Your First Cruise on HAL

[RuthC]

How does the crew know who you are? I have always wondered that.

The mechanics are easy---they can see your photo ID on a computer.

How they manage to learn and remember all those names every week is something else altogether.;)

[Cruisetrekker]

Our very first cruise was in 1994 on the newly launched Maasdam ( I have the tee ship to prove it ! LOL )

 

We cruised to Alaska .. it was a cruise I will never forget ! Yes I was a bit seasick and I swore never again !

 

But after a years rest ... I felt a yearning to try again ! Love the crew.. love the Dam ships ..LOVE the bread pudding and the cold soups !

 

Tried a few other lines but keep coming back to HAL ...

 

Next month will be our 12th HAL cruise and I am so excited to return to my fave place !

Edited October 17, 2014 by Cruisetrekker

[kao2002]

Also a newbie compared to others, our first HAL cruise was a 20 day east and west Med on Noordam. The itinerary was fabulous, crew amazing and food delicious. The things that keep us booking on HAL after trying CLL, NCL, RCL and Princess is the awesome teak walk around deck that is amazing to walk around any time of day, the full menu room service and the amazing staff who really care about your experience. We are relatively young for these ships and prefer the laid back style and lack of "booze cruise" atmosphere.

[themerle]

Our first Holland America cruise was an Alaskan cruise on the Zuiderdam in July 2007. We enjoyed the crew, cabins, and food.

[PathfinderEss]

Our first Hal cruise was 1995. It was the Ryndam going to Alaska, and that did it for me. Beautiful ship, great crew, wonderful Alaskan scenery, what more could you ask for.:)

[ozcruizer]

We are HAL flag wavers. Our first HAL cruise was an inside cabin on the Zaandam to Alaska in 2007. It was quite by accident that we went with HAL as we had booked a three week tour of Western Canada on the Rocky Mountaineer and coach, finishing with a cruise on the Zaandam. We knew little about modern cruising then but enjoyed the experience so much that we've continued to do HAL cruises to New Zealand, Asia, Scandinavia and the Baltic States and the Mediterranean. We will be embarking on our sixth HAL cruise in January - just a local one this time as we live in Sydney - again to New Zealand.

 

What do we like about HAL? We like the size of the ships, the comfy beds, the crew, and well, now it just feels like home to step onto a HAL ship.

 

Ozcruizer

[SHayesShip]

My first HAL experience was on the Rotterdam V -87 day "World Cruise" January 1975. At the time this was HAL's flagship. My grandparents gave this to me as a gift from graduating from college. They wanted me to be a world traveler and experience everything that this adventure would and did offer. I had a single outside cabin with 2 portholes that measured only barely more than 100 sq. ft. I was the youngest paying passenger on-board. In my diary notes I advised that the average age on-board was "deceased". However, I had an absolute blast and will take the memories to my grave.

This was also my first cruise/voyage without my parents.

 

Since that time I have been on 8 other HAL ships. I have cruised many other lines, some are no longer around. I have seen many changes in this time, some good and others not so, but I will always have a fondness in my heart for HAL.

[crystalspin]

First time on HAL was about 2000 on the Statendam, Ensenada to Hawaii and back. Lots of sea days, although there were some interesting enrichment programs like 2 Dozen Ways To Wear A Sarong. I was basically along to be companion to my drastically seasick MIL, who was getting frail but REFUSED to use the handrails "because they are filthy". What got me through that cruise was a little coffee kiosk (that I don't think is there anymore) where I would retreat when she would take a nap! After that trip I didn't care if I ever took another cruise!

 

However, some eight or nine years later, my dear husband beguiled me to go again on the Statendam: Vancouver to Steward Alaska 2009 -- taking MY mom, with a two-week self-drive IN Alaska after the cruise. The itinerary was key -- seeing and doing things you can't do as least easily from land, and doing it before the land tour so that my husband would get his relaxing done on the ship. My mom and I were surprised that we enjoyed the ship as much as we did, but on that route, the views from the floor-to-ceiling windows in the Lido were spectacular! you would be able to see and photograph sea otters and other marine mammals while sipping the always-available coffee!

 

So I really count that cruise as my first ENJOYABLE cruise with HAL. My mom was really quite excited by everything starting with the muster drill. She never did get the knack of finding our cabin, and any of the stewards (not just our own) would call out "Mizz Spin! Other way!" There were nice talks by a Native Alaskan, and of course the narration by a Park Ranger in Glacier Bay NP (I believe all ships that cruise those waters take a ranger on board for the time in the NP).

 

Last year DH and I did the Panama+Mexican Riviera on the Norwegian Star. The selling point was that we could afford a mid-ship balcony for the price of an interior on HAL, which seemed important for the Canal. It was nice to see the shore and we did sit on the balcony for PART of the transit -- but the rest of the time, it was just too humid to enjoy going out on it.

 

Comparing NCL to HAL, there was less, I want to say much less to the point of ZERO, enrichment activities (other than the narration *during* the transit which is again, required). Or at least things that interested me! On NCL, I found the steward and other staff perfunctorily polite, not friendly -- other than the MDR hostess who loved us because we always had her seat us "wherever is easiest for you". The coffee in the Lido was dreadful, but I knew the balcony cabin would have a coffee maker and brought my own. Those are the things that stick in my head.

 

I don't regret the NCL cruise at all: the benefits of the larger balcony room balanced the negatives of too many people and meh food. We ate tipical food ashore whenever we could fit that in after the day's excursion or activity. But -- Ta-Da -- we are going back to Holland American in less than a month! And taking my mom again to the Chilean fjords, which should be similar-but-different to iceberg-spotting in Alaska.

 

Edited October 29, 2014 by crystalspin
Fix my countdown

[Viesczy]

We will be sailing HAL for the first time in March. Please share with me what stood out for you and what are some of the reasons you continue to sail HAL.

 

All the 1st time stories are the same, we went on and had great time, so I won't belabor our story.

 

What are the reasons to sail with HAL?

 

Great food, varied itineraries compared to other lines, and the relaxed atmosphere.

 

Is HAL the line for a 4 day party cruise? No.

 

Is HAL the line for a 14 day chillax and just unwind cruise w/o 2,000+ other passengers in your way? Yes.

[1of4]

Our first cruise with HAL was the 7 day inside passage from Vancouver on the Volendam.

 

Besides what everyone else has mentioned, I just love that I can truly relax in mostly quiet public rooms or find a deck chair when I want one (or two side by side); I love knowing there are not 3,000 people between me and my children in Club HAL (one of the best kept secrets as the children LOVE it), I really like doing jigsaw puzzles in the library with my DS and I love knowing that there are not going to be dozens of public announcements each and every day.

Edited October 29, 2014 by 1of4

[fishin' musician]

DW and I have sailed 20+ times, with no real brand loyalty, but more Princess than other lines. We first sailed HAL on the Zuiderdam on a partial Panama Canal over Christmas a few years back, it was a great experience. Definitely an older demographic and more walkers and scooters than I'd seen on other lines, but there were also more extended families. The crew's Christmas Show was wonderful. We have an upcoming sailing with my daughter and son-in-law... can't wait!