Review of HAL Cruise by Celebrity Elite Cruisers

[GeorgiaPeach51]

We are long time Celebrity cruisers, elite—we’ve done nothing but Celebrity for years.  We decided to try HAL again after many years.  We had done two previous HAL cruises. One was our very first and one was about 15 years ago.  We have been contemplating cruising other than Celebrity and had cruises booked on Cunard and Oceania that were cancelled by the Covid outbreak.  Our next cruise will be on Crystal, making use of their reduced Caribbean rates to entice new cruisers to their line.  That will be interesting and we are looking forward to it....but in the meantime, we had fond memories of HAL....and decided to revisit because we liked the itinerary through the entire canal.

 

We sailed on the Nieuw Amsterdam October 23 from San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale. I’m sorry to say we were not impressed.  For us, the food was well below Celebrity.  That is not to say it was awful.  It was not.  It was just so average.  It was kind of like eating in a cafeteria to us.  We felt the MDR has just given up any pretense of making that venue significantly different from the Lido.  White and red wines arrived in the same size and style glass.  Used wine glasses remained on the table if we changed wines.  We finally gave up and started handing them to the servers.  The bread arrived sometimes.  We didn’t enjoy the ambiance in the MDR and the colors were, to our eyes, garish.  Purple and orangey-red, maroon, tan, black.  

 

The menu was very scaled back as far as choices, and we were put off by the highly priced extras on the menu.  There was no option for “every day” choices, which we missed.  I tried the French onion soup one time—watery and salty.  Nothing like what is served on Celebrity.  We have never seen an MDR offer tacos for an evening meal choice.  I had a strange dessert one formal evening that had a filling that tasted EXACTLY like the instant pudding you get at the grocery store.  Ick.  But, taste is subjective and I do realize that what I hate is possibly delicious to others. 

 

The design of the MDR has many, many tables that are adjacent to or in view of the server stations, where you are treated to staff scraping plates...there is no barrier to block the noise or the view.  In addition, the same tables suffer from the constant traffic of people going to and from their tables all during dinner.  This was in anytime dining.  I guess this would not be a problem in set seating.

 

I was startled to see shorts on both men and women in the MDR for dinner.  Lots of tshirts and many ball caps.  Guess I’m just old!  I don’t particularly like it, but it doesn’t affect my evening.  Things surely do change, don’t they!

 

We ultimately ate most meals in the Lido where the service was always good, we could have plenty of choices, and in the evening in particular it was rather quiet and peaceful.  We enjoyed the salads in the Lido, and the Asian station.  At least, if you tried something and didn’t like it you had other options.  We always ate breakfast and lunch in the Lido, and never tried the MDR for either meal.

 

We ate twice in the Pinnacle Grill and thought it was outstanding in every way.  We ate once in Canaletto and enjoyed it.  And, we ate twice in Tamarind and thought it was pretty good but not nearly as good as the PG.  Service in all three was excellent.

 

We missed Celebrity’s Cafe al Bacio, with all the goodies to pick from.  In Explorations they offered only biscotti, sometimes macarons, a few times a mini carrot cake.  The biscotti was crumbly rather than crisp.  The choices were very sparse, and what was offered was displayed on a cake plate with lid like I have at home. But we enjoyed the Explorations area a lot.  Big tables where people came and went doing puzzles, games available, and nice seating. 

 

In the Lido there were many less dessert options, and many suffered from the same issue as Celebrity....where they look great but taste off, like they are made with additives or things other than real butter and sugar and cream.  Mostly I find this in the desserts that have a creamy filling or topping, but both cruise lines are kind of disappointing as far as desserts to me.  They are really pretty but really disappointing.  Both lines offer ice cream, which was a saving grace for us. 

 

We had room service twice.  The first time was fair.   Everything came, but it was cold.  When we wanted to order for another morning there was no room service menu card to be found.  We had to call down to guest services and wait for about 20 minutes for someone to bring us an order form.  After we used that one, once again there was no order form left, so we gave up on room service.  BTW, we tipped the room service waiter $3 and he said it was the first tip he had received all morning.  I was dismayed to hear that.

 

We thought the entertainment was good.  As someone mentioned they do have dual pianos, not dueling pianos.  We enjoyed most of their sets, and boy, they work hard.  We did not do the dance shows, but thought the pianist, Hyperion Knight, and the Singing group The Alley Cats were fabulous.  Both were also very gracious with passengers, stopping to talk and open and amenable to short conversations. 

 

Ship staff was uniformly pleasant and hardworking and eager to please, and we found the service in the Lido to be excellent.  We rarely saw our room steward.  I did note that a piece of paper that I dropped under the vanity that landed in the far back corner laid there for 5 days before it disappeared.  I did not desire to get down on my hands and knees to retrieve it, so there it lay.  I mentally noted it because I saw it every time I pulled the chair out.  Not a big deal, but one of those “not much” little incidents that are cumulative and give you a final impression.  When there are many “not much” incidents that are little niggling negatives, it adds up to a somewhat negative or neutral experience. 

 

We had some trouble with the beverage card.  As we were told, because there is nothing on the card to signify the beverage package a passenger has, the staff doesn’t know who has what.  My husband had to make four different trips to guest services to get extra charges taken off.  A few times even though we always gave both cards, two drinks were put on the same card and we went over on the number of beverages allotted for the day.  (We drink a lot of water).  It was a little annoying to have to mentally count how many beverages we had had during the day.  Every bottle of water, every Explorations coffee counts as one and a double espresso counts as two.  So, if you drink 6-8 bottles of water a day, which we generally do, and have a tall cappuccino twice a day (tall coffees count as 2), you are already at 10-12.  With a limit of 15, you could have one glass of wine at lunch, or a drink by the pool and that leaves one glass of wine for dinner and an after dinner drink….and bam, you are at the limit.  We were always having to be aware of where we were on the count, and we missed the freedom of the Celebrity package where you just enjoy whatever you want and don’t worry about it.

 

We were tested three times while on board, which would make it seem that HAL is sincerely focused on the health of safety of passengers in this Time of Covid. However, I will give you an example to demonstrate that is simply for advertising.  

 

In one Mexican port we came back from a HAL excursion on a blazing hot afternoon, and as we passed down the area to the tender they had the usual staff with the handheld clicker to count passengers.  We boarded and spaced ourselves out, but to no avail.  Passengers continued to board until every possible seat was filled and we were all sitting knee to knee and elbow to elbow.  It took about 10 minutes to mostly board and then another 5 as they continued to put passengers on.  It was simply sweltering.  There was not a breath of air and many people began to drop their masks, and kept them down, so stifling was the air.  So there we sat, a big old Petri dish, roasting and right on top of each other, breathing the same air, about 10 inches away from each other.  If ever there was an ideal venue for Covid, that had to be it.

 

So, I fault HAL for putting passengers at risk on the one hand, as they outwardly play nice with Covid rules.  These were not the open air tenders at their private island,  but the ship tenders that are totally enclosed with no air unless moving.  And even when moving the air was only intermittent, and depended on the direction of the tender.  I did express my dismay to an officer and he took notes...but?

 

My message to HAL is this:  You are either all in or all out.  Don’t give lip service to protecting passengers and then put them in such a compromised position.  Don’t pretend that passenger safety is your number one priority, ask us to wear masks all day long, and then put us in such a position.

 

Odds and Ends

 

No bar snacks available other than unsalted peanuts.  My husband is allergic so he was out of luck.  Nothing else was available.

 

Sticky buns much better than on Celebrity.

 

In the ladies restrooms, there is a place to hang a purse with a strap but no place anywhere for a clutch purse or book or kindle.  Aggravating. 

Internet was appalling.  Just AWFUL.  A constant source of aggravation.

 

One quirk is that a room key is used to operate the lights in the room.  When the key is removed the lights go out, except for the ambient light in the bathroom and the bedside light.  So, when my husband would take both key cards to get drinks before dinner, bam....I’m getting dressed in the dark, or close to it.  Hotels have the same thing, but when one person leaves the room, they generally don’t require both cards, which leaves the person remaining in the room with light.  The good thing is that it didn’t affect the air conditioning, since this was a very hot climate.

 

We will not sail HAL again.  We had a 35 day cruise booked on the Zuiderdam for 2023, and based on this experience, we have cancelled it.  We went on HAL with open minds, truly hoping to love it and we just didn’t.  We talked with some longtime HAL fans, and several commented that this was not a typical sailing….certainly not what they were accustomed to from HAL.  Some blamed it on COVID, and that may be the case, but we sailed on the Edge in July and did not encounter the food challenges we found on this ship regarding menu choices and food quality.  So, unfortunately, we will not give HAL another chance. 

I recognize that HAL Mariners love their chosen line, and more power to you.  It’s just not for us. 

[Barwick Cruiser]

Thank you for this well written review. Are you saying you had to wear masks on the ship unless eating or drinking? Also, how was the smoking onboard? I believe some HAL ships do allow it inside in certain areas?

[txtechmk]

Great review on HAL.  I appreciate you taking the time to write it.  We had enjoyed our two HAL cruises from years ago, but probably will not even consider it now and moving forward.  

 

What a frustrating experience!

[chemmo]

Really enjoyed reading your review. Your comparisons hit many of the features that would be important to us too.
 

‘Counting’ drinks doesn’t to my mind fit in with a drinks package. To us the ‘bonus’ of the drinks package is to pay up front and then just enjoy…

 

Interesting re the coffee shop. We are not generally big dessert eaters. We often enjoy starters and entree but then skip dessert. However, we have been known late in the evening to pick up a coffee and something yummy from cafe El Bacio! Equally, some mornings a cafe option can provide just what we need.

 

Can not comment re the MDR, we haven’t dined in Celebrity’s for some time…However, having followed enough of your contributions to CC we really value your opinion!

 

Again sincere thanks for a balanced review!

[cruiserhal]

Thank you very much for your review of the NA.  Wow, we did the Ft. Lauderdale to Vancouver 20 night in 2017 on the NA and had a great experience overall.  I do agree with your comments about the main dining room.  Very poor design.  Since we were in a Neptune Suite after the first night we were given the same table and waiter away from the activities you described such as the noise of the dirty dishes right in the open by the tables while people are eating.   We were in the middle of that our first night and it was a very bad experience.

 

It sounds like they are cutting corners in many areas.  I'm sorry to hear that but not surprised.

 

HAL has always been our 3rd choice but I think we will delay any HAL trips until much later.  We are currently booked on 3 Royal and 2 Celebrity trips for next year and will stay with them.  

 

Again, thanks very much for your review.  I found it very helpful.

 

Hal 

[TeaBag]

Thank you for a very interesting and comprehensive review.  It is sad to see lines that used to do a good job go downhill.  We have never gotten close to booking a HAL cruise, preferring Celebrity and now turning to Azamara.

[PTC DAWG]

HAL counts bottled water toward the 15 drink limits?  Ridiculous.  

[GeorgiaPeach51]

4 hours ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

Thank you for this well written review. Are you saying you had to wear masks on the ship unless eating or drinking? Also, how was the smoking onboard? I believe some HAL ships do allow it inside in certain areas?

Yes, we were asked to wear masks at all times unless eating or drinking, so we complied.  We knew the restrictions when we booked.  Most passengers adhered to the request and all staff were always masked.  We did not wear masks while on the treadmill, however.  That is a bridge too far!
 

There was no smoking inside the ship at all, including the casino. The NA is one of several that do not have inside smoking...only one area outside allows smoking.  However, there are other HAL ships that allow smoking in the casino, which IMO just allows it to go everywhere.  We would never book one of those ships for that reason.

Edited November 1, 2021 by GeorgiaPeach51
Spelling

[GeorgiaPeach51]

22 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

HAL counts bottled water toward the 15 drink limits?  Ridiculous.  

I have to say I agree.  Some days I felt like I needed an abacus or something....or keeping count with tally marks on my hand.  Not a fan.

[Ferry_Watcher]

Appreciate your thoughtful and detailed review of your HAL cruise from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale.  The drink package count snafu is frustrating, and I had no idea that a double espresso drink would count as two, rather than a single beverage.  Crazy!

 

I am hoping the presence of ball caps and shorts in the MDR was a 'one off' because passengers were returning from a port-of-call and were trying to get to the dining room before it closed.  Same with the Tacos as a MDR option, since Mexico was on the itinerary (I can only hope that was the reason!).

 

One of the reasons we like HAL is for their music selections - smaller venues with classical or jazz.  Did you have any thoughts, reviews you can share?

 

Re the stateroom lights needing a card key to keep the lights operational - I remember reading recently on CC that part of a cruise ship comedian's routine was to poke fun at that very thing, and his discovery that any type of card key would work.  After hearing that I made a mental note to tuck an old card key in with my travel stuff to see if it really worked.

Edited November 1, 2021 by Ferry_Watcher

[GeorgiaPeach51]

Ferry Watcher, we enjoyed the classical music several times....forgot to mention it.  We did not encounter jazz.  I think the venue for the classical music is unfortunate.  It is open, so you hear the lovely music as you pass, but because it is in an open hallway it suffers from the noise people make as they go by.  Many are probably not even aware there is a performance going on until it is too late. 
 

The band in BB Kings is really, really good, BTW.

 

I laughed when I read your suggestion about any old card working!  I hope someone will test your hypothesis and let us all know! 😀

[marieps]

Thank you for your review, especially for drawing comparisons between HAL's offerings and the =X= features many of us come to expect.   Didn't really ever consider sailing them.  We're beginning to migrate to Oceania and others.

[takemewithyou]

@GeorgiaPeach51

Thanks so much for your review.  We are usually Celebrity or Azamara cruisers, but also occasionally do a HAL cruise, based on itinerary (3 star Mariner).  Since cruising has begun again, we booked a HAL cruise in March, 2022 on Koningsdam.  We were looking forward to it.

 

THEN…..we started reading reviews on HAL board and what I read exactly mirrors your report!  HAL has implemented major cutbacks in the MDR menus.  People were posting the menus and I was truly shocked at the lack of options, ordinary items and extra charge items!  Also, they have fired their sommeliers.  So the MDR waiters serve your wine.  Another cutback.  The MDR used to be a nice place to eat, but not too great now.

Many of the loyal HAL cruisers are saying they will just eat in the specialty restaurants.  But that was not satisfactory for us and we really don’t like eating in the Lido for dinner.

 

So, we cancelled our March, 2022 cruise on HAL.  Thanks for your review.  It verifies what I suspected.

[tompeter]

33 minutes ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

Ferry Watcher, we enjoyed the classical music several times....forgot to mention it.  We did not encounter jazz.  I think the venue for the classical music is unfortunate.  It is open, so you hear the lovely music as you pass, but because it is in an open hallway it suffers from the noise people make as they go by.  Many are probably not even aware there is a performance going on until it is too late. 
 

The band in BB Kings is really, really good, BTW.

 

I laughed when I read your suggestion about any old card working!  I hope someone will test your hypothesis and let us all know! 😀

It does work....I use my AARP card....

[Cruising89143]

Only cruised on HAL once and that was back in 2007 on the Oosterdam out of San Diego. Overall very little about the ship or product that we liked other than their lido dining which we felt was very good. As a matter of fact we stopped having dinner in the MDR and finished out our cruise in the lido for dinner. The ship felt and looked cheap. Color palate was bad and I’m not one that usually pays a lot of attention to things like that. Don’t see us trying them again anytime soon.

[KY Deb]

We went to the Panama Canal on our first and last HAL cruise several years ago. 2018.  Zuiderdam.   Although the crew was very nice, the food in the main dining room was lackluster to say the least.  Went to Pinnacle one night.  Food was below average as well as the service.  The entertainment was also wanting.   We wandered around the ship trying to find something to do most evenings after the show.   We did like Half Moon Cay, and the Panama Canal was really interesting, but I wouldn’t waste my money on HAL again.  

[BSinPNS]

Thanks for the great review.  We did two cruises on HAL pre-COVID and were most disappointed at the lack of things to do on sea days, i.e., no speakers, no special entertainment, etc.  Watching a BBC movie as the evening show was weak.  We booked another HAL cruise 21-days Buenos Aires to Santiago with four days in Antarctica.  The only reason we travel with HAL is their itineraries are not as repetitive as X.  

[Northern Aurora]

I also want to thank @GeorgiaPeach51 for this review.   And having to keep track of how many drinks per day would be a problem for me too.  While we don't consume 15 alcohol drinks daily, by the time you add waters, specialty coffees (particularly when a tall coffee counts as two drinks) and specialty teas we often come close to that limit.

[bEwAbG]

Disappointing to hear.  I was on the same ship in 2018 to Alaska and again in 2019 in the Caribbean.  Had a great time on both and recommended them to lots of people for the food, entertainment, and service.  That said, they were not as good as Celebrity but for the price, it was a solid second-place product.  The pandemic has upended a lot of things.  Hopefully they'll regain their footing.

[MarkWiltonM]

We mainly cruise Celebrity (and Crystal and Oceania) but have enjoyed our HAL cruises on the Pinnacle-class ships (Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam). I find the buffets on those HAL ships to be a little better than Celebrity's, especially the variety of pastries and breads and the quality of meats at the carving stations. The main dining rooms are about the same, IMO. We stopped eating at specialty dining venues on both HAL and Celebrity after being disappointed in the food and service too many times. The food may be a little better than the MDRs on those ships but for us it's not good enough to warrant the upcharges. (Food much better on Crystal and Oceania.) I agree about Cafe al Bacio. The most direct comparison to Cafe al Bacio on HAL is not Explorations Cafe but the Grand Dutch Cafe on the Pinnacle-class ships. It's a similar concept but just isn't as good. (We spend an almost silly amount of time in Cafe al Bacio on Celebrity.) Apart from the food, I will say that HAL's Crow's Nest, which occupies the same upper-level forward space as Celebrity's Sky Observation Lounge, is much better. For one thing, it has a barista/coffee bar. It's also open all the time to everyone (if they have a special event they cordon off part of the Crow's Nest but don't close it entirely like Celebrity does almost every night). Moreover, while HAL recognizes how beloved the Crow's Nest is and is constantly improving it, Celebrity's Edge-class ships have done away with this venue entirely. And on other class ships they are cutting into the Sky Observation Lounge to install suites so you don't have that "wraparound" view. To be able to go the Crow's Nest and/or the Sky Observation Lounge and have a great forward view, especially when coming into a port, is one of our favorite pastimes on board.     

Edited November 2, 2021 by MarkWiltonM

[aputt]

Great review! I would have to agree what you said is spot on and similar to the experience we had on HAL. CEL is certainly our preferred cruise line even after trying many others. We are looking forward to getting back onboard the Apex this month. I did notice you will be trying Crystal soon. ENJOY! We were on the first voyage July 3rd out of Nassau and can attest it is a wonderful experience. So much we booked again in Feb on the Symphony. The food is amazing and the staff are top notch. After day 1 it's truly amazing how many of them will remember your name, go out of their way to say a formal hello, bring you anything you want before you even know you want it, and elevate the level of Customer Service to best in class! My only words of advice, if you want something and do not see it just ask. They will make you special meals, desserts, etc. as long as advance notice is given. Otherwise, have a great time. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts.

[GeorgiaPeach51]

3 hours ago, aputt said:

Great review! I would have to agree what you said is spot on and similar to the experience we had on HAL. CEL is certainly our preferred cruise line even after trying many others. We are looking forward to getting back onboard the Apex this month. I did notice you will be trying Crystal soon. ENJOY! We were on the first voyage July 3rd out of Nassau and can attest it is a wonderful experience. So much we booked again in Feb on the Symphony. The food is amazing and the staff are top notch. After day 1 it's truly amazing how many of them will remember your name, go out of their way to say a formal hello, bring you anything you want before you even know you want it, and elevate the level of Customer Service to best in class! My only words of advice, if you want something and do not see it just ask. They will make you special meals, desserts, etc. as long as advance notice is given. Otherwise, have a great time. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts.

Aputt, we are really excited to try Crystal...even more so after your post!  I’ll report back.

[terrydtx]

On 11/1/2021 at 9:58 AM, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

We are long time Celebrity cruisers, elite—we’ve done nothing but Celebrity for years.  We decided to try HAL again after many years.  We had done two previous HAL cruises. One was our very first and one was about 15 years ago.  We have been contemplating cruising other than Celebrity and had cruises booked on Cunard and Oceania that were cancelled by the Covid outbreak.  Our next cruise will be on Crystal, making use of their reduced Caribbean rates to entice new cruisers to their line.  That will be interesting and we are looking forward to it....but in the meantime, we had fond memories of HAL....and decided to revisit because we liked the itinerary through the entire canal.

 

We sailed on the Nieuw Amsterdam October 23 from San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale. I’m sorry to say we were not impressed.  For us, the food was well below Celebrity.  That is not to say it was awful.  It was not.  It was just so average.  It was kind of like eating in a cafeteria to us.  We felt the MDR has just given up any pretense of making that venue significantly different from the Lido.  White and red wines arrived in the same size and style glass.  Used wine glasses remained on the table if we changed wines.  We finally gave up and started handing them to the servers.  The bread arrived sometimes.  We didn’t enjoy the ambiance in the MDR and the colors were, to our eyes, garish.  Purple and orangey-red, maroon, tan, black.  

 

The menu was very scaled back as far as choices, and we were put off by the highly priced extras on the menu.  There was no option for “every day” choices, which we missed.  I tried the French onion soup one time—watery and salty.  Nothing like what is served on Celebrity.  We have never seen an MDR offer tacos for an evening meal choice.  I had a strange dessert one formal evening that had a filling that tasted EXACTLY like the instant pudding you get at the grocery store.  Ick.  But, taste is subjective and I do realize that what I hate is possibly delicious to others. 

 

The design of the MDR has many, many tables that are adjacent to or in view of the server stations, where you are treated to staff scraping plates...there is no barrier to block the noise or the view.  In addition, the same tables suffer from the constant traffic of people going to and from their tables all during dinner.  This was in anytime dining.  I guess this would not be a problem in set seating.

 

I was startled to see shorts on both men and women in the MDR for dinner.  Lots of tshirts and many ball caps.  Guess I’m just old!  I don’t particularly like it, but it doesn’t affect my evening.  Things surely do change, don’t they!

 

We ultimately ate most meals in the Lido where the service was always good, we could have plenty of choices, and in the evening in particular it was rather quiet and peaceful.  We enjoyed the salads in the Lido, and the Asian station.  At least, if you tried something and didn’t like it you had other options.  We always ate breakfast and lunch in the Lido, and never tried the MDR for either meal.

 

We ate twice in the Pinnacle Grill and thought it was outstanding in every way.  We ate once in Canaletto and enjoyed it.  And, we ate twice in Tamarind and thought it was pretty good but not nearly as good as the PG.  Service in all three was excellent.

 

We missed Celebrity’s Cafe al Bacio, with all the goodies to pick from.  In Explorations they offered only biscotti, sometimes macarons, a few times a mini carrot cake.  The biscotti was crumbly rather than crisp.  The choices were very sparse, and what was offered was displayed on a cake plate with lid like I have at home. But we enjoyed the Explorations area a lot.  Big tables where people came and went doing puzzles, games available, and nice seating. 

 

In the Lido there were many less dessert options, and many suffered from the same issue as Celebrity....where they look great but taste off, like they are made with additives or things other than real butter and sugar and cream.  Mostly I find this in the desserts that have a creamy filling or topping, but both cruise lines are kind of disappointing as far as desserts to me.  They are really pretty but really disappointing.  Both lines offer ice cream, which was a saving grace for us. 

 

We had room service twice.  The first time was fair.   Everything came, but it was cold.  When we wanted to order for another morning there was no room service menu card to be found.  We had to call down to guest services and wait for about 20 minutes for someone to bring us an order form.  After we used that one, once again there was no order form left, so we gave up on room service.  BTW, we tipped the room service waiter $3 and he said it was the first tip he had received all morning.  I was dismayed to hear that.

 

We thought the entertainment was good.  As someone mentioned they do have dual pianos, not dueling pianos.  We enjoyed most of their sets, and boy, they work hard.  We did not do the dance shows, but thought the pianist, Hyperion Knight, and the Singing group The Alley Cats were fabulous.  Both were also very gracious with passengers, stopping to talk and open and amenable to short conversations. 

 

Ship staff was uniformly pleasant and hardworking and eager to please, and we found the service in the Lido to be excellent.  We rarely saw our room steward.  I did note that a piece of paper that I dropped under the vanity that landed in the far back corner laid there for 5 days before it disappeared.  I did not desire to get down on my hands and knees to retrieve it, so there it lay.  I mentally noted it because I saw it every time I pulled the chair out.  Not a big deal, but one of those “not much” little incidents that are cumulative and give you a final impression.  When there are many “not much” incidents that are little niggling negatives, it adds up to a somewhat negative or neutral experience. 

 

We had some trouble with the beverage card.  As we were told, because there is nothing on the card to signify the beverage package a passenger has, the staff doesn’t know who has what.  My husband had to make four different trips to guest services to get extra charges taken off.  A few times even though we always gave both cards, two drinks were put on the same card and we went over on the number of beverages allotted for the day.  (We drink a lot of water).  It was a little annoying to have to mentally count how many beverages we had had during the day.  Every bottle of water, every Explorations coffee counts as one and a double espresso counts as two.  So, if you drink 6-8 bottles of water a day, which we generally do, and have a tall cappuccino twice a day (tall coffees count as 2), you are already at 10-12.  With a limit of 15, you could have one glass of wine at lunch, or a drink by the pool and that leaves one glass of wine for dinner and an after dinner drink….and bam, you are at the limit.  We were always having to be aware of where we were on the count, and we missed the freedom of the Celebrity package where you just enjoy whatever you want and don’t worry about it.

 

We were tested three times while on board, which would make it seem that HAL is sincerely focused on the health of safety of passengers in this Time of Covid. However, I will give you an example to demonstrate that is simply for advertising.  

 

In one Mexican port we came back from a HAL excursion on a blazing hot afternoon, and as we passed down the area to the tender they had the usual staff with the handheld clicker to count passengers.  We boarded and spaced ourselves out, but to no avail.  Passengers continued to board until every possible seat was filled and we were all sitting knee to knee and elbow to elbow.  It took about 10 minutes to mostly board and then another 5 as they continued to put passengers on.  It was simply sweltering.  There was not a breath of air and many people began to drop their masks, and kept them down, so stifling was the air.  So there we sat, a big old Petri dish, roasting and right on top of each other, breathing the same air, about 10 inches away from each other.  If ever there was an ideal venue for Covid, that had to be it.

 

So, I fault HAL for putting passengers at risk on the one hand, as they outwardly play nice with Covid rules.  These were not the open air tenders at their private island,  but the ship tenders that are totally enclosed with no air unless moving.  And even when moving the air was only intermittent, and depended on the direction of the tender.  I did express my dismay to an officer and he took notes...but?

 

My message to HAL is this:  You are either all in or all out.  Don’t give lip service to protecting passengers and then put them in such a compromised position.  Don’t pretend that passenger safety is your number one priority, ask us to wear masks all day long, and then put us in such a position.

 

Odds and Ends

 

No bar snacks available other than unsalted peanuts.  My husband is allergic so he was out of luck.  Nothing else was available.

 

Sticky buns much better than on Celebrity.

 

In the ladies restrooms, there is a place to hang a purse with a strap but no place anywhere for a clutch purse or book or kindle.  Aggravating. 

Internet was appalling.  Just AWFUL.  A constant source of aggravation.

 

One quirk is that a room key is used to operate the lights in the room.  When the key is removed the lights go out, except for the ambient light in the bathroom and the bedside light.  So, when my husband would take both key cards to get drinks before dinner, bam....I’m getting dressed in the dark, or close to it.  Hotels have the same thing, but when one person leaves the room, they generally don’t require both cards, which leaves the person remaining in the room with light.  The good thing is that it didn’t affect the air conditioning, since this was a very hot climate.

 

We will not sail HAL again.  We had a 35 day cruise booked on the Zuiderdam for 2023, and based on this experience, we have cancelled it.  We went on HAL with open minds, truly hoping to love it and we just didn’t.  We talked with some longtime HAL fans, and several commented that this was not a typical sailing….certainly not what they were accustomed to from HAL.  Some blamed it on COVID, and that may be the case, but we sailed on the Edge in July and did not encounter the food challenges we found on this ship regarding menu choices and food quality.  So, unfortunately, we will not give HAL another chance. 

I recognize that HAL Mariners love their chosen line, and more power to you.  It’s just not for us. 

I have to agree with you 100%, our last HAL cruise, will be next year which we booked to use some FCC and the itinerary for 14 days was not available with Celebrity. We have in the past booked Signature Suites with HAL which only is just a larger cabin with no suites amenities. Even HAL Neptune Suites are a joke and do come close to the Retreat on Celebrity. HAL suites do not have a private restaurant or lounge that serves alcohol except in the new Pinnacle Class ships they do have a restaurant for suites called Club Orange which serves the MDR menu plus 1 or 2 extra entrees not available in the MDR. They still do not have anything like the Retreat Lounge.

 

We have found that the Celebrity Retreat is a product that no mainstream cruise line  comes close to in amenities and service. Our cruise lines of choice going forward will  be Oceania and Celebrity in the Retreat. We have the Apex booked in 2023 and Edge in 2024 for a B2B cruise all in Sky Suites. For some reason HAL CC people are so loyal that they mostly down play Celebrity and if your comments or mine above get posted there you will get flamed.

[ExArkie]

Thank you for the review. We did one HAL cruise, Alaska on Oosterdam in 2014 in a Signature Suite (no suite amenities, just a bigger room). 
 

Food and service were severely lacking (NCL did much better when we were sailed with them in Norway), even in the one dinner in Pinnacle Grill that was including in our package deal. I will add that the included drink package had a price limit per drink that meant there were only two or three wines by the glass that were included. All were well below acceptable quality. I have no interest in HAL as a result of that trip and do not even look at them when considering a cruise.

 

By the way, shorts, t-shirts, and ball caps were seen at least once every evening in the MDR on our sailing.

 

 

[Larwos]

Interesting that you mentioned the different music opportunities on the ship.  We sailed on HAL through the Baltic On Koningsdam when it was brand new, and I loved the ship.  Beautifully decorated and the theatre was absolutely beautiful, with the surround screens which allowed delightful shows.

The music by the Lincoln Centre was wonderful and we also loved the duo pianos with the Billboard music.  That was so much fun.  We were able work out a very enjoyable music menu each evening, fitting dinner between musical treats.

 

One thing that were interested in with HAL was their wonderful itineraries. That was how we chose to cruise with them.

 

I'm disappointed to hear their MDR has less quality food that we were happy to eat.  I felt it wasn't as good as Celebrity, but still very nice.

 

We are also Elite on Celebrity, but being Australian, have less chance for multiple cruises than those in the Norther Hemisphere, but we cruise as often as we can, and will be doing so as soon as possible.  Having sailed in the second last Australian cruise before cruising stopped because of COVID, we have full trust in Celebrity's handling of COVID safe conditions.  It was brilliantly handled even then, when there wasn't any understanding of just how bad it would become.

 

Thanks for such a comprehensive review.