HAL Customer Opinions

[hensghan]

I am very interested to know what traditionally loyal HAL cruisers might think of the Azamara and Oceana cruise lines. I mean, surely some seasoned HAL cruisers have also sailed on either one or both of these lines, and I am asking this question purposely on the HAL forum because I know HAL cruisers already have a very definite level of expectancy when it comes to service, etc.

I am not trying to compare apples to oranges. I am specifically interested in opinions as to whether the additional cost of these lines actually translates into a correspondingly better cruise product.

I will probably never be able to afford to sail a true 'luxury' cruise line, but I am considering a possible one time upgrade from HAL to either Azamara or Oceana -- unless, of course, I'm warned away from the extra expenditure of funds by the experiences of others who have already done this to their regret.

Any opinions? Would those of you who have ventured away from HAL to either Azamara or Oceana do it again or recommend the expereince to others?

[Randyk47]

We were booked on an Azamara cruise back in 2008 but because of a number of issues (i.e., previously unscheduled retirement, health issue) we canceled. At the time we were very interested in their itineraries that were to the smaller islands in the Caribbean and sounded exciting. We had previously taken one Celebrity cruise on the old Galaxy and had enjoyed the experience. As it turned out friends of ours, who had booked the same Azamara cruise, went on the cruise even though we dropped out and didn't have a good experience. Initially we kind of wrote that off as the growing pains of what was basically a new line or maybe more accurately a variation on the Celebrity model. It turns out, at least from what I gather from reading the Azamara board here, that the line has never quite gotten its niche defined and worked out. In fact, I think they just recently announced some restructuring of the product. Since we're no longer interested in the line I can't really comment other than to think the shift after only a couple of full seasons means there are or were problems.

[MightyQuinn]

I am very interested to know what traditionally loyal HAL cruisers might think of the Azamara and Oceana cruise lines. I mean, surely some seasoned HAL cruisers have also sailed on either one or both of these lines, and I am asking this question purposely on the HAL forum because I know HAL cruisers already have a very definite level of expectancy when it comes to service We’ve sailed HAL almost exclusively for nearly 20 years & have seen many changes in the on-board experience. HAL used to deliver an outstanding product full of special touches & traditions. It wasn’t luxury but it was very much upper-tier premium. Over the years, our HAL on-board experience has eroded. So we began to seriously look at other cruise lines. This was a first for us.

We decided to do “test” cruises on both Oceania & Azamara. We have recently returned from a 14-nite transatlantic on Oceania Regatta & can confidently say that we enjoyed our best on-board experience ever. On the things that matter most to us, Oceania was superior to HAL. And yes we paid more per diem for this premium experience, but we received tremendous value in return.

If you’re interested in more details, CC has published my review at:http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=61359

We enjoyed Oceania so much that we recently booked an inaugural sailing on Marina, their first new-build ship scheduled to launch in 2011. The itineraries for Marina were released last week & are already almost completely sold out. In a few months, we’ll cruise on Azamara Journey & we’ll be able to make a first-hand comparison to Oceania. We will continue to sail HAL but we are very happy to have other choices. This is OUR experience & OUR choices. YMMV.

[bbwex]

We have not yet sailed on HAL, though I have been watching this board for quite awhile now. We have sailed on Oceania.

It is very unfair of me to say anything about HAL, but I note only that from reading comments such as those from MightyQuinn, we are expecting less from HAL than we got from Oceania.

Just some comments about Oceania. They are technically not a luxury line, but there were times that I wondered what we could possibly have been missing other than free liquor and wine. The staff was exceptional, always smiling, always insisting on helping. You virtually couldn't sit down at a table and get your own napkin on your lap before a waiter took your napkin and handed it to you. Everyone on the staff smiled always and whatever you wanted was taken care of promptly. I see from this board that the room hosts/hostesses are getting a bit overworked on HAL, but on Oceania our room was checked/serviced four times a day -- and we were not in any fancy concierge cabin.

I know that Oceania's sister line RSSC, which is a luxury line, has larger cabins, and I have to suppose that the luxury lines are somehow nicer, but to us the service and treatment was impeccable. (And we heard that the food was better on Oceania than RSSC.)

Again, I make no comment about HAL yet.

[hensghan]

Thank you, MightyQuinn, for your response. I very eagerly read your thoughtfuly provided Oceana review and it seemed to me that, while you reported that Oceana seemingly did a great many things perhaps better than HAL, HAL still apparently won out in various other categories. Am I reading too much between your lines or accurately paraphrasing?

Most significantly to me, you have already booked another Oceana cruise. That says a lot to me in and of itself. It says you obviously must think the cost to value relationship is at least reasonable, and the extra moneys spent are well spent.

Me, I'm not that convinced quite yet. I'm perhaps just inherently frugal but I really would like to receive additional input from other HAL cruisers re their Oceana & Azamara experiences before I go out on this limb.

Thanks again.

[hensghan]

Thank you, bbwex. You posted between me reading and then responding to MightyQuinn. I didn't mean to dis you!

[kelmac]

I am very interested to know what traditionally loyal HAL cruisers might think of the Azamara and Oceana cruise lines. I mean, surely some seasoned HAL cruisers have also sailed on either one or both of these lines, and I am asking this question purposely on the HAL forum because I know HAL cruisers already have a very definite level of expectancy when it comes to service, etc.

I am not trying to compare apples to oranges. I am specifically interested in opinions as to whether the additional cost of these lines actually translates into a correspondingly better cruise product.

I will probably never be able to afford to sail a true 'luxury' cruise line, but I am considering a possible one time upgrade from HAL to either Azamara or Oceana -- unless, of course, I'm warned away from the extra expenditure of funds by the experiences of others who have already done this to their regret.

Any opinions? Would those of you who have ventured away from HAL to either Azamara or Oceana do it again or recommend the expereince to others?

My wife and I have cruised both Azamara and Oceania (once each); in addition, we've cruised Holland America eight times.
We found the cuisine and service on Oceania to be much better to what you experience on HAL. The ships are all 30,000 tons with 684 passengers and a staff of 400. Pretty good space ratio and an excellent guest-to-staff ratio (1.71 to 1). Azamara is very close, but I thought the food (except beef dishes) were a bit better on Oceania. Having said that, Azamara is in the process of upgrading their product and their pricing will refect that.

This small ship experience is different; they are very port intensive; the ships are on the slow side (18 knots); entertainment is limited; there is almost zero children onboard. The passengers are similar to HAL, well traveled and older.

If you can get a "deal" on Oceania or Azamara I would go for it. They are not worth twice the price of a Celebrity or HAL cruise IMO.

Here is a ship rating I did the other day:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1116101&highlight=rating+ships

Enjoy!
Kel:)

[Zappa Fan]

We decided to do “test” cruises on both Oceania & Azamara. We have recently returned from a 14-nite transatlantic on Oceania Regatta & can confidently say that we enjoyed our best on-board experience ever. On the things that matter most to us, Oceania was superior to HAL. And yes we paid more per diem for this premium experience, but we received tremendous value in return.

If you’re interested in more details, CC has published my review at:http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=61359

We enjoyed Oceania so much that we recently booked an inaugural sailing on Marina, their first new-build ship scheduled to launch in 2011. The itineraries for Marina were released last week & are already almost completely sold out. In a few months, we’ll cruise on Azamara Journey & we’ll be able to make a first-hand comparison to Oceania. We will continue to sail HAL but we are very happy to have other choices. This is OUR experience & OUR choices. YMMV.

I just finished reading your review. Thanks so very much for taking the time to write it. I've had my eyes on Oceania for some time now.... very much enjoyed reading your experiences!

[MightyQuinn]

Thank you, MightyQuinn, for your response. I very eagerly read your thoughtfuly provided Oceana review and it seemed to me that, while you reported that Oceana seemingly did a great many things perhaps better than HAL, HAL still apparently won out in various other categories. Am I reading too much between your lines or accurately paraphrasing? LOL. No need to read between the lines or paraphrase me Hensghan! I don’t think my review is ambiguous at all. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

I didn’t set out to write a comparative review with HAL as I respect that both offer different cruise products. But yes, all things considered, we thought that Oceania provided a superior product to HAL in our on-board experience. But it’s not a case of absolutes. We did miss certain things about HAL. As I noted in my review, these were fresh squeezed OJ, wrap-around promenade decks and the ability to remain in our stateroom to await disembarkation. We were also disappointed in their specialty steak house, Polo Grill, compared to some (not all) Pinnacle Grills on HAL. Not deal breakers for us. And our opinion remains that Oceania delivered us our very best on-board experience ever. Period.

I read a ton of reviews in the Oceania member reviews section of CC before we decided to take the leap. There are several other reviews there that make some comparisons to HAL that you may find helpful as you try to make your decision.