new to HAL, got some questions

[glituner32]

Hi all,

 

I wanted to see if you guys think HAL is a good choice for me and my wife. We are both in our late 20's. We love to cruise, been on NCL, RCCL and Carnival.

 

I am planning a New Years cruise and have picked to go on the Carnival splendor. But today while on the boards here I found a cruise with HAL Eurodam with basically same itinerary and price to be almost the same. HAL is only $200 more.

 

My question is if HAL is right for me and my wife, is it more of a low key cruise?, music? kids? nightlife? We are not crazy party people but would like a little bit of entertainment.

 

Also are all the meals included, like Dinner in the dining room and samethings on other cruise lines?

 

Thanks

Stan

[Legend355]

First cruised with HAL in 2011 I was 48 better half was 46, we were probably one of the younger couples on that cruise. But we thoroughly enjoyed the company of all the people we met and heard lots of great cruising stories from people with hundreds of sea days under their belt. We are cruising again with HAL in less than a month, the service on this line is outstanding from cabin people to senior staff. You will only have to pay for a specialty dining that you may want to partake in if you choose.

[PathfinderEss]

Hi all,

 

I wanted to see if you guys think HAL is a good choice for me and my wife. We are both in our late 20's. We love to cruise, been on NCL, RCCL and Carnival.

 

I am planning a New Years cruise and have picked to go on the Carnival splendor. But today while on the boards here I found a cruise with HAL Eurodam with basically same itinerary and price to be almost the same. HAL is only $200 more.

 

My question is if HAL is right for me and my wife, is it more of a low key cruise?, music? kids? nightlife? We are not crazy party people but would like a little bit of entertainment.

 

Also are all the meals included, like Dinner in the dining room and samethings on other cruise lines?

 

Thanks

Stan

New Years cruise are fun on Hal as I would imagine they are on other cruise lines. There will be no crazy parties but nice parties on Hal. I think you would enjoy them, we certainly have.

Yes all your food is included, the lido, the MDR, the Dive In. The only dinning venues you pay for are the specialty restaurants, Pinnacle Grill, Canaletto's, Tamarind's if you chose to eat in them instead.

[kazu]

Breakfast, lunch and dinner in the MDR or Lido or room service are all included.

 

Specialty restaurants are extra of course.

 

Water, tea and regular coffee are free (and iced tea) and in the morning there are a multitude of juices (including fresh squeezed oj).

 

there is entertainment and music on the ship.

 

Alcoholic and mocktail drinks along with specialty coffees and sodas all carry a charge.

 

There is some information that you might find helpful at HALfacts.com (the link is in my signature). It is a website created by cruise critic members comprised only of contributions of cruise critic members who have been on the ships.

 

If you want to take a look at some menus, on locations (daily programmes) and other interesting things just click the general information tab.

 

For pics of the various cabins just click your class of ship or hover over until you find your ship and voila!

 

hope this helps a bit.

[mollyanne]

While you will likely be in the younger demographic you may enjoy the true elegance of the Holland America ships and crew. We have sailed them only twice (with a 3rd booked) and they top all our experiences with Princess, NCL, Celebrity and Carnival.

 

There will be a fun vibe on any New Year's cruise (in my opinion) and there will be entertainment for many tastes. I think the food is great in the MDR but if you choose this cruise be sure and hit the Pinnacle Grill at least one night - and be prepared for a great dining experience!

[elusive_23]

My first cruise with HAL was at age 24 and I am now 28, I have been on several cruises on HAL and my first foray away from the line will be this October. Personally I love the elegance and class of the ship and the service is phenomenal.

 

Entertainment: I took my fiance on a HAL cruise last year and he enjoyed it immensely but for him he stated he would have preferred more Vegas or Broadway style entertainment, like RCCL and NCL offer. I enjoy the shows but they are definitely geared a bit more to the demographic majority. They usually have a comedian or magician and several musical type performances. They also have the marriage game and some other shows that require audience participation. Honestly, I don't cruise for the entertainment though so for me it isn't a big deal.

 

Nightlife: This really depends on the time of year, the length of cruise, itinerary, the demographic on board, etc. On 3/4 of my cruises the nightlife was great IMO. What I have found is that there is usually a group (a dozen give or take) of younger people on the boat with parents or relatives that gravitate to the bar areas at night and become a close knit group. I still talk to many of the friends I made on some of these cruises. I feel that when there are so few people around the same age the barriers to "cliches" and societal differences come down making it easier to be friendly. Sadly, the one cruise that I took my fiance on there was virtually ZERO nightlife. This was on a Caribbean sailing in March on the Nieuw Amsterdam. There was maybe 1 or 2 couples on their honeymoon around our age and we never saw them. It may have been the time of year, itinerary or the fact the couples wanted to be by themselves.

 

Kids: depends again on length, itinerary, and time of year. I've never seen more than a dozen and usually they are pretty well behaved and rarely seen (Club HAL is pretty popular).

 

Feel free to ask me any questions you may have as I would be happy to share my late twenties perspective! :)