NCL to HAL?

[travelnap]

19 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

Anyone who has "nap" in their screen name will fit right in on HAL.   🙂

Well, that works for me.  

[retdon]

We are loyal HAL cruisers and love the excellent service, quiet environment, good food and special things they do for their passengers. We like boarding and having the cabin ready by 11am and staying in the cabin until your color code is called when disembarking. We like our drinks brought to our table by servers (in the buffet) and we like the staff to serve our food in the buffet. The room service is excellent and no charge. You can order from the Main Dinning menu into your cabin and we have done this on surf and turf night, nothing like eating steak and lobsters in your pjs. Room service always calls after your order is delivered to check and make sure you received everything. One other nice touch is the cloth towels in the public restrooms.

 

One big plus no smoking anywhere inside the ship, including the casino. There is a designated area aft on the top pool area for smokers. 

 

We just got off the RCL Harmony of the Seas and it was the most disappointing cruise we have been on. A monster ship with 5,700 passengers, about 1,000 of them young children, screaming, yelling and shoving. The announcements were so loud as was the entire ship we could not have a conversation with friends at dinner. I wish I had some ear plugs, it hurt my hearing. We went on this cruise to be with my high school reunion friends. 

 

Even though HAL has a program for children you will not see many on board. I would guess our last cruise in April there were about 15 total children and they were mostly teens. 

 

Yes HAL caters to the older cruiser and has the highest return cruiser numbers in the industry, they reward us highly for coming back. Their ships are easy to get around and are in excellent condition. They do not allow empty room service trays to be placed in the hall ways and are always cleaning to keep the ship spotless. 

 

There are many cruise lines and some like one more than the other, something for everyone and everyone's likes. 

[HarpHarp]

I also loved the service in the buffet on HAL. Having someone come by with coffee is a plus. I'm 66 and very short & found the seating on hal to be quite comfortable. Some of the seating on the Dawn, my latest NCL cruise, was downright unwieldy. We kept trying to catch the person changing the floor mats on the elevator.

 

The piano bar & B.B. Kings were busy late evenings, but rarely felt crowded.

[napper777]

12 hours ago, retdon said:

We are loyal HAL cruisers and love the excellent service, quiet environment, good food and special things they do for their passengers. We like boarding and having the cabin ready by 11am and staying in the cabin until your color code is called when disembarking. We like our drinks brought to our table by servers (in the buffet) and we like the staff to serve our food in the buffet. The room service is excellent and no charge. You can order from the Main Dinning menu into your cabin and we have done this on surf and turf night, nothing like eating steak and lobsters in your pjs. Room service always calls after your order is delivered to check and make sure you received everything. One other nice touch is the cloth towels in the public restrooms.

 

One big plus no smoking anywhere inside the ship, including the casino. There is a designated area aft on the top pool area for smokers. 

 

We just got off the RCL Harmony of the Seas and it was the most disappointing cruise we have been on. A monster ship with 5,700 passengers, about 1,000 of them young children, screaming, yelling and shoving. The announcements were so loud as was the entire ship we could not have a conversation with friends at dinner. I wish I had some ear plugs, it hurt my hearing. We went on this cruise to be with my high school reunion friends. 

 

Even though HAL has a program for children you will not see many on board. I would guess our last cruise in April there were about 15 total children and they were mostly teens. 

 

Yes HAL caters to the older cruiser and has the highest return cruiser numbers in the industry, they reward us highly for coming back. Their ships are easy to get around and are in excellent condition. They do not allow empty room service trays to be placed in the hall ways and are always cleaning to keep the ship spotless. 

 

There are many cruise lines and some like one more than the other, something for everyone and everyone's likes. 

Thanks for the details! I'm looking forward to a slower pace cruise with less of a child focus! Also nice to hear about no smoking!!

[Markanddonna]

We took a HAL cruise in Alaska and it defied both the positive and negative stereotypes I have read. There were MANY children, but that may be more typical on an Alaskan cruise. The food was somewhat better than NCL, the crew wasn't as friendly on HAL, and overall, I thought there ships internally were a bit "gloomy."  I came away thinking I would be willing to return to a HAL cruise (I haven't in ten years) and that all the praise I had read about HAL being a step above NCL was quite overrated. JMHO.

[KateQ22003]

HAL is a fantastic cruise line. The level of service is a step above, as is the food and ambiance. Less children is also a plus! 

[Turtles06]

11 hours ago, napper777 said:

Thanks for the details! I'm looking forward to a slower pace cruise with less of a child focus! Also nice to hear about no smoking!!

 

Re the casinos, just be aware that there are a few HAL ships where smoking is allowed in the casino (at all times, or on certain nights), including the two newest ships (I can't understand why).    Do a search for HAL's "Know Before You Go" brochure (or HAL's smoking policy), and you'll get the full details.

[davy jones]

On 10/25/2019 at 3:11 PM, 4774Papa said:

davy jones,

We have only had one cruise were our neighbors smoked on their balconies (unfortunately they were upwind from us).  That was Around the Horn of SA on Celebrity Infinity in 2014.   The culprits were Europeans and not to be denied their nicotine.

 

I complained to on day one of the violation, and it was the two adjacent balconies upwind from us.  It didn't stop, even after they were warned.  It took five days for the smoking to stop.  I complained every day for five days.   Finally, the Housing Manager came to our cabin and told us that finally had to issue them a letter threatening them with eviction from the ship.

 

I thought the problem was gone, but two days prior to the end of the cruise, I noticed it again and complained again.  I could have taken a photo of the culprit next door.  The Housing Manger came by the next day (one day prior to the end of the cruise) and said they couldn't prove the violation.  

I think once we passes the last port prior to the end of the cruise the culprits decided to smoke again, thinking what could the cruise line do?   I though that the cruise line could fine something line $2000, but it didn't happen.

We have done 20 cruises and only one was a problem.  I guess that is pretty good odds.

One can look out and see that the majority of the balcony cruisers are not out there smoking.  I have just had bad luck recently.  It was more frustrating because we were on angled balconies.