HAL Oosterdam compared to Celebrity Century

I'm planning a cruise in October to Hawaii and am trying to decide between HAL Oosterdam and Celebrity Century. I know both ships are older and I've heard that they are a little worn. I'm wondering if anyone has been on either or both recently. How are the rooms and how is the food? I was on the Celebrity Solstice in March and it was fabulous. I'm not expecting the same caliber, of course, but would prefer to not be badly disappointed. Also, concerned about smoking issues on balconies, since DH is allergic to smoke, and know that Celebrity does not allow smoking in rooms or balconies. Any guidance my friends on CC can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Well, the Century first sailed in 1995, while the O was born in 2003...

Well, the Century first sailed in 1995, while the O was born in 2003...

Very true! I do not even consider the Oosterdam to be an older ship, 8 years in age is a big difference. Plus it was late 2008 when the Oosterdam had her Inaugural. I sailed during in Inaugural season in May 2004. Also after the Alaska season before her October cruise to Hawaii she is going into Dry Dock for some sprucing up, she will be like brand new for the Hawaii cruise.;)

As for food, I was on the Solstice in September this past year and the Solstice class has been know for having great food. I have to say my last tow cruises which were HAL the food was equally as good :)

A couple of things to consider regarding the Oosterdam. Depending on when you cruise, there may no longer be smoking in the cabins as HAL's smoking policies are changing, although smoking will still be allowed on the balconies. Second, the Oosterdam will be going into drydock in September, so all the wear and tear issues will be gone by then. You might also consider the cabin size as I suspect they're bigger on the Oosterdam and include tubs in the bathrooms.

I have cruised on the Oosterdam and the Century in the last 6 months , I like both ships , but my vote is for the Oosterdam

I was on the Century in April and the Oosterdam last week so I feel I can help you out. The Century is an older ship than the Oosterdam and you notice it especially on the Promenade. That being said the Century was very nice inside and the food, especially in the lido was far superior to the Oosterdam. I would also give the nod to the Century for service. It was impossible to find a place to sit on Oosterdam in the Lido half because of not enough seats and half because of no one bothering to clean off the tables. Also the service in the dining room was better on the Century as was the cabin steward we had. I find the fault here with HAL because the waiters and stewards had a ridiculous amount of tables and cabins to deal with and I told them so in my comment card. We enjoyed there being no smoking in the cabins on the Century even though we had an inside cabin even the hallways were more pleasant. On the Oosterdam we had an aft balcony (thanks to an offer from HAL we couldn't refuse) and had a pipe smoker on one side of us and a cigarette smoker on the other. And yes even with the wind we could still tell every time they were out there. Which ever ship you choose just enjoy yourself. You'll be in Hawaii; how bad can it be!

I think I'll just throw in my $0.02 by giving the highlights of what I liked best from each ship (which I both liked by the way):

CENTURY: Muranos is the best specialty restaurant I have eaten on at sea. Period. Restrictive smoking policy including in the casino! Mr. PirateShark liked that - I did not for cost reasons ;) Martini Bar was awesome but prices are more than Oosterdam. Loved the Art Deco feel of the ship. Very nice Crows Nest like the O. Their Sea View bar at the aft was more lively and better placed - also had live entertainment each late afternoon (very nice). Service very good.

OOSTERDAM: Main dining room food was great. Best room service. Best beds (the bed on Century just killed my back). Less announcements (not that Century overwhelmed mind you). Service better than Century or my Regent cruise (I kid you not!). Last time on the O, Pinnacle was outstanding so I hope they keep up this trend. Cabins are bigger. Mixology classes better. Entertainment was about the same on both but if you can see Joel Mason, do it if he's on the O.

I don't know if that will help, but know that everything above is subjective. I don't think you can make a bad call on either ship.

Was on the Century in the last 6 months and the O the previous 6 months. They are two different size ships--if that matters. I found the Century to be delightful. I kept looking for the 'wrinkles' given her age and didn't find them. Service was outstanding---even better than HAL. Also they had a non-smoking casino and some entertainment (Cirque du Soleil couple) that was fabulous! I was happy with the Century and hope she stays around........being on her in Hawaii would be great!

On HAL---there are many things I like, but the Code Orange affects the quality of life for the first two days on board. I understand the reason for it, but I expect that HAL could have found a way for it to be less of a hurdle for passengers. The O coming out of drydock should take care of some of the worn area's---but her style always seemed a bit unusual to me. Probably just my preference's for color's, etc. For some reason it seems like she has a larger capacity, but not sure if that's true or just my opinion! For me, I'd go with Celebrity in Hawaii---don't know exactly why--but just seems like a better fit. Don't flame me for saying that on a HAL thread...........we are going on a HAL cruise I expect to be great in the very near future!!:)

We have sailed on both the Century and the Ooesterdam. ships vary from week to week, no question, but our Century cruise was a huge disappointment.

Food (although subjective) was not enjoyable and the service was so sloooooooow.

cabin service was lacking even when asked for. We might have been on at the wrong time or the wrong week, but there was no comparison to our Oesterdam cruise.

what was even worse was we had been on the Noordam less than a month earlier and it was a stupendous cruise as well. We may have fell victim to the 'comparison bug' but we really couldn't help it. so many things missing, at least for us.

That being said, a lot of people love Century, so putting ours down as a bad experience but because of it, we have been reluctant to sail on Century since.

HAL does allow smoking on balconies though so if your partner is allergic to smoke, Century might win the day just on this one. No smoking in cabins come January 15th I believe.

Our preference would be for the Ooesterdam, but only because of past experience. And good service and food on the O.;)

Looks like you have to book a Century Suite to get the equivalent of an Oosterdam regular verandah room - are the prices similar? Otherwise looking at their website photos, they look fairly similar. Century has a lot of much smaller cabins that also have verandahs, so this might make it more cost effective to get a verandah.

If you decide on O, just make sure that your cruise is a few trips AFTER dry dock. Don't pick the first cruise out of drydock on HAL.

Here are my thoughts on these two ships.

Century:

- Smoking not allowed on balconies but is on some outside decks, so smoke is more contained but will still exist in spots.

- Cabin bathrooms are smaller and only suites have tubs (others have shower only), although the design is quite functional. The cabin bathrooms have a raised basin instead of a traditional sink which is both modern/chic but also less practical than a traditional sink.

- Not very much closet/storage room. On a two week cruise with two (or more) in the cabin, it will be tight (unless you are spartan packers).

- The decor of the ship is very modern. The primary interior colors for walls are white, cream, and blond wood. Many rooms are expansive and brightly lit. The combination tends to given passengers one or more of the following feelings: spaciousness, cheeriness, boredom (from a lack of color), insignificance (i.e. the rooms are over-sized and you are on a floating mall).

- There is no retractable roof over the central pools, hot tubs, or grill area, making these areas hard to use if it is cold (typical when just off the coast of California) or raining. This ship was designed for warm areas like the Caribbean and the Mediterranean (or the Hawaiian islands) but not the coast of California.

- The propellers give off significant vibration whenever the ship is underway and major vibrations when maneuvering in and out of port. If you are the least sensitive to this, I would avoid cabins aft of the aft stairwell and keep in mind that you will feel this vibration in the main dining room. I did not notice any engine room generated vibrations.

- The Lido food service lines are not well laid out. And if you want to eat dinner in the Lido, you must make an advanced reservation (and the reservations may run out).

- Few or no free movies in the cabins; there are pay per view movies.

- Multiple daily trivia contests.

- Food choices will likely become rather repetitive by the time you reach the 7 night mark.

- On my cruise, the quality of the food in the Lido was terrible at lunch and only passable at breakfast. The quality of room service breakfast was fair. Dinners in the dining room were decent to good. (I did not try breakfast or lunch in the main dining room.)

- Offers your choice of fixed seating or open seating in the main dining room for dinner (well, based on availability at time of booking, of course).

- A few too many PA announcements and billboards relating to sales for my taste, but in general nothing obnoxious.

- Good sight lines in the theater for enjoying the nightly show. I enjoyed 50% of the performances offered.

Oosterdam:

- Larger bathrooms. Except for some ADA cabins, all outsides and above have a tub in the bathroom (shower only in insides).

- Not as such storage/closet space as older HAL ships (S-class and R-class) so not ideal for a 2 week cruise, but better than Century.

- Smoking is allowed on balconies, in the casino, in the "Northern Lights" night club, and on some public decks (there seems to be less smoking in the public areas). After Jan. 15, 2012, smoking will not be allowed inside cabins on HAL (but it is allowed prior to that date).

- Interior color choices are somewhat random, but never boring or dull. In general, this is meant to be old world but not British/stuffy.

- More interior spaces are smaller or (more intimate felling, less cavernous), and darker (fewer bright lights) or are split up or are generally less boxy to help hide the size of the ship.

- The mid-ship pool, hot tubs, and grill area is covered by a retractable roof to allow all-weather use.

- In two cruises on this ship, one had great service and one had not so great service. The cruise with not so great service seemed to have two strikes against it: (1) a Hotel Manager who either seems less capable or who had just too much bad luck to pull things together and (2) was a 2009 cruise in the Med. when HAL had to significantly cut prices to fill cabins (and thus seemed to cut back on spending on both crew numbers and food quality to compensate for reduced income). The good cruise was a 2010 Alaska cruise with an excellent Hotel manager and more typical cruise costs (with better quality food and better service, especially in the Lido).

- Lido buffet open for dinner nightly with no reservation needed. An additional no-surcharge Italian restaurant with waiter service is also set up in the Lido for dinner only, but reservations are both limited and required.

- Offers your choice of fixed seating or open seating in the main dining room for dinner (well, based on availability at time of booking, of course).

- Food variety will feel lacking by the end of two weeks, but there seemed to be better variety than on Celebrity).

- Good quality breakfast both in the Lido and via room service. Lido lunches are fair to good. Breakfast and lunch in the main dining room are likely best avoided due to slow service and a limited lunch menu. Dinners in the dining room fair to good.

- Few announcements or billboards relating to selling passengers more stuff, although many ads inserted in your mailbox or placed on your bed (but they are easily discarded).

- Better liquor selection and lower prices than Celebrity. More relaxed policy for bringing wine and non-alcoholic beverages on board for in-cabin consumption compared with Celebrity.

- Some free in-cabin movies (although HAL sadly doesn't provide a written schedule for reference any more). DVD players provided in all cabins and movies (though not likely new releases) can be rented from the library (or are free to some suite guests).

- HAL installed a special system at the aft of the ship to cancel out propeller vibration. I did not notice any engine room generated vibrations. This ship is about a vibration free as they come.

- Fewer team trivia contests than on Celebrity. (On HAL, they are sometimes only held once per day, but sometimes twice per day).

- Main theater is rarely crowded, but there are fewer good seats. I enjoyed a larger percentage of HAL shows than Celebrity, but I can't recall the exact percent. HAL shows tend to be less modern and are generally aimed at an older demographic, however on Oosterdam (and other vista and signature class ships) they shows are aimed for a younger demographic than the older ships.

- In the internet cafe it is easy for two or more guests to "share" internet package minutes, although 100% of the cost will be billed to a single passenger. This did not seem to be as easy (or even possible) on Celebrity since a room card was required to log in.

All in all, I much prefer the Oosterdam. However it isn't all objective differences; much of my preference comes from my choice of interior decor, my choice of evening entertainment, and my food preferences. In addition, food quality does vary from cruise to cruise even on the same ship, so my poor experience with food on Celebrity (based largely on the quality of ingredients but also partially on how they were handled), might not be repeated if I (or you) sailed the Century in the future.

If you decide on O, just make sure that your cruise is a few trips AFTER dry dock. Don't pick the first cruise out of drydock on HAL.

Why is this?

These responses have been extremely beneficial. Thank you so much. We have an aft room reserved on the Oosterdam and a mid-ship balcony on the Century. I would like to try an aft room. I also like the fact that Oosterdam is visiting Kauai, whereas Century is visiting two ports on the Big Island. I think I'd rather see more islands.The cruise is scheduled for October 22nd, so don't know if it is the first cruise out of dry dock. The detailed information you have provided is very helpful. Thanks again.

Hi,

here's my opinion on the Oosterdam:

first of all, to say I'm a clean/new/ neat freak would be a major understatement :)

The Oosterdam isn't new, but it's very clean (as of Nov. 2010) the decor in the public areas is garish, the cabins are well laid out... with a dvd player & nice tv's .. nice bathroom, the buffet is far superior to anything on X, ( & I'm a diehard X fan)

X has far better room service food, ( in a regular balcony) room service breakfast on the O was awful. I felt that HAL had better MDR food, but the dining room itself is nicer on X, as well as the service

The room steward service on HAL is not better or worse than on X,...it's more casual though, I prefer the more formal, less familiar service of the X staff... if you really like a super friendly, outgoing, laughing staff, you might like HAL better. On HAL, sometimes my requests were not fulfilled, On X, they always were.

The casino & bars on HAL were hellishly smokey, not so on X.

HAL has a very nice promenade deck

The hot tubs in the adult pool area on the O are not always working.

This is a case where I'd choose by itinerary, but I really enjoyed the O, & hope to sail on her again.

Honeybearhollow:..........

HAL appears to have a recurring problem of either bringing ships out of drydock prematurely or not budgeting enough downtown to complete repairs. I understand their desire to forego as little revenue as possible but this practice is negatively impacting cruisers.

The result has been reported on the board NUMEROUS times...work not completed. Anything from minor to major issues. Could be the same on other lines, I do not know. It just seems to crop up on the HAL board much more often.

Dry dock related issues should not impact your plans, the Oosterdam is not scheduled for dry dock through the 2012 cruise season (based on their web site calendar).

These responses have been extremely beneficial. Thank you so much. We have an aft room reserved on the Oosterdam and a mid-ship balcony on the Century. I would like to try an aft room. I also like the fact that Oosterdam is visiting Kauai, whereas Century is visiting two ports on the Big Island. I think I'd rather see more islands.The cruise is scheduled for October 22nd, so don't know if it is the first cruise out of dry dock. The detailed information you have provided is very helpful. Thanks again.

Kauai is beautiful no doubt, what is the length of stay there? I ask because the Big Island is, well, Big. Hilo side and Kona side are very different and both offer a wide range of experiences. When we did our Islands cruise we fell in love with Big, so much so that we went back there for multiple land vacations. I found that the short stay from our cruise (I think sail away was at 4) on Kauai did not afford us much time to really sample that Island and so it wound up being just a beach day.

Also note that while Century is older she went through a MAJOR refit just two or so years ago. Both lines have much to recommend them, as do both ships.

Dry dock related issues should not impact your plans, the Oosterdam is not scheduled for dry dock through the 2012 cruise season (based on their web site calendar).

She's actually going into drydock after her Alaska cruise season.

As for the previous question, a lot of the drydock work continues onboard during the first few sailings if the work can't (and usually doesn't) get done while the ship is out of service. This typically applies to interior items and can include anything from hot tubs still under repair, upholstery, carpeting, etc.

I'd go for the Oosterdam. The food is so much better in all areas of the ship. The Century had bland food when we went to the Mediaterrean last year and the ship is not in good shape. HAL goes out with their room service menu. You can get anything and it is always served at the perfect temperature. Also, the thermal suite is great.