Mixed Between RCCL and HAL

[ScottC4746]

My last RCCL Cruise was December 2016 and you may have read my disappointed review regarding that cruise so I decided to try HAL April 2019.  Just made the final payment and am wondering if maybe RCCL isn't so bad after all.  I am on the young side of the HAL demographics but am Platinum (or is it Emerald which ever is lower) and only 10 nights away from the next level.  Sure things have changed drastically in the cruise industry since my first cruise in 1994 on RCCL, but the industry has HAD to change to keep up with society.  Class is not in the mainline cruises as it once and even the very high end cruises discourage formal black or white tie affairs now for simple.  This is not the 1930's anymore and I think this is just the way 21st Century cruising is now.  I also have to realize my status (in life not with RCCL) and while I am not quite down to Carnival or Norwegian, at least RCCL is a bit more affordable, and still takes me to some interesting ports.

Any constructive comments or opinions appreciated.

[Bee Guy]

Different strokes for different folks.  We just finished a TA on HAL  Koningsdam.  We both felt that we prefer RCCL.   A little more attention to guest satisfaction with HAL.  This especially showed up at the buffet where we had all of our meals.  Royal has a little more going on. ( Karaoke would have seemed out of place on HAL )    Royal seems a little more "relaxed" and we like that.  I think younger guests may feel a little more comfortable on Royal.

 

Edit to add:   By younger I mean below 60  🙂

Edited December 12, 2018 by Bee Guy

[iuki]

We like both.  HAL, IMO, has better food and the entertainment is about the same.  However, there are more things to do on RCCL, love the crew staff, and they have the “best” loyalty program.  I do, however, love the HAL itinaries better.

 

Like all industries, there are pros and cons among competitors.

 

Judy

[George C]

We did several cruises on hal before returning to rccl in 2014 ,  my main complaint of hal is lack of entertainment, I really can not understand anybody saying entertainment was equal, at about 1130 piano bar shuts down and that is it. I also do not think food is any better on Hal. We cruise every year and have done over 60 cruises and have cruised most major lines. 

[matj2000]

I would try HAL.  

 

The have the best itineraries in the Caribbean.

 

It is one of the only major market lines I have not been on yet.

 

Mainly because we have school aged kids....

[PhoenixCruiser]

We enjoyed both our HAL cruises - Alaska and Mexican Rivera

[Kruzer Zuker]

HAL has little class distinction so if you don’t sail in suites they are a good choice.  

 

Each cruise line has their favorite Caribbean islands.  Royal and Celebrity go to St Maarten much more than St Thomas and some other lines do the opposite.  Variety is always good.  

[Coralc]

How old are you? 

[ScottC4746]

27 minutes ago, Coralc said:

How old are you? 

54 in June 2019 but if you ask DH he would say I act like I am 64. HA!

 

[payitforward]

I thought the food and service were better on HAL. I couldn't believe the guy handing out trays at the buffet was calling almost everyone by name by day two! That said, the entire ship pretty much shut down by 10:30pm. I spent WAY too much time in the casino because it was the only place open, and the dealers were the only people on the ship close to my age. (I was in my early 30s at the time.)

 

Certainly more to do on RCCL. It really depends on what's most important to you.

[Yellowlily]

We did this, after many RCCL cruises, we decided to try HAL and then Disney.  Afterwards, very much missed RCCL.  I do have to say that I wholeheartedly agree with the previous posters in saying that HAL has excellent itineraries.  We did not like HAL overall, but.....the itinerary saved it for us.  For us, that was the best part of our HAL cruise.  Thank goodness for that.  The food fell very flat, entertainment was scarce, just not our thing.  We were hoping it would be like Celebrity but didn't even come close.  

[Thorben-Hendrik]

HAL is for dead people! 🙄

[George C]

7 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

HAL is for dead people! 🙄

Not dead, almost dead

remember walking past a room with some violin players and there were several people there none were awake 😁😁😁

[lovescats5]

We enjoyed the Oosterdam and had booked another HAL cruise when we decided that with a then 10 yr old granddaughter Royal would be better for her.  We had been on 2 Carnival and the amount of rude kids seemed more that we wanted to experience again.  Since we home school, there are good options with Royal and there have always been some kids on board for her to interact with.  That being said, you probably are not traveling with kids, I think I would still go with a line other than HAL as they are more for the less active.

[boscobeans]

HAL in our opinion has better service and staff at almost every venue as well as room stewards. Food is also slightly better.

Less active types of things like water slides and such but there is usually something to do or see most of the time.

There will be more older cruisers but there will also be a number of younger folks on board.

OMO..  Aside from the activities I score HAL just a tad better.

 

[olya1972]

18 hours ago, ScottC4746 said:

My last RCCL Cruise was December 2016 and you may have read my disappointed review regarding that cruise so I decided to try HAL April 2019.  Just made the final payment and am wondering if maybe RCCL isn't so bad after all.  I am on the young side of the HAL demographics but am Platinum (or is it Emerald which ever is lower) and only 10 nights away from the next level.  Sure things have changed drastically in the cruise industry since my first cruise in 1994 on RCCL, but the industry has HAD to change to keep up with society.  Class is not in the mainline cruises as it once and even the very high end cruises discourage formal black or white tie affairs now for simple.  This is not the 1930's anymore and I think this is just the way 21st Century cruising is now.  I also have to realize my status (in life not with RCCL) and while I am not quite down to Carnival or Norwegian, at least RCCL is a bit more affordable, and still takes me to some interesting ports.

Any constructive comments or opinions appreciated.

We did two cruises on HAL, both to Alaska (Osterdam in May, 2016 and Westerdam in May, 2018). We loved both of those cruises and the ships we sailed on are not the newest in the HAL fleet. Osterdam was just out of the dry dock and we got an up-sell to a suite ( we were four in a room with two teens, so that made sense financially and otherwise). Westerdam was supposed to go into dry dock during the time of our sailing, then the company cancelled those plans and created extra cruise to Alaska. The deal was great and we jumped on it. I was very worried about sailing on a ship that is sailing instead of being dry docked, plus it's being HAL (older, smaller ships) and reading all the reviews I was expecting the worst. Well, it was great. Everything was good, from the condition of the ship and room (regular balcony cabin), to food, to service and entertainment. HAL passengers, at least on Alaska itinerary, were not much older demographic then on our Anthem cruise last February (just fewer kids). Even though people say that entertainment ends early, there are much more food options (and good ones) available at much latter hours then on  the RCCL's ships we sailed. I don't know if lectures and such are of interest to you, but on the Alaska itinerary the enrichment program offered by the ship with lectures and documentaries was very interesting. I felt that overall the vibe on HAL was a little more sophisticated but not stuffy. We are few years your juniors (not by much), but we prefer quieter evenings with good food and drink. 

One of the aspects of HAL I liked was the overall feeling of being on a ship, whereas with RCCL and NCL it's more like being in a hotel / floating resort. Every cruise we went on, from the smallest, oldest ship in a fleet to the latest mega ships we enjoyed. We would't hesitate to book HAL again. (I did a short review on HAL Osterdam if you'd like to read it. I don't know how to attach it, but I am sure it can be found through my posts). BTW, what ship is it that you are sailing on ( and where to, Caribbean?)

One more small point. Someone above posted that HAL is for dead people. On our 2016 sailing we had two teens with us and they both liked the cruise. On the 2018 sailing we had only one of them with us and he still enjoyed the trip even though his siblings were not with him. He did mention to me after sailing on Westerdam that Anthem was "kinda more fun", but he surely didn't sound like it was all that vs HAL ship ( and as far as activities options on those two ships it is day and night). We would't hesitate to book HAL again (if the price is right).

 

Edited December 12, 2018 by olya1972
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[George C]

One thing I do like about Hal is smaller ships can dock in Hamilton when sailing to Bermuda and I like that they sometimes leave from NYC which we like. We also got upsells to full suites a couple of times for a real bargain , but suite perks are not as good as RCCL.

[xpcdoojk]

We did HAL a long time ago, 2005.  We did it for the itinerary.  RCI is great if you want to go to the Caribbean, Alaska, Europe or even Australia/Asia.  They are woeful outside of this. IE South America or Africa or other exotic type itinerary. 

 

Smaller ships do more interesting itineraries often.  I thought the entertainment on HAL was bad, unless you liked more classical type music.  Singers and dancers were not close to RCI.  On our sailing 16 nights sailing from Rio to Valparaiso there were no passengers under the age of 25.  While this is probably outside the normal HAL sailing crowd it is indicative to what clientele they aim at.  The only time I have been on a sailing like this was on European River cruises, of course there was only about 120 passengers on those.  

 

I like to flowride and to IFly so I avoid HAL if there is an RCI itinerary to the same place.  I didn’t find the HAL food to be better and on bigger RCI ships there are just so many more options. 

 

So for me, I would never sail HAL if the itinerary is the same.  I would happily sail HAL if it was to somewhere I wanted to go.

 

jc