We have decided to jump ship from NCL to HAL!

[kitkat343]

11 hours ago, callmebetty said:

We jumped to HAL to do an Alaskan cruise. Our wraparound aft corner suite was amazing! It was an older demographic and things shut down really early. May have been the itinerary, but after 10ish, nothing but the casino was open.

HAL and Princess traditionally were considered to be the strongest lines for Alaska.  We've generally found the mainstream lines to be more alike than different (with the exception of NCL making changes to the itinerary after final payment for environmental reasons more than other lines.  Other lines seem to do that only for weather or safety reasons).  HAL tends to skew older, but as long as you don't have kids its a great line to try.  Have a great trip!

Edited March 7, 2023 by kitkat343

[vswan]

We were never loyal to any one line, but have spent the most time on NCL and HAL. NCL is more lively, has a more party atmosphere and more variety. They also have more larger ships, feel more crowded, need reservations to get into the "good" shows/dining"  and are less relaxing. I would cruise NCL again, but feel more at home on HAL. The few shows they have are okay, how good the music walk is depends on the bands that are booked, but they are usually very good. What I do like is the MDR seems to be better on most ships and is included, and the atmosphere is much more relaxing. You have nothing to lose by trying HAL. You will have a good cruise, and if you find it is not your favorite you can always try another line.

[bellevuemountain]

On 3/5/2023 at 8:19 PM, Naismith said:

I don't feel the fanatical loyalty to a cruiseline that some people report.  I go with the best itinerary and price.  Most of our travel is land trips, so we only cruise once a year, maybe.

 

If I ever tour Hawaii, I will of course go on Norwegian Pride of America, as their itinerary is unique.

 

For Alaska, HAL has much better port stops and enrichment lectures.  

 

We've decided that ships with about 2,000 pax are the best fit for us, enough food choices and entertainment but not so crowded.  So that means only a few NCL, two Princess, a few HAL.  

 

 

@Naismith I agree.   I personally find that the gamification in loyalty programs has been hit hard in the cruising industry.  Which cruise line I choose now depends on my needs at the time of booking.  @cruiseagona It’s perfectly fine to shop around and compare cruise lines to find the right fit for you for a specific trip.  You are not jumping ship unless it’s literally during your cruise 😁.  I have taken a liking to broadening my horizons and trying out different cruise lines.  A vacation remains a vacation.

[cruiseagona]

Very good point! Thank you!

[uneamie]

I am not going to jump off because I am not into NCL....but after our upcoming Prima cruise in May we will be booking our next cruise on another line just to for a "change". I want to see waht else is out there and maybe we will find something we like better or comparable and maybe we won't. You never discover new things by sitting in the same chair. 

[StingBeanz]

On 3/5/2023 at 7:41 PM, cruiseagona said:

 no more Park West (definitely not sorry to see that go)

You are definitely in for a surprise!

[swmichigan cruiser]

9 hours ago, uneamie said:

I am not going to jump off because I am not into NCL....but after our upcoming Prima cruise in May we will be booking our next cruise on another line just to for a "change". I want to see waht else is out there and maybe we will find something we like better or comparable and maybe we won't. You never discover new things by sitting in the same chair. 

We really like NCL but recently we did a cruise on Royal think it was number 31 with them and not impressed with them only reason we did it was because we have alot of FCC with them to use. Also doing another cruise with them on a TA this summer and will use up the rest of the FCC. We haven't done HAL in over 20 years but they have a Norway cruise this summer that works out well for us and actually looking forward to trying them again just to see how they have changed. Guess I am trying to say it doesn't hurt to compare cruise lines to see how they have changed.

[sailingships]

On 3/5/2023 at 7:41 PM, cruiseagona said:

, no more Park West (definitely not sorry to see that go), no more watching Top Gun 3 nights in a row. 

Sorry the art auctions and the movie repeats are on other cruise lines also.

[Ray4Fun]

On 3/5/2023 at 7:41 PM, cruiseagona said:

Just returned from a BTB 14 day cruise with NCL and we are taking the plunge. We are jumping ship. Here we come Holland America. I did investigating, research... whatever you want to call it. After 10 NCL cruises it's happening. No more washy washy, no more Park West (definitely not sorry to see that go), no more watching Top Gun 3 nights in a row. We loved the buffet, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do. Already set for the Rotterdam next February. 

 

Has anyone else jumped ship after being so loyal for a long time? How did it go?

 

Been on Rotterdam BtB back in April of 22. Ship and crew are great. The following week we were on the Encore. Our first NCL cruise. As for HAL, The entertainment was solid. We enjoyed the music, ALL of it. BB Kings has a great vibe. Kept us out until the music stopped. No big broadway shows, which we did not worry about missing. HAL Food is cruise ship good to great. I'd skip the Italian restaurant, but that's more for location than the food. Ship is more for a couple crowd whereas Encore is Family all the way. No go-carts sort of ship. We had fun on both. I would positively say give HAL a try.

Now, If what I am hearing is true. NCL is notifying upcoming passengers there is a change to room attendants coming to clean. I've heard they are now doing towels once a day and room cleaning once every other. That would be a game changer if true. Has anyone else heard this?  

[LloydJr]

16 hours ago, vswan said:

What I do like is the MDR seems to be better on most ships and is included

Are there cruise lines where the MDR isn't included?

[Mrdell]

22 minutes ago, Ray4Fun said:

I've heard they are now doing towels once a day and room cleaning once every other. That would be a game changer if true. Has anyone else heard this?  

Room cleaning is once a day…. No turn down service in the evening…. You may request extra towels if needed.

[kitkat343]

17 minutes ago, LloydJr said:

Are there cruise lines where the MDR isn't included?

Food is very subjective.  For my family, NCL is the only line in which the food in the MDR is not strong enough for us to be happy with.  We were happy with the MDR food on Cunard, HAL, RC, Princess and (surprisingly and a long time ago even) Carnival.  The reviews on the food on NCL were enough to scare me 7 years ago to get a meal plan (this was before specialty dining was a room perk) for 5 meals, and 7 years ago the meals in the specialty restaurant were all outstanding (and the 2 we had in the MDR were much weaker than the other lines).  So my recommendation then if you are particular about food was to compare the price of a NCL cruise with specialty dining to that of a base price of a different cruise since you'll need to pay the upcharge for food.

 

On my last cruise in January, the food on NCL in 4 of the 5 specialty dining venues was closer to the MDR food on the other lines than being anything special (all the sides in Cagney's were ice cold, they ran out of risotto, and the steak, although cooked to a perfect medium rare was also served cold).  Ocean's Blue was the only specialty restaurant serving a meal worth an upcharge.  I'd recommend only paying the tip/(tax?)/whatever the fee is to get the specialty dining that is included in your room perk, and not purchasing any additional meals beyond those because the food they are serving is really only worth that much.  We tried to eat as much off the ship as possible, and some of the Asian/ethnic food in the buffet was actually quite good.    I think this might be what the previous poster meant.  

[scooter6139]

We are trying HAL in August to Alaska.  I found a great deal on a Neptune Suite on the Westerdam for less than our previously booked NCL Club Suite or Princess Club Class Mini.  We've done a family HAL cruise many years ago on HAL, so it will be interesting to see the differences.  FWIW - I didn't enjoy HAL at the time as it just felt different than Princess, which is what I was used to at the time.

[vswan]

6 hours ago, LloydJr said:

Are there cruise lines where the MDR isn't included?

What I meant was that it was not an extra charge. Was part of your original booking.

[Northern wanderlust]

6 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

Food is very subjective.  For my family, NCL is the only line in which the food in the MDR is not strong enough for us to be happy with.  We were happy with the MDR food on Cunard, HAL, RC, Princess and (surprisingly and a long time ago even) Carnival.  The reviews on the food on NCL were enough to scare me 7 years ago to get a meal plan (this was before specialty dining was a room perk) for 5 meals, and 7 years ago the meals in the specialty restaurant were all outstanding (and the 2 we had in the MDR were much weaker than the other lines).  So my recommendation then if you are particular about food was to compare the price of a NCL cruise with specialty dining to that of a base price of a different cruise since you'll need to pay the upcharge for food.

 

On my last cruise in January, the food on NCL in 4 of the 5 specialty dining venues was closer to the MDR food on the other lines than being anything special (all the sides in Cagney's were ice cold, they ran out of risotto, and the steak, although cooked to a perfect medium rare was also served cold).  Ocean's Blue was the only specialty restaurant serving a meal worth an upcharge.  I'd recommend only paying the tip/(tax?)/whatever the fee is to get the specialty dining that is included in your room perk, and not purchasing any additional meals beyond those because the food they are serving is really only worth that much.  We tried to eat as much off the ship as possible, and some of the Asian/ethnic food in the buffet was actually quite good.    I think this might be what the previous poster meant.  

 

I have to agree.  Call me a snob if you will but we found the food in the MDR on Escape to be.....okay, I guess.  The food in the buffet was not good.  We sometimes had trouble finding anything we wanted to eat.  The meals we had in the speciality venues were good.  I think our favorites were Moderno and the tapas place, what is it Pincho's I think.  Cagney's we didn't think was anything special and something I ate there did not agree with me.  We also ate a lot off the ship.

[fishin' musician]

Approaching 40 cruises with no real brand loyalty, although we've done more Princess than others.  Done HAL, Princess and Norwegian to Alaska.  Princess is simply the best cruise experience, but NCL has the better experience on land / tour packages.  This due to them using a prominant Alaska operator that utilizes native guides and drivers.  Princess has a huge operation in Alaska that HAL also uses, however they employ college kids as guides and drivers.  HAL has the reputation as having the largest morgues at sea, and is warranted.  They do cater to the older clientele, Princess and X average 10 years younger while NCL, RCL and CCL go straight for the family.  HAL does have BB King's blues club which has been fantastic!  Enjoy!

[Ray4Fun]

18 hours ago, scooter6139 said:

We are trying HAL in August to Alaska.  I found a great deal on a Neptune Suite on the Westerdam for less than our previously booked NCL Club Suite or Princess Club Class Mini.  We've done a family HAL cruise many years ago on HAL, so it will be interesting to see the differences.  FWIW - I didn't enjoy HAL at the time as it just felt different than Princess, which is what I was used to at the time.

We went 19 years between HAL cruise's. First was like being in an old folks home. Surprised at the current HAL model. If you want to have evening entertainment, be prepared. I am not a HAL only. Just a fan of what they are now offering. We've added them back.

[Langham1865]

Although I am not leaving NCL, I do like HAL quite a bit and will sail them more often now.  They have integrated many of the things I like about NCL for example interesting specialty dining (I love tamarind) and they have a great array of music.  HAL just doesn't have good stage shows.  And some of my favorite crew/officers have gone over to HAL.  

[prov2727]

My solo. introverted self cruises Norwegian so I don't have to pick a time to eat dinner with strangers. Also because Mountain Dew but they don't have that anymore. 😭

[pghflyer]

We just did our first HAL and really liked it, it is different from NCL. Much quieter and slower. Our buffet closed at 8PM which was a shock, there were minimal announcements the whole trip, lots of "wasted" free empty space for things like board games or library reading, same high end luxury expensive shopping stores and art exhibits, the shows were fewer but high quality (in fact, overall less volume of all activities), there were much fewer waitstaff everywhere so harder to use drink package (and they don't have long varied drink menus either but you can ask for drinks not on the menu if you know what you want), less variety on menu in main dining room, better variety and higher quality food in buffet (often exactly the same as MDR), and overall the clientele was older and more laid back. 

 

We like them both and appreciate different things about each.

Edited March 8, 2023 by pghflyer

[Liljo22]

On 3/7/2023 at 11:11 AM, sailingships said:

Sorry the art auctions and the movie repeats are on other cruise lines also.

Yeah...I don't get this complaint.  I see they haven't cruised on another line since 2002 so I guess they don't know that Park West isn't exclusive to NCL.  They are also on Holland America, Azamara, Carnival, Celebrity, Princess and Royal.  

 

 

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

Yeah...I don't get this complaint.  I see they haven't cruised on another line since 2002 so I guess they don't know that Park West isn't exclusive to NCL.  They are also on Holland America, Azamara, Carnival, Celebrity, Princess and Royal.  

 

 

And they are obtrusive on all of them.

[alwalaska]

On 3/5/2023 at 7:57 PM, FlGoodShips said:

Washy washy is good. Art work is nice to look at when you go thru. No need to buy. Also so much to do on NCL...why would you be watching tv?? 

On the Dawn recently and really, not that much of interest to do. Unless you want to get there way early and stay all night, most of the venues for evening and night music were completely full.  Plus, we travel for the ports and sometimes at night we just want to chillax and hang in the cabin.  Out of 17 cruises I have never been bored until our most recent Dawn cruise.  

[tcrandal]

It boggles my mind as to why people would ever be loyal to a cruise line to begin with! We cruise on the ship and schedule that meets our needs, this isn't a monogamous relationship here, it's a business transaction. 

[cruiseagona]

There are many reasons why people are loyal to cruise lines. Here are some reasons. Some people . . 

1. Do not like change.

2. Do not want to pay for extras. (They like being a gold, platinum or whatever member)

3. Do not want to start over gambling with another cruise line. (They like the free rooms they get because they gamble a whole bunch!)

4. Only go for the ship and not the location and excursion.

5. Like a cheap or expensive cruise line and they stick to that one.

The list goes on and on.