Princess and Holland America Let's Compare - Would I Sail Holland America Again?

I can only compare Princess ships with the one Holland America cruise on the Zuiderdam.  

I have sailed on Princess for over 1,700 days in total (as guest and as lecturer), but only 14 days on Holland America.  I have also done five Carnival cruises, and two Celebrity and one Royal Caribbean.

For this blog I can only comment on the Zuiderdam.

I am sure things may be different on different Holland ships that are newer and bigger.  But I can only compare what I have experience with.

Ship

• Zuiderdam was launched in 2002.  She is 82,000 tons.  Only the second smallest ship we have been on.  Original Star Princess was smaller.
• I never felt the ship was too small at all.  
• Was easy to get around.
• She is ready for some updating.  Cabin corridors are sad looking and the old print artwork looks like something from my first apartment.  Oh and don't even get me started on these odd benches.
• She is a classy ship - with huge promenade with teak lounge chairs.

This category is a tie.  Although I loved the smaller ship I did miss the amenties of Princess.  But the state of the ship is needing work, but then again so are many Princess ships.  

Itineraries

• Hands down Holland has some special itineraries that are longer and leave and return to the United States.  
• The voyage we are on is called Voyage of the Vikings and it is 35 days round trip from Boston.
• So if you are looking for amazing itineraries Holland wins.  But if you are just looking for standard itineraries - Princess is great too.  

A tie.

Cabin

• I had an ocean view cabin with a full length window 4083.

• Cabin is well laid out with a small couch, desk, large bank of closets, fridge, coffee table (that raises up or down), and nice size bathroom with a tub (mind you a small tub but still a tub.  Note not every cabin had a tub apparently.

• We really missed the large walk in closet that most Princess ships has (minus the newest ship The Sun).  When we had to open a cupboard to get clothes the other person could not get by. You had to close one cupboard to open another cupboard. 
• We found a lack of drawers. Only two very small ones beside the bed.  Barely got underwear in it.  There are also two drawers at the foot of the bed (you can still store luggage at head of bed) but found them hard to get at and steward often used them for towels etc.  

• Lots of cupboards and shelves.
• We are not heavy packers and we had plenty of room to store our items. 
• Lots of outlets and especially like the USB beside the bed.
• The lights in the cabin were totally weird.  One light switch turned on the lights at the door and at the window.  The other turned lights on above bed and by the couch.  So you couldn't discretly get dressed with a light on to see without waking the other.
• There was a motion sensor light by closet which was just right.  Not too bright and went out quickly.

• The bed was extremely comfortable.  But the two beds pushed together had a very bad gap.  We probably could of asked for a topper.  But we have never had to ask on Princess, should be automatic.
• Bathroom had a medicine cabinet to hide away your items which we prefered.  Lots of towel bars too!
• TV in the cabin had similar movies/shows as Princess and like Princess they are all free (not all lines provide free movies).
• We did find it very annoying that the recorded port talks kept buffering.  No matter what we did we couldn't prevent it.  Others had similar issues.  
• I liked that they had a bow camera, but also an aft camera.
• Cabins are cleaned by two stewards - one main guy and his assistant.  They were very quick too.  Loved that they did not have those annoying housekeeping carts blocking the corridors and which are noisy if they are placed outside your door.  
• One thing we found annoying is they evening turn down is way too early.  Often they were knocking on our door around 6 pm with our pillow chocolates (yes HAL is still giving out chocolates).  

Overall I found the cabin to be very nice and comfortable.  Really again it is a tie.

Entertainment 

• This is sadly where things disappoint.  I found the evening entertainment was 80% music.  I do enjoy listening to music but every night, all night is too much for us.  
• There are no production shows on this ship.
• Two commedians, which were funny.
• One magician that was good too.
• Breton Thunder was amazing and they are on for the entire Canada/New England season.
• Some trivia.  But really really missed the game type shows Princess does.  Yes/No, variety of trivias, musical bingo, etc etc.  HAL did do a marriage match game and a majority rules but they were not well put together and quite disappointing.
• We found every evening we wander the ship with nothing to do.
• During the day there were crafts, bridge, two trivias, lectures, and movies.  

My vote goes to Princess here.

Food

• Food is very subjective.  But when it came down to it the food was good.  Not great, and certainly not bad.  It was just good.  Although I find Princess' food to be just good now too.  
• I did notice that the dining room menus to be minimal with not nearly as many options as Princess.
• Items that we love on Princess like their French Onion soup were so bad on HAL that I was skimming off the layer of oil that had formed on the top.  Many dishes were obviously sitting under heat lamps for a very long time.
• Very repetitive dishes.  I think in my 13 days I saw corn soup on the menu five times.  Salads repeated often.  And the salmon bowl was on the menu every night but with a different way of serving (which was usually my go to dish) and very good.
• Absolutely loved the breakfast served in the buffet because the items were freshly made.   Like eggs bennedict!  Amazing!  
• We had tons of fresh fruit.  But really the best part was the fresh berries - throughout the voyage - that was available for your yoghurt or cereal.  LOVED this.
• In the buffet we really enjoyed the Asian section and often ate there.  Small variations each day.  But stay away from the sushi.  Both times we tried they were dried out and chewy.  
• Selection in the buffet was adequate but we found it very repetitive.  However I certainly wasn't going to go hungry.  I think if it would of been a shorter cruise (like a week) the buffet would of been fine.
• Although I love that HAL serves us in the buffet I hated that because of this it took a while to get your food.  Queues were common.  So you would queue up for certain hot foods but then have to queue up again if say you wanted something else from a different station.
• Since they serve you, that keeps the germs down; however they don't encourage guest to wash their hands - and rarely did I see anyone wash their hands.  There are lots of self serve sections.  Like the breads, butter, dessert self serve station, pickles, cold cuts, fruits - where you had to use tongs.  Defeated the purpose of them serving us.
• When we did dine in the Dining room service was very very good - and two times just ok.  They obviously have a good set up here with adequate staffing.  Waiters seems able to do their job and even get us wine before our first course.  With Princess this area has gone down hill.  Service is not what it use to be with staff so overworked they can't do the job they want to.
• HAL still does complimentary room service (however some late times do come with a fee).  Menu was fair and similar to Princess.  Breakfast room service did have the option for hot items.
• The burger bar called The Dive was very popular.  Although I don't eat burgers and fries often I knew I wanted to try one here.  One afternoon I ordered one and it was about a 20 minute wait.  It was a good burger and fries, but for the wait I am not sure.  I find Princess' burgers to be just as good and their menu is much bigger.  Also the burger bar closed every day at 6 pm.  Way too early.
• I really missed the International Cafe that you find on Princess as another food option.  Also missed the pizza bar on Lido - pizza in the buffet was not appetizing at all and looked like frozen pizza.

My vote for the best food goes to Princess - but I enjoyed HAL too.

Ship Amenities

• I found the ship to be well laid out.  I really enjoyed the Crow's nest; however it was very hard to find a good seat there.  But the coffee bar up there was lovely and they had cookies and muffins available too.  And great staff.

• The full libary was outstanding.  And even though I read most of books via my tablet I do enjoy a nice library at times.  
• Casino was a good size and non smoking!  I did not gamble but anyone who does you will find all the regular tables here to meet your needs.
• The size of the ship was so easy to get around and no time to get from one area to the next.
• There were 16 public elevators on this ship!  Heck that is what you will find on a big Princess Ship with a heck of a lot more people.  We rarely had to wait for an elevator (expect when the show got out).  Also loved the day of the week in the carpet in each elevator.
• So many quiet spaces.  On Princess I find it difficult to find a quiet spot.  Yes if the ship has skywalkers that is a good spot but even that gets loud.  Here I found tons of quiet spots to sit and read.
• Guest services was on deck 1 in the Atrium and was easy to talk to them without loud music coming from the Atrium.  Rarely were their lines either and the staff were top notch.
• Lots of public bathrooms and I loved that they had face clothes to dry your hands with.  

• I did not like the layout of the World Stage.  Yes it was comfortable; but there were so many blind spots.  Also many of the seats are banquette style and this meant many people took up a lot of space when they could of easily sat more people if in individual chairs.  Also the screen was so far back on the stage that it was impossible to see it entirely unless you were sitting directly in front of stage.
• I really like the enclosed pool concept but found it very noisy with sound reverberating off the ceilings and walls.  
• There is another aft pool and bar which I also enjoyed but the smoking section is on the port side and the smoke even when sitting on complete opposide side was bothersome.  I didn't find any other smoking section but then again I didn't look for it.
• Zuiderdam has a full promenade that you can walk around - note the front (bow) of the promenade is enclosed - and very wide.  
• I really missed the medallion capabilities.  Even the fact the medallion opens my cabin door was missed.  The ability to press a button to tell steward to clean room or to give me privacy.  Or for steward to know we are in the cabin.  
• HAL has the navigator app - which is basic and ok it is not nearly as good as Princess Medallion app.  

Although I like the Zuiderdam ship, my vote goes to Princess for more venues, better layout, more pools and open air spots and medallion.

So overall I am still a big Princess fan.  I would have no issue recommending HAL.

If I had to pick between the two I would choose Princess for a similar itinerary/costs.

Although I would definately look at HAL for a cruise, but only for a shorter itinerary.  I think I would just get too bored and tired of the food on a longer itinerary.

S

Last Few Days

We are having some issues with the temperature in our cabin.  We called the front desk a few days ago when we were in Greenland that it was getting very hot in our cabin.

I should note that we like it very cold in the cabin and always have thermostat set to lowest setting.  It was great in the cabin for the first 10 days.  Then everything changed a few days ago when the heat started to rise.

It appears to be an issue with many cabins.  They are working on the issue but it seems to be a bigger problem as today is day 5 with this heat.  

We asked for a fan and it was delivered quickly.  It helps but we sleep with no duvet, just the sheet and we try to stay out of the cabin as much as we can.

Although this issue is very uncomfortable I know they are working on it and there are so many affected by it.

The last few days are busy.  I have a talk each day in the morning.  We loved catching up with new friends. 

 I still enjoy the coffee chats and cocktail chats that the cruise director does.  I love the connection it gives us with some of the entertainers and officers.

There is a great chat with the Captain too and so good as he can speak on people's questions.  

Tonight we will pack up and will get off early morning in Halifax and drive home.  

Thanks for following me.  I will be doing a separate blog about my thoughts on sailing Holland America.

Sea Day

The clocks went back, but the app and time on the tv did not. Guests are all in a flutter and are upset!  

Apparently IT had an issue and it should be resolved soon.  

I head up for breakfast and decide a fried egg is what I want.  I love that they make everything there fresh so it is hot.  But that causes waits.  It took five minutes of waiting in line, then time to cook it.  Oh then I had to get in line for toast.

The Captain has made the official call.  We are rerouting to the west side of Newfoundland to stay away from the cone of hurricane Ernesto.  Even though St. John's will not be in the direct path the path is still just east of it and the seas will not be nice.  Good call.

Instead we will make a call into Cornerbrook.  Some guests are not happy as they stopped here on the first leg.  We don't mind.  I have never been so I am looking forward to it.

I attend the coffee chat with Kimberly, the cruise director and her guest is first officer Pim.  Very interesting.  Again I love this idea of coffee chats.

I then head to the theater for my lecture called Expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia.  It is one of my drier talks but very informative but tragic.  The theater is full and well received.

For lunch there are having a dim sum station in the buffet.  I tried to get some but the queue was crazy.  They actually had ropes for the queue, like the kind you find at a bank.  I skip it and get Asian food which is always good.  

Bernie and I spend the afternoon reading and catching up on things.   

We try to watch the port talk on our cabin tv but the talks are so frustrating to watch due to buffering every minute or so.  Not sure why this happens but really a negative.

We attend afternoon tea and we sit at a table of 8 and really enjoyed the company.  When we ran out of sandwiches the waiter automatically replenished the plate.  They do an excellent afternoon tea.

Tonight is dinner, but not sure where.  The last few times in the dining room have not been good food but we may try again.  I really don't want to line up for food in the buffet again.

And then the show we have been waiting for.  Breton Thunder.  Which was amazing.

Qaqortoq Greenland

After a restful sleep, really like these beds, we are awaken to the sound that tenders are ready.  

We are lazy today. And we don't have plans to go ashore as it is our third year in a row we are here.

We know the buffet closes at 10 am on port days so we head up there for 930.  But the lines are crazy to get served items.  Plus after you wait in line for say an omelet you then have to line up again for toast! 

However I love that many items are made fresh, like pancakes, eggs, omelettes and eggs benedict.  Guess I can't have it both ways.

But I really don't like that they serve us, sure less germs, but then you go get ketchup, butter, fruit and it is self serve!  Crazy.  

I do miss the International Cafe from Princess ships that is open all the time and perfect for a light meal.

Then as I enjoy my yoghurt I see them closing down sections of the buffet.  But it is only 945!  I tried to get something hot but the section is closed!  75% is closed at 945.  Maybe they should change the hours to 945. 

We grab our books and find a quiet spot, for which there are many here, which is great.  We sit in the bar behind the Rolling Stones Lounge and beside the casino.  Very nice here and we get a lot of reading done while sipping a coffee.

As the crew pass they say hi... so friendly!  

I spend the entire afternoon on the outdoor promenade deck reading in the sun.  

Unfortunately there are grumpy people here too.  Above us they are cleaning windows on balconies and railings.  Some water is dripping down.  And yes some fell on me but not a huge deal I just moved over.  But an older gentleman is screaming and swearing at the crew above.  And he goes on and on.  His wife is screaming too. 'Why can't you do that at midnight'.  I laugh (in the dark, while at sea, when you are in your cabin) I think to myself.   I shake my head at him and thankfully he leaves.

We attend the cocktail chat with Kimberly, our cruise director.  Today it is the cast of Breton Thunder.  It was great, and I really enjoy these sessions.

For dinner we head up to the buffet at around 7 pm and grab some food.  It is hit or miss here.  And while we are sitting eating they start closing sections down again.  Hmmm this is frustrating.  Not everyone eats between 5 and 7.  Miss burger and pizza from Lido on Princess.  Even the burger bar closes at 6 pm.  So haven't had a burger yet.

Oh and the pizza station in the buffet is not appealing.  It looks like boxed frozen pizza.  But it isn't.  Don't even want to try it and I never did.

I did enjoy some roast turkey with mashed potatoes and carrots.  Comfort food.  

We both decide we should head to the cabin and watch a movie.  The tv selection is good, comparable to Princess.  We watch Fishermen's Friend.  Lovely movie.  

Clocks go back again tonight.

Prince Christian Sound Greenland and Dining Room Food

We are not scheduled to get to Prince Christian Sound until noonish.  

I have my Pier 21 Ellis Island talk scheduled.  I am at 9 am today with Dr, Paxton right after me.  I like how they alter our start times.  Sometimes he is earlier and he draws in the crowds for both and sometimes I am earlier and draw in the crowds.  

We gained an hour last night and the theater is packed minus those site blocking seats.  Lots of guests had questions and comments afterwards.  

I stayed for Dr. Paxton's talk about climate change.  Very interesting and informative but sad, however eye opening.

At 11 the Captain sails us towards a massive iceberg!  50 M high.  Bigger than our ship!  So cool as it looks like a castle.

The buffet is packed so I opt for the dining room.  I am by myself and I join a larger table.  The company was very nice and interesting.  Sadly the meal was not.  First we were given a sheet of paper with the menu.  Minimal choices I thought.  Still I was able to choose something.  

I started with a bowl of corn and lobster soup.  This must be the 4th time I have seen a corn soup on the menu offerings.  It was okay. 

For my main I had a pasta and cheese dish.  Again it was okay.  It was obviously reheated or sat under lights for a long time.  This must be a common thing as the plates are so hot 🔥 that you don't dare touch them.  A sure sign they have been sitting under hot lights.  

I had ordered dessert when I placed my order but I wasn't wanting it now so I bid adew and was anxious to get outside.

I dressed in layers with a hat and gloves.  A hood from my wind breaker was also handy.  

The day is perfect, sunny!  And warm considering where we are.  I am astounded how similar it all looks to Tierra Del Fuego in Chile.  Polar opposites but so similar.  

My eyes take it all in.  Everywhere I look there is beauty.

These huge mountains, the glaciers that formed the ridges many many moons ago.  Creating deep strips away and smoothing areas in the rock.  

We head towards the two glaciers and it really puts things into perspective, doesn't it.   

Kimberly is doing an amazing job with live commentary.  I love her style that I feel is similar to mine.

Also what surprises me is how many guests are not out on the promenade.  It is dead quiet.  Way different on princess where you can barely get close to a railing.  

Now I know they have the bow open and lots of activities and offerings up on the Lido too so maybe they are there.  But I will take this special moment for myself.

I did walk thru the ship just before we got to the glacier and was surprised how the games room were FULL with people playing cards, Mah Jong and bridge.  Oh well it is their vacation too.  

After 3 hours on my feet outside I head to the cabin where Bernie is watching the nature show from the huge window, over the Life boat.  He then dresses and goes outside and I take up his position.

For the evening we had no plans.  There is a Santana Tribute in the theater tonight by one of the bands.  Not really interested.

So we decide to dress for dinner (which I must say is one of the most casually dressed cruises I have ever been on, including a cruise on Carnival).  Again this may be a sign of the times, or it is just such a long cruise guest are not interested in dressing up.  But it is very casual. 

We are sat with two other couples and from the window we pass iceberg after iceberg.  So cool.  Oh and we have seen a few whales but not today.

For dinner I start with the French onion soup, felt I needed to try it out.  It was hot and very flavourful but minimal cheese on top.  And the layer of oil on the top was disgusting.  I tried laddeling it out (like you do when you make gravy) but gave up as there was just too much.  After two spoonfuls I am done.  So disappointing.  Bernie said that the last time he had onion soup it was the same.

Bernie ordered the escargot, one of our favorites on Princess.  It arrives and it had a hard crust on the bernaise sauce.  So obviously dried out from sitting under heat lamps.  It is prepared diffently than Princess.  Not much garlic and the berniase sauce.  Bernie had 2 snails and I tried one and he too pushed it away.  Others who ordered it also found it not well prepared.

I ordered the barbecued Salmon bowl  this is the third time I have tried their nightly salmon bowl themed items.  Mine was well cooked and I really enjoyed it.  However Bernie's was totally undercooked which you could visibly see. 

Not once did the waiter ask how things were, nor did he ask how the dish was when we clearly had not eaten any of it, like my appetizer soup.

We had a nice dessert and left.  Tonight's dinner was a miss.  Although we have had many hits.  So far it is good food.  Not great!  Not bad!  Heck I didn't have to cook it or clean up afterwards.  But I am not experiencing what others have said when they rave about the food here.  But it is subjective - however hard crusts on foods, oil layers, and undercooked are not subjective.

After dinner we start to wander.  We end up upstairs at the Crow's Nest where we run into friends.  We end up chatting with them until 1030 when they suggest the late night snack buffet.  Oh.... something we haven't been to.  

It is a small section of the buffet with late night snacks and finger foods.  Not something I usually partake in but for the purpose of research, twist my arm.

I had some barley salad which is very good, but (5th time I have had it in the buffet in the 8 days we have been on board) and some breaded and fried mushrooms. 

At midnight we are back in the cabin.  The latest we have been out.  We change and go up to check out the northern lights which are just starting.  Later on, while we were sleeping it got even more spectacular. Here is a pic I got from a friend.

Sea Day with Coffee Chat and Lecture

me doing a screeching in - not official though

This morning, myself and Dr Paxton, the other lecturer, are Kimberly, the Cruise Director's guests on her coffee chat.  She asks questions to us then she opens it up to the floor for questions.  It was fun.  She also does a cocktails with Kimberly too, in the early evening.  There is no Wake Show here.  Kinda miss it.

Dr. Paxton has a talk just prior to mine about art and weather and that was very interesting.  

Today my talk is Newfoundland Living On The Rock about the people of Newfoundland.  It was a full house and a lot of fun.

I head upstairs to the buffet for lunch.  Today is India's Independence Day and in honour there is a wonderful Indian themed section.   But the line is about 25 people long and there isn't a seat available to sit so I head to the covered pool, which is lovely, although the sound reverberates like crazy but very loud.  I hang here for an hour and head back to try again at 1 pm.

I manage to get food but have a hard time finding a seat.  Thankfully someone allows me to join them.  Princess has much more seating I find.  Although you may have to sit in one other other seating areas like near the pastry shop.

I find a nice quiet spot to read.  This ship has lots of comfortable spots to read that are quiet.

Bernie and I meet up and head to afternoon tea in the dining room.  It is beautifully presented like a true afternoon tea.  But not much selection.  At our table of 6 there are only two scones, two of each sandwich and a pastry each.  

Enough food, but once someone takes what you want it is gone.  I prefer Princess where they come around and present the tray of a variety of sandwiches, scones and cakes.  But not a big issue.  Update: we attended another afternoon tea and they replenished the plates when items were missing.

Reykjavik Iceland Day Two

We have a very early start today.  The alarm goes off at 6 am and breakfast is delivered soon after.  Like Princess, breakfast room service has a few hiccups.  First time they delivered no milk for the tea, even though we requested.  

Today we asked for fruit yoghurt and we got plain.  You learn to roll with it and enjoy.  Heck I didn't have to cook it.

We are off the ship at 715 and walk to the meeting spot for all private tours and also the hop on hop off.  

I pre booked a circle tour with thermal spa thru Grayline Tours.  We paid a small fee for pick up from the cruise port.  They picked up everyone on Greyline tours here and transported us to the main depot where we changed buses for our specific tour.  It was a nice smaller bus that transports around 25.

Our first stop was the National Park.  We picked up a sandwich here ($25 Canadian each) and ate them later.  Note you are not suppose to bring food ashore unless it is in a sealed package.  We didn't, but I did not see anyone checking.

Then we went to the geyser.

Next the waterfalls.  Absolutely amazing, wasn't expecting this.

Our last stop was to Secrets Thermal Pool, one of the oldest in Iceland.  We brought our bathing suit and towels but you can rent some if necessary.  Note changing rooms are communal and they ask that you shower before going in the pool.

After a long soak we are so relaxed.  

My only issue with this full day tour, started at 8 and ended at 5 was at each stop we were given so much time.  Usually after exploring the site you still had at least a half hour to kill time and one time we had over an hour after we had seen the waterfall before we left. 

Even at the pool we were given 2.5 hours here.  We spent an hour in the pool, half hour dressing before and after then waited around for an hour.   It didn't help that at the last 2 stops it was now raining and cold and not many places to sit and stay warm.  Might be good on a sunny warm day but that doesn't happen much here.

Back to the ship and we drop off all wet items and head up for supper.  At 6 pm the buffet is busy.  Many had the same idea as us.  

I like that the ship serves us, but I hate the long queues for food.  And really it is good they serve you because of germs but there are numerous spots that you have to serve yourself so what difference does it make.  None.  

Plus so many don't wash their hands!  We sat by the sinks often and I would guess 10% wash their hands.  I never saw a crew member suggesting people wash their hands either.  I wash before and after I get my food.

We are exhausted.  I have had a fibromyalgia flare up since we have arrived and this has meant 2 days with no sleep.  We crawl into bed and we are asleep at 8 pm!  

I wake 11 hours later.  Thank God, my first real night's sleep in a week.   I awake refreshed and in minimal discomfort.  I think that thermal pool is what did the trick.