HAL or Princess vs NCL?

[showdog]

We just got off the Zuiderdam last week and we are thinking about a NCL cruise on the Pride of America in December. We love Princess and we enjoyed HAL's service and statements.

 

What is NCL like? I've only been on the NCL Norway so I don't think that is a good representation of the real NCL.

 

Does anyone have any experience?

 

Thanks

[mr green]

You only get what you pay for with NCL. I have given up on the line. john

[showdog]

That doesn't sound good. I just didn't see another 7 day trip to Hawaii.

I keep reading bad reviews on NCL.

[Tracyr]

I have sailed HAL four times, RCCL twice, and NCL twice. After the first NCL cruise I said I would never sail with them again. I felt like there was no personal service, I waited in line everywhere I went, and they wanted me to pay extra for everything I wanted. This spring (May) myself and 12 girlfriends did a Pacific Northwest cruise, and NCL had the best price and itinerary, ($199) for a three night cruise, so I decided to give NCL another try. Now there are 11 more people who will never cruise NCL again. Many little things are missing on thier cruises. It's hard to explain, but I am spoiled by HAL. I am an agent from home for one of the online cruise agencies, and I really don't even recommend NCL to my customers.

[Ray-Barbara]

I sailed the Zuiderdam several weeks ago and have been on three Princess cruises. I perfer Princess slightly over HAL. The food is presented better and there is more variety than on HAL. But the rooms are much bigger and nicer on HAL. So, it's almost a toss-up. I have had a number of friends go NCL and their biggest complaint has been the food. Good luck on chooosing where to go next and which cruise line. IMO, it's important that you try out a variety of cruise lines to see how they differ. Don't just go on CC opinions (they are helpful, but each person is different).

 

Ray

[HAL92]

HAL and Princess are much better than NCL.

[Ziggy7]

I say if you are flexible and really want to go to Hawaii on a 7 day cruise, you should try it. What others dont like, you may find you like, you will never really know whats best for you unless you experience it for yourself :) Good Luck and Aloha!

[OCruisers]

OK ... so we like both Princess and HAL better ... BUT we don't hate NCL! ;)

 

Our experiences on NCL have been totally in the Caribbean (and were mostly on The Norway). It would be interesting to read some NCL reviews on their Hawaii cruise.

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[BLStokes23]

We've cruised on both HAL (10 +cruises) and NCL (4 cruises). We love both lines for various reasons. HAL is like an old friend - very familiar, easy to manuever ships, great service . . . We've been on the newer of the NCL ships and LOVE freestyle dining. There are SO many dining options to choose from that you can dine in a different venue every night of the cruise. We've always had excellent service too. The entertainment onboard the newer NCL ships is also a step above HAL's.

 

We keep coming back to HAL because we like the smaller ships best. If we feel like we can handle a much larger passenger ship, we might try the new NCL ship coming out this fall (NCL Jewel?).

 

I would give NCL a shot - You'll be cruising in Hawaii - how bad could it be?

[TexEm]

I've only been on one NCL ship--the Sky, which is now Pride of Aloha. I've been on the Dawn Princess and the Caribbean Princess. And the latest cruise---the Prinsendam. Each ship had its good (great) points. I loved the Freestyle dining on NCL, and the Jean Ryan dance troupe was amazing. The gym staff and exercise programs were outstanding.

 

I'd go for Pride of America, but maybe wait until it's sailed a month or so before booking, or make a refundable deposit if that's possible. NCL had such problems with Pride of Aloha (don't know if there's still anything on NCL's board about it) and its American crew. There was an article on cruisecritic a few days back about "Innovations in Crew Training" about the NCL training center that specifically addressed NCL's American crew issues. Also, Pride of America "sank" in bad weather in the shipyard when it was first being built. (I'm sure that shouldn't make me nervous...)

 

I'd also spend some time on the NCL board to get a feel for the ships/crew/etc.

 

Having said all of that, we're considering Pride of America for a family cruise next summer, but we should have more info about her before we book in a few months.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide--let us know what you decide and why.

 

Mary

[rochnd]

We have cruised both NCL (Norwegian Star 11/04) and Princess (Island Princess 4/05) recently. Our first trip on HAL will be Ryndam 11/27/05.

Having said that I will say that there are differences, but all in all a toss up and here is why-

The buffet on Princess was better, but only slightly better. The main dining room on NCL was better and the onboard bakery was much better on NCL. The optional dining in the French rest. was far better on NCL compared to the optional dining in the Creole/Cajun rest. on Princess. But both were excellent. Cabin service on both was attentive and responsive (we tipped both cabin stewards on both ships extra at the end of each cruise). The bar wait staff we thought was better on the Princess, slightly. Both ships were fairly new and very beautiful. Shops on the Princess were far better than the shopping "area" on NCL. That may be a ship specific thing. We liked the casino on NCL WAY better than Princess.

 

Overall, we will cruise either quite willingly. HAL will have to go a long way to improve on what we have experienced for it to become our #1 choice.

 

We had no problems on NCL what so ever. The heads did foul one time on Princess and there was a slight odor at one point on Princess, but both were taken care of quickly.

 

If you are a cigar smoker (I am) the NCL ships have a great cigar lounge. Princess did to but it was cramped, stuffy, and not so elegant. I find no reference to anything like this on HAL.

 

Embarkation on NCL (in Los Angeles) was a bit uninformed and on Princess (same port) it was worse. Overall better on NCL but not great. HAL seems to have a better handle on it from what I read here.

 

Lot's of folks on this board talk about the deterioration of HAL's service and food since it's acquisition by Carnival (who also owns Princess), so it might just be that NCL is the better bet. I sure will know a lot more when we return in Dec. 2005!

 

Don

[showdog]

Thank you all so much. I am more confused than ever:)

 

 

The trip we were thinking about was the Pride of America on December 3rd. It is 7 days and goes to a few of the different islands in Hawaii.

 

I am also looking at the Wind Spirit, Celebrity Constellation, or RCL Serenade Of The Seas all of which do a Southern Cruise. All of my choices are in the same price range and my air will be free since I'm using frequent flyer miles.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

The many reviews I have read on CC the concensus seems to be if you just want to see different islands in a week and just use the ship as transportation you'll be alright.

The cabins are small, about 140 sq ft. the dinner menu stays the same all week except for one entree changes per night. Have read many reviews saying that on day 2-3 of the cruise you order something and they say they ran out. :confused:

Dinners can run very long with 20 minutes in between courses.

I wanted to see Hawaaii this year and read many reviews. One or two bad ones out of many I just think you can't please everybody, but when you read the same things over and over again it's not good.

 

I cruised with NCL once to Bermuda and it was the only cruise in 12 that I look back on with any negative feelings.

 

Bill