HAL cruiser thinking about trying NCL... your thoughts/comments please!

[CowPrincess]

I've cruised HAL and Princess, and am leaving on another HAL cruise quite soon. Was poking around today on the internet and saw an NCL cruise (Sun) that I'm interested in.

 

I found lots of similarities, and not many differences, between HAL and Princess, but am going with HAL because of their departure port for this next cruise.

 

NCL has a departure port that I want, and an itinerary I want. What would be the major "culture shock" issues for a HAL cruiser trying NCL? (DH would be thrilled with "formal or not" dinners :) )

 

I gather that some, but not all, of the restaurants have cover charges on NCL. Could we still eat "for free" at some of the restaurants?

 

I'd welcome any and all thoughts. Thanks in advance!

[Ms belp]

Welcome! I have only cruised on NCL so can't give a comparison to the other cruise lines, but we love NCL. On our first two cruises we never ate at any of the specialty restaurants. The main dining rooms and buffets were fine for us. We did try the "extra charge" restaurants on our last cruise and enjoyed them as well. I love being able to dress casually and dine at any hour I like. We love being able to dine alone; I wouldn't like having to dine with strangers every night. The staff is friendly. I would give it a try!

[curiouscat]

Going from HAL to NCL is like going from Nordstroms to Sears....

 

Need I say more......:D

 

Culture shock... service or lack thereof. Food, not even going there.... can you say Golden Coral. The only decent restaurant is the pay one Cagneys....

 

 

Bingo cards being pushed,,, it's like a perpetual flea market on NCL:eek:

 

You would really have to be going for that port and lower your expectations a lot... a lot. I have sailed all the major lines and never will sail NCL again. I prefer Princess or Celebrity myself.

 

CuriousCat

 

PS you asked.......

[AFT_LOVER]

with the coffeemaker in the stateroom. NO FORMAL night unless you want to. Pay to eat, which is tips for the staff or eat at FREE restaurants. Tables for 2 are plentiful. Robes for balconies +, Elemis products in shower & on skin. Even a thank you for sailing NCL cookie on your last night. 2010 will premiere F3 ships with WAVE staterooms. No more boxes next to each other. A few folks have stated they will straighten out after the Martini clinic for $15.

[DeltaOne]

NCL has a departure port that I want, and an itinerary I want. What would be the major "culture shock" issues for a HAL cruiser trying NCL? (DH would be thrilled with "formal or not" dinners :) )

I've never sailed HAL (Celebrity, Princess and NCL). I've heard HAL's rooms are nicer. And probably the food too. But...go with an open mind and you'll have a great time. You'll notice places NCL cuts corners, but nothing major.

 

I guess the thing we were most disappointed in was the buffet on NCL. However, we found ways around that...the made to order omelets were great for breakfast. If the buffet lunch didn't meet our expectations...we simply went to the main restaurant. We enjoyed every meal we had in the main restaurant. We ate in the pay restaurants too (for dinner) and enjoyed all but one.

[CowPrincess]

I would give it a try!

 

Yeah, I have no loyalty when it comes to my wallet :)

 

lower your expectations a lot... a lot. I have sailed all the major lines and never will sail NCL again

 

Thank you for being so honest. I'm a TAD afraid the ship would feel crowded, and there would be a SUBSTANTIAL difference in the quality of food. Not terribly worried about "service", per se... I never overwork our stewards OR waiters.

 

go with an open mind and you'll have a great time.

 

See comment re loyalty and my wallet :)

 

 

Fresh coffee whenever with the coffeemaker in the stateroom.

 

OMG, that in and of itself might convince me to go with NCL.

 

Thank you ALL for your opinions. I'll discuss it with DH tonight (who has not yet cruised AT ALL, poor deprived man!!) and let you know what we decide to do.

[PassionFruit]

I've only sailed NCL in Hawaii and am going on my 2nd NCL cruise to the Bahamas in 2 weeks. I've done HAL to Alaska twice. HAL felt much more refined with better service and, as I remember, a little better in the food dept. NCL was much more casual. The freestyle dining was a plus as we were traveling with children. The dinners didn't take 2-3 hours. There was no turn down service at night and it sometimes took a while for our rooms to be made up in the mornings (actually stretching into the afternoons some days). It didn't bother us because our expectations were different. I also saw my first pub crawl on NCL which was a turn-off to me. However, like I said in my 1st sentence, we're sailing NCL again in 2 weeks, so I obviously liked it well enough to return! It really is different, but if you go in understanding the differences then it's not a problem and you won't be let-down.

[PassionFruit]

Yeah, I have no loyalty when it comes to my wallet :)

 

Looks like we were posting at the same time. This is another big advantage now for NCL over HAL with us. We use the NCL credit card, and by the time you factor in a certificate or two per cruise, we can't afford NOT to cruise NCL! I'd like to try some other lines (Princess, RCL, etc), but the credit card rewards they offer don't come close to NCL's. So, based on price alone for us, we'll probably be doing NCL for a while. Which is ok with me!

[greywillow]

Going from HAL to NCL is like going from Nordstroms to Sears....

 

Need I say more......:D

 

Culture shock... service or lack thereof. Food, not even going there.... can you say Golden Coral. The only decent restaurant is the pay one Cagneys....

 

 

Bingo cards being pushed,,, it's like a perpetual flea market on NCL:eek:

 

You would really have to be going for that port and lower your expectations a lot... a lot. I have sailed all the major lines and never will sail NCL again. I prefer Princess or Celebrity myself.

 

CuriousCat

 

PS you asked.......

Sorry, but this is pure nonsense. Food is comparable. Service on NCL has been better. And they treat you like an adult, unlike HAL.

[Got2Cruise]

I've never sailed HAL (Celebrity, Princess and NCL). I've heard HAL's rooms are nicer. And probably the food too. But...go with an open mind and you'll have a great time. You'll notice places NCL cuts corners, but nothing major.

 

I guess the thing we were most disappointed in was the buffet on NCL. However, we found ways around that...the made to order omelets were great for breakfast. If the buffet lunch didn't meet our expectations...we simply went to the main restaurant. We enjoyed every meal we had in the main restaurant. We ate in the pay restaurants too (for dinner) and enjoyed all but one.

 

With 2.0 the buffets have been greatly improved. They now have action stations instead of one big line. And, NCL has great outdoor BBQs. I think the average age on NCL is lower. The deal breaker is if you can get over not having people dress up on formal nights and not having an assigned table/time and waiter for every meal.

[Luv_to_Cruise]

I have gone on 4 NCL cruises over a period of 10 years and one HAL last summer. I prefer NCL for the flexibility in dining times and less formality. Entertainment is better on NCL. I found that the staff on NCL is far more accomodating than HAL. The buffet on HAL was slightly better than NCL, however with Freestyle 2.0, I expect that NCL will now surpass.

 

Read reviews of all the ships you are considering and you will get a feel for the age of passengers and specific deficiencies if any. I did not extensively review our HAL cruise before booking at the last minute and I was surprised once onboard that the Maasdam has so many issues with poor plumbing and deficient air conditioning. Any ship can have issues, but I have never had any significant problems on an NCL cruise (perhaps the NCL ships are newer) that could not be resolved by the NCL staff. Be open to some differences in the way Freestyle works and you will have a great time. You can always request the same table and waiters at a set time in the main dining room if that is important to you.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

[newmexicoNita]

Going from HAL to NCL is like going from Nordstroms to Sears....

 

Need I say more......:D

 

Culture shock... service or lack thereof. Food, not even going there.... can you say Golden Coral. The only decent restaurant is the pay one Cagneys....

 

 

Bingo cards being pushed,,, it's like a perpetual flea market on NCL:eek:

 

You would really have to be going for that port and lower your expectations a lot... a lot. I have sailed all the major lines and never will sail NCL again. I prefer Princess or Celebrity myself.

 

CuriousCat

 

PS you asked.......

I see another cruise snob among us: everyone has his/her own opinion which is what these boards are about but Nordstrom/Sears, give me a break. It is views like yours that keep so many of us from cruising the so called premium lines.

 

My opinion and I too have cruised every mass marketed line is they are more similar than different. Food is subjective but Golden Corral, I am surprised you would know what Golden Corral is like.

 

Pushing Bingo, I guess we must have sailed different ships, we have never felt pressured to buy Bingo cards. I do think the price for Bingo is out of line.

 

Now to the OP, we have 2 favorite lines: NCL and HAL, obviously for different reasons;

 

HAL offers; nicer and larger cabins

better room service menu including full breakfast

slightly better food, with the buffet being much better

more elegent

better library

lower drink prices

more refined passengers

 

NCL offers: better variety in dining including more sur charge dining rooms

better eggs benedict

more flexibility

a choice as to formal or non formal wear

better entertainment

not better service, but more relaxed service with more smiles

much better casinos

bigger mixture of ages and demographics overall making for a more interesting and fun group.

 

We love the elegance of the HAL ships and our room steward was outstanding but we like the flexibility and energy offered on the newer NCL ships.

 

If price is similar or NCL better give them a try. Even if you end up feeling you want to eat in the sur charge restaurants more than one night, you will still get a travel bargain.

 

Nita

[CruisnGram]

On our recent NCL cruise, we had turn down on our beds every night, including the chocolate, towel animals, room was made up early every day and the stewards even recleaned/straightened the room for the 2nd time when they came in for turndown. Don't understand why the other poster didn't have the same.

[CruisnGram]

I also saw my first pub crawl on NCL which was a turn-off to me. .

 

Why was a pub crawl a turn off for you?

[CruisnGram]

I also saw my first pub crawl on NCL which was a turn-off to me. .

 

Why was a pub crawl a turn off for you?

[chrisbd1]

I see another cruise snob among us: everyone has his/her own opinion which is what these boards are about but Nordstrom/Sears, give me a break. It is views like yours that keep so many of us from cruising the so called premium lines.

 

Nita

 

For me, this is actually true. Everytime someone tells me how inferior NCL is to [fill in the cruiseline], it makes me hesitant to try that line. NCL suits me to a T. I've never had an instance where my cabin wasn't turned down, generally twice a day. The staff has always been friendly and helpful. I've never had an issue with anything that I've eaten. I prefer the action stations to the regualr buffetts and am glad that they'll now be on all the ships.

 

A post live from the Pearl

 

Some of our dining tips:

 

The cookies and ice cream are the best we have ever had on a cruise ship. There is both hard and soft ice cream, at least eight flavors daily, in cones or dishes, with lots of toppings. Cookies are chocolate chip, oatmeal cranberry, double chocolate and white chocolate. All are available from 11:30 AM – 9:30PM or thereabouts.

 

The cappuccino machines aft in the Garden Café are wonderful. There are buttons for latte, cappuccino or espresso in either regular of decaf. Also, you can order cappuccino in many of the restaurants, including La Cocina and the Blue Lagoon. Or, you can pay for one in the Java Café (why?).

 

The Blue Lagoon (24 hours) is wonderful for breakfast and lunch, it is never crowded and you get wonderful table service. The orange juice is better than the Garden Café (buffet) and the fish and chips are very good. Although the menu is limited, you can always try asking for what you want, and often you will get it. It’s on deck 8, mid-ship and has great window seating.

 

La Cocina (Country Italian) is one of our favorites. Start with a wonderful antipasto, a personal plate of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping bread and some very tasty pizza. And it just gets better from there. You make reservations, but there is no cover charge.

 

Lotus Garden (Asian Fusion) is also excellent. Between 8-9pm the cover charge is 2 for 1, at least on this cruise. The appetizers are served on square plates and you can try many of them. The teriyaki steak was terrific, but order it rare. I found that medium rare is just cooked a little too much for my tastes throughout the ship. Didn’t try Sushi or Tepenyaki (no 2 for 1 there). Sushi is often served in the Garden Café for lunch.

 

Mambos (Tex-Mex) has excellent salsa and chips to start. The Il Popo for two is kind of fun, but not as good as some of the other dishes. Think of a hot iron bell with sizzling beef, chicken and veggies stuck on prongs, hanging from a hook above a wooden tray of condiments with warm tortillas. Stay away from the Burrito; it is huge and not very good. The Tapas bar had excellent frozen drinks, but the tapas were a bust.

 

Cagney’s Steakhouse was good (again, 2 for 1 from 8-9pm). Portions were large and my wife loved the prime rib. My New York was just OK, not much different than the dining room. This restaurant is on the noisy side as it has an open kitchen.

 

Summer Palace and Indigo were always good. Not one bad meal so far. There are lots of different choices each night. Indigo is more intimate and not as noisy as the Summer Palace. If you have a large group that wants to eat together, if you contact the Hotel Manager they will set aside a small side dining area for the group.

 

Many people eat at the Garden Café. There is a huge variety, and it all looks good. We didn’t eat there much because we really like the table service on board. If you are having trouble find a place to sit at lunch, head aft and cut across at the elevators. La Cocina is closed, but you can still sit at their tables.

 

Tonight is dinner for 8 at Lotus Garden with others in our Cruise Critic group. Can’t wait.

 

We haven’t tried Le Bistro yet, but think we will before the cruise ends, again on a 2 for 1 special. This is a French restaurant with a yummy sounding menu!

 

The on board activities have been pretty good. The 2 story Wii screen is very popular, Tom holds the ships record for golf! The lectures have been just OK; the cooking demos wonderful; the evening entertainment excellent; the library is excellent and open for checking out books twice a day. There are several musical groups on board and you can always find one you want to listen to throughout the ship.

 

The service on board has been excellent; all of the staff and crew are very polite, accommodating, and cheerful and can’t seem to do enough to make the cruise pleasant. Our boarding experience was a dream – from car to bar took less than an hour!!! Very smooth and efficient handling of people and baggage!

[PassionFruit]

Why was a pub crawl a turn off for you?

 

Just not my thing. I realize many people think they're great fun, but the rowdiness of going from one bar to the other to get sauced reminded me of a spring break scene for college kids. Maybe we saw it towards the end of the "crawl" when the partiers are getting a little less - um - inhibited. We were enjoying a lovely sailing by the Hawiian coastline when the group came through the pool deck area to visit that bar. My SIL thought it looked like fun, but, like I said, not my thing, and definitely not the kind of thing I would associate with HAL from my personal experience.

 

On our recent NCL cruise, we had turn down on our beds every night, including the chocolate, towel animals, room was made up early every day and the stewards even recleaned/straightened the room for the 2nd time when they came in for turndown. Don't understand why the other poster didn't have the same.?

 

The lack of turndown service could have been because we were on NCLA. I'm looking forward to the NCL cruise we have coming up (to the Bahamas) to see the differences there might be.

[dogo88]

As folks can tell from my past cruise list it's been 20+ years since I've been on an NCL ship. We left then because the level of service, food, drinks, accommodations, and general product "hawking" was not up to HAL. I also believe there is no such think as a bad cruise and we had a great time on every one we went on. We just liked HAL better and we not willing to take a chance of a lesser cruise quality.

 

I also believe that those that go on NCL now and repeat cruises like what they have to offer. And if you like it and want to go again, I think that's a great thing.

 

Friends of ours want to do the Hawaii cruise next year, so for the past six months or so, I've been reading the NCL forum. Looking for info, past folks experiences, good and bad, what's available and just general information. I must say that I have not been impressed with what I've read. And while the trip has not been booked, I don't get that "warm and fuzzy" feeling about NCL.

 

What continually concerns me is the number of posts by unsatisfied cruisers for both NCL and NCLA. Folks that have a good time are going to be had in all trips, otherwise the line would die. The grumblers are, to me, the telling issue. I invariably see one, sometime more, problem threads while perusing the NCL thread. Yet when I go to HAL I find noticeably less grumbling.

 

So will you have a good time on NCL, I think so. Would it be better than HAL, not so sure.

[Nekochan]

With NCL, I pretty much feel that if you book a suite, you'll enjoy it. Otherwise, you are in steerage - makes it difficult to get reservations at the restaurants and so forth. I've been on 2 Celebrity and 2 NCL cruises. The service and food on Celebrity was way superior. I was disappointed in the GEM - a ship that sails year round from NY without an indoor pool, no movie theater, no movies in the cabin unless you pay 12.95 for a rental, constant nickel and diming. They didn't even have water available on their private island unless you were willing to pay for a bottle. They charged the kids to play foosball and air hockey (the tables were in the kids play area, not the arcade), and they were understaffed at many of their activities. (they had only one person at the rock climbing wall - by the time he got the releases signed and the first 4 kids helmeted and harnessed, it was 45 minutes before the first kid got to climb the wall)

[chrisbd1]

With NCL, I pretty much feel that if you book a suite, you'll enjoy it. Otherwise, you are in steerage - makes it difficult to get reservations at the restaurants and so forth. I've been on 2 Celebrity and 2 NCL cruises. The service and food on Celebrity was way superior. I was disappointed in the GEM - a ship that sails year round from NY without an indoor pool, no movie theater, no movies in the cabin unless you pay 12.95 for a rental, constant nickel and diming. They didn't even have water available on their private island unless you were willing to pay for a bottle. They charged the kids to play foosball and air hockey (the tables were in the kids play area, not the arcade), and they were understaffed at many of their activities. (they had only one person at the rock climbing wall - by the time he got the releases signed and the first 4 kids helmeted and harnessed, it was 45 minutes before the first kid got to climb the wall)

 

I've never traveled in a suite or above and I've never felt like I was steerage. Every crew person I've deal with has been friendly and helpful. I've never had an issue making reservations-never had to get up at 8 am to do so. You can bring your own water. What 'nickle and dining' ?

 

For some people, paying more for a cruise that has an indoor pool, movie theater and in cabin movies are worth it. I don't care about any of these things. If these things matter to you, then I can see how you could be disappointed.

[Atomica]

My last cruise on NCL was a mixed bag of things. On the one hand, the ship (the Sun) was beautiful, the entertainment was great, and there was always plenty to do. Bar staff were easily as friendly as on HAL, and our cabin was comfortable & well laid out.

 

The few things that irked me were the inconsistent dining room service (ranging from fantastic one night to downright awful the next), a mixup with port officials that saw us spending only 3 hours docked in Ketchikan (someone forgot to file the paperwork!), and a disembarkation procedure that's still the worst I've ever experienced.

 

However, with the new Freestyle 2.0 enhancements being rolled out, and some truly spectacular looking new ships, I'd give NCL a try again. They're really trying hard to improve their product, and I can't fault them for that. I did enjoy my cruise, and there's something about NCL & their ships that makes you want to come back again.

 

At the very least, it's worth giving them a try to see if you like them.

[welove2cruise232]

I see another cruise snob among us: everyone has his/her own opinion which is what these boards are about but Nordstrom/Sears, give me a break. It is views like yours that keep so many of us from cruising the so called premium lines.

 

My opinion and I too have cruised every mass marketed line is they are more similar than different. Food is subjective but Golden Corral, I am surprised you would know what Golden Corral is like.

 

Pushing Bingo, I guess we must have sailed different ships, we have never felt pressured to buy Bingo cards. I do think the price for Bingo is out of line.

 

Now to the OP, we have 2 favorite lines: NCL and HAL, obviously for different reasons;

 

HAL offers; nicer and larger cabins

better room service menu including full breakfast

slightly better food, with the buffet being much better

more elegent

better library

lower drink prices

more refined passengers

 

NCL offers: better variety in dining including more sur charge dining rooms

better eggs benedict

more flexibility

a choice as to formal or non formal wear

better entertainment

not better service, but more relaxed service with more smiles

much better casinos

bigger mixture of ages and demographics overall making for a more interesting and fun group.

 

We love the elegance of the HAL ships and our room steward was outstanding but we like the flexibility and energy offered on the newer NCL ships.

 

If price is similar or NCL better give them a try. Even if you end up feeling you want to eat in the sur charge restaurants more than one night, you will still get a travel bargain.

 

Nita

 

I have to agree with most of what Nita says -- after 12 cruises on NCL we tried HAL (Noordam) in October -- and again in March, for no other reason than there weren't any comparable sailings on NCL out of NYC for the price we got. Entertainment is FAR superior on NCL. Service was comparable, as was the food (in our opinion). We missed the different dining venues. Thought the buffet was actually comparable to NCL in variety and quality. With 2.0, NCL will have a better room service menu (LOVE HAL's!). Didn't notice that the drink prices were less on HAL. Veranda cabin a little larger than on the newer NCL ships (but we had an aft for both our Noordam sailings, which is far superior to any side balcony on any ship, as far as we're concerned!). There were some quirky things on HAL that had me puzzled, most notably crew members (mostly entertainment staff) sitting at the bars drinking (one night the whole HALCats band was at the Queen's Grill bar -- do you think they'd get up and let a paying passenger sit down??:mad: ). Another time I SWEAR the bartender was totally blitzed -- on duty :eek: .

 

We would sail HAL again if the itinerary and price were right, but we can't WAIT to get back on an NCL ship -- we miss our perks as well as the more relaxed atmosphere and better mix of people!

[Hamilton9]

I like both HA and NCL.

 

I like HA for the little things.

 

Great mattress and bedding

Robes

Daily news article booklet

Bigger servings at dinner and better selection.

Full breakfast room service menu

Yum Yum man

Free appetizerrs with your before dinner drink

Wine cards by the glass

[riz]

We cruise HAL and NCL evenly - the decision is usually based on timing, availability, itinerary and price.

 

We love the aft suites on HAL, the service is great and it is very consistent regardless of who you are and what room you are in. The food is very good, but that really is subjective.

 

We like NCL for the choices when it comes to dining. Where when and what. Suites are great but outdoor space is very important to me and they don't have the super sized balconies like some of the Vista class suites. Which brings me to the main reason we choose NCL - Suite service. "NO" is not in the vocabulary. Whatever you want or need they will make it happen.

 

I recently did a short cruise on the Westerdam - only a month after my cruise on the Pearl. As much as I enjoyed both ships and cruises - the one thing we did notice was the difficulty in getting reservations for dinner - both at the specialty restaurant on HAL and for As You Wish dining in the main dining room. We wound up eating in the buffet more than we would have liked to. The concierge on HAL really had no pull - where we had been so spoiled by our NCL concierge a month prior. He would have made it snow had we asked for it :)

[Got2Cruise]

I like both HA and NCL.

 

I like HA for the little things.

 

Great mattress and bedding

Robes

Daily news article booklet

Bigger servings at dinner and better selection.

Full breakfast room service menu

Yum Yum man

Free appetizerrs with your before dinner drink

Wine cards by the glass

 

Some of the things that you love about HAL, NCL is bringing with Freestyle 2.0. The bedding is being updated, and the room service menu is being improved. They always had robes if you asked for them. The Yum Yum man, I have no clue what he is LOL. Wine cards by the glass and free appetizers is something I would love to try, NCL does have a wine bottle program, and a free beer deal. I had no idea that HAL has its own version of freestyle now. I guess all the lines are going in this direction.