HAL vs Princess

[pakarinen]

Perhaps already answered and a broad question, but...

 

DW and I recently returned from the Plague Princess "Cruise to Nowhere". All things considered, we had a great time and were very impressed with the service under the circumstances and the Crown herself. (Of course, we didn't get sick, so...)

 

Friends of ours just did a Carib / Lake Gatun cruise on HAL and they loved it. We've not been put off by cruising, but are thinking that maybe a smaller ship (Crown was 3,000 pax, I believe) would be more to our liking and perhaps less likely to have a Noro outbreak. Plus DW likes trying new things.

 

Any opinions on the virtues of smaller HAL ships, say an R-class versus a Grand Class Princess? Thanks!

[agabbymama]

Yes, I to prefer the smaller HAL ships. We sailed the Grand Princess in the Med, and it was just too large to even walk around the ship. We usually went to the lounge mid-ships, but missed all the shows in the showroom at the front of the ship.

 

I don't know as being a smaller ship will prevent illness (if someone comes aboard with NORO, it will still spread). This is Noro season, and it is on land as well as at sea. Just doesn't have to be reported for land cases.

 

Give HAL a try, I'm sure you will love it. Teak wood Promenade deck that circles the ship, real flowers everywhere, wash clothes in the restrooms, lots of brass & wood to let you know you are on a ship, smiling friendly staff, a little large cabin and the best beds at sea.

 

We really loved the older Noordam (not sure of her class), but alas she is gone and has been replaced by a larger ship (also named the Noordam). I would love to sail the Maasdam or Prinsendam, but alas the fares are so high, I stick to the Vista class.

 

But I think HAL is great, not matter what class of ship you choose!

[Willsot]

I am a regular HAL cruiser but sailed on the Caribbean Princess last year in the Southern Caribbean. It was a nice cruise, meals were good and they offered more entertainment venues and variety than HAL. The two noticeable differences to me were the size of the ships and the service/crew. I prefer smaller ships with HAL and feel the service is superior to what I experienced with Princess. I know it depends on the dates sailed, but Princess also had many more children and young adults on that particular cruise than what I am used to with HAL.

[jhannah]

The R-class ships are very nice. Holding around 1400 passengers, their size is liveable. The mid-ship elevators (which the S-class ships don't have) make getting around a bit easier.

 

I'm sorry you had to suffer the problems on your cruise. Princess has a good product. (We've sailed multiple times.) Sick ship syndrome can happen anywhere.

 

I gravitate to HAL because of the crew. They are so pleasant and eager to make your experience a memorable one. I am sure you'll like what Holland America has to offer.

[dpump]

We've done both Princess and Holland (Southern Carib. In January). For us, Holland is our favorite hands down. Let me first say the crowd on Holland is older than Princess. We found the passengers on Holland to be very friendly and alot of fun. The ship (Noordam) was beautiful. Artwork, elevator doors, even the backs of the chairs were ornate in some cases. We ate in both ships 'high end' restaurants and Holland was a true experience compared to Princess. The crew was very friendly on Holland throughout our cruise compared to Princess. Our cruise on Holland was the most relaxing, stressfree vacation we've ever taken. The ONLY negative on our Holland trip was the Lido (buffet), really liked Princess' so much better, but that's subjective. I will say we were quite impressed with Hollands efforts to curtail the threat of Noro. There were so many hand sanitizing dispensers around the ship, it'd be hard not to utilize them. Holland sure won us over.

[jhannah]

Let me first say the crowd on Holland is older than Princess.

Not always. The "oldest" cruise we took was on a Princess ship in the Caribbean.

[RuthC]

The R-class ships are a good size. They are small enough to get around quickly, but large enough to have a variety of venues.

You are likely to run into the same people over and over; yet there are places where you can seem to hide.

Since there are fewer passengers that mega-ships have, the crew gets to know you, what you like, what you will want. And then they deliver it with a smile and a kind word.

In addition to the show lounge and movie theatre, there are four lounges for evening entertainment. These have a variety of music styles, so there's something for most everyone.

It's worth a try! Go ahead and plan a cruise on any of these "smaller" ships.

[George C]

We do both and like both, but I dislike the newer Princess ships since they increased the ## of passengers and cabins and did not increase the size of showrooms and on last couple of cruises was not able to see some of the shows. I would cruise on the Grand and older Princess ships not Crown and newer ships. ( both allow byob for wine ) I think food is good on both.

[travelnnana]

HAve sailed 9 times with Princess - last one was on the Crown - that was the end - way too big - in addition rooms are very much the same - you need a mini-suite to get a sitting area in the cabin - not so with HAL - we were on the Noordam last year and a heading back to Med for 37 days - this OCtober

[mr green]

We prefer Princess, but, only the smaller ships. We have found the food to be a little better, and the staff on Princess always make us feel at home.

 

john

[centuryguy]

DW and I have sailed on the Crown Princes and Caribbean Princess three times. We took our first cruise on HAL on the Eurodam last October. Even though the Eurodam is one of HAL's big ships it's still holds about 1000 fewer people than the big Princess ships. In short, we liked HAL better in every respect. The service was better and HAL certainly handles crowds better especially in the Lido. I dreaded going to the Caribe on Princess because it was such a hassle to find a place to sit and the buffet at lunch was basically a free for all. There fewer children and teenagers on HAL.

 

So far we've been lucky enough not to experience Noro, but I don't think a smaller ship would be any less prone to an outbreak, although fewer children on board could in some way make a ship less susceptible.

[Shifra]

Just want to say that the Grand class Princess ships do not do the panama canal, they are too wide. The 2 Princess ships that do the partial transit are Island & Coral which are smaller and have a similar pax count to the Zuiderdam which does a partial transit for HAL.

 

I would sail again on any of these ships.

[donaldsc]

Yes, I to prefer the smaller HAL ships. We sailed the Grand Princess in the Med, and it was just too large to even walk around the ship. We usually went to the lounge mid-ships, but missed all the shows in the showroom at the front of the ship.

 

!

 

While I agree that the smaller ships are better, the larger ships are not that large. Unless you have mobility issues, they are not that long that you should not be able to make it the full length of the ship.

 

DON

[agabbymama]

While I agree that the smaller ships are better, the larger ships are not that large. Unless you have mobility issues, they are not that long that you should not be able to make it the full length of the ship.

 

DON

 

Exactly! We have limited mobility, not enough to require a scooter, but the walk from our cabin at the Stern to the showroom at the bow, was indeed too long on the Grand Princess. As I said, we only made the walk once as that was where we were to meet for our tour. That one walk let us know, we wouldn't be doing it every evening. That is the only Princess ship I've sailed on, so that's the only one I can comment on.

[mauiedin87]

We have far more "points" on Princess than on HAL (only one-star Mariners), but after our last experience on the Golden Princess in 2009, never again! It became a construction site at sea, dry dock (:mad:) took place in part on the way back from Hawaii. Construction materials, hammering, sawing, staple guns all day long. On the other hand, the Veendam was the only ship we've ever been on with a Noro outbreak. But we're giving HAL another try in a little over 6 weeks. :)

[DougMacP]

Another reason to consider HAL...is there is no jumbotron blaring all day and night in the main pool area. Hated it on the Golden Princess to Hawaii last year....and didn't enjoy it while docked next to the Island Princess in Puerto Limon this year while on the Zuiderdam. Think the food was better on HAL in the main dining room also.

[djhsolara]

We have done two short cruises on Princess...Ruby and Caribbean. We enjoyed the cruises but still prefer HAL. To us Princess offered a more generic experience. One thing that we really didn't care for on our Princess ships was the lack of a covered pool. That is a nice feature on HAL ships.

 

 

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[aikensbest]

This is a difficult subject to try and answer. We have sailed on both and found positives and minuses on both lines. Both lines have larger and smaller ships, both lines have some ships with covered pools. We have found good food and entertainment as well as poor on both lines. Our sailings depend on the itinerary first and the ship second. I should add price also enters in. If you sail multiple times on Princess the perks are much greater than on HAL

[itzmered]

We have not sailed on HAL yet so I can't compare them but I have sailed on both the smaller Island Princess and the larger Princess ships. I enjoyed both of them and the only time I have every felt crowded on one of the larger ships was after a show when everyone was trying to get out of the theater and move around.

As far as to far to walk from one end of the ship to the other to see things there is approximately 200 - 400 feet difference in length between the largest ship and the smaller ships. The average city is block is around 300 feet :)

[baggal]

DW and I have sailed on the Crown Princes and Caribbean Princess three times. We took our first cruise on HAL on the Eurodam last October. Even though the Eurodam is one of HAL's big ships it's still holds about 1000 fewer people than the big Princess ships. In short, we liked HAL better in every respect. The service was better and HAL certainly handles crowds better especially in the Lido. I dreaded going to the Caribe on Princess because it was such a hassle to find a place to sit and the buffet at lunch was basically a free for all. There fewer children and teenagers on HAL.

 

So far we've been lucky enough not to experience Noro, but I don't think a smaller ship would be any less prone to an outbreak, although fewer children on board could in some way make a ship less susceptible.

 

Its not "children" (up to age 18 in the legal sense) that makes a cruise susceptible to noro. Have you never seen "adults" who act like children in the buffet - refusing to Purell, handling food with their bare hands, touching everything, and not washing their hands when leaving the rest room (ugh to all). And the worst children - leaving their cabins when they are sick because its their vacation and they don't care about who else they might infect.

 

I'd take a bunch of children to cruise with over some of the adults I have seen.

[RMLincoln]

Here's my take:

Princess: Miserable beds; great Lido available 24 hrs! more entertainment options; fewer free enrichment options; smaller staterooms.

HAL: Fabulous beds; poor hours for the buffet; excellent room service options; free enrichment classes; lovely staterooms; better library; yum yum man after dinner treats (ginger, mints, figs...)

 

For us it's the itinerary and price. We've had Noro on Amsterdam and lost some of the nicer activities: hot tubs, library, T-spa. It can happen anywhere but I feel (I don't have any data) that HAL's limiting passenger food handling the first 2 days is helping.

 

It's a good life if your biggest problem is which cruiseline to cruise with :) Enjoy! m--

[mr green]

While I agree that the smaller ships are better, the larger ships are not that large. Unless you have mobility issues, they are not that long that you should not be able to make it the full length of the ship.

 

DON

 

The problems that we had with 'large ships' [which were in fact not that large], 2,600 passengers, were the line ups.

We avoid these on HAL, and Princess, when we stay below the 2,000 passenger number.

 

john

[pakarinen]

It's a good life if your biggest problem is which cruiseline to cruise with :)

 

LOL! Amen to that!

 

Don't get me wrong - I have no beef with Princess or a 3,000 pax ship, as long as there's good crowd control.

 

We're just doing some brainstorming on what we might do next to enhance the onboard experience. A covered pool would be nice - DW burns pretty easily. But itinerary and price will definitely be considerations.

[GeriatricNurse]

We do both and like both, but I dislike the newer Princess ships since they increased the ## of passengers and cabins and did not increase the size of showrooms and on last couple of cruises was not able to see some of the shows. I would cruise on the Grand and older Princess ships not Crown and newer ships. ( both allow byob for wine ) I think food is good on both.

 

 

With Princess, "officially", liquor is not allowed to be brought onboard at embarkation, however wine & champagne is allowed; one bottle per person! ;)

[kazu]

Here's my take:

Princess: Miserable beds; great Lido available 24 hrs! more entertainment options; fewer free enrichment options; smaller staterooms.

HAL: Fabulous beds; poor hours for the buffet; excellent room service options; free enrichment classes; lovely staterooms; better library; yum yum man after dinner treats (ginger, mints, figs...)

 

For us it's the itinerary and price. We've had Noro on Amsterdam and lost some of the nicer activities: hot tubs, library, T-spa. It can happen anywhere but I feel (I don't have any data) that HAL's limiting passenger food handling the first 2 days is helping.

 

It's a good life if your biggest problem is which cruiseline to cruise with :) Enjoy! m--

 

I think this sums it up very well. Personally, I prefer HAL's Lido to Princess' even with the lesser hours. Who can argue with 6 kinds of eggs benedict and fresh squeezed oj:D