Experienced Cruiser’s First Time on HAL; My Impressions

[GreytRacer]

My husband and I have been on many cruises over 5 different cruise lines, but we just took our first HAL.  Many of our cruise friends asked what we thought about cruising on Holland America - what was the nightlife like, how was the food, were we the youngest onboard, etc.  I wrote this up and thought I would share it here in case it’s helpful to anyone.  NOTE: This is our experience on an older smaller ship (Zaandam) with a port-heavy itinerary (Montreal, Quebec, day at sea, Prince Edward Island, Sydney Nova Scotia, Halifax Nova Scotia, Bar Harbor, ME, ending in Boston).  Newer bigger HAL ships may be different.

 

I think the biggest difference between HAL and other cruise lines we’ve been on was the overall “energy” of the ship.  There were no Sailaway parties, no deck parties, no big dancing events or Name That Tune sing-alongs.  The Cruise Director was 70 years old if he was a day and possibly a retired actor or public speaker.  He hardly did any announcements over the PA and when he announced the shows, he didn’t come out on stage; he just said “here’s the show!” over the mic.  But he did do two presentations during our one sea day that were each an hour long. He stood onstage and spoke, with visuals behind him, and no script in front of him and he was excellent. But this was not a man who was going to do the Wobble! 
 

We weren’t the youngest people like we thought we might be. There were a few families that had elementary and middle school children and a couple of groups that were multi-generation and those groups had some high school and college age kids. But otherwise, everyone was our age (59) and up.

 

There are 5 bars on the entire ship, one of which I never saw open. They had a Piano Bar entertainer, but not every night. She played and sang (not really very well) and it was definitely not a sing-along situation, even though there were stools around the piano like in a traditional piano bar. There were no production shows but they did have dance-only shows, which were fantastic! The shows were 30 to 45 minutes long, nothing but dance, performed by six dancers who were all extremely talented. The choreography, costumes and staging was awesome and we loved the shows! One night they did a BBC nature movie presentation with live musicians playing in front of the screen and one night there was a comedian. He was hysterical and did 45 minutes of great material. We would’ve been happy to see him another time or two!  There was a four piece band that played cover songs, a pianist who played during cocktail hour and a husband and wife violin and pianist duo.
 

Other than that, the only other entertainment was one showing of a movie most nights, except for the nights they had bingo, which was played in the movie theater. So there wasn’t even bingo every day! I don’t know if the number of trivia sessions (one per day) and bingo might change on itineraries that aren’t so port heavy, but that’s what we had. While I’m not one to go to the Hairy Chest contest anymore or do 1000 trivia sessions, the lack of offerings did seem to impact the energy of the ship.  There’s a bar in the front of the ship called the Crow's Nest and they had a DJ there in the evenings starting at 10:30pm. It could’ve been party central up there, but we would have never known (many ports = very tired). The one evening we went up there (for the Orange Party) there were some people dancing  and a lot of people sitting and drinking, so maybe it was like that every night. 

 

They had Happy Hour most days with 50% off drinks.  They advertised it as off well liquor, but the one time we took advantage of it, we were told it was 50% off any drink $11 and under. I also got a coupon for a free Mariner Signature cocktail that I could use anywhere and at any time on the ship.  When I downloaded the app, it automatically signed me up for the HAL Mariner Society, so even though this was our first HAL cruise, I still got the free drink (which I liked).  
 

If you’re a Carnival stock holder (100 shares minimum) you can get an onboard credit if proof is sent in prior to your cruise (since HAL is owned by the Carnival Corporation).  

 

The Casino was small, I believe 3 tables and about 30 slots.  It was never busy, so if you like to gamble, there was always a seat. They had Texas Hold ‘Em a few times and sold Lottery-type tickets, but no Blackjack tournaments or slot pulls. 

 

There were three shops.  The sundry/liquor shop was about the size of my bathroom.  The logo/resort wear shop about the size of my bedroom and didn’t have anything specific to the ship except the ship model and magnet.  The third shop was the largest and was mostly jewelry, including a private curtained room where I guess you looked at really expensive stuff.  The rest of the space was for designer bags and scents, plus a table for the “special of the day”.  

 

The crew were all amazing. Everyone greeted us when we passed them, from Officers to Engineers to Chefs.  The crew served us on the buffet and they were all helpful and friendly.  Our room steward was great. 

 

The food was…disappointing.  It wasn’t bad, it was just meh.  We were expecting something outstanding because it was “HAL!”   But most things were just ok and some were flavorless.  We treated ourselves to dinner at one of the specialty restaurants for our anniversary.  While the presentation was beautiful, my scallops were flavorless and Mike said the Omaha steaks he grills at home are better than his beef tenderloin was.  Bummer. There was no lobster, escargot, or stuffed mushrooms in the dining room and no seafood entrees. They did have waffle cones on the buffet, so that made up for it a little bit.  😉

 

Speaking of the buffet, I’m not sure if the crew serving us is standard with HAL or something new since covid.  If you’re a sushi eater (we’re not), I believe they had it on the buffet every day. 

 

There were two photographers on the ship and they only did “official” pics three times, with one background to chose from.  Two were on the formal nights and I don’t know when the other one was.  (The night they had it listed in the “When and Where”, they weren’t taking them.)   Unfortunately, the pics weren’t great (bad lighting or weird angles), but we found two to buy.  We got corralled into a fancy private black and white photo session.  Those pics were great!  They presented them in a slide show with music and the whole thing could make you cry for pulling on the heartstrings.  When I finally got the price out of them, I really could have cried.  $150 per 8” x 10”! 😵‍💫. And they recommend a grouping of three pics, which for us, would have cost $100 more than one of our cruise fares!  Needless to say, we didn’t get any and were a little annoyed at the time we wasted on it all. 
 

This was our 35th anniversary trip. Even though it was noted in our reservation and I mentioned it when booking our specialty dining, there was no acknowledgement, so 🤷🏻‍♀️
 

Would we cruise on HAL again?  If it was a very specific itinerary (like this one, which we LOVED and would do again in a heartbeat!) or an amazing price (also like this one) - yes.  If it was a standard Caribbean itinerary and the price was the same as Carnival, Princess, RCCL, etc - probably not. 

 

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.  😁.  Hope it’s helpful to new HAL cruisers. 

[Florida_gal_50]

Thank you for your review.  Hal’s entertainment is certainly not its strong suit.  I’m not a fan of Hal’s old ships but I love the larger pinnacle ships.  Several lovely specialty restaurants with great food.  The pinnacle is not my favorite.

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, GreytRacer said:

yes.  If it was a standard Caribbean itinerary and the price was the same as Carnival, Princess, RCCL, etc - probably not. 

I so agree with this.  There are better options on the standard, mass market itineraries.  I am sorry you didn’t like the food and I am really surprised there were no seafood entrees.  I usually eat seafood on HAL 5 out of 7 nights.  Maybe you missed gala night as they do serve lobster, escargot and the other gala menu items.  As a matter of fact another passenger on your same itinerary last week posted a copy of the menu  showing those items. 
 

I am glad you had a lovely time nonetheless and what you describe entertainment wise is about what I would expect.   HAL is definitely a different product than Carnival, Norwegian or Royal which I like too.  

[GreytRacer]

20 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I so agree with this.  There are better options on the standard, mass market itineraries.  I am sorry you didn’t like the food and I am really surprised there were no seafood entrees.  I usually eat seafood on HAL 5 out of 7 nights.  Maybe you missed gala night as they do serve lobster, escargot and the other gala menu items.  As a matter of fact another passenger on your same itinerary last week posted a copy of the menu  showing those items. 
 

I am glad you had a lovely time nonetheless and what you describe entertainment wise is about what I would expect.   HAL is definitely a different product than Carnival, Norwegian or Royal which I like too.  

Interesting!  We ate in the dining room on both formal nights and the only lobster we saw (any night) was at an extra cost.  No escargot either.  There were fish entrees on the menu every night, but not seafood (shrimp, scallops etc) 

[Florida_gal_50]

25 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I so agree with this.  There are better options on the standard, mass market itineraries.  I am sorry you didn’t like the food and I am really surprised there were no seafood entrees.  I usually eat seafood on HAL 5 out of 7 nights.  Maybe you missed gala night as they do serve lobster, escargot and the other gala menu items.  As a matter of fact another passenger on your same itinerary last week posted a copy of the menu  showing those items. 
 

I am glad you had a lovely time nonetheless and what you describe entertainment wise is about what I would expect.   HAL is definitely a different product than Carnival, Norwegian or Royal which I like too.  

Would love to see this menu where lobster was listed.  Yes you can get it for an up charge.  I believe there “might” have been lobster on a 35 day cruise but I don’t recall seeing it on an other menu posted.  Maybe I missed it.

[Mary229]

I see where my confusion came in.   You are both right.  Half way through the review the guys started mucking around with files and someone posted a gala menu but it wasn’t actually related to the cruise.  
 

we had a full gala dinner twice on our 21 day sailing last month 

[roxybear135]

 Thanks for your review. We had lobster included one meal on our NYE Koningsdam trip this past December/January. I think it was for a special dinner for NYE. It was awful so you didn’t miss out on anything by not having it available on your cruise. Glad you enjoyed it overall!

[terrydtx]

Thank you for your insightful review, while it may not have been all you wanted, at least being on a cruise ship is better than being home.

 

After almost exclusive cruising with HAL for the last 10 years, we have decided at 72 years young HAL is too old for us. Last year when our  Westerdam 14-day Greek cruise for our 50th Anniversary was canceled by HAL we decided to book a Sky Suite on the Celebrity Equinox in the Caribbean. We were blown away by Celebrity's service, food, entertainment and their Suites only Retreat product. We since have booked 6 Celebrity cruises over the next 2 years, including our cruise this August on the Celebrity Reflection prior to our HAL Oosterdam Greek cruise.

 

Our August 14 day Greek Oosterdam cruise is the rebooking from our canceled Greek cruise last year and this will most likely be our last with HAL

Edited June 18, 2022 by terrydtx

[rocksteady27]

Thanks for sharing your experience. We’ve sailed HAL, Royal and NCL. I’m in my 40s sailing with my parents and teen son. HAL is a bit sedate for us, especially the teen but we received amazing casino offers that got us booked on this ship.

 

Disappointed to hear about the small casino and food. We plan to have breakfast at the Lido, lunch ashore and dinner in the MDR.

 

I really enjoyed both NCL and Royal and look forward to experiencing Celebrity next.  I have 3 more HAL cruises and 2 Royal Caribbean cruises this year so Celebrity will have to wait until 2023.

 

 

[GreytRacer]

11 minutes ago, rocksteady27 said:

Thanks for sharing your experience. We’ve sailed HAL, Royal and NCL. I’m in my 40s sailing with my parents and teen son. HAL is a bit sedate for us, especially the teen but we received amazing casino offers that got us booked on this ship.

 

Disappointed to hear about the small casino and food. We plan to have breakfast at the Lido, lunch ashore and dinner in the MDR.

 

I really enjoyed both NCL and Royal and look forward to experiencing Celebrity next.  I have 3 more HAL cruises and 2 Royal Caribbean cruises this year so Celebrity will have to wait until 2023.

 

 

I think our disappointment with the food came from our expectations.  We were just expecting “more”, certainly something “more” than Carnival offers.  🤷🏻‍♀️  
 

We did breakfast on the buffet.  There wasn't a line for eggs cooked to order (which is not where they make the omelets) and, most days, no line for omelets.  Be sure to ask for fruit on your French toast or pancakes.  😋 

 

The casino is small but it wasn’t crowded so you should be able to get a seat!  😁

[rocksteady27]

I’ve never sailed the Zaandam and understand it to be small and “vintage”.  

I have two sailings on the Nieuw Statendam which has a lot more dining and entertainment options. Im really excited and look forward to my first Pinnacle Class ship.

[AFNavigator]

5 hours ago, roxybear135 said:

 Thanks for your review. We had lobster included one meal on our NYE Koningsdam trip this past December/January. I think it was for a special dinner for NYE. It was awful so you didn’t miss out on anything by not having it available on your cruise. Glad you enjoyed it overall!

If you are looking for great lobster with HAL, look no further than the grilled lobster on Half Moon Cay.  It's $20 but it is outstanding.  We had it last Dec.  The chief chef from the Pinnacle grill was the cook and he did an amazing job...10 feet away from us.  Just the aroma drifting up from the grill was awesome...then he delivered the lobster!

It's not in the buffet area.  It's at a beach bar.

[Btimmer]

We've cruised on all HAL ships except the Noordam and the Westerdam, and there's been a cook to order egg grill on each of them (separate from the omelet station). 

[rocksteady27]

I’ve always enjoyed the cook to order Eggs Benedict station at the Lido. An Eggs Benedict plus some fruit and a raisin bun with coffee were my daily breakfast on my last two sailings.

[albingirl]

Too bad there was alot of disappointment on your cruise.  I try to go with the itinerary and concentrate on that, rather than the shipboard experience.  The very best cruises we've had have been while in Europe, and we were off the ship more than on.  The entertainment on HAL is definitely meh, and the dining can be mediocre, although lately I think it's vastly improved.  We don't do the casino, and shopping on a ship is not our thing, so if those things are important to you, maybe another cruiseline would suit you.  To each his/her own.  I'd rather stay home if I felt like so much was missing.

[HamOp]

Great review.  Thank you for taking the time.  It was, to quote Fox News, "Fair and Balanced"😃

[CruiserBruce]

18 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I so agree with this.  There are better options on the standard, mass market itineraries.  I am sorry you didn’t like the food and I am really surprised there were no seafood entrees.  I usually eat seafood on HAL 5 out of 7 nights.  Maybe you missed gala night as they do serve lobster, escargot and the other gala menu items.  As a matter of fact another passenger on your same itinerary last week posted a copy of the menu  showing those items. 
 

I am glad you had a lovely time nonetheless and what you describe entertainment wise is about what I would expect.   HAL is definitely a different product than Carnival, Norwegian or Royal which I like too.  

Lobster is extra charge on HAL now, it's not served on Gala nights any more. But escargot is.

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

Lobster is extra charge on HAL now, it's not served on Gala nights any more. But escargot is.

I had it twice for free in May.  Perhaps it is only for longer voyages. 

Edited June 19, 2022 by Mary229

[Mary229]

3 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I had it twice for free in May.  Perhaps it is only for longer voyages. 

It was actually some of the best lobster I have ever had on HAL

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for sharing your comments, honest and fair.

We sail HAL for the itinerary, busy days so we don't care about the entertainment options.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[terrydtx]

10 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I had it twice for free in May.  Perhaps it is only for longer voyages. 

The Navigator app, on the second Gala night shows the Lobster is a $10.00 addon cost. This is on our Oosterdam cruise in August. 

Edited June 19, 2022 by terrydtx

[Mary229]

11 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

The Navigator app, on the second Gala night shows the Lobster is a $10.00 addon cost. This is on our Oosterdam cruise in August. 

That’s interesting, last month it was free and it was good.  I have never been a fan of HAL lobster but DH asked the waiter to bring me one because it was so good.  Maybe it is a supply chain issue.  There are also new regulations governing lobstering in the US, this could also be having an impact.   https://www.nhpr.org/2022-06-07/breakable-lines-remote-control-traps-maine-lobstermen-grapple-with-an-onslaught-of-new-rules

Edited June 19, 2022 by Mary229

[Djptcp]

The OP needs to sail on a newer ship than the older Zandam. We have sailed on the new Rotterdam 3 times and there were sail away parties with canapes, there were music trivia contests on the Lido Deck by the Sea View Bar where we sang along, the food was fantastic in the Canelletto, the Tamarind, the Pinnacle Grill and in the Lido Buffet. We are 4 Star Mariners and have sailed on many of the HAL ships and loved them all, including the older Veendam.

[Florida_gal_50]

33 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

The Navigator app, on the second Gala night shows the Lobster is a $10.00 addon cost. This is on our Oosterdam cruise in August. 

The price is coming down.  It used to be $20 and maybe even $25.

[Mary229]

Just now, Florida_gal_50 said:

The price is coming down.  It used to be $20 and maybe even $25.

That was the everyday price on my sailing but gala night it was free