Anyone sailed HAL and Disney??

[CoastalCounseling]

I have only sailed HAL. My husband thinks we should try one of the other lines "just to compare".

For those of you who have done both, please give me some input. Our child is going on three years old.

THANKS!

Kelly

[Sparticus]

I think that your child is a few years (say 64 or so) too young to appreciate HAL.

Good luck to you!


I have only sailed HAL. My husband thinks we should try one of the other lines "just to compare".

For those of you who have done both, please give me some input. Our child is going on three years old.

THANKS!

Kelly

[momofmeg]

Well I have done HAL and in 2 months I will have done Disney. My experience with HAL was it was more for the over 65 crowd. Perfect for my inlaws but me and hubby (mid forties) and our daughter (17 at the time) was pretty much bored to death.

We love the lounges with live music. We are not party animals. We usually retire around mid night and the up at 6a.m. to drink coffee and watch the ocean. Probelm with HAL there was nothing to do after 9 p.m. then is when we like to have a hour or so in a lounge listening to live music.

anyway we did not cruise when our daughter was young so I can't really help you there but I would think Princess, Carnival, RCCL would all be better for a young family. I am sure to since Disney really has all the kiddie stuff that your child is bound to love it. When our daughter was young we didn't cruise as I said as it was beyond our finances but she loved the yearly Disney iceskating shows we took her to. We bought all the Disney movies and she was in heaven when we took her to Disney World. From what I read they have all the characters on ship so it has to be a lot of that Magic Kingdom feel.

[wdw1972]

I've done 6 HAL cruises, with another booked for next year. I've also done 7 Disney cruises, with 2 more booked for this year.

My preference is most definitely HAL - they've got a superior product in my opinion. I've been cruising HAL since I was in my late 30's and never felt I was cruising in a nursing home. Yes, many passengers are older, but for the most part they tend to be gracious, friendly and INTERESTING due to their life experiences. My son started cruising around age 10-12, did his first Disney cruise at 13 and asked for his future cruises to be on HAL. I did the next 6 Disney cruises without him, and he doesn't feel he missed out on a thing - he's been on 5 of the 6 HAL cruises (now he's 17). Disney does have an extensive kids program, but my son preferred HAL because it wasn't overrun with kids. They got to do more spur-of-the-moment stuff on HAL, since the counselors weren't trying to keep a large number of kids in line!

Your child is too young for the kids' programs, so you'll be left to care for him 24/7 unless you can arrange a sitter. On Disney they do have the nursery you can reserve for a fee if you want an adult night out.

I personally wouldn't want to cruise with a young child - I want to enjoy all that cruising has to offer, and that means being free to NOT be mommy for a week. However, if I *had* to take a 3-yr old, I'd stick with HAL and save the Disney cruise for when the kid was older (at least 5-7, and ready to spend a good chunk of time in the kids' clubs).

[momofmeg]

I was not complaining about the passenger's AGE. Hey I am fifty now and hope to live into my eighties. I have met many interesting older people on cruises including a lady who had taken 98 cruises and who gave us some very helpful information. It was just entertainment (or lack of) was geared to this age group. The lounges were dead after the broadway style show ended. I am just not the type of person to go and sit in a dead lounge with no entertainment and drink. We did do that in the crow's nest a couple of times and order drinks. At least there we could watch the ocean.

there was one nice thing. We had the hot tubs to ourselves every night except once when a 20 something couple was there. (The only couple in that age range on the WHOLE ship)

The casinos were hopping every night but as we don't gamble this is not entertainment to us. My inlaws loved it there though.

[CoastalCounseling]

Thank you for your input.

We have never been bored on HAL. I was EXHAUSTED every night..... eating, shows, games, bingo, pool, excursions etc....

If HAL is a "slower pace", I cant wait to find out what we are missing on a Disney ship!

I bet my feet will hurt by the end of each night! :)

SMILE!

THANKS AGAIN!
Kelly

[momofmeg]

Coastal Counseling I was referring to the night life. My days were filled and busy. That was not a problem on HAL. I am not a super party person and I don't stay up all night. I am usually in bed around midnight and up at 6 a.m. drinking coffee, watching the ocean.

I just like some entertainment after the broadway style shows. I do not gamble (the casinos were HOPPING by the way) I love paino bars and the lounges with the ballroom style dancing which I usually go and have a couple of drinks before retiring; my HAL ship did not have this.

Another thing about AGE folks-on all the other lines I have been on- Princess, Carnival, RCCL- the ball room style dancing was mostly folks in their 70's. dancing to music like 40's big band stuff. That age group can really DANCE and I really loved PEOPLE watching in these lounges wishing I could do just HALF of their moves. That is WHY I could not understand why HAL did not have this on our ship.

My daughter was 17 when we were on HAL. there were only 2 other teenagers on ship so the teen club was canceled. She always liked the teen clubs because on other lines they had disco type music and games for this group from like 9.p.m. to 11 p.m. there was nothing like this on ship for her. In fact I don't believe there was even an adult disco-not sure about that though as I never go there-not my thing. I am not into karoke either but my daughter is and she never found that in any of the lounges either.

[ElaineMD]

I have cruised on the Disney Wonder and HAL's Zuiderdam. Zuiderdam is a new ship, and it is designed to attract a younger crowd. I am 40, female and married, but I travel with a friend, also female, who is in her 50's.

Before we left on Zui, I read all the boards and knew exactly what to expect. Boy was I surprised. I hadn't realized how different the feel, the atmosphere would be on board Zui after Wonder. There is an excitement and an energy everywhere on Wonder, and just about anytime on Zui would be a good time for a nap. The ship is quieter and calmer.

Food is better on Zui. Hands down. Not bad on Wonder, just better on Zui, although I liked the breakfast and lunch buffetts better on Wonder.

Service. Cabin steward far better on Zui. However, we preferred the service on Disney. It wasn't that it was better. It was just more interesting. On Disney our d.r. servers were well educated, well travelled, articulate, interesting people. We enjoyed talking with them through the evening about as much as anything. The service on HAL is, well, obsequious. Don't get me wrong. Service is generally impeccable, but obsequious.

We had an outside cabin on Wonder and a balcony on HAL. Obviously, we liked the balcony, but over all we preferred the cabin on Wonder. It seemed better laid out, and we loved the split bathroom. Also, we sailed on both ships during the fall. On Wonder I could watch every football game I wanted to see and get scores instantly. On HAL, good luck. On Monday night during the football season the sports bar was showing international soccer with commentary in spanish. I thought there was going to be a riot. Also, the in-room television offerings and the first-run movies were wonderful. At least, they were nice to have. We did watch a movie in our cabin, we never made it to Disney's theater. We tried Zui's. We couldn't get a seat from which we could see the screen, so we left.

The best thing about Zui were the other passengers. We met the most interesting people. On Disney almost everyone is travelling in a family unit, and families tend to be insular (and rightly so, that is the point of a family vacation). On HAL you have a lot more people travelling as couples, singles, friends, whatever; and they are more interested in socializing with complete strangers.

We had a ball on both ships. However, what I think was the really telling moment was when we were docked in Nassau on Zui next to Wonder. My friend commented that she didn't think she would ever be docked next to Zui and wishing she were on her. We were watching Wonder wistfully.

The biggest down side with Disney is lack of variety in the itinerary. HAL is comfortable and pleasant and goes everywhere. So, I expect I will sail HAL again and enjoy every minute of it; but there is nothing like Disney magic.

Elaine Dowling
Norman, OK

[momofmeg]

Elaine-I loved Princess the best. I also had wonderful times on RCCL and even Carnival. Just hated HAL. If you love the great food-try Princess. I have also found when we cruised Miracle-Carnival's newest ship the food and entertainment MUCH better then the usual Carnival fare.

You are correct though-HAL had wonderful food-was just too sedate for us.

One thing I really like about Disney-now My cruise is still in the future-is we were able to get a veranda stateroom on a 4 day cruise. Normally on the other lines-the 3 and 4 day cruises are the older ships that the only way you get a balcony is to book a suite which is much more expensive. I am really looking forward to that balcony.

[captaincrash]

We've sailed HAL once - the old Maasdam on a western sailing and DIsney once last Sept. Off hand and first I must say: we enjoied EVERYTHING on Disney better. Now, on HAL we had a larger balcony suite; and on Disney we had the smallest inside cabin - so by comparison there was not much to say in terms of acerage - however we were mildly impressed witht the relatively good condition of the Disney cabin. HAL was OK - just in more need of refurbishment. ANd, BTW- when we concluded our Disney sailing the ship went iinto dock for refurbishment! THAT may be why the Magic looked fresher - because Disney seems to maintain higher standards in this regard.

So, as for other considerations: in trying not to repeat anything discussed by other contributors: I would say your group composition will contribute heavily to which cruise you should choose. If you have any young ones then you have to try Disney at least ONCE. If no kids and if you enjoy a relaxed and slower pace in a vacation - then you will probably get more out of HAL.

We did think very well of the Disney food offerrings... except the buffett. We felt this area could really use some improvement - but I think folks have varying opinions on this as some said they LIKED the buffett. Oh well...

The shows were quite good. EXcellent stage craft, talented vocalists, and throughly professional productions. Some other ships had shows that seemed a bit sophmoric in one regard or another. So Disney equals or excells against the best we've seen at sea.

Hope this helps a bit. Here's a link to some pix from last year's Disney sailing.

Disney Cruise Sept 2003:
http://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=nma4cnc&p=ABC&AID=1136939

We're going again on the Magic on Sept 4th and returning 9-11. We'll post a little post cruise update when we return.

Happy sailing!

[momofmeg]

sorry did not mean to post on this tread. I guess I hit the wrong one.