HAL vs. Princess

[debmkay]

Just got off the Noordam Nov 17th, 3rd HAL cruise, have cruised Royal, and NCL and several older ones.. Thinking about trying princess for a change. Anyone out there that cruises both for whatever reasons, not looking to compete one against the other just some honest opinions from both sides and why? Wanting to cruise Nov 2009, ususally the same time of year, normally travel verandah rooms, so give me some yay's or nay's. Thank you!

[NevadaHiRoller]

Hal has better beds and bedding. Hal has better cabins. Hal has better service. Hal has more elderly passengers, lots more walkers/scooters. Hal is a little more boring. Princess has better evening dining meals, Hal has better buffet. Princess a little more lively than Hal. Princess has better shows/entertainment. Both are swell, just different. Depends on what you in the mood for.

[Pam in CA]

Here's what I posted to your thread on the Princess board:

 

If you enjoyed HAL, you'll enjoy Princess as they are pretty similar. You'll find Princess a bit more casual and there are more entertainment options in the evenings. Cabins on Princess are generally a bit smaller than on HAL and unless you've booked a mini-suite, there won't be a small couch in the cabin (except if you're booking on the Royal/Pacific/Tahitian Princess.)

 

Food is pretty similar although I think the buffet food on HAL is better, Princess has more, and better, "Always available" menu items on the dinner menu. HAL has better wraps and sandwiches at the grill, Princess has much better pizza. HAL's room service is better but the Princess buffet is open 24/7.

 

Little differences which for some, are big differences. If they don't matter to you, you'll love Princess.

 

To add to that, I've found the beds on my Princess and HAL cruises to be somewhat similar, neither is better than the other, and the bedding on Princess much better than I've had on HAL, i.e., comparing my Crown Princess cruise in July with my Prinsendam cruise in October, the duvet and pillows were better.

 

There are differences between Princess ships so that it would help to know which Princess ship you're thinking of booking on. For instance, the Royal, Pacific and Tahitian Princess are very similar to the Prinsendam and every cabin has at least a small couch, i.e., for those who say that no Princess ship cabin below mini-suite has a couch or is small, that's not true; they do. On Grand-class Princess ships, the balconies on Caribe deck are extra large, i.e., 9' x 9' and are half-covered, half-uncovered with two half loungers, two chairs and a good-sized table.

[TCF]

I think it only fair to try and compare, "apples to apples", as the saying goes so here is a comparison between Princess Coral, around 1600 pax and Veendam at 1250 pax.

We spent 10 days on the Coral and five weeks on the Veendam. The Coral is a marginally newer ship than the Veendam and the Veendam shows it. We would not even consider the Veendam again until after its refit next April.

Dining room food on Veendam was better than Coral. Service on Coral was better than Veendam.

Lido buffet on both were dead-even comparable.

Beds on both very comparable.

Mini-suite on Coral about the same size as Verandah B on Veendam...both roomy and comfortable with a couch, chair and coffee table. The verandah on Veendam was larger and nicer (teak deck vs plasitic nasty blue stuff)...bathroom on Coral was nicer...flat screen TV and DVD player on Veendam was better than Coral tube TV.

Overall Coral was a better buy...but that might change entirely after April when Veendam gets its refit...this is a major overhaul including a bunch of "new" construction.

General crew service was marginally better on Veendam...but...by no means bad on Coral.

Communications with the pax from the Bridge Officers..most notable the Capt. was superior on the Veendam and this made for a much better cruise.

Hope this helps.

[Druke I]

We like both HAL and Princess.

 

Princess does seem to have a wider variety of itineraries that appeal to us.

[Charliesmom]

We like both HAL and Princess. We are Elite Captain's Circle on Princess and they have a MUCH better loyalty program than HAL. For your sixth cruise on Princess, you get $100 worth of free internet per person and an upgrade in insurance for the same money. For your 16th cruise on Princess, you get $100 worth of free internet per person, a complimentary bar set-up, free hors d'oeuvres every night, free laundry and dry cleaning. You also get these same perks if you are in a suite.

 

Princess has food available 24 hours in their Horizon Court - nice if you get the 2 am nibblies and don't want to wait for room service.

 

If you are in a suite on HAL, you get the concierge, the Neptune Lounge, free laundry and dry cleaning and hors d'oeuvres every night if you want them. You can also go into the Neptune Lounge and get hors d'oeuvres there.

 

I tend to like the smaller ships on Princess - the Sun, the Sea, the Dawn, the Coral and the Island. They feel more spacious and in fact, they do have more square footage per passenger than the larger ships. Also, the mini-suites on the Sun, the Sea and the Dawn

are REALLY mini-suites. They have two rooms, tub AND stall shower, walk-in closets and are generally wonderful.

 

That's my two cents.

 

Roberta

[eh2zed]

You will enjoy both and depending on personal tastes may prefer one over the other. Itinerary and price are also major factors.

What also may be instructive in a general context is how the parent company markets them. Both HAL and Princess are owned by Carnival Corp. Carnival Corp markets Princess as a standard cruise line positioned against their main competitor RCCL. Carnival Corp markets HAL a a premium cruise line (a half to full star above Princess/RCCL) positioned against RCI's Celebrity. These differences may not be meaningful depending on your personal preferences.

A day on any cruise ship beats a day on land.

[Richard Stein]

I have a red pin on HAL and elite status on Princess. When HAL starts having benefits for repeaters not in Suites I will return. Princess has best benefit program in industry. I met James Deering on my last Princess cruise, He was a Hotel Director on my last HAL cruise, but now does the same for Princess.

[debmkay]

well thanks for all the answers everyone, about what I expected, so I will just have to bite the bullet and DH and I will have to try a Princess cruise and see what we think. We love HAL but Princess does some itineraries that we really like so we will book based on that for now. Will always return to HAL for more I am sure!!!!!!!!!!!

[james j feller]

CHARLIESMOM,

 

One point, you only get hor d'oeuvres on formal nights.

 

JIM

[Pam in CA]

One point, you only get hor d'oeuvres on formal nights.

You are correct; the free hor d'oeuvres for Elite passengers is only on formal nights. However, you do have a choice of about 8 different appetizers. And, they are cold appetizers, not hot.

[kiberkid]

Here's what I posted to your thread on the Princess board:

 

If you enjoyed HAL, you'll enjoy Princess as they are pretty similar. You'll find Princess a bit more casual and there are more entertainment options in the evenings. Cabins on Princess are generally a bit smaller than on HAL and unless you've booked a mini-suite, there won't be a small couch in the cabin (except if you're booking on the Royal/Pacific/Tahitian Princess.)

.

 

We just got off of the Tahitian Princess in October. Our balcony cabin did not have a couch, we just had a chair. Found out part way thru the cruise that only the cabins that can acommodate a 3rd person has a couch as they use it as a pull out bed.