HAL vs NCL

[babygirl722]

Our last 3 cruises were on the Dawn and we just loved Freestyle. We've just booked the HAL Noordam President's week sailing and was wondering if anyone who has sailed both NCL Freestyle ships and HAL Vista ships can offer some comparisons/opinions. As I mentioned in an earlier post, HAL offered a substantial savings over NCL.

Thanks!

[Druke I]

Twice with NCL, and we didn't care for their freestyle, but admittedly, second time was on one of their ships that was not designed for it, and it was when it was 1st introduced (Norwegian Dream, 5-99), so it may have had some "teething" problems.

We much prefer HAL to NCL.

Isn't it wonderful we have so many choices?

[babygirl722]

Thanks, Michael. As you know, the NCL Dawn was designed for Freestyle and IMHO it's awesome. The flexibility and choices make for a fantastic voyage, especially for those with young children.

[hammybee]

I have sailed both and think those NCL ships designed for Freestyle Dining, do a better job than HAL does. There are not as many choices on HAL as there are on the newer NCL ships. But there are enough. I much prefer the overall quality of the HAL experience to NCL.

Given you have booked President's week out of NYC, be aware that if history repeats itself, all cruises from NYC on this week are apt to be jammed with kids. The two consecutive at sea days coming and going, 10-11 day intineraries, combined with the cold temps means kids are going to be inside the ship and eventually bored, regardless of which cruise line they are on.

There are threads on this topic on this board, NCL and RCL boards and some of them are not pretty. If you are looking for a winter getaway from a convenient port and prefer to NOT sail with children, you are apt to be dissappointed and potentially frustrated, regardless of cruise line.

[serendipity1499]

Twice with NCL, and we didn't care for their freestyle, but admittedly, second time was on one of their ships that was not designed for it, and it was when it was 1st introduced (Norwegian Dream, 5-99), so it may have had some "teething" problems.

We much prefer HAL to NCL. Isn't it wonderful we have so many choices?

We've been on 5 NCL Cruises & 7 HAL cruises.. We travel with another couple& over all we enjoy HAL the best with fixed dining times & Formal Nights..

We were on the Dream Transatlantic in April of 2002 & also hated free-style...We hated it because of long lines & long waits.. Agree the Dream was not designed for Free style..

However, we also were on the Majesty in Dec. of 99 & they did not have Free Style yet..After the Dream, we all said we would NEVER AGAIN cruise on NCL...LOL;)

Have learned not to say "Never Again":o ..We tried to book the "Prinsendam" in November of 2005 & it was full..Since it was our Dear Friends 50th Anniversary we all decided to go on the NCL Crown thru the Canal to Santiago & had a wonderful time..Free style worked out well for us on this ship....Never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a table, even when we were with a group of 8 CC people..The service was also good, but still not as good as HAL's service..Of course it was a much smaller ship, which we like...

On HAL, we book late seating & love having the same Dining Room Stewards.. They are always so gracious & accommodating.. They anticipate our needs.. We always feel like Royalty on HAL ships...Have never had bad table mates & usually ask for & get tables for 8..Only on the last cruise did they give us a table for 4, which & we kept, because our DR Stewards were so wonderful!

However, once again we procrastinated & could not get on the Maasdam Transatlantic this summer at the price we wanted..So, we're trying Oceania this coming November to the Amazon..They have Free Style Dining & it's also a much smaller ship than most of HAL's & NCL's ships..

We'll see what happens..Betty

P.S. Doesn't the Noordam have Anytime Dining in addition to fixed Dining, which I would think would be similar to Free-Style?

[babygirl722]

I have sailed both and think those NCL ships designed for Freestyle Dining, do a better job than HAL does. There are not as many choices on HAL as there are on the newer NCL ships. But there are enough. I much prefer the overall quality of the HAL experience to NCL.

Given you have booked President's week out of NYC, be aware that if history repeats itself, all cruises from NYC on this week are apt to be jammed with kids. The two consecutive at sea days coming and going, 10-11 day intineraries, combined with the cold temps means kids are going to be inside the ship and eventually bored, regardless of which cruise line they are on.

There are threads on this topic on this board, NCL and RCL boards and some of them are not pretty. If you are looking for a winter getaway from a convenient port and prefer to NOT sail with children, you are apt to be dissappointed and potentially frustrated, regardless of cruise line.


Thanks, Hammybee, for the heads up but my last cruises have been out of NYC peak times because that's when my kids are out of school. It's funny, but I don't even notice them much. I'm either too busy taking care of my 2 or they are off at camp and I'm too busy enjoying myself. Honestly, the only problem I ever had was with an out of control, loud-mouthed adult! In my experience, most kids were busy with the camp program on sea days. NCL had them pretty tied up and I'm hoping the HAL does as good a job. I did read the posts and it's pretty mixed.

Truthfully, we can all find something to complain about but I try not too when it comes to vacationing!!