HALs CC board as opposed to other cruise lines....

[ariawoman]

You know I'm wondering...

People say that HAL passengers are old and whatnot, yet we have like 67 pages of threads here, whereas the Celebrity board has 8 pages LOL.

So, I wonder, what is it that makes us talk more here? Is HAL truly winning the cruise game, or are we just more social :-)

[piscesgal223]

Hey-I'm 40 and I've been on 2 HAL cruises-and will probably go on a few more. Not that I'm a cheerleader, I've just been very impressed with HAL's service, shore excursions the food(oh my goodness the food!) on both of their cruises I've been on.


I was able to go to a meet and greet on the Eurodam in March and us CCers are a chatty bunch! ;) so no, I'm not surprised this is busy!

[CtheW0rld]

You know I'm wondering...

People say that HAL passengers are old and whatnot, yet we have like 67 pages of threads here, whereas the Celebrity board has 8 pages LOL.

So, I wonder, what is it that makes us talk more here? Is HAL truly winning the cruise game, or are we just more social :-)

more retired people with extra time on their hands?

[ariawoman]

Hey-I'm 40 and I've been on 2 HAL cruises-and will probably go on a few more. Not that I'm a cheerleader, I've just been very impressed with HAL's service, shore excursions the food(oh my goodness the food!) on both of their cruises I've been on.


I was able to go to a meet and greet on the Eurodam in March and us CCers are a chatty bunch! ;) so no, I'm not surprised this is busy!

Yeah but you'd think CCers from all the cruise lines would be just as chatty. I've been literally shocked at how slow (painfully slow!) the celebrity board is. I wrote in a few threads and nobody commented for HOURS. On this board, you usually have a reply within minutes! :-)

[ariawoman]

more retired people with extra time on their hands?

I'm 37 and gainfully employed :-) I'm sure many of the posters are indeed as you mention, but I don't think that's entirely it.

I haven't found their roll calls to be very active either, it's like pulling teeth.

[piscesgal223]

I find it interesting that the other boards' threads are so inactive. Reading Holland America's boards is something of an education.


I am planning a trip to the Caribbean(a repeat cruiser-I had so much fun there this year,I'm doin' it again next year!) and being able to read other peoples' feedback(good/bad/otherwise) is a big plus.


And.. *opens can of worms and puts it on the table*. We're very friendly.:p

[rafinmd]

You know I'm wondering...

People say that HAL passengers are old and whatnot, yet we have like 67 pages of threads here, whereas the Celebrity board has 8 pages LOL.

So, I wonder, what is it that makes us talk more here? Is HAL truly winning the cruise game, or are we just more social :-)

Where are you getting your numbers? I clicked on "Cruise lines A-O". The display there showed 63,019 threads on the Celebrity forum and 61,989 on the HAL forum, although the HAL forum had roughly 1/4 million more posts.

Seems like the results vary by how you look.

Roy

[Randyk47]

And if you look at Celebrity Roll Calls they're way, way higher than HAL.

[PrincessNancy]

And if you look at Celebrity Roll Calls they're way, way higher than HAL.

Interesting that you mentioned roll calls. I posted when I booked our March 2012 Caribbean cruise and no one responded--my thread was finally dropped. I've only cruised Princess (9 times) before and have always had an active roll call for all our cruises. It won't make or break the cruise, but it's nice to chat with people who will be on your cruise so you ca share the excitement.

I check periodically to see if someone else posts for our cruise--none yet. I plan on posting again when we're 6 months out. Perhaps I was too early.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I just checked out what randy said -- wow -- there certainly are a lot of posts on the Roll Calls -- very active compared to HAL in that department.

YUP -- a bunch of us are retired with a lot of time on our hands for this section.

[pms4104]

Is it possible that on other cruiseline forums the threads may be more consolidated? Meaning that perhaps members elsewheres contributre to existing threads rather than starting lotsa new ones with similar/identical questions and/or issues.

[sail7seas]

I almost never post or attend roll calls anymore. I used to but, like KK, only occasionally now go.
And I have free time with which I can do what I wish. :D

[Randyk47]

I just checked out what randy said -- wow -- there certainly are a lot of posts on the Roll Calls -- very active compared to HAL in that department.

YUP -- a bunch of us are retired with a lot of time on our hands for this section.



Celebrity has actively embraced Cruise Critic for years and years. They actually have, or at least used to, a place on their website that once you booked you sign up for a Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle. We've only cruised once on Celebrity and that was back in 2005 on the old Galaxy out of Galveston for a Partial Panama Canal transit. There were 98 people at the Meet and Mingle which was held I think the first or second day at sea. The Roll Call for that cruise had nearly 300 posts and 45 people showed up for the Roll Call Sail Away party....we pretty much took over the Sky Bar area.

[iancal]

We like HAL but do not think for a moment that they are the be all and end all. There is lots of good competition out there.

HAL has some great ships and great service but I think they are stuck in neutral. They also have some great older ships that either need to be completely upgraded (let's hope) or retired. Some new build ships would be nice...not the Carnival standard Vista or modified Vista design that the other Carnival subs. have but something new from the ground up as it were. HAL does not seem to be doing anything to shed their fuddy duddy image. They can only rest on their laurels for so long.

[cruisemom42]

I think there's a glitch on the Celebrity boards; either a whole lot of pages just got deleted or they are just not showing up.

I wouldn't read anything into it other than Cruise Critic boards acting screwy. :rolleyes:

[piscesgal223]

I respectfully disagree with that.. I don't disagree with the fact that there is definitely a "older", "retired" clientele that cruises with HAL. But I also think(not being a cheerleader here) that some people can't see past that. Just sayin'.

And on the two HAL cruises I've been on there has been a nice cross section of young/old/inbetween.. In fact, I would say that the passengers the last time I cruised(on the Eurodam in March) were younger-mid-late teens, a fair amount of people in their 20's, 30's and 40's, and yes, HAL's aforementioned "elderly":rolleyes: clientele.

[iancal]

I did not say that HAL, in some instances, does not have a younger demographic sailing on HAL. What I said was they have an IMAGE that they are older fuddy duddy and do not seem to be doing much in the way of marketing and advertising to counter the image.

Some new ships would help, perhaps some better advertising, and delivery of a long promised upgrade of their entertainment program.

I suspect that given our age and income level that we are an ideal target market for HAL. But they are beginning to loose us to other lines such as Celebrity for a variety of reasons.

[kazu]

Celebrity has actively embraced Cruise Critic for years and years. They actually have, or at least used to, a place on their website that once you booked you sign up for a Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle. We've only cruised once on Celebrity and that was back in 2005 on the old Galaxy out of Galveston for a Partial Panama Canal transit. There were 98 people at the Meet and Mingle which was held I think the first or second day at sea. The Roll Call for that cruise had nearly 300 posts and 45 people showed up for the Roll Call Sail Away party....we pretty much took over the Sky Bar area.

Roll calls vary on every board. Last year when I set up our meet and greets we had over 100 people. Our roll call hit over 1000 posts. I can't remember the views but E500 probably could.

Our sail away took over the entire deck:)

I think it's just a matter of how many people on the cruise know about cruise critic;) and a matter of the mix you have on the cruise.

[we're sailing away....]

Not much talk

[iancal]

We do not go on the roll calls any more. Too much of the ' weather is cold here today' or 'my daughter in law mother's friend may be joining us' or '30 days to go' or '15 days to go' and not enough solid info on the ship, the ports, and private excursions for us. Just takes too long to get through the nonsense.

[CruizinSherry]

I have not had much luck with my roll call for Westerdam Alaska June 25th (really none at all), but I have to say that I have totally enjoyed coming to HAL's main thread here. I think this is a really friendly and knowledgable group of people more than willing to share their insights and experience.

So thanks everyone :)

[piscesgal223]

I did not say that HAL, in some instances, does not have a younger demographic sailing on HAL. What I said was they have an IMAGE that they are older fuddy duddy and do not seem to be doing much in the way of marketing and advertising to counter the image.

Some new ships would help, perhaps some better advertising, and delivery of a long promised upgrade of their entertainment program.

I suspect that given our age and income level that we are an ideal target market for HAL. But they are beginning to loose us to other lines such as Celebrity for a variety of reasons.


I like HAL's decor.. it's not loud like other cruises'. One person's "fuddy duddy" is another person's "I don't want my retinas burned wherever I look".:rolleyes:

[Prairie_Gal]

You know I'm wondering...

People say that HAL passengers are old and whatnot, yet we have like 67 pages of threads here, whereas the Celebrity board has 8 pages LOL.

So, I wonder, what is it that makes us talk more here? Is HAL truly winning the cruise game, or are we just more social :-)

I usually frequent the Carnival board, and I find this board slow. For example there are 1 3/4 pages of posts from today here on HAL, and nearly 4 pages of posts on Carnival.

Not sure what you mean about 8 pages on the Celebrity board. If they are both set to one week (you can change the parameters), both HAL and Celebrity have roughly the same, not that it matters one bit. :confused:

[RetiredMustang]

... Some new build ships would be nice...not the Carnival standard Vista or modified Vista design that the other Carnival subs. have but something new from the ground up as it were. ...

Just a personal opinion/observation: The HAL Vista class and Signature class (Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam) have Panamax hulls, which means the maximum size that can fit through the Panama Canal, as currently configured. Since HAL has a large investment in the Alaska cruises, it would make sense to have ships that can fit the Canal for re-positioning to/from the Caribbean and the Alaska routes. So, I don't believe HAL (Carnival Corp. parent company) would invest too much in larger hulls, like the RCL Oasis of the Seas, until the new Panama Canal locks are opened.

Now, what you do with that basic Panamax hull can vary widely, of course, but it would make business sense to me to keep the design similar from ship to ship to keep costs down. I personally enjoy the Vistas, especially Noordam, and don't really have much of a problem with the fact that they are all pretty similar. I do see that some may find that similarity somewhat boring. I liked the old "N" class ships, and still enjoy the "S" class, so I imagine I would adapt to, and probably quite enjoy, whatever comes after the Vistas -- whenever they join the fleet.

Dave

[iancal]

I hardly think that you will get your retina's 'burned' on Princess or Celebrity, among others.

[ariawoman]

Where are you getting your numbers? I clicked on "Cruise lines A-O". The display there showed 63,019 threads on the Celebrity forum and 61,989 on the HAL forum, although the HAL forum had roughly 1/4 million more posts.

Seems like the results vary by how you look.

Roy

I went to A-O and clicked on Celebrity. It takes you to their board same as this one. It has pages 1 through 8 only, while this board had like 1 through 67. Unless I had some weird glitch earlier?... now i need to look again.

[ariawoman]

When I go here I only see Page 1 of 8.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=28

Meaning there's only 8 pages of posts.

Oh weird..their pagination is off, if you mouse over the arrows, it says there's like 290 pages worth. Sorry, QA tester and should have known better than to take the pagination at it's word lol. I must have set HAL to a different thing than any other board, though honestly don't remember doing so.

Oh well, at least it got people talking. Still there is less quality response over there that I've noticed than here. Maybe because of the holiday people aren't checking (meaning being away this week for memorial day perhaps).

[ariawoman]

Celebrity has actively embraced Cruise Critic for years and years. They actually have, or at least used to, a place on their website that once you booked you sign up for a Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle. We've only cruised once on Celebrity and that was back in 2005 on the old Galaxy out of Galveston for a Partial Panama Canal transit. There were 98 people at the Meet and Mingle which was held I think the first or second day at sea. The Roll Call for that cruise had nearly 300 posts and 45 people showed up for the Roll Call Sail Away party....we pretty much took over the Sky Bar area.

They apparently still have this. I've been told to sign up for the "Celebrity Connections" get together which i assume is the cruise critic meet and greet. It says that if 25 PAX sign up, they will hold it. So I guess I'll check that out! lol

[piscesgal223]

I hardly think that you will get your retina's 'burned' on Princess or Celebrity, among others.


I wasn't referring to Princess or Celebrity;)

[Friend100]

When I go here I only see Page 1 of 8.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=28

Meaning there's only 8 pages of posts.

Oh weird..their pagination is off, if you mouse over the arrows, it says there's like 290 pages worth. Sorry, QA tester and should have known better than to take the pagination at it's word lol. I must have set HAL to a different thing than any other board, though honestly don't remember doing so.

Oh well, at least it got people talking. Still there is less quality response over there that I've noticed than here. Maybe because of the holiday people aren't checking (meaning being away this week for memorial day perhaps).

When I click the link, there are 1581 pages.

Try to scroll to the bottom of your page, check the "Display Option" section and under "From The" see what value you have. I have "Beginning" setup. Not sure if this is the reason.

HAL has 1556 page since beginning.

[PerhamMN]

We do not go on the roll calls any more. Too much of the ' weather is cold here today' or 'my daughter in law mother's friend may be joining us' or '30 days to go' or '15 days to go' and not enough solid info on the ship, the ports, and private excursions for us. Just takes too long to get through the nonsense.

I think calling that type of conversation nonsense is, quite frankly, nonsense! While it's great to share tips on the ship and activities, I think the more social aspects of the roll calls are just as important.

If you don't like the roll calls, then don't read them. But please don't call something that so many of us enjoy nonsense. I'm just sayin'

Back to the age issue, I'm 23 and am very excited for my first HAL cruise. At first I was concerned about the stigma of old age with HAL, but I soon got over that and realized that a lot of the older (well, older than me) folks who cruise HAL often have 1) great stories and 2) great advice.

[DeepWaterMariner]

Interesting how this thread has fractured into different topics. Anyway, I consistently follow the boards for HAL, Princess, and RCI. If I've got a cruise booked on a different line I'll also follow that thread, so at times I've followed Celebrity, Carnival, and Seabourn. What I find with the big three that I follow most of all (HAL, Princess, and RCI) is that they each have their own personality. I find the HAL board provides the quickest and clearest answers and advice. You get the same thing on Princess and RCI boards but there is more chaff to sort through to get to the wheat. Princess is probably second in this regard and RCI third. IMHO, the reason for this ordering has do do with the number and demographics of the passengers. For example, with RCI offering more short cruises (less than 7 days) and a large resort type experience on its mega ships, you get many more first time cruisers or less experienced cruisers on that board. What is common across boards is that each has loyal supporters of their favorite cruise line and reflect a natural bias for that product.

[Assateague Island Princes]

Well-said, James. I agree. Roll Calls become their own little communities, and I for one enjoy it. Made several great, life-long friends on my last HAL Roll Call for Alaska in 2010 (14 day itinerary). We ended up sharing excursions and enjoying each other's company throughout the cruise. We also ended up sharing on-line conversations about our personal lives as the year build up to our sail date evolved. Nothing wrong with that. As you said, if someone doesn't want to be involved in that social aspect, so be it - don't read it. Frankly, getting to know these folks that I now call "friend" ahead of time through the Roll Call was a pleasure, not a chore - and we'd have been friends meeting under other circumstances as well. The Roll Call just hastened the friendship and we didn't need to start at square one once we got on board.

Some folks just don't enjoy that social aspect, and that is fine. I totally get that. Different strokes for different folks. Just don't participate if you have no interest - certainly no one is being forced to.

[Cruising-along]

I think calling that type of conversation nonsense is, quite frankly, nonsense! While it's great to share tips on the ship and activities, I think the more social aspects of the roll calls are just as important.

If you don't like the roll calls, then don't read them. But please don't call something that so many of us enjoy nonsense. I'm just sayin'

Back to the age issue, I'm 23 and am very excited for my first HAL cruise. At first I was concerned about the stigma of old age with HAL, but I soon got over that and realized that a lot of the older (well, older than me) folks who cruise HAL often have 1) great stories and 2) great advice.

Well said James! I completely agree. To me it's equally important to get to know my fellow CCrs ahead of time as it is to get good info re the ports. We've made long-time friends from previous roll calls, and I credit that to getting to know each other ahead of time.

And we're looking forward to meeting you and your aunt a year from now. :D

[kyriecat]

I enjoy getting to know fellow cruisers via the roll calls and don't consider reading about the weather in other parts of the country or what someone is doing over the weekend to be nonsense. I don't care much for someone posting a quip then 50 replies of "LOL."

For those of you who don't care for reading about anything other than cruise topics on the roll calls, I think the moderators are trying to crack down on the chit-chat. I've had a couple friendly reminders to stick to cruising topics when roll calls got too far off-topic.

[NancyIL]

Maybe the HAL board has more posts than the Celebrity board, but HAL's roll call threads have had only a handful of posters on all 3 of my HAL cruises! My one Celebrity cruise roll call had far more action than all 3 HAL cruises combined.

**I didn't read all the way through this thread before posting. I see that the Celebrity board is about as active as the HAL board! My opinion about HAL roll calls remains unchanged. :D

[LuAnn]

Interesting that you mentioned roll calls. I posted when I booked our March 2012 Caribbean cruise and no one responded--my thread was finally dropped. I've only cruised Princess (9 times) before and have always had an active roll call for all our cruises. It won't make or break the cruise, but it's nice to chat with people who will be on your cruise so you ca share the excitement.

I check periodically to see if someone else posts for our cruise--none yet. I plan on posting again when we're 6 months out. Perhaps I was too early.

have always been that the R/C on the HAL cruises have been very small and not at all active...as compared with Princess, Celebrity and Oceania...not sure why??LuAnn

[lettienets]

I did not say that HAL, in some instances, does not have a younger demographic sailing on HAL. What I said was they have an IMAGE that they are older fuddy duddy and do not seem to be doing much in the way of marketing and advertising to counter the image.

Some new ships would help, perhaps some better advertising, and delivery of a long promised upgrade of their entertainment program.

I suspect that given our age and income level that we are an ideal target market for HAL. But they are beginning to loose us to other lines such as Celebrity for a variety of reasons.
I agree with a lot of what you say. And taking out seaview pools and putting in dumb retreats will not help matters. Ships need more than one real pool, especially so you can keep one as an adult pool. Whoever came up with that idea of removing pools should be fired.

Hal ships need more variety of entertainment and activities to appeal to a younger crowd.