Quo Vadis?

A decade ago there was a last minute opportunity to book the penthouse for $1,000 pp more than the cabin we had booked.  This was offered the day before the sailing.  We were about to celebrate our 200th cruise point (the equivalent of double Zenith now) and we decided to pay for the upgrade.  The next morning we boarded Constellation and were assigned the Royal Suite.  The penthouse went to the former occupant of the Royal Suite.  It seems the upgrade was just too much from our previous cabin.

52 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Common practice now is NOT to have to disembark, but not every time...just meet somewhere on board for Immigration clearance (not Customs). Takes 30 or so minutes.

 

You may also go ashore right away, for excursions, or to tour on your own.

It depends on the port.  Port Everglades required us to disembark for facial recognition every time Nov-Jan.  We did 7 B2B on N Statendam.  The amazing experience was the number of loyal cruisers showing up in the theatre: up to 800 people having to go through this process.

Laura Hodges Bethge succeeds Lutoff-Perlo Celebrity Cruises president (seatrade-cruise.com)

Until our September cruise on N Statendam, we had not sailed on HAL since Westerdam in 2008.  We cruised for two and a half weeks from Quebec and loved the ship, so much so that we booked another 8 weeks over Thanksgiving Christmas and New Year.  

The ship is rated at 2,666 (there is a meaning to numbers) but over the holidays up to 600 children boosted that capacity to nearly 3,000.  

There are places to hide, there are timings to consider to avoid crowds.

It is best to avoid vacation time and holidays but we loved our time on board.

1 hour ago, Mosaic said:

We are currently on the Zaandam and Happy Hour is 50% off all "regular" drinks.

How is the Zaandam?  I'm looking at a possible repositioning cruise but love Pinnacle, (love the wine Package, forget the non special)

Does anyone know the breakdown of the SC? How much for which service?

On our first cruise on Rotterdam in 1989, the chief engineer joined our table on formal night.  The next day we had an actual tour of the engine room, big pistons, noise and all.  
I remember people skeet shooting on the aft deck.

in the 90’s I remember adding liqueur to my ice cream.

On 3/12/2023 at 10:34 PM, wdw1972 said:

 

 

I'd gladly sail NS again, but I'm finished with 7-night cruises, especially when many schools are out!

 

Sue/WDW1972

Our Thanksgiving and Christmas cruises will not be repeated for the same reasons.  

It's amazing but we smell smoke more in Billboard than when passing through the casino.

I am in the minority here but I just want to share our experience.  We sailed on N Statendam in September and knew nothing of CO since we had not sailed on HAL in 14 years. It was a great cruise despite port cancellations and picking up the latest COVID souvenir.  We ate in the MDR at a table for two and we had great service and hot meals.  We booked another 8 weeks November to January and started with CO.  We had priority boarding together with another 500 people as we boarded crossing the pier because the jetway was inoperative.  Our upgrade was from one obstructed view cabin to another obstructed view further forward.  We eat early and enjoyed a two top by the window almost every night.  It’s a two way gold fish bowl.  We watched the trek to the MDR by other pax while they watched us eat.  Breakfast was great and never crowded.  As the week progressed I no longer needed breakfast and enjoyed the crow’s nest caffein  fix  instead. On week three we switched to the MDR (no orange) and our experience was great.  Excellent service, no fishbowl and a table for two by a window.

we see no need for club orange, one and done.

Note: this is a sarcastic observation:  On our recent cruise " the food was consistently bad, but even worse, there was never enough of it."

From September to January we sailed on N Statendam for over 10 weeks and never went hungry.  The MDR menu (including a week in Club Orange, was good 5 days out of 7.  We always had a great alternative at the Dutch Cafe, the NY Bistro or the Dive In.  We ate in Tamarind and Pinnacle a few times but the food was not comparable to the best celebrity has to offer in Murano but then the price is a lot less.  Overall we found the food better than on Celebrity and have no complaints at all during our extended stay.

1 hour ago, Denali2003 said:

Hello.  My husband & I have previously cruised 16 times (17^th coming in May 2023) with Princess.  We are now looking at HAL for our future cruises.  We have been reading a lot and watching a lot of videos of the Rotterdam.  We are very interested in cruising on her in 2024. We both still work, so 1 cruise per year is what we can do.

 

I do have a few questions. 

#1 – Does HAL still use a card as your room key & for purchases? YES

#2 – Since we’ve never sailed HAL, picking a cabin for us is a gamble.  For the Caribbean sailing we are looking at for early 2024, the most affordable cabins are Aft and Forward.  I heard the Forward cabins have a lot of “rocking & rolling”.  How are the Aft (mid-Aft) cabins? We often pick the forward cabins and have no problem with the motion of the ocean,  After 16 cruises you should not have a problem.  

#3 – Can you get lunch in the dining room on Embarkation day? Depending on boarding time, we prefer other venues such as the Dutch CAFE

#4 – What are some of the daily activities like on sea days?  Does anyone have a photo of the event listings? We love trivia and can't remember the other stuff.

#5 – If you are in Billboards, can you hear the music that is playing in the other venues in the Music Walk? No because the venue have different time slots.  Awesome

#6 – Does HAL have a separate Vegan/Vegetarian Menu in the dining rooms?  I see (and love) that they have Beyond Meat options in other eateries on the ship!  Sorry, but if I don't like what is on the menu, I order a cheese plate to compliment my wine.

 #7 – I heard that if you have dinner in the Specialty restaurants and want to have more than 1 appetizer, that you have to pay extra for more than 1 appetizer (per person).  Is this true? YES.  You can always get a salad in the lido or a snack elsewhere.  You won't go hungry.

#8 – If you have the “Have it All” package and order Room Service, are your drinks included or do you have to pay extra for your drinks?  For example, we were looking at Norwegian and while the food was free for room service, you had to pay extra for your drinks, even if you had a drinks package.  The bonus on HAL is that there is no extra service charge for your drinks. I normally get a beer unopened or a glass of wine the night before for in room consumption.

 

Thank you for your help!

We really like this class ship.  We were on N Statendam last year and have booked Rotterdam for 6 weeks come November-December.

We sailed for 19days on NS from Quebec to Boston and back in September.  We loved it so much that we booked 7 weeks from November to January.  Then the day before the cruise ended we added another week.

The crew is fantastic.

The MDR is very good 5 days out of 7.

We loved the Dutch cafe and Lido for the off nights.

The live music was better in September than in November.  

Trivia hosts were exceptional.

The Crow's Nest was my destination every day.

27 minutes ago, tgetz said:

Thank you. That helps .

Still wondering about the Nieuw Statendam. It doesn't seem to have nearly as many drawers or closet space as the older ships.. 

We found the space under the bed on NS and almost forgot about what we stored there when we switched cabins.

7 hours ago, Islandbuoy said:

Figures lie and liars figure?

Mark Twain quoting Disraeli: "There are lies, damned lies and statistics"

20 minutes ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

Food is very important to us, so we prefer Princess. 

Two decades ago we had just embarked Princess for lunch.  While eating a corn chowder everyone at our table as well as a waiter, heard a loud crack as I split a tooth from top to bottom as I bit on something hard in the soup.  Princess told me tough luck. Luck them!  (Sorry wrong letter.)  Love their pizza though.

On 3/6/2023 at 12:57 PM, terrydtx said:

If we were only booking standard verandah cabins we would not be considering Celebrity at all. In their newest E Class ships these don't exist and in other ships the pricing is unreasonable. We would in this case consider HAL first as their 3 newest ships have no IV cabins and still have traditional ones at competitive prices with MDR's that have IMO better choices and overall food quality. HAL still has free room service and a complete dinner buffet and better priced drink and specialty dining packages. 

Totally agree.

Balcony: HAL +, Celebrity: has a cabin with a window that opens -

MDR, HAL a bit better

Specialty restaurants:  HAL cheaper, Celebrity better but at a cost

Drink Pricing: HAL +

Live Entertainment HAL +

Stage  entertainers Celebrity + HAL very weak

Forward observation lounge HAL++ 

Pax demographics,  very similar.

HAL inside cabins: claustrophobic --, ships more crowded

Crew: fantastic on both lines.

My retirement budget does not support the suite life.

Royal, Carnival and Norwegian stocks are down over 5% today.

Does anyone have any insight?

12 hours ago, prmssk said:

Celebrity’s direct competitors are Holland and Princess. They are watching what those two lines do more closely than following Royal. I know Princess is still twice a day service and I believe Holland is as well. 

 

(Royal’s direct competitors are Carnival and NCL.  Carnival has been at once a day service since before the pandemic and NCL dropped to once a day just in the last month or two.)

When we were onboard HAL's N Statendam from mid-November to mid January, the once a day program was instituted.  However we could have asked for twice a day.  As wine drinkers we don't need the ice filled.  We have asked to have our towels replaced on some days.  The evening turn down service we have learned to do at home.

3 hours ago, Devo12 said:

Thanks everyone for their feedback.  The ships would be the Celebrity beyond or the HAL Rotterdam.  

Upfront price is very similiar but HAL cruise is 2 days longer, we get some OBC ($400) and a couple meals in a specialty restaurant.  Leaning towards to the Celebrity but for this cruise, I am not particular to a cruise line.  Thanks again, Devo

We have cruised frequently on both Celebrity and HAL.  We do not like the lack of balconies on the Edge class.  It’s a cabin with a window that opens.  We do not like the lack of a forward observation lounge .  Going into the canal, that lounge would be the go to place.

we have spent 10 weeks on The sister ship, the Nieuw Statendam.  We loved the crow’s  nest, a combination of Cafe al Bacio library and comfortable lounge.  The choice of food on HAL is greater than on Celebrity and more to my liking.  
by the way we are booked on Rotterdam for the partial transit as well.

You will enjoy either ship but for different reasons.

Live entertainment is better on HAL but the stage is better on Celebrity.

The crew is great on both.

HAL cruisers are not older than on Celebrity, the demographic is much more diverse than expected.

1 hour ago, dfish said:

And it happened on the Nieuw Statendam as well.  

For us as well.

We cruised on Nieuw Statendam for 8 weeks and only had to show up once.

Watch the Video in your cabin, go to your muster station to be logged on boarding day and you are all set.

2 minutes ago, cltnccruisers said:

A lot of what you mention is already being done.  If you don't want to cruise anymore take a bus ride to Toronto.

Non essential travel to Canada is not allowed... unless one thinks that tourism is an essential part of life.

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24549-msc-lirica-is-on-fire-in-corfu.html

Just because one does not like a certain type of entertainment, I see no reason why so many people have to insult the preferences of those who did enjoy his performance and cruised on Celebrity repeatedly for years.  Constellation's Michael's Club was standing room only for years while he was onboard. 

When X decided to set up Michael's as a lounge, other venues just did not work.

It does not matter who Celebrity targets.  Covid will decide who gets to travel for the next year at least.  We're happy to stay home, away from all threats to our health that is a part of shipboard life.

There is no place where one can isolate with safety if ship happens.

And once Celebrity gets around to tell us that we have lost the perks we have earned on over 200 cruises over two decades, Celebrity will not be our first choice.

To misquote someone who may still be alive... "‘Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a cruiser scorned.”