Your First HAL Cruise

[Krazy Kruizers]

Why or what made you book your first HAL cruise??

Did someone suggest HAL to you??

[ekerr19]

My parents, lol!!! They took my brother and I in 1984 - on the old Noordam.

 

Fell in love with it. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

We were in Vanouver for a few days -- going to take an NCL Alaskan cruise -- back in 1995.

 

We had been staying at the Pan Pacific and each morning we would go out and watch the ships as they came in. One morning this beautiful ship sailed in. We loved the looks of her. While standing there we yelled over to a couple enjoying their last cup of coffe out on their verandah before leaving the ship and asked how Holland America was -- how was their cabin -- how was the crew, etc. We knew then that our next cruise would be on HAL.

 

After we got home we headed to our TA. Booked the Maasdam for 1996 for the Baltic for 12 days. We loved it!! We loved the ship!! The crew!!! Everything!!

[DMorris]

Mine was in 2006... found an awesome deal for an SA category for a 7 day caribbean sailing. We loved the pampering, the ship and the crew. Decided to do another HAL cruise this year. My parents have sailed in HAL a few times so took their suggestion to try it.

[matondo]

We wanted to take our first cruise for our 25th anniversary. My sister is a veteran cruiser and I asked her which cruise line she suggested. She thought HAL would be the best fit for us and she was right. Haven't tried anyone else. We talked MIL and her husband into trying HAL for their first cruise as well. We sail 11-30-08 we know they will love it.

[wxtrix]

after we took our first cruise, we decided that we wanted to get married on a cruise ship, and after our first choice was cancelled due to the ship's being assigned a new route (we were going to re-sail the Norwegian Pearl), I started doing research. I found the right itinerary at the right price, and the fact that HAL's wedding planners have an option to accommodate those of us who are eloping sealed the deal. we can't wait to sail in a little under 3 weeks!

[takemewithyou]

We had relatives that we used to sail with. They were die-hard Princess people. We could never get them to sail anything else, so we went along. Finally, my DH got tired of the large ships and the lack of nice public areas on the Princess ships - we always felt crowded and in herds of people. We finally worked on the relatives to sail HAL in 2003 and we've been hooked ever since. They had to admit HAL ships were a lot nicer, less crowded and more elegant. We all like the bathrooms better.

[CowPrincess]

I'd always wanted to do an Alaska cruise, and a TA held an info evening about HAL Alaska cruises. I bought my ticket the next day, even though the TA kept saying things like "It'll be an older crowd" and "HAL is known to be quite low-key". I think she thought I was looking for the Love Boat. After the THIRD trip she sold me to Alaska, she'd figured out she'd initially been wrong.

[ViolaSwamp]

For me it's the timing, itinerary, and price. We were limited as to the available week we could sail. We've already done Western Caribbean twice, so we wanted something new. We also didn't want to spend a million dollars. The 1/2/09 Maasdam sailing fit our criteria the best of any! :cool:

[sail7seas]

Our first cruise was Royal Princess. We knew right away we loved cruising and had a wonderful time on that ship but felt it wasn't exactly what we wanted. This was long before we had internet.

 

Friends urged us to sail with them on the then brand new Monarch of the Seas. We had fun but knew we would never return to RCCL, as it was then named, and we never did.

 

Other friends sailed from time to time and kept mentioning HAL. At that time, HAL consisted of Nieuw Amsterdam, Westerdam, Noordam and Rotterdam V.

 

We booked Noordam, were aboard about an hour and we knew we had found the perfect match of cruiseline for us. We enjoyed a sailaway drink in Piet Hein Lounge, watched and listened, and knew we would love that crew and we did.

 

Noordam was not the perfect ship for us as her vibration bothered me but that is when they brought out Statendam. We sailed her immediately and HAL has never been able to get rid of us since. :)

[ctcruisedream]

My first HAL cruise was my 6th cruise and I booked it because the Noordam sailed out of Manhattan in March '07, the price was right (even though I was involved in the 'pricing error' fiasco), no airfare, and I wanted to sail by the Statue of Liberty!

[Roz]

My first cruise ever was on HAL, and it happened quite by accident. I booked as part of a group walking tour. Many of us who belong to the national walking organization have a goal of walking in all 50 states. It just so happened that one of the members is a TA, and she put together the group cruise on HAL's Statendam so that club members could walk in Alaska.

 

My girlfriend had to do a little arm-twisting to get me to sign up for the trip. All I ever heard people talk about, who had been on cruises, was how much they ate. These remarks were usually coming from the same people who consider Ryan’s Steakhouse to be fine dining. :D My point to my girlfriend was, if our objective was to eat, why didn’t we just meet in Chicago one weekend and eat our way through the city? She patiently explained to me that there was more to cruising than just eating. I reluctantly agreed to go, mostly because I thought this would be my first and only opportunity to walk in Alaska.

 

That was in 2001 and I've been cruising (mostly on HAL) ever since.

 

Roz

[Boytjie]

We had planned a land vacation to the Pacific Northwest flying out of New York on 9/13/2001. Well, obviously that got cancelled. We intended going back some day.

 

In 2007 went on our first cruise on the Caribbean Princess, an RSVP charter. Things worked out that we could spend some time in the Pacific Northwest after Labor Day 2007 and I just happened to notice that RSVP had a charter on the Amsterdam out of Seattle. How convenient. :D

 

Since our Alaska cruise we have also been on the Zuiderdam this past February and will be on the Eurodam next February - all RSVP charters.

[Bramcruiser]

My first HAL cruise came about in 2005 after an 11 year absence from being on a cruise ship. We thought our first experience was just okay but nothing to make us say...."we got to keep cruising"! What got me interested in returning to a cruise that year was my employer's receptionist who was a cruise junkie and who regaled me with her tales of her many adventures. One day I finally decided that maybe I should look into doing a cruise again.

 

How it became HAL was simply by accident. I wasn't sure what length or price range I was willing to afford but I found a repositioning cruise on the west coast that peaked my interest. First, I never knew what a repositioning cruise was and I thought it awfully strange that cruise ships did the Pacific Northwest outside of Alaska. Secondly, it was a HAL cruise and I recall seeing such ships parked in Vancouver on previous trips to that wonderful city. Therefore, I thought the price was right, the location great for a re-start and went for it.

 

By the way....the cruise was awesome and I have since become a cruise junkie. Thanks HAL for starting an addiction.:D

 

David

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks everyone for your wonderful replies.

I have enjoyed reading them.

We have all found HAL by various means.

[ocngypz]

I had no say in the matter. My father booked it. And my grandfather booked Dad's first HAL sailing too.... in 1922!

[Jemima]

2002 Cruise Critic? Our first cruise was supposed to be a 10 day one on a cruiseline that has since folded. We weren't sure we'd like cruising, cancelled and booked a short Carnival cruise. Yes, we liked cruising! I researched online, read message boards and decided HAL would be right for us. My TA said was HAL too old for us and just the wrong choice. (She never has sailed on a HAL ship.) We insisted and have been sailing HAL once or twice a year since then. We've also gone on a couple of group cruises on Carnival or Princess, but very much prefer HAL.

[FoxyTerrier]

My father's elderly Aunt Helen sailed on Holland America many times and mostly on those long 2-3 month cruises. She sailed so often on HAL it got to the point she would only sail if she could sit at the captain's table everynight. Many times she would be told that just isn't possible and she wouldn't book until they changed their mind. As you could probably guess she was diffucult to please.:rolleyes:

 

In 2001 my parents wanted to take the family on a big trip for their 50th and when the idea of a cruise came up my dad said if Aunt Helen liked Holland American it must be good.

 

We've been hooked ever since.

 

RIP Aunt Helen - hope you are cruising about in heaven.

 

BTW - I've never seen a captain's table on my 8 HAL cruises - do they still do this?

[sail7seas]

I have never known HAL to have a Captain's Table every night of a cruise. When (if) they have one, it is on formal nights. We've never been on a cruise when the Captain came to the dining room every evening. Doesn't mean it didn't happen. Just means we never saw it.

 

There are very much fewer Captain's Tables being done in recent years than used to be.

 

[Travalerie]

I sail with HAL for the first time in 4 days. I picked HAL because I have tried a few other cruise lines and have heard about the elegance of HAL. We are very low key people, and a more sedate, less hectic experience is ideal for us. We were supposed to do Alaska in May and just felt my little one was too young as we got closer, so I looked at the Caribbean in the fall and found the Eurodam. I am excited to give HAL a try.

[eldercruser]

Our first cruise on HAL was also our very first cruise experience. It was in 1988. I saw an offer for "special rates" in our employee newspaper. The time frame fit my vacation time so we went for it. It was another seven years before we were able to take our second one. We have enjoyed all fourteen of them and are looking forward to our 15th in February.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

In ancient times our first cruise was on the old Prinsendam in 1978 in conjuction with a Westours Tour of Alaska. In recent times our first cruise on HAL was on the Ryndam in 2005 - the Sea of Cortez itinerary sparked our interest and we have been hooked ever since.

 

Barbara

[usha]

After having been on 13 Celebrity cruises (which I LOVED:D )

and one Princess cruise (that was pretty so-so:rolleyes: ),

I was hesitant to try any other "new" cruise line.

But my youngest daughter (who was 24 at the time) & I

were looking for a nice 7 night Caribbean cruise, and

the deal I found on Oosterdam was too good to pass up.

With great trepidation, I booked us on that sailing, and

we both really liked it!:)

I wouldn't say that HAL is now my favorite cruise line,

but it's a close runner-up!:o

[cheshire cat]

We are embarking on our first HAL cruise in January(cruise # 6). I have heard such good things about HAL that I wanted to give them a try. Also the itinerary and the fact it was leaving from San Diego sealed the deal.

Irene.

[Moonlight Beach]

My husband had been working out of the country for a year. We decided to have a nice vacation when he returned in 2005. We were going to Australia that fall and didn't want to travel abroad (since he had just been abroad for a year...no brainer!). We started planning while he was still overseas and somehow we starting talking about a cruise. He did a lot of research and would call me and we would sit and look at the internet together, me at home and he on the other side of the world. It was the itinerary (10 day Eastern Carribean on the Volendam) and the photos of the SA suites that made the choice for us. Now it's HAL all the way. The only bad thing is that we started out in a deluxe suite. Makes it difficult to book anything else, but we have...and just being onboard is good enough for me!