Trending on this board -- pay attention HAL

[kazu]

I am an avid reader and thought I would never use my Kindle, how wrong I was, now I will not be without it. On holidays I would always have to find ways to pack 20 books in my suitcase (yes on a 2 week holiday I can ready 20 books - not huge tomes but regular size paperbacks). My Kindle has given me the freedom to have 500 books on it and I can now choose as my mood dictates, not what I have managed to squash into my case. On long holidays I would spend some of my time in second hand book shops trying to buy new books to replace those I have read, used to drive my DH mad.

 

Back to the subject in hand - just tried a Celebrity trip, admittedly on their older Century but people are right, more similarities than differences. The only thing that stood out to me was the staff, my 3 trips on the Oosterdam is packed with great memories of cheerful, chatty, helpful staff. While the Century staff were efficient and good, that extra level of cheerfulness seemed to be missing and some were downright grumpy. I am interested in seeing if it is any different on my cruise on the Solstice in February.

 

The Solstice was recommended to me when I was disappointed in Century. Let us know what you think. Century for me, was a dismal failure, but it was just a 7 day cruise and they can change quickly. however, once bitten twice shy especially when DH isn't happy:eek:

[USN59-79]

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.

It actually goes farther than that. The CEO of Holland America Line is Stein Kruse. The CEO of Princess Cruise Lines is Stein Kruse. Incidentally, he is also the CEO of Seabourn. So I am not sure that he really cares whether I cruise with Princess or HAL. Incidentally, we cruised 56 days on the Amsterdam this Spring and 34 days on Sapphire Princess this Fall and thoroughly enjoyed both the differences and similarities in both.

[summersigh]

Not trying to be a flamer but below is a link I just copied from Cruise Critic called "Cruise Line Dress Codes"

I'm not sure where the comments come from about other lines NOT having formal nights .... in the article pretty much every line has one or 2 "formal nights" per week (even Carnival and Princess)

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=545

 

As to RCCL being over-run with kids.... in our experience only when schools are on breaks are there a lot of kids on cruise ships. We've seldom seen kids on any line when school was in session except a couple of random preschoolers or a few well behaved homeschoolers.

Edited November 11, 2014 by summersigh
typo

[cruisemom42]

I am an avid reader and thought I would never use my Kindle, how wrong I was, now I will not be without it. On holidays I would always have to find ways to pack 20 books in my suitcase (yes on a 2 week holiday I can ready 20 books - not huge tomes but regular size paperbacks). My Kindle has given me the freedom to have 500 books on it and I can now choose as my mood dictates, not what I have managed to squash into my case.

 

Yes, I wholeheartedly agree. I really like being able to have a lot of different choices in books with me. (And I have been a book editor at various times in my life....:o)

 

But what I really like is having key references with me while traveling. If I want to be able to look up and read Sallust's writing on a particular Roman war while visiting the site of the battle, I have it on my trusty Kindle. If I want to re-read Elizabeth Barrett's poem about the Battle of Marathon after visiting the tomb of the Athenians who died there, I have it on my trusty Kindle. If I want to read Frontinus' work on the aqueducts of Rome while looking for traces of those aqueducts in Rome, my Kindle comes to the rescue. And if, by chance, I want to look up something or read something in a book that I don't have with me, I can order and download it on my Kindle wherever there is wifi or 3G available.

 

Yes....I do like books too and for some circumstances prefer them. But I will never travel without my Kindle (or some similar device) again.

[cruisin'girl]

I still buy some real books, mostly my 3 favorite mystery authors for whom I have their entire series of particular detectives. Most in hardback since I can't wait for the paperbacks. Other than that I read books on my IPad so I have Internet, email, texting, and books on the same device. I haven't used my kindle in years.

[toledo_cruiser]

Okay, some of you are starting to scare me. I have my first HAL cruise booked for next month and I'm hoping for a wonderful experience. I'm platinum on Carnival and Princess and am just looking for a different experience. As one of my cruising friends said, after several Carnival cruises she didn't bother exploring the ship as they were all pretty much the same. I don't want to get jaded like that, hence my HAL booking.

 

I have heard about the HAL service and I look forward to experiencing it. If it can top what I experienced on the Royal this year I will truly be impressed. The only thing I disliked about the Royal was the balcony size (and we were in a mini-suite). I disliked it so much we will probably only book the Grand class on Princess if possible (of course it appears the Royal and Regal will get the bulk of the Caribbean runs in the future).

 

If the HAL experience has degraded, at least I have nothing to compare, I wasn't there for the "glory days." I know I have seen that first hand on Carnival.

Jim

[cruz chic]

Okay, some of you are starting to scare me. I have my first HAL cruise booked for next month and I'm hoping for a wonderful experience. I'm platinum on Carnival and Princess and am just looking for a different experience. As one of my cruising friends said, after several Carnival cruises she didn't bother exploring the ship as they were all pretty much the same. I don't want to get jaded like that, hence my HAL booking.

 

I have heard about the HAL service and I look forward to experiencing it. If it can top what I experienced on the Royal this year I will truly be impressed. The only thing I disliked about the Royal was the balcony size (and we were in a mini-suite). I disliked it so much we will probably only book the Grand class on Princess if possible (of course it appears the Royal and Regal will get the bulk of the Caribbean runs in the future).

 

If the HAL experience has degraded, at least I have nothing to compare, I wasn't there for the "glory days." I know I have seen that first hand on Carnival.

Jim

I've found the service in the MDR to be much better on princess then hal.

[spongerob]

Well count us as moving the other direction. We have 25+ Princess cruises and just came back from our third on HAL. We both agree that HAL is today the way Princess was before the big ship craze started. Princess still does a few things better but our preference now is for HAL.

[Wastegirl]

The Solstice was recommended to me when I was disappointed in Century. Let us know what you think. Century for me, was a dismal failure, but it was just a 7 day cruise and they can change quickly. however, once bitten twice shy especially when DH isn't happy:eek:

 

Kazu, Century might have been a disappointment for us too if we hadn't been prepared knowing it was an older ship, also I wasn't expecting those little touches that HAL provides, eg flowers everywhere, artwork, spacious bathrooms, promenade deck (oh dear don't get me started). Also I paid a really good price for the cruise so again not disappointed. But the Solstice is supposed to the 'Modern Luxury' as they keep saying so they are really going to have to step it up.

 

Unfortunately HAL only has one ship out of Australia (currently Oosterdam) doing multiple trips, the Volendam doing a circumnavigation and occasionally the world tours drop in here - so I can't afford to be faithful to one cruise line.

 

Mind you we just booked for the Eden (former HAL ship) - YAY - for its first 2016 season - I will come back with a review on that one if someone else doesn't do it first.

[Host Walt]

Kazu, Century might have been a disappointment for us too if we hadn't been prepared knowing it was an older ship, also I wasn't expecting those little touches that HAL provides, eg flowers everywhere, artwork, spacious bathrooms, promenade deck (oh dear don't get me started). Also I paid a really good price for the cruise so again not disappointed. But the Solstice is supposed to the 'Modern Luxury' as they keep saying so they are really going to have to step it up.

 

Unfortunately HAL only has one ship out of Australia (currently Oosterdam) doing multiple trips, the Volendam doing a circumnavigation and occasionally the world tours drop in here - so I can't afford to be faithful to one cruise line.

 

Mind you we just booked for the Eden (former HAL ship) - YAY - for its first 2016 season - I will come back with a review on that one if someone else doesn't do it first.

 

We had the pleasure of sailing on the maiden voyage of the 1284 passenger MS Ryndam and loved that ship (as we did all of the S Class ships). At the time it was considered a very large ship but the design was so efficient it seemed like a smaller, more intimate ship like the earlier HAL fleet was (Nieuw Amsterdam and its sister the Noordam).

 

The refurbishment of Ryndam, which will be named Eden once the ship is ready to sail for P&O Australia, should provide you with a wonderful experience.

[Linda&Vern]

We got off the Veendam after 17 days on Saturday. Yes, the Veendam. The cruise and the crew were so fabulous that we now know for certain that we won’t be wandering over to another line.

[sevigny]

We, too, are long time HAL cruisers. When we planned our trip of a lifetime, though, to New Zealand and Australia, I knew I didn't want to sail on the Oosterdam. I looked at Cunard, Princess, and then almost at the last moment, the Celebrity Solstice. I was very wary of such a large ship, as our favourite has always been the Prinsendam.

 

The Solstice offered a 35 day back to back from Auckland to Sydney, all the way around Australia. It was fabulous, and we actually enjoyed the ship very much. Was the food that great? No, but neither is HAL's anymore in our opinion. The ship just had a lot more to do, and I loved the Sanctuary indoor pool - the area was so nice and cool during the hot days. The hot glass show was wonderful, and the coffee cafe served the best teas I have ever had at sea, even when I've brought my own. The service was very good, and we were very reluctant to get off the ship.

 

Who knew that we would actually enjoy another line so much? I find myself looking at their cruises first now for our next one. So, yes, HAL, please do take note.

[wesport]

In reading Princess's loyalty program, you get 150 minutes of internet after just 6 cruises. With Hal you only get a 50% discount on 100(one time only) minutes after you reach 5 star status!!!!!!!!! Go figure. I sent a nice note to the Mariner Society and was told the Mariner Program is designed with what Mariners want. Such as picture of the ship??? Advance information on Itineraries??? 10% off on HAL clothing???? I will like HAL, but one 5 day Caribbean cruise on Princess will get me 150 minutes of free internet. Sounds good to me. I'm not addicted to the internet, but like to stay connected with family whey on a trip. Just a thought.

[kazu]

Kazu, Century might have been a disappointment for us too if we hadn't been prepared knowing it was an older ship, also I wasn't expecting those little touches that HAL provides, eg flowers everywhere, artwork, spacious bathrooms, promenade deck (oh dear don't get me started). Also I paid a really good price for the cruise so again not disappointed. But the Solstice is supposed to the 'Modern Luxury' as they keep saying so they are really going to have to step it up.

 

Unfortunately HAL only has one ship out of Australia (currently Oosterdam) doing multiple trips, the Volendam doing a circumnavigation and occasionally the world tours drop in here - so I can't afford to be faithful to one cruise line.

 

Mind you we just booked for the Eden (former HAL ship) - YAY - for its first 2016 season - I will come back with a review on that one if someone else doesn't do it first.

 

Thanks Elsie. Older ships don't bother us. We sail HAL's oldest ship a lot :)

 

Enjoy the Eden and please tell us about her. I know I would like to know the changes made to her. :)

[1of4]

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.

 

This is exactly how i feel. I am so frazzled by the time I board that I don't want bells and whistles, flashing lights and crowds. I get dizzy from neon and flashing lights due to a medical condition. So no Vegas style for me and that is what I am afraid of as HAL does the "non flashing" style so well, will the other lines allow me to enjoy the ship or will I be looking for ways to move around the ship to avoid lights. I saw a You Tube video of the central Park on RCI and know that I couldn't go on those ships. On HAL you can find me in the library or the sea view pool where we can find chairs together and enjoy the voyage and the location we are in.

Edited November 11, 2014 by 1of4

[hrhdhd]

In reading Princess's loyalty program, you get 150 minutes of internet after just 6 cruises. <snip>

 

Minor correction: you get 150 minutes after the 5th cruise. I'm looking forward to my 150 minutes in December on the Regal Princess, which will be my 6th cruise with Princess.

Edited November 11, 2014 by hrhdhd

[iancal]

We were a bit surprised on RCI. We assumed that the sixty free minutes that we were given was per stateroom based on our Celebrity status.

 

Turned out it was per person so we had 120 in total. We did not really need it since we prefer to connect on land because of the response time.

 

Nor were we charged for printing our four airline boarding passes. Seems to me on a prior cruise, forget the cruise line, that they charged us .50 for each page. At the time I thought that was very tacky but such an insignificant issue that it did not really stick in my mind.

 

HAL's loyalty program is hardly earth shattering but we usually do not find out about any cruise line loyalty benefits until after we are on board and get the bumph. So many of the benefits have zero value. We don't need the free bottle of water, thanks. Lots of water in the tap. So it does not figure into our decision process. We have no interest in pins, pictures, medals, magazines, lunches, or meeting the officers. But, getting a $200. discount on our balcony cabin was one loyalty benefit that surprised and pleased us.

Edited November 11, 2014 by iancal

[dadroy]

I thought Dadroy was looking for more current itineraries but I should have been more specific on years I guess. Last time I looked at 2016 it seemed it only showed longer than 7 day itineraries. I will check 2016 out. Thanks. Okay I see January through April 2016 cruises are posted and some are 7 days. Do you know if all sailings for January through April 2016 are listed yet? My experience with RCL for example is that they only post a few sailings that far in advance.

 

Actually, my complaint was that having a ship for a 4 day coastal or 3--- 7 day trips is not quite the same as having a ship on the West Coast full time. This would be like looking at Celebrity lines (2-3 cruises a year on the west coast) and thinking going to Vancouver or Panama Canal would be the same as being able to pick any week during the year and cruising, like Florida has.

 

Sometimes I ramble, but think of all the loyal cruisers of any line and move all the ships to Vancouver, would those folks cruise as much or be as loyal to their line? Love HAL,, but so costly to fly to Florida to cruise.

[qsuzi]

Actually, my complaint was that having a ship for a 4 day coastal or 3--- 7 day trips is not quite the same as having a ship on the West Coast full time. This would be like looking at Celebrity lines (2-3 cruises a year on the west coast) and thinking going to Vancouver or Panama Canal would be the same as being able to pick any week during the year and cruising, like Florida has.

 

Sometimes I ramble, but think of all the loyal cruisers of any line and move all the ships to Vancouver, would those folks cruise as much or be as loyal to their line? Love HAL,, but so costly to fly to Florida to cruise.

 

Thanks for clarifying dadroy. I have seen posts that say it is because of supply vs demand and it is just not as profitable as other itineraries. Some have also said because of lack of safety and or incidents/crimes against cruise passengers. It WOULD be great to have HAL and RCL offering West Coast itineraries full time. For now and for us guess this means sailing Princess in 2016 - not a bad problem to have.

[Oceanwench]

I like reading about other lines - from HAL fans' points of view.

I like that they can provide comparisons between two lines - gives me an idea of what to expect if I were to try cruising, say, Princess or Celebrity.

 

Reading about other lines here is not a recent trend.

I recall last year reading a lot about Oceania on this board.

 

I know the next time we take a family cruise, it will be on a line other than HAL, as my daughter wants something more kid friendly. We are thinking of Norwegian out of PortMiami next fall. Her sons will be 7 and 2 by then, and they'll enjoy the kiddie pools, characters, etc.

 

As far as books -- I never thought I would enjoy reading one on my iPad -- but I do! Especially on a cruise, where I can "pack" four or five books for my enjoyment. I still buy some hardcovers and paperbacks, but most of my reading is on my iPad.

[sail7seas]

It actually goes farther than that. The CEO of Holland America Line is Stein Kruse. The CEO of Princess Cruise Lines is Stein Kruse. Incidentally, he is also the CEO of Seabourn. So I am not sure that he really cares whether I cruise with Princess or HAL. Incidentally, we cruised 56 days on the Amsterdam this Spring and 34 days on Sapphire Princess this Fall and thoroughly enjoyed both the differences and similarities in both.

 

 

Actually, there are a number of key positions at HAL that also perform the same functions with Seabourn, not just CEO. It would seem some of those same positions are crossovers between Princess and HAL, as well. They are not operating in a vacuum seeing they are all under the Carnival Corp. umbrella.

 

 

 

 

We had the pleasure of sailing on the maiden voyage of the 1284 passenger MS Ryndam and loved that ship (as we did all of the S Class ships). At the time it was considered a very large ship but the design was so efficient it seemed like a smaller, more intimate ship like the earlier HAL fleet was (Nieuw Amsterdam and its sister the Noordam).

 

The refurbishment of Ryndam, which will be named Eden once the ship is ready to sail for P&O Australia, should provide you with a wonderful experience.

 

 

 

Yes, Yes..... I so agree.

We love the "S" class ships and have been great fans of Maasdam since we attended her Inaugural visit in Boston fresh from Fincantieri. We loved that ship immediately.

 

We sailed Statendam early her Inaugural Season doing Panama Canal. I still have wonderful memories of that cruise.

 

It is sad for us long time "S" Class ship fans to see them leaving the fleet. So many wonderful cruises on all of them.

 

 

 

[USN59-79]

Minor correction: you get 150 minutes after the 5th cruise. I'm looking forward to my 150 minutes in December on the Regal Princess, which will be my 6th cruise with Princess.

 

The number of minutes also depends on the length of the cruise. On our recent B2B on Sapphire Princess both segments were 17 days. So we got 250 minutes each for each segment, for a total of 1000 minutes for the 34 day cruise. More than enough to check our email each day and great not to have to take a laptop ashore and look for a wifi hot spot.

[maxout]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, Yes..... I so agree.

We love the "S" class ships and have been great fans of Maasdam since we attended her Inaugural visit in Boston fresh from Fincantieri. We loved that ship immediately.

 

We sailed Statendam early her Inaugural Season doing Panama Canal. I still have wonderful memories of that cruise.

 

It is sad for us long time "S" Class ship fans to see them leaving the fleet. So many wonderful cruises on all of them.

 

 

 

 

The Statendam was our first HAL ship and will always hold a special place in our hearts.

[OTOW guy]

We like the ambiance of their ships, the library and most of the menus. Now with the caviar service from Pinnacle we are really happy. We usually have a lot of OBCs for each cruise. My partner uses a Kindle but also the library and since she smokes, HAL is her choice even though we have sailed Princess but they don't seem too much different to need to switch.

And we like the cabin and dining room staff as they seem to care about the passengers, more than we found with the Princess people that come from all over and many have lousy attitude.

Edited November 11, 2014 by OTOW guy

[shugey]

Never had a complaint on HAL until our last cruise, on the Eurodam last month. It was in the Caribbean, where we always cruise - we aren't great fans of the ports, but rather just enjoy being on the ship - any ship.

 

Last month, though, we noticed a BIG difference, particularly in the daily schedule on port days. Whereas in the past they always had something going on, even when the ship was in port, this time - zilch. Nothing from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Oh, there were a couple of "seminars," which are thinly disguised sales opportunities, and there was spa offering or two - another chance to pitch something to buy. But as far as, for example, trivia? Bingo? ANYTHING? Nope.

 

The Lido buffet was opened for, I believe, 1 1/2 hours. Scheeze, unbelievable that they just practically forget about people who want to stay aboard the ship. Quiet as a mouse ...

 

Are we reconsidering HAL? Yes, certainly ... we've already checked into Royal Caribbean and are VERY impressed that you can exchange loyalty points between RCL and Celebrity. Their other perks are impressive indeed. We may very well try it on our next cruise.