Celebrity vs. Holland America

[rmmm]

Hello, I was hoping that someone could give me some advice. We would like to cruise to Bermuda and are considering Celebrity. We have previously sailed with Holland America and I was wondering if someone who has sailed on both Celebrity and Holland America could give me a comparison. I have heard that the food on Celebrity is much better than Holland America but that the service is better on Holland America. Any information would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

Rose

[FlorenceItaly]

I cruised 2 times on Holland America, and one time on Celebrity last year.

No question, Celebrity has superior service and food. If you are happy with HAL, as I was, you will LOVE Celebrity.

 

Marie

[OCruisers]

Rose .... Agree with Marie! If you like HAL, you'll LOVE Celebrity! Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[Lois R]

Hi:) I have sailed Celebrity 4 times and I am going again in 2 weeks:D .

 

I have been on Holland America once. In my opinion, both service and food are better on X.

I sailed the Zuiderdam in September. I felt like the service was definitely lacking and I also think Celebrity wins in the food catergory. It was the first time I had disembarked a ship ready to go home.:rolleyes:

 

Whenever I leave an X ship, I know I want to sail them again:) and it is never soon enough!

[dakrewser]

Rose -

 

For a balanced opinion, you might also ask this on the HAL boards.

 

Many people feel there's little to choose from between the two lines, and that the differences among the ships in either line is the question to ask.

[FlorenceItaly]

Rose -

 

For a balanced opinion, you might also ask this on the HAL boards.

 

Many people feel there's little to choose from between the two lines, and that the differences among the ships in either line is the question to ask.

 

From what I gather, alot of the long time posters/cruisers with HAL are still remembering the days when service was top notch. That was NOT my experience last year on both cruises. I think things have changed. The service on Celebrity was noticeably different, at least in my experience. Do I still like HAL...Yes...I have an upcoming cruise in Dec on HAL. I think if you poll the posters who have been on HAL AND Celebrity in the past 12 months, you will find Celebrity has the edge. Of course, this is all jmo.

 

Marie

[LynnObie]

Both are top notch in our opinion... ...We sailed HAL and Celebrity last year and are currently booked for one cruise with each. If HAL & Celebrity both had almost the same itinerary, we would go for price and cabin availability.

*

I agree that you might also want to post your question on the HAL board. You can also do a search on HAL board for Celebrity & for HAL or Holland America on this board. You should find many posts to review.

[Longboysfan]

You should find the food and service better on Celebrity.

You will find more activities on Celebrity.

You will find the age of the HAL passangers a bit older than on Celebrity.

But not by much on a Bermuda cruise.

 

Just my opinion having cruised to Bermuda about 7 times with HAL and 7 times with Celebrity.

[seabill]

We have sailed more than 5 times with both HAL and Celebrity. They are both class lines and provide good service and food. Some cruises are better than others based on people you meet and your experiences aboard and ashore!Bill

[Lois R]

Hi, I tried to post something but it disappeared:( .

 

I would really say every cruiseline has their loyalists (including me).

 

If you ask this question on HAL, they will probably say they have the best product. Same thing on here.

 

All the boards are made up of people who love their specific line.

 

My experience on HAL was not terrible, but just not what I have gotten used to on X.

 

Would I go back on HAL again? Probably not. Does that mean others don't love the product they offer? Absolutely not.

All the ships seem to have plenty of passengers:)

[barbon2]

Absolutely go CELEBRITY!!

As I have posted before, our last two cruises have been on HAL due to itineraries, not the ships. Don't get me wrong, the ships were nice, food was good, but it was NOT Celebritiy. As I have stated before, if we are doing a "touring" cruise, where ports, not the ship are important we don't mind doing HAL. However, for the Caribbean, HAL cannot hold a candle to Celebrity. Our Dec. cruise is the Caribbean and we cannot wait to go on the Constellation.

Barbara

[benjamins]

I think they are equal. Too much Celebrity cheerleading here.

 

One thing HAL has done that Celebrity hasn't is fix their staterooms. They have plush bedding and mattresses where Celebrity's staterooms are falling apart. Read recent reviews of Celebrity ships. Even relatively new ships from Celebrity, like Millennium and Infinity have people reporting that the ships feel dirty and worn.

 

HAL has retrofitted some of their mid 90s class ships with specialty restaurants.

 

HAL's strengths are fresh flowers everywhere, free popcorn served before showing movies, much nicer documents and packaging and overall better land operations than Celebrity. I think HAL's buffet is better in terms of variety. I think HAL's ships offer a bit better Passenger Space Ratio as well.

 

Celebrity enjoys such things as intermezzo served between servings at formal dinners, a higher crew to pax ratio, when they want to excellent presentation of dining cuisine, some boarding perks, etc.

 

Overall they are very comparable. Who's better may depend more on anecdotal sailings and personal biases than on anything truly objective.

[jamesm]

We have sailed on X ten times and last fall decided to try HAL for something different. The ship, Oosterdam, was gorgeous and our cabin was terrific. But the food and service do not compare to Celebrity. Even the food in HAL's specialty restaurant was hardly equal to the food in Celebrity's regular dining rooms. The HAL passengers - at least on the cruise we tried - were older if that makes any difference. We're booked again on X this year and looking forward to it.

[stanjj111]

We took a New Year's cruise on the Volendam and were on the Connie in early Feb.

Connie, a nicer ship, more modern

The Rosaio strings on HAL were great. HAL had more dancing menus.

Connie has the bar at the end of the earth. It is interesting but only for a short time.

On X they can prepare a main dish medium rare. Presentation on HAL was better. Salads on X were banal to say the least. You will enjoy the food on both.

Volendam more of a old class line with wooden decks etc.

Entertainment on X better but IMHO I still do not like the reviews on any line. Band on X was great.

Service on HAL was better. They seemed to care more. They mostly came from Indonesia where as X is more eclectic.

HAL's passengers will generally be older than on X.

Volendam 1440 pass. Connie 2K

Hope this helps.

Again this just relates to the ships that I were on

[babyg]

Hey Stan

It's you! Have you decided about New Year's on Zuiderdam? Glad you enjoyed Constellation. Our next cruise is 6/05- Mercury/Alaska.

Keep in touch.

Babyg

[newmexicoNita]

The most loyal cruisers in the world seem to be those who sail Celebrity lines, so you do need to ask the question somewhere else as well. I have sailed both, I do think those who love HAL may be remembering the good ol days. The age of HAL passengers are a bit older than Celebrity, the night life is better on Celebrity, but neither are noted for having a real late night jumping bunch of lounges. Food wise I find it about the same; I find all mass marketed cruiseline food very similar. One may have better buffets, one better variety, and one a little nicer presentation, but basically, when you are preparing food for 1500 to 3000 people per meal it is not going to be truely gourmet. Good yes, 5 star nope!!!! NMNita

[garykool81]

I recently sailed aboard Zuiderdam with my first Holland America cruise. I've taken two previous cruises with Celebrity aboard Mercury and Galaxy.

 

1. I *highly* prefer the decorating style of Celebrity. We found the HAL ship (note, it is said to be the worst in the fleet) to be gaudy and WAY too tacky for us. Celebrity, IMO, perfectly combines elegance, luxury and contemporary-abstract style in a way that no one else can.

 

2. Food on both lines is the same from my LIMITED experience.

 

3. Service on Celebrity was better in the dining room, more personable.

 

4. Entertainment on Celebrity was a bit better.

 

5. It seemed to me that there were less public announcements on Celebrity than on HAL...which is a good thing.

 

Overall, I'd consider sailing HAL again if the price were right, but I am definitely sold on Celebrity currently. Just has the service, quality and style that I feel most comfortable spending my dollar on.

[Lois R]

Cheerleading?;) Rah, Rah, Rah.

 

People probably do it on every board.

 

Stan, we had totally opposite experiences. I didn't feel as though the staff on HAL cared too much at all:( and the service on X beat the service I received on HAL hands down.

[mountainmare]

Thank you all for the input. We are loyal to HAL even though we feel a bit young(mid -50s) once in awhile. We're considering our first Med cruise and are not taken with the 2006 itineraries offered by HAL.

I've been avoiding other lines because of problems expressed about chair hogs, buffet food, cc class cabins, dirty ships (and now salt water in the pools)

 

Celebrity does seem a bit above the other mainstream cruise lines but I don't want a repeat of my Carnival experience. Should I take the chance and jump ship to Celeb?

[FlorenceItaly]

Definitely book Celebrity. IMO, you will return and Celebrity will be your #1 choice cruiseline.

 

Marie

[Cinder]

I had exactly the same problem and ended up with a choice between the Rotterdam or the Galaxy for the Med this September. I decided to go with Celebrity because of the itinerary and the fact that there wasn't a suite available on the Rotterdam. From everything I've read, they both provide a good cruise, so I am looking forward to the Galaxy. I DO like HAL's new beds and linens, tho!

[FlorenceItaly]

HAL's beds and linens are heavenly!!

 

Marie

[greeneg]

I have done one HAL cruise. On our itinerary, there was a plumbing failure in our cabin on 7 of the 10 days we were on the ship. No hot tubs were working, and one of the two pools were hors d' combat. The elevator closest to our cabin did not stop at the promenade deck which is where the closest loo and our boat station happened to be. Simply unacceptable. Period.

 

HAL customer service was totally unresponsive on the ship and after the fact. I have never been treated with such indifference in my life.

 

Celebrity, on the other hand, has never given me anything but outstanding customer service and value for my cruising dollar.

[C 2 C]

Sailed on the Veendam and Zenith in January.

 

HAL has nicer ships, better beds!! better lunch in the Lido.

 

Service is excellent on both.. slight edge to Celebrity.

Food at dinner is better on Celebrity. But HAL has free capuccino after dinner. Celebrity chocolates on pillows are infinitely better than HAL faux chocolates..

 

We have sailed many times on both... will sail many times again on both... but I have had no good vibes on Vista class ships from former pax... We love Celebrity Millennium Class ships..

 

Travel both, love both.. There are more differences in ships in each fleet than between lines...

[cruisinjudy]

We travel on both. Hi Arno!

As to the chocolates, I decided I don't like Celebrity chocolates. It seems I liked them at first. Have they changed? The last two trips I thought they tasted waxy.

 

Anyway we like both lines and alternate cruises on the two. The comment above about the Gaudy Ziederdam, I think that only applies to that ship. I like HAL artwork far better than Celebrity. I also love the wrap around teak deck.

 

Celebrity does have better dining room service. Nothing wrong with HAL, just not as personable.

 

I prefer HAL's specialty restaurant.

As above, these are all just personal opinions and you will have to experience it for yourself to ascertain you preference.