Why I am Switching to HAL from Princess

[Linerguy]

I appreciate you giving a first hand experience. I am interested in sailing on these 2 ships. A few years back I remember a poster saying how horrible the new ship was. When I asked specifically what they didn't like they said they hadn't been on the ship :D.

 

You bet.

[sppunk]

The answer to privacy on your balcony is - an aft balcony. We can do whatever we want and unless there is a ship behind us or land nobody is seeing nothing while we do whatever we do. ;)

[cruz chic]

The answer to privacy on your balcony is - an aft balcony. We can do whatever we want and unless there is a ship behind us or land nobody is seeing nothing while we do whatever we do. ;)

 

I assume you are talking Hal. I had an aft balcony on the sapphire princess and I'm pretty sure there was a camera right there.

[sppunk]

I assume you are talking Hal. I had an aft balcony on the sapphire princess and I'm pretty sure there was a camera right there.

 

Oh, there might be cameras. I don't care about those - just so long other pax can't see we're good.

[Topsham]

While I haven't been to sabatinis for a few years it was delish when I tried it. I think it's about 20 steps above Canaletto:D.

 

I'm fan of Canaletto, but Sabatinis... well out of seven nights I dined there and it was great! Lot of fun... close to the bar etc etc.. on Caribbean Princess.

[Ricktan]

Thank you. Not that I'm looking to book a PS, but inquiring minds want to know. :D

 

 

While on the NA, PS, we don't THINK, ;) after a lot of looking around, that at anyone could see us in the hot tub. (If you could, sorry!) Except, of course, while in port. Hope not, as we have the PS for Alaska and can't wait to get back into that hot tub!!!

[Tom O.]

I don't get the "pyramid argument.

 

Most cruise ships these days are boxy, looking more like container ships. Yes. one deck may have balconies that stick out (usually Dolphin deck on Princess and always Deck 4 on HAL's bigger ships). Then there are tapering at the stern that may make for uncovered balconies, but I don;t see any pyramid shapes.

 

The word pyramid is not right, I was just trying to explain the "stepped" sides of some decks. I have attached a picture of the side of the Sapphire Princess showing how two decks (Caribe & Dolphin) stick out.

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

The word pyramid is not right, I was just trying to explain the "stepped" sides of some decks. I have attached a picture of the side of the Sapphire Princess showing how two decks (Caribe & Dolphin) stick out.

 

 

I understood what you meant. On our only Princess cruise (Crown Princess?) the balconies were stepped back on each higher deck. Looking down, as in your picture, all I could think about was office cubicles. :eek:

[Tom O.]

As far as long lines to get on and off the ship, they were non-existent. We stopped in St Thomas, Antigua, and Aruba. At all three places we walked right off and on. Also, in St Thomas, the ship docked at Crown Bay, and was the only ship there. There was no crowding in shops, and it wasn't a problem getting a taxi to the beach or downtown. The potential problems the OP talked about with regards to sailing on a larger ship simply didn't exist.

 

I am glad you didn't have problems getting on and off the ship. My last cruise on Princess was on the Emerald Princess on a New England Cruise with more than 3,000 passengers. While on board, I didn't notice any crowding at all, but the small ports we stopped at were swamped with people. To be fair, port crowds also depend on the other ships tied up there. But, at every port we saw the same two small ships tied up near the Emerald Princess - one was the Maasdam, the other was even smaller (don't remember the name).

We took a couple of Princess excursions where there were dozens of buses going to the same destination. There were so many people at the Peggy's Cove excursion, that it was ridiculous. At least a thousand people looking at a light house - waiting lines to get into the gift shop.

At one of the ports that required tenders, we elected to just stay on the ship rather than deal with the long lines for the tenders.

After that cruise, I swore I would never take that big of a ship again, regardless, of the cruise line.

[colonialinnkeeper]

I am glad you didn't have problems getting on and off the ship. My last cruise on Princess was on the Emerald Princess on a New England Cruise with more than 3,000 passengers. While on board, I didn't notice any crowding at all, but the small ports we stopped at were swamped with people. To be fair, port crowds also depend on the other ships tied up there. But, at every port we saw the same two small ships tied up near the Emerald Princess - one was the Maasdam, the other was even smaller (don't remember the name).

We took a couple of Princess excursions where there were dozens of buses going to the same destination. There were so many people at the Peggy's Cove excursion, that it was ridiculous. At least a thousand people looking at a light house - waiting lines to get into the gift shop.

At one of the ports that required tenders, we elected to just stay on the ship rather than deal with the long lines for the tenders.

After that cruise, I swore I would never take that big of a ship again, regardless, of the cruise line.

 

On our last b2b New England and Canada cruise we rented a car in each port including Quebec and reversed the the places we visited to what the bus tours did. We missed the hordes of people and had Peggy's Cove relatively to ourselves compared to another visit we did with a ship tour. The rentals worked perfectly for us and we were able to see more than the large tours.

[Aquahound]

Also, both REGAL and ROYAL Princess' have a new category of balcony rooms, the Deluxe Balcony, and they do have sofas. Ours didn't and, to be honest, I prefer it that way....more room to roam. On my recent NOORDAM cruise, what was a nice size balcony room was reduced to a crowded closet with two chairs, a sofa, a coffee table, a make up table, and a nice size bed (which I loved). It was a lot more cramped than our room on REGAL PRINCESS.

 

This just shows how different an opinion 2 people can have. Regal and Oosterdam were my last 2 cruises. My feelings are completely the opposite of yours. I did not like my standard balcony room on Regal. I disliked the lack of a sitting area (couch) and I thought the room felt way too cramped.....way more cramped than my standard balcony room on Oosterdam that had a couch. And getting outside of the room itself, this is the main reason I disliked my Regal room compared to HAL:

 

Regal Princess:

 

 

Oosterdam:

 

Edited December 1, 2015 by Aquahound

[Aquahound]

Here's another reason I much preferred Oosterdam to Regal:

 

Oosterdam promenade:

 

 

Regal promenade (and it didn't go around):

 

Edited December 1, 2015 by Aquahound

[cruz chic]

I am glad you didn't have problems getting on and off the ship. My last cruise on Princess was on the Emerald Princess on a New England Cruise with more than 3,000 passengers. While on board, I didn't notice any crowding at all, but the small ports we stopped at were swamped with people. To be fair, port crowds also depend on the other ships tied up there. But, at every port we saw the same two small ships tied up near the Emerald Princess - one was the Maasdam, the other was even smaller (don't remember the name).

We took a couple of Princess excursions where there were dozens of buses going to the same destination. There were so many people at the Peggy's Cove excursion, that it was ridiculous. At least a thousand people looking at a light house - waiting lines to get into the gift shop.

At one of the ports that required tenders, we elected to just stay on the ship rather than deal with the long lines for the tenders.

After that cruise, I swore I would never take that big of a ship again, regardless, of the cruise line.

It's always crowded at Peggy's cove. I was on a Hal ship that went there in October and it was crowded. Being on a Hal ship won't cure busy ports. I've been on several princess ships and had a worse time getting off Hal ships. This goes for tenders as well.

[jimmy2x]

"This just shows how different an opinion 2 people can have. Regal and Oosterdam were my last 2 cruises. My feelings are completely the opposite of yours. I did not like my standard balcony room on Regal. I disliked the lack of a sitting area (couch) and I thought the room felt way too cramped.....way more cramped than my standard balcony room on Oosterdam that had a couch. And getting outside of the room itself, this is the main reason I disliked my Regal room compared to HAL"

 

Looks like every other photo I've seen of the standard balconies on Regal or Royal and is the main reason we won't try either. I like cushions and putting my feet up.;)

[Cruizer Bill]

Tom's Avatar has a much stricter dress code that the average cruise line. :D Also, it's one of the more dashing avatars you'll come across.

 

How about my Avatar? No one else was using Bogart so I thought "Hey, why not me?" Who could be cooler than Hunphrey?

[Tom O.]

How about my Avatar? No one else was using Bogart so I thought "Hey, why not me?" Who could be cooler than Hunphrey?

 

What about Carey Grant?

[Cruizer Bill]

What about Carey Grant?

 

I don't see anyone else using him. If you want to, go ahead! He's a great guy!

[RocketMan275]

What about Carey Grant?

 

How do you post an avatar?

[Cruizer Bill]

How do you post an avatar?

 

Look up at the top of your screen and you will see "User CP". That stands for User Control Panel. Select it and one of the items you can choose to do it Edit Avatar. Select this. Then you can use one of their ready-made Avatars or you can select Custom Avatar. Doing so allows you to direct this board to another site like Photobucket or any other web site that allows you to store pictures. Select Custom Avatar and then click on the select URL bar and browse over to some place you have stored a small picture you have chosen as your Avatar.

 

If you want to find a cool Avatar do a search and then find a nice small picture, save a copy to your computer and then post it to a photo-sharing web site and then direct Cruise Critic to that photo.

 

Have fun! Karin, a friend of ours, is called "Middle Aged Mom" here and uses a picture of Lucille Ball as her Avatar. I thought that was really cool so I tried to think of a guy as fun as Lucy and I chose Bogart! Good stuff!

[RuthC]

You most certainly can be seen in the hot tub on the Oosterdam.

Maybe the location was moved on the later ships. You can't be seen on the Noordam. It's a cozy little spot.

[Cruizer Bill]

Maybe the location was moved on the later ships. You can't be seen on the Noordam. It's a cozy little spot.

 

Ruth,

Can you eat chocolates in a hot tub? You must have found a way to keep them from melting, nice!!!

[RocketMan275]

Look up at the top of your screen and you will see "User CP". That stands for User Control Panel. Select it and one of the items you can choose to do it Edit Avatar. Select this. Then you can use one of their ready-made Avatars or you can select Custom Avatar. Doing so allows you to direct this board to another site like Photobucket or any other web site that allows you to store pictures. Select Custom Avatar and then click on the select URL bar and browse over to some place you have stored a small picture you have chosen as your Avatar.

 

If you want to find a cool Avatar do a search and then find a nice small picture, save a copy to your computer and then post it to a photo-sharing web site and then direct Cruise Critic to that photo.

 

Have fun! Karin, a friend of ours, is called "Middle Aged Mom" here and uses a picture of Lucille Ball as her Avatar. I thought that was really cool so I tried to think of a guy as fun as Lucy and I chose Bogart! Good stuff!

 

Thank you.

[cruz chic]

Maybe the location was moved on the later ships. You can't be seen on the Noordam. It's a cozy little spot.

 

Could be. I can't speak for the other ships. I really wish I couldn't be seen.

[OceanTraveller4ever]

I love the verandahs on HAL.

 

I do like to have more space than just edging your butt on a tiny chair. If I want to stretch, and do a few push ups first thing in the morning, in fresh air, I can. I would also dislike anyone being a spectator to anything I do there. I also use the balcony to do Tai Chi warm ups during the day.

HAL wins hands down on verandah design and space.

 

Also love the promenade on HAL, as I try to do 6 laps per day. The promenade on Princess ships as per the photo, is a joke.

 

As for the rewards level, I find HAL is more generous, especially with the discounts on wine packages, in room mini-bar, and specialty restaurants.

Being a 3 star mariner, a i.e. 200$ wine package is 150$ (25% off)

Being a soon to be a 4 star, I look forward to having 50% off the wine package (and free laundry).

 

To each is own, but HAL is most definitely for me.

[Cruizer Bill]

We have cruised on Princess twice. We really liked the food, service, entertainment and we thought the ships were very interesting. What we don't like is seeing people show up the showroom a whole hour before the show and save a bunch of seats. Also, there are a lot more chair hogs there.