Considering HAL......some questions

[cruisnfool]

I have cruised 26 times and consider RCI, Celebrity and Princess to be my top 3

Will I enjoy HAL?
50 something and love to cruise.....not sure what the age range is although I don't really care if service and food and entertainment are good.

I see they are discussing tips...did that change on HAL, didn't they used to include tips in the price?...again don't really care because we are used to tipping and getting used to auto tipping.

I really like the itinerary the Ziuerdam is offering....
Thanks in advance...

[lougee1043]

[quote=cruisnfool]I have cruised 26 times and consider RCI, Celebrity and Princess to be my top 3
Will I enjoy HAL?
50 something and love to cruise.....not sure what the age range is although I don't really care if service and food and entertainment are good.
I see they are discussing tips...did that change on HAL, didn't they used to include tips in the price?...again don't really care because we are used to tipping and getting used to auto tipping.quote]

i have always cruised on hal with one celebrity galaxy trip last march and i consider them to be fairly equal in all parts

i think your age will fit in really good on hal -- imo its not the old age crruise line that everyone makes it to be --- people of all ages including children especially during the summer and school breaks but you are not inundated with them-

hal never included tips in the price of the cruise --- the auto tipping is fairly new to hal ---- as you are aware those tips are split among the crew--any extra tips that you give a crewmember are his/hers to keep without splitting as long as you have not removed the auto tip from your account --if you remove the auto tip then they must pool all cash tips to be shared with the rest of the crew

[cruisnfool]

Thanks so much......no sure exactly why I've never tryed HAL...I seem to remember they used to be more expensive and changed itineries frequently.

[ldog]

The main reason that we keep choosing HAL is their great itineraries. They seem to have those extra added ports that others don't.

We are mid 50's and have found ourselves in the middle of age range. We choose mostly port intensive itineraries so aren't as concerned about entertainment. What we have seen is generally above average. The food and service have always been fabulous.

We would try other lines if their itineraries were more interesting but so far HAL has offered what we are interested in.

Your cruise is what you make of it.

cheers

[Willsot]

Read down to the thread "Two VERY different products" by the2ofus.
I thought it provided some excellent recent comparisons between RCI and HAL.

[GloriaF]

cruisinfool, I recognized your name from the Princess boards, then your post confirmed you to be a Princess cruiser. Therefore, you may find my review of HAL ms Westerdam of interest if you haven't already seen it.
http://messages.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=342404&highlight=%22views+HAL%22

[betonic]

Hi Mabel!

I just saw your post and decided to post quickly....

I'm taking a cruise in the fall with my Grandma on the Noordam so I've been reading up on what to expect.

I hope that all is well with you and your family.

Keep in touch,
Nicole

P.S. Sorry for hijacking this thread a bit.

[cruisnfool]

Nicole....how are you...great to hear from you!
We are all good......my oldest got married 3 weeks ago. We are cruising to Alaska in August and researching our 2007 cruise.
Take care...have a great cruise.
Mabel