Back after 14 Years

We just booked the Nieuw Amsterdam for the week of Thanksgiving. We were on the Volendam for a 10-night cruise in 2004 and were a bit underwhelmed. Since then, it's been mostly Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. But, we're looking forward to this trip.

I'm wondering about the Internet service. I teach online and will need to have some connectivity for the first three work days of the cruise. Is the Internet service pretty reliable?

Is there anything else that a relative newbie to HAL coming from Celebrity and Royal Caribbean should know after 14 years?

What were the major things that disappointed you all those years ago on HAL? Anything special make you inclined to return to HAL? Welcome Back. ;)

You ask a big question... Most every mass market cruise line has changed a great deal in the last 14 years.

What were the major things that disappointed you all those years ago on HAL? Anything special make you inclined to return to HAL? Welcome Back. ;)

 

You ask a big question... Most every mass market cruise line has changed a great deal in the last 14 years.

Yeah, they've all changed in that time. Some things better and some not so much. I did one of my few reviews of that 2004 Volendam cruise but can't find it on here. I don't remember much except that we found the crew was quite unfriendly throughout the ship. I don't remember any one thing that was awful - we've never had an awful cruise.

We certainly didn't say that "we'd never go back" but there wasn't anything that encouraged us to go back. This one is a holiday cruise (Thanksgiving) and had a good price. So, that was mostly the determining factor. We have four cruises booked this year, so keeping costs down a bit was critical!

Regarding Internet service, many factors are involved. But HAL has made improvements here. On the Amsterdam last year I found connectivity quite good ... much better than I'd experienced in the past.

Regarding Internet service, many factors are involved. But HAL has made improvements here. On the Amsterdam last year I found connectivity quite good ... much better than I'd experienced in the past.

Great - that is good to hear; thanks!

Welcome back to HAL.

One restaurant we love on HAL -- the Tamarind -- Pan-Asian food. We have eaten there quite a bit.

We just booked the Nieuw Amsterdam for the week of Thanksgiving. We were on the Volendam for a 10-night cruise in 2004 and were a bit underwhelmed. Since then, it's been mostly Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. But, we're looking forward to this trip.

 

I'm wondering about the Internet service. I teach online and will need to have some connectivity for the first three work days of the cruise. Is the Internet service pretty reliable?

 

Is there anything else that a relative newbie to HAL coming from Celebrity and Royal Caribbean should know after 14 years?

I was on the Amsterdam last September for 2 weeks while my homeowners association was going through some tricky repairs/negotiations (I'm the treasurer), so I needed to be able to check in at least a couple of times a day for emails and to post responses, answer bids, etc. The service was reliable -- maybe not the fastest connection every time, but faster than I expected. No issues at all.

Lana in Bellingham, WA

Internet is satellite so it's as good as the location or satellite ;)

That being said, most times I have been able to connect on most cruises. It's certainly not like my high speed at home but it works.

I am surprised and disappointed to hear of your past experience - albeit some time ago with the crew. Generally speaking the crew has been one of the fortes of HAL for us. I suspect that your previous cruise was a one off (I hope) and you will find regular HAL crew on board your upcoming cruise. At least, I hope so.

Enjoy your cruise :)

Internet is satellite so it's as good as the location or satellite ;)

 

That being said, most times I have been able to connect on most cruises. It's certainly not like my high speed at home but it works.

 

I am surprised and disappointed to hear of your past experience - albeit some time ago with the crew. Generally speaking the crew has been one of the fortes of HAL for us. I suspect that your previous cruise was a one off (I hope) and you will find regular HAL crew on board your upcoming cruise. At least, I hope so.

 

Enjoy your cruise :)

Thanks! That's OK about the speed. I don't need video streaming or anything like that. You are probably correct about our other HAL cruise. It certainly wasn't awful and I don't want anyone to think that. It just didn't have us saying, "let's go home and book another HAL cruise."

One thing that I do remember is that Half Moon Cay was the best cruise line private island I've ever visited!

Have not experienced an unfriendly crew on any HAL ship in my 17 years of cruising. Sorry to hear you had a bad first experience.

The Nieuw Amsterdam is a great ship and is my favorite after the Eurodam.

Roz

I just have to jump in and say, "Thank you!" I am an online college student. I appreciate teachers who teach online!

(Also I am following this thread as it has been four years since we have been on HAL.)

~Robin

I just have to jump in and say, "Thank you!" I am an online college student. I appreciate teachers who teach online!

 

(Also I am following this thread as it has been four years since we have been on HAL.)

 

~Robin

You're welcome - plus I get paid; what a deal!

I have sailed HAL more rhan 100 cruises and my late DH and I always said, for us, HAL is all about the people. While I have sailed Celebrity, Princess, nCL and RCI once, HAL crews have always been first on my list. I think them fantastic and that is NOT to say the crew on other cruise lines are not good, as they are very good but for me, HAL is the Best. :)

Hopefully it varies by ship. We were on the Volendam in SE Asia this year and the internet was reliable but quite slow compared to what we experienced in SE Asia a year ago on the Celebrity Millennium.

Hopefully it varies by ship. We were on the Volendam in SE Asia this year and the internet was reliable but quite slow compared to what we experienced in SE Asia a year ago on the Celebrity Millennium.

I have found that the Internet on Celebrity and especially the "Voom" service on Royal Caribbean to be quite fast (for a ship) and reliable. But, as long as I can connect, the speed is not a big issue for what I need to do on this trip.

Welcome back.

Keith

Thanks - I read on another post that HAL is rolling our a "per day" charge for Internet instead of the "per minute" plan. Can anyone confirm this?

We just booked the Nieuw Amsterdam for the week of Thanksgiving. We were on the Volendam for a 10-night cruise in 2004 and were a bit underwhelmed. Since then, it's been mostly Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. But, we're looking forward to this trip.

 

I'm wondering about the Internet service. I teach online and will need to have some connectivity for the first three work days of the cruise. Is the Internet service pretty reliable?

 

Is there anything else that a relative newbie to HAL coming from Celebrity and Royal Caribbean should know after 14 years?

Simply going from those larger, glitzier, higher energy ships down to the low-key, smaller, older Voldendam will probably shock your system now that you have gotten used to that scale other of ships and activity. .

Why did you come back to what you already thought was an inferior product? I think you will not be happy. Is it too late to cancel? If it was for price alone, then what are you willing to overlook ..for the price.

We think HAL ships offer excellent value for the price, but we are travellers primarily interested in where HAL ships take us (around the world and back) for the HAL prices we are asked to pay. Not for the size, glitz and onboard services. Most curious you found HAL crews lacking on your prior experience, because that is what we find consistently is HAL's biggest and most welcoming strength. They create a warm and welcoming world while they show us the world, within a very budget conscious travel experience.

We hadn't been on a fancy mega ship prior to our Volendam cruise. That cruise was only our 6th at the time. You may be most curious about our experience with an unfriendly crew - but, indeed it was our experience. I wasn't considering cancelling...until now.

We hadn't been on a fancy mega ship prior to our Volendam cruise. That cruise was only our 6th at the time. You may be most curious about our experience with an unfriendly crew - but, indeed it was our experience. I wasn't considering cancelling...until now.

Since your first HAL cruise was five years before we started cruising HAL in 2009, indeed let's hear about what things were like back then crew wise. Hat's off to HAL for what must have been a total turnaround. Maybe you and others who had similar negative HAL crew experiences voting with your pocketbooks shaped HAL up and they put more emphasis on crew training. Now the word from HAL HR people is other cruise lines actually come on board try to poach HAL crew members because they know they are so well trained.

I would be most concerned about your need for reliable internet -that definitely is not a HAL strong point. However today since most ports now have free wifi and plenty of tables to allow much better and free internet access during your time ashore, this is one way around HAL's more pokey connections.

Going down to a 2000 plus passenger ship can be a change after the Celebrity and RCCI fleet, but the Nieuw Amsterdam is one of the very best of HAL's "larger" ships. if you stick around here long enough, you will hear how many complaints there are about HAL ships being "boring" and Celebrity and XYZ cruise lines are so much better. It might give you pause about your choice to try HAL again. Just look at the current very long thread about HAL "degrading" the passenger experience. You came for advice about your choice, right?

For the record, we love HAL and find all this constant complaining about eggs and orange juice and "lack of maintenance" and XYZ cruise line is so much better is what is "boring". Forgive me, I was caught in my own pique.

We hadn't been on a fancy mega ship prior to our Volendam cruise. That cruise was only our 6th at the time. You may be most curious about our experience with an unfriendly crew - but, indeed it was our experience. I wasn't considering cancelling...until now.

It would help us to better understand what you're looking for if you could be specific about what you mean by unfriendly crew. What happened to make you consider cancelling now after you made a conscious decision to book? What kind of validation do you want from this board?

Roz

I don't need validation - just Internet service information.

Since your first HAL cruise was five years before we started cruising HAL in 2009, indeed let's hear about what things were like back then crew wise. Hat's off to HAL for what must have been a total turnaround. Maybe you and others who had similar negative HAL crew experiences voting with your pocketbooks shaped HAL up and they put more emphasis on crew training. Now the word from HAL HR people is other cruise lines actually come on board try to poach HAL crew members because they know they are so well trained.

 

I would be most concerned about your need for reliable internet -that definitely is not a HAL strong point. However today since most ports now have free wifi and plenty of tables to allow much better and free internet access during your time ashore, this is one way around HAL's more pokey connections.

 

Going down to a 2000 plus passenger ship can be a change after the Celebrity and RCCI fleet, but the Nieuw Amsterdam is one of the very best of HAL's "larger" ships. if you stick around here long enough, you will hear how many complaints there are about HAL ships being "boring" and Celebrity and XYZ cruise lines are so much better. It might give you pause about your choice to try HAL again. Just look at the current very long thread about HAL "degrading" the passenger experience. You came for advice about your choice, right?

 

For the record, we love HAL and find all this constant complaining about eggs and orange juice and "lack of maintenance" and XYZ cruise line is so much better is what is "boring". Forgive me, I was caught in my own pique.

The good news is that I only need three days of Internet service: Monday - Wednesday. So, as long as it's as fast as the old dial-up, I will be able to keep up with what I need to do.

I really didn't come to compare cruise lines - that always causes trouble. Most of the mainstream lines are pretty much the same with some strengths and weaknesses. We're somewhat locked in to RCI/Celebrity because of our Diamond/Elite status but that can limit one which is one reason why we are doing this one.

Here is the thread recently dealing with a nearly unending stream of complaints about HAL since you last sailed in 2004:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2606693

Those who defend HAL get chased away as mindless cheerleaders and soon give up. However, this will prepare you for what you will find that is different after your 15 year HAL absence. Good, bad or indifferent. Best wishes.

Here is the thread recently dealing with a nearly unending stream of complaints about HAL since you last sailed in 2004:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2606693

 

Those who defend HAL get chased away as mindless cheerleaders and soon give up. However, this will prepare you for what you will find that is different after your 15 year HAL absence. Good, bad or indifferent. Best wishes.

I've seem the "______ (fill in the name of the cruse line) is going downhill and ain't what it used to be" posts on most of the boards here. The cruise lines are generally filling the ships and giving the market what it demands. If everything was kept the same as it was in the "good old days," I believe prices would have to be significantly higher than they are today.

We can decide to continue to sail, switch to the so-called premium or luxury lines (the complaints are there as well), take other types of vacations or just stay home. We keep cruising!