WESTERN CARIBBEAN - NCL or HAL??

[WinterCruisin']

My husband and I are looking to take a 7 day cruise to the Western Caribbean in Dec. 07. I am torn between which cruise line to take for the itinerary we want. We have a choice of either NCL or HAL. HAL is more expensive, but I'm wondering if it is really worth the $$ to take this cruise instead of NCL?

[Richard & Mary]

WinterCruising:

What NCL ship(s) are you considering and what ports of call interest you?

Western Caribbean will mostly take in Belize, Costa Maya Mexico, Jamacia, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Progresso Mexico, Playa De Carmen-(Cancun).

We are avid cruisers on NCL and may be able to answer a few questions as we have sailed the caribbean on NCL Jewel, NCL Dream, NCL Pearl. Also Grand Princess and Carnival.

Advise.

[f-mattox]

Hello WinterCruisin', and welcome to cruise-chat;
I'm sure we all have our favorites as far as lines, ships, itineraries, but it's hard to make a recommendation to somebody else without knowing anything about them; if you are mid-twenties and very active Holland America would not be a good match; if you are mid-seventies you might hate NCL.
It would help to know a little about you; or better yet, get together with a good travel agent that knows cruises and work through it with them.
Whatever you decide, have a wonderful cruise.

[arckac]

I am in my early 50's and my wife in her 40's and we have a 10 year old. We have only been on one NCL Cruise (Dawn) and for our money they should not be mentioned in the same post as HAL (7 cruises). I have never seen a cruise line have a rep for an older croud than HAL does. If you go off season (kids in school) all cruise lines will have an older crowd. When school is out, the HAL ships, especially the Vista class ships, are as vibrant and energized as any other cruise ship.

Originally posted by WinterCruisin':
My husband and I are looking to take a 7 day cruise to the Western Caribbean in Dec. 07. I am torn between which cruise line to take for the itinerary we want. We have a choice of either NCL or HAL. HAL is more expensive, but I'm wondering if it is really worth the $$ to take this cruise instead of NCL?

[f-mattox]

Hate to nit-pick but, "Should we take NCL or HAL ...?" is not a question that can be answered "yes" or "no"; although we know what you are getting at. And even more insteresting is that two people voted.

[f-mattox]

Well, after reconsidering, I can see where you could answer yes or no; you could say, yes, you should take NCL or HAl; or no, you should not take NCL or HAL; but I don't think that is what you are asking.

In the words of Emily Litella, "Never mind!"

[Chef Ken]

Bagel or Muffin hmm. In the words of Edith Ann, (of laugh in) "and that's the truth, phrffggf!"

BTW FM don't look now but your tickers are showing.

[thomas stanton]

I will vote for HAL. Simply because I prefer that line over NCL.Just my preferance of the two.

[thomas stanton]

Originally posted by thomas stanton:
I will vote for HAL. Simply because I prefer that line over NCL.Just my preference of the two.

[f-mattox]

Chef Ken, the ticker problems seem to have been solved, so it was time to put 'em back up.

By the way, somebody asked about what time zone the tickers are set to--I believe it is GMT; I subtracted 8 hours from GMT to get PST and it worked out perfectly.