How is HAL different

[1beachbum1]

Sorry if this has been answered, but I search threads & did't find a general concise opinion. Considering our first HAL cruise on the Rotterdam in March. Have numerous trips on RCCI and NCL. What major differences will we find and what might be better other than food? Thanks for your help in deciding.

[RMLincoln]

Room service. I don' t know it that's major but it is better. m--

[lenquixote66]

HAL has Lanai cabins on some ships .No other cruise lines that I have been on have them.

[OlsSalt]

Sorry if this has been answered, but I search threads & did't find a general concise opinion. Considering our first HAL cruise on the Rotterdam in March. Have numerous trips on RCCI and NCL. What major differences will we find and what might be better other than food? Thanks for your help in deciding.

 

What did you like best and least about NCL and RCCL?

 

One thing you will notice is HAL ships are smaller and offer more varied and longer itineraries. They are good ships if your primary goal is to travel to new ports. Not so good if your primary goal is on-board entertainment.

Edited January 15, 2017 by OlsSalt

[sppunk]

The thing you'll immediately notice is the crew difference.

 

HAL's frontline employees like servers/ stewards are split between Indonesians and Filipinos. This imo makes a huge difference as staff have stringer relationships and can communicate directly easier than ships that don't split like this.

 

On rccl for instance your waiter might be from Hungary, asst waiter from South Africa, manager from Indonesia, etc.

 

It makes a difference. A positive difference imo.

[Aquahound]

Sorry if this has been answered, but I search threads & did't find a general concise opinion. Considering our first HAL cruise on the Rotterdam in March. Have numerous trips on RCCI and NCL. What major differences will we find and what might be better other than food? Thanks for your help in deciding.

 

Having sailed RCI and NCL several times, and having sailed HAL a few times, I disagree with the previous responses. I think the biggest difference you'll notice is the level/amount of entertainment and activities on HAL...or lack thereof. HAL falls asleep early and does not have the level of production shows you'll find on RCI and NCL. In fact, I gotta say...HAL entertainment kinda sucks. Do not expect to see what you have seen on RCI and NCL.

 

I do agree HAL service is great. Yeah, I think its better than other mass market lines, but not that much better.

 

In my opinion, where HAL shines compared to the others is their nautically decorated ships, relaxation and enrichment. It's like going back in time and taking a cruise before all the amusement amenities became popular.

[Scrapnana]

I took one cruise on Liberty of the Seas and could not find a quiet spot where I could look out at the sea and/or read my book. Plenty of areas like this on HAL.

[dockman]

Most HAL ships feel like you are actually sailing on a ship while the monster ships are like sailing in a shopping/entertainment mall.

[OlsSalt]

The thing you'll immediately notice is the crew difference.

 

HAL's frontline employees like servers/ stewards are split between Indonesians and Filipinos. This imo makes a huge difference as staff have stringer relationships and can communicate directly easier than ships that don't split like this.

 

On rccl for instance your waiter might be from Hungary, asst waiter from South Africa, manager from Indonesia, etc.

 

It makes a difference. A positive difference imo.

 

We love the HAL staff - they set just the right tone.

 

Typically, but not always, from our observations HAL public contact personnel are:

 

Cabin stewards - Indonesian

Dining stewards - Indonesian

Wine Stewards and Bar Tenders - Filipino

Front Desk - Filipino

Officers - Dutch or UK

Entertainers - often UK or US

Adagio - Eastern EU classically trained

Piano Bar - US

Cruise Directors: UK or US or Dutch .... or .....

Medical officers - US, Russian, Eastern EU ... or...

 

Not sure what the nationality breakdown is behind the house, but HAL often mentions many, many different nationalities are on board as HAL ship personnel - engineering and maintenance staff, tender operators, laundry, tailoring, kitchen, engine room .......

Edited January 15, 2017 by OlsSalt

[geoherb]

While the HAL cruises we have been on have lacked the big production casts (the last one, for instance, did not have any male dancers in the troupe), they've had some very interesting guest entertainers--the types we have haven't seen on other cruise lines. I remember a cellist, a comedy piano duo, and a violinist.

 

Sometimes it seems like it's harder on HAL to get something special. The waiters are good, but sometimes they look for permission from their head waiter more than they demonstrate initiative when dealing with simple requests that we've been able to make on our Princess cruises.

[Eboracum_d]

I'd say the whole experience on HAL is much more relaxed than RCCI. I can't say I noticed much difference in the quality of the production shows though the theatres on HAL are smaller.

 

There are noticeably fewer daytime activities on HAL

 

 

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[avian777]

Sorry if this has been answered, but I search threads & did't find a general concise opinion. Considering our first HAL cruise on the Rotterdam in March. Have numerous trips on RCCI and NCL. What major differences will we find and what might be better other than food? Thanks for your help in deciding.

 

There are many differences between RCCI & NCL on the one hand and HAL on the other but IMHO only one significant difference between them - only HAL has a Roman Catholic priest (who celebrates daily Mass) on board every one of its cruises. Since spiritual renewal is an important component of our vacation experience, HAL is our hands-down choice for cruising.

Smooth sailing ...

[bd1958]

One obvious difference will be the people you'll meet. They will be older than the other lines. There will be less children (almost none in my experience). I've never encountered drunk and rowdy people, but lots of folks having a good time. Culturally, even though there is less emphasis on formal attire, I believe there is less casual dress than NCL.

 

Entertainment-wise, the BB King show seems distinctive from other lines. It seems there is more emphasis on classical music (the group called Adagio) but this is inconsistent: One ship might have a string quartet (fantastic) another might have a duo playing a mix of classical and pop. The bars are quite late at night.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise.

 

Bruce

[alwaysfrantic]

Definitely quieter. Not a lot going on; people mostly do their own quiet things. They do have trivia once a day which is well attended. But there is not the long schedule of offerings as on other lines. Especially at night.

[Homosassa]

I just returned from an eleven night sailing on the Rotterdam.

 

I was surprised at the spread of ages of the passengers. We had 1,303 passengers on board (from the cruise log). There were young families (89 children), young adults, middle aged folks, and some oldsters. As the sailing was after the holidays, school breaks wouldn't account for the younger population.

 

Yes, entertainment on board ship is more low keyed than on other lines, but it is quality, not quantity.

 

The on board troupe of six dancers (three male, three female), and four singers (two female and two male) have a high caliber of training in their backgrounds and it instantly is obvious when they perform.

 

I went to the backstage chat and tour offered on a sea day. According to the members of the troupe, the company that has the contract for the Rotterdam only recruits performers at auditions in New York City, London, Kirov, and Moscow. On our cruise that broke down to a soprano opera trained in NYC, the other female was musical theater (either from NYC or London, don't remember) the two male singer were also musical theater trained which meant they could dance as well as sing, the dancers came from London or Kirov.

 

Other performers on other nights were on equally high caliber.

 

I am a trivia player and was a little disappointed that there was only one daily trivia game during the day and something called Pub Trivia in the evening. There was also a a food themed game offered a few times during the day.

 

Another offering is daily movies. Each day there was a fairly recently released movie shown throughout out the day and evening in the Wajang theater (Culinary Arts theater). There was also a list of over a thousand dvds available at no cost for viewing in your cabin.

 

One interesting offering aside from the movies was a collaboration between HAL and the BBC that showed the difficulties of filming the various BBC wildlife and nature documentaries. Also offered in connection with this collaboration was an evening show that featured outtakes of scenery or wildlife from the various BBC productions that were shown on a large screen in the theater and accompanied by live music performed by the Rotterdam band and Adagio. Breathtaking to view and listen to and shouldn't be missed.

 

For our cruise, ports of call were longer than other lines. We arrived promptly in port and one could go ashore at 7-8 AM and return to the ship was usually between 3:30 - 4:30 PM (we did have one port that was much earlier (1:30-2:30 PM). As a result people were up early to enjoy the day and the port, and yes, may have retired earlier to enjoy the next full day of a port call.

 

In the dining room, there was no problem with sometimes altering my husband's dinner choice because of his mushroom allergy.

[IndyDenise]

HAL has Lanai cabins on some ships .No other cruise lines that I have been on have them.

 

 

 

Carnival Vista has something even better .. a private balcony/lanai carved out on a deck.. complete with hammock

 

 

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[mame42]

I have cruised several times on NCL, and I have always met congenial, entertaining people. However, on HAL one meets fascinating people, no matter what their ages, who have been there, done that, and still look for new adventures.

[IndyDenise]

Having cruised both HAL and Carnival ( and believing that NCL and RC is closer to A Carnival type cruise than HAL ) the biggest difference is The Vibe.

 

The Vibe is that initial feeling you get when you step on board.

 

With Carnival I get that I'm ready to go go go feeling.. it's kind of a frenetic, hyper , excited state of mind.

 

On HAL I feel more peaceful.. more Serenity Nowish. It's a slower pace of life and perfect if you are cruising for relaxation and ports .

 

It's definitely not a party boat though there will be some that party on it. Even the party people do it with more restraint and respect than Carnival cruisers.

 

For the most part HAL cruisers are more respectful to others , and do not have the "it's my vacation and I'll do what I want" mentality.

 

 

 

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[boscobeans]

We've been cruising for 17 years and have done most of them on Celebrity then Royal Caribbean and then Holland America.

 

It HAS been a few years since we last sailed HAL.

 

Food,

Celebrity back a few years ago was a notch better than what we experienced on HAL, but has since gone downhill. If HAL has stayed the same I would say they are now a notch or two above, both in guality and presentation. Of the 3 RCCL food comes in 3rd. Not saying any of them were bad, just in order of our opinion.

 

Service,

Celebrity and HAL one top of service back then. Now Celebrity has gone down and is equal to RCCL . Once again IT HAS GONE DOWN but is still pretty good.

Holland America's staff in housekeeping and dining was superb when we cruised with them. Stewards did a great job taking care of our stateroom and us. Staff at ALL THE DINING VENUES was fantastic. Waiters, assistant waiters, buffet staff were all and always friendly, helpful and even the dreaded maître d's and assistants WERE GREAT. Smiles and astonishingly greetings by name after a day on board.

 

Ships;

The Noordam size is our favorite as well as the Celebrity M class and similarly sized RCCL ships. You know you are sailing the ocean and not in some giant hotel or indoor amusement park. The larger S class Celebrity and the huge RCCL ships are just to big and not to our liking.

 

Passenger age,

 

Well varied, although probably if you were punching numbers HAL would have the oldest average. We always saw kids of all ages as well as newly weds and as on most ships a fair share of motorized chairs.

 

Rooms;

All the new Celebrity ships have cabins that are the exact same size until you get into the actual 'butlered' suites. RCCL has some variety still and Hal does offer regular veranda, larger veranda and several suites on the same ship. Their cabin s seem roomier, and always well taken care of.

 

 

Ambiance

Celebrity-changed over the years, is looking for a new demographic of passengers who never knew what cruising was like 10 or 15 years ago.

RCCL-lots of activities day and night.

HAL-Comfortable, less high energy, always something to do or see however there are no bumper cars, ice skating or zip lines.

 

Hope the above gives you some insight.

 

We will be on the Zuiderdam next year and will see how it has changed if at all. Keeping our fingers crossed that HAL hasn't gone down as much as Celebrity has.

 

bosco

[iancal]

We would say that the big difference is the ships. Size, age, condition. We have found that for identical itineraries/dates a verandah cabin on a smaller, older HAL ship will be more expensive because there is a comparatively smaller percentage of them on older ships.

 

We find little or no significant difference in the level or quality of service between HAL and other lines. The nationality of the staff has never been a factor for us. Food and entertainment is a crap shoot on any of the mass market lines. They can be fabulous on one cruise and not so wonderful on another. HAL is certainly no different in this respect.

 

There are some ships in the HAL fleet that we would never consider. Same for NCL and RCI. Years ago there may have been an implied cachet about HAL being a premium line. In our view this has not been the case for a good few years.

 

Our advice would be to carefully select the ship, then consider the cruise line. Bottom line for us is that it is very doubtful that we would ever pay a premium for HAL. It comes down to personal preferences.

Edited January 15, 2017 by iancal

[Tom O.]

It is a complete mystery to me why anybody would choose one cruise line over another based on entertainment.

I have never seen any show on a cruise ship that I would have paid to see.

In fact we have stopped going to shows, because we find them tedious.

I do enjoy less formal entertainment in bars, etc. One of my favorite entertainment experiences was on my first HAL cruise when I happened on a string quartet.

But, in my opinion, entertainment is near the bottom of the list of services that a cruise ship offers.

[OlsSalt]

Guess we are called "new cruisers" since we have been sailing HAL only since 2008. (357 days) We never heard HAL was a "premium" cruise line, so therefore were never disappointed nor had any past HAL experience for comparison.

 

But we instantly felt HAL was a value cruise line - that is HAL offered an excellent return for the money, compared to a more standardly recognized "premium line" like Crystal, which had been our prior cruise line experience.

 

Our local SoCal AAA magazine just featured a story about the new Regent Seven Seas Explorer, the new HAL Konigsdam and a new Carnival Ship. Bottom line - average costs per this article: Regent was $1000 a day; HAL was $130 a day and Carnival was $100 a day.

 

To me, therein hangs the tale about "premium" cruising and mainline cruising.

Edited January 15, 2017 by OlsSalt

[Hlitner]

Guess we are called "new cruisers" since we have been sailing HAL only since 2008. (357 days) We never heard HAL was a "premium" cruise line, so therefore were never disappointed nor had any past HAL experience for comparison.

 

But we instantly felt HAL was a value cruise line - that is HAL offered an excellent return for the money, compared to a more standardly recognized "premium line" like Crystal, which had been our prior cruise line experience.

 

Our local SoCal AAA magazine just featured a story about the new Regent Seven Seas Explorer, the new HAL Konigsdam and a new Carnival Ship. Bottom line - average costs per this article: Regent was $1000 a day; HAL was $130 a day and Carnival was $100 a day.

 

To me, therein hangs the tale about "premium" cruising and mainline cruising.

 

HAL is only a "Premium" cruise line in its own mind...and that of a few long-time HAL cheerleaders. These days it is just one more quality mass market cruise line with some of the best itineraries of any line. HAL is also a terrific line for those of us who enjoy taking lengthy cruises (we are talking about many weeks or months).

 

Put very bluntly (and honestly), HAL has its pros and cons as does every cruise line. We have been on 14 lines and never found perfection anywhere. But HAL still delivers a decent product...even if the overall standards have suffered by multiple cut-backs.

 

Hank

[OlsSalt]

....... I've never encountered drunk and rowdy people, but lots of folks having a good time. .......

 

Bruce

 

Something I realize I have taken 100% for granted on HAL ships. Thanks for the reminder this may not be the case on other cruise lines or certain ships with certain itineraries.

 

On our first cruise on the Maasdam in early 2009, the Maitre d' did prevent a passenger from not entering the MDR on formal night due to his attire. Quite a scene erupted as our table was close to the dining room entrance.

 

The head chef on that cruise was a huge 6'5" fellow who came out with a phalanx of other burly-looking staffers and made sure this protesting passenger got the message he could not enter the dining room that night.

 

The head chef later told us he had also been banned from the MDR for the rest of the cruise for his unruly behavior. That was the first and last time we ever saw an unruly passenger on a HAL ship.

 

Naturally since that time, there are now no "formal" nights nor enforcement of any official main dining room attire standards. But hopefully any unruly and perhaps intoxicated passengers are dealt with in the same direct manner: banishment, ejection or confinement.

 

Harsh yes, but since other passengers sharing this same closed system are put in jeopardy if another passenger decides the "rules" are for someone else, this official response works for me.

[iancal]

When it comes to price I think that it is folly to evaluate mass market cruises based on price. Their prices are based on given points in time. No different than airlines.

 

A higher fare on an identical itinerary/date cruise on Princess, HAL, Celebrity, RCI certainly does not necessarily imply a better product, better experience.

 

It only implies that that the higher priced cruise line may be experiencing higher occupancy rates at that particular point in time for that specific ship/itinerary. It could also mean that they use a different fare revenue maximization algorithm.

 

For the past several years we have noticed that HAL has blown out Alaska late booking fares at a much lower price than their competition. This certainly does not imply to me that the HAL is an inferior product simply because their pricing was more aggressive. We found the opposite when pricing late booking Med cruises and it does not imply to us that the HAL product is superior to the other offerings.

Edited January 15, 2017 by iancal