How Many Understaffed HAL Ships Have You Sailed On

[OlsSalt]

1 hour ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

............. Pre-pandemic, we've enjoyed HAL's food, service, cabins, price, and itineraries.  In 2023, it looks like HAL may be slipping as well, but exotic itineraries for the money will likely remain worth a consideration. 

 

Will the newer larger HAL ships continue to attract those who have enjoyed her past "exotic itineraries"  (me too), if they are too large to access many of those former ports?

 

Will the HAL larger ships then be be forced to compete with the more standard cruise lines on the same standard routes, over and over again. Eg: Konigsdam - Mexican Riviera, 7 day Alaska and Hawaii - over and over again. What will make still choosing HAL ships stand out.

 

Good points already raised: HAL is still smaller than the other mass market cruise lines, more open sea feeling and 360 wrap around deck.

 

 But will that enough, when  they mostly offer standard repeat itineraries on larger with fewer of the "exotic itinerary" offerings as their older ships age out of the HAL inventory?

[3rdGenCunarder]

13 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Will the newer larger HAL ships continue to attract those who have enjoyed her past "exotic itineraries"  (me too), if they are too large to access many of those former ports?

 

Will the HAL larger ships then be be forced to compete with the more standard cruise lines on the same standard routes, over and over again. Eg: Konigsdam - Mexican Riviera, 7 day Alaska and Hawaii - over and over again. What will make still choosing HAL ships stand out.

 

Good points already raised: HAL is still smaller than the other mass market cruise lines, more open sea feeling and 360 wrap around deck.

 

 But will that enough, when  they mostly offer standard repeat itineraries on larger with fewer of the "exotic itinerary" offerings as their older ships age out of the HAL inventory?

 

When we knew SOLAS was going to force Cunard to eventually give up QE2, we did as many different itineraries as we could on her. 

 

I sort of feel that way about HAL, enjoying what I love while I can. My next two cruises are on the remaining small ships because of the itineraries. 21 day port-intensive Caribbean on Zaandam and 24-day Iceland, Greenland, Canada on Volendam. I like to do a Caribbean warm getaway every winter, but I am growing wearing of the same itineraries. 

[Guest ldtr]

2 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Will the newer larger HAL ships continue to attract those who have enjoyed her past "exotic itineraries"  (me too), if they are too large to access many of those former ports?

 

Will the HAL larger ships then be be forced to compete with the more standard cruise lines on the same standard routes, over and over again. Eg: Konigsdam - Mexican Riviera, 7 day Alaska and Hawaii - over and over again. What will make still choosing HAL ships stand out.

 

Good points already raised: HAL is still smaller than the other mass market cruise lines, more open sea feeling and 360 wrap around deck.

 

 But will that enough, when  they mostly offer standard repeat itineraries on larger with fewer of the "exotic itinerary" offerings as their older ships age out of the HAL inventory?

While HAL certainly some of thr same routes as others. Not much choice in Alaska, or the Carribean, even if the smaller ships existed  since the ports are limited. HAl still offers a number or longer unique routes than the other mainstream lines. For thst matter even that some of the premier lines that tend to do strung together 7 day routes. The reality is that the 7 day repetitive routes introduces a lot of people to the lines, and generates a lot of the annual revenue during peak seasons.

 

I expect HAL to do as Princess has. The routes that used to be done by the Sea and Princess are now done by the Island and Coral. What the Island and Coral used to do is all done by Diamind and Sapphire. the demand is there even with those ships being larger.

 

HALs largest ships are still less that 3000. Certainly capable of doing long grand cruises based upon the demand that has existed, even though if it will require some port changes on the routes.

 

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by ldtr

[Stateroom_Sailor]

10 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Will the newer larger HAL ships continue to attract those who have enjoyed her past "exotic itineraries"  (me too), if they are too large to access many of those former ports?

 

Will the HAL larger ships then be be forced to compete with the more standard cruise lines on the same standard routes, over and over again. Eg: Konigsdam - Mexican Riviera, 7 day Alaska and Hawaii - over and over again. What will make still choosing HAL ships stand out.

 

Good points already raised: HAL is still smaller than the other mass market cruise lines, more open sea feeling and 360 wrap around deck.

 

 But will that enough, when  they mostly offer standard repeat itineraries on larger with fewer of the "exotic itinerary" offerings as their older ships age out of the HAL inventory?

 

As long as Koningsdam visits unique ports inside the Sea of Cortez, and triple Denali and Yukon cruise tours in Alaska, the Pinnacle Class could still offer an edge over their competition.  Hawaii on the other hand would be more of a wash.  I would probably still choose HAL over other mass market lines, because I like the low key pace, and I don't see much advantage elsewhere currently.  

 

I've got a future cruise credit with Azamara.  We're also eyeballing Oceania, Windstar, and Viking.  The ultra premium / luxury-light market has more of our interest outside of HAL.

 

As far as entertainment we fly from Las Vegas.  We have fun staying a couple nights there post-cruise.  If possible, we mix in concerts, hockey, and shows.  Soon Las Vegas will have a Universal Monsters theme park.  If there's a Six Flags or Busch Gardens in port, we'll take a day pre-cruise to go.  This is in part why I just don't need heavy entertainment on a ship.

[*Miss G*]

6 hours ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

As far as entertainment we fly from Las Vegas.  We have fun staying a couple nights there post-cruise.  If possible, we mix in concerts, hockey, and shows.  Soon Las Vegas will have a Universal Monsters theme park.  If there's a Six Flags or Busch Gardens in port, we'll take a day pre-cruise to go.  This is in part why I just don't need heavy entertainment on a ship.

 

This is a significant point for me too.  I enjoy the music and lectures but I have a low level of interest in a cruiseship-style production show.  I know others enjoy them but it’s not a deal-breaker for me.  What I don’t understand are those who denigrate the entire line for not having them.  Just choose a line that has what you want, then, and stop coming back to the board to mudsling!  I don’t get it.  🤷‍♀️

[Guest ldtr]

47 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

This is a significant point for me too.  I enjoy the music and lectures but I have a low level of interest in a cruiseship-style production show.  I know others enjoy them but it’s not a deal-breaker for me.  What I don’t understand are those who denigrate the entire line for not having them.  Just choose a line that has what you want, then, and stop coming back to the board to mudsling!  I don’t get it.  🤷‍♀️

Cruising is like religion, when one converts they feel a need to peach to the non believers.

[JeffElizabeth]

We have been with Holland since 1997, and have never had issues with understaffed ships. Our last cruise in October of 2022 did have cutbacks with food quality and serving size I found to be disappointing,  but they had no problem getting me another appetizer or entree if  I wanted it. 

[JeffElizabeth]

1 hour ago, *Miss G* said:

 

This is a significant point for me too.  I enjoy the music and lectures but I have a low level of interest in a cruiseship-style production show.  I know others enjoy them but it’s not a deal-breaker for me.  What I don’t understand are those who denigrate the entire line for not having them.  Just choose a line that has what you want, then, and stop coming back to the board to mudsling!  I don’t get it.  🤷‍♀️

Agree. In 25 years of cruising on Holland,  we have only seen a handful of shows. Just not our thing. 

[MAVIP]

4 minutes ago, JeffElizabeth said:

Agree. In 25 years of cruising on Holland,  we have only seen a handful of shows. Just not our thing. 

The shows of the Phillipine and Indonesian Crew were the only ones we attended....Lectures: as much as possible.

 

[JeffElizabeth]

4 minutes ago, MAVIP said:

The shows of the Phillipine and Indonesian Crew were the only ones we attended....Lectures: as much as possible.

 

We only got to attend one crew show, but now that they are no more, we wish we had seen more. 

[BetsyS.]

Years ago on the Veendam, the crew shows were terrific. They were late at night after dinner and towards the end of the cruise. As passengers were leaving after the show, the crew lined up and thanked everyone for coming. They had to get up early in the 

morning to cook and serve breakfast, but they loved doing the shows. I hope that HAL will brng back the crew shows.

 

[gilboman]

On 2/14/2023 at 1:03 PM, OlsSalt said:

 

Next question, as a younger cruiser, why would you pick a HAL ship over any of the other mainstream brands? What keeps the larger HAL  ships unique enough to create brand loyalty. What X-factors make HAL a re-booking choice, by brand alone.

 

Recently on the Konigsdam, and did not feel that same HAL feeling nor understand why it would now stand out among the newer competition.  It was just a generic  big, busy, noisy ship in our own  HAL brand loyalty experience. (Itinerary-price-intimacy of size-onboard ambiance)

 

For us, it was easy to feel brand uniqueness in HAL's smaller, older ships, since no one else was offering the same range of itineraries and value for the same prices, and we did fall in love with the warm, welcoming HAL special service touches that we got for the price -that was our sweet spot.

 

But it is not something the larger, newer HAL ships still offer us. Being on board felt more like "work" than a comfortable cocoon.

 

So I am curious, what is it about the new HAL ships experiences that now creates a brand loyalty among younger passengers?

we don't value the "attractions" like slides, bumper cars etc ..and the "production" shows like those on Royal/NCL we find are quite low quality relative to on land shows or attractions even though it's like Grease or whatever.. the talent and venue just isn't comparable to land even on the oasis class ships and "dance clubs" on cruise ships are totally not relevant at all for us (because they're so bad compared to on land), so we aren't really drawn to those new mega ships. 

 

we like HAL for the more relaxed vibe, the library/Crow's nest, no excessive upselling everywhere for every activity and the food is good without needing to goto a paid venue where the food isn't even that good (looking at you royal) and the older crowd means less noise and nuisance/rowdiness. we stay away from pool anyways

 

we find HAL pricing to be a bargain compared to Princess or Celebrity and offers everything we like and the itineraries of HAL . we would do Virgin but their itineraries don't interest us whatsoever and feels like they're trying a little too hard to be young/hip. we also are not big drinkers (i drink but not on cruises/vacations.. i drink when i goto clubs and etc)

 

we were princess fans and prefer the longer 10+ day itineraries and the service level we like (just good enough but not too over the top) but we find HAL food better and cheaper and the pinnacle class ships offer modern enough rooms/amenities (eg app ordering of food, updated bathrooms/rooms relative to say zaandam) etc. basically we like decent food, quiet vibe and please don't bother us unless we need something and i don't need crew to say hi or know our names lol

 

celebrity we like but i don't find the value there relative to HAL where the higher price doesn't really get us anything extra we value