You're right about the itineraries. It's one one the main reasons why, in the past, I have booked HAL over Celebrity. My next cruise is on Westerdam Jan 4 Sydney/Singapore. I had done a similar cruise on HAL Volemdam and the itinerary is different again with ports to which I have not previoulsy been.
Which triggered a memory of a maintenance issue on Volendam somewhere between Darwin and Indonesia. One of its generators failed. I fibbed - sorry. I think I have mentioned this previously on this board. The captain shut down the ship for a few hours, while it was repaired, which left us drifting in lovely sunshine on a smooth sea. All power was shut down while repair work was carried out except for the bridge and the casino. There is a chance I will be on Nieuw Amsterdam next June Vancouver/Whittier via Inside Passage, which I have done twice before with Celebrity, which also includes a place to which I have not previoulsy been.