HAL fans - Have you sailed on NCL out of NY?

[BobMartha]

We love HAL but have been hearing a lot about NCL and their sailings out of NY (where we live) have been getting good reviews. I know the difference must be huge - but if any devoted HAL sailers can give me some feedback - esp if you have sailed recently on the Dawn or Spirit (which are doing 10-11 day sailings out of NY). If only HAL would homeport the Noordam there ALL YEAR!!!!!! not just in the spring and Fall
Hoping with the new cruise terminals that are in the works - that it may become a reality.....soon!!!!!!

[Joanne G.]

After 4 cruises on HAL, which we loved, we tried the Norwegian Dawn out of New York last spring. (My shipmates live in NYC.) We had been on other NCL cruises, so we were aware of some of the differences between the lines and adjusted out expectations accordingly. The Dawn was a different type of cruise experience compared to HAL, but we still had a great cruise.

Freestyle dining is the obvious difference. It's wonderful to eat based on your mood, your appetite, and your other activities rather than the assigned seating of traditional cruise dining. The Dawn, and I assume the Spirit, have a variety of dining rooms to choose from - casual, fancy, Italian, Asian, Tex-Mex, French and so forth. With a little planning, we didn't have waits for tables. But that's one of the downsides of freestyle - you have to think about when and where to eat. And there's no denying that you may have to wait for a table if you go to a popular dining room at a popular time. There is a comfort factor on HAL in knowing all you have to do is show up at your table at your assigned time.

Without the assigned seatings, you will likely have different waiters every night. We had friendly and competent service on the Dawn, but it wasn't as personal as if we had the same wait staff all week. This may or may not be an issue for you.

Other differences - more casual dress. Most people looked fine in their "resort casual" dress, and some people dressed up as much as on the more traditional lines. (There's an optional formal night.) But there were those who confused "resort casual" with "sloppy." Enforcement of the dress code in the dining room was erratic. We kept a sense of humor about it, and it made for some interesting people-watching.

Also, many more children. And it was late April/early May, not a typical school vacation time. The children weren't badly behaved for the most part, but there were a lot of them and that simply means more people onboard. The Dawn is big, and when lots of cabins have 3 or 4 people, the ship will feel crowded. Longer lines at the buffet, longer lines to get on and off the ship, more people needing chairs around the pool and chairs in the theater, etc. etc. Kids tend to monopolize a pool, and the Dawn does not have the 2 pool areas as HAL ships do.

And, a brighter decor on the ship. It looked garish to me at first after the subdued tones of HAL ships, but soon I came to see it as festive.

The "standard" inside and outside cabins on the Dawn are a little smaller than those on HAL. The Dawn however, has some lovely suites.

One thing that I think NCL does better is entertainment. That's very subjective, of course, but we have usually enjoyed NCL's shows more. They are more varied and more imaginative than HAL's.

So, there are some definite differences. For those who might be offended by some non-traditional cruise attire, NCL isn't a good choice. For those who find the traditional dining experience essential to their enjoyment, NCL isn't a good choice. But if you are flexible and can enjoy different kinds of cruise eperiences, give the Dawn or the Spirit a try. There's a lot to like about freestyle dining and the ease of packing without the formal duds. And the NY sailings are wonderfully convenient for those who live nearby.

[DavidNDC]

I agree with Joanne's comments and can add some of my own. I have sailed on both the NCL Dawn out of NYC and on the NCL Spirit, but I took the Spirit out of Miami, as they have not moved to NYC yet.

Several items:

1. The NCL Dawn is a significantly nicer ship than the NCL Spirit. Don't get me wrong -- I liked the Spirit, but it is a very different ship. It was not even supposed to be part of the NCL fleet, but was moved from Asia after an accident caused an NCL ship under construction to partially sink at her building dock. The Spirit was designed for short gambling cruises out of Singapore, I think. This ship doesn't not handle crowds well and you have many of what I call "choke points." You have more waiting for restaurants on the Spirit than you do the Dawn. You have a worse problem with "chair hogs" on the Spirit than on any other cruise I have been on.

2. That said, you will notice that the Dawn has much more of a following and will cost significantly more than the Spirit -- at least, I am guessing that it will.

3. The NYC Pier is not very nice or conducive with regards to embarkation and disembarkation. Simply put, it is an absolute mess. When I disembarked from the Dawn, the wait for a cab was well over an hour and there was a little bit of pushing and shoving involved -- very unpleasant. It was the polar opposite of embarkation or disembarkation in Fort Lauderdale or Miami.

4. Of course, the convenience factor must be weighed and this may tilt you toward trying one of these ships. For me, I live in Washington, D.C. While NYC is slightly easier and less expensive to get to than Fort Lauderdale or Miami, it is only slightly so. So I would rather fly to Florida and avoid the hassle. Plus, this way, I'm already in the sun the first day of the cruise -- there's no worry about the day-at-sea- as the ship races from NYC down the Atlantic coast.

That's my $00.02 worth.

[sail7seas]

Joanne.......

How was the food in comparison to HAL?

[ron46936]

I guess you could call me an NCL devotee who sometimes sails HAL. We did the Star, sister ship to the Dawn, and it was a fantastic ship.

A little hint about Freestyle. It is different from traditional dining. When anything is different there are generally both positives and negatives to the difference. The main negative is that you don't get the same waiter every night. On the positive you get to eat in a variety of places at the time most convenient to your own schedule. My tip is to enjoy the positive aspect of whichever you are on at the time.

As far as service goes NCL service is generally more to my liking. It's less subservient but more competent.

[robertmartha]

Joanne, Ron and David
First Thank You so much for your candid responses. We are a group of college friends who now that are kids are older 7-12 age range wanted to start vacationing together again - last time we did was before mortgages, kids, etc...!!!! (11 in total - 6 adults/5 kids). We sailed last august on the Mariner and had a fantastic time-that we decided to try to do this type of cruise vacation next August. (We are already booked ( wife and two kids on the Oosterdam this August - Alaska). Since we are all near the NY pier we thought why not NY vs Florida. With NCL having two ships in NY next summer, I thought lets see what the HAL folks have to say. We were sold several yrs ago on a sailing we did on the Maasdam - love the HAL experience - but we have also sailed on Carnival, Celebrity and last summer on RC - so we are flexiable. And I know our friends - who even though we loved our waiter and asst last yr - may be open to the Freestyle experience. Since the "main" restaurants are basically the same - can you reserve the same table for around the same time most nights?
Okay tell me about the suites. We always sail in a category S on HAL.

Thanks all

[Joanne G.]

Sail7Seas, I'm not the best person to critique the food. While on vacation, as long as I am not shopping for, cooking, or cleaning up after meals, I'm happy with just about anything on my plate. But I can say this - after 2 weeks back-to-back on the Dawn, our party of three had quite an assortment of appetizers, main dishes, and desserts, and I can't remember anything that we didn't like. My sister leans towards fish and vegetarian meals, my brother-in-law is likely to go with the more exotic choices, and I lean towards the simple and familiar. Other than noticing the the lobster tails were very small, I can't think of anything we had that didn't measure up to HAL. We do remember the portions were bigger. The food was attractively presented, and with all those dining rooms, no cruise line can match NCL for choice. As one reviewer said, if you can't find something you like among 10 dining options, from fancy Le Bistro to the buffet or fast food place, there's something wrong with you! As you probably know, some of the alternative dining rooms have an extra charge. We tried the Asian one, and it was wonderful. We tried the no-extra-charge Italian restaurant. I enjoyed my lasagna, but I think my sister felt the pizza wasn't as described. We didn't try Le Bistro or the steakhouse, but they get almost universal raves.

Some of the dining rooms are small and intimate, offering a pleasant change from the big dining rooms that we are all familiar with on ships. But there's no dancing-waiters-with-the-baked-Alaska parade. In general, without the same wait staff and same tablemates, dinner is less an event than with traditional cruise dining.

The buffet on the Dawn was expansive (and often crowded), including a vegetarian line and a "NY deli" line. I remember big bowls of freshly cut fresh fruit, and big bowls of large peel-and-eat shrimp. Yum!

Bob and Martha, you can make reservations at the same table for most nights, especially if you are in a suite. We did this, as my brother-in-law uses a wheelchair and prefers a table near the rest room. The staff was always most attentive to his needs, including one night when we went to Venetian without a reservation and found it full. The maitre d' phoned the other dining rooms to find us an available table.

If I had more time, I'd describe the suites we checked out and the AD that my sister and brother-in-law stayed in. :) But I have to go to work . . . :(

[Rotterdam]

I sailed NCL Dawn this past New Years - a 10 day cruise. I've sailed HAL many many times (with almost 50 cruises on various lines). The last time I was on HAL was aboard the Zaandam in 2001 & gave up on HAL - the service & food mediocre. In 2001 I was onboard Volendam & loved everything about the trip - food, service & ship.

I found the Dawn different to anything I ha ever sailed on.

We had a balcony cabin midship Deck 9 - it was fine for 2 but the couch was a rock & you can't get to the balcony if someone sleeps on the sofa as a sleeper. the bathroom was nicely designed. HAL has better cabins all around. Our steward had teh attitude that we were on HIS schedule(ie he would knock on our door several times to see if we were ready to have the cabin made up before dinner - this was @7:30 pm wile we were dressing). After the third day I told him to back off & read the sign on the door.

As far as public spaces - it felt like being in a floating mall. I like seeing the ocean & views. It seems the deigners have once again won in having passengers concentrate on revenue generating activities vs enjoying an ocean voyage.

The pool area was crowded & messy as no one cleaned up - by mid day the deck was loaded with cups, bottles & napkins.

The service in the dining rooms was attrociuos & in some bars down right surly. As far as dining where & when you want - thats not necessarily true - its more like take a chance & maybe you'll get a table. Some nites it was a very long wait for a table - the trick is to make a reservation in the morning. We ate in Aqua 4 nites - it was the best run restaurant onboard(funny that it is run by all women). The Pub actually had good fish & chips & roast beef!

The food ran the range from ok to bad. The Steak House was just ok & at the cafe we had one of the worst evenings ever. The service was inept & the food equal to what was being served in other dining rooms. The push to buy wine included holding off bread & water while asking / pushing wine 3x. I drink wine almost evrey nite but found these sales pushes too much.

I can't say much about the entertainment - New Years eve was a lame attempt at forcing New Years fun on the crowd - yes the music was good but you can't count down forever to midnite - by 12:30 it was all over. The nite club was dead & played too much rap for the audience.

As far as the NYC piers - boarding was a nitemare - yes teh ship came in late - but NCL had all passengers lined up extending outside the pier for hours. We arrived at 3:30 & did not board until 4:45. Thank goodness it was a warm day(58 degrees). NCL should of made arrangements for our comfort. As the ship has arrived late several times coming back to NYC - I can't imagine what its like when its cold. The piers were not built for these mega ships but NCL did not do anything to help passengers either.

NCL's management style also like to play....for weeks no one knew if we would be going to Tortola...ridiculous. The ship does have a problem with mechanics & sailed slower than it should.

This all being said - I understand people that say they are with kids & they liked NCL Dawn - I don' know what a 7 day cruise would be like on the Dawn. I would choose HAL over NCL anyday.

Also I just returned from the MSC Opera this past Saturady - MSC product has NCL & HAL beat - MSC Opera quality shows through & even the kids onboard(10 -15) were happy all week(and well behaved).

[theduffys]

We were also on the New Year's cruise and can agree with some of what Rotterdam has described but, disagree with some points as well. We have sailed on HAL 5 times and enjoyed them all but, after the last time (A transatlalantic of the Rotterdam In July 2004) we felt that the quality, food and service were all slipping a bit. We did think that the food, service and entertainment on the Dawn were a "cut above". We were three including my very elderly dad. We had no problem reserving the same table in Impressions (7pm) whenever we wanted and found the wait staff to be excellent. If we had to wait (never more than 15 minutes) we simply sat down in the bar just outside the restaurant and ordered a glass of wine, which was carried to our table when it was ready.

We were in an AF mini suite and found it to be more than adequate in size--though I would not try to put more than one adult or two small children on the sofa bed--and we had no problem going out onto the balcony when the sofa was open. We did request and receive and egg crate mattress from our room steward for the sofa bed. If you are used to an S suite on HAL I would suggest that you look into the AB suite on the Dawn. It has two bedrooms (a master with the most amazing bathroom and a small children's room and shower bath) plus a living and dining area. Another option for three families is to look into the penthouse villa (three large bedrooms and decadent bathrooms.). It is also the most opulant suite imaginable!!! It is expensive but if you devide the cost among three couples it might be worth it.

We also found the public spaces to be mall like--what a good description Rotterdam. We chose not to stay around the pool area as it was congested and noisy. We settled down near the hot tub all the way forward. We did miss the Crowsnest for ocean viewing. There is nothing like it on the dawn.

As was already stated, the port is a nightmare!! Just be mentally prepared for that.

Hope this answers some of your questions.

[carol louise]

Bob and Martha,

Hi, I’m Joanne G.’s sister. We enjoyed our back-to-back cruises last spring and I can’t add too much to what she said about the ship, except to confirm that we found the service to be excellent and they did a good job of handling a denser passenger load than we were used to on HAL, and we thought the ship was quite attractive and spotlessly clean. More colorful than the traditional (pre-Vista class) HAL ships, but pleasantly so.

If you are used to the S class on HAL, with its amenities, and have your children with you, the AB suites might be just the thing. Here’s a website, with photos and a floor plan, of one on the Norwegian Star, the Dawn’s sister ship.

http://www.orcatekweb.com/Cabin-11550.htm (http://www.orcatekweb.com/Cabin-11550.htm)

Or, as another poster suggested, there are two “Garden Suites” that are really special. Not only are there three bedrooms, but you have your own outdoor hot tub in your private garden area and the roof above your villa for sunning in private. Floor-to-ceiling windows – they’re really spectacular. I don’t have a link handy, but if you go to the NCL board and do a search for Garden Villa, I’m sure there will be pictures.

We stayed in an AD penthouse suite. They are also called the Romance suites, and are not for families, as the king bed doesn’t divide into two beds and there is no accommodation for a third person to sleep. It was lovely, well laid-out, and with a wide balcony looking aft.

I’m sorry to hear about Rotterdam’s unhappy New Year’s experience. Sounds like maybe the Dawn has gotten too popular for its own good. Hopefully, the addition of more ships sailing out of New York this year may take some of the strain off.

Happy cruising.

Carol Louise

[Rotterdam]

Obviously we all have our point of view.

Duffys - you were smart to eat early...we usually went downstairs at 8:30 - 9:00pm for dinner. Funny you mention Impressions - I had one of the worst experiences there - the food was ok(portions were small for someone that likes american portions - I was ok with it). I've worked as a waiter when I was younger(much younger) & know enough that I should of had bread & water before teh entree! Then the waiter disappeared...finally I grabbed the supervisor & he got my bill. The bar outside of Impressions where we went 2x & the service was miserable...slow & bad attitudes.

We were on the VIP list & at one point spoke with the Restaurant Manager - a very nice gentleman from Croatia. He asked for my input & I was honest. I believe the tipping policy is bad(we did not adjust our tips but did give extra to the Steak House & the ladies in Aqua). The policy just encourages mediocre employees to give mediocre service & get away with it. Waitstaff is promoted based on the amount of wine they sell. Sooo if you get a good wait person that isn't pushy they will not get to the better restaurants(the pay for venues). In the steak house & Aqua we did have a good waitresses.

The food was basic banquet food....nothing to write home about. I like fresh anything - the Caesar salads, grilled chicken & fish w/ veggies. Thats what I stuck with. The steaks were just ok & they were out of fresh lobster.....frozen just doesn't cut it with me.

I found the decor garish / Carnival like...precisely why I do not like the HAL ships. Joe Farcus should be chained to a railing in one of his atrias for 10 days!!!! I do not know what category we were in.....but it was port side midship just off the atrium.

As I said I just came back from the Opera - great product that exceeds both HAL & NCL.

AS someone said "Dawn is good for what it is". If I had kids & wanted a totally casual experience I would consider it. Other than sailing 10 minutes away from home I'd pass next time. Next winter HAL has a ship out of NYC....if I can't get on a 10 day MSC I'd consider HAL...just not expecting much.

[theduffys]

Obviously we all have our point of view.


Joe Farcus should be chained to a railing in one of his atrias for 10 days!!!!


Now that is funny!!

Yes, we probably were smart to eat early--not our usual choice but, dad can't hold out as late as we would like.

Maybe we will give Opera a look. Hopefully we will see you guys again some time.

[dougnewmanatsea]

Not sailed on, but visited NORWEGIAN DAWN and had lunch. Nothing like HAL, but if you're open to something different, I would give it a try. (I personally would do it, but the 7-day itinerary is terribly dull to me, and while the 10+ day cruises are nice, they usually don't coincide with our needed schedule.)

I did a report on my visit, which you can read here (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=84685). The link there to my photos is out of date, they are now here (http://shiploverny.fotki.com/dawn_visit).

Hope this helps.