Comparing the top three CCL Brands: Carnival, Holland America and Princess
This year I set out on the wonderful journey of comparing Carnival Corp's top three cruise lines: Carnival, Holland America and Princess. It was a tough job, but someone had too do it!
I started my year on the beautiful and surprising Holland America Koningsdam in January. If you read my other blog about this experience, you know I loved it! The Koningsdam is so wide open it is very refreshing. My claustrophobic husband was in his glory.
The second ship was the spanking new Carnival Horizon in March. Very modern ship, just like the Vista with a few changes. For the money Carnival never disappoints me.
My third comparison was with the Princess Royal Princess ship just last month in May.
So here we go with some quick discoveries:
Best Lobby and Lobby Bar area: PRINCESS...loved the whole Piazza experience! The wide open area with the venues all around...just just the one bar. I just loved the big dance floor surrounded by the activity and venues. However, Holland has beautiful, live plants throughout the ship. Carnival new ships have vastly improved here.
Best Dining Room experience and food: HOLLAND. All the wait staff speaks the same language which is huge when wanting your order to be correct. While Princess did have some good entree choices the service was horrible. I didn't like that there were no red wine glasses either. Overall, all three lines had good food. But...Carnival's desserts always win!
Best/Worst Specialty Dining Reservation System: HOLLAND is hands down the Best! They have a hostess stand with a computer that helps you and keeps you from double booking your events. Princess is the worse...you have to do it via the phone to someone you can't even understand. We were double booked once, tripled booked once and one night we were booked for Sabatini's which we didn't even want. It was horrible. It caused us to miss Chef's Table, Luminare and Crab Shack. At least with Carnival...you can speak to a person, in person.
Best Lido Deck food: HOLLAND. Everything was better.....from the way they serve you.... to the choices of food. Their salad bar is by far the best thing ever on a ship!
Best BAR: CARNIVAL. Nothing beats the Alchemy Bar. It is just as entertaining as it is intoxicating.
Best Piano Bar: HOLLAND...the Dueling Piano players were extremely entertaining. More seats, more interaction, better singing, better playing and snacks! Most of Carnival's Piano Bars are decent...it is 50/50.
Best SPA Thermal Suite: PRINCESS, however Holland wasn't far behind. The new spa areas on Carnival new ships are a huge disappointment. Don't even get me started on the whirlpool/thalassotherapy pool...or should I say "lack of".......
Best Pizza: PRINCESS...but that is because of Alfredo's. They have a sit down restaurant called Alfredo's in the Piazza...and it is free! They have calzone too and it is delicious.
Best Main Pool Area: HOLLAND. I loved the deck and seating choices, covered and not covered. Plus the little curtains at the edge and reading lights. Only Carnival makes you "check out" pool towels...not a fan! Towels are there for the taking on both Princess and Holland. By the way...no hammocks in the Horizon Serenity area.
Best/Worst Guest Services: HOLLAND was gracious and spacious! Princess is severely lacking. Kevin asked what the current temperature in our port was and the guy read it from the newsletter that was printed the night before.
Best Comedy: CARNIVAL! (mic dropped...LOL)
Best Outdoor Fun Areas: CARNIVAL! The sky bike thing is fun, long lines. Please note: make sure you are not wearing flip flops! Don't stand in line only to fin out you can't wear them! Fellow guests...tell people as soon as they walk up please!
Best BBQ: CARNIVAL! The new Guy's Pig and Anchor id incredible. Go for lunch as soon as you board. The food is very good and no extra fees during lunch, smoke cocktails in the bar too.
Best Laundry Service: PRINCESS but it is pricey if you don't have loyalty status. They hang your shirts, pants, etc on hangers. But....no "bag pricing" was offered like on Carnival and HAL. And let me mention...I didn't not see any self laundry on the Koningsdam like other ships.
Worst Breads at Dinner: PRINCESS. The rolls are already on the table but they are extremely hard. I could not eat them. They were the same every night.
Best Ice Cubes: Now you may be thinking...who cares? Well, a lot of people do...LOL....PRINCESS has very nice, large square cubes that don't seem to melt as fast.
Best/Worst Elevators: CARNIVAL, the new elevator system takes a little getting used to but it is awesome. It only stops on floors that is programmed to stop on which makes it faster and more efficient. Princess makes you touch all the buttons when calling to go up or down. We had to press three different buttons to call the three sets in the same area.
Best/Worst Loyalty Party: Toss up between Carnival and HAL, but I guess I would have to pick HOLLAND. The Princess party was blah.
Best Coffee/Coffee Bar: PRINCESS at the International Cafe. Holland coffee was not bad but I liked the separate "Coffee Card" on Princess.
Best/Worst Towel Animals: CARNIVAL....LOL! I love the last Sea Day when they display the lot out by the main pool. Princess doesn't do them :(
Best Ship Horn: PRINCESS....they play the theme from the "Love Boat" show the last night.
Most Comfortable Bed: PRINCESS...I didn't even notice the seam between the two beds pushed together.
Best Escargot: HOLLAND but Carnival's isn't bad. Princess used some kind of beef broth, it was weird tasting.
Closet Space: Vast differences but I can't decide what was better/worse. The Horizon space was smaller than previous Carnival ships and on the Royal Princess it was one long open space.
Photography: Most offered: Carnival, Least offered: HAL. Horizon has facial recognition but it doesn't always find all of your photos. Carnival is still the most pushy, whereas HAL was barely noticed.
Most Wasted Amount of Paper: CARNIVAL.....They make me sad for the trees. One thing we loved on HAL...they don't print a receipt for everything you do, the have the least amount of printed flyers and they aren't expecting a TIP for everything you buy either!
Best Room Service: HOLLAND and they even ask you to call to have the dirty tray of dishes removed. No "yuck" in the hallways like Carnival and Princess.
Best Internet/Facebook Deal: Carnival...unless you are top level in the other ship's loyalty programs
These are just some of my notes and I imagine it varies from ship to ship within the three lines. I still say they are all worth it, beautiful and the best way to travel.
I love to talk about cruises. Call me anytime even if it is just to chat about any of these differences. My phone number is 727-644-0023 ;)
