Considering A Return To Hal

[Woobstr112G]

I was toying with the idea of returning to HAL after a long absence (only HAL cruise was on the Veendam in 1996). I was looking at a T/A on the Noordam for next October. I was considering a corner aft SB suite on deck 6. Any thoughts on this room and suites in general on the ship? I would also appreciate any comments on what it's like cruising HAL today and also cruising on the Noordam.

Thanks in advance for any replies.....:):):)

 

Bob

[CruiserBruce]

A little reading on the board will find many think the Noordam is the best of the HAL fleet, and the aft Suites are very popular, due in part to their very large balconies.

[mollyanne]

Bob - I have always enjoyed reading your posts on the Princess board and know your latest TA on the Royal had some bumps in the road. We had 6 cruises on Princess before trying HAL and I don't know what took us so long!

 

We have only sailed on the Westerdam so can't answer about the Noordam. All I can say is the Neptune Suites are fantastic! They are so large and come with some fantastic perks. We just felt so pampered both in our cabin and everywhere else on the ship. The crew was amazing.

 

I know you loved your breakfast in Sabatini's - wait til you have it in the Pinnacle Grill!

 

I'm sure you would really enjoy a return trip to HAL. You will lose (and miss) your internet minutes so that is one downside for you.

[Krazy Kruizers]

You will see changes since you last sailed on HAL. But all cruise lines are making changes.

The Nordam is a wonderful ship.

As to an aft wrap around cabin. Ask yourself how many times you will be out there as you cross the Atlantic.

You will enjoy having breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill.

And you have use of the Neptune Lounge from 7 AM until around 8:30 PM. They have a lot of food for Continental Breakfast from 7 until around 10:30 - 11 AM. Then there are snacks like wraps, tiny sandwiches, desserts, cookies, chocolates, etc. until about 5 PM. Then there are cold appetizers. Around 3 PM they also add pound cake to the snacks.

[sunsetbeachgal]

We just got back from a cruise on the Eurodam, our first HAL cruise in ten years. The only area where we found it noticeably less than comparable lines was the production shows. Food, buffets, other entertainment, service, etc were very good.

 

Our prior cruise had been on the Royal Princess so of course we missed the wonderful piazza and the food options (.international cafe and Alfredo's) but we very much enjoyed the wraparound promenade and aft pool. We had standard balcony cabins so can't comment on suites. I found the beds on the Royal Princess much more comfortable than HAL and missed the large flat screen TV's with the on demand programming. But I understand that feature is unique to brand new ships!

Edited November 22, 2013 by sunsetbeachgal

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks all for the replies.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Cindy]

We loved our aft corner suite on the Noordam. If I had a choice between Deck 5 and Deck 6, I would choose a cabin on 5. We became friendly with the people above us, and they said both our cabin and our balcony were bigger, and the cabin had more storage.

[napunani]

We are returning to HAL with a cruise out of FLL Sunday. 2007 was our last cruise with HAL and we've sailed three times on PRINCESS since then. Frankly we returned because we got such a good price on this Thanksgiving cruise. Even beat out PRINCESS prices sailing out of Houston and Galveston, which is a couple hours drive for us. I'm curious to see what has changed with HAL in six years and if we are enticed to put money on a future HAL cruise as we have done while on-board PRINCESS.

[lastlook]

Retreat Cabanas have recently been added to the Noordam.

[sunsetbeachgal]

We are returning to HAL with a cruise out of FLL Sunday. 2007 was our last cruise with HAL and we've sailed three times on PRINCESS since then. Frankly we returned because we got such a good price on this Thanksgiving cruise. Even beat out PRINCESS prices sailing out of Houston and Galveston, which is a couple hours drive for us. I'm curious to see what has changed with HAL in six years and if we are enticed to put money on a future HAL cruise as we have done while on-board PRINCESS.

 

Make sure you check out the BB King Blues Band..most nights in the Queens Lounge....they are amazing and pack 'em in!!