Would appreciate your advice

[babs135]

Looking at a cruise in June next year. No destination as yet, but chose the month as it will be our daughter's 50th birthday (gulp) and we'd like to celebrate the day whilst on a cruise.  We sail mainly with Cunard but when I put June into an agent's website some really interesting and different itineraries pop up with Holland America.  The problem is that several members of the family and also friends have sailed with HA and did not enjoy the experience for different reasons. So, the question is do we totally take HA out of the equation or do we try them for ourselves and hope that they were wrong ?

 

[StollyBolly]

So many cruise lines to choose from.  I’d narrow it down to itinerary/date, size of ship you prefer and then read reviews on this site.  We love the smaller ships.  We have friends who rave about Celebrity and Viking.  
 

We did the Adriatic last summer.  It was fabulous.  Montenegro was an unexpected surprise.  Absolutely beautiful.  
 

Enjoy the birthday celebration.  

[LHT28]

Since it is for your daughter's big birthday  why not let her decide  & those that do not like the choice  they can stay home

 

[babs135]

35 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Since it is for your daughter's big birthday  why not let her decide  & those that do not like the choice  they can stay home

 

Just to clarify, it would only be the 3 of us on the cruise, DH,DD and myself.  

[JohnH9]

June is an excellent time to cruise Alaska. Being from Texas, it is a relief to be in cooler temperatures, even if it’s just for a week. Where ever you chose, enjoy your time with your daughter. 

[shipgeeks]

Do you know why the friends did not like HAL?  I find that people like/dislike certain experiences for reasons that I cannot relate to.  For example, I recommended Cunard to a colleague knowing she was not a booze cruise person.  She came back very disappointed. The reason? "They didn't make announcements all day; how were we supposed to know what was going on?"

If you are considering HAL, it might be useful to do some reading, and perhaps posting, on the HAL board here, to get a better idea of what the experience is like.

I see Alaska has been mentioned above.  Good cruise, but would you consider going that far for a cruise?  Or are you mainly looking at UK, Europe, Northern Europe, Greenland, etc.?

[LHT28]

Maybe  they are used to more inclusive  & dressy  cruises   & depending on where they went  i can be quite different

 If you all like the itinerary & it fits your budget  give them  a try

Go with an open mind

[cruiserking]

Why not consider Princess, Celebrity or Royal Caribbean. 

 

Holland America's newer ships are much more contemporary and offer many of the popular entertainment venues found on other cruise lines. 

 

]onathan

[navybankerteacher]

Find out from them what they did not like about HAL — if they cannot specify, it is best to ignore their views.  If what they did not like would bother you, consider their advice.  If what they did not like happened to be things you might like, consider their dislike a real endorsement.  We prefer smaller ( less “mass market” ships) but find HAL, after Cunard, the only mass market line worth sailing - with the exception of Celebrity, but in their case only if the itinerary is outstanding.

[SPacificbound]

Have you asked your daughter where she would like to go for her birthday? 

 

 

[mom says]

41 minutes ago, SPacificbound said:

Have you asked your daughter where she would like to go for her birthday? 

 

 

I think that is the best place to start. Once you have an idea of where you want to go, it may make the selection of cruise line and ship easier.

[John Bull]

Hi, Babs,

 

Yes, I too have noticed that HAL offer much more unusual itineraries than the same-old, same-old of most other cruise lines.

 

Nowadays in the "affordable" category the only cruise lines that seem to regularly do so are HAL and Marella. 

You'd need to lower your expectations a tad with Marella, but we've happily done that for their itineraries - for instance, precious few cruise lines offer Cuba or the Red Sea. 

 

We've not (yet!) sailed HAL because their most-enticing itineraries seem to be on the other side of the world, so can't answer the core of your question. 

Can I suggest you ask again on the HAL cruise line forum. Naturally it'll be HAL afficionados on that forum so expect responses there to be rather slanted, but you should still get some useful feed-back.

 

i guess you could ask on this "ask A Cruise Question" forum "Why do all cruise lines offer the same boring itineraries" or some-such and see how many times HAL is mentioned by those who rebuff your comment. 

But don't mention that I suggested it - you'd be on your own, so all flack would be aimed at you  😏    

 

JB 🙂

Edited May 20, 2023 by John Bull

[babs135]

Some good points here. From what I remember, family members didn't like the entertainment and/or the food. Lots of other niggles. They gave us the impression that they were bored!! Would point out that these are people who have sailed on other lines so they do have something to compare. Will ask them if they can be more specific.

Re asking our daughter where she wants to go; she's flexible to a large extent and she will do her own research until we've picked out a few itineraries to look at, along with hers, before booking anything. Again, she's cruised before so is not a novice.  

Thanks for listening to me. (or should that be reading me)? 🤣

[9tee2Sea]

18 hours ago, babs135 said:

Looking at a cruise in June next year. No destination as yet, but chose the month as it will be our daughter's 50th birthday (gulp) and we'd like to celebrate the day whilst on a cruise.  We sail mainly with Cunard but when I put June into an agent's website some really interesting and different itineraries pop up with Holland America.  The problem is that several members of the family and also friends have sailed with HA and did not enjoy the experience for different reasons. So, the question is do we totally take HA out of the equation or do we try them for ourselves and hope that they were wrong ?

 

I did my 65 birthday cruise.  Cruised out of Dubai- Athens.  It was amazing.  Went to Petra ( awesome), rode a camel in front of The Pyramids ( awesome), did a pilgrimage walk in Israel ( saw all the biblical sites), went to Bethlehem.  That really was a once in a lifetime experience. Not many folks can say they did all that for the big birthday.  Plus, it is much easier to get to from your area than mine ( I'm in CA, the flight to Dubai was 15 hours +).  Just a suggestion ( just be prepared for heat, I went in Feb)

[mnocket]

Just my 2 cents...

 

As long as you understand that the experience on HAL is not the same as on Cunard and you're ok with that, I say why not.  HAL will not be the same as Cunard.  If you want things to be similar to Cunard, HAL is not a good choice.

[navybankerteacher]

27 minutes ago, mnocket said:

Just my 2 cents...

 

As long as you understand that the experience on HAL is not the same as on Cunard and you're ok with that, I say why not.  HAL will not be the same as Cunard.  If you want things to be similar to Cunard, HAL is not a good choice.

Agreed - but still a better choice than Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Carnival or NCL.

[babs135]

Daughter is now looking at Queen Anne itineraries  - I can't keep up ! 🤣

[SPacificbound]

Queen Anne has some interesting itineraries!