NCL cruiser new to HAL

[Postman1963]

I just booked a test drive on the Oosterdam from Sea to Yvr. My wife and I have been on 5 NCL cruises (Star and Pearl) with another booked on the Spirit in January. Can anyone tell me what some of the glaring differences are between the two cruise lines? I already like the fact about ordering alcohol on the web site for in room use. We are in a VH cabin (GTY) and have stayed everywhere from an inside on the Pearl to a balcony on the Pearl and an aft suite on the Star.

 

AJ

[fortheloveofcruise]

Welcome to HAL! It is by far my favourtie line to cruise with, however I have never sailed with NCL, so my opion is very biased. :p

 

You will find with HAL the level of service is just that much more. The food options are outstanding, you will NEVER go hungry. The overall feel of the ships are of elegance and grace. The crowd on board will be a little on the older side, probably in the late 60's-80's, however there will be a nice mix of people.

 

Overall HAL should leave you very happy you chose to sail with them. Coming from NCL, I'm sure you will notice somethings are a little different though. I hope you enjoy your first HAL cruise! :)

[bob brown]

A one night "test-drive" really isn't enough to get the real feel of a line.

That said, probably the biggest difference is that HAL still offers a choice of assigned dining as well as what you know as 'freestyle'. HAL is a bit more formal (on longer cruises), and does have different dress codes.

Most HAL ships have a Magrodome (retractable roof) over the lido pool, which allows swimming in inclement weather. HAL does not have an 'open-all-night' restaurant, though you can get a meal at the late (11pm to midnite) buffet, and of course 24 hour room service.

HAL lower priced cabins are roomier than NCL's, but HAL has nothing to compare with the humongous Garden Villas.

Overall, there are probably more similarities than differences between the two, as well as most other lines.

[DizzyDallasDi]

I'll chime in here with a comment about room service differences. HAL's is far superior to NCL's. Aside from the standard items available on HAL's room service menu, you can also get whatever is being served in the dining room for dinner....lobster, steak, crab legs, etc. Also, if you want egg benedict, for instance, for breakfast, just write it on your door hanger and it will be delivered. And, HAL delivers room service breakfast the morning of your last day as well as room service on the day you arrive.

[shandryl]

Postman1963, Welcome to HAL :D I have never sailed with NCL either but, my own experience cruising with HAL was very positive and I hope yours will be too. Have a great cruise!

[Copper10-8]

I just booked a test drive on the Oosterdam from Sea to Yvr. My wife and I have been on 5 NCL cruises (Star and Pearl) with another booked on the Spirit in January. Can anyone tell me what some of the glaring differences are between the two cruise lines? I already like the fact about ordering alcohol on the web site for in room use. We are in a VH cabin (GTY) and have stayed everywhere from an inside on the Pearl to a balcony on the Pearl and an aft suite on the Star.

 

AJ

 

Welcome to the world of HAL, Postman! Still always ringing twice?:) Hey, you lucked out and your timing is impeccable, bud! According to the fast spreading movement going on on these here boards, fuelled by the usual "suspects", sorry, fanners of the fire, also building barricades, fourteen out of the fifteen HAL ships curently in the fleet, have continual, persistant and slightly annoying (depending on who you talk to) air conditioning problems!:eek: Luckily for you, Oosterdam is #15, without fault, and the lone exception;)

All kidding aside, enjoy your cruise! Hopefully, a poster by the name of Lisa from Vegas wil see your post! She's probably one of the better qualified to give you an unbiased comparison between those Norwegians of NCL and the cloggies of HAL:)

[Hawaiidan]

:eek: The biggest difference is the sheer number of people on an NCL cruise almost 50% less than on NCL. Holland is not a mass market ship

Second is the nickel and diming and drink pushing that is the NCL norm. is gone on Holland

Third is the quality of the food in the regular dining room and the service that goes with it

Fourth , you get a more experienced better traveled and lower key sort of person who is a better mannered passenger on Holland

[Vic The Parrot]

I'll chime in here with a comment about room service differences. HAL's is far superior to NCL's. Aside from the standard items available on HAL's room service menu, you can also get whatever is being served in the dining room for dinner....lobster, steak, crab legs, etc. Also, if you want egg benedict, for instance, for breakfast, just write it on your door hanger and it will be delivered. And, HAL delivers room service breakfast the morning of your last day as well as room service on the day you arrive.

 

 

 

Hey Di

 

 

Does that mean NCLs room service breakfast is limited, a'la Princess?

(Ya know ... no hot, or egg dishes, just bread and water. :eek: :D )

[DizzyDallasDi]

Hey Di

 

 

Does that mean NCLs room service breakfast is limited, a'la Princess?

(Ya know ... no hot, or egg dishes, just bread and water. :eek: :D )

 

Yep...it's a really limited menu. I think there may be a couple of hot items like a hot dog and burger on the lunch and dinner menus but all-in-all it's very bland.

 

I just remember being blown away by HAL's room service menu on my first cruise compared to NCL's. Never looked back...for oh-so-many reasons. ;)

[Himself]

Lisa from Vegas writes on the HAL page as "Laffinvegas." She is a great person!

By the way, Welcome to HAL

[m steve]

HAL doesn't make a big deal if you pack a bottle or 2 in your luggage and doesn't charge corkage before boarding the ship. You only pay if you take wine to the dining room. The balcony cabins are a lot bigger.

[GOLDENBONNY]

I just booked a test drive on the Oosterdam from Sea to Yvr. My wife and I have been on 5 NCL cruises (Star and Pearl) with another booked on the Spirit in January. Can anyone tell me what some of the glaring differences are between the two cruise lines? I already like the fact about ordering alcohol on the web site for in room use. We are in a VH cabin (GTY) and have stayed everywhere from an inside on the Pearl to a balcony on the Pearl and an aft suite on the Star.

 

AJ

 

 

Well....... 99.9% you will never cruise NCL again if you try HAL ot other cruise line.Food,service,crowd,decor , 100% ,no 200% better on HAL.Its much more formal ,so no people wearing shorts in DR,no smell of french fries around the ship .:eek:

[AtMaui]

I took my first and last NCL cruise this past June. There are so many differences between NCL and HAL that I wouldn't know where to start. Other than to agree with what a lot of the posters have said -- much better food, a better class of people (IMHO), classier ship, better service. I really like the idea of taking on as much wine as I want on HAL and didn't like the fact that I could not do that on NCL.

 

I was in a mini-suite on the Dawn and it seemed to be about the same size as HAL's verandah cabins, but with much less storage (only 2 drawers I think).

 

Granted you don't have the variety of restaurants on HAL that you do on NCL but what you do have on HAL (Pinnacle Grill and Tamarind on Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam) are quite a few steps above the restaurants on NCL.

 

I remember hearing someone on the Dawn say he was a convert from HAL and, for the life of me, I could not understand why.

 

I realize it's subjective and everyone has their own opinion, but I know you'll enjoy HAL and this will not be your first and last cruise with them.

 

Welcome to HAL and enjoy!!!

[dockrocker]

I remember hearing someone on the Dawn say he was a convert from HAL and, for the life of me, I could not understand why.

 

Probably freestyle, which NCL pioneered. More and more cruisers are like my husband and me, occasional cruisers who don't have a hardcore loyalty. We take cruises as supplements to our more frequent land vacations (because we really don't find the very artificial cruise ship experience that inviting, but we do love to check out various ports and we like the value and simplicity cruises offer in between trips that require a higher investment of energy, planning and $). We enjoy having a variety of places to choose from for dinner, not having to show up at an appointed time and selecting our own dining companions from the many new friends we always make onboard.

 

HAL and the other lines instituting some form of anytime dining--especially on newer ships like the Nieuw Amsterdam, where you have a real choice among several restaurants (as opposed to one specialty restaurant, the MDR and the buffet...yawn)--have done well to add this feature to attract the increasing demand for flex dining. HAL and Princess have both traditional and flex, so no one can complain...although of course they still do. :)

[Catladyesq]

Agree - we took our first HAL cruise Jan 10, 2010; loved it - on the Westerdam.

[vbmom87]

I have cruised once on NCL and once the HAL. The glaring difference for us was the food. HAL surpassed NCL by far in that department.

[Hawaiidan]

:rolleyes:

Compared to Hotels

NCL would be a holiday inn or Travellodge

Holland America... a Westin or Sheraton

To repeat.... its way more of a human carnival and zoo on A NCL..masses of folks everywhere... charges for everything ( expected to see a meter on toilet paper)

Holland is more upscale, quiet and a better experience with way less people who are way more polite and less stressed by the expereince

NCL does have a better buffet however.

The difference is very black and white, clear cut... on Holland you will even feel more relaxed ... not just a number on a cattle boat

[ariawoman]

One difference I know of is Coke vs Pepsi :-)

 

NCL is Pepsi now according to what I've read, whereas HAL is Coke. For some people, this is important :-)

[KAYEF]

I just booked a test drive on the Oosterdam from Sea to Yvr.AJ

Do you mean from Seattle to Vancouver?

On one day you won't even be able to see half of the "O".............she's magnificent.

There was quite a crowd on the "O" a few years doing this one day cruise, but this one day was the first of our 24 day repositioning cruise (to get the ship from AK back to the Cairbbean). The one-day-group seemed to be on for the one reason of drinking as much as they could; many didn't even go to bed but partied most of the night.

I was wondering just what we'd signed up for, but they disembarked in Vancouver to take the train back to Seattle and after that we had a HAL cruise that we shall always remember.............lovely days, delicious food, marvelous entertainment and activities and a crew there just to make our trip perfect..................such class!

After that, we tried NCL; I don't think I'd take another of their cruises if they gave it to me free.

Hopefully, you can book a back-to-back and add on more days!:rolleyes: You will love your time on board.

(I got off the A yesterday......14 heavenly days on the new Alaska itinerary..............another HAL A+):p

[Loyal2RCCL]

I agree with everyone else. On HAL you will find much better food and service compared to NCL where their ships are catered by Pet Smart and the crew could really care less about you. Another plus on HAL is their drink prices are much lower than NCL and they actually put alcohol in their drinks (what a novel idea) :eek: HAL's standard cabins are much larger and the beds are FAR more comfortable than those surplus Army cots that NCL has. Also the decor on HAL is much nicer than NCL's IKEA inspired interiors, although HAL could use some updating in their color schemes. The newer ships (Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam) are their nicest ships with regard to decor as they use more earth tones whereas the older ships tended to go with yellow, orange, red and purples.. IMHO, RCCL still has the nicest ships when it comes to physical decor.

[shandryl]

Im a pepsi drinker............but will drink coke LOL while on board HAL :D

 

 

One difference I know of is Coke vs Pepsi :-)

 

NCL is Pepsi now according to what I've read, whereas HAL is Coke. For some people, this is important :-)

[LindaKE]

O.K., I'll bite. We've booked out first HAL cruise, but have done 2 NCL cruises and 2 on Princess. Except for decor, we didn't find that much difference between Princess and NCL. We got great service on NCL (and Princess), and never thought the crew didn't care. In fact, they knew our names and greeted us by name after the first day. They always gave the impression they wanted to serve us. How is the service better than on NCL? I can't think of anything the crew could have done better.

 

I've been glad to read about the food being better, because, in general, we weren't overly impressed by the food on either NCL or Princess. I get the decor because that is one thing we didn't like on NCL. I'll be glad to have an enforced dress code. But what does HAL do to make the service so much better?

[dockrocker]

We got great service on NCL (and Princess), and never thought the crew didn't care. In fact, they knew our names and greeted us by name after the first day. They always gave the impression they wanted to serve us. How is the service better than on NCL? I can't think of anything the crew could have done better.

 

It's not; NCL service is fine, perfectly comparable to all other mass market and premium (not luxury) lines. I would really like to hear some specific examples--as opposed to a couple of isolated instances that can occur on any line--supporting the notion that an entire fleet's crews "don't care." I can understand preferring HAL's decor or food, feeling more at home with HAL's older age demographic, etc., but it's fairly silly to pretend there's much difference in the training, demeanor and helpfulness of crews among the non-luxury lines.

[hbsurfcitycruiser]

Hi Postman1963!

We were BIG fans and pushers of NCL. That is, until we stumbled upon HAL. And we really fell in love. Our group ranges from 32 years old - 42 years old. Our onboard accounts are so much lower than our accounts on NCL. HAL doesn't nickel and dime. You can bring all the wine, water and soda onboard that you want. The food is amazing. Only one cover charge restaurant that you will only want to eat at out of curiosity, not necessity. And the decor is more mellow, easy on the eyes. And rooms are WAY bigger. (Someone mentioned earlier the mini-suite on most NCL ships is the same size as a balcony cabin on HAL and I totally agree with them). I think you will love that one night and hopefully you will book another cruise on HAL ASAP! We just booked the Oosterdam for 10/30 so if you are on before we are, please let me know what you think! We have only been on the Noordam.

[frankathy]

We have been on HAL 2 and 3 nighters. They wer both bad in service and quality.

The short cruises usually have alot of large groups using the public areas for private parties. We contacted HAL about the issues we had and they made it right on our next cruise.

We have done a 7 day on the Westerdam and loved it. And have a 10 day booked for the Eurodam.

We have also done NCL many times. As other had said it is a bit more elegant. Since you are used to freestyle you could do the open dining - As you wish?

 

Each cruise line and even ship within each line is well like a bottle of wine.. Different tastes for different people.

 

Sometimes we feel like casual (NCL) other times dressy (Cunard).

 

It is a cruise ENJOY!