Seems there are a number of HAL CC'ers who are looking elsewhere.......

[cruz chic]

The second Vista sister sailed the west coast for years until Oosterdam started doing Australia cruises. She will soon be sailing out of FLL.

 

 

I know, and I took full advantage of that ship. I'll be happy to sail her in the Caribbean but I hate the flight. Right now flights are also stupid expensive.

[cruz chic]

(snip)

 

Yes the HAL board has slowed to a crawl. I still scan it every couple of days and quite often see the same threads stacked in the same way. It's a ghost town compared to even a year ago.

 

It seems a lot of the old posters have left the boards or just don't participate. There are some great new posters but also some that do nothing but take shots at posters they do not like. It's gets very tiresome.

[Lady Chew]

We recently did a 35-day cruise on Oceania Nautica. The itinerary was just what we wanted, when we wanted it, and the price was excellent. Airfare was included, too ... and this cruise began in Bangkok and ended in Rome, so that was important.

 

The ports were fascinating and we met some wonderful people. Putting all that aside, we probably won't sail on Oceania again. The ship was a little too small for our liking, even though it was well maintained and beautiful. We did not care for the food in the Terrace Grill (buffet) and we found the service there to be extremely intrusive. Service in the MDR, excuse me, the GDR, was painfully slow. And yes, there were people on board who were complaining about cutbacks in all areas. And there were chair hogs in abundance. :mad:

 

Right now we have two cruises booked on HAL ... for the itineraries, at the time we wanted them, and we're happy with the price for each. One in the Caribbean in February and the other is a Northern Europe cruise August 2015which we are thrilled about. We also have two cruises booked in the Caribbean for early 2015, one on Celebrity and one on Royal Caribbean.

 

HAL will continue to be our cruise line of choice as long as they keep their excellent itineraries. Their cutbacks haven't affected us at all.

[sail7seas]

I know, and I took full advantage of that ship. I'll be happy to sail her in the Caribbean but I hate the flight. Right now flights are also stupid expensive.

 

 

It's because of that long cross country flight we never sailed Oosterdam when she did the Mexico itineraries. Had it not been that awful flight, I am sure we would have but a seven day Mexico cruise didn't seem worth the effort and expense.

 

[cruz chic]

It's because of that long cross country flight we never sailed Oosterdam when she did the Mexico itineraries. Had it not been that awful flight, I am sure we would have but a seven day Mexico cruise didn't seem worth the effort and expense.

 

 

I hear you. I've done some 7 day Caribbean cruises but it just doesn't seem worth it anymore. I would do a 10 or 11 day on the O.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

[quote name='AlohaPride']Air is one of the reasons we can only really cruise once every 3 years. It's also the reason we don't take cruises shorter than 12 days. If we are going to fly our family of 5 off this island, we are going to stay off this island for a good long time. LOL I wish we didn't have to fly.

One of the reasons we're also looking around is that Disney and RCI are both starting/ending cruises in Honolulu. So, that'll just be a 1 way ticket for us.[/QUOTE]

Slightly OT: Too bad that NCL America isn't doing Hawaii direct to S.F. or L.A. in one-way sailings the way the old Matson ships used to. I think if they did a few of these a year, they could probably fill their ships since they would not have to "touch base" in Ensenada or Vancouver. Edited July 4, 2014 by Ryndam2002

[Wookie01]

We have only cruised once with HAL, which was a Vancouver return Alaska cruise in 2013.
Our other cruises have been with Celebrity and in our opinion HAL (Volendam) just seemed tired and run-down compared to Celebrity.
The food quality did not seem as good and the 'experience' as a whole just felt a bit tired and of less value-for-money than our Celebrity cruises.
We didn't think that one star rating difference (5 vs 4) would be that noticeable, but to us it was, unfortunately.

We won't be back on HAL unless the itinerary demands it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Seago2]

[quote name='sail7seas'][B] HAL put a Vista sailing from NYC her Inaugural Season. I was there. Noordam sailed 10 and 11 days cruises round trip to the Caribbean. They were fabulous cruises on a then brand new, gorgeous ship. She is still gorgeous but no longer brand new. :)

People were not willing to pay a decent enough fare to provide for the cost of fuel and on board spending was not what was hoped for. Noordam was moved to home port in FLL and it is not likely HAL will bring another Vista to NYC for Caribbean cruises.

[/B][/QUOTE]

Yes, I sailed Noordam out of NYC on a ten day in 2007. It was wonderful. The smaller ships, such as Veendam and Maasdam, that sometimes sail out of the northeast are not really feasible for my sailing party (kids, by which I mean 20's and late teens). They're very mellow and well behaved but I think they'd be bored on those sailings. So it's a hike down to Fla and when you add up airfare and the extreme hassle of flying/hotel it's just not worth it. My husband and I drove down from Buffalofor a Westerdam sailing and: never again!

[thepoint]

[quote name='sail7seas'][B]I admit I have not particularly noticed specific names but it seems to me I've read a number of posts of people who are saying they are looking at more deluxe cruise lines. There seems to be a large enough number of people saying it that it has caught my attention.

If, indeed, my observation is accurate, HAL CC'ers really are putting their money where their mouth is. Many have said for several years now they would rather pay more and get more than continue to accept the many cuts we've seen.

Anyone else notice lots of comments of this sort?
[/B][/QUOTE]

Yes, we have left HAL, but I miss the conversation. I always got good information and help from HAL CCers. You are a great group of people.

Just decided to start reading HAL again. I haven't been paying attention since our last cruise in January.Our next cruise in September in Europe will be on Celebrity. For next January we are contemplating Cunard.

My husband was a very loyal HAL customer, but for me it is getting what you pay for. I just don't think HAL is delivering. By the way, I think the staff works extremely hard and are great people. They are really pushed to the limit. Bottom line, yes we left HAL.

[ANSalberg]

I can honestly say "NOT me!" -"Not us" - we are thrilled with the longer cruises to more exoyic places that HAL provides PLUS the Indonesian crew has DELIGHTED us with their devotion, humor & skill. That combination plus midsized ships captures us!
Anne from Colorado ;)

[Vict0riann]

I was going to say "We're happy with HAL", but I'm changing it to "We're comfortable with HAL" - there probably is something better out there, but I just can't be bothered to search for it!

That said, we have really enjoyed our cruises, all of them, which whichever line we have sailed with. I guess we're not picky! I do like the people on HAL, crew and passengers.

[SeagoingMom]

[quote name='Hflors']I don't know about anyone else, but (we aren't looking for luxury line) but booked our next cruise with Princess. The rate was just so much better. And after our last HAL cruise on zuiderdam. DH and I both agreed that we needed to look elsewhere.

Where we really noticed cut backs was in the food. There were honestly some nights that DH (who never complains about eating) couldn't find any in the dining room that was good! And thats saying a lot.[/quote]
[COLOR=DarkRed]Good luck with Princess food. Report back and tell us what you thought. I'd give it about a B- (March 2014, [I]Caribbean Princess[/I].).[/COLOR] [COLOR=DarkRed][I]Zuiderdam[/I] food got an A from me in 2011.[/COLOR]

[cruz chic]

[quote name='SeagoingMom'][COLOR=DarkRed]Good luck with Princess food. Report back and tell us what you thought. I'd give it about a B- (March 2014, [I]Caribbean Princess[/I].).[/COLOR] [COLOR=DarkRed][I]Zuiderdam[/I] food got an A from me in 2011.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

I've had about 75 days on princess. While hal has better soup ive found the food to be as good or better than hal. Its usually hotter. Their desserts are generally better too.

[sail7seas]

[quote name='SeagoingMom'][COLOR=DarkRed]Good luck with Princess food. Report back and tell us what you thought. I'd give it about a B- (March 2014, [I]Caribbean Princess[/I].).[/COLOR] [COLOR=DarkRed][I]Zuiderdam[/I] food got an A from me in 2011.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]



[B] I haven't sailed Princess in years but I wonder if it is really fair to compare food from one cruise in 2011 with food on another cruise line 3 years later. All of the main stream cruise lines have decreased their food budget progressively for the past several years. I think it more accurate (especially given variances in taste and food preferences) to at least make the comparison far closer in time.

JMO and I certainly mean of offense.

[/B]

[cruz chic]

Duplicate Edited July 5, 2014 by cruz chic

[Windsailer]

After 45 days on HAL ships last year (including 14 days on the Prinsendam) I'm booked for a Celebrity cruise in the Eastern Med next year. Why? It over nights in Istanbul. I really like overnights. And while I was seriously thinking about booking the Eurodam next year when it comes back to NY, I'm not going to since it no longer overnights in Iceland. YMMV.

[Barrheadlass]

We are 2 of those who jumped ship to Oceania. We were always happy with HAL, and I loved my cruise on the Prinsendam last year...even if the toilet kept overflowing. We loved Oceania's buffet ...not sure what another poster meant by intrusive, and never liked the lido. I loved getting multiple special coffees daily without getting out my room card. The four specialty restaurants were terrific, no extra charge, and we liked the GDR too. The riviera was in perfect condition,
And most cruisers were repeat customers...and we never heard a word about cutbacks. The crew? Just as warm friendly and hardworking as on HAL. This all said? My next cruise is on Hurtigruten, and I have 3 river cruises booked. We are probably done with ocean cruising, but if we go back, it will probably be to Oceania. Edited July 5, 2014 by Barrheadlass

[tip]

[quote name='navybankerteacher']I think a lot of "regulars" are thinking of other options. While I prefer HAL for a number of reasons! I am more and more inclined to look elsewhere - itinerary and pricing have always been considerations; but more recently some of HAL's cuts in quality, and their reluctance to apply stricter smoking rules have eroded my strong preference: the more they "evolve", the more their customer base my similarly "evolve".[/QUOTE]

I would agree with the above. While we enjoy HAL and have taken six cruises with them, we shall not return until they adopt a 21st Century smoking policy.

[prescottbob]

Goodness & Ahoy!

I haven't read all the replies from page two on but an interesting query by the OP.

We've always enjoyed HAL cruises but also enjoy other cruise line venues primarily dependent on ship size, itineraries and cost.

We've enjoyed a NCL cruises in the '90's with the kids (and had a blast), we've done a Seabourn TA cruise (on the Spirit) and couldn't ask for better service or food.

For a true sail (pretty much motor-less with less then 200 passengers) I would recommend the Star Clipper Line. We did the Star Clipper ship on a B2B Caribbean sailing that was unforgettable.

We've enjoyed the longer HAL sailings (the 'Elegant Explorer' & soon-to be sold Ryndam & Statendam are our favorites) but we're probably going to give the Silver Seas Whisper and Cunard Queen crossing for our next cruise adventure.

Needless to say, a European River cruise on Viking (or other) or an American Steamboat cruise is not out of the 'lineup'.

We enjoy HAL and the HAL family of good folks. We just enjoy various venues.
Life's too short.

Be well.

Bob:)

[BruceMuzz]

[quote name='Ryndam2002']Slightly OT: Too bad that NCL America isn't doing Hawaii direct to S.F. or L.A. in one-way sailings the way the old Matson ships used to. I think if they did a few of these a year, they could probably fill their ships since they would not have to "touch base" in Ensenada or Vancouver.[/QUOTE]

The US Congress will not allow NCL America to offer cruises between Hawaii and the mainland. Part of the sweetheart deal they got (allowing ships not built in the USA to have American flags, and allowing a large part of the crew to carry foreign passports) was a special regulation forcing them to sail with paying passengers only in Hawaii.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

[quote name='BruceMuzz']The US Congress will not allow NCL America to offer cruises between Hawaii and the mainland. Part of the sweetheart deal they got (allowing ships not built in the USA to have American flags, and allowing a large part of the crew to carry foreign passports) was a special regulation forcing them to sail with paying passengers only in Hawaii.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the info. I wasn't aware that part of the deal was Hawaii only cruises. Too bad :(.

[shrimp56]

We're not going anywhere. HAL suits us just fine. The few wayward moments since 2012 are because good friends find a nice price and we all sign up together.

After my Celebrity cruise I realize why I feel "at home" on HAL. It's the sense of "place." They are DUTCH ships. Celebrity Century was lovely, but lacked the kind of personality I find on HAL. Our new fave HAL ship is Noordam. Trip report hopefully later this weekend.

[antique sailor]

AHOY SHIPMATES
IMO,
I THINK I CAN SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE. With over 1200 days sailing on HAL, I've only had TWO bad experiences, The 2002 Grand world voyage when 75% of the passengers cancelled those of us who did sail got NO upgrades to outside cabins. reason The Upper class passengers complained that we shouldn't get "free" what they had paid for. THere were only approximately 350 passengers on for the complete cruise, with maybe 150 more on segments.
We have always preferred HAL because of the crew and staff. GREAT PEOPLE!
The 42 day MAASDAM roundtrip cruise to the Med was a bummer for many reasons. There were so many 4 & 5 star mariners (600+) that the Staff didn't know how to handle the scheduling etc.
Our BEST cruise was on the PRINCENDAM, 68 day to Antarctica and the Amazon in 2014....great ship,great staff & crew good food etc

When the MAAS,NOR,VEEN & STAT were new they had a crew of approx 770 ... now they have crew of 590-600. Biggest cut was in waiters,DR supervisors,cooks,bakers, and room stewards. They work hard but are way understaffed.
The entertainment is a joke (not comedy) and cast is ????
The CEO has made the bottom line look good and got his promotion but at the expense of loosing a lot of loyal passengers. This will show up slowly but it has changed HAL forever. Many of us preferred the smaller ships but they are disappearing.

We live about 20 min. from port in JAX and really enjoy the Carnival FASCINATION for 5 to 10 cruises. It's cheap, friendly, comparable food,
GREAT Mongolian BBQ daily on LIDO, Lotsa Phillipino cooks,....and Great upsells to balconies on almost every cruise. The other passengers are great and the EYE CANDY by the pool is fantastic most of the time.
At age 75, I dont blend into the crowd, but am treated with respect.

enough said !


gary

[KirkNC]

[quote name='cruz chic']I've had about 75 days on princess. While hal has better soup ive found the food to be as good or better than hal. Its usually hotter. Their desserts are generally better too.[/QUOTE]

Funny, we found the food on Princess to be very uninspiring. It was good, just nothing jumped out at us any night as must haves. We went to the specialty restaurants several nights for that reason. I did think the dining room service was better than HAL's.

[cruz chic]

[quote name='KirkNC']Funny, we found the food on Princess to be very uninspiring. It was good, just nothing jumped out at us any night as must haves. We went to the specialty restaurants several nights for that reason. I did think the dining room service was better than HAL's.[/QUOTE]

Maybe it varies by ship. Most of my cruises have been on the sapphire and the food has been very good. I rarely have to go to the always available. I wouldn't say it's fancy but then I'm not big on strange food. A couple items that stick out in my mind are the goat cheese soufflé, eggplant parmigiana and for dessert the apple walnut spring rolls. I can't think of one thing in the MDR on Hal that sticks out in my mind and I have way more Hal cruises. The MDR service is much better on Princess. Edited July 5, 2014 by cruz chic