Anyone sailed HAL and Carnival?

[funcorn]

I've cruised both HAL and CCL (more CCL) and thoroughly enjoyed both. They are 2 quite different experiences, however. HAL was quite elegant without being "snobby"--the variety in the room service was better than CCL, the food maybe a little better, with less variety in the DR. I loved the fresh flowers (orchids) everywhere. We were about the youngest people on the ship for the most part (we're in our 50's/60's), but there were enough younger people so that we weren't bored. The shows were ok on HAL. I enjoyed the Promenade deck(walking completely around the ship). On CCL there does seem to be a more "party" atmosphere--and that's not a negative for me. I like having the option of something to do at all hours of the day/night. The crews of both lines were great! I would cruise either one of these lines again in a heartbeat! We're going on Fascination in April for a short getaway and are looking forward to it. Frankly, I've NEVER had a bad cruise--just things here and there that I liked better than others. (As long as they have made-to-order omelets in the mornings, I'll be fine:)) I think you can agonize over something not being perfect and let it ruin your cruise or you can not sweat the small stuff and have a great time.

[Guienevere_Arianette]

Your age...no offense would be an interesting question for one. What you like to do on board. How late you like to stay up....how formal are you...

You have asked a question but supplied no likes or dislikes and you want help.

Please help us to help you.....

 

Well I'm not the OP, but I have the same questions, so I'll fill in! :) We are in our late twenties; I'm a writer/college English prof and he is an artist/chef of Jamaican cuisine. We are counterculture, but not in an extreme way; hmmm, how to say...we aren't "country club casual" but we aren't "punk/goth," if that makes sense. I don't know; we're artsy!

 

We enjoy drinks, music (live music from the classical ensembles are our fave), and just people watching, I guess. Um, I'm trying to help a bit more, let me think...we have loved our two cruises on Carnival, but we didn't participate in a lot of stuff (shows, hairy chest contest, not so newlyweds, etc)

 

We love port days especially, as we love to travel. It sounds like HAL would be a great ship for a port intensive, European itin, don't you think?

[Sundagger]

We've been on HAL's Zuiderdam, the only ship in their fleet with a kid's program.

 

I'm not sure why you are passing out misinformation, but for those who are really wondering about this statement, see: http://www.hollandamerica.com/onboard/kidscruise

[Sundagger]

They don't allow you to change clothes before you go bar hopping? If you dont' eat in the dining room, you don't eat at all? I was looking at the Zuiderdam for a fall cruise, but that sounds unappealing...

If you don't eat in the dining room, you can have essentially the same menu in the Lido. Get your starters from the buffet and they deliver the entree to your table. OR If you arrange for it early, you can have your dinner in your cabin - just a few conditions on that, but some people eat all of their dinners in their cabin. OR the room service menu has hot food available 24 hours/day.

 

The Lido is casual all the time.

 

HAL is going to eliminate "semi-formal" nights, so on a 7 day cruise you would have 2 formal nights and 5 casual. They do request that you stay in your formal dress during the evening, but that is probably the most-broken rule on HAL.

[Sundagger]

I've been on one Carnival cruise (Southern Caribbean) and liked cruising so much that I've continued. I prefer a quieter cruise to relax from the tension at work. HAL is definitely quieter with fewer "active" activities than Carnival. The HAL patrons are definitely older, but not the extremes that some people like to characterise HAL with.

 

I always stay up for the music in the lounges and the midnight ethnic buffets and I'm not the only one in line. However, Carnival definitely is more active later at night. The food is probably better on HAL, but certainly not bad on Carnival (and there is no dancing on the tables on HAL). Celebrity has the reputation of having the best food of the mass-market lines, but it's a pretty close call between them and HAL from what I've heard recently.

 

So ... the demographics are different, the dining is slightly different, the "atmosphere" is different, and the number of "fun" activities is different. If HAL and Carnival are the extremes of those characteristics, RCI and Princess are probably in the middle of that continuum. On a cruise, I like quiet and being pampered a bit, so I've been cruising on HAL recently.

[hdawson]

One thing I remember from my HAL cruise is the crew show. It was like an Indonesian Folkloric which was excellent and very much appreciated by the passengers. And of course the horderves before dinner in the lounges.

[CARIBBEANBLUESKY]

We have sailed Carnival and Holland America (the Zuiderdam). We had a great time on our Carnival Conquest cruise. We could not wait to get off the HAL Zuiderdam. The passengers were rather old in general. There was nothing to do in the evenings. Boring activities. The Zuiderdam was a cramped, tacky ship with narrow halls and low ceilings. But the staff was the best we have ever ever encountered - very nice, efficient, and true service-with-a-smile. We also loved our Superior Verandah Suite. HAL also had some nice touches, such as a a cool towel and glass of lemonade or whatever waiting for you when you came back from port. But we would not cruise HAL again. Not our style. I guess it just depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for a very relaxed atmosphere and quiet times, HAL may be for you. Personally, we were sooooo happy when Saturday rolled around and we could finally get off that ship.

[Iggipolka]

We could not wait to get off the HAL Zuiderdam. The passengers were rather old in general. There was nothing to do in the evenings. Boring activities. The Zuiderdam was a cramped, tacky ship with narrow halls and low ceilings. If you are looking for a very relaxed atmosphere and quiet times, HAL may be for you. Personally, we were sooooo happy when Saturday rolled around and we could finally get off that ship.

 

Wow..It always amazes me how different people have such major different experiences about ships. I thought the Zui was beautiful and certainly not cramped! It's a huge ship with large attractively decorated hallways and cabins.

I was so sad to have to leave the ship and would have hidden away someplace if that was at all possible!

 

As far as relaxed atmosphere, I was so tired from our vacation that I went to our hotel and slept the entire afternoon away! :p

 

Anyway, interesting how things are seen completely opposite at times.

[hdawson]

Cramped? Opposite of my experience. Tacky? No way. There was alot of the color Red though.

[Sundagger]

We have sailed Carnival and Holland America (the Zuiderdam). We had a great time on our Carnival Conquest cruise. We could not wait to get off the HAL Zuiderdam. The passengers were rather old in general. There was nothing to do in the evenings. Boring activities. The Zuiderdam was a cramped, tacky ship with narrow halls and low ceilings.

 

Hmmm. Nothing to do in the evenings? I guess if you don't like to go to the production shows, don't like to listen to music in the lounges, don't like to dance, don't like to go the the piano bar, don't like to watch a movie in the theater, don't like to watch a movie in your cabin, don't like to go to the casino, don't like to talk to people you've just met ... etc.

 

Boring activities. I've always been curious as to exactly what activities that Carnival has that other cruise lines don't.

 

... a cramped, tacky ship ...? That's a rather bizarre statement. I thought all the neon on the Inspiration was a little tacky -- and I vividly recall waiting in a line of a couple hundred people wanting to disembark in a hot, narrow, cramped hallway. I presume they've resolved that problem, but I doubt they've expanded the hallways.

[elaineinva]

We tried HAL but found that it was too quiet for us. We are retired and more people our age were on there, but we just couldn't find enough to do. We enjoyed the excitement on Carnival. We also found the food was as good, if not better. I will say that the service was 5 star on HAL. We were on a smaller ship than we usually take and it was nice to have the deck to ourselves at times. All things considered, we booked again with Carnival :D

[joepeka]

As you can see in my signature, most of our cruises have been Carnival with one on the Zuiderdam. That HAL cruise was Eastern Caribbean in early summer so there were a lot of families, children, teens, etc. as well as some older pax (including us). I think because of the itinerary and time of year, we had that good mix of ages like you see on Carnival. There were plenty of daytime activities (I mentioned in a post several months ago the belly flop contest in the aft pool which was absolutely hilarious) and the evening shows were quite good (esp. liked the Elton John impersonator). I think HAL does some small, classy things that Carnival does not and while we will do HAL again, it will probably be on one of the newer ships with a reputation for family cruising (like the Zuiderdam when we cruised her). Until then, we're sticking with Carnival. :)

[KSCnCA]

I have sailed both Carnival and HAL - but only on the Vista/Spirit Class ships. Carnival does seem more active later in the evenings, the casino was big and open, the 24/7 pizza. HAL seemed to have more varied music in their lounges, cloth towels in the public restaurants, lido - better layout and more varied and a little better food, crow's nest, fresh flowers everywhere, and stay in your cabin till disembarkation. I encountered cigar smoke in most of the smoking venues on the Spirit but on HAL only in the cigar bar. I can deal with most cigarette smoke but not cigars! I think the service on Carnival was just as good as HAL and I didn't notice much difference in passenger age between the 3 ships we have sailed. All 3 cruises were taken during the winter months when traditional schools were in session. On a personal note: HAL allowed my husband to play their digital pianos during off hours, whereas Carnival locked theirs up and I was told we would have to talk to the Cruise Director about him playing, which we didn't do. I would choose HAL over Carnival if the price and itinerary were the same, but will definitely cruise Carnival again.

[Gator Bait]

Most of our cruises have been on Carnival and we have loved them all. However on our 14 day southern on the Ryndam we ate every meal on the Lido deck except when we ordered room service (which was great!). Formal night DH and I had our Lobster delivered to our cabin. It was wonderful. I thought I was in heaven when I got my made to order eggs with breakfast delivered every morning. You can't get that on Carnival. I loved the food on HAL and because the cruise was so port intensive, I enjoyed every minute on the beautiful ship. Most relaxing cruise ever. On Carnival I usually come back ready for some peace & quite. I would do a cruise on both in a New York minute.

[I Luv Crusin]

I'll weigh in with my experience. As you can see from my signature I've mainly cruised Carnival. I "like" Carnival and it's perfectly fine for a vacation. My Dh and I sailed the HAL Veendam last April, in comparison, it seemed like Carnival +. Everything we don't like and like on Carnival we saw on the Veendam but in a greater or lesser degree depending.

 

Embarkation/debarkation-HAL wins but that could be due to the smaller ship

Food-I like Carnival slightly better, but HAL Lido was nice

Staff-Carnival usually greets you with a smile and "how are you?", HAL does the same except with your name

Pool-kids in adult pool on both

Drunks-on both

Rude people-on both

Very nice cooking class(es)-Fun on HAL

Dancing-on HAL more chances to "ballroom" dance and we liked the theme dancing in the Crow's Nest

Age of passengers-same, maybe due to the time we went. In fact there were more wheelchairs and walkers on my last Carnival cruise.

Walking-HAL you can walk all the way around the promenade(sp?) deck

Dress code-on both some didn't feel that the suggestions applied to them

Shows-good on both, Veendam's female dancer's costumes cover their bottoms, not thongs like on Carnival.

Speciality Dining-close but I think I like Carnival's better

 

My DD and I were on the Liberty last May. There was an older woman standing in line at the pursers desk bellyaching about something she didn't like. She stated that she would never sail CCL again. I told her I was just off (about a month) HAL and that there wasn't THAT MUCH difference! In all due respect I don't know why she was upset, she never said, and it was just the first day. I think so many people flew into Rome from the states and headed right to the ship. That makes for very short tempers!

 

I am sailing Carnival again and I will sail HAL again. I like both!

[jessemon]

Well I'm not the OP, but I have the same questions, so I'll fill in! :) We are in our late twenties; I'm a writer/college English prof and he is an artist/chef of Jamaican cuisine. We are counterculture, but not in an extreme way; hmmm, how to say...we aren't "country club casual" but we aren't "punk/goth," if that makes sense. I don't know; we're artsy!

 

We enjoy drinks, music (live music from the classical ensembles are our fave), and just people watching, I guess. Um, I'm trying to help a bit more, let me think...we have loved our two cruises on Carnival, but we didn't participate in a lot of stuff (shows, hairy chest contest, not so newlyweds, etc)

 

We love port days especially, as we love to travel. It sounds like HAL would be a great ship for a port intensive, European itin, don't you think?

HAL and Carival are two different lines completely. About 12 years ago at 40 we were almost the youngest peole on the ship. Don't take that wrong....have cruised with them 4 times since. It is more formal. Service is very good. Shows are average. Good piano bar. At night in the Explorers Lounge they have a 3 to 4 piece group that plays classical. No hairy chest contest for this line.

it is very laid back.

Most folks follow dress codes to the letter.

Dining is better than a few years ago since they hired a new chef...but alot of people say the food can be a little bland for their taste. Catering to the age group I guess. I pick and choose very carefully.

I sail with them in the past and will again.

Have also sailed on Carnival 3 times and always have a great time. Shows are good as well as the food.. Entertainment around the ship to is usually good at least.

As you know the the Carnival line is very upbeat.....:D

I have a cruised booked on the Liberty in October. I also might do the HAL Rotterdam this summer in Europe.

I make the best of the cruise I am on...and have sailed all the majors more than once.

Just to let you know...the Rotterdam is doing a great Baltic set-up this summer......

[CARIBBEANBLUESKY]

Hmmm. Nothing to do in the evenings? I guess if you don't like to go to the production shows, don't like to listen to music in the lounges, don't like to dance, don't like to go the the piano bar, don't like to watch a movie in the theater, don't like to watch a movie in your cabin, don't like to go to the casino, don't like to talk to people you've just met ... etc.

 

Boring activities. I've always been curious as to exactly what activities that Carnival has that other cruise lines don't.

 

... a cramped, tacky ship ...? That's a rather bizarre statement. I thought all the neon on the Inspiration was a little tacky -- and I vividly recall waiting in a line of a couple hundred people wanting to disembark in a hot, narrow, cramped hallway. I presume they've resolved that problem, but I doubt they've expanded the hallways.

 

 

I do not care whether you think my statement is bizarre. I have no idea whether the Inspiration is tacky since I have not been on it. It very well may be. But I HAVE been on the Zuiderdam, and that was one tacky ship.