HAL Cruisers back from Ruby Princess

[Tatka]

Thank you for a nice review.

 

I always thought Princess greeted guests nicely.

 

I was actually quite surprised when we entered our room (then on Caribbean Princess) and there was a message on the phone with personal greeting. That was very unusual.

 

I also thought there was 4 large pools (Lotus Spa, Neptune, Calypso, Terrace), plus smaller ones for teens/kids.

[Hlitner]

Not catty at all. Just notice that you constantly praise celebrity. It just makes me wonder why you would cruise Hal. The constant digs about how everyone is in bed by 8 are getting old fast.

 

Not so sure its a dig...but rather closer to reality. There is a good reason why HA closes its Lido buffet at 8 :).

 

We find pros and cons on many different cruise lines (DW informs me we have been on 14 cruise lines) and continue to love variety. HA does have its strong points, but right now the only reason we would go on HA is for their fantastic itineraries of if we grab a last minute cruise at a bargain basement price. Otherwise, based on our recent HA cruises, we now think they are not even as good a product as RCI...

 

We have a 28 day HA cruise coming up next month and hope we find that things have improved since our last HA cruise (which was this past April/May). The upcoming cruise was an easy choice since we love the itinerary.

 

As to Celebrity (I thought this thread was about Princess) based on our last 4 cruises (in the past 3 years) we think they have hit a real peak (especially on their Solstice Class ships) in terms of service, quality, cuisine, and overall cost/benefit. Are they perfect? Of course not. But they are pretty darn good :). Now the question is whether they can maintain all that is good....which is question mark since they have a new CEO with some new ideas. Time will tell.

 

Hank

[aikensbest]

Not catty at all. Just notice that you constantly praise celebrity. It just makes me wonder why you would cruise Hal. The constant digs about how everyone is in bed by 8 are getting old fast.

not sure if this is words to be enjoyed, BUT we took 2 Hal cruises and 17 Princess and a Celebrity is coming soon and I must agree that everyone is in bed by 8 on Hal. During the day the lounges throughout the ship were filed with sleepers, attendance at meals, or theaters were empty for late dining or shows, and the atmosphere was like time to go to bed. I am not a young person(80 years, wife 73) but would never again go on a cruise where it was expected we should all go to bed when the sun set.

[cruz chic]

not sure if this is words to be enjoyed, BUT we took 2 Hal cruises and 17 Princess and a Celebrity is coming soon and I must agree that everyone is in bed by 8 on Hal. During the day the lounges throughout the ship were filed with sleepers, attendance at meals, or theaters were empty for late dining or shows, and the atmosphere was like time to go to bed. I am not a young person(80 years, wife 73) but would never again go on a cruise where it was expected we should all go to bed when the sun set.

 

Everyone is in bed? I'm not. I was in the piano bar on the Oosterdam at midnight in August and it was hopping. Agree about the sleeping on loungers. That is bizarre. I simply don't understand sleeping in public areas.

[Hlitner]

Everyone is in bed? I'm not. I was in the piano bar on the Oosterdam at midnight in August and it was hopping. Agree about the sleeping on loungers. That is bizarre. I simply don't understand sleeping in public areas.

 

I will shock you but I will plead guilty to falling asleep in the loungers :). DW and I spend a lot of our sea days just reading in loungers, and since we are late night owls (this means we are awake after 9pm on HA ships) I tend to take naps during the day :). And when we are on cruises with many consecutive sea days (our record is 9) after a few days I can become comatose during the daytime and love my naps. But then we need our energy because we often close the MDR (around 9:45) and are often in the Crows Nest at midnight (where we are often along with a few ship's officers).

 

Hank

[cruz chic]

I will shock you but I will plead guilty to falling asleep in the loungers :). DW and I spend a lot of our sea days just reading in loungers, and since we are late night owls (this means we are awake after 9pm on HA ships) I tend to take naps during the day :). And when we are on cruises with many consecutive sea days (our record is 9) after a few days I can become comatose during the daytime and love my naps. But then we need our energy because we often close the MDR (around 9:45) and are often in the Crows Nest at midnight (where we are often along with a few ship's officers).

 

Hank

 

Well I guess that means you fit right in with all the old folks:D. I'm not a baby so I don't take naps therefore I go to bed somewhat early. I also work long hours which makes me tired. I don't rely on other folks to make things fun for me so I don't care when people go to bed. Being around ships officers doesn't do anything for me.

[Hlitner]

Well I guess that means you fit right in with all the old folks:D. I'm not a baby so I don't take naps therefore I go to bed somewhat early. I also work long hours which makes me tired. I don't rely on other folks to make things fun for me so I don't care when people go to bed. Being around ships officers doesn't do anything for me.

 

LOL. Not sure being around officers does anything for me either. But when you are in the Crows Nest after 11 that is often the only other people in the lounge :).

 

Hank

[Tatka]

You have to remember that poster can find no fault with Celebrity. I find them to be poor to mediocre. We all like different things.

 

Same story with cruisetrail and Signature Class of HAL. :)

[iancal]

We very much like Celebrity.

 

We do not find Celebrity's buffet offerings at dinner time to be very good-regardless of the ship. It always seems the same- very blah.

[cruz chic]

LOL. Not sure being around officers does anything for me either. But when you are in the Crows Nest after 11 that is often the only other people in the lounge :).

 

Hank

 

Thx for clarifying. You've mentioned it several times so it seemed like you enjoyed it. Maybe they have their baby nap too:D.

[mamaofami]

I've found this thread very interesting and enjoyed reading the comparison of the different ships. DH has been after me to try another line, but change is difficult for me and I like the feeling of coming home when I embark.

[nana51]

I don't get all the teasing for people who go to bed early. On land I'm always up to midnight. On a cruise I am up early for excursions. I consider the peop,e who are sleeping in on a cruise to be wasting the day. My husband had been a morning person since I met himwhen he was 21. I'm a night person. One is not better than the other. To each their own.

[cruisetrail]

Not so sure its a dig...but rather closer to reality. There is a good reason why HA closes its Lido buffet at 8 :).

 

We find pros and cons on many different cruise lines (DW informs me we have been on 14 cruise lines) and continue to love variety. HA does have its strong points, but right now the only reason we would go on HA is for their fantastic itineraries of if we grab a last minute cruise at a bargain basement price. Otherwise, based on our recent HA cruises, we now think they are not even as good a product as RCI...

 

We have a 28 day HA cruise coming up next month and hope we find that things have improved since our last HA cruise (which was this past April/May). The upcoming cruise was an easy choice since we love the itinerary.

 

As to Celebrity (I thought this thread was about Princess) based on our last 4 cruises (in the past 3 years) we think they have hit a real peak (especially on their Solstice Class ships) in terms of service, quality, cuisine, and overall cost/benefit. Are they perfect? Of course not. But they are pretty darn good :). Now the question is whether they can maintain all that is good....which is question mark since they have a new CEO with some new ideas. Time will tell.

 

Hank

 

What HAL ships are you talking about?

 

HAL is business, not a ship.

 

We sail on ships, not on businesses.

 

The Maasdam is not the Eurodam.

 

I go to bed very late at home even if I have to get up early for the work.

 

Only on a cruise ship I have a luxury of going to bed early and get up early - not to go to work, but to enjoy the best time on a cruise - morning at sea!

 

What is early?

Spa closes at 10 pm. Then always a short tour around the ship.

Activities just reach their peak by 10 pm.

The theatre is full. The band is plaing in the Ocean bar, people are dancing.

The Queen's lounge is full. The public appload to musicians in Explprer's lounge.

We enjoy a bit of everything and head to the Deck 10 - the upper deck circle from where we can watch (if the sliding dome is open) the storm of the culinary festival around the central pool (they have activites there once or twice a cruise).

A cup of tea at Lido, and the tour ends on the Sea view deck - we like watching other ships at night and recognize them by their lights.

So so much desirable "early to bed" seldom happens earlier that 11 pm :(

 

Lido buffet closes at 11:30 PM.

[cruz chic]

I don't get all the teasing for people who go to bed early. On land I'm always up to midnight. On a cruise I am up early for excursions. I consider the peop,e who are sleeping in on a cruise to be wasting the day. My husband had been a morning person since I met himwhen he was 21. I'm a night person. One is not better than the other. To each their own.

 

Apparently if you go to bed early you aren't fun. I just don't get the attraction of staying up late and sleeping half the day or having a nap mid day. It seems like a huge waste of time to me. What happens later that is so exciting?

[cruz chic]

What HAL ships are you talking about?

 

HAL is business, not a ship.

 

We sail on ships, not on businesses.

 

The Maasdam is not the Eurodam.

 

I go to bed very late at home even if I have to get up early for the work.

 

Only on a cruise ship I have a luxury of going to bed early and get up early - not to go to work, but to enjoy the best time on a cruise - morning at sea!

 

What is early?

Spa closes at 10 pm. Then always a short tour around the ship.

Activities just reach their peak by 10 pm.

The theatre is full. The band is plaing in the Ocean bar, people are dancing.

The Queen's lounge is full. The public appload to musicians in Explprer's lounge.

We enjoy a bit of everything and head to the Deck 10 - the upper deck circle from where we can watch (if the sliding dome is open) the storm of the culinary festival around the central pool (they have activites there once or twice a cruise).

A cup of tea at Lido, and the tour ends on the Sea view deck - we like watching other ships at night and recognize them by their lights.

So so much desirable "early to bed" seldom happens earlier that 11 pm :(

 

Lido buffet closes at 11:30 PM.

 

Apparently if you stay up late you get to have drinks with officers:D:rolleyes:.

[whogo]

What HAL ships are you talking about?

 

HAL is business, not a ship.

 

We sail on ships, not on businesses.

 

The Maasdam is not the Eurodam.

 

I go to bed very late at home even if I have to get up early for the work.

 

Only on a cruise ship I have a luxury of going to bed early and get up early - not to go to work, but to enjoy the best time on a cruise - morning at sea!

 

What is early?

Spa closes at 10 pm. Then always a short tour around the ship.

Activities just reach their peak by 10 pm.

The theatre is full. The band is plaing in the Ocean bar, people are dancing.

The Queen's lounge is full. The public appload to musicians in Explprer's lounge.

We enjoy a bit of everything and head to the Deck 10 - the upper deck circle from where we can watch (if the sliding dome is open) the storm of the culinary festival around the central pool (they have activites there once or twice a cruise).

A cup of tea at Lido, and the tour ends on the Sea view deck - we like watching other ships at night and recognize them by their lights.

So so much desirable "early to bed" seldom happens earlier that 11 pm :(

 

Lido buffet closes at 11:30 PM.

At 11:30 last October on the Prinsendam I counted 3 people in the casino, 10 in the Crow's Nest, 8 in the Ocean Bar. The night of the big Halloween party there was no one in the Crow's Nest at 10:30 and less than 30 in the Ocean Bar, most of them crew members.

[erewhon]

Interesting to read the comparisons of the different cruise lines.

[Hlitner]

At 11:30 last October on the Prinsendam I counted 3 people in the casino, 10 in the Crow's Nest, 8 in the Ocean Bar. The night of the big Halloween party there was no one in the Crow's Nest at 10:30 and less than 30 in the Ocean Bar, most of them crew members.

 

hmm. Those must have been the busy nights :). We have spent a lot of time (over 150 days) on the P'Dam (its our favorite HA ship) and would call 10 in the Crows nest at 11:30 a wild night. We would really be sad if HA decides to finally sell that ship.

 

Hank

[Tennessee Titan]

We were underwhelmed with Princess last year. Felt like a step down in amenities. Why would HAL have two of its lines the same? Princess should be cheaper, plastic dishes in the Horizon, scrimping here and there. Industrial brown towels in the public restrooms, no magnifying mirror, no DVD, take a good close look. I am so over people who post saying the lines are equal. It is deceptive to those who have not tried Princess. We were seduced by all the glowing reports on this board about Princess. We tried Princess and were sorry.

 

My experience on the Star Princess was underwelhming. Wait staff in the MDR was all Eastern European. very inexperienced. Wine steward did not know how to pour wine. Elevators did not go down to the dining room. Decks were split so you could not walk from one end to the other. Most elevators had excessive wait times.

Stateroom (balcony) was very nice . bright, bigger than a Nieuw Amsterdam balcony.

 

I would not go back...

[Tatka]

It is hit or miss with both companies. We actually never had bad service with Princess, but our Asian wait team on Zuiderdam was clearly inexperienced. Service was very slow wiyh numerous mistakes.

 

We haven't sailed with HAL after that cruise, but thinking about giving them a chance if find interesting itin.

[hrhdhd]

I don't get the "coming home" thing either. When I get home (to my actual home), there's dishes in the sink, dust on the furniture, and a bathroom that needs to be cleaned. When I'm cruising, it's nothing like being at home--thank goodness for that.

 

The one thing I haven't liked about Azamara is that when people return to the ship, the crew actually say, "Welcome home." It's not home.

 

I just want the crew to be polite. Friendly is okay, but not necessary.

[cruz chic]

We were underwhelmed with Princess last year. Felt like a step down in amenities. Why would HAL have two of its lines the same? Princess should be cheaper, plastic dishes in the Horizon, scrimping here and there. Industrial brown towels in the public restrooms, no magnifying mirror, no DVD, take a good close look. I am so over people who post saying the lines are equal. It is deceptive to those who have not tried Princess. We were seduced by all the glowing reports on this board about Princess. We tried Princess and were sorry.

 

For some folks paper towels in the bathroom isn't the end of the world. I'm so over people complaining about such things. I've had way better service and food on Princess then I've had on most Hal cruises. I would recommend both lines to anyone.

[Tatka]

For some folks paper towels in the bathroom isn't the end of the world. I'm so over people complaining about such things. I've had way better service and food on Princess then I've had on most Hal cruises. I would recommend both lines to anyone.

 

Absolutely. HAL is definitely not step above Princess.

Not in our experience. Some things were better on Princess, some on HAL, but not drastic differences.

[jimmy2x]

I think you are each talking about a different poster. :cool:

 

I was writing about CruiseTrail's two-part epic on Celebrity's Solstice class ships which begins here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1743821

 

I thought he did a GREAT job, and how he gets all the photos included remains a mystery. He got hammered pretty hard by many if Celebrity's long time cruisers, which was no surprise.

 

Frankly, what he described gave me serious pause for thought about booking one of the Eclipse 14 day Carib cruises. Certainly less money for a balcony cabin than what we are spending for a "B" on Ryndam in January, but there are other factors that he described which lead us to stay with HAL.

[whogo]

For some folks paper towels in the bathroom isn't the end of the world. I'm so over people complaining about such things. I've had way better service and food on Princess then I've had on most Hal cruises. I would recommend both lines to anyone.

I prefer paper towels from a dispenser in public toilets. I have seen too many people drip wet hands on the stack of rolled up cloths in HAL's gent's rooms. I thought contaminated cloth towels might be a contributing factor to HAL's leadership in norovirus outbreaks in years past.