Your First HAL Cruise

[hammybee]

I was looking for a big ship experience ( imagine that),having sailed with Orient ,( pre NCL ownership).

[sail7seas]

Which was your first HAL ship, Hammy?

[carosave]

My first HAL cruise was our honeymoon...and dh picked it...I am not sure how or why. It might have something to do with the fact that when he mentioned a cruise...I said no, thanks, I did one on Carnival and wasn't impressed. We went for 10 days on the Volendam--Southern Carribbean, and suddenly I am a cruiser!! It is so true, too, what many say...it doesn't matter what happens on land--once you are back on that HAL ship, you breathe a sigh of relief and homecoming:D!

[kyriecat]

I wanted a longer than 7 day Caribbean cruise. Hubby and I had booked RC's Empress of the Seas in 5/06 for 4/08 sailing but after having the reservation for almost a year, RC called to cancel the sailing. We switched to Med for '08 trip and booked X's Galaxy (also owned by RC) in 5/07 for the 4/09 sailing. Well, RC called me the day before we were scheduled to fly to Rome for our Med cruise to say they canceled our cruise. RC's rep meant the Galaxy cruise but she wasn't clear so I thought it was the Med cruise and completely freaked out. After a couple minutes she finally mentioned Caribbean and I figured out what she was talking about. ANOTHER canceled Caribbean cruise. RC wasn't offering any 8+ night sailings from Florida or Puerto Rico as a replacement so we got our deposit back.

 

When we got back from our Med cruise, hubby and I were frustrated with RC due to late ports and poor service onboard. We still wanted a 8+ night Caribbean cruise for next year which both HAL and Princess offered. We decided we liked the HAL itinerary a little better and booked it. We have a few months to wait before we decide whether we stick with HAL or try another cruiseline.

[cf_chuck]

For me it was a matter of happenstance. I wanted to go to Bermuda within a specific window and with a reasonable reach to the port. This was in Aug. '82. Given the parameters, the TA came up with a HAL cruise which fit exactly the parameters out of NY. Since then, HAL has been my preferred line. Kismet.

[AlohaPride]

Ours was on the Noordam. Her first Christmas out of NY. It was absolutely magical! HAL was suggested by our (horrible) TA at the time. Suggesting HAL was the best thing she ever did for us. DH is reluctant to look at cruising with any other line. I know with 2 kids that Disney is in our future, but HAL will always make our hearts skip a beat :)

[CrystalLady]

My father booked our first Holland America voyage - trans-Atlantic from Hoboken to Rotterdam, August 12, 1952 aboard the (1938) Nieuw Amsterdam.

[cruisinjudy]

Our first HAL cruise was Statendam in 2002. We had cruised since the 80s but as a teacher my time off was limited to summers mostly. I knew I wanted to try HAL but they were only in Mexico out of San Diego while I was teaching so when I retired our first cruise was Statendam 10 day to Mexico.

[DeepWaterMariner]

After getting married I told my wife to enjoy the honeymoon because it would be a long time before we could afford another vacation. The next year she found a 6 day cruise on the Rotterdam V that cost us $390 total. That was in 1971. We had an inside cabin with upper and lower berths. It was like a second honeymoon in tighter quarters and remains one of our favorite trips ever...now some 60 cruises later.

[Cruising-along]

Our first HAL cruise was our first cruise ever, in 2004, Alaska. Living near Seattle, it seemed natural to try Alaska first. ;)

 

Never thought I'd be interested in cruising, but it only took that one time to hook me, and I've never looked back --- HAL every time.

 

The reason we chose HAL is my parents had sailed HAL a few times and I knew they'd liked it. Glad I followed their advice!

[djhsolara]

We just happened upon HAL. We do most of our travel arrangements via online services and often do last minute plans. Two years ago we knew we wanted to do a cruise (our first) and we really didn't know where to go. We had done all of our research and had limited it down to HAL, Princess or Norwegian (based on what we read online).

 

It had basically come down to the wire for us to get our reservations made...we were two weeks out from the time that we had planned off work. We were looking at a Westerdam sailing, however it was completely sold out. Suddenly one evening when I was online I found there was an opening on this sailing. I called the online service and the agent told me that we got the last stateroom available (don't know if that was the truth or not...but it worked for us). We were thrilled and felt that we paid a very fair price for our VB stateroom especially considering that it was only two weeks out.

 

That is how we got to HAL...and will be on our third HAL sailing in February. We still enjoy some land-based vacations (as we are Disney-holics) but have taken very well to cruising and will probably be planning one per year or every other year going forward. We feel that cruising is such a value for the money spent and the experience on HAL is wonderful and equivalent to many higher-end land-based experiences...and what a wonderful way to get a mini-taste of many different places that you may want to go back and visit for an extended period sometime.

[mudscraper]

Our first HAL cruise was this past Feb.-14 days on the Veendam.

This was our 12th cruise . We went with four couples that have cruised HAL previously and told us we would enjoy the HAL experience.

What can I say? The staff,the ship,the food,were wonderful.

We`re planning our next HAL cruise at this time.

 

Rich

[hammybee]

Which was your first HAL ship, Hammy?

 

Noordam 3

[sealovers]

We sailed our first HAL cruise to Alaska this fall after increasing disappointment with RCCL. I guess the RCCL cruise in January of 2008 did it for us. We discovered that they had taken some things away (such as robes) in the regular balcony cabins, but would furnish them to you as a bonus if you were a member of their x, y, or z club based on the number of cruises you had with them. Also, we noticed the service on this line, for us, had progressively degraded to basically, no service. We have sailed on some beautiful RCCL ships, but the more we cruise, the more we realize there is so much more to a wonderful cruise than the 'latest and greatest'! It was time for HAL, as I had read so many wonderful things about the cruiseline, the crew's willingness to please, as well as a less 'wild' atmosphere. Our first HAL cruise was wonderful, so we are now booked to sail, less than 3 months later, on the same wonderful ship, the beautiful Westerdam in a warmer climate! Only HAL henceforth!:)

[iancal]

Itinerary, Value for Money. First was Westerdam. We have been on other lines, other ships.. HAL has a good product-comparable to Celebrity and Princess in our limited exposure to HAL. Will we sail on HAL again..yes if the itinerary is right for us, if the price is right, and if the market picks up a little. We find that within cruise lines, there can be a large difference beween ships. And the crew can make a huge difference.

[GarySuzy]

I was looking for a 10+ day cruise to celebrate our 31st anniversary and my DW B'Day (due to work commitments the year before we did not celebrate our 30th). I found the Maasdam sailing out of Norfolk for 11 days and decided to try it. We fell in love with the size of the ship and the crew so had to try it some more to make sure we liked it. We did the Oosterdam Mexican Riveria and Volendam southern Caribbean and are about to try the Ryndam in 3 weeks. So far we have not been disappointed.:D

[Koshlong]

Okay, we've always been a little backward. Our daughter and a twenty-something teacher friend went on a HAL cruise for their spring break. (I suspect they enjoyed not sailing with 1000 kids). When we wanted to sail to Alaska, she insisted that we would like the line. We booked; she was right; and we were hooked.

[jschm27]

For our first cruise, I wanted something more elegant than the "Love Boat". We were originally booked on RCL to Alaska, but canceled due to conflicts with the date. We rebooked on VEENDAM. We are now booked for our second cruise which is also on HAL.

 

John

[Atomica]

Here comes the stereotype: when I was a young teenager, my grandma and grandpa (there's the stereotype!) gave me a Holland America Alaska brochure and a mug after they'd returned from a cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam.

 

I hadn't been on a cruise yet, but I was fascinated with cruise ships & I read that brochure cover to cover - I knew I wanted to take a HAL cruise someday.

 

By the time I was ready to take my first HAL cruise in 2005, most of the ships in that brochure - Niew Amsterdam & Rotterdam V - were both gone, but the MS Oosterdam was practically new & calling my name :D

 

Someday I hope to be able to sail on every line at least once (and some a lot more!)

[legalslave]

My first HAL cruise was 11/99 on the old Westerdam. I had only been on 1 prior cruise and that was in 1986 on RCCL Sun Viking. My husband wasn't thrilled about the idea of taking a cruise. We had enough Marriott reward points to take a free cruise, not including taxes. Choices were HAL or Carnival. I heard many great things about HAL and chose the HAL cruise. I loved the service and everything else. My husband loved the service, food and relaxation. He'd still rather use his limited vacation time for golf trips. However, he has mentioned he wouldn't mind taking some cruises when we retire. I have been on 8 cruises since then and 4 were on HAL. DH will be sailing with me on the Westerdam in May for Alaska. I can't wait until he sees the differences betweeen the old Westerdam and the new Westerdam, especially the staterooms. The old Westerdam didn't have verandas and we had a large outside cabin which he thought was fine, except for having to put his leg in the bathtub to use the throne. He said all he cares about is we have a cabin where he won't have to put his leg in the bathtub to take care of business and there better be ice cream. No problem w/bathroom request as we'll be in an SY. I love that stateroom category. I don't have the nerve to tell him they have probably discontinued the lobster tails as he may decide not to go. Hope they don't discontinue the ice cream!

 

Diane

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful stories.

Thanks for sharing.

[rebeljohn]

First HAL cruise was on the Zaandam, Nov. '03. Found a REALLY cheap deal out of Port Canaveral. One of our daughters went with us, poor girl, and was, by far, the youngest passenger on board(23). She had no one her age to hang out with but the crew's entertainment staff. She had a good time though, and joined us last Nov. on the Zuiderdam for her honeymoon cruise..............

[Yaya&Papu]

It was the summer of 2002 and we found an itinerary sailing the Mediterranean that we liked. We had been doing bus tours of European countries and river cruises in Europe and wanted to see more of the southern part of Europe. This cruise was from Rome to Barcelona with stops in Dubrovnic, Corfu, Malta, St.Tropez and Menorca. The ports seemed "exotic" to us, the time was good (10 nights plus 3 more in Barcelona), and the price was fair. We so enjoyed the food and service, that we became hooked on cruising. We choose by itinerary and do not care to repeat too many ports and have found that HAL offers many that we would enjoy.