vibe on HA Caribbean cruises compared to RCI, Celebrity, Princess?

[POA1]

On 10/15/2023 at 9:05 PM, OlsSalt said:

HAL passengers cheered,  when they re-installed the onboard libraries.

It was more of a golf clap, but yeah - people were happy.

[Shalandara]

3 hours ago, POA1 said:

It was more of a golf clap, but yeah - people were happy.

 

This librarian approves -- no matter how much sound was made.  🤣

 

[horseymike]

10 hours ago, elaine5 said:

For Rotterdam, are there bars/venues with music in the evenings before dinner? For Ex. at the back deck bar on both Celebrity and Cunard there was music (band, guitarist, and/or singer) from late afternoon/evening--or something in the lounges before dinner--Irish music, vocalist, etc.?

We're not crazy party people, but also don't really want solitude on a cruise. We are active, early 60s. Newly retired--so lots of quiet times to read at home. Celebrity is perfect for us--but Rotterdam schedule/ports looks really good. 

interested to hear your observations post cruise on the Rotterdam. Hope you have a great cruise 🛳️

[Mary229]

9 hours ago, elaine5 said:

No steel band in the Caribbean? No live music on deck? And, what exactly is there to do after dinner? From 8-11pm? I thought Rotterdam had “stepped up its game?” I really wanted to give HA a try…

I am not as critical as @Hlitner however I share his view is HAL would not be my choice for the Caribbean.  Short, common voyages are not where they shine.  Their long, exotic itineraries are their best product.  I also agree that they have had some shortfalls in that arena recently.  That said I don’t classify myself as a “cruiser”, I strictly see a cruise ship as some way to get from point a to point b, it is a value proposition.  In the Caribbean there are many other lines and what you value should be your foremost consideration.

[POA1]

We have a short, seven day Caribbean cruise planned for the Nieuw Statendam in December. There is a steel drum group listed as entertainment. (Island Dreams is their name, if I recall. They are from Trinidad.)

 

The 7 day trip is all that fits in with our vacation schedule this year. We prefer 10+ days, but we're still working and we'll take what we can get.

 

Having sailed on both NCL and Royal Caribbean, we prefer HAL hands down. Yes, it's more sedate. But we've never been lacking for things to do. Sometimes just relaxing is best. But, when we need some entertainment, we can always find something we like.

[rodndonna]

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I am not as critical as @Hlitner however I share his view is HAL would not be my choice for the Caribbean.  Short, common voyages are not where they shine.  Their long, exotic itineraries are their best product.  I also agree that they have had some shortfalls in that arena recently.  That said I don’t classify myself as a “cruiser”, I strictly see a cruise ship as some way to get from point a to point b, it is a value proposition.  In the Caribbean there are many other lines and what you value should be your foremost consideration.

 

Although we have HAL booked for the Caribbean  - I'd agree and admit HAL is not our first choice for the Caribbean. We cruise HAL for the Caribbean generally because we get such a good price (which includes Casino discount on the base fare which makes it hard to beat for us) and we are good with the "toned down" vibe for a price reduction.

 

For fun I compared our 3 booked Caribbean cruises for 2024/2025 - all 7 day cruises. All are inside with equivalent of HIA and prepaid grats to compare the relative cruise costs.

 

Celebrity (from Tampa) is 50% more

NCL (from San Juan, new ship, and no sea days) is closer to 60% more. 

 

Those percentages are not as compelling when we add in cost of air tough which is a big part of our costs.

 

When costs are comparable, I'd pick Celebrity, but for a discount, HAL still works well for us. 

 

NCL is booked to see for oursleves "what's it like on a big new ship with a go cart??" and I love sailing from San Juan.

[REOVA]

We would choose MSC Yacht Club for Carribean (but they are working on their private island so check itinerary as they may not include it next year, which is a treat). HAL would not be our first choice but not our bottom  either. They offer a generic cruise and we are not Pinnacle Class preferred cruisers but that would be your best bet if you choose Carribean with HAL. We prefer the smaller ships, longer itineraries that go to more exotic islands and yes we like more sedate cruising with more port intensive visits. 

[nannygoatjunction]

On 10/16/2023 at 3:44 AM, rj59 said:

It depends on cruise length, too, and time of year, so school breaks will draw more families, and longer cruises will draw more older people. It depends on the class of ship, too--I went on Celebrity Apex, and it felt very upscale, with a lot of obvious wealth on board, and they have two production casts doing shows every night in three different venues. I just got off a HAL cruise with no more classical quartet or even a contracted dance company, just 4 singers singing "Mmm-bop" songs and a Billboard piano duo who sang like a bad karaoke duo, The newer ships have a Rolling Stone lounge, which livens things up a bit, and a fancier show room, but to me the dropping of production shows and nothing but corporatized music shows makes the evening vibe on HAL dismal, especially on formal nights, when people have a "I got dressed up for this?" attitude towards the shows. The daytime vibe is mostly older people staring at Kindles and younger people in the pool, and a lot of people I wish would keep a shirt or robe on. If it's not school break, I think NCL and Celebrity and RC have the most youthful vibe, whereas Princess has women who really love bingo and their yappy dogs and HAL seems to have the world's largest concentration of bickering old couples and seniors who manage to stay upright with canes and sticks and walkers even in the roughest of seas. And I've noticed the last month that HAL and Princess are back to having a lot of mask-wearers, even outside, but of course they take them off in crowded buffets, restaurants, and bars, because um, chairs provide immunity?

Thanks for a light hearted, tongue in cheek point of view. 😁 

[pirate cruiser]

I know the word "party" is very subjective but on the last 2 cruises-NS and Oosterdam in the past year the Rolling Stone Rock room and BB Kings dance floors were very busy. I can party as hard as I want to on a HAL ship and we don't want to do much after 11PM anyway and we are way past bragging about how much we threw up the night before-lol !

[elaine5]

We decided to try HA as the timing, ports, and pricing was good. I also read some good reviews about the Music venues and if I want steel drums, I'll just pop in ear buds with downloaded island music. I'll post an update on this thread when we get back. Thanks for the reviews. Elaine   

[cruisemom42]

On 10/16/2023 at 1:53 AM, RD64 said:

True wealth is never displayed in a pretentious way

Please can you get this message to Jeff Bezos et al? I think they missed it. Also wouldn’t hurt to cc every rap star ever.

[cruisemom42]

On 10/16/2023 at 12:41 AM, Mary229 said:

It is even great for families who are trying to seek an enriching travel experience.

Curious what enrichment is to be found on a HAL Caribbean cruise? I’ve found precious little even on a month-long itinerary.

 

[Mary229]

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

Curious what enrichment is to be found on a HAL Caribbean cruise? I’ve found precious little even on a month-long itinerary.

 

I have met families who enjoy the longer itineraries and the lack of distractions as they travel and educated their children onboard.  Notably I met a family with 3 teenagers on a 45 day journey with many port visits who home schooled their children as they went. They only used HAL occasionally for any of the children’s activities and that was usually when the Club HAL team created an shore excursions for the teens so the parents could spend some time in port without the children. 

[cruisemom42]

1 minute ago, Mary229 said:

I have met families who enjoy the longer itineraries and the lack of distractions as they travel and educated their children onboard.  Notably I met a family with 3 teenagers on a 45 day journey with many port visits who home schooled their children as they went. They only used HAL occasionally for any of the children’s activities and that was usually when the Club HAL team created an shore excursions for the teens so the parents could spend some time in port without the children. 

But that could be done on any long cruise. I supposed you were saying that HAL provided enrichment opportunities that were unique or not available on other lines on Caribbean cruises.

[Mary229]

2 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

But that could be done on any long cruise. I supposed you were saying that HAL provided enrichment opportunities that were unique or not available on other lines on Caribbean cruises.

And I didn’t say otherwise.  I merely said it does work for families seeking an enriching cruise. Sometimes when we answer the question who is HAL for we forget all of the others who are seeking a quieter, more subdued environment .  
 

And perhaps the lack of distractions, like the amusement parks onboard, does help.