Comparison Cruises - HAL versus Celebrity

In just sixteen anticipation-filled days my wife and I board Noordam for our first HAL voyage. Having savored the accolades within this forum, we are eager to sample the HAL brand and form our own opinion.

Other bookings aside, we plan another transatlantic for October 2011. We have booked staterooms on both the Nieuw Amsterdam and Celebrity Eclipse. The jury verdict following our upcoming HAL TA will be the decision maker.

We respect the opinions of everyone who takes the time to share their knowledge and experience. We give it substantial weight when planning a vaction. Some perspectives we come to embrace. Other we have eventually disagreed with. One person's pleasure is another's poison.

That being said, we look forward to crossing the briny blue from Rome to Fort Lauderdale onboard Noordam. We hope to meet some of the good folk who are kind enough to offer up opinions and comments within these electronic pages.

Onward!

You have chosen a great ship and crew for your first Holland America cruise. Enjoy your cruise and here's and early Bon Voyage!

This may sound petty, but there are several "little things" that HAL provides which we miss while on Celebrity. Food and entertainment can be fairly equal, but most of that is a matter of "taste". However, Hal provides: free cappucino and expresso in the MDR, fresh fruit in your cabin, magnifying "swing-out" mirrors in your cabin, free shoe-shine, "day-of-the-week" carpets in the elevators (very important, but especially on cruises longer than 7 days;)), better laundry service...and probably a few other items I can't recall.:)

We only cruise HAL and X. We find the staff service and Library to be superior on HAL, and also Half Moon Cay better than Labadee. Celeb has a more gracious dinner dining environment (IMHO) and some of the shows are better, so, we choose based on itinerary and price!

i have sailed on both and I found the service and food better on HAL.

Hal also has a lot of little touches that you don't see on Celebrity, aside from what was listed above, there are hot/cold towels when you come back from port passed to you, a superior room service menu, ability to order from the dining room in the evening during dining room hours, excellent breakfast room service menu available to everyone, nice towels in the public washrooms....and on...and on...and on.

I think you will also find the rooms larger than on X as well as more space in the various public areas. Just my opinion of course.

We loved the Noordam! I used to think that Celebrity is my favorite, but after being on the Zuiderdam and most recently the Noordam, I've switched my favorite to Holland America. The main reason is the warm and friendly atmosphere! They are both top notch lines, but I really appreciate the friendliness of all the crew, including the officers. I typically shop for price/itinerary and so have sailed many of the lines, but in the future I will look to Holland America first.

I took a quick look over in the Celebrity board to see if you posted this there. I didn't see a post from you, but wondered if you considered it. I would think here you will find HAL supporters and there you will find Celebrity posters.

I think you will enjoy your trip whichever line you choose!

We love them both and look forward to your views on the matter.

Smooth sailing...

We only cruise HAL and X. We find the staff service and Library to be superior on HAL, and also Half Moon Cay better than Labadee. Celeb has a more gracious dinner dining environment (IMHO) and some of the shows are better, so, we choose based on itinerary and price!

Ditto the above. Tried Princess and Cunard. HAL and X are great for us. Over 100 days on Hal and 10 cruises on C. Looking forward to HAL in 2 weeks.

We have cruised on X Galaxy only once. My sense was that the staff and crew were pretty much disgruntled. A couple weeks after our cruise, the ship's Captain was arrested for drunk and driving a ship. That might have had something to do with it.

We just seem to like what HAL does. Their ships seem to be a pretty good fit for us.

We have cruised on X Galaxy only once. My sense was that the staff and crew were pretty much disgruntled. A couple weeks after our cruise, the ship's Captain was arrested for drunk and driving a ship. That might have had something to do with it.

 

We just seem to like what HAL does. Their ships seem to be a pretty good fit for us.

The ship was the Mercury in 2006. We had sailed it that year and were shocked. The captain never gave us any indication of a problem and having sailed on the Galaxy as well as most of the X ships, we never found any disgruntled crew or staff.

We recently sailed on Celebrity Summit after having been away from Celebrity for 14 years. We chose it because of its New England=Canada itinerary which we preferred over HALs and yes, we did love the itinerary. After 14 days getting accustomed to a different cruise line, we came away with a few thoughts. One, the food is far superior on HAL. The verandah cabins on HAL are larger as are the bathrooms and showers. We were in Concierge Class on X and no bathtub as well as very little that was promised for that category. There were aspects of the ship that we enjoyed and the entertainment was very good but overall, it's not the same cruise experience. We particularly enjoy the attention to detail on HAL and the more elegant atmosphere. We met other HAL cruisers and they all felt similarly. We also met some ex-HAL cruisers who made the switch because of the enhanced, generous perks on X for thier loyal, frequent cruisers. I can see where it is tempting especially the free internet minutes. Having said that, we are booking another cruise on HAL tomorrow though I will miss those minutes. Maybe HAL will tweak its Mariner program and get more in line with X. Too many have jumped ship (cruise line) because of it.

We did TAs on both, 2 years apart.

Celeb =X= After changing dining a couple of times, found a waiter and asst. I would open a restaurant for, and Maitre'D who really WORKED! Only man in that position that ever asked us if 'everything was OK'.

Asked for and got immediatly, a new mattress; should have asked for a "eggcrate" cover to go on top. They were the same as the ones I had in college, war surplus! (WWII) :eek: The material under the thin mattress is armor plate.:eek:

Pasta bar on stern for lunch was super good!

HAL Almost the same itinerary on the Rotterdam, the most tastefully decorated ship I have ever been on. :) A wonderful art collection I enjoyed, and I don't frequent "artsy" places and can't draw a pig.:o

Rooms are larger+, baths are larger+, beds are MUCH better!

Pool deck has a retractible roof, it was monitored all the time, I think, as the deck was always pleasant without a lot of wind.

We had requested fixed dining but got anytime which seems to be the norm. Four dinners in the MDR sent us to the Lido for the rest of the cruise.:rolleyes: The Lido is excellent! (Maybe it was the bartender, but it does have tablecloths and had the main course served!)

Lido on both ships was very good, but HAL wins this one.

My choice!!!!!

I took my lunch to grammer school to avoid cafeterias---points to =X=

I'm getting old and my joints ache----------------------points to HAL

DW and I like smaller ships.

:confused:

We have done cruises on both HAL and Celebrity. Celebrity has a slight edge as far as we're concerned. We think the food on Celebrity in the MDR and the alternative restaurant was better. There was more food choices on Celebrity. We love the Aqua Spa Cuisine on Celebrity. We also think the entertainment was better on Celebrity.

On HAL we thought the Lido buffet was superior to the buffet on Celebrity. We also loved the concept of the Explorer's Lounge on HAL.

There are things to love on both ships. Make your choice on the basis of itinerary; you can't go wrong.

I have cruised on both cruise lines and HAL IMHO is much better. :D

We've done both and give the edge to HAL. I just got off the Solstice and was really disappointed. Things that the staff did on Celebrity would never happen on HAL.

We've done both and give the edge to HAL. I just got off the Solstice and was really disappointed. Things that the staff did on Celebrity would never happen on HAL.

Can you explain what the staff did on Solstice that would not happen on HAL?

Interesting thread. We have not had the pleasure of sailing on HAL yet but hope to. We have sailed with X twice with a third coming up. I had to chime in to correct a prior poster:

Hal also has a lot of little touches that you don't see on Celebrity, aside from what was listed above, there are hot/cold towels when you come back from port passed to you, a superior room service menu, ability to order from the dining room in the evening during dining room hours, excellent breakfast room service menu available to everyone, nice towels in the public washrooms....and on...and on...and on.

Celebrity does offer hot or cold towels when you come back from port as well as water/punch or coffee/hot chocolate. Celebrity does allow you to order from the dining room for room service and real towels are provided in the public restrooms. I am not trying to be argumentative, just want to make sure accurate information is being presented.

We love Celebrity and hope to experience HAL some day as I like most of what I have read about them.

We have sailed on both lines and prefer HAL for many reason. But, first and most importantly I would have to say is HAL's housekeeping. Known as the "Spotless Fleet" and it is very evident when you compare these 2 lines. Cabins and public areas are just much cleaner than on X.

I have been on one cruise on each and found the lines were pretty comparable. We considered both to have good food and service, both better than RCI or Carnival cruises we had been on.

On our Celebrity cruise, at one port there was a huge line in the sun for people to tender back to a Costa ship anchored right beside our Celebrity ship. The passengers looked miserable. We just walked up, were handed a nice refreshing cool towel and drink of water and were directed right onto the waiting Celebrity tender. We remarked that this was a nice touch and one Celebrity officer overheard us and said, "that's why you paid for Celebrity".

I think HAL matches this level of service and commitment to passenger enjoyment. To us, when we were looking for our next cruise, it came down to itinerary. When we were looking at a one week Eastern Caribbean, HAL had one extra port day due to the private island. Celebrity does not seem to ever visit Coco Cay for whatever reason on their Eastern Caribbean routes, and only has three port days for a 7 day cruise.

But I hope to have more cruises on both of these lines. I also would like to try Princess some day.

Can you explain what the staff did on Solstice that would not happen on HAL?

I will post my review of our experience on the Solstice. Overall it was a good cruise, however, what happened was clearly unacceptable. Many service issues which we did not have on HAL. My parents were on the Westerdam in March and could not believe the service issues on the Solstice. Please read and let me know what you think.

This was our seventh cruise overall and our second time with Celebrity. We cruised previously with Princess, Royal Caribbean, NCL, Carnival, and Holland America. Our first experience with Celebrity was beyond expectations, so we embarked on the Solstice with even higher expectations.

Once on board, we were greeted with a glass of champagne and then went directly to our room. Our room was very clean and well maintained. Our room was a verandah cabin on the Vista deck. While in our room, we met our room steward, Bernardo. While many aspects of this cruise did not live up to our expectations, Bernardo was well above our expectations and continued to impress us throughout our vacation.

The ship itself was very well maintained. However, my wife and I noticed some of the bathrooms were dirty. There was oxidation on the wood, probably due to sea spray. While this is common, it is something we did not observe on our previous ships.

Service - Service was very slow in the MDR. On our first night, they served a desert with crème puffs filled with praline ice cream. My wife asked for just praline ice cream and she was told by our server that he did not know if that was possible and needed to consult the chef. As far as I am concerned, they had praline ice cream, so it did not seem like a drastic request. On previous cruises, we were escorted to our table and my wife’s chair was pulled out for her. This did not happen on the Solstice the first several nights. We spoke with the maître d’ and were moved to a smaller table with a new server, Luis. Luis was amazing. He did everything right and made up for some of the shortfalls we experienced and witnessed. One evening, we showed up twenty minutes late for dinner due to a family issue at home. When we entered the MDR, we noticed our table was gone. It was discovered later that the table was used by other passengers. After several minutes of confusion, we were escorted to a different table away from Luis. Other than water, our drinks were not refilled. The majority of the time our drinks sat empty. If was obvious the staff was spread very thin. The same night, we were given petit fours along with our main desserts. When our dessert arrived, I noticed the chocolate covered strawberry had been partially eaten. My wife brought this to the attention of the assistant server. His reaction was to inform her that there were no more chocolate-covered strawberries. He did not take away the dessert or try to replace it. When we brought it to the attention of the lead server (again, not Luis), he said that they often sample foods and make sure the samples they eat are taken away to avoid this type of problem. The next day, we spoke to the restaurant manager and maître d’ who offered to comp a night in one of the specialty restaurants. Although they addressed the issue, the stigma was still there. We received complementary chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of champagne in our room. While standing in line at the Mast Grill , my wife was passed over four times for service.

Stateroom – The stateroom was beautiful and the bathroom was exquisite. However, the closet space is minimal, perhaps the smallest on any cruise we’ve experienced. When we unpacked, we noticed there were only ten hangers. For a 7 day cruise, this is not enough and we had to request more. Bernardo brought us extra hangers within minutes. The bed was not as comfortable as on previous cruises but it was nothing to snub our noses at. Although we did not hear many noises from the hall, we could hear the conversations and T.V.’s from the adjoining staterooms.

Dining:

Murano – Great service and great food. The steak was not really any better than the MDR. Plus, we really preferred to sit with Luis as he was just as attentive as the server in Murano.

Silk Harvest – Awesome experience, great food and amazing service. I have shell fish allergies and the chef went out of way to make springs rolls leaving out the fish sauce. I did not ask anyone to make this accommodation; they just did it for their guest.

MDR – Appetizers and entrées were awesome and Luis was exceptional. Neither of us cared for most of the desserts, but I was able to have ice cream each evening to satisfy my sweet tooth. Service for breakfast and lunch was very slow and spotty. We overheard one waiter tell a guest that they were very understaffed.

Room Service – I am sure they are very busy, because they took a long time to deliver the food. Often, the order was incorrect. My wife ordered a bottle of champagne and was informed it would be in our stateroom in approximately twenty minutes. After three days, we gave up on ever receiving it. At least we were not charged for it.

Buffet – The food was delicious and there was a large selection. However, it was the same selection each day and after several days, the redundancy became unappetizing.

Pools - The pools were nice and the hot tubs were very relaxing. The pool decks were busy on sea days but we always managed to find a place to settle down. The solarium was beautiful and a nice reprieve from the main pool area.

Entertainment - The entertainment ranged from fantastic to amateurish. The dancers for the production shows were pretty good. The acrobats were outstanding and talented. The comedian, James Stephens III was really funny and the best entertainment on the ship. In addition to being funny, Mr. Stephens was a genuine and good person. He sets aside profits to assist struggling children with education. The juggler was awful and it was almost painful to sit through his show. We would have left early but this was the one show we decided to sit close to the stage. We felt sorry enough for him that we didn’t want to embarrass him by leaving. On our previous Celebrity there was always something to do. On this cruise, we found ourselves very bored. There was a lack of activities during the day and very few venues for entertainment. Celebrity could take advice from Princess where there is always something to do. This trip certainly lacked fun activities.

Fellow Passengers - While the vast majority of guests adhered to the rules and regulations, there were some that lacked any class. Our first day, we saw a girl walking around in her bra (not a bathing suit top). We saw guests wearing jean shorts to dinner and, on more than one occasion, guests were admitted to the MDR in swimwear and bikinis. We heard of one passenger being thrown off the ship in Puerto Rico due to a fist fight the night before. I understand Celebrity cannot control everything but certainly dress code is one thing they can enforce. If I wanted to dress as I wish, I would go back on NCL, but Celebrity clearly outlines their dress code in their brochure.

Ports :

San Juan – We spent the day touring historic San Juan. San Juan was a blast and our only complaint is we did not have more time here.

St. Thomas – I did the SCUBA excursion through the cruise line. The trip was chartered through Underwater Safaris out of St. Thomas. These guys were great and the trip was a blast. The water was calm with great visibility and good company. I would highly recommend this excursion if you are a SCUBA diver.

St Maarten - My wife and I went shopping for gifts then spent the remainder of the day laying on the beach. I rented a jet ski and for an hour and had a blast. It was a very relaxing day.

Announcements - The only announcements were the imperative ones. My wife and I like to sleep late and it was nice not being woken up to redundant announcements.

Unfortunately our Celebrity experience this time was not up to par with our previous cruise experiences. We will likely cruise on Celebrity again; however, it’s not on the top of our list for near future cruises. We relaxed, ate plenty of great food, and spent time with friends. Any day at sea is better than a day home.

We've done both and give the edge to HAL. I just got off the Solstice and was really disappointed. Things that the staff did on Celebrity would never happen on HAL.

Friends of ours sailed on the Solstice in June. They have sailed on the Eurodam, with my wife and I, and on RCCL.

They thought the Solstice was the best cruise by far. They didn't want to get off the Ship.

I have sailed Celebrity and HAL and I like both lines.

I'm sailing on the Eurodam next month and the Solstice in January. I look forward to

comparing both Ships. :)

Friends of ours sailed on the Solstice in June. They have sailed on the Eurodam, with my wife and I, and on RCCL.

 

They thought the Solstice was the best cruise by far. They didn't want to get off the Ship.

 

I have sailed Celebrity and HAL and I like both lines.

 

I'm sailing on the Eurodam next month and the Solstice in January. I look forward to

 

comparing both Ships. :)

I thought I was alone however many passengers were saying they were ready to swim back to HAL and/or Princess. There are those who prefer Celebrity but when partially eaten desserts are delivered to your table I am sure you can imagine the image I have about Celebrity. As a matter of fact, the two tables next to us who saw the desserts said they would not be returning to Celebrity. They just do not compare to HAL. Reviews are subjective too. Many times you will read a negative review and then read a positive one. But based on my experience what happened on the Solstice was unacceptable. Simple requests were denied. When we were on the Crown Princess, they were offering B-52 after dinner drinks. They asked me what color shot glass I wanted. I asked for green. The assistant waiter ran down and got a green shot glass just to satisfy my request. If I had known that they were only using a few select colors I would have gladly taken the blue one. Green happens to be my favorite color. I felt bad b/c I am not the kind of person who expects crew member to do everything I request. Princess definitely excelled with their service but even Princess’ Service is not up to the level of HAL. I do love Celebrity’s indoor smoking policy.

I thought I was alone however many passengers were saying they were ready to swim back to HAL and/or Princess. There are those who prefer Celebrity but when partially eaten desserts are delivered to your table I am sure you can imagine the image I have about Celebrity. As a matter of fact, the two tables next to us who saw the desserts said they would not be returning to Celebrity. They just do not compare to HAL. Reviews are subjective too. Many times you will read a negative review and then read a positive one. But based on my experience what happened on the Solstice was unacceptable. Simple requests were denied. When we were on the Crown Princess, they were offering B-52 after dinner drinks. They asked me what color shot glass I wanted. I asked for green. The assistant waiter ran down and got a green shot glass just to satisfy my request. If I had known that they were only using a few select colors I would have gladly taken the blue one. Green happens to be my favorite color. I felt bad b/c I am not the kind of person who expects crew member to do everything I request. Princess definitely excelled with their service but even Princess’ Service is not up to the level of HAL. I do love Celebrity’s indoor smoking policy.

I sailed on the Crown and Ruby Princess last year. I enjoyed both cruises.

I will say, Celebrity's Caribbean Itinerary doesn't even come close to HAL. HAL has it beat by a mile !

 

My wife ordered a bottle of champagne and was informed it would be in our stateroom in approximately twenty minutes. After three days, we gave up on ever receiving it.

That's a long time to wait in your cabin for a bottle of champagne. You missed almost half your cruise!:eek:

/We've cruised many times on HAL, and our first Celebrity cruise was aboard the Solstice July 25th of this year....we absolutely loved almost everything about it.

We felt rushed in the MDR the first couple nights....service was too fast (my time dining), and felt impersonal compared to fixed dining. When I mentioned this to the maitre'd, he hooked us up with the same waiter and table every night thereafter....and the waiter and service were fantastic from that point on.

We did notice that the balcony railings were badly in need of a fresh coat of varnish.....and that there was some rust/pitting on the balcony hot tub controls (Royal Suite).... but really, this was simply something we just 'noticed,' but it was a detail that wouldn't (IMO) have been overlooked on HAL.

That said....we're booked on the Eurodam for a turkey-day cruise, and the Celebrity Eclipse for a spring-break cruise.:D I give high marks to both lines, and find they are very similar in many respects. It's nice to have 2 choices!

Interesting thread. We have not had the pleasure of sailing on HAL yet but hope to. We have sailed with X twice with a third coming up. I had to chime in to correct a prior poster:

 

 

 

Celebrity does offer hot or cold towels when you come back from port as well as water/punch or coffee/hot chocolate. Celebrity does allow you to order from the dining room for room service and real towels are provided in the public restrooms. I am not trying to be argumentative, just want to make sure accurate information is being presented.

 

We love Celebrity and hope to experience HAL some day as I like most of what I have read about them.

Not to be argumentative also, but ordering from the MDR menu to room service on X, is like trying to get into area 51! My DH had his room service menu dinner eaten before I even had a chance to order.

Here is how it went . .. I called room service on the telephone, ordered dh's order, then proceed to order mine. I was not allowed to as I had not requested a menu. I had to have a menu delivered to me first even though I already knew what I wanted! It took 35 minutes to have the menu delivered by our stateroom attendant. I ordered upon his arrival and food delivery took another 45 minutes to an hour!

While MDR items are available for room service, they make it as painful as possible.