Difficult decision between Celebrity and Hal!

[bickee]

I am going to post this on both the HAL and Celebrity boards! Hoping to even get a review from someone who has sailed on both!

 

Little background on me, I'm in my 30's, married, primarily a Princess sailer. Looking to try something a little different this round. I am TORN between the Celebrity Solstice and Hal Eurodam for Feb 2010! Here are my thoughts.

 

Celebrity pluses:

 

Excited about the Aqua Class rooms. I love the idea of using the relaxation room, persian gardens included, SEPERATE dining room (Blu) and priority embarkation. Do Hal's spa balconies have similar amenities? I don't believe they do. I believe there is a thermal suite in Hal?

 

The theater showing movies is wonderful for my husband. I also love the in-room movies on the cabin tv that can be PAUSED (DVR?) and watched later! Hubby is a big movie watcher.

 

I am thinking that Celebrity will be a LITTLE more lively at night in terms of entertainment? This isn't super important as we like to relax.

 

LOVE the full breakfast room service delivery. I don't believe HAL has full breakfasts on the room service (at least Princess doesn't, more continental).

 

 

HAL plusses:

 

I like the itinerary better, and also that it leaves on a Saturday instead of a Sunday.

 

I think the theater will be great for my husband, but I wonder if it's hard to get seats as it seems to be quite small.

 

I really like the idea of the retreat cabanas and area! this might make up for the relaxation room on Celebrity.

 

Tamarind looks good.

 

Bigger balconies on the VD category. Not sure yet about the spa veranda category as I'm not really sure what it includes?

 

THANK YOU for all your help and thoughts!!!!!!!

[cmamd]

Dear Bickee

 

We have been on four HAL cruises, only one Celebrity cruise. Our favorite was the Celebrity Cruise out of Venice to Barcelona. The pax were more mixed and a much more active group of people. Hal often has an older pax mix. We are both in our 60's so you know when I say older-I mean older. Both cruise lines are great so you will have a wonderful time on either. We like to take longer cruises 20+ days and Hal offers a better choice for us but if Celebrity was an option we would choose them first. Food is about equal but the cost cutting going on cruise ship lines may change the quality of food in the main dinning rooms. Tamarind has great reviews so that is a plus, but we also love the specialty dinning on Celebrity. Hal has a complete breakfast menu, lunch, dinner for in-room dinning at no additional cost. I believe the ports of call/ itinerary is the most important part of decision making when booking a cruise. If you like being on the ship the most, then that might not figure into the final choice. My husband loved the Spa on Celebrity, I loved the spa on Hal- go figure. Good luck on your cruise choice and have a wonderful vacation.

[bickee]

Thanks so much! I didn't know that Hal had the full breakfast menu.

[gprentice]

We're in our 40s and have tried both HAL & Celebrity. (been on 20 cruises so far)

We haven't had a cruise we didn't like something about it yet. HAL typically has an older clientel but my wife likes the cabin bath tubs.

 

Given the choice, I'd pick Celebrity, but you can't go wrong with either. Both lines have their fans.

 

BTW, our favorite cruise yet was also the Celebrity Millenium from Venice to Barcelona in summer 2004.

 

Graham

[goldengreeke]

Thanks so much! I didn't know that Hal had the full breakfast menu.

Except for french toast, pancakes or waffles. They will not bring them to your state room. Other than that it is great!:)

[goldengreeke]

Plus the average age of a cruiser on HAL is around 92 :D

[Pilot70D]

Plus the average age of a cruiser on HAL is around 92 :D

 

Much, much too young!!!

Our last cruise with HAL was on their newest ship, the Geritolendam. The average age was 128.5 on that cruise.:D

[Cruise Junky]

I beg you, go with Celebrity. We`ve sailed on 5 different lines. Our favourite is Princess, second favourite is Celebrity..I`d put our NCL cruise above our HAL cruise and that`s saying something!!

[Host Anne]

I've sailed Solstice several times and we're booked on Equinox (her sister) next year. We are sailing Eurodam in two weeks. If you can wait a couple of weeks, I'll share a comparison. Have only sailed HAL once before (on Veendam) and enjoyed it very much. Sail Celebrity quite a bit and always enjoy our cruises. Solstice has become my favorite ship. I'm interested to see how Eurodam compares. I'll let you know!

[hulamoon]

I sailed the 18 day TA on Eurodam, it was great, we have just turned 50 and there are some advantages to being one of the younger ones.

 

The same movies from the theatre played in our room, plus we had a package that gave us free DVD's. I did buy the thermal suite package and it is very relaxing with a mineral pool and the ceramic heated loungers with a great view. Blu sounds intriguing to me but the MDR was amazing and the Tamarind is a treat.

 

Our breakfast was fabulous and the food was as good or better than I have had on Princess for this cruise.

 

All this said I like the smoking policy on Celebrity better, so you may care about that one way or the other.

 

The HAL website has a complete list of spa amenties but you can buy the thermal suite package without being in a spa room. The spa rooms did have a special key for direct access to the thermal suite and the passengers I spoke to liked that.

 

I also can't wait to hear what Host Anne says..

[bickee]

I've sailed Solstice several times and we're booked on Equinox (her sister) next year. We are sailing Eurodam in two weeks. If you can wait a couple of weeks, I'll share a comparison. Have only sailed HAL once before (on Veendam) and enjoyed it very much. Sail Celebrity quite a bit and always enjoy our cruises. Solstice has become my favorite ship. I'm interested to see how Eurodam compares. I'll let you know!

 

That would be great, thanks!

 

I really am torn! I do love the smoking policy on Celebrity. The age thing bothers me a little, but I wonder if HAL will really be THAT old on a 7 day caribbean cruise in Feb? Such a tough decision! Both boards have given me good feedback!

[Eliger]

That would be great, thanks!

 

I really am torn! I do love the smoking policy on Celebrity. The age thing bothers me a little, but I wonder if HAL will really be THAT old on a 7 day caribbean cruise in Feb? Such a tough decision! Both boards have given me good feedback!

We have sailed HAL twice, and Celebrity several times. For us, the itinerary is the most important. The fact that the departure day is somewhat important to you should also be a factor. The number one factor for us is the smoking policy. HAL allows smoking in staterooms. We could smell smoke many places on the ship because of people smoking in their rooms. As far as the older guests on HAL, it is true that the average passenger is older, but there will be a lot of people your age also. We were on Solstice in December 2008, and in AquaClass. You mention the relaxation room. Well we didn't use it much... we tried it... and there was rarely anyone in there. I wouldn't go on Solstice just for that, but we enjoyed Blu and the amenities in the cabin.

 

One thing we really enjoyed on HAL was the private island - Half Moon Cay. We are beach lovers, and that is one of the best.

 

I'm sure you will enjoy either ship. Have a great cruise.

 

Gerry

[Redtravel]

I only sailed on HAL once. Family cruise with many peple ages 8 months to 85. Only the 85 and 8 months really liked it. It is really the dead and near dead. I'm in my 60s and will never be old enough for HAL. I have sailed on Celebrity many times and enjoyed the mix of ages, the entertainment. And, the food is much better on Celebrity than HAL. Everyone agreed that the food on HAL was dull and tasteless. Celebrity, while not gourmet, does most things good.

[vickykay]

Go with the Solstice - just a beautiful ship and a wonderful cruise. We did one HAL cruise (because of itinerary) on the Westerdam - great service and good food but very closed in-design feeling of the ship and not much going on (and this was during a school break so there were many teachers like us) - even the staff (ie band leaders) could not get the passengers moving - we spent most of the evening in the piano bar, which we enjoyed. You won't go wrong with the Solstice!

[ibwig]

We have sailed HAL twice, and Celebrity several times. For us, the itinerary is the most important. The fact that the departure day is somewhat important to you should also be a factor. The number one factor for us is the smoking policy. HAL allows smoking in staterooms. We could smell smoke many places on the ship because of people smoking in their rooms. As far as the older guests on HAL, it is true that the average passenger is older, but there will be a lot of people your age also. We were on Solstice in December 2008, and in AquaClass. You mention the relaxation room. Well we didn't use it much... we tried it... and there was rarely anyone in there. I wouldn't go on Solstice just for that, but we enjoyed Blu and the amenities in the cabin.

 

One thing we really enjoyed on HAL was the private island - Half Moon Cay. We are beach lovers, and that is one of the best.

 

I'm sure you will enjoy either ship. Have a great cruise.

 

Gerry

 

We're taking our first Celebrity cruise in January, but we sailed on the HAL's Eurodam last year during Thanksgiving week. I agree with what you've said about HAL, and we really enjoyed Half Moon Cay. Also, the poolside cabanas were nice but I think I liked the retreats much better.

[helenp2]

Except for french toast, pancakes or waffles. They will not bring them to your state room. Other than that it is great!:)[/quot

 

Sorry, but french toast, pancakes, waffles & eggs benedict are always available on HAL's room service. If you want something and it's not on the menu they will do everything they can to accomodate you. To my knowlege they are they only cruiseline serving FRESH OJ.

 

Last time I sailed on X there were many, many walkers and wheelchairs including an airlift to the hospital for a passenger in distress. So, while it is positively a quiter atmosphere some of us take a cruise to relax and enjoy the ship, the food and not having to argue with someone over a pool lounger or be forced to leave a public area due to loud music and noisy kids. Every cabin on HAL's ships have a bathtub, flat screen tv's and if you checkout the sizes of thecabins and verandas you will see that HAL's are considerably larger.

 

For me, it's a no brainer - HAL is superior in all aspects.

[Cruise Junky]

For me, it's a no brainer - HAL is superior in all aspects.

 

Superior? Really? I've never had worse food in my life than on HAL. They served fake crab in the dining room twice..passing it off as both Dungeness Crab and Alaska King Crab. Last time I checked Celebrity doesn't serve fake food and lie about it. Our dining room service on HAL was atrocious. Surf & Turf with no Turf, bland dinners, only unsalted butter everywhere. HAL did have some good points, their wine card is a steal and we did find the Pinnacle better than the specialty restaurant on Millennium but HAL fell very short in our eyes to the point my husband has said outright he will never step foot on another HAL ship.

 

HAL admitted to the Fake Crab in a letter of apology and blamed the mistake on the Head Chef of the Zuiderdam yet my friend who just got off the Ryndam had the same thing served to her...she's sailed over 300 days with HAL and has never seen it so bad. Their next two cruises are on Oceania...I doubt she'll go back.

 

So if that's your idea of SUPERIOR, you're welcome to it.

[jagoffee]

Except for french toast, pancakes or waffles. They will not bring them to your state room. Other than that it is great!:)[/quot

 

 

For me, it's a no brainer - HAL is superior in all aspects.

 

Have you tried the Solstice Class? If not, you might want to take a cruise to see if you would still have the same opinion.

Personally I think Celebrity and Princess are superior to HAL, but I have only cruised on one HAL ship the Masdam.

[GeorgeL]

That would be great, thanks!

 

I really am torn! I do love the smoking policy on Celebrity. The age thing bothers me a little, but I wonder if HAL will really be THAT old on a 7 day caribbean cruise in Feb? Such a tough decision! Both boards have given me good feedback!

 

I would vote for HAL mainly because, in my opinion, the itinerary is the most important deciding factor. I heard very good things about HAL (and those cruisers were not even close to 128.5 years old :))

This is even more important on a 7 day cruise. You will be off the ship most of the time, most likely on a beach, so the age of other pax is not of great importance at all.

[Softball20]

Honestly, both are good choices, so, for me, it would come down to itinerary. We have been on both HAL and Celebrity. We've done both in the Caribbean and another HAL cruise in the Med, and we are going back to the Med next year on the Equinox. We are in our mid-40's and I didn't find the age an issue at all on HAL, either in the Caribbean or the Med. Yes, we were on the younger side, but so what?

 

I think that both offer good food and good service. The food on HAL did stand out for me a bit more, but the food on Celebrity was very good, too. I don't think you could go wrong either way.

[usha]

I don't think the age difference on a 7 night cruise is so great between X & HAL.

IMO, the food in the main dining on Celebrity is a bit better, and the specialty restaurants on Celebrity are much better, while HAL's lido food is better.

Service on both lines is very good, but Celebrity's is more polished.

HAL's service is still very warm & friendly.

As far as cabins, HAL's are a little bigger, with most cabins having a tub, which I like. I also like the beds better than Celebrity's.

What I don't like about HAL is that they permit smoking in cabins & on passenger balconies. ICK:p

If your neighbor wants to sit & burn one cigar after another, that's just too bad for you.

The money you spent on your balcony could well go up in smoke on HAL.

There are only a very few specific areas where smoking is allowed on Celebrity,

and cabins & balconies are completely smoke-free.:)

If for no other reason, this is why I would pick Celebrity.

[Route6A]

We have sailed on both lines quite a bit. Since the economic decline, we have noticed changes on the Constellation and the Noordam, particularly the quality of the food, which has declined a bit. At the moment, we have a cruise booked on the Equinox, thinking we'd try one of Celebrity's newer ships. Just off the Noordam, and I cancelled a cruise on the Eurodam due to the cutbacks we experienced on the Noordam. If we had paid a highly discounted rate for our Noordam cruise, I would have been content, but we booked a suite, so I was not. I may jump ship from both Celebrity and HAL and book another Regent cruise as they are offering some great prices. It's sad to see the cruise industry struggling, and the wonderful crews rushing to keep up with the increased passenger loads they are assigned. We love cruises, so we'll hope for the best.....

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

To my knowlege they [HAL] are they only cruiseline serving FRESH OJ.

 

Not so. We have fresh-squeezed orange juice on our veranda every morning on Celebrity.

[longduo]

We just returned from a 7 day cruise on the HAL Ryndam. Our other HAL cruise was 5 years ago. We have sailed Celebrity many times in the interim and will sail the Constellation again in Dec.

We will never sail HAL again! The service was terrible! The personel were kind and busting their buns to do everything, but it was quite obvious that HAL has cut staffing to bare minimum. In the dining room the waiters had way too many tables often without an assistant. The cabin steward was working solid all day long with no time off. The food selection was minimal. The buffet was downright bad yet on port days was the only choice for lunch.

If you have a choice, even if the HAL price is lower, go with Celebrity!

[kelmac]

I don't think the age difference on a 7 night cruise is so great between X & HAL.

IMO, the food in the main dining on Celebrity is a bit better, and the specialty restaurants on Celebrity are much better, while HAL's lido food is better.

Service on both lines is very good, but Celebrity's is more polished.

HAL's service is still very warm & friendly.

As far as cabins, HAL's are a little bigger, with most cabins having a tub, which I like. I also like the beds better than Celebrity's.

What I don't like about HAL is that they permit smoking in cabins & on passenger balconies. ICK:p

If your neighbor wants to sit & burn one cigar after another, that's just too bad for you.

The money you spent on your balcony could well go up in smoke on HAL.

There are only a very few specific areas where smoking is allowed on Celebrity,

and cabins & balconies are completely smoke-free.:)

If for no other reason, this is why I would pick Celebrity.

 

As always, perfect -- I agree with usha 100%. She is in the KNOW!

 

Kel:)