Help me come back to HAL??

[missac]

Hi there -

 

My husband and I are fairly experienced cruisers - I think we counted 11 in the past 14 years (how did that happen?!?!?). My *very first* cruise was on the Westerdam in 1994, and we did a Millenium NYE cruise with HAL in 1999.

 

Since then, for a variety of reasons, all our cruises have been on Celebrity. BUT - we want to cruise in the Caribbean over Thanksgiving, and we aren't in love with our Celebrity choices, so we are thinking of giving HAL a try again.

 

Tell me why we should, please? What is HAL doing right/good now? Has it improved or changed since the early 2000s? We're looking at a sailing on the Westerdam, if that helps, or potentially the Nieuw Amsterdam.

 

Thanks so much!!

Aimee

[aliaschief]

All I can say is we have had twelve great Hal cruises in a row and two future bookings.

 

Only you can determine if Hal meets your cruising expectations but I'm betting they will.

 

Westerdam is only Vista ship we have not sailed on but would go in a heartbeat.

[sail7seas]

Seeing we don't know much about you, we don't know what it is you are looking for in a cruise. ;)

 

YOU need to decide if HAL is for you.

 

If you have specific questions, hopefully that is how we can help. :)

We sailed Westerdam two cruises Thanksgiving and the week after and very much enjoyed it.

 

We sailed Nieuw Amsterdam the year before for those same two weeks. We had good time, enjoyed ourselves, but NA is not our favorite ship.

 

 

 

[lcand1923]

Cruised HAL in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. Cruised on Oceania through 2007. Unable to cruise until this year due to health issues. Found an itinerary that I liked on HAL. Was quite concerned about changing lines choice because I kept reading about cutbacks. There have been changes. The service in the MDR is not as elegant as it had been. The Lido is more rushed. The Pinnacle Grill, however, has wonderful food and service. The cabin stewards were just as good as always. The biggest change, for me, was the soap, hair conditioner and shampoo dispensers on the shower wall in the bathroom. All in all, I felt like I reestablished a relationship with an old friend.

[RuthC]

Has it improved or changed since the early 2000s?

Certainly Holland America has changed since 2000, but not necessarily improved.

 

There are more passengers filling the same space, so crowding can be a problem in some places at some times. Lido for breakfast and lunch, and the show lounge for a popular presentation are two examples of that. Loungers in the popular areas are another, although there are plenty of lounge chairs scattered around the ship.

 

Dinner now has a choice of open or fixed seating. If you want fixed seating, especially early fixed, it can be closed or wait-listed well before sailing.

 

There is now a Hotel Service charge of $11.50 ($12 in suites) per person per day disbursed as a gratuity to the crew.

[sail7seas]

What were the reasons you left HAL for Celebrity?

That may give us a clue whether you'd be happy returning to HAL.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

HAL has changed -- just like the other cruise lines -- since you last on her in 2000.

We have sailed on both ships -- Westerdam and Nieuw Amsterdam and do like both ships.

Personally I would choose the Nieuw Amsterdam over the Westerdam only because she has the Silk Den for cocktails and the Tamarind Restaurant for Pan Asian food.

[missac]

What were the reasons you left HAL for Celebrity?

That may give us a clue whether you'd be happy returning to HAL.

 

 

Good question - I think someone else asked it too, and you're right - knowing more about me helps too! I appreciate everyone's input.

 

My husband and I are travel addicts - we've been to 53 countries and counting at this point. We tend to cruise as our "down time" and as such like to take Caribbean type cruises because then we don't feel as obligated to get off the ship and be busy if we don't want to be. Until we had our daughter (who is now 2) we flew 100K miles a year for pleasure travel, so a cruise is even a vacation from our travel, if that makes any sense.

 

I also like cruises for the places they can take you that are water specific - we did a transit of the Panama Canal, an Alaskan cruise, a Tahiti cruise and then lots of "island cruising."

 

As to why we left HAL - my very first cruise is still the nicest one I've sailed. Ever. No other experience has been that good - and that's part of why we booked HAL for our NYE'99 cruise. I was disappointed b/c it wasn't the level of WOW I remembered, and we both felt that the crowd was older - we at the time were early 20s so to be fair - we were young... Over the years we've tried Princess (b/c my husband sailed with them as a kid) and we've gotten stuck on Celebrity b/c we've liked the itineraries, and the ships. I've also liked the mix of guests and the "toned down" atmosphere, and the food.

 

BUT - our last X cruise was ... just not as good. The food has slipped, for sure. And the service was a little scattered overall. It felt like people weren't trained. Our butler confirmed some of what we were saying, in the most gracious way possible, as butlers do. ;-) So we're thinking - why not try somewhere else?

 

What matters to us is dining, the overall atmosphere of the ship (we don't want a crazy party ship, but we also don't want to be the only people having martinis before dinner) and the feeling of being taken care of nicely (but not over the top). We also like meeting other people and talking and getting to know our fellow passengers, because you meet really interesting people on ships!

 

Does that help at all? Please keep the advice coming, we need it!

[missac]

anyone else have any guidance for me? we're stumped, and we figure the best people to help us out are the people who sail HAL - and sail often - and that's all of you.

 

Any more advice? Has anyone sailed both HAL and X lately that could give me a comparison?

 

Thanks so much!!!

[RuthC]

Maybe it would help if you could narrow down what you're asking about? Be a little more specific?

I know there have been some specific answers given already. Do you need more info on those topics? Or something else?

[missac]

Maybe it would help if you could narrow down what you're asking about? Be a little more specific?

I know there have been some specific answers given already. Do you need more info on those topics? Or something else?

 

Well, I'm looking for your opinions as to what HAL does really really well. What do they do *right* that the other cruise lines aren't doing? Is the food better? Is the service better? Are the ships better? That sort of thing... I know that's subjective, but as HAL cruisers I'm wondering what keeps you coming back.

 

What's the age distribution like these days? Will there be music and people out and about after dinner, or will it be pretty quiet?

 

What's the "bling" level - are there lots of ship-wide announcements? Do you hear the cruise director over the speaker in your cabin telling you what to go do? Or is it a quieter more "find your own way" kind of thing?

 

Does that help?

[tangerinebunny]

I'll take the hit and say it, I doubt that you'll find that the food is better than Celebrity. As mid priced lines, they're pretty similar.

[mmr923]

Well, I'm looking for your opinions as to what HAL does really really well. What do they do *right* that the other cruise lines aren't doing? Is the food better? Is the service better? Are the ships better? That sort of thing... I know that's subjective, but as HAL cruisers I'm wondering what keeps you coming back.

 

What's the age distribution like these days? Will there be music and people out and about after dinner, or will it be pretty quiet?

 

What's the "bling" level - are there lots of ship-wide announcements? Do you hear the cruise director over the speaker in your cabin telling you what to go do? Or is it a quieter more "find your own way" kind of thing?

 

Does that help?

 

I don't have the long-time experience with HAL to provide a comparison of "now" versus "then" but I can tell you a little about my observations of cruising with HAL since 2009.

 

Age distribution - yes, lots of folks in the 65 or older crowd, but not overwhelmingly so, I don't think. We've always found folks our age (40s-50s) with which to converse, dine, talk, etc. We've even enjoyed time with people in their 20s and 30s on some of our roll calls and excursions. We tend to be relatively active, so we seem to find active folks of all ages. Music - I'd say you'll find music until at least midnight. Since that's when I go to bed, I can't speak to after that (we like to be up early).

 

Announcements/etc. - yes, you can hear the cruise director making announcements over the PA, but they usually use a very unobtrusive volume and tone of voice, and they are not constant - they are for "important" reminders. No, there are not 5 or 6 reminders for every contest, bingo game, etc... You need to be more proactive about checking your daily offerings and choosing, and checking the time. We like it that way.

 

We don't think the shopping is especially good on the shops. We like the food, especially the Pinnacle Grill, which we always visit at least once per cruise. We have heard people say desserts aren't as good as other lines, but we are not big dessert eaters (we usually get the cheese plate - that's our idea of good dessert!) so I won't comment about that.

 

I have never found anything to fault with the service we have received on the ships - from front desk, to excursions, to stewards, bartenders, etc... My favorite was our cocktail waitress, Mai Mai, on the Ryndam - memorized not only our names on the first day (and our preferred drinks) but also the names of our two teens who just popped in to say hello and tell us where they were off to (to escape from us!) on that first day. Pretty amazing. A lot of that amazing name recognition and personalized service, at least for us. Love it. We are very satisified customers and we now purchase future cruise credits every time we cruise, because we know we will be back.

 

I hope this helps!

[cruz chic]

I think a good question to ask yourself is "are you self entertaining"?. There are not tons of activities to do and if that's an issue then it might not be a good fit. I also think the food is fine but not amazing. That said the Tamarind is very, very good. I sure wish HAL would get their MDR service better. I just returned from a Princess cruise and the MDR service was way better than HAL. I would never try to persuade someone to take a cruise on HAL. You need to decide that for yourself. That said, HAL feels like "home" to me more then any other line.

[missac]

Thank you!

 

These are really helpful responses. We are self entertaining ... we're not looking for TONS to do, or lots of bling. That's part of why X has worked for us. We talked to a TA who told us the food was really quite good on HAL, too, and X has really slipped in that area.

 

I don't want to be convinced, so much (I tried to get my MIL, a lifelong Princess cruiser, to try X and it was like telling her the ocean was red... she was SO horrifed!)I know that what feels like "home" is really personal. I think it is that for those of you who feel HAL is home I want to hear you sing its praises... because you all have better feedback than a ratings site or a TA.

 

Thanks again. :-)

[sassyredhat]

I haven't sailed Celebrity, but I have sailed HAL and PCL, and I like both.

We are self entertainers, not pool people, or really drinkers. PCL MDR experience has been very good for us.I'm kind of a 'foodie', and I have special diet issues.

I haven't sailed HAL when I had the diet requests, but PCL is outstandingly accommodating.

Why we like HAL, even though we really do like PCL, is kind of an intangible thing. I can't really put it into words. We just feel 'home'.

We can't get the itin's we need from HAL (can't fly), so PCL is now our line of choice. Personally, I like the older ships.

I WILL say, I really dislike having to jockey for seating at HAL shows, and sometimes the activities overlapped on PCL.

Pat

[LindaM]

I can only compare X Millenium and Constellation. 2005 and 2008. I was NOT impressed. At one time X was more of an upscale cruiseline. HAL's food and service are much better.

 

But....I hear nothing but good things about X newest ships. If I were to sail Celebrity, it would be on their newest ships. The only problem is that I don't like big ships! From our experience, Celebrity is not better than HAL, and worse in important categories, like food!!

[cruz chic]

Thank you!

 

These are really helpful responses. We are self entertaining ... we're not looking for TONS to do, or lots of bling. That's part of why X has worked for us. We talked to a TA who told us the food was really quite good on HAL, too, and X has really slipped in that area.

 

I don't want to be convinced, so much (I tried to get my MIL, a lifelong Princess cruiser, to try X and it was like telling her the ocean was red... she was SO horrifed!)I know that what feels like "home" is really personal. I think it is that for those of you who feel HAL is home I want to hear you sing its praises... because you all have better feedback than a ratings site or a TA.

 

Thanks again. :-)

I'm a Princess fan but I really don't like Celebrity at all so I don't blame your MIL:D;).

[chrisbu315]

anyone else have any guidance for me? we're stumped, and we figure the best people to help us out are the people who sail HAL - and sail often - and that's all of you.

 

Any more advice? Has anyone sailed both HAL and X lately that could give me a comparison?

 

Thanks so much!!!

 

Was on Solstice in Nov 2011, Westerdam July 2012, and Veendam October 2012. Below are my opinions:

• MDR - equal
  
• Buffet - big edge to HAL because of free freshly squeezed OJ
  
• Specialty restaurants - slight edge to HAL because of Night at Le Cirque
  
• Cabin - equal. Appointments are nicer on Celebrity but HAL has better towels and robes
  
• Entertainment - equal
  
• Bars - big edge to HAL because of Crow's Nest and generous happy hours
  
• Gym - edge to Celebrity probably because of ship newness and size
  
• Thermal suite - big edge to HAL because of large hydro-therapy pool
  
• Spa - slight edge to HAL - better specials
  
• Library - big edge to HAL because of Explorations Café - a perfect place to get a good cup of coffee and read or work. Lots of windows.
  

Summary: The large Celebrity ships tend to be newer with a greater WOW factor but I appreciate many of the small HAL touches.

 

• Gym - edge to Celebrity
  
• Thermal Suite -
  
•