Holland America Line

[silver1]

I've found a great itinerary for HAL next year, anyone sailed with HAL before?

[P1TKL]

I've found a great itinerary for HAL next year, anyone sailed with HAL before?


I have a friend who always sails HAL...she loves it. Wheres this one going to then ?

[sueB]

Ooh tell us more Kerry! whistlesm

I think Anthea's off with HAL to Japan next year.....not sure if anyone else has been with them confusedsmi

[silver1]

This is a .......wait for it.......20 nighter!!!!!! ohsohappyfrom Rome doing the Western & Eastern Med, great price, but not sure if we can have 3 weeks off work yet. whistlesm

[P1TKL]

This is a .......wait for it.......20 nighter!!!!!! ohsohappyfrom Rome doing the Western & Eastern Med, great price, but not sure if we can have 3 weeks off work yet. whistlesm

Wow !!! 20 nights....I would like it and so would the boys...DH has had enough after about 10 nights though....he`s a home bird...so we`re complete opposites really...but they do say opposites attract I suppose !!!!

[bonzy]

Yes me!!!!!!!!! I am going for 14 nights to China,HK, S. Korea and Japan.

I havebeen on HAL once before.....very good......nice touches.....like a sort of Xylophone to summon you to dinner!!!!!!!It was my second cruise....so it will be interesting to see my opinion now after doing quite a few cruises on other lines.

[millyman]

This is a .......wait for it.......20 nighter!!!!!! ohsohappyfrom Rome doing the Western & Eastern Med, great price, but not sure if we can have 3 weeks off work yet. whistlesm


surprisesmi...I'm sorry but that's just greedy!!!.........giggle......20 nights!!!!roflmao

[silver1]

surprisesmi...I'm sorry but that's just greedy!!!.........giggle......20 nights!!!!roflmao
roflmaoroflmao Would be even better if we had a suitewhistlesm

[chezza]

Are you allowed extra cases for the extra clothes.

How many formal nights will you have on a 20 night cruise ?

chez
:)

[Cruise Fairy]

Yes, I sailed with HAL on Zuiderdam to the Caribbean- it was very nice.
When I got back I started reading more about them and they have the reputation over here anyway of having a very old clientele (specially if sailing from South Florida- which is called Heaven's waiting room by lots here roflmao) and being very quiet on the entertainment front.... closing up everything at 10pm, so don't be surprised if you see those comments- all I can say is we had a great time and I'm glad I didn't read those reviewers before I sailed with them or it would have put me off. I sailed with two DGS in July and it was packed with families and there was lots to do.
They have a new ship the Eurodam- is that the one you are thinking of?


DGS recalls it as one of his best cruises as he won 3 times at Bingo......

[bonzy]

I did HAL in europe and did not find the passengers that old at all.There was lots of entertainment too. Infact I classify that cruise one of my best!!!!

[mimlloyd]

I've been twice on Royal Caribbean and really enjoyed them. Is HAL much different? Are there plenty of places to dine if you don't want to do 'formal?' We don't bother with the formal nights.

[silver1]

I did HAL in europe and did not find the passengers that old at all.There was lots of entertainment too. Infact I classify that cruise one of my best!!!!

The ship we are looking at is a Vista class, which has good facilities for children & teens so would attract families. The more I read, the more I like the sound of HAL. We love the formal nights so are quite happy to have a couple of formal nights a week.

Dh wont know yet if he can take the 3 weeks needed, if not they do a fab 12 day out of Venice ending in Barcellona, so that could be an option toohappysm

[bonzy]

We are going on Volendam .the cruise sets off from hong Kong.
We went in 2000 on the old Noordam .... and I had such fun.

[silver1]

We are going on Volendam .the cruise sets off from hong Kong.
We went in 2000 on the old Noordam .... and I had such fun.
Bonzy, your cruise sounds fantastic!!happysm. I would love to do a cruise to the far east, perhaps when the children have flown the nest & we retirewhistlesm

[silver1]

Are you allowed extra cases for the extra clothes.

How many formal nights will you have on a 20 night cruise ?

chez
:)Chezza looking at the boards it would seem that there are 6 formal nightshappysm

[Cruise Fairy]

I've been twice on Royal Caribbean and really enjoyed them. Is HAL much different? Are there plenty of places to dine if you don't want to do 'formal?' We don't bother with the formal nights.

The only thing I noticed was that their ships are just not pretty from the outside- (onboard is fine)- they all have the same look, upper part white, lower black, and not much external WOW factor- take a look at some photos, you'll see what I mean - compared to RCCL ships anyway.

Vista class are mid-sized, so not too bad on the walking.... we liked the exterior elevators, they take you from sea level up to top deck, on the outside, with fantastic views of the sea and you feel like you're coming down into the wake as you descend. The boys liked that.

Plenty of places to eat, we don't do formal either.

[mimlloyd]

I might have a look at HALs itineraries then. We've done RCCL Caribbean and Europe and want to book another Caribbean cruise for the winter of 2009, but there's not a RCCL itinerary that grabs us for the dates we can go. We've either been to some of islands before or there's more days at sea than stopping at islands.

[Cruise Fairy]

Princess also does some nice winter Caribbean cruises.