HAL vs Princess - Australia

[jssabs]

We are planning an Australian cruise in January or February, 2008 and are trying to decide between HAL's Statendam or Sapphire Princess. Right now we are leaning toward the Statendam. We have cruised recently on the Grand Princess so we are somewhat familiar with what Princess has to offer. We had also cruised on the Statendam about 12 years ago but that is so long ago that we are looking for a fresh perspective about HAL and the Statendam. We're interested in hearing from anyone who has some thoughts about the two lines and the specific ships. Specifically, your comparisons on food, service, cabin, entertainment, etc. Also, anyone who has taken the Australian cruise, we welcome your comments and any recommendations you might have for private tour guides.

 

Happy Cruising.

 

JSSABS

[xpcdoojk]

Hi, I can't help you much, because I have not cruised on either the Statendum or Princess in general, but we are looking at cruising at this same time. I am leaning towards Princess because of the shorter cruise where I can spend a bit more time in Australia and that the balcony cabins are a lot cheaper. Plus, I haven't been on Princess yet and this is as good a time as any I figure. We are probably going to book the 1/9 sailing. The HAL cruise was better from an itinerary point of view because of the additional ports, but we have been to New Zealand before, so that is the compromise I am leaning towards right now. We did HAL on the Rotterdam last year to South America and we had a very nice time. The ship was excellent and the food was very good.

 

Stay in touch especially if we end up on the same cruise and we can start a roll call if one hasn't already been started. My email address is in my signature.

 

jc:)

[Estella]

I can't tell you about Princess, but I just returned from the Australia/New Zealand cruise on the Statendam and it was absolutely wonderful. If you haven't been to Sydney, go a day early as you will only see it from the airport to the dock where you are berthed beside the Opera House. So you do have a golden opportunity to take great pictures from the deck before you depart. Your only Australian ports are Melborne and Tasmania. Rest up on your sea days crossing the Tasman Sea as from there New Zealand will show you many ports and much beauty. This was a grand cruise on the grand Statendam.

[jamcon]

Have been on the Zuiderdam, Westerdam and the Tahitian Princess. Can definitely say I would pick Holland America over Princess for several reasons:

HAL has nicer/larger cabins including much much much nicer washrooms in the cabins

The food on HAL is definitely a notch above Princess

 

HAL is more expensive but that is probably why.

[MercedMike]

We have cruised extensively on both HAL and Princess -- in fact they are our two favorite cruise lines.

 

Quite frankly, I would not choose one line over the other for Australia.

 

I would make the decision first on itinerary, and also on price and convenience and ship's facilities. Sapphire Princess is definitely a beautiful ship. We haven't cruised Statendam but we have cruised Maasdam and found her a beautiful ship, but not quite up to Sapphire Princess. So, not because Princess is better than HAL, but because Sapphire Princess is newer and has more features than Statendam, I would lean that way if the itinerary was what I wanted.

 

In either case you will have a GREAT cruise!

 

Check out

The Halls Cruise to Australia and New Zealand

and you will see some specific tour guides recommended for certain ports.

[jssabs]

Thanks for the replies so far. Normally, Princess would not be under consideration and we would have chosen HAL without any question but I have read postings on this board which indicate that the quality of the food and service on HAL can be spotty. That causes some concern for us as we are experienced cruisers and we recently sailed on the Grand Princess and were pleasantly surprised in that the experience exceeded our expectations. We are concerned about going with Princess because of the size of the ship in that with that many passengers, there could be problems in some of the ports in terms of the time it may take to disembark and congestion resulting in less time in the port. The difference in price between the two is not a factor for us and the itineraries are similar enough that it too is not a major factor. The real issue for us is the quality of the overall experience and the attitude and efficiency of the staff and operations and how well they treat and respond to the passengers, handle problems, make it easier in the ports for those not taking ship tours (i.e. provide shuttle busses to town, etc.). We have been spoiled by Crystal where the passenger truly is king and the staff gets to know you individually and they don't know the meaning of the word "no". Let's hear it as to why HAL is better than Princess.

 

JSSABS

[xpcdoojk]

Well, I don't think either will compare all that well to Crystal from a service point of view. The food on the Rotterdam was very good, and the lunch in the Lido is far superior to the Windjammer on RCI or Celebrity. All mass market lines have menu items that are spotty. However, you really should solicit your waiters opinion as they will lead you away from the spotty items to the good items. Expecting the members of this forum who are on the whole fans of HAL to give you an unbiased view of HAL and Princess is probably not going to be very objective.

 

JMHO

 

jc

[jssabs]

Thank you jc. I know that I will probably get responses that are biased toward HAL on this board but I have posted the same inquiry on the Princess board which will probably cause responses biased toward Priness although there have not been any responses yet. Also, I know that neither Princess nor HAL matches Crystal but we have already taken that into account. Crystal is offering a similar itinerary next year as part of their world cruise but they are charging about twice the rate of HAL and while Crystal is superior, I don't know that they are twice as good to warrant paying such a high premium.

 

Thanks for your comments though.

 

JSSABS

[MercedMike]

LOL -- well, as I said, I am biased toward BOTH of them!

 

As far as food, I do love the Princess food but am very happy on HAL too. I don't think HALs seafood, particularly shellfish, is as good as Princess. But OTOH HAL offers some more European flavored dishes that are excellent. Their Dutch dinner is really nice. So again, I would not choose between the two lines solely on that criteria.

 

Sapphire Princess is definitely a big ship. We were on her in Alaska, where there can be some delays at ports. We even tendered from her in one port. In spite of the size we found that crowd control was great and never felt delayed by crowds. The ship herself is nicely laid out and breaks the pax up into different areas and venues so it does not seem crowded. Most of the usual ports in Au/NZ have good infrastructure and I think there will be no problem with losing time in port due to crowds.

 

So it comes back, for me, to the same considerations -- itinerary, itinerary, itinerary and then price,date, convenience and facilities. Is there any itinerary difference between the two choices?

[Chivalrygirl]

Let me try and give you the perspective from a NZer. I would pick Statendam all the time over Sapphire Princess. Sapphire Princess is not a ship, she is a gigantic beast! Anything that can make the Sydney Harbour Bridge look like a dinkie toy is not a ship that I would care to sail on. I know that SP can totally dominate the bridge because I have seen it with my own eyes. I returned to Sydney 2 years ago on the Pacific Princess and we followed SP into the harbour. As we had a late flight back to NZ we spent the morning wandering around Sydney town and during the course of the morning met 3 groups of ppl who had come of the SP. Not one of them had a good word to say for the ship they had found it far too big and far too many ppl.

Even then having sailed both Statendam and Pacific Princess I would definitely go for HAL. The service on HAL far exceeds what we experienced on Princess. Hope this helps you in your decision as I don't believe I am biased towards either line I just know in my mind for this particilar part of the world and the two ships on offer which one I would choose.

[silvercruiser]

We're booked on the Sapphire Princess April 2008 because it repositions back to Los Angeles, meaning that we only have to fly one way. The pre-trip days in Australia also sound good and we'll fly in a day early so we can visit that wonderful zoo again. Since a balcony has become a "must" for us, we like the pricing on the Sapphire. Yes, it's a huge ship, but, having sailed on all sizes, I've found that you get used to any size ship in a hurry.