HAL or NCL

[ludari]

I've never sailed on NCL but when I sailed HAL to Alaska and San Diego in 2010 on a B2B cruise and at 42 I definitely felt like I was one of the younger passengers on board the ship with the exception of the one child on board. The older crowd on the ship didn't bother me at all since I was consumed with enjoying myself and in fact my cruise to Alaska was one of the best cruises I every had (more the destination and not the ship). I'm very active as well and usually go scuba diving, kayaking, bicycle riding, zip lining, etc. when I cruise so one perk about cruising with an older crowd is that booking those type of active port adventures on my Alaskan cruise was easy considering most people did not book them. I will have to agree that the nightclubs/bars on the ship in the evening where practically empty and most of the senior crowd seem to hang around the pool areas or library on the ship. I also noticed that when the ship experienced a day of rough waters I practically had the ship to myself since I don't get seasick. If you have any specific questions that I missed please asks.

 

[Shanti]

I've never sailed on NCL but when I sailed HAL to Alaska and San Diego in 2010 on a B2B cruise and at 42 I definitely felt like I was one of the younger passengers on board the ship with the exception of the one child on board. The older crowd on the ship didn't bother me at all since I was consumed with enjoying myself and in fact my cruise to Alaska was one of the best cruises I every had (more the destination and not the ship). I'm very active as well and usually go scuba diving, kayaking, bicycle riding, zip lining, etc. when I cruise so one perk about cruising with an older crowd is that booking those type of active port adventures on my Alaskan cruise was easy considering most people did not book them. I will have to agree that the nightclubs/bars on the ship in the evening where practically empty and most of the senior crowd seem to hang around the pool areas or library on the ship. I also noticed that when the ship experienced a day of rough waters I practically had the ship to myself since I don't get seasick. If you have any specific questions that I missed please asks.

Regarding when you sailed on HAL, do you remember what it's television programming was like? Do they have movies on demand or anything like that?

 

[ludari]

Regarding when you sailed on HAL, do you remember what it's television programming was like? Do they have movies on demand or anything like that?

From my recollection the television programming as greatly lacking and they did not offer any movies on demand. I do remember the library offering to check out DVD's but I hope these issues have be upgraded since it's been 8 years since I cruised. I would be surprised if they have not.

 

[Meriweather]

Haven't been on NCL.
2 HAL cruises....really enjoyed them both
2 Princess cruises, my least favorite cruise line of the ones we have been on
3 Celebrity.....like them a lot
6 or 7 RCCL.....my go to cruise line. Always been good and a lot less money than Disney
5 Disney cruise....love them, but $$$ 6 and 7 are booked

 

[SleepyDeb]

Following up. We're going on the NCL Getaway Jan 28. Miami..Costa Maya..Harvest Caye, Roatan, Cozumel, Miami.

I'll let you know what I think of NCL vs DCL later.

 

[KVH]

Good luck. Hopefully you'll get a Norwegian captain with better judgment than this one.