The Suite Life in Modern Times - HAL and Princess shared and compared

scubacruiserx2 · March 9, 2022

We completed 2 trips to the Southern Caribbean this year . One on the HAL Nieuw Amsterdam and one on the Enchanted Princess . They were both aft - corner suites and probably had more in common than differences . We hope that others will enjoy and share their experiences also .

scubacruiserx2 · March 10, 2022

In the Orange corner

At 935 feet long

With a 105 foot Beam

Standing 12 Decks Tall

And weighting 86,000 tons

The Nieuw Amsterdam

Carries 2100-2500 Passengers

And in the Blue corner

At 1083 foot long

And a Beam of 154 feet

Standing a towering 18 decks tall

And weighing 143,000 tons

The Enchanted Princess

Carries 3600-4400 Passengers

Edited March 10, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

scubacruiserx2 · March 10, 2022

The Orange cabin Neptune Suite #7137

And the Blue cabin . Penthouse Suite B # 734

Edited March 10, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

scubacruiserx2 · March 10, 2022

The Enchanted Princess had 2 tv's , 2 sitting rooms , a dual room bathroom , a separate sleeping room , 2 doors to the Veranda and a fantastic Veranda .

cccole · March 11, 2022

I'm really enjoying this comparison. The suite comparison is great, aft wrap suites are my favorites. The Princess was a Penthouse suite not just an aft wrap suite? I could be wrong, often am, but a Penthouse suite is not comparable to a Neptune suite is it? Is there an aft Penthouse wrap suite on HAL? But if cost is about the same it's fabulous. I look forward to other things that you enjoyed on both ships. Thank you for doing this. Cherie

Edited March 11, 2022 by cccole

Sea42 · March 11, 2022

If they are comparable in price, I would definitely prefer the Princess suite.

oakridger · March 11, 2022

Can you please also compare the suite perks? I'm familiar with the HAL Neptune perks but haven't sailed on Princess.

Thank you!

scubacruiserx2 · March 11, 2022

HAL Neptune photos

Neptune has a whirlpool Tub

Neptune has a coffee maker in the room

scubacruiserx2 · March 11, 2022

12 hours ago, oakridger said:

Can you please also compare the suite perks? I'm familiar with the HAL Neptune perks but haven't sailed on Princess.

Thank you!

I will be comparing what we experienced along the way, but for now,

you will find the full description of suite amenities and perks at these links

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/suites-staterooms.html

https://www.princess.com/learn/ships/staterooms/suites

scubacruiserx2 · March 11, 2022

13 hours ago, cccole said:

I'm really enjoying this comparison. The suite comparison is great, aft wrap suites are my favorites. The Princess was a Penthouse suite not just an aft wrap suite? I could be wrong, often am, but a Penthouse suite is not comparable to a Neptune suite is it? Is there an aft Penthouse wrap suite on HAL? But if cost is about the same it's fabulous. I look forward to other things that you enjoyed on both ships. Thank you for doing this. Cherie

This may be a duplicate because I responded, but it is somewhere in cyberland.

The Princess Penthouse was an Aft Wrap.

We have had NS on HAL that was an Aft Wrap ( Cat SB).

The HAL NS is comparable as far as many of the perks are similar.

The pricing can be so different depending on itinerary, ships age and your loyalty level. They are pretty close in pricing.

scubacruiserx2 · March 11, 2022

The Concierge Lounge on Princess

scubacruiserx2 · March 11, 2022

The Concierge Lounge on HAL

Edited March 11, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

Sea42 · March 11, 2022

The HAL lounge certainly looks much brighter. The Princess lounge looks very dark.

scubacruiserx2 · March 11, 2022

42 minutes ago, Sea42 said:

The HAL lounge certainly looks much brighter. The Princess lounge looks very dark.

Well spotted and you raise a good point . The HAL Lounge was shot with a different camera and lighting and each Lounge had a different style of lighting . The windows were frosted on the Princess with more privacy - but less light than the clear HAL windows .

scubacruiserx2 · March 11, 2022

A list of some of the perks .

The frosted glass entrance . We liked that the Lounge was open 24/7 with our card for coffee or a water . It was much closer than the International Cafe for that 1st cup and the machine with the Latte and Expresso was amazing .

scubacruiserx2 · March 12, 2022

Breakfast on HAL is at the Pinnacle

scubacruiserx2 · March 12, 2022

Breakfast on Princess is at Sabatini's

Edited March 12, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

scubacruiserx2 · March 12, 2022

Princess flowers have to be ordered on the ship

You can pre order flowers on HAL

Edited March 12, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

scubacruiserx2 · March 13, 2022

Water on Princess was about $ 8 for 6 Liters

Water on HAL was $ 28 for 6 Liters . We brought 20 containers of our own water .

Edited March 13, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

scubacruiserx2 · March 13, 2022

A walk along the Promenade on the Enchanted Princess

The HAL Nieuw Amsterdam Promenade

It goes all of the way around the aft of the ship

Edited March 13, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

LAFFNVEGAS · March 13, 2022

Excellent comparisons, Most of my cruising experience in the past 15 years have been in full suites and plenty with HAL but I have had several Princess Suites twice in Owners Suites aft facing and the most recent was February of 2020 on the Royal with a suite across the hall from the Suite Lounge.

Between these two cruise lines I agree there is far more the same than different but with that being said I lean toward liking Princess suites a bit more just comparing Suite stateroom to Suite stateroom. But in some areas HAL has the edge especially since the suites do have the coffee maker in the suite.

I will say that I think the comparison of the two suites would be closer if comparing the Enchanted to say Nieuw Statendam or Rotterdam. Nieuw Amsterdam is older and the Neptune Suite is a bit dfferent as well as the ships since the newer HAL ships starting with Koningsdam have the designated dining area for Suite passengers. I did not catch if you mentioned it but with the Princess Suite the Conceirge Lounges offers free drinks wine and simple cocktails from 5 to 7 every evening. This is nice to attend prior to going to dinner, meet up with other Suite passengers and even take a glass of wine down to dinner. Also only the newer Princess ships have the Suite Concierge Lounge, those older than Royal Princess do not have this Lounge, but their stateroom layouts have stayed pretty much the same. HAL on the other hand have tweaked the Neptune Suite layout from the original Vista Class to what we now see in the Rotterdam.

Sea42 · March 13, 2022

Big win for HAL on the promenade deck! At least on the older ships.

scubacruiserx2 · March 13, 2022

1 hour ago, Sea42 said:

Big win for HAL on the promenade deck! At least on the older ships.

Our walks on the Promenade have become move like waddles than walks but we still enjoy them . We went for a walk on the Sky Jogging track on the Enchanted and it was very windy and rocking a lot because it's up high and fully exposed to the elements .

scubacruiserx2 · March 13, 2022

1 hour ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Excellent comparisons, Most of my cruising experience in the past 15 years have been in full suites and plenty with HAL but I have had several Princess Suites twice in Owners Suites aft facing and the most recent was February of 2020 on the Royal with a suite across the hall from the Suite Lounge.

Between these two cruise lines I agree there is far more the same than different but with that being said I lean toward liking Princess suites a bit more just comparing Suite stateroom to Suite stateroom. But in some areas HAL has the edge especially since the suites do have the coffee maker in the suite.

I will say that I think the comparison of the two suites would be closer if comparing the Enchanted to say Nieuw Statendam or Rotterdam. Nieuw Amsterdam is older and the Neptune Suite is a bit dfferent as well as the ships since the newer HAL ships starting with Koningsdam have the designated dining area for Suite passengers. I did not catch if you mentioned it but with the Princess Suite the Conceirge Lounges offers free drinks wine and simple cocktails from 5 to 7 every evening. This is nice to attend prior to going to dinner, meet up with other Suite passengers and even take a glass of wine down to dinner. Also only the newer Princess ships have the Suite Concierge Lounge, those older than Royal Princess do not have this Lounge, but their stateroom layouts have stayed pretty much the same. HAL on the other hand have tweaked the Neptune Suite layout from the original Vista Class to what we now see in the Rotterdam.

Thank you for your insightful letter and input . We did consider a comparison to our cruise on the Nieuw Statendam to the Enchanted but ours was an aft cabin and not a Corner Neptune suite so no size perks . Additionally it lacked a concierge , a lounge and a restaurant dedicated to the suites for breakfast - maybe our favorite perk . The Pinnacle class ships lack the nice promenade that we enjoy on the Signature and Vista . And like the Royal Class ships , the Pinnacle Class has shrunk the balconies so small that they strikes us as - VINOs . Verandah In Name Only .