Would anyone like to read feedback after my first ever HAL Cruise?

[aliaschief]

Thanks for sharing your cruise experience. Not sure why you had problems having orange juice and I have never had to pay for it.

[SSBrickNJ]

12 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

Thanks for sharing your cruise experience. Not sure why you had problems having orange juice and I have never had to pay for it.

I did not SEE any. I did not have to pay for it. I just couldn't find it. 

[Alberta Quilter]

Thank you for sharing your review.

[ExpatBride]

14 hours ago, SSBrickNJ said:

 

As for me, one night I ordered the Ravioli and they brought me a plate with THREE raviolis on it.

I couldn't hold back and I let out a little laugh.

Without me asking, they figured it out and brought another plate.

 

The same thing happened to me with shrimp on "dressy night" 😅 Except they didn't bring me another plate 😑

[0106]

58 minutes ago, SSBrickNJ said:

I did not SEE any. I did not have to pay for it. I just couldn't find it. 

I have always found OJ pre-poured in a chilled case next to where I get my yogurt.  I also get my V8 juice from the same case.  There are other juices too.  It is towards the middle of the Lifo.  It might be the same place they serve ice cream at lunch.

 

@SSBrickNJThanks for your review!

Edited August 17, 2023 by 0106

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing. 

[SleeStack1]

Glad you had a good time.

 

We prefer HAL food over NCL and RC but the entertainment is lacking in comparison.

 

We are trying Princess in a few months.

[rafinmd]

A couple of followup questions.  What score would you have given Carnival?  And also, what is/are your favorite RCI ship classes?

 

Roy

[Banditswife]

Thanks for your review, glad you had a good cruise.

[SSBrickNJ]

35 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

A couple of followup questions.  What score would you have given Carnival?  And also, what is/are your favorite RCI ship classes?

 

Roy

I would give Carnival an 80.

The Carnival Staff deserve a much higher score than that.

The 80 for Carnival reflects more on the food and my dislike for the many loud and drunk fellow passengers.

*
We have mostly sailed on RC's Oasis Class Ships.

[SSBrickNJ]

Just now, SSBrickNJ said:

I would give Carnival an 80.

The Carnival Staff deserve a much higher score than that.

The 80 for Carnival reflects more on the food and my dislike for the many loud and drunk fellow passengers.

*
We have mostly sailed on RC's Oasis Class Ships. Not too big...not too small.

Possibly comparable to the HAL Nieuw Statendam?

I'm not really focused on "class" size.

 

[maggie777]

1 hour ago, SleeStack1 said:

Glad you had a good time.

 

We prefer HAL food over NCL and RC but the entertainment is lacking in comparison.

 

We are trying Princess in a few months.

We will try Hal for the first time this Nov on a TA. Princess and Azamara are the usual choices.

[boatmad]

The Lido staff will bring orange juice ( from a pitcher) when they offer you water and coffee.  Might have to track them down at a station if they are busy clearing tables, etc.  most of the time they will also offer refills.

 

sorry you experienced this.   I wouldn’t be happy in the morning without my oj.  Fresh squeezed is available for no cost with HIA.

[SSBrickNJ]

50 minutes ago, boatmad said:

The Lido staff will bring orange juice ( from a pitcher) when they offer you water and coffee.  Might have to track them down at a station if they are busy clearing tables, etc.  most of the time they will also offer refills.

 

sorry you experienced this.   I wouldn’t be happy in the morning without my oj.  Fresh squeezed is available for no cost with HIA.

I should have spoken up. I always seemed to be there at the busy time. I'd go to eat by myself as my wife was back at the room just getting up and getting ready for the day.

I gave a lengthy report and the orange juice was not meant to be the main focus.

Anyone have anything to ask or comment on re. another aspect of my feedback?

[Nodakboiler]

The 8/2 NS cruise had 280+ children onboard which is not the norm for HAL cruises. We stayed on and only have 64 children onboard now- makes a very different experience, especially in the Lido!

[SSBrickNJ]

13 minutes ago, Nodakboiler said:

The 8/2 NS cruise had 280+ children onboard which is not the norm for HAL cruises. We stayed on and only have 64 children onboard now- makes a very different experience, especially in the Lido!

I suppose it makes sense that children are not gonna be participating in the 21 day itinerary.  It's amazing you even still have 64 kids.

[ocean sounds]

Thanks for your HaL comments!

[boatmad]

I enjoyed your comments and your balanced remarks.

[SSBrickNJ]

Thank @ocean sounds and @boatmad

*

I did strive to be balanced and provide helpful comments. Nice of you to say so 😉

Edited August 17, 2023 by SSBrickNJ

[SSBrickNJ]

For any late comers to the thread, my Trip Report and or HAL Feedback Thoughts can be found within this thread at POST #16 .

[AFNavigator]

23 hours ago, SSBrickNJ said:

Other entertainment besides music was very limited. Bingo....Trivia...like that.

I totally agree with your assessment.  In my opinion--and everyone has their own opinion--is that HAL's daytime entertainment lineup is probably their weakest strength.  If you subtract out all of the spa/jewelry/shopping upsell activities, there's almost nothing on the typical daytime schedule beyond fitness events and limited bingo, trivia, bridge type events.  The biggest HAL failure is that they barely use their wonderful--and very expensive--World Stage during the day...what a waste.  Other cruise lines keep their main stage busy most of the day with fun activities like game shows or similar events.

[SSBrickNJ]

13 minutes ago, AFNavigator said:

I totally agree with your assessment.  In my opinion--and everyone has their own opinion--is that HAL's daytime entertainment lineup is probably their weakest strength.  If you subtract out all of the spa/jewelry/shopping upsell activities, there's almost nothing on the typical daytime schedule beyond fitness events and limited bingo, trivia, bridge type events.  The biggest HAL failure is that they barely use their wonderful--and very expensive--World Stage during the day...what a waste.  Other cruise lines keep their main stage busy most of the day with fun activities like game shows or similar events.

Excellent observations! Thanks!

[Mary229]

15 minutes ago, AFNavigator said:

I totally agree with your assessment.  In my opinion--and everyone has their own opinion--is that HAL's daytime entertainment lineup is probably their weakest strength.  If you subtract out all of the spa/jewelry/shopping upsell activities, there's almost nothing on the typical daytime schedule beyond fitness events and limited bingo, trivia, bridge type events.  The biggest HAL failure is that they barely use their wonderful--and very expensive--World Stage during the day...what a waste.  Other cruise lines keep their main stage busy most of the day with fun activities like game shows or similar events.

Game shows are not popular on HAL, IMHO, thankfully, we will leave that to Carnival and their brethren.  However they could use the theater a lot more for enrichment or even film screenings.  How about sporting screenings.  There are a lot of things that could happen in that space. 

[Crew News]

6 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Game shows are not popular on HAL, IMHO, thankfully, we will leave that to Carnival and their brethren.  However they could use the theater a lot more for enrichment or even film screenings.  How about sporting screenings.  There are a lot of things that could happen in that space. 

A cruise-planning Q&A session, using volunteer experienced CC members, to answer passengers questions might draw quite an audience to the showroom on a sea day.  Whenever I post cruising tips on my roll calls, they are greatly appreciated by new cruisers.  

 

Never hurts to try and a good promotion for CC. 

[Mary229]

6 minutes ago, Crew News said:

A cruise-planning Q&A session, using volunteer experienced CC members, to answer passengers questions might draw quite an audience to the showroom on a sea day.  Whenever I post cruising tips on my roll calls, they are greatly appreciated by new cruisers.  

 

Never hurts to try and a good promotion for CC. 

That is a good idea.  On my last cruise the cruise consultant gave very interesting and well attended talks. He was was travelled having been with HAL for a while.  People love travel and love to talk about it.