My views on HAL from a Princess Platinum cruiser

[GloriaF]

My views as a Princess platinum cruiser with my first HAL cruise: April 2-9, 2006, on the ms Westerdam visiting the ports of Nassau, St Maarten, Tortola, Half Moon Cay. I posted this on the Princess board and several HAL cruisers suggested I post it here as well.

 

We chose this cruise and cruiseline last-minute - our 40th anniversary was coming up and we hadn't made any plans. My ideal celebration would have been a b2b Tahitian cruise, but it just wasn't in the cards. So, we opted for a Caribbean cruise with new ports for us and a new cruise line experience as well.

 

The Westerdam is one of HAL's largest ships, 1800 pax, but still a nice enjoyable size. I heard that it was meant to appeal to a younger crowd and families. It was pretty easy to learn our way around, we were on Deck 1 (Main Deck) a little forward, but midway between the show lounge (decks 1,2,&3) and the dining room (decks 2 & 3). We had to go up 2 decks to our table, and we liked the glass elevators that look out at the ocean or scenery in port. The only drawback was that we were directly under the night club, Northern Lights, and could hear and feel the bass til the wee hours of the morning when we were awake, but it wasn't enough to keep us awake.

 

The cabin was on ocean view outside with an unobstructed view, which was a slight upgrade from what we booked. It had a true king size bed with fabulous mattress and linens (probably 1000 TC), a sofabed and chair with a coffee table and a drop-down bed from the ceiling. This seating area is where we had room service meals from the dining room menu. There is also a stocked refrigerator - we removed the goodies and put my breakfast diet cokes in there instead - I bring enough for early morning because I always want a canned soda or two first thing in the morning before the bars are open. The extra bar goodies could be stored in a stool at the vanity.

 

We also purchased a soda card for $18. It is a separate card with 20 punches for 20 soda refills. Most bars used canned sodas rather than fountain drinks, and the card was good on Half Moon Cay, the private island. Another good point for HAL!

 

The bathrooms all have bath tubs and are larger than what I've seen on most Princess ships. The towels were a very nice thick terry cloth and the steward was generous. They also made towel animals each night on our bed. The robes are waffle-weave cotton seersucker like Princess but lined with flannel. They were in the room when we arrived. The shampoo and lotion are in plastic bottles. Plastic beats the cardboard containers that are hard to open that Princess gives everyone but the suite passengers. Another point for HAL.

 

HAL evidently allows pax to remain in their cabins until their colors are called on the last day, and when boarding allows pax to board before the cabins are ready. They tell everyone to go to the Lido buffet until the announcement that the cabins are ready around 1:00. We didn't arrive until 1:00, went quickly thru registration, and directly to our room. They offered us juice while checking in. Nice touch!

 

The pools, only 2 plus the pay-to-useTherapy Pool in the Spa, all have towels stacked for easy use and receptacles for used towels. Towels are also anywhere there are lounge chairs, not just at the pools. That was a really nice feature. One pool was salt water and one chlorinated. The family pool was the one with chlorine and the adult aft pool was from the sea. The sea water became cloudy and ugly on a busy sea day. The pools closed at 10 PM and didn't open til 9 or 10 AM - same with the hot tubs. I wanted to use the hot tub one morning when I felt a little stiff and it was closed with a net across it. Point for Princess!

 

The dining room is two stories and had staggered times - I guess to make it easier to serve the food hot and make the crowds less when entering. The times were 5:45 for the 3rd level, 6:15 for the 2nd level, 8:00 for the 3rd and 8:15 for the 2nd. We asked for 8 PM, but we booked ten days out and there was a large (half the pax onboard) Radio Shack convention that had all the late seatings booked and we were given 5:45 - way too early for us and we only ate in the DR twice due to the time. We told our tablemates and waiter the first time we went not to wait on us when we didn't show because it was just too early for us, so things were OK. We ate twice from the dining room menu with room service and two or three times in the buffet, which has wait staff and linens at night but you still have to go thru the line and get your food, then they carry it to the table. We missed the Personal Choice dining on Princess.

 

The Lido buffet was set up quite differently from Princess. I liked the set up but the times were very limited. They had separate areas titled The Wok (stirfry made to order and sushi), Deli (subway-type sandwiches built to order) The Bistro with hot foods like meats and veggies, A Salad Bar, Italian, Omelette station (reg scrambled eggs were at the Bistro), Express with great pizza all day long, Ice Cream free from noon to 1 AM, and probably some other stations that I've forgotten. It worked pretty well, but the hours were short and if you didn't go to lunch between 11 and 1:30 approximately, you had to have pizza or something from the grill. I can see pros & cons with their buffet set-up: it was attractive and not as congested as Princess, but they closed too soon. There were potted and blooming real live orchids on every table in the Lido buffet!

 

All in all, we did not think the food any better than Princess and felt the service to be the same. I felt the food was equal, Bob (DH) thought Princess was better. And in the entertainment dept, Princess wins hands down! It was always easy to find a seat for the shows, but they just weren't very appealing. We never miss a show on Princess, so this was a big factor to us.

 

A few other odds & ends that I made note of:

Teak lounges with pads are on the Promenade and in some other areas above.

Muster was at the lifeboat, and they did a roll call.

Shorex seemed to be a little less exp than Princess but not as well organized.

Coverups in buffet and shops were common and seemed to be OK.

Huge fresh flower arrangements were all over the ship and were beautiful.

Each evening a small recap of either the NY Times or a Canadian newspaper

was in each mail box along with the next day's activities.

Kids are required to wear color coded wrist bands and some elderly people wore them also - this was a safety feature in case of an emergency.

 

We enjoyed our HAL experience, and would sail with HAL again. Being that we are Platinum with Princess and have a few perks, the most notable being a special line for check-in, a dedicated lounge for disembarkation with coffee and sweet rolls and free internet, we will return to Princess BUT try other lines as well. All in all, we felt HAL had some built-in pleasures offered to all passengers that Princess only offers their suite passengers. We would not hesitate to book another HAL cruise!

[doone]

Great review, thanks for posting it. I enjoyed reading your comparison's from a first time HAL cruiser from another line. So glad you enjoyed your HAL experience. Hope to see you on the HAL boards and another HAL cruise in the near future.

[MikeT718]

I would just echo what doone said:)

[sobore]

Thanks for the review! It's great to hear ship line comparisons from experienced cruisers.

[sail7seas]

Happy you enjoyed your HAL cruise. Thank you for sharing your comments with us.

 

[jhannah]

Yes, thanks for your perspective. We have sailed with Princess three times, so I fully understand what you're saying. I appreciate your taking the time to post.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Happy to hear that you enjoyed your first HAL cruise and would be willing to sail on them again.

[willowtak]

I thought Princess and HAL could use their previous sailing awards on both ships. (Princess platenium as a HAL Mariner of the same level. Does anyone know if this is true? I thought they were interchamgeable with Carnival too.

It might be just in my thoughts.

[GloriaF]

Thanks for the positive comments and I'm glad the review is well accepted.

 

As for one line's cruises counting toward perks on another Carnival Corp line, I don't think it works like that. It would be nice if it did, though! If anyone knows differently, please let us all know. No one asked me for my past pax cruise history when I booked, although I booked with a different (online) TA offering a great email offer because my usual TA was cruising in Tahiti.

[SF49erfan]

Gloria, your review summed up our feelings about HAL and Princess. We too are platinum with Princess and took our first HAL cruise on the Maasdam last Christmas. We enjoyed HAL so much that we are booked b2b to Alaska on the Statendam and hopefully Hawaii on the Zaandam over Christmas.

We appreciated the larger cabin (we always book inside) with the sofa. The bed was really comfortable. The larger bathroom and shower was a real plus, along with the extra fluffy towels! I loved the cute little towel animals that were left each evening along with the choclates. :)

We ate in the dining room each evening and really enjoyed the food. The desserts were exceptional - I especially liked the pies. I do agree that the hours in the Lido were not as expansive as in the Horizon Court on Princess.

We enjoyed the shows on HAL. Maybe it was because the mother of one of the dancers was at our table, so there was a connection. We went every night and since we were early seating, sometimes went back for the second show! We also enjoyed the string quartet that played in one of the lounges. That was something we missed on our last Princess cruise.

All in all, we are Princess and HAL cruisers. We will sail on whichever one has the itinerary, timing and cost that appeals. :)

[Ship Dude]

Thanks for the review. My DW and I (both Platinum Princessers) plus our two kids will be on our first HAL, Oosterdam, this coming January. I do not want to spend the cruise comparing the two but I know it will be inevitable.

[geoherb]

We're four-time Princess cruisers who were also on the Maasdam at Christmas. I really liked the smaller older ship for a holiday cruise. I won't book us on another holiday cruise on Princess after we had a bad experience with way too many kids one Thanksgiving.

 

Whenever we've sailed on different cruise lines, I find myself missing some things from the other ones but enjoying some new things. For instance, I like that Princess does a formal tea every afternoon in the dining room. The one Dutch high tea we had on the Maasdam was a disappointment--not nearly as nice as what Princess does every day.

 

Our choice of cruise always comes down to available itineraries for when my partner is off from school and price. I'll gladly book us on HAL again, Princess when not a holiday, or Celebrity.

[Spender Nui]

Princess Platinum Cruisers will sail forever on HAL without getting the equivelant of Platinum benefits.

 

I too am Platinum with Princess and have sailed HAL 176 days, although not for several years. With HAL I have the privilege of wearing a medallion around my neck for what has become less than an hour mariner's party.

[NoNoNanette]

Great review, Gloria. Thanks for taking the time to post it!

 

We're happily anticipating our Volendam cruise in December. It'll be our first HAL experience.

 

I absolutely ADORED the Grand Princess, so was glad to hear a Princess cruiser with "positive" report!

 

We're looking forward to many dinners in our cabin. Were you pleased with room service? Was the food nice and hot? Can you tell me a bit more? What did you choose to do on formal nights? Were you happy with the Lido dinners?

 

Again- thanks, kiddo! :)

[GloriaF]

NoNoNannette,

 

We were quite happy with room service; they took the order, told you when they would deliver (or delivered promptly when asking for a time in advance) and they always got the order right. They even included some of the extras that go with a meal but you don't think to order like condiments, lemon for tea, butter for bread, etc. The things that I've found you needed to specify when ordering on Princess. When we ordered from the dining room menu, we usually went by and read the menu in advance - we never asked for a menu to be delivered to our cabin, but you probably could.

 

The food in Lido was OK, we don't like to use the buffet for dinners - we only did so because our assigned seating was too early for us. At home we eat between 7 -8 pm normally, so 5:45 was just way too early. We enjoyed our tablemates in the dining room and did make an effort to go to dinner occassionally to be with them.

 

You said to tell you more and I'll be happy to answer any specific questions you have. You might also want to look this thread up on the Princess board as there was quite a bit of discussion with it.

[Boatdrill]

I thought Princess and HAL could use their previous sailing awards on both ships. (Princess platenium as a HAL Mariner of the same level. Does anyone know if this is true? I thought they were interchangeable with Carnival too.

It might be just in my thoughts.

 

They are not interchangeable.

[dsawyer]

Thanks for posting your review here. I told you the posters here would enjoy it. And you thought you were going to be flamed. :)

 

Its a great review and comparison of the two lines.

 

I would sail on HAL more often but I miss my free unlimited internet that I get as a Platinum cruiser. That 25 day pin I got on The Noordam - I don't know where I put it. :D

 

My Internet charges on The Noordam were close to $100.00.

[GloriaF]

dsawyer - thanks for encouraging me to post it here, you were right. :)

[dsawyer]

For the most part, there are very nice and fair-minded people on this board.

 

Let me add, I think Holland America line is the best line for Princess lovers to go on when they want to do another cruiseline. Its a very warm and homey cruising experience.

 

Now, if only Holland would add some perks for repeat travelers other than a medal or a pin.

[NoNoNanette]

Thanks for the quick reply, Gloria. :)

 

I'll zip over to the Princess Board to read your thread when I get a chance. Have a great weekend. :D