Which cruise line would you consider after Hal?

[bepsf]

Walking is the problem...

...I suspect the QM2 would be even more difficult for me.

 

Ruthless--

Haven't you heard???

Passengers in Cunard's Queen's Grille don't do any walking at all - They have private butlers who do all their walking for them!

:p:D

[Lady Arwen]

Celebrity and Azamara

[Nutriosotoo]

Azamara, definitely! I just wish they had a few more of those smaller ships.

That opinion after having sailed with many cruise lines over the years. ---Penny

[serendipity1499]

I am noting alot of votes for Oceania, but negative comments on their prices being igher than HAL. I was wondering if that is true for all cabin categories? What I mean is, how does Oceania compare to HAL's pricing on suites for example.

 

DaveOKC

 

Dave can't give you a comparison of suites, but can give you a comparison of HAL's & Oceania's Outside Cabins..Normally Oceania is more expensive with one exception..We cruised to the Amazon on HAL"s Prinsendam, 26 days in April of 2006 & our complete fare for two including taxes & Fees was $10,938 Plus the Hotel Service charge..

We did the exact same Amazon trip with many of the same Caribbean ports on Oceania's "Regatta" in Nov. of 2007 for 25 days & our complete fare for two including taxes & fees was $9,886 for basically the same cabin.. Why the big difference, we received a good deal..Our Air was included & since we don't fly they deducted the air portion plus they included the Hotel Service Charge of $12.50 pp pd(it is more for suits Psgrs)..That was a great deal for us...

Now currently we are booked for 14 days on the Regatta again on April 12..The ship is going up the coast to Charleston, Yorktown over to Bermuda & back into the Caribbean..An outside cabin on the Regatta is approx $450 per day not including taxes & fees..

The only comparison I can come up with on HAL is the cost of our 7 day on the Veendam last year from New York to Bermuda which for an outside was approx. $268 a day not including taxes & fees..On the Veendam we took an up sell to a Lanai Cabin..

OK let's compare HAL & O service:

HAL is Formal & O is Country club casual..I'm wearing the same clothes I normally wear on HAL which are usually dressy..Most people on O dressed beautifully.. "O" enforces their dress code..No jeans, shorts etc in MDR...

HAL charges for most of their specialty Restaurants & "O" does not..The Food in both O's restaurants are to die for..The Pinnacle is good too, but not as good as O's Steak house & Italian Restaurant..

HAL charges for water, soda pop, & set ups & "O" gives this gratis..

HAL permits smoking in cabins/balcony's & "O" does not

HAL has better entertainment than "O"

HAL Outside cabins are approx 190 sq ft & "O's" are approx 165 Sq ft

HAL has large bathrooms with tubs & "O's are smaller, sans tubs

Have no complaints about HAL's food or "O's" food in the MDR..IMO they are equally good..

HAL's Lido is larger than O's but O has a wonderful soup & salad bar, but No bread pudding..:(

HAL has both open & confirmed seating & O only has open seating..We usually ate around 7:30 to 8P.M. & always received a table for four with no problem..

HAL'S Hotel Service charge is $11 pp per day & O's is $12.50 for an outside & more for suites..O is increasing the Hotel Serv.Charge this summer..

HAL has reasonable Laundry service for the entire cruise including the $20.00 bag but O's is by the piece..

Now for Service: Everyone including every single waiter that we pass when leaving the MDR bids us farewell with a smile & tells us to have a nice day..Even the lady who cleans the rest rooms always has a smile, with a good morning & asks how we are enjoying our day..One in our party never took a sticky bun for breakfast & the Head Waiter asked why..He replied I can't eat sugar..She said to him "tomorrow I will have sugarless muffins for you" & she had them every day for him..One day we had to eat in the Lido as had an early private tour..The next day she asked our Friend why he did not get his buns..He replied We ate in the Buffet"..She said to him, "next time tell them to come down to the MDR & get your buns":)..That will never happen on HAL!:)

We had consistently excellent service on Oceania & the best we've ever had on any ship..HAL service is normally excellent but we have had occasional glitches with either our waiters or our cabin stewards on HAL..One time both couples had so many problems that for the first time we did not give our Cabin Steward an extra Lagniappe at the end..Neither couple has very many requests..

Sorry for such a Long post, but hope this helps to give you an idea..Our cruise is expensive & we can't do it every year, but this one was good for both couples..

 

Cheers....:)Betty

[cruiseapril]

Have been on most of the major cruise lines and would choose Princess after HAL. (Like Cunard, but Princess is still second.)

[kazu]

If I couldn't do HAL, then I guess I would do a new look at NCL (based on Lisa's posts for suites) and I do check them out.

 

Princess - no, Celebrity - if it were dirt cheap I would give it another try.

 

 

Otherwise I would have to decide between Oceania, Seabourn or Cyrstal I think. HAL unbelievably still has the best itineraries IMO

 

I know fans of Princess think I am hard on them - I sailed them before and love them - put in quick perspective - in the days of old when they were sending you the documents and (supposedly you can' t get on without them)., we left with no documents (than heavens,we didn't do their air).

 

Faxes back and forth by both my TA and myself and they promised we would have them the day before we sailed. Hello? we live in Canada, we were long gone to get there in time. Back in those days, I was really

 

scared that without the documents we would be refused to board. Big joke! They were right there. If someone would have just told us.

 

Long story short - they gave me a huge $100 obc for the sweat and worries. I lost 14 pounds on the cruise - the food was that bad - when I got back, I wrote them, and i got the too bad, so sad, who cares reply.

 

Wasn't looking for a discount or a future obc, was looking for some understaning so Princess is not on our horizon for a long time.

 

So, if I can't do HAL, I will go up not down.

[ricki]

We've done 178+ days on Crystal and tried Regent twice, but Crystal's cost for an extended voyage and exotic ports have gone sky high! We decided to try the Ryndam, just to check out the line, and were pleasantly surprised. Were there differences between Crystal and HAL--definitely, but not enough for us not to book HAL for their wonderful itineraries and great per deim rate! In our future are a 45 day cruise on the Maasdam and a 75 day cruise on the Amsterdam!

 

For shorter cruises, we'd like to try Oceania and Seabourn. Like Ruth, we've always been intrigued by Hurtigruten's long voyages from Norway to Antarctica. Although we've done Antarctica, it definitely merits a second time!

We'd also like to try them for a Norwegian coastal voyage.

 

Ricki

[Randyk47]

I said earlier in this thread that we were considering Cunard and indeed we did look at the potential of doing a Med cruise on Cunard. After some itinerary and cost comparisons that included Cunard, HAL, Crystal, Seabourn, and Silverseas we've booked a cruise on Silverseas. We found an itinerary, minus any north Africa ports, that best meets our interests and were able to take advantage of some early booking offers including airfare.

[Queen of Oakville]

My cruising history:

 

Carnival - good for the kids or we get a good "deal". Definitely my cruiseline of choice if we take two cabins. It's the only cruiseline my wallet can tolerate!

 

Royal - my old standby.

 

Princess - once was enough - never again.

 

HAL - sailing tomorrow for our first HAL cruise, and I really hope to be a fan.

 

 

 

To answer the question, I really want to try Celebrity. Other than that, (should someone else be picking up the tab) my choice would be Oceania, Azamura, or Seabourn.

[ilovecruisesmm]

i've sailed on 4 hal cruises and norwegian, celebrity, costa, fred olsen and royal caribean. my second choice after hal would be celebrity millennium or maybe solstice class hands down, always wanted to try them. but if money were NO object it would be cunard and crystal!

[tip]

After 38 years of marriage and twenty cruises, "The One Who Must Be Obeyed" and I are married to each other and not just one cruise line. We have five HAL cruises under our belt and another booked for next January as we found a cruise that has an itinerary that we like. We did sail Celebrity for the first time two months ago and loved it and will no doubt sail with them again.

[mick70]

Have sailed the most on Hal, and Celebrity second. I would like to try Oceania after our next HAL cruise however.

[vbmom87]

For my budget, I would go with Celebrity due to their more restrictive smoking policies. I went on NCL once and never again. Perhaps if my budget allowed for a suite I might consider it, but not otherwise.