Happy and Sad at the same time...trying Celebrity, hope i don't miss HAL too much!!!!

Well, I finally came to a decision. I compared different itineraries, and I just couldn't justify taking the HAL itinerary over the Celebrity. The celebrity price and itinerary were both superior.

I'm just so scared that I'll miss the wonderful indonesian wait staff, and the beautiful ships (i really dont like the look of the ship i'm going on lol - Equinox).

This board feels like home, the Celebrity board, not so much...I have a feeling I'll be on here still more than there!

Either way, I'm very excited to see some new ports in Europe this October, but I'm missing ms Nieuw Amsterdam somethin' fierce! :-)

Well, I finally came to a decision. I compared different itineraries, and I just couldn't justify taking the HAL itinerary over the Celebrity. The celebrity price and itinerary were both superior.

 

I'm just so scared that I'll miss the wonderful indonesian wait staff, and the beautiful ships (i really dont like the look of the ship i'm going on lol - Equinox).

 

This board feels like home, the Celebrity board, not so much...I have a feeling I'll be on here still more than there!

 

Either way, I'm very excited to see some new ports in Europe this October, but I'm missing ms Nieuw Amsterdam somethin' fierce! :-)

Hi, take it from someone that did the same thing. Celebrity is actually very good and we were very impressed..... it is just very different, not bad just different. The food was very very good, the amenities in the cabin in my opinion are not as good as HAL but then I really love Elemis products and love HAL beds. I can see where people who like one cruise line like the other and that many people do go back and forth between the two cruise lines. My biggest problem that we have gotten to personally know so many crew and Officers on HAL that sailing on HAL is a very different feeling that no other cruise line can duplicate for us.

I will say that we enjoyed our Celebrity cruise on the Solstice and there were actually other cruise lines we were on that we did spend the week wishing we were on HAL ;)

I am sure you are going to have a fantastic cruise and a great itinerary. Sometimes it is good to check out the other options :)

I was hoping you'd be one to chime in :-) I'm sure I'll have a good time...it's just different you know. I'm so familiar now with HALs cabin structure, the layout of the ship, the overall feel...I feel like I'm cheating on HAL! LOL

I don't think I'll love the outside of the ship the same. I just love the dark hulls of HAL. And I will without a doubt miss the towel animals (I'm already mourning that difference lol).

Hopefully, I will like it just as much. I just couldn't justify spending 1300 more for the same type itinerary and cabin on HAL when the airfare is going to cost so much this year (ouch over 1k for airfare am I crazy?).

I just figured if the world is supposed to end in 2012, I best go back to Europe and see more :-) Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Athens, Naples, Rome, Messina, Kusadasi....looking forward to some new places (4 are new for me!).

Well, I finally came to a decision. I compared different itineraries, and I just couldn't justify taking the HAL itinerary over the Celebrity. The celebrity price and itinerary were both superior.

 

I'm just so scared that I'll miss the wonderful indonesian wait staff, and the beautiful ships (i really dont like the look of the ship i'm going on lol - Equinox).

 

This board feels like home, the Celebrity board, not so much...I have a feeling I'll be on here still more than there!

 

Either way, I'm very excited to see some new ports in Europe this October, but I'm missing ms Nieuw Amsterdam somethin' fierce! :-)

If you go with an open mind and don't keep comparing them or expecting them to be the same, you should enjoy both also. It is much the way that people can enjoy different kinds of music, different kinds of restaurants and shows and visiting different countries. We feel that our lives are enriched by having a variety of experiences.

Trying something new or different is hardly anything to be scared or sad about. If you find you don't like it, then don't do it again.

It is not as though you are going to be banned for life by HAL if you try another cruise line. :eek:

However, I think that you will be very unhappy with Celebrity if you are heavy smokers who wish to smoke in your cabin or on the balcony or in the casino.

As non-smokers ourselves, we greatly appreciate Celebrity's restrictive smoking policy. But that does not stop us from picking another cruise line with a more liberal smoking policy (such as HAL) when it offers an itinerary we want at the time we want to go.

You have some good responses to your post.

Consider this also: A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...

You would never have known how wonderful HAL is without sailing it. Same thing with Celebrity. We sailed both and love both, and a couple of others besides.

You are in for yet another wonderful vacation experience.

Have a HAL of a cruise...on Celebrity. :)

Smooth sailing...

Nothing wrong with trying new things Ariawoman! I'm sure you will let us know what you think when you come back.

I'm sure you will have a great time and a wonderful cruise. :)

I'll be looking forward to your comparison of the 2 cruise lines next fall.

Did you not like Seabourn?

I know there are people who say one cruise line is the only one for them without ever trying others. Seems kind of short sighted to me.

There have been a few cruise lines I don't want to return to but have never regretted trying them once (well maybe Linblad -- not at the time but a 10-year flood of their junk mail is giving me second thoughts).

Roy

Enjoy your cruise ariawoman. I have never been on Celebrity, but I loved the ports on my Mediterranean cruise on the Rotterdam a few years ago.

I'll be looking forward to your comparison of the 2 cruise lines next fall.

 

Please do come back and relate your experiences to us. We too have been toying with the idea of trying Celebrity for a while. Are currently looking at the Equinox or the Noordam for next February in the Caribbean.

We have been on both and will be on Hal soon. I think they are more alike than different You are going on one of their new ships which is much larger than Hal's however it has the same pass to space ratio. Also a lot of the rest. and bar staff are from Northern Europe. That said I think you will have a great time. We just got of off the Summit and had a fine time.

Hi,

You will love Celebrity. I have been on many times.

Enjoy,

Maria

Did you not like Seabourn?

 

Roy

My Seabourn experience was a once in the lifetime type opportunity for someone who looks at their fares and cries. LOL.

I was part of a private charter, we paid 1200 for 7 days on Seabourn. Find me that fare on Seabourn again and sure, I'd try it again. :-) Their service is unmatched. They don't ALLOW you to lift a finger. It's insane the level of service. Also to be all inclusive was indeed very nice. I just don't think I'll ever be able to justify that kind of money when other lines are offering much lower fares. No, you don't get that same service but honestly i don't NEED that level as I'm not royalty :-)

It was a great experience in the situation I was in. I'm not sure how the regular sailing crowd would take a 37 year old, but who knows, maybe I'd be surprised.

I've yet to sail a company that I didn't find positives with, so I'm hoping this will be no different (this is only my 3rd sail ever as I am a recent convert lol). I'm looking forward to coming back and reporting back to you all on the differences. I know I'll love the non-smoking difference as I'm highly sensitive to cigarette smoke. We shall see how the 2 lines compare! 130 days! But who's counting? :-)

Please do come back and relate your experiences to us. We too have been toying with the idea of trying Celebrity for a while. Are currently looking at the Equinox or the Noordam for next February in the Caribbean.

Noordam was in the running for my fall vacation as well taxmantoo. I just had to go with the itinerary that more closely matched my current wish list (I've been obsessed with seeing the windmills in Mykonos lol). The Vista class ships on HAL seem very similar to the S-Class I'm sailing on Celeb, albeit the Vista is a bit smaller.

I hope to one day return to the Nieuw Amsterdam once the inaugural wall is in place. I feel like such a part of that ship, having booked it before it even had it's inaugural, watching the inaugural live, etc. I think she'll have a special place in my heart for a long time. :-)

Hope you'll share some comments with us when you return.

Have a great cruise. :)

We have the exact same situation! After 8 cruises, all on HAL, we will be taking our first Celebrity cruise in 4 months. Same reasons as you, itinerary and price. I know how you feel. :)

But the fact that we have a HAL cruise booked (one year from today!) helps a bit with the feelings of guilt. :p:D

I'm fully expecing to enjoy our Celebrity cruise though, on the brand new Silhouette!

Have a great cruise, those are great ports!

We have the exact same situation! After 8 cruises, all on HAL, we will be taking our first Celebrity cruise in 4 months. Same reasons as you, itinerary and price. I know how you feel. :)

 

But the fact that we have a HAL cruise booked (one year from today!) helps a bit with the feelings of guilt. :p:D

 

I'm fully expecing to enjoy our Celebrity cruise though, on the brand new Silhouette!

 

Have a great cruise, those are great ports!

Oh your cruise date is the same as mine, only you're on the newest ship and I'm on the not-as-new but 2009 new ship lol. I saw that one, but the ports for Equinox appealed to me more. :-) What type of cabin did you book? Me, I booked a 1A, but one that supposedly has a large balcony (like 90-100 sq feet). I'm looking forward to it...but do wish I had HAL in my signature ticker area too! lol That would indeed help the guilt some!

You picked a great ship. Equinox is beautiful and the Solstice class ships have become DW's favourite. In fact, I believe that these ships are setting a new standard in the industry compared to Carnival Corp's cookie cutter Vista ships. The ship is large but it never seems crowded to us. Enjoy you cruise.

If it's any consolation, we've had towel animals on both of our X cruises. Of course, we travel with a child - don't know if that makes a difference or not. And we've enjoyed the wonderful diversity of the X crew. There are still many from Indonesia as well.

I thought all cruise lines did animal towels? We even had them on a Nile river cruise, along with demos on deck to teaching us how to do them.

I think it is important to try different cruise lines. At the moment HAL is our favorite, five years ago it was Princess. At the moment, we have two cruises booked on HAL, one on Princess, and one on Celebrity. Diversity is good.

I did a cruise on the equinox this year for my honeymoon ! the ship is very beautiful ! the food was good (we really like the italian et murano restaurant but not the asian) ! the pizza at the buffet was excellent and the bistro on five delicious !

The cirque show is like a real cirque du soleil show ! don't miss that show !

There was a lot of activities and the staff was very funny and friendly ! I like the glass show, wine and cheese on the grass, party by the pool, kinect game, aquarobic, solarium, shops!

What a like the most is that we never have to search for a chair next to the pool ! staff remove towel every day from empty chair.

negative points : drinks were pretty expensive, the corner of the bed (round) it's a problem if you are tall, no real ballroom dance floor (the dance before and after dinning was in the lobby), no real nightlife (I really like to dance) the night club was empty !

I'm sure you will like it ! my parents are big fan of holland but they also try the equinox and they loved it !

At the end of june I will take my first holland cruise ! We choose our cruise on the itinerary! we know that holland will be more relax and less activity but we want to try it !

Oh your cruise date is the same as mine, only you're on the newest ship and I'm on the not-as-new but 2009 new ship lol. I saw that one, but the ports for Equinox appealed to me more. :-) What type of cabin did you book? Me, I booked a 1A, but one that supposedly has a large balcony (like 90-100 sq feet). I'm looking forward to it...but do wish I had HAL in my signature ticker area too! lol That would indeed help the guilt some!

Oh, we do have the same cruise date, I hadn't seen that before! What's your embarkation port? Ours is Rome.

You know, there's a story behind our booking. We booked with Celebrity because originally it had an overnight stay in Egypt, and HAL didn't. Well, now everything has changed, Celebrity canceled all Egypt stops for this year, and HAL hasn't canceled them (at least not yet). Kind of ironic, isn't it? :rolleyes: We really wanted to get back to Egypt (we were there a few years ago with HAL) but it just wasn't meant to be this year.

But we've stayed with the cruise because they lowered the price so much we can hardly afford to stay home. :p We have a CC guarantee, switched from a Sunset Verandah because the CC was cheaper!

I hope you love the Equinox as much as I did. It's a beautiful, stable, outstanding ship.

I sail on HAL fairly often, but since sailing on the Equinox, I am not looking forward to sailing on HAL as much as in the past. The Equinox really was that good!

I sailed the equinox last year and you will love that ship. I have sailed on Celebrity several times in the past and the service and food is great. Plus no smoking in the rooms or balconey so for me that is a plus.

I am trying Hal next year for an Alaska cruise for the first time so I understand how you feel about trying a new cruise line. All I can say is relax Celebrity is great.