After HAL...

[bdcbbq]

What is your second favorite cruise line?

 

My wife teaches so our vacations are limited to her school vacations. We would like to go on a cruise next summer but the cost of an Alaska or New England cruise is probably a little more than we can scrape together.

 

Therefore, I'm looking for a less expensive cruise in the Caribbean, although Mexican Riviera might be a consideration.

 

What cruise lines would be a good choice. We are not Carnival cruisers and would not be cruising with children. We don't mind kids, but couldn't handle Disney. :)

[fann1sh]

I'd keep an eye on the small, older RCI ships. My hunch is the summer rush will be to the new Freedom class ships, and that there may be bargains to be found elsewhere.

I did a quick search engine overview, and the only "bargain" I found right now was a Rhapsody of the Seas cruise from Galveston, 7 days, August 5/07, with 3 sea days and stops in Montego Bay Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. The price I found was $700 inside, $800 outside. This is a small ship (for RCI) with roughly 2,500 people, built 1997, refurbished twice, most recently on 2004. Pretty much everything else is starting around $1000 (except Carnival). Probably better deals to be had starting around February or March.

I'd personally want to look at the Celebrity ships as well.

Don't know if that helps.....I think the key is finding a good search engine you find easy to use. Mine is with an on line travel agency that is :( not one of the sponsors of this board.

[AAAAmerican]

CCL:NYSE does have us HALers and they have a few lines which go to N England as does RCL:NYSE it depends on your price points and what you want in location as well services etc ..

 

Right now the HAL ship ms Noordam IV is an extreme bargain and brandy dandy new too.:D

 

What is your second favorite cruise line?

 

My wife teaches so our vacations are limited to her school vacations. We would like to go on a cruise next summer but the cost of an Alaska or New England cruise is probably a little more than we can scrape together.

 

Therefore, I'm looking for a less expensive cruise in the Caribbean, although Mexican Riviera might be a consideration.

 

What cruise lines would be a good choice. We are not Carnival cruisers and would not be cruising with children. We don't mind kids, but couldn't handle Disney. :)

[hammybee]

I agree with AAAAmerican. Perhaps any ship in the RCCL Voyager series might do well. At the moment however, HAL looks to be a better value.

[bruce-r]

......I'm looking for a less expensive cruise in the Caribbean, although Mexican Riviera might be a consideration. ... We don't mind kids, but couldn't handle Disney. :)

Actually, the real reason you wouldn't be able to handle Disney is the price. Disney is considerably more expensive than HAL or Princess.

[fann1sh]

I'm a newbie on this board, and I probably shouldn't be sending cruisers to other lines. But, the fact remains Caribbean itineraries are cheapest, and HAL doesn't cruise there in the summer. So....BDCBBQ, have you considered vacationing in your wife's spring break? Lots of great deals showing for Feb/Mar 07 with HAL. At least, something to consider....apologies if I offended anyone....

[Sea King]

quite frankly, if I couldn't find something on HAL, I would probably stay at home ..

 

IMHO, why settle for second best in anything:)

 

maybe my opinion will change in the future: right now, I'm "true blue"

[michmike]

Only other line I've cruised on is Celebrity. There seems to be a general consensus on the boards that Celebrity is the line most similar to HAL in ambience, clientele, etc.

 

Our 1st cruise was on Celebrity's Galaxy. We had a great time and I'd travel Celebrity again if the itinerary and pricing were right. Having said that, our 2nd cruise was on HAL and we will be leaving next week on our 6th HAL cruise w/o having gone back to Celebrity or anywhere else.

 

For us the biggest difference was the larger staterooms on HAL, the wonderful Indonesian / Filipino crews, fewer kids aboard and smaller, less crowded ships. I'd tend to give the edge on entertainment and food to Celebrity but please understand that is based on one experience 7 yrs ago.

 

We wish HAL would do some 7 day itineraries out of San Juan, but other than that have no complaints and like most HAL pax are pretty loyal to the brand.

 

We do have some friends (2 different couples) who are die hard Princess fans, so that line has its devotees as well, but can't speak from personal experience there. Although, if I couldn't go HAL or Celebrity I would look at Princess first before Royal Caribbean or Carnival or Costa.

 

One also hears some favorable things about MSC but my impression is that their clientele is more european.

[YankeeCruiser]

My husband and I have sailed with Norwegian three times, and have enjoyed every voyage. The style of the cruise is very different from most - NCL does not do the traditional dining, but instead has what they call "Freestyle" with open seating and multiple restaurants. You do pay extra for some of the restaurants, but can eat in the main dining room at no extra charge, and can sit down at any time. You'll see a number of kids, but they never bothered us.

[duck tune]

We have sailed NCL twice and we love the freestyle dining but I always miss my bathtub that comes standard with HAL Verandahs. DH and I actually wrote down the pros and cons of each line and hands down prefer HAL but we enjoyed NCL and if we couldn't find a price or trip with HAL we would do NCL again. I can relate to the challenges of working around a teaching schedule - I am a community college professor so our cruises have to work with my spring or winter break and summer vacation.

Good luck!

[bdcbbq]

Thanks for the responses. As I think about it some more, the real answer becomes more obvious, bite the bullet and cut some fat out of the budget for the next few months and stick with HAL. I will consider RCCL as a last minute posiibility. We would like to do the Maasdam Mariners Historic Coasts Cruise but can't quite make the commitment yet. Besides I would like to spend a few extra days in Boston seeing the sights.

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

If you are on the HAL board, you will definetely not like NCL. We took our second cruise on NCL this past August. Our first was back in 1992 on the NCL Westward. We did not care for the freestyle at all. Did not enjoy sitting at dinner in the main dining room dressed up for formal night with people wearing jeans and T-shirts. The food was really awful, with macaroni and cheese being served as an entree for dinner one night. I would tell you to go with RCL, Princess or Celebrity, in that order. We have been on all of those and enjoyed them greatly, even though the cabins on RCL are a little smaller than the other two lines. It's a shame that HAL does not do more frequent cruises from the East coast.

[FRANKIEDNYC]

:cool: IF YOU LOOK ON ONE OF THE LISTED ON LINE DISCOUNT BROKERS OFFERING UP TO 75% OFF AND GO TO THE SIDE BAR=, YOU WILL SEE THAT HAL OFFERS VERY ATTRACTIVE DISCOUNTS ON MANY CRUISES FOR TEACHERS, POLICE AND FIREMAN

[nansi]

If you are on the HAL board, you will definetely not like NCL.

 

This statement is not true for everyone on the HAL board.

 

We've sailed HAL (Rotterdam) and NCL (Sun, Norway, Dawn), as well as Renaissance (R7), RCL (Radiance), and Celebrity (Mercury). We liked everything about HAL except the entertainment (the Indonesian show being the one exception). It was nearly as awful as Ren's, which was pitiful. NCL's entertainment was extraordinary and wins hands down above all of them...and this was on 3 different ships, so it wasn't just a fluke. RCL's entertainment was nearly as good (which we hadn't expected) and Celebrity's was the pits (and frankly we had expected the opposite from a cruise line named "celebrity").

 

We've had good and not-so-good food on every one of these ships, and yes, I'd put NCL's food on an equal par with the others. (Did I just hear a collective gasp? :eek: )

 

Celebrity was the biggest disappointment of all in so many ways that we probably won't sail with them again. We should have jumped ship with Brian on the 2nd day :cool:

 

RCL was the biggest surprise of all in that it was so good all around that we'd book with them again in a heartbeat.

 

But we really really like NCL, and not just because of the superior entertainment. We love the Freestyle dining concept better than the stuck-with-who-knows-what dining. We tend to make lots of new friends on our cruises and it's nice to be able to invite them to meet us for dinner in one of the many restaurants, at a time convenient to all. Can't do that with assigned seating. We also like the mix of ages aboard NCL, from grandparents to toddlers. We're old, but we're really young at heart and HAL's mostly senior clientele sometimes makes us feel like we're on a floating retirement village. As far as kids on board NCL (and we did a summer cruise this year with lots of kids on board), you hardly ever see them...they have a fantastic Kid's Crew program for them. My DH is not too fond of children when he's on vacation, and even he was impressed.

 

What it all boils down to is personal taste, and everyone's is different. If you've had a bad experience with a cruise line, you won't cruise with them again and vice versa. But if you've only sailed exclusively with one cruise line, I don't think you can be a very impartial judge without a comparison to another line. The fact that you post on a particular board doesn't necessarily mean that you think it's the best cruise line. I tend to read and post on the board that our next cruise is on. And as you can see from my above opinions, it certainly doesn't mean that I necessarily think it's the best cruise line.

 

Sorry if I've offended anyone, but our next cruise is on HAL, so you're all stuck with me for now :D

[Atomica]

The only other line I have been on is NCL, and I found they offered a decent cruise. I agree with the above poster who said the entertainment was fantastic, and while I liked Freestyle, I wasn't so hot on the main dining room food - though I hear they're retooling their menus, so things could improve in that department. The specialty restaraunts, at least on the Sun, were fantastic.

 

That being said, if I had to pick another line to try, I'd probably choose Celebrity or Royal Caribbean, but my favorite will always be HAL :)

[Grumpy1]

This statement is not true for everyone on the HAL board.

 

Sorry if I've offended anyone, but our next cruise is on HAL, so you're all stuck with me for now :D

Not offended at all. If everyone thought HAL was the best and all other lines were inferior. I'd never be able to get a booking on HAL.:eek: Everyone has different things that make or break a cruise for them. I've sailed on 4 other lines, but only one cruise on each one. That isn't enough to let me have a truly informed opinion about any of them... but I thoroughly enjoyed them all. After 4 cruises on HAL on three different classes of ship, with 3 more booked, I have a pretty good idea of what to expect from HAL and I'm comfortable with them. If the right itinerary comes along on a different line, I'll probably try them, but I'm not going out of my way to look for a different line.

[kryos]

What is your second favorite cruise line?

Celebrity. Do one of the older ships ... like the Zenith ... and you'll get a good deal. Celebrity is as close to HAL as you're gonna get. Delicious food, service on a par with HAL ... not the big "party hearty" atmosphere.

 

I did a five-day cruise on the Zenith last December ... although I got a "special deal" by going as the guest of a travel agents group ... others onboard didn't pay too much more than I did. I think I got the five-day cruise for something like $300 with single supplement. Others got their cabins for not much more, though what made mine a great deal was the group bennies ... prepaid gratuities, one-hour cocktail party, etc.

 

Of course, I will say that cabin was the tinniest thing I was ever in ... but hey, I was hardly ever there, so for five days, it really didn't matter. I remember having to go into the bathroom and turn around first so that I could close the door. When I sat on the toilet, my knees almost touched the door. :) I had a full-sized bed that was flush with one wall, and had a mere foot or so of clearance from the other. There was also a spare bed recessed into the ceiling on the side of the bed with the foot of clearance to the wall. You had to be real careful getting out of bed ... or else you'd conk your head but good on the housing of the spare bed. I learned real quick to always turn on the light before attempting to get out of the bed. :)

 

But, hey ... the food was great, the people were fun ... so I had a great cruise. And let's face it ... once you climb into that bed and close your eyes, does the size of the cabin really matter anymore? :) Just use your imagination and pretend you're in a suite. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

What it all boils down to is personal taste, and everyone's is different. If you've had a bad experience with a cruise line, you won't cruise with them again and vice versa. But if you've only sailed exclusively with one cruise line, I don't think you can be a very impartial judge without a comparison to another line. The fact that you post on a particular board doesn't necessarily mean that you think it's the best cruise line. I tend to read and post on the board that our next cruise is on. And as you can see from my above opinions, it certainly doesn't mean that I necessarily think it's the best cruise line.

 

Sorry if I've offended anyone, but our next cruise is on HAL, so you're all stuck with me for now :D

No offense taken at all. I'm glad to read of your opinions of other lines. I agree wholeheartedly with you. If you don't try other lines on occasion, how do you know how good HAL truly is? Maybe there is something that suits your needs far better out there and you're only missing out if you don't at least occasionally try another line ... maybe just for a very short cruise ... to see what they are all about.

 

We all have our preferences ... and one size most definitely does not fit all. I had a great experience on Celebrity, while Brian had a terrible one. However, in all fairness I have to say that my expectations going into that Celebrity cruise were very low because of what I was paying. If I had walked into that cabin, paying top dollar, I would have been mortified ... it was so tiny. But because of what I was paying ... I just burst out laughing when I got my first look at it. Then I got busy figuring out how to make this work.

 

Because my expectations were so low, I was blown away by the variety and taste of the food ... both in the buffet and in the dining room. I remember one afternoon, standing at this absolutely gorgeous salad bar ... and the only thing I could think of was that song ... "food, glorious food ... " It was absolutely sumptous.

 

I've never tried NCL, but only because I generally cruise solo ... and worry about the "freestyle" dining for someone in my situation. I like to have set tablemates who I can get to know over the course of the cruise, and I have a feeling it would be hard to form any friendships with something like "freestyle" since you would have different people every night. But, when the time comes again that I am planning a cruise with a friend, I will definitely look at NCL now ... especially since NCL sails right out of the Port of Philadelphia, my hometown, and most of my friends either do not like ... or absolutely refuse ... to fly.

 

Thanks for your evaluation.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[nrdsb4]

I'm a newbie on this board, and I probably shouldn't be sending cruisers to other lines. But, the fact remains Caribbean itineraries are cheapest, and HAL doesn't cruise there in the summer. So....BDCBBQ, have you considered vacationing in your wife's spring break? Lots of great deals showing for Feb/Mar 07 with HAL. At least, something to consider....apologies if I offended anyone....

 

When did this change? Our only HAL cruise was an Eastern Caribbean in July several years ago. It was one our best cruises ever. I'm sorry to hear they have discontinued their summer routes.

 

To the OP, I'd stay away from RCI during the summer, at least on the mega ships. Tons of kids, and the reviews about parents not supervising their kids are getting more and more frequent. I love kids, we cruise with ours, but if you go on a cruise with 1000 or more kids onboard, you increase your chances of finding unsupervised kids, kids in adults only areas, etc.

 

Those ships are beautiful, however, and if lots of kids running around doesn't phase you, you might just love RCI. We enjoyed our RCI cruises, but if RCI is not enforcing its behavior policies the way recent reviews have claimed, we might not enjoy it as much as in the past.

[Copper10-8]

I'd go with Princess and RCI in that order. Not the same as HAL but never had a bad experience on them. Yes, more families with kids but that's to be expected. I like the production shows on Princess (they used to have a pirate show on a huge stage). Food is comparable, service (multi-national versus Indonesian/Filipino) is different. Ships are beautiful. On a more negative note, we had a very tiny "soap the walls and turn yourself around" bathroom/shower in an outside/balcony cabin on a pretty new Princess ship - HAL's are much better/nicer. Still, I would not have any problems trying either of those lines again.

[duck tune]

If you are on the HAL board, you will definetely not like NCL. /quote]

HAL will always be #1 but the first cruise DH and I took was on NCL and we did have a good time on that cruise and the second one in 2005. Once we went to HAL we were spoiled because there are so many more positive things on a HAL cruise line and yet we would do NCL again as a second choice. We just don't think we would enjoy the megaships and frankly prefer the size and atmosphere of HAL. Sometimes NCL has really good fares and that is what took us to a second cruise with them!

[bdcbbq]

On a more negative note, we had a very tiny "soap the walls and turn yourself around" bathroom/shower in an outside/balcony cabin on a pretty new Princess ship - HAL's are much better/nicer. Still, I would not have any problems trying either of those lines again.

 

That soap better be pretty slippery. I'm not near as svelte as I was when I was a 16 year old. I find some mid-range hotel bathrooms to a little tight at times.

[Copper10-8]

That soap better be pretty slippery. I'm not near as svelte as I was when I was a 16 year old. I find some mid-range hotel bathrooms to a little tight at times.

 

Let me put it this way; there was just enough room in that shower to do the hokey pokey. But if you dropped the soap, you're day was pretty much ruined

[bdcbbq]

Let me put it this way; there was just enough room in that shower to do the hokey pokey. But if you dropped the soap, you're day was pretty much ruined

 

But not like the L.A. County jail. :eek:

 

BTW, do you know Lou Castle, a retired Sergeant and K-9 officer from the L.A area?