Comparing apples with oranges?

[Frankie Sue]

So far we have cruised on Holland's Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Noordam, Zuiderdam, Niew Amsterdam, and on Celebrity Mercury. In your opinion, will we be happy with Grand Princess??

[cherylandtk]

Well, how did you feel about those ships? Like one over the other? If so, why? If you feel they were all pretty much like each other, then you will be fine on Princess.

[BridgeMates]

You seem pretty loyal to HAL. Try to keep an open mind. Some things will be better, some things won't. If you go with the right attitude, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It is a very nice ship

[gertz]

We like it.

[Pam in CA]

So far we have cruised on Holland's Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Noordam, Zuiderdam, Niew Amsterdam, and on Celebrity Mercury. In your opinion, will we be happy with Grand Princess??

I'm a 3-star Mariner with HAL in addition to being Elite on Princess. There are differences but overall, if you like HAL, chances are you'll like the Grand Princess.

 

The Grand is a much larger ship than you've cruised before but there are many lounges and activities throughout the ship that usually distribute the crowds well. HAL has better room service options but IMHO, the Princess buffet is better laid out. Unlike HAL, you serve yourself almost all the food in the buffet so it's much quicker and easier to get what you want and eat the food while it's still hot. The buffet is open far longer and later in the evening than on HAL. If you get back late from a tour, for instance, the luncheon buffet will be open with all of the types of food available.

 

Princess cabins are laid out differently from HAL. The bathroom is more compact and unless you book a mini-suite (the equivalent to the Superior Balcony on HAL) there's no couch or settee. On the other hand, storage is MUCH better and you have a closet/dressing area outside the bathroom door, which HAL cabins don't have. All Princess cabins have a mini-frig and there's a self-service laundry room on each deck.

 

Evening shows and lounges are usually much better attended and active on Princess. I think the Princess performers are better, but that's my opinion. Instead of lounges completely empty at 10:30pm, they are usually packed on Princess.

[catergirl]

on princess in the buffet, you sit down and they will serve you hot and cold drinks to the table instead of running for your coffee and juice on the morning while your food gets cold:D BUT on the other hand on HAL they serve in the diningrooms, free capacinos:)

[shepp]

I've been on the Zuiderdam, Westerdam, and the Mercury. Haven't been on the Grand, but I prefer the Crown, Island, and Sapphire to all of them. But there's not that much difference. It's more like "tangerines to oranges."

[clarkg]

So far we have cruised on Holland's Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Noordam, Zuiderdam, Niew Amsterdam, and on Celebrity Mercury. In your opinion, will we be happy with Grand Princess??

 

I have been on the Zaandam, Statendam, Celebrity Mercury and the Golden Princess.

Trust me, you will love it. Buffet is comparable, Food is also, but there is more activities and

more room, more options.

[geoherb]

We like that the dining room is open for lunch even on port days on our Princess cruises. There's also afternoon tea each day in the dining room. HAL has an afternoon tea, but it seemed to be in different locations on our two cruises on HAL ships. We love the thalassotherapy pool on the Westerdam. It was well worth the price.

 

HAL seems to attract interesting guest entertainers. They're not just jugglers and comedians. We saw a hilarious piano duo and then a classically trained cellist on one of our HAL cruises.

[flamomo]

If you are a classical music buff, on my last 2 Princes cruises, there was a string quartet that soothed listeners in the Atrium. Most enjoyable!

[Frankie Sue]

Thanks everybody. We loved all our HAL cruises but really did not enjoy Celebrity Mercury and its cramped cabins. Princess is the same family as HAL, is it not?

[cherylandtk]

Ahh, well, same corporate ownership, but entirely separate lines. And I must add, the cabin sizes on Princess are even smaller than the Mercury. Only 4 feet on a typical cabin, but still.....:o

[retiredldo]

We have been on the Zuiderdam, Osterdam and Westerdam (3 times) as well as the grand and other ships. far and away our best cruise experience was on the two smooth jazz cruises that were held on the Westerdam (and they continue to do so each year).

I feel that the service and food have taken some hits over the last few years, and it is understandable with the cost cutting in all industries.

We were on Celebrity Equinox this past year and along with many others were disappointed in the food.

I will add that I have yet to have a bad vacation on a cruise, have just seen the changes and even the way the cruise lines attempt to nickel dime you in many directions.

There is a difference in HAL and the Grand but you will enjoy the trip

 

Pete

[TracieABD]

I have not been on the Grand, but several other Princess ships. I have only been on the Rotterdam which is way smaller than any of the Princess ships that I have been on. I liked different things about both cruise lines. I did miss the activity of Princess on HAL, but I might have liked the food a little bit better on HAL.:)

[Stevesan]

So far we have cruised on Holland's Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Noordam, Zuiderdam, Niew Amsterdam, and on Celebrity Mercury. In your opinion, will we be happy with Grand Princess??

 

I sailed HAL R & S class and, Mercury, prior to my first Princess cruise which coincidentally was Grand. Here's an extract from my review circa 1995:

 

Although a 109,000-ton ship is a physically imposing object, GP’s interiors were intentionally designed to minimize the impact of her size. As a pioneer among mega-liners, her interiors were scaled down to lessen any potential intimidation factor. The more recent trend, notable among Royal Caribbean’s mega-ships, has been in the opposite direction. Many now intentionally celebrate size, even expanding interiors to obtain the greatest possible spectacular effect.

The ship’s condition was near faultless. Despite 2,000 plus passengers tramping through every day for the last seven years, signs of wear are virtually invisible. Maintenance is obviously a priority for the ship’s crew, clearly a tribute to her Captain, Andy Proctor. GP’s mechanical condition seems faultless. On the large scale, engines perform as intended, side thrusters function, tender operations go off without a hitch, elevators function properly, etc. On the more personal level, our cabin’s thermostat correctly responded to settings, drawers and doors opened and closed properly, every toilet we used flushed instantly. No obnoxious odors, aka sewage, were evident anywhere. In our observation, absolutely everything worked as designed. This ship is a model for those in the cruise industry who claim that unpleasant odors and malfunctioning toilets are inevitable and unavoidable on sea-going passenger vessels. Grand Princess, although not a maiden, puts the lie to that mistaken bit of nonsense...

[newmexicoNita]

So far we have cruised on Holland's Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Noordam, Zuiderdam, Niew Amsterdam, and on Celebrity Mercury. In your opinion, will we be happy with Grand Princess??

 

I certainly don't know why not> We actually prefer Princess to Celebrity. What would you think would make a big difference. Most mass marketed lines and yes, they are mass marketed even though some are considered slightly upscale: are about the same. The food on Princess was better (we thought) I know food is subjective and many might disagree, but the entrees on Princess were really outstanding. We do like the cabins on HAL better.

 

Nita