Princess or Holland America

[pooh/tigger]

We have put a hold on 2 cruises, one with each, for 2 weeks in Aus/NZ. 

 

The Holland America has a couple port stops in Aus before sailing to NZ. The Princess cruise is just NZ except it leaves from Aus. 

 

We held a mini suite on Princess that includes their Prime Premier so includes everything. D732 is the stateroom.

 

On Holland America, we choose a balcony with everything included. We liked the idea of sitting on our balcony and watching from the rear of the ship. We choose stateroom 8141. 

 

Would love to hear opinions on which direction these old folks should go. We are pretty easy going so it's not like we require an adults only cruise. 

 

Thank you

[Belmont Babe]

Are the port stops in NZ the same for both cruises ? And what time of year?

[pooh/tigger]

Yes, pretty much. Jan

[windsor26]

It would seem that the balcony is preferred by you so. Hal

[pooh/tigger]

We called Princess to cancel and they offered to move us to the Baja deck, cabin 7147. They also are offering to discount it $200 more. 
I don’t understand why they make you call to cancel. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

HAL has nicer cabins, Princess is nicer overall. 

 

We did a cruise on HAL last year and would never cruise on them again. The food was very average, service was poor except in one bar, entertainment was very limited and/or repetitive. However our Signature Suite cabin was really lovely.

 

We are regular cruisers on Princess.  The minisuites and suites are nice. Service is always good with rare exceptions. The food quality has slipped slightly since Covid but is still very good and there is plenty of variety. Entertainment is excellent with great production shows in the theatre and music to suit most tastes in the various bars.

[OzKiwiJJ]

43 minutes ago, pooh/tigger said:

We called Princess to cancel and they offered to move us to the Baja deck, cabin 7147. They also are offering to discount it $200 more. 
I don’t understand why they make you call to cancel. 

Princess doesn't have four digit cabin numbers so did they offer you B714 which would be aft, or B147 which would be forward?

[lyndarra]

6 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We did a cruise on HAL last year and would never cruise on them again. The food was very average, service was poor.......

 

 

I have only cruised Princess once for the same reason. I mostly cruise Celebrity and HAL - last four have been on HAL. They seem to have better itineraries. However I would never say and have never said I would not sail with Princess again.

[arxcards]

12 hours ago, pooh/tigger said:

We have put a hold on 2 cruises, one with each, for 2 weeks in Aus/NZ. 

 

The Holland America has a couple port stops in Aus before sailing to NZ. The Princess cruise is just NZ except it leaves from Aus. 

 

We held a mini suite on Princess that includes their Prime Premier so includes everything. D732 is the stateroom.

 

On Holland America, we choose a balcony with everything included. We liked the idea of sitting on our balcony and watching from the rear of the ship. We choose stateroom 8141. 

 

Would love to hear opinions on which direction these old folks should go. We are pretty easy going so it's not like we require an adults only cruise. 

 

Thank you

[NSWP]

8 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

HAL has nicer cabins, Princess is nicer overall. 

 

We did a cruise on HAL last year and would never cruise on them again. The food was very average, service was poor except in one bar, entertainment was very limited and/or repetitive. However our Signature Suite cabin was really lovely.

 

We are regular cruisers on Princess.  The minisuites and suites are nice. Service is always good with rare exceptions. The food quality has slipped slightly since Covid but is still very good and there is plenty of variety. Entertainment is excellent with great production shows in the theatre and music to suit most tastes in the various bars.

Agree, HAL is overrated these day, they have dropped the ball. Our Noordam cruise Sydney to Honolulu in 2019 was below par, same issues as you reported. 

[pooh/tigger]

9 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Princess doesn't have four digit cabin numbers so did they offer you B714 which would be aft, or B147 which would be forward?

Fat fingers LOL