How does NCL compare to HAL?

[Bonbi]

Hi Everyone!

I was wondering if anyone could tell me more about HAL? We love NCL , specifically the freestyle and being able to just go to dinner anytime and not being forced to be formal etc. We don't mind being in formal attire maybe one night on a cruise but we would rather dress resort casual and just relax especially if we have spent a long day diving or snorkeling. (I know it's not for everyone but it seems to suit us.) We found we liked the entertainment (shows) better on NCL, but we liked our room size on CCL better than NCL. NCL seems to be a bit smaller but we spend most of our time on the balcony or out doing something so it isn't a huuuge concern.

 

My husband has been on Celebrity & RCCL with his family before we were married and together we have done CCL and NCL. There were things I liked about both NCL & CCL but overall we thought NCL was better for us. My husband liked certain things on the Celebrity and RCCL ships but he mentioned the last time he sailed it was more formal and more structured and it was far from the freestyle cruising we are use to now. Our first cruise together was on the Pearl, neither of us knew anything about NCL. It on a whim, last minute 7 day eastern super cheap, no research done (sadly, we didn't know about CC then) or anything and we had a blast. My husband begged me every year since we got married to cruise and I was apprehensive. I had always thought I would dislike cruising because I get seasick very easily and boy I got super seasick because we were cruising during a hurricane in Nov. but I loved cruising anyway. haha I was hooked for sure. Our second cruise was CCL Valor and we had a great time on it as well and chose your time dining, though we would ware ourselves out so much we often opted for the buffet.

 

We are looking at a panama canal cruise on HAL and I have been reading some threads on the HAL forums but was wondering if any NCL cruisers could shed some light on how they compare? I would appreciate any help anyone could provide. Hope everyone is having a great weekend. :)

Edited June 29, 2014 by Bonbi

[Bonbi]

Please excuse my punctuation mistakes and the spelling of wear. I was typing quickly on my phone and then copy/pasted it in the forum somehow wear got changed to ware. lol

[lbt43]

Please excuse my punctuation mistakes and the spelling of wear. I was typing quickly on my phone and then copy/pasted it in the forum somehow wear got changed to ware. lol

 

HAL - older ships, older guests.

 

NCL - Newer ships, more activities, younger guests.

[tonyd285]

HAL is an upscale line. Rather traditional, beautiful and well appointed ships and cabins. In the mini-suites on up you get a rather grand bathroom with both a tub and separate shower stall. The service tends to be friendly and very professional both with regard to cabin attendants and with the dining room staff. NCL is more of a mass-market line and does a much better job catering to families. HAL seems to attract couples, particularly somewhat of an older crowd. Overall I would say that NCL is a Chevy and HAL is a Buick.

 

We have enjoyed cruises on both lines as well as Celebrity and Costa. We usually pick a cruise based on itinerary and have seldom been disappointed.

[Bonbi]

Thank you both so much for your replies. We are both 29 so it sounds like HAL may not be for us if it is geared more toward an older crowd. I really appreciate you taking time to respond.

[valleyvillage]

I think another big difference is the way NCL applies Freestyle and HAL applies Dine as You Wish to the mealtime experience. With NCL it really is choose your restaurant, choose your time, with a huge variety of choices. HAL, not as robust an offering. Limited availability of as You wish, etc. And I much prefer the Suite Life on NCL to that on HAL, mainly for the specialty breakfast and lunch option.

Whatever you choose, Bon Voyage!

[buckirj1]

Something else to keep in mind is that HAL has limited dining hours. You won't starve, but you might have to make adjustments, based on how you like to eat.

[callmehalia]

I've never sailed NCL (going in December) but have done 2 HAL trips.

 

It's definitely an older crowd. I wouldn't think we saw more than 10 children total over the two trips, and with the exception of some grandchildren in their early 20s, we were pretty much the youngest (in our early 30s).

 

That being said, we tend to keep to ourselves and we're not into drinking or late nights (plus our cruises have always been port-intensive). The ships were nicely appointed, with a reasonable variety of food and activities. 24 room service, including a cooked breakfast, and a late night snack meant that even though the meal times are way less freestyle, we were never hungry (or anything less than stuffed, to be honest). We liked having the set dining time as the waiter knew us and what we wanted (even if he saw us in other places on the ship). They do have anytime dining but as there's just the one MDR that's free, there's admittedly less choice. We've never had dinner at the buffet but it looked pretty good.

 

The entertainment is definitely geared towards an older crowd, but if you go in a good mood and appreciate how ridiculous it is, it's a pretty good time.

 

If you're going on a cruise to see the ports and just be pampered and relax, you can't go wrong with HAL - quiet, sedate, decent ships, and for us, a big plus that there's essentially no children running around and screaming. The trade off is that you might get stuck behind someone wheeling their oxygen tank behind them ;)

 

Sorry it isn't a more of a compare/contrast kind of post but I thought my experience as a person close-ish to your age on HAL might be useful :)

Edited June 29, 2014 by callmehalia

[mexico8]

Thank you both so much for your replies. We are both 29 so it sounds like HAL may not be for us if it is geared more toward an older crowd. I really appreciate you taking time to respond.

 

Something else to consider - the longer the cruise - usually the older the passengers. We have cruised with many lines and like them all for different reasons. Sometimes it's the ports and the ships or the dates suit us better or the prices etc. If your cruise is 7 to 10 days you might find a younger crowd on HAL but if it's a longer cruise the passengers are usually older (they have the time (and the money too perhaps).

[fishin' musician]

Aside from the older demographic you'll find more similarities than differences. One thing HAL does that is unique is segregate their staff; the Indonesians are stateroom attendants and the Filipinos are food and beverage. HAL actually has training facilities in their respective countries. Oh, and if you show up on formal night without a jacket, the maître de will get you one!

[Bonbi]

Thank you all so much! We tend to sail in the off season so we usually sail with an older crowd anyway. We, like some of you, also aren't really into partying etc either but we do enjoy the freestyle less formal style ncl has. We have done 2 different longer cruises on the Sun and the 10 day one was filled with lots of activities and we had a great CD (I know to some the CD doesn't matter but this cd was involved and kept everyone in good spirits, we really enjoyed her) and a great cc group. We were never bored even with 4 sea days! The following fall we did the 11 day Sun and we were a little disappointed with the activities they had to offer during that sailing and our cc group was small (still great people) and didn't do as many activities together as prior rolls calls we have been on did. We still had a great cruise together but we were by far in a minority on the ship by 20+ years. We met some great people and still loved our cruise but the activities and shows were a little beyond our years.

 

I tend to want to explore more ports and go to different islands vs. being on a new ship BUT for my husbands birthday we did the Epic and we loved how much there was to do on the ship all the time compared to what we had sailed prior (Pearl, Sun & Dawn). We were originally booked on the Pearl for an 11 day southern caribbean but it got chartered and the only next one available was over Christmas/New Years so we opted for a different cruise. We are currently booked on the Getaway and are excited about the new ship but we have done the ports many times. We love St. Thomas & St Maarten especially but have done island tours, diving tours, beach days etc at both. We are torn about doing new ports vs. new ship. I (like many others that I've read) wish NCL would do some new itineraries with the newer ships.

 

With all of that in mind, I started looking out of curiosity at what other cruise options sailed around the time we were sailing and thats how I found the HAL panama cruise. It had some ports we have done but several we had not.

 

I really appreciate all of you all replying and all of your input. Thank you again!

Edited June 29, 2014 by Bonbi