New to Holland America? This is for you...AKA "HAL For Dummies"

[terrydtx]

7 minutes ago, drsel said:

Yes with all The perks I strongly believe that Celebrity is a much better value Cruise.

$100 OBC per person, unlimited classic alcohol beverage package, prepaid gratuities, unlimited Wi-Fi

I wonder why anyone would choose HAL over Celebrity

When we booked both X cruises for next year the the 4 Parks package included for the Premium Beverage package not just the classic package. This was worth $69pp per day. Unlimited drinks up to $15 in cost, even a better deal.

[drsel]

I read that the entertainment on HAL is far inferior to that on Celebrity. I think most will agree with this.

 

Some say that the food on Celebrity is also better.

Of course, food is subjective and many HAL loyalists will not agree.

 

But the service on HAL is impeccable and their ships are supposed to be beautiful.

 

 

[StLouisCruisers]

3 minutes ago, drsel said:

Even the entertainment on HAL is far inferior to that on Celebrity.
Some say that the food on celebrity is also better.

 

Well that's interesting.  On my one and only Celebrity cruise, a transatlantic, I lost 4 pounds in 16 days.  It was awful.  Even our 4 tablemates who were experienced Celebrity cruisers said it was terrible and sent back their dinners a couple of times.  Surprising.  This was 5 1/2 years ago on the Constellation.  If I ever cruise Celebrity again I would hope it's improved since then.

 

JMHO.

[drsel]

I guess with the unlimited classic alcohol package, most people are on a liquid diet Hehe

[StLouisCruisers]

5 minutes ago, drsel said:

I guess with the unlimited classic alcohol package, most people are on a liquid diet Hehe

 

I do like my wine!  Maybe I should drink more when the food isn't to my liking.  Or buy some snacks, though on a transatlantic there's not as many chances to shop on shore. 😊

[drsel]

On our past celebrity Cruises, we have had good steak, Jumbo prawns and occasionally even lobster

[terrydtx]

On our last cruise last year to Alaska on the Noordam food was just OK but nothing to brag about. Our best meal was in the Canaletto Specialty restaurant the first night of the cruise and it was delicious..  Most of the fish dishes in MDR were overcooked and flavorless and not one night did we even have a Prime Rib on the menu. Instead they had sliced roast beef that was thin cut and well done with gravy.  We did have a very good lamb shank one night but other than a leg of lamb another night no other lamb dishes. It was  the poorest quality and selection of  MDR food on any previous HAL cruise and disappointing. I know food is subjective but we are not finicky eaters in any way.

[HALover]

Thanks for that, that seems it would be just the kind of package to get us to switch! When we can return to cruising, we will definitely give them another look. 

[HALover]

Dunmore2,

 

I neglected to respond to your question about cabins & their locations.

It kind of depends on the ship, but as a general rule look for cabins that aren’t directly under the Lido Market, the chairs are heavy & are moved constantly throughout the day & evening. I would also stay away from the pool area & most of the public spaces due to noise & traffic in the hall area.
As far as size goes, most of the Verandah cabins are basically the same square footage (with some small exceptions), you can check HAL’s website to see the locations and what they might be near. I’m speaking specifically about the new Pinnacle  class ships, but I would think that this is generally true on most ships. 
I’ve also heard to stay away from the Lanai cabins on the older ships due to their being located right on the Prominade Deck, people are always walking right by your doorway & using your deck chairs for themselves.

I’ve found Costco’s website to be helpful as well, we usually book through them anyway & get a little more OBC!

That’s about all I have, others will have more insight than I do.
 

Edited June 16, 2020 by HALover

[Dunmore2]

Thanks HAlover

[jonyboy]

3 hours ago, terrydtx said:

On our last cruise last year to Alaska on the Noordam food was just OK but nothing to brag about. Our best meal was in the Canaletto Specialty restaurant the first night of the cruise and it was delicious..  Most of the fish dishes in MDR were overcooked and flavorless and not one night did we even have a Prime Rib on the menu. Instead they had sliced roast beef that was thin cut and well done with gravy.  We did have a very good lamb shank one night but other than a leg of lamb another night no other lamb dishes. It was  the poorest quality and selection of  MDR food on any previous HAL cruise and disappointing. I know food is subjective but we are not finicky eaters in any way.

Food on HAL has been okay.  Not great, not bad, just okay.  Food on the Edge was good.  Every meal was good or very good.  No just okay meals, all were good.  What we liked about dining options on celebrity was the choice of 4 venues for dinner.  We would look at the menus and eat at a different one each night.  We had done some premium dining on HAL but never found the need to do so on celebrity

[go fish 44]

having been on Hal K,     Celebrity Edge         and MSC Yacht Club in the past year.  MSC wins hands down in the YC

 

The YC is a ship within a ship, has your own dining room, own pool, own sun deck, BBQ on the sun deck, FREE drinks any where on the ship at any time.  It is by far the most all inclusive cruise.  Lets add a production show every night in the main theatre.

 

 

[ToXS]

Please tell me...  what is the “MSC”?  Thanks for the education!

[kazu]

32 minutes ago, ToXS said:

Please tell me...  what is the “MSC”?  Thanks for the education!

 

MSC cruise line.  YC that go fish referred to is Yacht Club - a special category available at extra cost.

[drsel]

MSc stands for Mediterranean shipping company.
the yacht club is a ship within a ship concept, like first class on a plane

[njkate]

Question on HAL

 

I am booked on the NCL Jade in April 2021 ending in Amsterdam. Was looking for a fall westbound TA leaving Amsterdam, that way I can buy rt air instead of the insanely priced one way air from Europe, and I enjoy TA's.

Not many cruise lines do westbound from Amsterdam but HAL does have one with a nice itinerary as well so my question is being I've only cruised NCL will my daughter who is 45 and myself who is 65 going to be bored out of our minds especially on sea days. What sort of activities does HAL offer on sea days? What time does the bars close up for the night? What is the entertainment like? Thank you in advance

Edited June 18, 2020 by njkate

[kazu]

1 minute ago, njkate said:

Question on HAL

 

I am booked on the NCL Jade in April 2021 ending in Amsterdam. Was looking for a fall westbound TA leaving Amsterdam, that way I can buy rt air instead of the insanely priced one way air from Europe, and I enjoy TA's.

Not many cruise lines do westbound from Amsterdam but HAL does have one with a nice itinerary as well so my question is being I've only cruised NCL will my daughter who is 45 and myself who is 65 going to be bored out of our minds especially on sea days. What sort of activities does HAL offer on sea days? What time does the bars close up for the night? What is the entertainment like? Thank you in advance

 

Which ship are you on?  They can vary on entertainment at night.

Most of the ships except the smaller ones have BBKing, Bill board which has several musical areas.

Shows in the showroom are not HAL’s strong suit.

What kind of day time activities are you looking for?  There aren’t any belly contests at the pool or that type of thing.   There will be things like Trivia, lectures, wine tastings, bingo, etc.

I’ve done a number of TA’s on HAL and haven’t been bored but I also participate in our roll call and we normally have a couple of activities on our own on sea days as well 😉 

[HALover]

I haven’t done a TA yet, but plan to give it a try when I’m retired.

Things usually quiet down around 11:00 or so, mostly in the MusicWalk area (which is great, btw) and we have even danced until about 1:00 am in the BB King Blues Lounge.

The ships seem to have activities scheduled all day & into the evening. It just depends on what you like to to do. There will be several trivia games per day & card games, lectures, enrichment classes, etc. I think that what I would look forward to the most on a TA trip will he just the easy pace of everything, not having to plan around a stop every day or so, I really enjoy the sea days for relaxation.
I speak only from my experiences on the new Pinnacle class ships, but I think that the HAL vibe will be pretty much the same throughout the line from what I’ve heard from more experienced cruisers.

As “kazu” said above, you won’t have too many wild parties or anything on HAL, but people seem to have a great time none the less. HAL is probably a little more “refined” (for lack of a better word  & I don’t mean for that to sound snobby at all) than some cruise lines without being as “stuffy” (again please forgive my poor choice of words) as say, a Cunard. 
 

I hope this helps and that you both enjoy your TA cruise whichever line you choose!

Edited June 18, 2020 by HALover

[njkate]

3 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Which ship are you on?  They can vary on entertainment at night.

Most of the ships except the smaller ones have BBKing, Bill board which has several musical areas.

Shows in the showroom are not HAL’s strong suit.

What kind of day time activities are you looking for?  There aren’t any belly contests at the pool or that type of thing.   There will be things like Trivia, lectures, wine tastings, bingo, etc.

I’ve done a number of TA’s on HAL and haven’t been bored but I also participate in our roll call and we normally have a couple of activities on our own on sea days as well 😉 

Ship is Ryndam

[njkate]

3 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Which ship are you on?  They can vary on entertainment at night.

Most of the ships except the smaller ones have BBKing, Bill board which has several musical areas.

Shows in the showroom are not HAL’s strong suit.

What kind of day time activities are you looking for?  There aren’t any belly contests at the pool or that type of thing.   There will be things like Trivia, lectures, wine tastings, bingo, etc.

I’ve done a number of TA’s on HAL and haven’t been bored but I also participate in our roll call and we normally have a couple of activities on our own on sea days as well 😉 

Trivia, bingo is great. My daughter usually works while on a TA so she doesn't blow through a lot of vacation, she will work sea days so when she comes out it's late afternoon so after dinner she likes to wander around meet people and have a cocktail or two. Will she find people her age? I know TA's are long so many can't sail them but there was always people her age on NCL TA. I'm sorry my questions may seem naive but on some of the boards people describe HAL as for the 80 and over age group, there is nothing wrong with that lol just checking if that's truth or fiction. Ship is Ryndam. I'm guessing assigned dinner times, do you get to pick time

Edited June 18, 2020 by njkate

[kazu]

42 minutes ago, njkate said:

Ship is Ryndam

 

that’s the newest ship in the fleet so a ton of different restaurants and entertainment venues.

 

36 minutes ago, njkate said:

Trivia, bingo is great. My daughter usually works while on a TA so she doesn't blow through a lot of vacation, she will work sea days so when she comes out it's late afternoon so after dinner she likes to wander around meet people and have a cocktail or two. Will she find people her age? I know TA's are long so many can't sail them but there was always people her age on NCL TA. I'm sorry my questions may seem naive but on some of the boards people describe HAL as for the 80 and over age group, there is nothing wrong with that lol just checking if that's truth or fiction. Ship is Ryndam. I'm guessing assigned dinner times, do you get to pick time

 

Hard to say how many people her age she will find.  I would say a few for sure.

HAL is not for the nursing home set.  Yes, there will be older people on the cruise but a lot of them are young at heart.  Some of them can outpace a 45 year old on a private tour - LOL.  Seriously, it’s hard to say how many people her age will be on but I have certainly seen younger people and children on TA’s.  I would suspect the Ryndam would attract some younger people because it is new.  But that is just my best guess.

for dining - you can do anytime or if you prefer fixed dining, you can choose early or main dining.  Early is usually around 5:30 - 5:45.  Main (late) is usually between 7:45 - 8:15 PM.  You can usually choose and should do it when you book.  You should also request the table size you want.

 

If you prefer to just go whenever you want, then choose anytime dining.  If there is a wait (it’s usually not that long) they will give you a little pager thing that beeps so you can go for a drink, whatever and return.  Usually it’s pretty good.  If you like, you can also reserve a table normally but it has to be outside of the “prime dining” times.  I think it’s normally up to around 6:15 pm and after 8 pm to reserve.

A ton of dining venues on this ship which you might want to take advantage of too.

Hope this helps a bit.

[HALover]

Yes, there will be some older folks onboard, but it’s not as bad as some would have you believe. Your daughter should find quite a few people in her age bracket, especially that time of year. 
My lovely wife is in her 50’s & I’m starting my 60’s, we’ve taken our children (30’s & 40’s) and our grandsons (18 & 23) with us several times and they all love HAL. You will love the new Ryndam, the Pinnacle class ships are amazing!

Oh, btw, we also enjoy the shows in the main theater. They are smaller than some of the other lines I’m sure. We liken them to a small off-Broadway show. Great talent in a more intimate setting & the theater itself is first rate. And the food in the MDR is usually pretty good (we’ve had a few great meals & a few not- so- great), the specialty dining is very good to great. The Lido is probably above average for a buffet (especially breakfast), everything is very fresh & the pizza place is good. I’m not a big fan of the Dive—In Burger place, it seems to have gone down hill a bit, but I seem to be in the minority about that.

 

Enjoy!

[njkate]

Hal and Kazu  thank you so much your responses have helped immensely. I will be booking in the morning.

I have my NCL TA in April that is also going to Le Harve and have Normandy lined up on that one, this one, I know it’s long, but I’ll go to Paris

Edited June 18, 2020 by njkate

[ski ww]

The Ryndam launch may be pushed back because of Covid. Her inaugural TA might be delayed  The ship yard were she is been build was closed and just started back up again and not at full capacity. There is a thread on the HAL board about this. 

[njkate]

On 6/19/2020 at 6:28 AM, ski ww said:

The Ryndam launch may be pushed back because of Covid. Her inaugural TA might be delayed  The ship yard were she is been build was closed and just started back up again and not at full capacity. There is a thread on the HAL board about this. 

Thanks for the info will go take a look at the thread