If you had to chose, should HAL be about ports or onboard services?

[travelnap]

I would agree with most of the other posters, I like a combination of both. I like to travel and see different places but I also like the sea days when you can relax and do nothing. A nice combination of both is what works best for me. I would get bored staying in one place for any length of time, but that is just me, some people enjoy that. I used to do a lot of land trips and enjoyed them, but I didn't like the packing and unpacking every day, so that is why I switched to cruising, now the nice hotel moves from place to place and I unpack once and pack up again only once.

[dogo88]

Interesting discussion developing on another thread that deserves a little more attention on its own. Helps to understand also why many of us can see the same thing though different eyes.

 

HAL apparently at one time was able to be both a travel/port destination cruise line along with a high-level service and entertainment cruise line too.

 

Emphasis on those two different aspects might be stretching HAL to breaking points with its older, smaller ships which many prefer for their port access, creative itineraries but are less appealing for those who like a high level of onboard entertainment and primarily ship board life and services.

 

If you had to chose one direction or the other for HAL's future, which one would it be? (1) Travel and destination with less emphasis on on-board activities, service and amenities or (2) more of a pampering on board experience with less emphasis on ports and innovative itineraries?

 

Of course for the price, it would be great if HAL could continue to offer both at levels of former excellence, but I can appreciate this gets harder every year competing in this marketplace with newer, larger, glitzier ships while their ships take more time and maintenance to keep them running at the expense of other levels of guest services.

 

No one is saying HAL is making this choice or that it even should or have to, but if it needed to in order to keep its smaller ships cruising to unusual destinations which way should HAL put its energies, marketing and future?

 

 

We expect both. That's why we go on HAL.

 

Dan

[smokinmike]

We don't expect one cruise line to fulfill all our needs - HAL is our "big ship" line where we expect main-line ports, restaurant-style cuisine, comfortable accommodations and the like. For port-centric itineraries and adventure, we like Star Clippers. The clipper ships are small enough to get into ports unapproachable even with the smaller "big" ships. For instance, next week we'll be boarding the RC in Civitavecchia and visiting Palmarola, Ponza, Capri, Taormina, Corfu, Kotor, Dubrovnik, Hvar, Rovinj, Piran, and winding up in Venice. "Big" ships can make some of these ports of course but not all - and certainly not without a lot of tendering. A plus for us with the Clippers is having dive-masters aboard and thus having the opportunity to dive when we like.

 

I think it's really hard for one cruise line to be all things to all people so I tend to look at just what we want to do on a particular cruise and then try to find a match in our cruise "toolbox".

 

Next year we'll be doing a Viking river cruise in Bordeaux - the first year they've done that particular itinerary and it is wine-centric. That will be our inaugural river cruise as well. I hope and expect that the experience will be positive for river cruising seems to be a good way to visit towns and cities in Europe without a lot of flying and driving.

 

To sum up a rather lengthy post - I think cruising is a lot about deciding what and how one wants to accomplish in a given amount of time, researching the possibilities and then acting on the best information available.

 

Happy cruising!

[OlsSalt]

We don't expect one cruise line to fulfill all our needs - HAL is our "big ship" line where we expect main-line ports, restaurant-style cuisine, comfortable accommodations and the like. For port-centric itineraries and adventure, we like Star Clippers. The clipper ships are small enough to get into ports unapproachable even with the smaller "big" ships. For instance, next week we'll be boarding the RC in Civitavecchia and visiting Palmarola, Ponza, Capri, Taormina, Corfu, Kotor, Dubrovnik, Hvar, Rovinj, Piran, and winding up in Venice. "Big" ships can make some of these ports of course but not all - and certainly not without a lot of tendering. A plus for us with the Clippers is having dive-masters aboard and thus having the opportunity to dive when we like. .......

 

Interesting option: approx $4500 for two weeks with included airfare. approx 200 passengers. Quite an interesting range of destinations. It does look like very low impact cruising when it arrives in those off the beaten path ports.

[tacrum43]

Ports for sure. To me, the ship is just a mobile hotel room with breakfast, dinner and an ocean view that provides transportation. Of course, I do want the room and food to be of good quality too.

 

It would matter less if I just wanted to go somewhere sunny and warm, but then I would probably book a land resort as I find you get more space and options for dining/activities.

[brazilgirl]

When choosing a cruise , first I narrow down the part of the world I 'd like to visit.

 

I then look at the itineraries offered in that region. I look for a ship that has a more

" elegant " and refined look , as the feel and decor of the hotels/ ships I choose is important to me .

 

I like quieter atmospheres and less crowds , so I read up on the different ships and try to select one that has that "feel ".

 

Discreet , good service is important. I don't like lines or crowds,

 

Entertainment is not a huge priority.. Some nice music , a library , an inviting place to relax , read and look out at the sea is enough.

 

I like to have good food , but I don't cruise to eat . It is a nice addition.

 

If the ship didn't have casino , spa or shops , I would live...

 

In conclusion, my ship must be beautiful , quiet , comfortable , floating towards interesting ports with good service. :)

[EDLOS]

When choosing a cruise , first I narrow down the part of the world I 'd like to visit.

 

I then look at the itineraries offered in that region. I look for a ship that has a more

" elegant " and refined look , as the feel and decor of the hotels/ ships I choose is important to me .

 

I like quieter atmospheres and less crowds , so I read up on the different ships and try to select one that has that "feel ".

 

Discreet , good service is important. I don't like lines or crowds,

 

Entertainment is not a huge priority.. Some nice music , a library , an inviting place to relax , read and look out at the sea is enough.

 

I like to have good food , but I don't cruise to eat . It is a nice addition.

 

If the ship didn't have casino , spa or shops , I would live...

 

In conclusion, my ship must be beautiful , quiet , comfortable , floating towards interesting ports with good service. :)

I agree with all of the above, but increasingly finding it difficult to find cruises that do not the same old, same old port stops, Istanbul, Venice, Athens, Portofino, Monte Carlo, Naples, Ephesus and it seems the time in Ports gets shorter and shorter Example; Upcoming HAL Noordam cruise stops at Messina from 12 noon to 6 PM. Or am I the only one who feels this way ?

[brazilgirl]

I agree with all of the above, but increasingly finding it difficult to find cruises that do not the same old, same old port stops, Istanbul, Venice, Athens, Portofino, Monte Carlo, Naples, Ephesus and it seems the time in Ports gets shorter and shorter Example; Upcoming HAL Noordam cruise stops at Messina from 12 noon to 6 PM. Or am I the only one who feels this way ?

 

We had a very short stop in Dunmore East ( Ireland) , from 8 to 4 ( boarding time 3:30 ). We arrived back at the port at 3:15 , a little close for my comfort! I hired a private van for our group so we could get the most of our day , which seems like the only real option to enjoy such a short day.

 

I would love more overnights ...on our Baltic cruise we had overnights in Copenhagen and SPB which were lovely.

 

I always do a land / cruise mix which satisfies my desire to explore more in depth amd have some relaxation . The sea days are my down time , which is precious . I try to choose my cruises also based on where they start and end in order to plan more interesting land portions.

[Randyk47]

I agree with all of the above, but increasingly finding it difficult to find cruises that do not the same old, same old port stops, Istanbul, Venice, Athens, Portofino, Monte Carlo, Naples, Ephesus and it seems the time in Ports gets shorter and shorter Example; Upcoming HAL Noordam cruise stops at Messina from 12 noon to 6 PM. Or am I the only one who feels this way ?

 

I guess it depends. We finally reached the point a couple of years ago where we'd done the Caribbean to the point where no itinerary caught our attention or interest. If you're destination cruisers, which we are, you can only visit say St Lucia so many times before you feel tired of it. Last year we switched to the Med so the ports you listed were all new, interesting, and attractive to us. We're even going back to the Med next year to pick up some key ports we missed last year. Having lived in Europe for nearly eight years I'm not fooling myself into thinking that a 10 hour stop in Greece to say visit Athens comes anywhere close to an immersion experience but it's better than having never gone there. Sure time in port is an issue, and we considered it when we picked Seabourn, that indeed we were staying in ports long enough to at least catch the highlights for that port. Of course for us there are other factors.....age, cost of getting there and back, cost of the cruise, and so on kind of weigh in and we'll never visited the Med anywhere close to the number of times we've been in the Caribbean. In fact we already know, all things being equal, our next cruise after our booked Med cruise will be the Baltic area.

[cruisemom42]

I agree with all of the above, but increasingly finding it difficult to find cruises that do not the same old, same old port stops, Istanbul, Venice, Athens, Portofino, Monte Carlo, Naples, Ephesus and it seems the time in Ports gets shorter and shorter Example; Upcoming HAL Noordam cruise stops at Messina from 12 noon to 6 PM. Or am I the only one who feels this way ?

 

A lot of the Med cruise offerings are geared toward first- or second-time Med cruisers -- because they are the majority of passengers in the mix, or at least they have been in the recent decade. Perhaps that is changing a bit as more ships have been in the Med and more people have traveled there. (I can hope....)

 

I have found smaller lines with smaller ships tend to offer more varied itineraries than most of the mass market lines, but HAL does continue to offer a few itineraries with less-visited ports, particularly on Prinsendam. Other than Prinsendam, these different itineraries may only be offered once or twice a year, and not on the larger HAL ships.

[hal lover]

Signature of Excellence.

 

 

100% agree. Somewhere out in the Caribbean I fell in love with HA. I'm really hoping that the "cut backs" are not going to make my heart break!