HAL Ambience

[qsuzi]

How would you describe the overall "HAL ship ambience? I recognize this can vary by ship.

[kazu]

How would you describe the overall "HAL ship ambience? I recognize this can vary by ship.

 

quiet and understated elegance - JMO

[mllewis48]

One word: ELEGANT

[Dobermangal]

Civilized relaxation

[qsuzi]

From the comments so far HAL sounds like Princess but more refined? Anyone who has sailed Princess want to comment/compare?

[jhannah]

From the comments so far HAL sounds like Princess but more refined? Anyone who has sailed Princess want to comment/compare?

I would say that HAL is more refined. The ships are more wood and brass than chrome and glass. We enjoyed our cruises on Princess, but Holland America just offers a special ambiance for us. More refined crew, too.

[sail7seas]

All HAL ships - tasteful understated elegance

[freestyling]

like a comfortable pair of shoes

[kazu]

From the comments so far HAL sounds like Princess but more refined? Anyone who has sailed Princess want to comment/compare?

 

Have sailed both and I agree with jhannah. HAL is more refined IMO

Edited January 22, 2015 by kazu

[qsuzi]

All HAL ships - tasteful understated elegance

 

Good to know. What I meant by ambience may vary by ship is that in addition to the "general" HAL ship ambience, some HAL ships (e.g., Prinsendam) seem to be favorites of HAL cruisers. IMHO ambience is part of this?

[boscobeans]

All of the above.

 

 

bosco

[qsuzi]

Thanks everyone for your comments. HAL ambience sounds like just what we have been looking for.

[sail7seas]

Have sailed both and I agree with jhannah. HAL is more refined IMO

 

I agree. Princess ships have more glitz and glass than HAL ships and while certainly attractive to many, not in the same elegant way of HAL ships. We sailed Princess about 5 cruises but all our HAL have been more to our liking.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Refined -- elegant -- civilized.

I don't need all that glitz that some of the other cruise lines have.

A great crew is also a BIG +.

[Hlitner]

We think the overall ambiance seems to change with the type cruises. On some of our longer HAL cruises we would have best described the ambiance as similar to being in an Assisted Living facility. On shorter itineraries the ambiance takes on a totally different character....that we find more similar to a few other mass market lines.

 

Also keep in mind that there is a substantial difference between some of the HAL ships. Hard to compare the Prinsendam (we love this old ship) to any other ship. And cruising on the Rotterdam or Veendam (with only a single pool) is somewhat different then being on a ship such as the Noordam or Westerdam. Yes, they are all "Dam" ships but there are still major variations.

 

Hank

[qsuzi]

We think the overall ambiance seems to change with the type cruises. On some of our longer HAL cruises we would have best described the ambiance as similar to being in an Assisted Living facility. On shorter itineraries the ambiance takes on a totally different character....that we find more similar to a few other mass market lines.

 

Also keep in mind that there is a substantial difference between some of the HAL ships. Hard to compare the Prinsendam (we love this old ship) to any other ship. And cruising on the Rotterdam or Veendam (with only a single pool) is somewhat different then being on a ship such as the Noordam or Westerdam. Yes, they are all "Dam" ships but there are still major variations.

 

Hank

Thank you for commenting.

Edited January 22, 2015 by qsuzi

[qsuzi]

Refined -- elegant -- civilized.

I don't need all that glitz that some of the other cruise lines have.

A great crew is also a BIG +.

Yes, here's to the crew!!!

[take us away]

Have sailed both lines and now pretty much stay with HAL because of the excellent crew who make you feel like treasured family. Also prefer the wood and brass of HAL ships plus HAL has much better art tucked into every nook and cranny. The HAL ships may not be the newest or glitziest but their understated elegance is so much more our style. I would equate these lines to restaurants as: Princess = trendy, new, crowded restaurant and HAL = ageless, well established, friendly establishment.

[iancal]

If your definition of refinement and elegance is based upon more dark wood, brass, traditional lighting and floor coverings then HAL may be more elegant, refined, and civilized (not certain what civilized means)

 

But that is not our definition. We see little differerence between HAL and Celebrity. Only the decor is different with Celebrity being more contemporary.

 

For us it is the difference between an older hotel with lots of dark wood and brass and a newer one. We find no other difference, on balance, between them other than library,entertainment, and reward programs.

 

I think the differences are more aspirational than anything else.

Edited January 23, 2015 by iancal

[pmjnh]

We think the overall ambiance seems to change with the type cruises. On some of our longer HAL cruises we would have best described the ambiance as similar to being in an Assisted Living facility. On shorter itineraries the ambiance takes on a totally different character....that we find more similar to a few other mass market lines.

 

Also keep in mind that there is a substantial difference between some of the HAL ships. Hard to compare the Prinsendam (we love this old ship) to any other ship. And cruising on the Rotterdam or Veendam (with only a single pool) is somewhat different then being on a ship such as the Noordam or Westerdam. Yes, they are all "Dam" ships but there are still major variations.

 

Hank

 

I couldn't help but get a good laugh reading your comment about the assisted living facility. I wonder if you can you be a little more specific about what you mean by that? Never having sailed HAL Now I am really curious!:confused:

 

We are about to have our first HAL cruise on the Ryndam and really looking forward to it. Our last cruise was on Princess .

Edited January 23, 2015 by pmjnh

[ski ww]

Have cruised with five other cruise lines, all larger ships with a younger average age. We are retired & prefer HAL as they do tend on average to have passengers our age, that is not to say that they don't have younger passengers. HAL is not into glitz it's quitter more laid back. The bar's do stay open late, you can dance into the wee hours. They have interesting guest lectures, classical music in the Explorer lounge before dinner.

Allan & Marlane

Edited January 23, 2015 by ski ww
correction

[take us away]

How many working people can take a month or more off work to take some of HAL's longer cruises - e.g. the world cruise is 115 days! So of course the majority of passengers are retired on these cruises and thus older. Not sure why the 'assisted living' comment although there is quite a lot of walkers, carts, and canes on these longer cruises but that is just a function of age. May we all age gracefully and without the need for assistive devices.

[Caribbean Chris]

Atmosphere on HAL..quiet, traditional good taste.

 

We've alternated between HAL and Celebrity based on date, itinerary and price...and like them both for different reasons. I missed HAL's crew, excellent stateroom attendants, full promenade decks, Explorations cafe for Internet, coffee and library, and beautiful artwork. Smiling coffee man coming by my table with his cart in the buffet at breakfast...hope they still do that.

 

Little traditions like the YumYum man, fresh orange juice and bread pudding on HAL add charm to the experience.

 

Celebrity also has pluses for me including excellent food, repeater club benefits, and strong marketing with attractive inclusive offers...both lines are good, just different.

[suec12]

HAL tends to have some lovely fresh flower arrangements thruout the ship - that is an elegant touch IMO.

[qsuzi]

I appreciate all the comments about HAL ambience. Sue, flowers are a lovely touch.