HAL loyalist on RCCL?

[ualtim]

Question for anyone who is a HAL cruiser and who has been on one of those huge Voyager class vessels. Can a HAL loyalist find the peace and quiet we expect on HAL ships on the Mega Ships? I was saddened to learn that the Zaandam will be in its final season sailing from Port Canaveral this winter and now that we are in Orlando, so close to a HAL home port, the HAL ships are leaving. The only options left available are Carnival, RCCL, and Disney. Of the 3 remaining lines, RCCL looks to be the best of the rest, but we are kind of leary of going on them. Anyone with with good or bad experiences? The ship looks awesome, but the wife and I are not into the "Party Boat" mentality. We like the R&R aspect of cruising and are perfectly happy lounging by the pools, reading books, and enjoying the evening entertainment after a good meal. Can that be had on a ship that carries 3000+ passengers?

 

We would appreciate any feedback from anyone who has done both HAL and the Voyager class cruises. Thank you for your help.

[MBeamTX]

Ualtim, I'm wondering the same thing - but I won't find out until next April. That's when we're doing a 2-week Panama Canal cruise on Serenade of the Seas, after 5 or 6 cruises on HAL. Based on what I've read so far, I think RCI's Radiance class ships and longer itineraries might better fit someone who likes HAL I'm looking forward to making the comparison.

 

Happy cruising,

Susan

[jazzsea]

Yes, the Zaandam will be sailing from Ft. Lauderdale. The good news is that you may have more than one HAL ship sailing from Tampa.

 

I would love to see HAL put one of the Vista class ships in Port Canaveral. We'll have to see what they do when the Westerdam is in service from a home port and the new Noordam comes out.

 

I've sailed from Tampa several times and liked it.

[Nasmas]

I hope this is the case. We sailed out of Tampa several years ago on the Ms New Amsterdam and it was not nearly as hectic as FLL. We've looked but only the Veendam is there now. We had a bad experience on the Veendam and haven't really wanted to sail her again. It wasn't totally the ship's fault but it made us not want to sail her again. I also wish they'd do more Canada/New England. We'll see.

[robertmartha]

UALTIM

 

Having sailed on the Maasdam and Zuiderdam - we defected to RCCL Mariner of the Seas two weeks ago. So hopefully I can answer your questions. I think the major factor will be when you sail. If it is when school is out or a school break - be prepared for A LOT of kids. Keep in mind there were 11 of us (6 adults/5 children) in our party and we selected the Mariner because it offered such a diverse amount of activiites for our group. Also we have had a category S on Hal both times and we booked a RCCL Grand Suite so that we do have an apples to apples comparson.

 

We would sail on RCC again - put it this way we are booked on Zuiderdam next August already and are considering doin a B to B.

 

Ask away.....

[ualtim]

A 2nd ship in Tampa and a Vista Class in Port Canaveral would be valhalla! We like the Veendam (sailing on her again in Jan), but it would be nice to have a second ship/itinery to choose from in Tampa. A Vista in PC would solve my problem, but it looks like 2006 would be the earliest it would happen. I guess we can hope and pray that it happens. PC is 35 mins away and Tampa is 90 minutes away. The alternative of Port Everglades is 3.5 hours away which is not bad, but not something we would like to do a few times a year.

 

RCCL's Voyager class sounds like a great ship, would love to try it out, but we are not sure if we can find our comfort zone like we have on HAL. The solarium pool area sounds great if it truly is a kid-free zone, but we also know that most kid-free areas rules are routinely broken. Anyone know how well RCCL keeps the Solarium area kid free?

[ron46936]

Orlando is not that far from Tampa. Celebrity sails from there and is much closer to HAL in style than is RCCL.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We tried RCI a few years ago - before the mega ships. We weren't happy with them. Have never been back on them.

[Bev Wagner]

We cruise on RCCL frequently. My husband loves to go to the library and find da comfy chair and read. THe pool is my choice. Yes you can find whatever you want on a RCCL ship. Give the big ships a try on RCCL and you won't be disappointed.

[robertmartha]

UALTIM

 

I have to say the solarium pool area was totally kid free. It was the one place that was quite and peaceful and actually very crowded on both sea and non-sea days. The 6 adults in our party hung out there for 2 hrs one afternoon while the kids were at camp and it was wonderful. Unfortunatly with so much to do on the ship - that two hrs was the only time we spent in that area!

 

My wife and I and our 2 kids (ages 9 and 7) like the HAL experience much better. Service could not even compare to HAL, and my 2 girls actually liked Club Hal better then Adventure Ocean.

[TedC]

We sailed the Baltic route on Brillance of the Sea on its first season with a family group.

 

The ship was beautiful and somewhat similar to HAL's Vista Class - outside glass elevators etc. But RCI puts 200 or 300 more passengers on the ship than HAL puts on the Vista ships. My main complaint was the food - not nearly as good as HAL.

 

We chose that ship because of the itinerary and thought the kids would enjoy the rock climbing wall on the sea days. Kids loved it, but also loved the great itinerary. It was a wonderful cruise but probably wouldn't go back to RCI unless traveling with youngsters.

[ualtim]

robertmartha, thank you for your assitance!

 

We try and sail away from school vacations and other times of the year when there would not be a lot of kids on board. One of our other concearns is the "party animal" adults. We have heard horror stories from people who have sailed on the so called Fun Ships whose vacations were ruined from the spring break atmosphere. Everyone needs to let off some steam, but when I go on vacation to relax I do not want hundreds of drunken partiers walking the cooridors outside my stateroom yelling and screaming in the wee hours of the morning. Even a group of 20-30 party harders can kill the peace aboard a large ship.

 

Is the Mariner of the Seas large enough to find quiet areas? Is the food comparible to HAL? Are the kid-free zones enforced? Do you feel like you are staying in a college dorm on a Saturday night or in a nice hotel? How bad are the lines on the ship? Embarkation? Debarkation? Would appreciate your insight.

 

Side Note: We used to cruise with Princess, but have found that they are trying to become more and more like Carnaval. Large ships, party oriented cruisers. That combined with some previous issues during the landside portion of our cruises have turned us away from Princess. Although my wife and I are in our mid thirties, we have always enjoyed the quiet and relaxed pace aboard the HAL ships. We are not tea-totalers, but we do not enjoy the party to the extreme college like atmosphere either. A pre-dinner drink in the Crows Nest, maybe some wine with dinner on a formal night, a tropical drink by the pool, and some port with a cigar are more inline with our lifestyle.

[sail7seas]

We cruised once on RCI and never returned. We did not think it compared at all to HAL.

 

 

We will be sailing out of Tampa for the first time on Veendam in January. We prefer FLL because we have better choices for flights.

 

The air we must take to Tampa is just barely acceptable to me. I'm not happy about that part.

[localady]

I took my first 2 cruises on RCCL. One on Serenity of the Seas and one on Rhapsody of the seas. Although I was a cruising newbie, we loved both cruises and it caused me to become addicted. Then I discovered HAL and have fallen in love with her staff and her cruise experience. Both of those cruises were great though, and I can't think of anything that would keep me from sailing RCCL again. I have also sailed on Celebrity (Millinnieum), and that was a lovely experience too, although the Ship was a bit large for my taste!:cool:

[kruzkeen]

We would appreciate any feedback from anyone who has done both HAL and the Voyager class cruises. Thank you for your help.

 

Last February we did the West Caribbean on the Voyager of the Sea and the East Caribbean on the Oosterdam the next week. Enjoyed them both.

 

Voyager: Never saw any children until one night at dinner about 50 of them paraded through the dinning room as AdventureOcean pirates singing. Very cute. Teens seemed to hang out at Johnny Rockets diner. Do not remember any problem at the pool.

 

We liked the three tier spacious dinning room, low noise level and very good food and service. The Windjammer was fine, although it was not as well laid out as the Radiance class ships. Ice show in the skating rink was a nice change from the usual production shows. Parades in the early evening through the Royal Promenade were also fun. We booked a category PR, so we had a bow window that looked down into mall. I wish these ships could get to the West Coast as I would like to do it again without having to fly across the country.

 

The only negatives I can mention were a slow disembarkation. This did not bother us as were were just going up to FLL for the Oosterdam. The bartenders and cabin attendants were not as friendly and charming as they are on HAL. I have always found this to be the case on on RCI and was not surprized on the mega ship.

 

Oosterdam: This is a beautiful ship. It has most of the things that make us like HAL. They have improved the design of the atrium and the glass elevators look right out at the ocean. The Lido is exceptionally well designed with different stations. Service is as gracious as ever.

 

Having said that, I thought the dinning room was noisy, the tables smaller and closer together than on other ships. We sat at different locations for lunch or breakfast and it always seemed that people were shouting. I missed the Wjang Theatre for movies, the Queens Lounge is not very good. On other HAL ships the sauna and stream rooms are open to all, on the Vistal class ships they are part of a Spa package.

 

We were not unhappy with the Oosterdam, but unless there was a route that we really wanted, I think we will stick to the non Vista class ships.

[ualtim]

Wow! So many replies so quick. Thank you all for your feedback.

 

We have tried to cruise Celebrity a few times, but the plans always seem to fall apart. We would love to cruise on Celebrity out of Tampa, but it appears that they are concentrating on 10 day or longer cruises from that port on Horizon. Due to new jobs, 7 day cruises are all we can do for a few years if we plan on continuing the 2 cruise a year plan. There are a few 7 dayers on Horizon, but they are not weekly which can be a scheduling problem (wife an I work rotating days off, do not always have weekends off.) We were booked on Century last Novemeber in a Sky Suite, but had to cancel when we moved to Florida as both of us had no vacation time in our new jobs.

 

We, too, love the options out of Port Everglades, but would prefer to avoid the long drive. Too close to fly, too long to be a short drive. Maybe we'll change our minds after the drive in September, but it sure would be nice to embark 35 mins from our doorstep.

 

The Voyager class seems so nice, its just the service/quality/fellow passenger issues giving us pause before booking. Celebrity does not have their fall schedule for 2005 published so we can not compare the Tampa option at this time. We are Veedaming it in Jan, and would not want to repeat the ship in the same year if it could be avoided. Celebrity from Jacksonville is an option, but the ride is almost the same as Port Everglades so it does not solve the long drive issue. Prices for Suites and Balconies are quite low in the fall on Mariner of the Seas, so there would be some savings advantage. What to do, what to do, what to do.

 

Thanks to all you for your responses. It seems as though RCCL may be a viable option if nothing else to confirm our love of HAL. It does not seem like it would be a cruise from hell, so we may give it a try.......once we find out what the Horizon is doing this fall in Tampa.

 

Thanks again :o

[Jacqueline]

TEDC- we also sailed the Brilliance that season in the Baltic. I would agree with you altogether. I an not in a hurry to sail RCI again- even though I have three kids. It is my least favorite of the mainstream cruiselines. The ship is BEAUTIFUL for sure but the WIndjammer was a night mare for breakfast and lunch. Too crowded no tables, poor food, etc. The entertainment that season was nonexistant. The seats in the DR were jammed very closely together....

I was the only one who actually used the rock climbing wall !

[doone]

I personally have never sailed RCCL, but friends of ours who are HAL loyalists decided to give them a try after their TA said they would never go back to HAL after sailing RCCL. They were on the ship, I forget which ship they sailed, but were on the ship 2 hours and wished they had never booked that cruise. They didn't care for their accomodations, they said the food was not as good as HAL, they felt crowded onboard, the service was good, but not as good as HAL. So needless to say, they are back on HAL and are very happy and now have another TA

 

Others sail RCCL and are very happy. You need to figure out what YOU want out of your cruise experience. Maybe you will enjoy RCCL, only one way to find out, sail them and compare.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[anjan]

A 2nd ship in Tampa and a Vista Class in Port Canaveral would be valhalla! We like the Veendam (sailing on her again in Jan), but it would be nice to have a second ship/itinery to choose from in Tampa. A Vista in PC would solve my problem, but it looks like 2006 would be the earliest it would happen. I guess we can hope and pray that it happens. PC is 35 mins away and Tampa is 90 minutes away. The alternative of Port Everglades is 3.5 hours away which is not bad, but not something we would like to do a few times a year.

 

RCCL's Voyager class sounds like a great ship, would love to try it out, but we are not sure if we can find our comfort zone like we have on HAL. The solarium pool area sounds great if it truly is a kid-free zone, but we also know that most kid-free areas rules are routinely broken. Anyone know how well RCCL keeps the Solarium area kid free?

 

 

I have been on the Legend of the Seas twice. The first cruise was in September and the Solarium was totally off limits to kids. The second time on Legend of the Seas was during Easter break. They allowed the kids to use the pool only for a couple of hours per day and they did enforce it.

[robertmartha]

UALTIM

 

You sound exactly like my wife and I (except the cigars and port!!!!!)

 

Stick to HAL - I would not say it was a college party atmosphere on the Mariner and the ship was amazing - but food and service were not on par with HAL what-so-ever and it was not the "traditional" cruise experience one experiences on HAL....in my opinion. As I said we are booked on the Zuiderdam for next summer already - and yes the rock climbing wall, ice skating rink, minature golf were fun...but my kids even liked Club Hal better then Adventure Ocean.

[cruisingangel]

We sailed on the Mariner this past May and did not like it at all, that's why we are booked onthe Zuiderdam for June