What are your favorite things ( preferably recent ) about HAL ?

[QuattroRomeo]

There are so many great things mentioned already, so I will just add a small thing I like: the rolled hand towels in the washrooms! Plus the flower (usually an orchid).  It just adds a little touch of elegance, that is far superior to paper towels or blow dryers!

 

 

[dockman]

1.  Full prom deck for walking on most HAL ships that you can also  actually sit in a lounger and watch the sea..

2.  Overall a relatively quiet peaceful atmosphere rather than constant announcements etc

3.  Good food in LIDO and elsewhere.

4.  Good itineraries

5...and of course...the friendly smiling wait staff

6.  Covered pool

7.  Bring back proper libraries and decent lecturers and i am a happy camper.

[MTAK]

The music walk is our favorite for sure.

 

Also, we always seem to find a favorite bar and bartender that provides exceptional service.  The last was April 2022 on Rotterdam at the RS Rock Room. His name was Justin and he took very good care of me during my birthday cruise! 🥃

 

Our next itinerary is on Princess, so it will be interesting to see how it compares.

[crystalspin]

20 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

I'm not sure we've had many "we think HAL is great" type threads. Recently it has been a seemingly endless parade of HAL sucks and it's not what it was threads. 

We get called cheerleaders if we say, HAL does it right for me! People take the Critic part of the site name too seriously. 

 

We will miss the Lincoln Center Stage, but I corralled the Entertainment Director in an elevator last January, and he detailed that the contract with Lincoln Center was VERY expensive and that it would not mean the end of classical music on HAL. It's just taking some time to find its replacement!

 

Our favorite things: 

All HAL ships -- Crows Nest esp. now the cafe in there too.

-- The Navigator (for checking menus, for one thing)

-- The crew!

Pinnacle ships -- Grand Dutch Cafe

 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Music Walk new times

[YourWorldWithBill]

Club Orange on the Rotterdam.

[ShipWalker]

All the above

+FREE saunas on every ship.

[Banditswife]

*the rolled hand cloths in public restrooms- beats the blow dryers on other lines

*the crew

*being served in the buffet area, wait staff will bring you coffee, tea, lemonade.  And most food stations have a server rather than self serve.

*cleanliness of the ships

*Grand Dutch Cafe on Pinnacle ships

*usually plenty of places to sit & watch the ocean go by

*the maturity level of fellow passengers

 

The list goes on.  No cruise is perfect, have an open mind, go with the flow & have a great time.

[Mitwif]

- It is adult friendly without being a "party cruise"

- The variety of greater than 7 day itineraries

- The all-weather pool with the retractable roof

- The Grand Dutch Café and  Tamarind

- Phenomenal room stewards

- The thoughtful, interesting people I meet every time I cruise on a HAL ship

- Best buffet in the business

- Free room service

The smaller sized ships (not as small as I would like, but still better than the mega ships out there)

- The laundry service (finally free for me!)

[Mary229]

Same old, same old for me.  Traveling to interesting ports in ease, comfort and security for a moderate price.  Like @albingirl the best sleep I ever have is on a ship and for this insomniac that could be enough but I also enjoy the gym, spa, fresh food and sea air.   Overall the peace and quiet and the understated, excellent crew service makes it all good  

[lf4UA]

6 hours ago, MTAK said:

The music walk is our favorite for sure.

 

Also, we always seem to find a favorite bar and bartender that provides exceptional service.  The last was April 2022 on Rotterdam at the RS Rock Room. His name was Justin and he took very good care of me during my birthday cruise! 🥃

 

Our next itinerary is on Princess, so it will be interesting to see how it compares.

DH and I were also on this cruise. We loved Vincent in the Ocean bar and Bryan in the Tamarind bar.

[Don Kehote]

I would love to see MORE of this kind of thread.

[dlca1]

Just got off Koningsdam last week.
 

Was pleasantly surprised by the library and nice selection of new books to borrow.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

17 hours ago, crystalspin said:

We get called cheerleaders if we say, HAL does it right for me! People take the Critic part of the site name too seriously. 

 

 

With rare exceptions, I don't see a lot of cheerleaders on here, not like you see on some of the other forums.  In 2014 I wrote a comparison between Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean, which upset quite a few people on both sides.  The Carnival crowd didn't want to hear about anything being a step up on Royal, and the Royal crowd didn't want to hear that Carnival was doing anything right (such as the MDR food in 2011).

 

I had some complaints about our last Celebrity cruise in 2019, mainly about an extreme shortage of vegetables, and maintenance issues.  Over a dozen people turned downright cult like in an ongoing attack, including personal, accusing me of spousal abuse when my wife slipped down the steps to a tender (no skid strips), and doctoring the photos of where she slipped.  I got blamed for ruining Celebrity, by not fighting to improve ingredient replenishments, and now they were all going to suffer for it.  That accusation went on for a few days, unopposed, with multiple thumbs up.  A couple commenters claimed that they were reconsidering the line, partially from personal experience, but also from the sour nature in the room.

 

HAL is pretty tame on the cheerleader front.

[FlaMariner]

Our favorite things about HAL:

 

• crew
• food (from MDR to dive in....always tasty and a highlight for us)
• crew
• clean ships (spotless, everywhere....always cleaning)
• crew
• calm atmosphere (no rock climbing wall, etc.)
• crew
• mid-sized ships (no condo of the seas for us)
• crew
• price (allows our retirement budget to cover lots of ground)
• crew
• entertainment (love the live music venues)
• crew
• ports (bucket list ports that we are working thru)
• crew
• history (love the Dutch legacy)
• crew
• fellow passengers (except the chair hogs and lido line skippers...but they are few)
• crew
• loyalty rewards (we would still sail without it but so nice to be rewarded and recognized as we spend most of our travel $$$ w/HAL)
• crew

 

Also, the crew is a major plus....Always. 

[OlsSalt]

Sure hope HAL marketing pays attention to this list since there are pretty consistent favorites. HAL has a special niche, well worth protecting and celebrating. And protecting.

[1ANGELCAT]

Being told Welcome Home instead of welcome back. 

[electro]

small ships that don't feel crowded.

Being able to sail out of Montreal (in 46 days)

[cartervan]

I'll just add one thing to all the comments above: the fries at the Dive In!!

[Mary229]

3 hours ago, cartervan said:

I'll just add one thing to all the comments above: the fries at the Dive In!!

I like those and don’t even like fries too much. The only fries I eat. 

[Haljo1935]

On 8/8/2023 at 10:18 PM, dlca1 said:

Just got off Koningsdam last week.
 

Was pleasantly surprised by the library and nice selection of new books to borrow.

Saw (and used) the new library in May on Eurodam - happy it's coming back 😀 

[Lildare]

Turkey reuben on the Koningsdam

 

it’s all good but crew really feels like family now 

[Raisinette]

Hello all,

I'm an experienced cruiser but going on my first HAL cruise in a few weeks, on the Rotterdam.  The 'Crow's Nest' has been mentioned a few times in this thread...but what is the Crow's Nest? Can anyone go there? Is it basically a lounge - comfy seating, maybe a bar or light food options?

Thanks!

[Dobby36]

54 minutes ago, Raisinette said:

Hello all,

I'm an experienced cruiser but going on my first HAL cruise in a few weeks, on the Rotterdam.  The 'Crow's Nest' has been mentioned a few times in this thread...but what is the Crow's Nest? Can anyone go there? Is it basically a lounge - comfy seating, maybe a bar or light food options?

Thanks!

It is a large lounge area with expansive windows toward the bow of the ship, and high up so usually lovely views.  There are a variety of chairs and sofas and lounge chairs to sit.  Often games and puzzles and books out.  An interactive map or two (if they are working) as well as a combination coffee bar and traditional alcohol bar.
 

one of my fav places on board and I always try for a VB category cabin to be just down the (short ) hallway from it.
 

bar menu:  https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Crows-Nest-Bar-Menu.pdf

coffee menu: https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Explorations-Cafe.pdf

 

they often have a tray or two of cookies and brownies etc.  but otherwise it’s just drinks. Not food there.  
 

sometimes they have portions of it closed off for small events, games, talks, etc. 

 

[crystalspin]

1 hour ago, Raisinette said:

I'm an experienced cruiser but going on my first HAL cruise in a few weeks, on the Rotterdam.  The 'Crow's Nest' has been mentioned a few times in this thread...but what is the Crow's Nest? Can anyone go there? Is it basically a lounge - comfy seating, maybe a bar or light food options?

Yes you have it. On the Pinnacle Class ships (ie Rotterdam) you will not find cabins on the same Observation Deck (only the Retreat). But, the Explorations Cafe will have its own counter (starboard side) and not combined with the port-ish bar counter.

 

The port-aft section can be cordoned off for smaller events. Historically called the Captain's Corner. For the rest, @Dobby36 has it right.