Impressions from a HAL first time cruiser

[cayman09]

Achieved Three Star Mariner on our last cruise but will be on Oceania for our next one. We were on the Nieuw Statendam transatlantic with two other couples and all 6 of us agreed to alternate the specialty restaurants rather than continue with the poor service in the MED after the first three nights. We also abandoned breakfast there for the same reason. The first two nights the server actually failed to take the order of one of our group and one of us has to get up and chase him down as he was leaving the dining room. TWICE! We complained and were reseated at another table. The third night one of us did not get a meal and the rest of the table were finished by the time it arrived. 

 

It's a continuation of the service slipping over our past few cruises. Too bad because I thought the entertainment has improved with the new venues and bands and the service in the specialty restaurants was very good to excellent (Rudi's).

 

However with the cost of upgrading rooms and the nickel & dining of everything I find that Oceania will compare favorably cost wise and be a much smaller ship, much like HAL was years ago. I'll still sail HAL if the itinerary and cost is good but only then.

[Mary229]

18 minutes ago, cayman09 said:

Achieved Three Star Mariner on our last cruise but will be on Oceania for our next one. We were on the Nieuw Statendam transatlantic with two other couples and all 6 of us agreed to alternate the specialty restaurants rather than continue with the poor service in the MED after the first three nights. We also abandoned breakfast there for the same reason. The first two nights the server actually failed to take the order of one of our group and one of us has to get up and chase him down as he was leaving the dining room. TWICE! We complained and were reseated at another table. The third night one of us did not get a meal and the rest of the table were finished by the time it arrived. 

 

It's a continuation of the service slipping over our past few cruises. Too bad because I thought the entertainment has improved with the new venues and bands and the service in the specialty restaurants was very good to excellent (Rudi's).

 

However with the cost of upgrading rooms and the nickel & dining of everything I find that Oceania will compare favorably cost wise and be a much smaller ship, much like HAL was years ago. I'll still sail HAL if the itinerary and cost is good but only then.

I don’t think HAL is performing well with these new big ships.  Their veteran staff, like many of their loyal passengers, prefer the smaller ships.  I still do love HAL itineraries.  

[MouseBerry]

Hi,

here another update on our HAL first cruise impressions.

 

Update on topic entertainment:

Well, now we have attended to several shows in the main show room, the world stage. I mentioned earlier that shows in the world stage seems to be a bit lame and the music walk is the big place to be. But actually the story is a bit different. Music walk still is very special and positive. But shows in the main show room are not lame in general. Some shows were really not worth to talk about, but yesterday there was a dance show called HUMANITY. This show was designed bespoke to utilise all the technical equipment of the world stage, video walls, laser lights and many other things. And the integration with the artists was perfect. The whole show was just perfect and a real innovation. Thus I came to the conclusion that HAL is not trying to save money by reducing show quality in general, but put little effort on some shows and put a lot of effort and money on other shows. 

 

The show HUMANITY was just made perfect, which is to my experience what you can expect from most US entertainment. The audience really much liked it. Me, and is very personal, was more impressed by the technical perfection, but not touched emotionally. A million led dots and laser beams will not light my heart! To my taste it was to perfect and a kind of sterile. Again my comparison with MSC. In the past, not sure it still exist, some shows were executed by the ships general entertainment team. Most of the people were semi professional dancer or singer. Far from perfection, but the story and execution were very charming and heartwarming. I remember at the final show they arranged with neon letters in a dark show room a „Thank you and farewell“ in any language we had guests on board. Really not perfect, but I was touched.

 

So if you like US style perfect entertainment very like a few of the HAL shows on Koningsdam will please you very much. Entertainment on Oceania, at least regarding big shows, is totally different because the ships are much smaller.

 

Here another topic, Excursions:

I cannot say much about excursions as we use them almost never. They are just to expensive to our taste. We organise off-ship activity on our own. From reading the excursion booklet I think the prices a bit higher than MSC and on the same level like Oceania.

 

Yesterday we attended to an EXC talk about Barcelona. Not to get details as we have visited Barcelona very often and know the most details already. We want to see what is an EXC talk really. We expected a selling show for excursions. But no, it was pure and valuable information. Really compact, but all the important info were provided. And HAL excursions are hardly mentioned at all. And the lady Andreia did it really good. Never had this service on any cruise before. I read in another thread that HAL is going to cut EXC talks. Why do cruise lines cut things were they are really shine. If someone from HAL is reading here and in case a customer word has any meaning for you: keep the EXC talks.

 

regards

MBerry

[ski ww]

Thank you for a very balanced review. 

[MouseBerry]

Hi,

as our cruise has finished on 24th of June here a last topic we would like to highlight.

 

Embarkation/Disembarkation:

We had an scheduled boarding time of 1pm. We showed up 1,5 hours early, but were immediately served. The whole process worked like a charm and it was quicker than ever before. The cabin was immediately ready to use. Best embarkation ever. Well MSC Yacht Club was even better as a private butler picked us up at the port hall entry door and everything was handled in the Yacht Club Lounge onboard. But this should not be compared.

 

Disembarkation worked equally fine. We opted for the disembarkation time of 9:30 had a nice breakfast in the MDR and were allowed to stay in our cabin until the scheduled time. And HAL managed the whole process very well. First time we didn‘t fell like a pair of worn shoes and first time we didn‘t fell like rushed of the boat.

Well done HAL!

 

Would we suggest HAL to other people? Well we would tell about our impressions and would say: give it a try.

 

Would we book again with HAL?

Well already happened. We booked a cruise around the British Islands a 14 day cruise starting on August 4th.

First time we booked an Oceanview cabin. So far we always had balconies.

First time we booked a quite old ship (22 year old Rotterdam). So far we booked always ships which were quite new (1 to 3 years).

 

Why? Well it is the itinerary. DW loves Great Britain and Ireland. Cornwall, Devon, Scotland, Isle of Skye, Canal Islands etc. When I discovered this cruise it was by accident as it falls thru our regular filters. But when I showed it to DW it was a matter of minutes to book it. We call it an experiment. We guess the MS Rotterdam is closer to a traditional cruise ship than any of the very modern ships built in recent time.

 

cherrs

MBerry

 

 

 

[DFD1]

I hope you enjoy the Rotterdam. We have cruise on her two times and enjoyed both cruises very much.

Edited June 30, 2019 by DFD1

[puppycanducruise]

Hope you enjoy your cruise.

We love the Rotterdam.  It's the co-flagship.  And, it's wonderful.

[MAVIP]

August 4th I will embark the m.s. Rotterdam for the 8th cruise on her.....with a daughter. DH will have to wait till later this summer when we embark for a B2B on the Rotterdam. We prefer the smaller ships and love the m.s. Rotterdam like puppycanducruise. 

MouseBerry, maybe we will meet at the M&G.

MAVIP

[SempreMare]

4 hours ago, puppycanducruise said:

We love the Rotterdam.  It's the co-flagship.  And, it's wonderful.

 

Hi @puppycanducruise, what do you mean by "co-flagship" ?    i.e., was that the first HAL ship ? 

[boards]

On 6/16/2019 at 7:39 PM, Rosmerta said:

So the question is why are all breakfast courses served at once. It’s because for the vast majority of people breakfast is served and eaten as one course. If you want courses, such as a half grapefruit followed by eggs and ham and finally yogourt with muesli and berries to finish, you could order your courses one at a time. This is what I do at breakfast in the MDR, and also because I never know what I want until after a cup of coffee and some fruit. Bon appétit.  

 

We were on the Koningsdam a year ago January and found the food excellent. We brought good bottles of wine from home and thought the food was up to the quality of the wine we lugged on board. Sorry to hear it’s disappointing. 

Thank you.  Well said.  We totally agree with you.

[Vineyard View]

We have sailed Princess, Carnival (never again), HAL, and a few Viking trips including Rovers and Oceans. We have another Viking trip booked. We have a HAL 24 day booked on N Amsterdam next May, and Princess Northwest itinerary in September. We book for itineraries, but we also know which lines we won’t look at. 

We really really like Viking. We do not like their reinstated payment policy of 12+ months in advance. We don’t care that excursion are included because we private or DIY. We like the smaller ships, included wine/beer and reasonable upgraded beverage package,  the cabins, service, food. We do not like how much their pricing has skyrocketed. So due to the pricing and payment policy we are now booked elsewhere. 

We really enjoyed HAL last time we were on a 21 day, but the small ship has been sold out of the HAL offering. Large ships are a turnoff. So are tons of kids, climbing walls, beer pong types of environments. We are looking forward to our trip in May with HAL because much of what we do not care for is not on the ship we will be sailing. HAL offers reasonable deposits and payment policy and we are really looking forward to revisiting ports from the past, as well as several new ports. 

Princess trip is all about the itinerary. RT out of SFO to Vancouver. Ship is larger than we like, but we can drive to the port and enjoy whatever we find. 

As said here, there are so many cruise lines to choose from and I am grateful for that. 

[mcgahrec]

On 6/16/2019 at 11:22 PM, JOHN 57 said:

We cruised the Med from Venice April 2018 on MSC, and MSC was the worst line, that I have ever been on.  True, I have not cruised Holland America as of yet.  We will be on Volendam out of Vancouver 18-25 September 2019, so I will soon see.

Hi john 

I am on the volendam out of Vancouver on the 24th July 

I can fill you in after we get back if there is anything specific you want to know?

 

[caribill]

On 6/16/2019 at 5:08 AM, MouseBerry said:

 Breakfast was good as well, but the poor service kicked in here as well. Why are are all courses served at once?

 

On some other lines, each course of breakfast is served only when all at the table have completed the previous course. So service can be very slow, especially if you have skipped having a course and must wait for the others to eat the one you skipped.

 

In that case, having it all served at once would get us through breakfast much faster.

[TriumphGuy]

On 6/17/2019 at 7:03 PM, cayman09 said:

Achieved Three Star Mariner on our last cruise but will be on Oceania for our next one. We were on the Nieuw Statendam transatlantic with two other couples and all 6 of us agreed to alternate the specialty restaurants rather than continue with the poor service in the MED after the first three nights. We also abandoned breakfast there for the same reason. The first two nights the server actually failed to take the order of one of our group and one of us has to get up and chase him down as he was leaving the dining room. TWICE! We complained and were reseated at another table. The third night one of us did not get a meal and the rest of the table were finished by the time it arrived. 

 

It's a continuation of the service slipping over our past few cruises. Too bad because I thought the entertainment has improved with the new venues and bands and the service in the specialty restaurants was very good to excellent (Rudi's).

 

However with the cost of upgrading rooms and the nickel & dining of everything I find that Oceania will compare favorably cost wise and be a much smaller ship, much like HAL was years ago. I'll still sail HAL if the itinerary and cost is good but only then.

Our first cruise with HAL will be next April on a Transatlantic on Nieuw Statendam, so I am hoping they have these issues ironed out before then. I am wondering however, if part of the problems you experienced were due to the NS being a new ship in service and the crew/staff not quite up to snuff, working as a team, etc. Granted, one would expect these sorts of things to be ironed out prior to the ship entering service, but reality often bears little resemblance to expectations.

Here's hoping they have it together by next April!

[JOHN 57]

Good morning McGahrec and good to hear from you.  Wow, in just 23 days you will be on the Volendam.  You could help with two issues, could you publish the Where and When, (daily program), and what entertainment was provided.  That would be of help.  Thank you so much.

[mcgahrec]

On 7/1/2019 at 10:23 PM, JOHN 57 said:

Good morning McGahrec and good to hear from you.  Wow, in just 23 days you will be on the Volendam.  You could help with two issues, could you publish the Where and When, (daily program), and what entertainment was provided.  That would be of help.  Thank you so much.

Ok will do, I am wondering if I should post it in a new thread ?

[JOHN 57]

It would probably be better to start a new thread.  Good luck on your cruise and looking forward to hearing from you.

[ochealaaf]

Just on Rotterdam. Great itinerary, worn ship. Service generally good, but not outstanding. Food OK.  Enrichment Guy gets his knowledge from internet. Just reads Websites word by Word without citing.  For what we paid ( about half the normal rate)  OK. For German readers: A little bit  better than Mein Schiff. No way worth the full rate . Would be a rip off.

 

Edited July 29, 2019 by ochealaaf

[picsa]

On 6/16/2019 at 11:08 AM, MouseBerry said:

Hi,

we, a couple in the mid 50 age, are currently on our first HAL cruise. It is the Koningsdam on a 12 nights mediterranean cruise.

 

To give a bit more context we have been on several cruises before with MSC an Oceania and we are from Germany.

 

Funnily enough, first time on HAL (having sailed with many other companies) and was on that same 12 night cruise on Konigsdam but a fortnight later.

 

My thoughts as a British passenger were -

 

Ship - got the balance right between the fake old style of Cunard and the bling of the Italian ships, and avoiding the fugly design of NCL. The cabins were particularly impressive - nice and modern, really good bathrooms with huge showers, and a 40" TV with a really good range of up to date films for when you just wanted to crash out. The cleanliness of the cabin was disappointing on boarding, but a word with the housekeeping manager sorted it out for the remainder of the cruise.

 

Food was pretty good, not Cunard in the MDR but not far off, although sometimes with slightly eclectic food combinations. The Lido however was far better. I usually avoid buffets on ships due to the questionable hygiene habits of my fellow passengers (what kind of moron do you have to be to fill a water bottle from a machine which has a sign saying "do not fill water bottles"?). However I was really pleased to see that HAL has put almost everything behind glass where you have to be served. That combined with a really good range of food in the buffet, really impressed me and I didn't miss not using the MDR for lunch; I always have breakfast on deck.

 

Service in the MDR took a serious upturn after a quiet conversation with the dining room manager after poor service on the second night (a gala night), where the waiter tried to take the desert order with the starters and main course, left us waiting 30 minutes before bringing the two chilled starters, and then as soon as they were finished seconds later bringing the main course. Dinner is not a race!

 

I had booked open seating, but after seeing the chaos with queues and pagers in the MDR on the first night, then booked a table for 8.30 every night (my preferred time anyway) and arranged for it to be the same table with the same waiter.

 

Entertainment on board was a bit curates egg. The World Stage was woefully underused with some really odd acts that I couldn't see anyone would be interested in, and then the music walk was really good. What I did miss was a bar with some piano player or duet providing some non-intrusive background music whilst I enjoyed a pre-dinner drink. None of the bars seemed to do that around 6.30 to 7.30.

 

The passenger mix was a pleasant change from the very elderly you tend to get on Cunard and P&O (particularly if you sail from Southampton as that is popular with people who cannot fly), and also a change from the multi-language Italian ships which are all a bit lively and "scorchio" in their announcements (a Fast Show reference for fellow Brits).

 

Main downside of HAL is with US Dollar pricing that means everything is rather expensive onboard - £7.50 for a can of Guinesss!. Something I think HAL needs to address as I am aware that other non-US passengers were not spending as freely as they would on other cruise lines so were likely losing money - that old, do you want to sell one £7.50 beer or two £5 beers.

 

Efficiency of the staff was pretty good - If you asked you received. Embarkation was well done, from being met at Rome airport through to the coach transport and then onto the ship. Disembarkation didn't give any recognition to those with later flights, which is what we had, with everyone being off on coaches to the airport by 9am - fortunately I sweet talked BA into giving me a much earlier flight so ended up only being in the airport an hour.

 

Would I sail with HAL again - absolutely, especially if the pound improves against the dollar or they find some other way of sorting the onboard pricing for non-Americans.

Edited July 29, 2019 by picsa

[whogo]

1 hour ago, picsa said:

Entertainment on board was a bit curates egg.

This comment sent me to the dictionary, thanks for introducing me to the expression and thanks for your comments, picsa.

[Granny DI]

Our first cruise on HAL was in 2002. We hated the attitude of the crew and the food. We didn’t return for over ten years. Once we tried a Neptune Suite we were hooked. HAL is now one of our preferred cruise lines. Our other choices are NCL and RCCL.

 

Not a fan of the smaller ships unless it is a port intensive itinerary. Crystal, Azamara, and Oceania offer small cabins at big prices. 

 

Just off a Princess Cruise. We are Platinum on Princess but don’t plan to return until things improve. DH hated the coffee! I don’t drink coffee so wasn’t a problem to me...but the internet was awful. It seems we all like different things so continually looking for the ship that offers most of the things we like.

 

 

i think all the cruise lines are declining in service and quality of food. We avoid the MDR on most cruise lines. The specialty restaurants serve the quality of food the MDR served in the “Old Days”.