Trending on this board -- pay attention HAL

[Swice]

Is it my imagination? It seems like I've seen several threads over the past few months with people "peeking" at Princess. Yes, there have always been the curious question threads of "I've spotted a deal, should I try it," but there seems to be an undercurrent on the boards that people are reaching out more and losing their loyalty to HAL.

 

In the not too distant past, if anyone praised another cruise line on this board, they would have been flamed (I don't condone that).

 

I'm not a blind HAL loyalist and I've even told my family I would consider Princess for our next cruise. If I were HAL, I would be concerned that people who would have never considered another line, are actively branching out.

 

I don't need bumper cars and surfing, but HAL needs to pay attention to the trend.

[Floridiana]

Really? There is life outside CruiseCritic with people who cruise on various lines. :D

[B Russo]

I still like HAL the best.

[kazu]

I don't know if this is really a trend or not. Lots of people look at and sail other lines along with HAL. We have a number of posters who have made it clear they do this.

 

I think there are just more people posting about it or seeking opinions.

 

And, I think it is good to be informed about options and not to condemn a poster because they are trying something new.:D

[taxmantoo]

It's more than a peek. We are having a real good look. ;)

Cruised Princess in Asia in September and trying the new Regal in January.

Our Princess cruise in September, 2nd one on Princess, confirmed what many posters have been saying for a while: Princess and HAL have more similarities than differences. However, we found that for every difference, we preferred HAL.

Edited November 10, 2014 by taxmantoo

[Riversedge]

I agree with you 100%. And I'm betting that after people cruise another line, they may not be back. We have cruised several other lines but when we want the long itineraries we sail HAL. I can see the difference on this board also. It's the same old, same old threads...wine, smoking, dress. Nothing ever seems new or exciting. I'm hoping that HAL gets it together. It seems like the food, menus and service have gone downhill in the dining room. We'll be on them for 49 days soon so we'll see. We tend to have a good time no matter what.

[cruz chic]

I cruise with Princess regularly but if seems like some posters on the HAL board look at princess as the cheaper version of HAL. Not so. I also find it comical that when one person says Princess is a good line some folks react in a negative way. If it's their bestie that posts it a good line then they must be believed. Silly.

[frankc98376]

Remember Princess is now part of the Holland America Group- as is P&O Australia. So, the two ships going to Australia are staying within the "Holland America Group".

 

I'm watching the changes being made to these ships with great interest- may be a sign of things to come company wide.

Edited November 10, 2014 by frankc98376

[MOcruiserman]

Carnival owns HAL and Princess, among others. Obviously Carnival has a marketing plan which divides up the market among its various cruise lines. It wouldn't make any business sense for HAL and Princess to compete for the same customers, and I'm sure Carnival knows this. If Princess is taking customers away from HAL, instead of from Carnival's competitors (Royal, Norwegian) and Carnival believes this to be a problem, I'm sure Carnival will address it in some way.

[summersigh]

We have a really good TA who knows we like HAL best.

 

That being said, even she mentioned a great deal Princess was offering for a cruise leaving about the same date as the HAL cruise we'd come in to book. We chose to stay with HAL - even though we might have saved a few $$ with Princess but were more comfortable knowing what to expect from our favorite HAL.

 

Am I correct that the perception most folks have of Princess is that of a younger demographic than HAL? We're both retired, have been treated very well on all of our HAL cruises and are already in the loyalty programs of HAL, RCCL, and CCL - we had no burning for trying a new line. :D (RCCL is our 2nd favorite and CCL is a quick getaway including a port we've especially wanted to see, Cunard is an entity onto itself :D)

[oofroggie]

I also am looking and booking somewhere else. I am a 5* mariner and about to get my 700 day medallion. After doing 3 world cruises with HAL I am booked for the 2016 world cruise on Cunard. Doesn't hurt to try new things.

[iancal]

We just got off an RCI cruise..our first in a number of years.

 

So, I keep reading about how RCI is full of children etc, and how the rock climbing wall must be an indication of a ship gone mad. Well we had a rock climbing wall but never saw anyone on it. Very few children, mostly late forties and older. No surprise given the time but it did fly in the face of some pre conceived notions we had prior to actually cruising on RCI. The big surprise was that after Barcelona, where we disembarked, they were expecting just under 1000 Diamond Plus members to be on the TA. That is incredible repeat cruising and it reminded me of HAL's high repeat number. That number was exclusive of guests at other RCI membership levels.

 

Apart from the great benefits that we had based upon our Celebrity status (we are quite low...elite I think)- lounges for breakfast and pre dinner drinks, concierge services, free pre dinner drinks loaded on the room card, free hour of internet each, etc. RCI had two things that we had never seen before.

 

The first was a small sheet of paper delivered at night. Great for those who did not plan to do ship based excursions. For each port we got a 'how to' paper. Where to get the local busses, the local trains, how much they cost and how long it took. In some instances this data could be construed to be in direct competition with the cruise line excursions/transfers. It was very helpful and we heard a number of positive comments for other cruisers about this data sheet.

 

The second was a 2 foot by 4 foot touch screen by each of the elevator banks. It was like a large iPad. First option was where is the nearest restroom, next was how to get to my cabin. Others included what restaurants were open with sub categories to today's menu. There was one option for the activities for the remainder of the day..movies, entertainment, shows etc. It was simple to use and extremely intuitive. And of course they had on line account access in each cabin.

 

Just wish all lines had this. But we would not even had known these types of things had we limited ourselves to another cruise line exclusively.

 

We thought that both were outstanding ideas. The industry is changing rapidly and responding to customer wants and desires. Sometimes just reading about it is not enough. You need to step out and try it for yourself.

Edited November 10, 2014 by iancal

[Lizzie68]

We just got off an RCI cruise..our first in a number of years.

 

So, I keep reading about how RCI is full of children etc, and how the rock climbing wall must be an indication of a ship gone mad. Well we had a rock climbing wall but never saw anyone on it. Very few children, mostly late forties and older. No surprise given the time. The big surprise was that after Barcelona, where we disembarked, they were expecting just under 1000 Diamond Plus members to be on the TA. That is incredible repeat cruising and it reminded me of HAL's high repeat number.

 

Apart from the great benefits that we had based upon our Celebrity status (we are quite low...elite I think)- lounges for breakfast and pre dinner drinks, concierge services, free pre dinner drinks loaded on the room card, free hour of internet each, etc. RCI had two things that we had never seen before.

 

The first was a small sheet of paper delivered at night. Great for those who did not plan to do ship based excursions. For each port we got a 'how to' paper. Where to get the local busses, the local trains, how much they cost and how long it took. In some instances this data could be construed to be in direct competition with the cruise line excursions/transfers. It was very helpful and we heard a number of positive comments for other cruisers about this data sheet.

 

The second was a 2 foot by 4 foot touch screen by each of the elevator banks. It was like a large iPad. First option was where is the nearest restroom, next was how to get to my cabin. Others included what restaurants were open with sub categories to today's menu. There was one option for the activities for the remainder of the day..movies, entertainment, shows etc. And of course they had on line account access in each cabin.

 

Just wish all lines had this. But we would not even had known these types of things had we limited ourselves to another cruise line exclusively.

 

We thought that both were outstanding ideas. The industry is changing rapidly and responding to customer wants and desires. Sometimes just reading about it is not enough. You need to step out and try it for yourself.

 

Can I ask which ship? I like RCI but only the midsize ships such as the Mariner and the Radiance. It's been about 3 years, but I am very tempted to book an RCI cruise again. And it sounds like there have been even further improvements since we last sailed on one of their ships.

[iancal]

Serenade of the Seas. One of their older ships, and a little smaller I think. It was eight days Rome-Barcelona. Our last RCI cruise was an Alaska cruise on Legend....in 1998 or 1999. We booked well inside final payment window. One of the plusses was they had an excellent price on one way air fares home (we did a land trip and went over on a one way ticket).

 

We prearranged for open seating dinner reservations prior to boarding. Worked like a charm except for a ten minute wait on the first night.

Edited November 10, 2014 by iancal

[Windsailer]

After a less than stellar cruise on the Westerdam last May and a so-so cruise on the Amsterdam last September, I'm trying Princess next May to Alaska and two Celebrity cruises in Europe next October. I have a HAL cruise booked for 2016, but we'll see how we like these two new cruise lines. If we do we'll have more choices than HAL. If not, we'll try yet another cruise line.

 

If HAL would improve the wine lists (both in quality and price) and improve the quality of the food (back to 2012 and before levels) ..I wouldn't be looking elsewhere.

[iancal]

On the downside...this ship had virtually no library and the casino was not smoke free so we never bothered with it.

[sail7seas]

I think it a big deal for the ship to not have a decent library. That is a down tick on my checklist. :)

[iancal]

It is for us, or it was, but getting much less so.

 

We now download books from our local library on to the ipad. We get a much larger selection of books and can do searches. We no longer bother with a separate reader device or for that matter a cell phone. Land based libraries are moving very quickly to encompass electronic format. It enables you to borrow/download books virtually. You can be a world away as long as you have an internet connection.

 

The only trick is not to do it on your ship internet. Do it prior to boarding or in port where you can get a better/faster internet connection. And in our case, after the lending period, say three weeks, the book actually disappears from your device. No late fees!

Edited November 10, 2014 by iancal

[sail7seas]

I'm one of those who still enjoys holding a book in my hands. :) I have no desire for an e-reader of any sort but I know I am the minority.

[Mmtrip]

I'm one of those who still enjoys holding a book in my hands. :) I have no desire for an e-reader of any sort but I know I am the minority.

I thought I was the last person who felt this way. I'm personally keeping my local small bookstore in business! (well, almost! LOL)

[Padraic]

I still like HAL the best.

 

I also still like HAL the best. However, I do not hesitate to cruise on other lines if I like the itinerary and/or price.

[14 months and counting]

Last winter we sailed 10 days on Maasdam and immediately followed with 11 days on the Noordam. The Maasdam's basic facilities seemed to be in poor repair - half the elevators and half the public toilets were out of order constantly. The hours in the Lido had been greatly reduced and when we came back from shore there was a very limited choice of lunch offerings available. Conditions were better on the Noordam, but we noticed a reduction in staff that affected our enjoyment of the cruise since the few activities revolved around us purchasing something - gone were the enrichment lectures and port lectures that discussed the geography and culture of the Caribbean. We sailed four different cruises the year before and had started to notice a marked decline in quality. The Caribbean sailings of 2014 just confirmed that opinion.

 

In April, we sailed on Celebrity's Constellation on a 15 day TA from Fort Lauderdale to Amsterdam. What a difference. Whenever we used the public restroom, there was an attendant cleaning and passing out hand towels. The elevators worked all the time. The Lido had extended hours and many, many choices for breakfast and lunch. There were lots of activities to choose from each day.

 

The biggest difference was that the officers were very visible on the ship every day greeting and chatting with the passengers. The staffing levels seemed to be better in very venue. The head chef was even in the Lido a couple of days and was working handing out the food and filling requests for a certain type of fruit, veggie, etc.

 

HAL still has the best itineraries of all the cruise lines but after finally becoming 4 star mariners, we have now booked future cruises for 2015 and 2016 with Celebrity. Their prices are higher than HAL right now, but we feel the product is worth the extra money. I really hope HAL turns things around so we can go back to them in the future.

[MOcruiserman]

It is for us, or it was, but getting much less so.

 

We now download books from our local library on to the ipad.

I use my Kindle all the time and frequently download library books. To me a library on a cruise ship is not only a place to get books but also a quiet, comfortable place to read. I like to sit in a comfortable chair overlooking the ocean and read on my Kindle, with a cup of hot coffee on the table next to me.

[MOcruiserman]

HAL still has the best itineraries of all the cruise lines but after finally becoming 4 star mariners, we have now booked future cruises for 2015 and 2016 with Celebrity. Their prices are higher than HAL right now, but we feel the product is worth the extra money. I really hope HAL turns things around so we can go back to them in the future.

I've read lots of good things about Celebrity and hope to try them sometime if the itinerary and price are right.

[chrispb]

I have a kindle which I've never used, still prefer to have a real book but I buy them from charity shops and give/dump after they're read.

 

I always get paper-backs as they weigh less. My decent hard-covers stay home.