Is Cunard better than Holland America?

[SeaMatesNYC]

Is Paris better than London? Is a Mercedes better than a BMW? Is broccoli better than asparagus?

 

Yes, no, no.:D

[pepperrn]

Yes, no, no.:D

 

No, No, No. :D

 

(Now if the question was "is Rome better than Paris..." then the answer would be... yes! ;) )

 

It's all a matter of opinion...

[wripro]

Exactly!!!! It's all a matter of opinion. No one is better than the other.

[greenp]

Hi Bramcruiser

On the Westerdam March 29th sailed from Fort Lauderdale and this is what we found, dining in the main dining room late seating on smart casual nights, men in shorts, jeans and trainers. I raised this with the dining room manager, nothing was done, I then took it up with one of the ships officers after which shorts were not allowed but denim jeams and trainers were still allowed, shocking and not 5*.

On formal nights some men did not wear jackets and some did not wear ties. I have not experienced this on Cunard and hope I never do.

 

tmcauban , I agree with your comments entirely, my wife could not believe there were womem on smart casual nights in leisure suits / jogging pants and sweat jackets.

 

Paul

[moniquet]

I have never seen this happen during 5 cruises with HAL. Perhaps times are changing, just over two years since we were with HAL. There only used to be around half a dozen british people on, are there more now, is there a link:)

[greenp]

Hi Moniquet

Maybe the times are changing but also I think HAL are, when I spoke to officers about the dress code I think HAL are trying to attract a less traditional cruise population (to fill cabins at low prices). Nothing wrong with that. I posted my message based on what I enjoy and expected. In the UK HAL is sold as 'High End' mass market cruise i.e. 5* I did not expect shorts and denim in a 5* dining room on a smart casual night.

By the way the contravention to dress code was not from the UK as you say there was very few on board. I would choose Cunard over HAL due to this.

[jagi]

Based on my experience, the English do dress up more than North Americans--HAL caters more to Americans and Cunard is heavy on U.K. citizens. That said, I certainly have seen a decline in dress standards on most American lines. I'm not a big formal night fan, but I think it's obnoxious to find people dining in t shirts and shorts--and I'm afraid I am seeing that a lot. Of course, it varies with the season and the cruise. On the old QE2, when they were practically giving away bookings for nothing, everyone dressed for dinner. The clothes were not necessarily expensive, but they were appropriate--which is all I care about.

[gillianrose]

Is Paris better than London? Is a Mercedes better than a BMW? Is broccoli better than asparagus?

 

Yes, No, No.

 

Sorry, couldn't resist. :D

[greenp]

jagi

I agree, with the HAL - American and the Cundard - UK thoughts. I have only sailed with RCI once last year from Southampton and this had 2 dress codes Formal and Smart Casual, OK maybe not as strict as Cunard but certainly did not allow Denim and shorts in the main dining room.

 

Not sure this helps answer the question of the original post, but maybe give a little idea of what to expect

 

Paul

[gflo]

We recently returned from 2 transatlantic crossings. Going to Europe, we chose HAL Oosterdam (March 14) and the return on Cunard QM2 (May 2).

 

HAL is superior is many areas. Rooms are more spacious, service is better, ship is clean and well-maintained, decor on Oosterdam was exotic and interesting & food was well-prepared with lots of variety. We ate in the dining room every night and enjoyed room service for breakfast most mornings. Loved the fresh smoked salmon daily!;)

We loved the shows and variety although were disappointed the dancers performed only 2 shows out of 18 nights.

 

QM2 lost lots of points with us because they allow smoking in rooms and more public areas than HAL. We'd requested a non-smoking room directly with Cunard & our agent. On arrival, our room, bedding, upholstery, etc. reeked of smoke, as did the hallway. Agents in Purser's office refused to change rooms even though ship was not full and we offered to pay for the difference if they didn't have a non-smoking in our category. :mad:

Public areas were nice but didn't have the "wow" factor. Hallways were drab and as one fellow passenger pointed out, "long and boring with no art-work". There were huge stains on carpets in hallways, especially on deck 9.

Food was OK and service was standard--not outstanding. Room service menus were brief and breakfast was disappointing in the scope of offerings.

Entertainment was spotty---dancers & classical pianist were excellent. Speakers (Enrichment) were terribly boring and ill-prepared.

Thank goodness we have a choice when it comes to crossing the Atlantic (or Pacific). Cunard has been "Carnivalized"!

[wripro]

The only thing to keep in mind is that with HAL you were not on a crossing, you were on a repositioning cruise which happens only twice a year. With QM2 the crossings can be counted on as transportation throughout the spring, summer and fall.

 

That aside, it's still up to the individual to decide which line better suits him/her.

[sailsalot]

The biggest difference between Cunard and HAL is the clientele, which is much cheaper and less well traveled than on Cunard, creating a cheaper general ambiance.

You should see the sloppiness of women on a HAL cruise, pretty depressing display of lower class taste!

 

Food is bland on HAL, whether you are eating fish, steak or ice cream, it is all the same taste: None whatsoever.

(A positive to that is that it never feels bad, just totally bland and tasteless).

 

Crew is nice on HAL but more scarce.

 

Finally HAL ships are all the same, with not enought open decks and no forward observation deck.

 

I will neve cruise again with HAL.

tmcauban,

 

I had to laugh at your sweeping, and somewhat judgmental, generalization of HAL clientele. And seeing your location made me chuckle even more. The worst cruise I ever took was on QM2, the 4th of July cruise to nowhere, out of NYC. The majority of the clientele was from New York/New Jersey, and I had never met a more rude, inconsiderate, arrogant, crass bunch of people on a cruise as we saw with this group. Their pushiness and loud bellowing at embarkation was horrid, and that pretty much continued throughout the cruise. We vowed to avoid these short cruises that seem to attract this clientele. Odd, we've never encountered such problems on a HAL cruise.

Just for a little background, I've been on HAL 2x and on Cunard 9x.

[DKNYC]

tmcauban,

 

I had to laugh at your sweeping, and somewhat judgmental, generalization of HAL clientele. And seeing your location made me chuckle even more. The worst cruise I ever took was on QM2, the 4th of July cruise to nowhere, out of NYC. The majority of the clientele was from New York/New Jersey, and I had never met a more rude, inconsiderate, arrogant, crass bunch of people on a cruise as we saw with this group. Their pushiness and loud bellowing at embarkation was horrid, and that pretty much continued throughout the cruise. We vowed to avoid these short cruises that seem to attract this clientele. Odd, we've never encountered such problems on a HAL cruise.

Just for a little background, I've been on HAL 2x and on Cunard 9x.

 

Sailsalot

I have to laugh as well ( check my location):D. I hope you know that we are all not rude & inconsiderate. Perhaps your experience had more to do with it being a short "cruise to nowhere". I have always cruised to somewhere and have encountered rude folks from many different places.

 

As for the OP's question, I give HAL a very slight edge over Cunard for the following reasons 1) HAL generally has a better single supplement and 2) HAL has more comfortable beds .3) I also like the smaller ships of HAL. Both lines are very good IMHO. Both are owned by Carnival Corp.

 

Denise

[Buddy604]

I'm torn three ways - I love Cunard, HAL and Princess.

 

Cunard has one of the grandest ships, with the QM2. It's lovely, it's formal, it's subtle, it's exciting. The only thing I didn't like was my experience in the Britannia dining room and that was probably mainly because I had a bad waiter, and it also compared very badly to my too recent, and wonderful experience of QE2's Maurentania dining room.

 

HAL, I love the Vista ships. Big, but small. A nice hydro pool that doesn't cost the earth to use, the culinary centre, the explorations cafe, and BATHTUBS! Bless my heart and my poor wobbly legs.

 

Princess, never really disappoints. Great food, great itineraries, great ships, did I mention the great food? And probably the BEST repeat guest program, with free laundry, free dry cleaning, free minibar set up, on board discounts, and more at their top level. Did I mention the free dry cleaning? It's how they hook you again and again. :D

 

In short, they're all pretty grand and you're lucky to be experiencing two of them.

[sailsalot]

Hi Denise!

 

Definitely, I'm not lumping all people from NY as rude and inconsiderate. That would be rude and inconsiderate. :) I was just trying (poorly!) to make the point that you can't judge a cruiseline by the passengers who are on it (for the most part). Clearly, the other poster had what he/she would consider a bad experience with cruisers on the trip. But to say HAL has cheaper, less experienced clientele just based on that seemed a little bit of a stretch.

 

And you're right, our passenger make-up had more to do with it being a short cruise to nowhere than anything else. We still sail Cunard and love it. We just avoid the short cruises now. As you noted, though, there are rude passengers on every sailing, even the really long ones with lots of supposed well-traveled, well-dressed folks. :)

 

Happy sailing to all!!

[CDRMark]

As one of the cheaper and less well-travelled Holland America clientele, let me reply.
We are new cruisers, with 50 days on HAL and just 12 on Cunard, the Queen Victoria ("not a proper liner").
The two lines have more in common than in difference. Excellent service, wonderful dining options, and a history of cruising experience. The costs are surprisingly similar, but HAL has more options from U.S. ports, so costs of getting to the POE are lower. The fact that Cunard cruises principally originate in Europe skews the passenger demographics, and of course most of us US cruisers are Blue collar, tho some of us actually own an evening suit.
We look forward to a cruise on QM (a "proper liner"), but have another HAL cruise booked right now.
Cheers
Mark