How does Holland America compare to NCL?

[CTCruisers]

We have been sailing for a long time with NCL. But, their itineraries for the next year or so are not appealing to us. We have had family members sail on Holland America recently and really enjoyed the line. But, the only comparison they could make was against MSC, which they felt was not as good as HA.

 

Anybody here sail on HA?

[tinker]

We are also going to try HAL in the fall for the first time and am subscribing this thread to read the comparisons.

[Lurker1]

We have been sailing for a long time with NCL. But, their itineraries for the next year or so are not appealing to us. We have had family members sail on Holland America recently and really enjoyed the line. But, the only comparison they could make was against MSC, which they felt was not as good as HA.

 

Anybody here sail on HA?

 

I've been on HAL several times, just got off the NCL Spirit. You can read my review on the Spirit.

 

IMO: NCL has more entertainment and a wider variety of things to do on sea days. The overall quality of food and service is better on HAL. There is a much wider variety of specialty restaurants on NCL. The cabins on the Spirit were unusually small. The Roll Call group was fantastic. So it's hard to compare those last two items to HAL, they were both unique to this cruise. We liked Free-style dining, but you can get a variation of that on HAL.

 

On longer cruises or cruises that do not coincide with school vacations, HAL definitely has an older age group. Otherwise, especially on Alaskan Cruises (which they do very well), the demographics are much more mixed.

 

I see you're from West Haven. I grew up there.

 

Whichever you choose, have a great cruise!

[spirit rev]

We sailed HAL in Alaska. They do a very good job. There were many our age - early 60's on our sailing but also an even larger number of even older folks. Entertainment was geared to a group older than we were. The whole ship had a much more sedate and darker feeling to it.

 

Personally, we did not find to service or food to be any different than we have experienced on NCL. As many say, food is subjective. In fact, we and our cruise friends found the service and food in the HAL Pennicle Grill to be much less than we expected.

 

Here is a link to a thread from an avid HAL sailor who recently sailed on NCL. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1188291

[Dolphins]

After sailing over 100 days on HAL, we decided to give NCL a try when threy started sailing year round out of New York. We were very pleasantly surprised and have been going back to NCL ever since. We love freestyle dining at a time and place of our choosing. There is no comparison between the perks repeat cruisers get from NCL compared to HAL. Compare NCL Gold & Platinum Latitude mamber perks on NCL to those of similar 3 star Mariners on HAL. The performers in the various NCL lounges are first rate and for every taste.

 

Final comparison: HAL announced Bermuda sailings from New York in 2011. You will find a balcony cabin on the Veendam far more expensive than a similar cabin on the Dawn or Gem.

[sottovoce]

We sailed HAL in Alaska. They do a very good job. There were many our age - early 60's on our sailing but also an even larger number of even older folks. Entertainment was geared to a group older than we were. The whole ship had a much more sedate and darker feeling to it.

 

Personally, we did not find to service or food to be any different than we have experienced on NCL. As many say, food is subjective. In fact, we and our cruise friends found the service and food in the HAL Pennicle Grill to be much less than we expected.

 

Here is a link to a thread from an avid HAL sailor who recently sailed on NCL. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1188291

Agree with this 100%, except I can't speak to Pinnacles. It's a myth that food and service are "better" on HAL. More obsequious and formal maybe, but not better. The one advantage to HAL on our cruise was that you could get the main dining room dinner menu in the buffet. That's done so that those who don't want to adhere to HAL's outdated dress code can still get the same dinner items without having to wear the designated attire of the day.

 

Bottom line, all mass-market cruise lines, HAL and Celebrity included, are pretty much comparable in terms of the overall quality of experience. They just have different institutional personalities. We prefer NCL's, but that's a personal thing.

[spirit rev]

The one advantage to HAL on our cruise was that you could get the main dining room dinner menu in the buffet. That's done so that those who don't want to adhere to HAL's outdated dress code can still get the same dinner items without having to wear the designated attire of the day.

Just an aside. One night on our HAL cruise I didn't want to change after being a shore during the day - in jeans, but not blue ones. It was not a formal night so I just went as I was dressed and was seated without even a look or comment.:) Not sure if I was just lucky or because the jeans were not blue they just didn't notice.

[ilablyth]

I have sailed on both and found the biggest difference to be in the size of the rooms (NCL was smaller) and the food (Holland was better). Oh, yeah, NCL was less expensive.

[Lurker1]

After sailing over 100 days on HAL, we decided to give NCL a try when threy started sailing year round out of New York. We were very pleasantly surprised and have been going back to NCL ever since. We love freestyle dining at a time and place of our choosing. There is no comparison between the perks repeat cruisers get from NCL compared to HAL. Compare NCL Gold & Platinum Latitude mamber perks on NCL to those of similar 3 star Mariners on HAL. The performers in the various NCL lounges are first rate and for every taste.

 

Final comparison: HAL announced Bermuda sailings from New York in 2011. You will find a balcony cabin on the Veendam far more expensive than a similar cabin on the Dawn or Gem.

 

The Veendam's balconies are actually suites, which is why they are so expensive. If we wished to sail to Bermuda, we would take NCL out of NYC or Boston so we could have a reasonably priced balcony.

[JCLAWO]

I haven't personally sailed on HAL but we ran in to several people who were on HAL when we were in Bermuda with NCL. The quieter retirees we met were very happy, the rowdy group of 40-60 year old ladies we met were not happy at all. I think it just depends on what kinds of activities and crowds you prefer.

[furluvcats]

I sailed with both lines in the past 2 weeks. HAL, is leaps and bounds superior to NCL from our most recent experiences. The Star vs Oosterdam...HAL ships are much nicer, the staterooms cleaner and better appointed...service is close to perfection...there were ALOT more things to do on our HAL sailing...NCL left us bored and wishing we had booked on another line. The food on HAL is far superior too. Beds and linens are better on HAL...We honestly will use NCL as a last resort if even that when cruising in the future...its too casual for us...and they nickel and dime you on everything. Even drinks are much cheaper on HAL...you may pay a little more to sail on a HAL ship, but to me, its worth every dime. They simply give a better vacation experience IMHO.

[STARFISH*4]

my MIL recently sailed on HAL and her response after the cruise...this line is for OLD PEOPLE (10 day Panama Canal)...she is 75....i think it will be quite awhile before we sail HAL we are very HAPPY with NCL!!!...i just dont like the looks of the outside of the ships either...dark and dingy...yep, i am judging a book by its cover!

[sottovoce]

I sailed with both lines in the past 2 weeks. HAL, is leaps and bounds superior to NCL from our most recent experiences. The Star vs Oosterdam...HAL ships are much nicer, the staterooms cleaner and better appointed...service is close to perfection...there were ALOT more things to do on our HAL sailing...NCL left us bored and wishing we had booked on another line. The food on HAL is far superior too. Beds and linens are better on HAL...We honestly will use NCL as a last resort if even that when cruising in the future...its too casual for us...and they nickel and dime you on everything. Even drinks are much cheaper on HAL...you may pay a little more to sail on a HAL ship, but to me, its worth every dime. They simply give a better vacation experience IMHO.

Not one word of this agrees with the impression we have after sailing both lines. Not the bedding, the quality of the ships, the cleanliness of the staterooms, the service the activities, or the food. HAL nickels and dimes--as do all mass-market cruise lines--the same as NCL. Someone who thinks of NCL as a "last resort" should simply cruise elsewhere because they will never enjoy an NCL cruise. We found nothing "better" about HAL's vacation experience--IMHO. And being required to wear formal attire for an experience that didn't come close to warranting it was simply ridiculous.

[pundang]

Most recently I was on NCL in October 2009 and HAL December 2009.

I believe overall HAL does have better and larger selection of food but NCL did wonderful things with puff pastry dishes.

NCL does a great job with freestyle dining, did not wait more than 10 minutes to be seated no matter what time I went. Had anytime dining with HAL and waited over 30 minutes to be seated on 2 of the nights. I prefer traditional dining on HAL.

HAL room stewards had my room cleaned while I was out for breakfast and dinner. Like they knew my schedule after the first day. NCL room stewards cleaned the room later in the day and not as well.

HAL had more enrichment classes but NCL had great evening parties.

On some HAL ships the pool deck can be covered so it's never too cold or windy to enjoy the pool.

On HAL there is no signing in and out of pool towels, NCL threatenss a charge of $25 ( I think) for missing/stolen pool towels. HAL also provides towels to use in port.

HAL has a promenade deck that circles the whole ship, no detouring up and down stairs.

[Monaco02]

We have sailed both lines and it really comes down to what's important to you.....Yes, HAL tends to have an older clientele depending on the itinerary and length of cruise, but that doesn't bother us at all - we go to relax, not party all night long. HAL has better pools, the 2 pools are in totally seperate areas and the aft pools have tons of loungers. I think it's ridiculous on NCL ships to have both pools right next to each other. HAL has a better buffet with more seating. Room service on HAL is awesome, you can order a full hot breakfast and you also can order dinner from the dining room menu. I like HAL's educational/enrichment speakers. Drink prices are cheaper on HAL. I would say that service is equal on both lines. HAL ships "feel" like ships, beautiful art, fresh flowers, rich wood, etc. Food is SO subjective it's kind of irrelevant what anyone thinks.... what I think is great the next person may hate......

So, what do we like about NCL? The price, sails from NY (no flying), very laid back feeling, don't need to pack formal wear.

[hamrag]

Regarding food quality and service, HAL wins hands down. The Berlitz guide, which is totally subjective, confirms that with HAL scoring 6.7 out of 10 and NCL a distance away at 6.0

 

Other aspects to consider are:

dress..... 2 formal nights from 7 on HAL, none on NCL

entertainment.....NCL probably more geared to a less aged clientele, HAL more emphasis on quality. We prefer NCL, which has the better mix for us.

daytime activities.....HAL has enrichment/educational speakers, NCL none

announcements......HAL very few, NCL always on plugging various things to increase revenues.

ship decor/ambience....HAL more refined, NCL at times garish.

 

No flamers please, we are all entitled to an opinion!

[dtiger]

I've loved the HAL cruises I've gone on. Wonderful room service, nice big cabins and great service but it's more expensive. One morning I counted 9 varieties of juice at the buffet.

 

I like NCL as I've gotten pretty good deals generally on the cruise prices.

[furluvcats]

Not one word of this agrees with the impression we have after sailing both lines. Not the bedding, the quality of the ships, the cleanliness of the staterooms, the service the activities, or the food. HAL nickels and dimes--as do all mass-market cruise lines--the same as NCL. Someone who thinks of NCL as a "last resort" should simply cruise elsewhere because they will never enjoy an NCL cruise. We found nothing "better" about HAL's vacation experience--IMHO. And being required to wear formal attire for an experience that didn't come close to warranting it was simply ridiculous.

we all have our prefrences and experiences on cruiselines. I was very honest about mine from last week. No need to be catty... we all are entitled to a fair and friendly opinion =)

[furluvcats]

Regarding food quality and service, HAL wins hands down. The Berlitz guide, which is totally subjective, confirms that with HAL scoring 6.7 out of 10 and NCL a distance away at 6.0

 

Other aspects to consider are:

dress..... 2 formal nights from 7 on HAL, none on NCL

entertainment.....NCL probably more geared to a less aged clientele, HAL more emphasis on quality. We prefer NCL, which has the better mix for us.

daytime activities.....HAL has enrichment/educational speakers, NCL none

announcements......HAL very few, NCL always on plugging various things to increase revenues.

ship decor/ambience....HAL more refined, NCL at times garish.

 

No flamers please, we are all entitled to an opinion!

very well said. That is pretty much the opinion we have as well...

[SuiteTraveler]

I've sailed on both.

 

On HAL, we were on the Osterdam in Alaska - clientele was mostly much, much older than us - in fact they were much, much older than my cousin who is 15 years older than me - and I was 47 at the time. Food was very bland. Decor was very bland - lots of mauve and grey blue - certainly not colors that were in fashion that year although the ship was brand new. Shows were rather blah and the music around the ship was VERY dated - and I'm someone who loves all kinds and periods of music - from classical to rock and roll, but they literally played nothing but oldies from the 1930's - 1950's. I love Cole Porter but not "Night and Day." ;)

 

We sailed on the NCL Jade for 2 weeks last year in a Courtyard Villa and are going back in an Owner's Suite in about a week. The food in the specialty restaurants was good to excellent. The food in the main dining room was average to good. I hated the buffet - it was a madhouse - but then we could have breakfast and lunch at Cagney's so I just avoided the buffet like the plague. The guests were a great mix of ages - everything from children through senior citizens - but no one age group dominated the ship which was nice.

 

IMO, between the two, I prefer NCL but only in a Penthouse or above.

 

I've been on a lot of different lines, I highly recommend Royal Caribbean as an alternative, Liberty class or above - I would choose that over NCL if the itinerary were right. Their specialty restaurants are awesome.

 

If you can afford it, Crystal would be another great choice.

[celyvabeach]

Regarding food quality and service, HAL wins hands down. The Berlitz guide, which is totally subjective, confirms that with HAL scoring 6.7 out of 10 and NCL a distance away at 6.0

 

Other aspects to consider are:

dress..... 2 formal nights from 7 on HAL, none on NCL

entertainment.....NCL probably more geared to a less aged clientele, HAL more emphasis on quality. We prefer NCL, which has the better mix for us.

daytime activities.....HAL has enrichment/educational speakers, NCL none

announcements......HAL very few, NCL always on plugging various things to increase revenues.

ship decor/ambience....HAL more refined, NCL at times garish.

 

No flamers please, we are all entitled to an opinion!

 

Glad to hear the comparisons. We too love HAL's service and crew. We also love MDR experience. Have not sailed NCL before but we will try Jade's Middle East sailing in Nov 2011. The price is right. Plus we get a 10% military discount. We would be paying more than double for HAL. So will see.

[welove2cruise232]

We sailed on HAL Noordam twice after 16 (?) cruises on NCL -- reason? They were sailing out of NYC that year in November and March, and NCL wasn't doing 10/11 night cruises during those months (that we had gotten into such a routine with), which was when we wanted to cruise. The price for both of those cruises was AMAZING, the lowest we'd ever paid for a 10/11 night cruise from NYC, which weighed heavily on our decision to stray from NCL. Heck, we booked the second HAL cruise before we'd sailed the first, thinking that if we didn't like it we could always cancel, but the price was so good (even though the experience wasn't the best) that we kept the second booking.

 

Food was comparable on both lines; the main dining room was very elegant on Noordam, beautiful silver and glasses, though I'm not complaining about the MDR on NCL (we have our favorite ships and MDRs). Could do without the "baked alaska parade" and other dining room antics -- too weird when you'd doing anytime dining and they start the "parade" in the middle of your dinner. :rolleyes: We chose anytime dining; the first couple of nights we were sat with two other couples -- ugh :cool: -- after that we requested a table for two and WAITED for it a few nights, but lucked into a great waiter who reserved "his" table for us (a table for 6 many nights, but it was all ours). We prefer the many alternative dining venues and variety of food on NCL, and don't mind paying the upcharge to enjoy those venues.

 

I liked that we could order a bottle or two of liquor for our room from any bar, and it was VERY reasonably priced. Not sure you can still do that. I also enjoyed the "coffee card" and really took advantage. They also had a drink card (that I bought but really didn't make the best use of, but if you did, it was a pretty good deal) and a wine card (that we didn't buy). They REALLY pushed the sale of these cards (so you people who complain of nickel and diming on NCL have nothing to complain about).

 

Noordam was a beautiful ship, beautiful public areas, beautiful wood, beautiful teak promenade with wooden deck chairs, and nice cabins that were a bit larger than NCL (we had an aft VA both times and there was plenty of availability of aft cabins when we booked -- almost IMPOSSIBLE to book an aft balcony or AF minisuite on NCL unless you book WAY in advance) with comparable amenities. VA was comparable (though a bit larger) to an AF on NCL with tub/shower and larger cabin and balcony. HOWEVER, we've sailed on some BEAUTIFUL NCL ships as well -- the Spirit being one very unique and gorgeous ship that comes to mind. They're all just different and unique in their own way, but all beautiful. Room service was better (full breakfast vs continental in a balcony cabin). Lovely glass stairway in the atrium that was roped off the whole cruise...:confused: HATED the main pool with the retractable roof -- it smelled like a YMCA gym in there when the roof was closed! The aft pool is where we spent all our time, but it was SOO quiet out there, with the same 10 songs playing OVER AND OVER on the PA...

 

Entertainment (shows and entertainment around the ship) on HAL was UGH! NCL wins hands down! Activities about the same on both lines. Similar drink prices. Service throughout (bar service, room stewards) on both lines comparable. More liberal smoking policy on HAL (at that time there was smoking allowed in a section of the Ocean Bar -- yes, I'm a smoker).

 

If an NCL and HAL ship were both sailing the same/similar itinerary out of the same port regardless of price, we would choose NCL. Being Platinum latitudes members, our perks on NCL are amazing compared to what we would get on HAL with 21 days.

 

JMHO

[celyvabeach]

Glad to hear the comparisons. We too love HAL's service and crew. We also love MDR experience. Have not sailed NCL before but we will try Jade's Middle East sailing in Nov 2011. The price is right. Plus we get a 10% military discount. We would be paying more than double for HAL. So will see.

 

 

I mean Jade's "HOLY LAND" sailing....

[hamrag]

Glad to hear the comparisons. We too love HAL's service and crew. We also love MDR experience. Have not sailed NCL before but we will try Jade's Middle East sailing in Nov 2011. The price is right. Plus we get a 10% military discount. We would be paying more than double for HAL. So will see.

 

For us this is the real deal with NCL as their prices do tend to be somewhat lower. We would rather be able to have 2 or 3 cruises at sensible prices than pay a premium price for a better line but not be able to cruise so often. Our last two, and our next cruise were/is with NCL and we have no regrets, relative to price paid.

[Sea Hound]

I used to sail HAL but, since drinking the "Freestyle Koolaid," I'm NCL all the way!

 

YMMV!;)

 

Sea Hound:D <-- NCL Cheerleader