Damcruiser Posted October 21, 2022 #1 Share Posted October 21, 2022 We sailed on Nieuw Statendam B2B Quebec to Boston in September, our first HAL cruise since 2008. The friendliness of the crew and the quality of the food was better than we expected. Three trivias a day, excellent live music and actual dance floors were all better than our Celebrity cruises in each class (From Zenith to Edge). As a result, we booked 7 weeks on NS starting next month. I bought a 100 shares of CCL stock, sent in my Bank statement, our three B2B booking numbers yesterday and received confirmation before the day was out. This morning I received an email that our immigration details of where we were staying after our cruise was not complete. I checked our boarding info and there was no place to add that info. I called HAL, got a busy signal, and hung up. I tried again three minutes later and was connected without delay. The agent filled in the info: "at the pier" and the task was done. The experience on NS was not perfect, I caught a cold and tested positive for covid when I returned home and coughed for weeks. I found my home in the Crow's Nest and we are eager to go back. 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friendswithdave Posted October 21, 2022 #2 Share Posted October 21, 2022 I've had similar overall experiences on both lines. Each has it's own positives and negatives. My recent preference for HAL has been for two reasons: price and itinerary. HAL easily wins here for my recent trips so I sailed on HAL in July and will again in December. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broon Posted October 21, 2022 #3 Share Posted October 21, 2022 28 minutes ago, Damcruiser said: We sailed on Nieuw Statendam B2B Quebec to Boston in September, our first HAL cruise since 2008. The friendliness of the crew and the quality of the food was better than we expected. Three trivias a day, excellent live music and actual dance floors were all better than our Celebrity cruises in each class (From Zenith to Edge). As a result, we booked 7 weeks on NS starting next month. I bought a 100 shares of CCL stock, sent in my Bank statement, our three B2B booking numbers yesterday and received confirmation before the day was out. This morning I received an email that our immigration details of where we were staying after our cruise was not complete. I checked our boarding info and there was no place to add that info. I called HAL, got a busy signal, and hung up. I tried again three minutes later and was connected without delay. The agent filled in the info: "at the pier" and the task was done. The experience on NS was not perfect, I caught a cold and tested positive for covid when I returned home and coughed for weeks. I found my home in the Crow's Nest and we are eager to go back. We too were on the NS b2b Que Bos Que in Sept, and I echo your comments about friendliness of the crew, even more than that….almost always highly motivated, it was consistently obvious, and the quality of the food. We are experienced HAL cruisers, and we prefer sailing with them. Nothing against other lines, simply, we found HAL years ago, and have stayed with them. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida_gal_50 Posted October 21, 2022 #4 Share Posted October 21, 2022 I wish hal would fix that immigration issue for Canadians. I'm getting emails constantly and I've been told to ignore them as long as the online check in shows complete. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarylady19 Posted October 21, 2022 #5 Share Posted October 21, 2022 Good to know! Celebrity is our favorite line and we have our first HAL cruise booked for April '23 on the Rotterdam (Fjords). What is the stockholder benefit w/ HAL? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FlaMariner Posted October 21, 2022 #6 Share Posted October 21, 2022 13 minutes ago, librarylady19 said: What is the stockholder benefit w/ HAL? Welcome to Holland America Line! If you own 100 shares of Carnival Corp stock you can get $$$OBC for your Holland America Line sailing.....Here is the info: https://www.carnivalcorp.com/static-files/50351a91-4dc0-4f6b-bfec-684647e6129f 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarylady19 Posted October 21, 2022 #7 Share Posted October 21, 2022 12 minutes ago, FlaMariner said: Welcome to Holland America Line! If you own 100 shares of Carnival Corp stock you can get $$$OBC for your Holland America Line sailing.....Here is the info: https://www.carnivalcorp.com/static-files/50351a91-4dc0-4f6b-bfec-684647e6129f Good to know - esp. since their stock is rather low! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FlaMariner Posted October 21, 2022 #8 Share Posted October 21, 2022 Just now, librarylady19 said: Good to know - esp. since their stock is rather low! It's on sale now......And the OBC makes for a great stock dividend yield! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacruise9 Posted October 21, 2022 #9 Share Posted October 21, 2022 Hi, Thanks for your post. I have been cruising mainly with Celebrity lately, but I am booked on the Nieuw Statendam in the Caribbean for late November 2022. This will be my first HAL cruise since 2009. I am glad to hear that you enjoyed the Nieuw Statendam. I am looking forward to my cruise on this ship next month. Chuck 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robotpony Posted October 21, 2022 #10 Share Posted October 21, 2022 1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said: I wish hal would fix that immigration issue for Canadians. I'm getting emails constantly and I've been told to ignore them as long as the online check in shows complete. Thank you so much, I was trying to figure this out for our upcoming trip and our TA is out of their office (on a cruise, of course) until next week. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damcruiser Posted October 21, 2022 Author #11 Share Posted October 21, 2022 16 hours ago, seacruise9 said: Hi, Thanks for your post. I have been cruising mainly with Celebrity lately, but I am booked on the Nieuw Statendam in the Caribbean for late November 2022. This will be my first HAL cruise since 2009. I am glad to hear that you enjoyed the Nieuw Statendam. I am looking forward to my cruise on this ship next month. Chuck We'll be on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damcruiser Posted October 21, 2022 Author #12 Share Posted October 21, 2022 15 hours ago, robotpony said: Thank you so much, I was trying to figure this out for our upcoming trip and our TA is out of their office (on a cruise, of course) until next week. There is a phone number with the email, call it and the problem will go away. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkacruiser Posted October 21, 2022 #13 Share Posted October 21, 2022 OP, thanks for your brief report. Having sailed on Celebrity Eclipse, I think their MDR cuisine is lacking in comparison to HAL's. But, their Tuscan Grille and Murano were superior to many of my dinners in the Pinnacle Grill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dallas Glenn Posted October 22, 2022 #14 Share Posted October 22, 2022 So what is an easy way to buy CCL stock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Oceansaway17 Posted October 22, 2022 #15 Share Posted October 22, 2022 I enjoyed my first HAL cruise to Alaska on Amsterdam in 2010. been on 3 more ships and can’t wait to get on Rotterdam 7 next year in AMS to Norway. HAL has class and is not just for certain age group either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakridger Posted October 22, 2022 #16 Share Posted October 22, 2022 My daughter and her husband went on HAL with me on the Nieuw Amsterdam to Alaska when they were 40 and 47 and had a ball. The son in law had said he thought cruises on HAL were only for “old people” and only went along to humor me but really did have a good time! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leerathje Posted October 22, 2022 #17 Share Posted October 22, 2022 3 hours ago, Dallas Glenn said: So what is an easy way to buy CCL stock? Unless you have your own broker, you should be able to open an account with an online broker. L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare zgscl Posted October 22, 2022 #18 Share Posted October 22, 2022 3 hours ago, Dallas Glenn said: So what is an easy way to buy CCL stock? If you have an IRA or 401(k) you can get it through the same brokerage you already use. Otherwise there are many online options for trading, but I am not certain the CC terms allow us to post any specifically here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Gail & Marty sailing away Posted October 22, 2022 #19 Share Posted October 22, 2022 And wait till you do more Holland and see what a great staff they have. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrcruiser Posted October 22, 2022 #20 Share Posted October 22, 2022 (edited) We are Elite Plus with Celebrity & Dimond with Royal Caribbean . We did most of our 87 cruises with Celebrity when we were flying from San diego to Florida & Europe .I liked Celebrity a lot in the earlier years & always was able to get my Ahi tuna in the lite lunch cafe (forgot the nam) .Then X decided to delete the Aji tuna . That turned me off U saw the big brother RCL 's influence . We then decided to try HAL & we are 3 star going quickly to 4 star Mariners . I can honestly tell any one HAL imo is just as good as Celebrity & lower cost to boot with better & longer itineraries . We been to Sydney Australia on Noordam in 2015 ,a great cruise from SD .That is a long cruise but really nice for all the port stops You will not be sorry with HAL😀 PS we are headed toward the 100 cruise mark quickly now Edited October 22, 2022 by mcrcruiser 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare puppycanducruise Posted October 22, 2022 #21 Share Posted October 22, 2022 Thanks for the report, glad you enjoyed your cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrcruiser Posted October 22, 2022 #22 Share Posted October 22, 2022 27 minutes ago, puppycanducruise said: Thanks for the report, glad you enjoyed your cruise. We have 3 more HAL cruises booked . 2 more with Celebrity booked & 2 with Royal Caribbean booked between now & early 2024 .Our cruising is now from either San Diego or San Pedro ,world Cruise Center ,LA county location .We avoid flying in todays crazy airport congestion & higher airline prices than ever before 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montythecat Posted October 23, 2022 #23 Share Posted October 23, 2022 Interesting thread. We are Elite Plus on Celebrity who do, IMHO, most things very well. However, I am not keen on the entertainment provided which I find rather old fashioned (generally acrobats, theatre productions etc). We have now jumped ship to HAL to see how they approach this element of cruising. On NS we had the choice of a rock band, a blues/soul band, two pianos, and a classical quartet every night. We couldn‘t have been happier. Actually, that’s not quite true, The Blues Band could have been a bit more bluesy ! There were also a couple of evenings in the theatre which were very enjoyable. On Oosterdam there was, unfortunately, no rock band but there was still enough to listen to in the evenings to keep us happy. Every other aspect of HAL matched or exceeded our Celebrity experiences. In these circumstances, subject to finding the right itineraries, we will be looking for cruises on the Pinnacle Class ships. HAL seem to understand rather better than Celebrity the core age range of their customers and their likely musical tastes. Of course, music is such a subjective topic but these comments merely provide our reaction to the HAL approach to this element of cruising, particularly as we felt a tad guilty about trying an alternative to Celebrity. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skatelady Posted October 23, 2022 #24 Share Posted October 23, 2022 11 hours ago, montythecat said: Interesting thread. We are Elite Plus on Celebrity who do, IMHO, most things very well. However, I am not keen on the entertainment provided which I find rather old fashioned (generally acrobats, theatre productions etc). We have now jumped ship to HAL to see how they approach this element of cruising. On NS we had the choice of a rock band, a blues/soul band, two pianos, and a classical quartet every night. We couldn‘t have been happier. Actually, that’s not quite true, The Blues Band could have been a bit more bluesy ! There were also a couple of evenings in the theatre which were very enjoyable. On Oosterdam there was, unfortunately, no rock band but there was still enough to listen to in the evenings to keep us happy. Every other aspect of HAL matched or exceeded our Celebrity experiences. In these circumstances, subject to finding the right itineraries, we will be looking for cruises on the Pinnacle Class ships. HAL seem to understand rather better than Celebrity the core age range of their customers and their likely musical tastes. Of course, music is such a subjective topic but these comments merely provide our reaction to the HAL approach to this element of cruising, particularly as we felt a tad guilty about trying an alternative to Celebrity. We sailed HAL several times and then moved to Celebrity. We are Elite Celebrity. We just did an Alaska cruise in September with HAL because everything I've read says HAL does Alaska best. In the back of my mind I have always thought HAL's entertainment was better so was looking forward to what we would see. We were very disappointed in the entertainment on the Nieuw Amsterdam and have read threads saying the same thing about other HAL ships. Main theater had dancers three of the 7 nights. Three nights were Alaska presentations and one night was a comedian. The best part of the dancers was the light show that was their backdrop but that gets tired after a while. We went to the first and had no desire to see the other two. BB Kings had great performers but too loud and not enough seating. People were leaning against the walls of the hallway to listen. Our last X cruise was just before everything shut down, our next is over Christmas and New Year so I'm very curious to see what the entertainment is like. Always the chance they are doing the best they can in the pandemic era. I absolutely agree that HAL's staff is the best and the food was very, very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stateroom_Sailor Posted October 23, 2022 #25 Share Posted October 23, 2022 I miss Celebrity's cruising portal, where you can see what you've purchased, and cancel. We enjoyed Blu, and some of the modern decor and innovations. Entertainment is one of HAL's shortcomings, but I wasn't impressed with X's offerings either, and much prefer the live music and cooking classes that HAL offers. Food, service, accommodations, itinerary, and price, HAL wins. In a perfect world, I want a Celebrity ship, with HAL's itineraries, Princess' atriums, Disney's food, Royal Caribbean's shows, Norwegian's activities, MSC's kids' club, at Carnival's prices. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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