agree that the Grand-class ships do not have the best library but the Coral-class have a really good one with large, comfy leather chairs with hassocks where you can sit back, relax, read or watch the waves. And, the Royal/Ocean/Pacific have the best library you will ever see on a cruise ship. HUGE with stacks and stacks of books, views out three sides and it's set up like an English study. Beautiful.

 

The other Princess ships have a covered roof; unfortunately, the Crown and newer ships don't. I do not agree with this decision but they did away with the covered roof to make way for MUTS on the newer ships. This makes these ships strictly warm weather. Which is unfortunate.

 

HAL has the Crow's Nest; the Royal/Ocean/Pacific have the exact same type of lounge. On the other hand, HAL doesn't have Skywalkers so it's probably six of one, half a dozen of another.

 

One thing I like about HAL is that their ships are smaller; they don't have the large ships that Princess does and is planning on building.

 

Thank you Pam, that is so good to know. We have not been on near the cruises you have. With that in mind for things that are important to you one just has to do research.

 

By the way, when we got to New York the first thing we did is look online to see where we cruised in Greenland and we were surprised to find that the fjords we cruised were north of Qaqortoq. I had written down the fjord names when Captain Nash had spoke. I hope you enjoyed that day as much as we did. It was one special day and will never be forgotten.

[nho9504]

We are Princess Plat and last sailed the line on Crown this past Feb, 7day Western Caribbean, and sailed on HAL the first time this past April on Eurodam, 16 day TATL. The experiences on Eurodam are more positives than negatives and we hope to see price drop on Neuv Amsterdam next April TATL. Would love to sail that ship if the price can come down some from here.

 

Ship design:

 

Atrium:

 

Princess's newest ships, Ruby, Emerald, Crown and even Caribbean, beats HAL's Eurodam hands down. Eurodam basically either does not have an Atrium, or the Atrium design is so weird, dark and with small space, it just does not give the nice, open and cheerful feel as the Piazza on the Princess ships. We really miss the Piazza and International Cafe on Princess ships.

 

Eurodam also has some odd corridor from one end to the other - it seems there are quite a bit of curves one has to walk pass.

 

However, the Explorer lounge on Eurodam as well as the Silk Den, beats Princess' library and internet cafe by a MILE. Explorer is like a combination of Skywalker's sitting area, an internet cafe with a coffee bar, a library and a quiet corner - all roll in one. Silk Den is a lounge and is elegant and quiet during day time. They had special interest groups in Silk Den every day and we even saw a presentation of some plague in a ceremony to somebody one morning.

 

Onboard activities:

 

Eurodam's Culinary Center is wonderful - many activities held there are fun to partake, and all of them free. On our TATL, they even had the Captain did a demonstration cooking of his secret recipe of Boeuf Bourgignon - the French beef stew. Afterward we all shared the creation (cooked earlier by the kitchen I am sure). There was a day they had hands-on cooking lesson, not only the program is free, the participants were given a HAL Apron as souvenir.

 

Eurodam also has a "technology room" and they had computer workshop held there almost every sea day, as well as the Q&A sessions by the lecturer. All of them are FREE, including the advance technique in using Photoshop. Princess charges on such programs.

 

Eurodam has more knowledgeable and interesting lecturers onboard of the TATL. One couple the wife was giving historical backgrounds on coming ports of call, the husband was giving lectures on some interesting topics, including Stealth Bomber. (He was the chief engineer of the program before retirement.)

 

Our 2 TATL on Emerald Princess did not have much to offer in the lecture department.

 

Eurodam has a tour for the ship - we went all the way down several decks not just to the gallery but to the storage rooms for foods and supplies, the control room of the ship where the engineers work - it was a great tour. We did not have such tour on our 2 TATLs on Emerald Princess.

 

Restaurants:

 

HAL needs to do a better job in seating those who opted for Dine as You Wish. We have to wait 10 to 15 min every night, despite we made reservation or arrived after 8:30 - it did not seem to make any difference. Princess did a much better job in handling this. We also prefer the setting in Princess MDRs.

 

Euradam's buffet area though, beats Princess Horizon Court hands down - It is arranged in a station style along a long line instead of island grouping (RCCL's style) - opened on both sides during peak hours. The Salads and Fruits were in the cross-way between the 2 sides. The entree sections are identical on both sides but specialties such as Mexican, Italian, Oriental, burger/sandwiches has only 1 station so you would need to walk to the other side if the side you sit does not have it. However the area is so much larger than the tiny area of Princess Horizon Court, makes it much easier traffic wise.

 

The sitting areas are more beautiful than Horizon Court and they have elegant Orchids on each table, a very nice touch.

 

Foods:

 

A very subjective topic. Princess has better menus for sure, especially in the seafood dept. HAL does not know how to cook seafood. Meat and Potato guys would be really happy on HAL as it serves steaks almost every 2 days during our 16 days crossing. Princess also has much better bread selection and better home-made ice cream. I think Princess also has better cold soups and desserts. What my husband misses most is the almost 24/7 Horizon Court on Princess. HAL shuts its buffet area around 8:30 pm I think.

 

However, when it comes to the food highlight - the Lobster - HAL has much better lobsters than Princess, and served 3 times Lobster tails on the 16 days crossing. One night they had it on the buffet area as a 1/2 tail charbroiled - done right on the spot behind the counter - it was very very yummy! They also had a cold seafood salad with all the lobster meat, crab meat and crab legs, lobster claws etc one lunch at the buffet area. Mountains of them. Really good, sweet lobster meat.

 

Eurodam also have more options for fruit juice - they claimed the OJ is freshly squeezed - at least there were plenty of oranges at the drink station glass case. Juices are also offered at lunch. All kinds of berries were offered both breakfast and lunch on Eurodam.

 

Overall, I would say, the quality of foods is a bit higher on Eurodam 16 day TATL than on Crown 7 day Caribbean. However, Princess chefs are better and that helps to compensate the lesser quality of the food on Princess.

 

We would cruise both lines as long as the prices are right. HAL tends to have BETTER itineraries though.

 

We will be on Emerald come Oct 9 for a spur of moment cruise because the price is too good to pass. Booked a week ago and the price went even lower 3 days after we booked it!

 

However we are eyeing the Neuv Amsterdam's TATL next April... I hate to see Princess doing the exact same itinerary 3 years in a row since 2008... HAL varies their itineraries and they have overnighting in the middle of the itineraries, versus Princess' same old same old, at the beginning of cruise such as Venice.

[nho9504]

I forgot to add, HAL's computer has free access to NYT website so this is a BIG plus especially on a long cruise. Not to mention that during our last 2 days the Icelandic Volcanic ash had caused lots of harvoc to many's travel plans - being able to access a News site FREE helped a lot. I really appreciate this feature on HAL's internet cafe.

[Pam in CA]

By the way, when we got to New York the first thing we did is look online to see where we cruised in Greenland and we were surprised to find that the fjords we cruised were north of Qaqortoq. I had written down the fjord names when Captain Nash had spoke. I hope you enjoyed that day as much as we did. It was one special day and will never be forgotten.

That was a fabulous day. Even more special because Princess has never done it before, according to the Cruise Director's staff. We are very lucky and to me, made up for missing Reykjavik.

[BarbinMich]

We just got off the Crown Princess last week and it was a great cruise, but we found ourselves comparing HAL to Princess and HAL came out on top for us.

 

Many people compare the food and the anytime dining experience on both. For us the food is just as good on either. We have never had to wait for dinner on either line whether we are sitting at a table alone or choosing to share that night. We are not big into entertainment, so that is not an issue for us on either ship.

 

Where we differ is in the ship design itself. Now I will say we have not been on all the Princess or all the HAL ships so we do not know if this is true to all, but this is our experience.

 

The library on Princess ships leaves much to be desired. Our library at home has almost as many books. We love the layout of the library, internet, coffee bar, games section all being together on the HAL ships. HAL calls this their Explorer Lounge and it is WONDERFUL. We were delighted to have a special cruise day in Greenland on Princess last week and I went to the library to find out where we went. There was not a good atlas. HAL ships have many great atlases.

 

Also on most HAL ships there is a retractable roof in the center pool area. It is so nice to be able to sit out there at anytime. The roof is opened or closed based on the temperature. A great place to relax.

 

On HAL there is a forward facing lounge so you can look at where the ship is going. We have not found that on Princess unless you are in the gym.

 

All that being said, we loved Vines and Sabatini's on Princess.

 

We would sail either as we sail strictly for itinerary, but find ourselves more comfortable on HAL, at least we think so. :)

 

We cruised with you on the TA. :) They do have an atlas in the library, but you have to ask for it. :rolleyes: It's a very large book and they keep it in the kneehole of the desk!! Really no place to put it out for easy public use.

 

We'll be returning to HAL (Ryndam) after a lengthy absence, now that we've attained Elite status on Princess. We wanted to do 2 weeks in the Caribbean and had done the Grand itinerary this year, which is essentially unchanged for 2011. We also like that HAL now has anytime dining. We've never been on their newer, larger ships, but from what I hear it's a different kind of experience than on the Statendam class of ships, plus the cabins are smaller on the new ones, I believe (no settee).

 

Princess' affinity (returning cruiser) program is much better than HAL's IMHO (can't beat those free internet minutes!). At least HAL has beefed theirs up in recent years.