HAL vs Celeb

[scarlett81]

Checked out lots of Nieuw Amsterdam videos on youtube vs X's Equinox. I honestly prefer Nieuw Amsterdam's styling. And I love that they have cabanas to rent, plus a child's pool area.

Its really hard to tell how the food would be though-seems to be mixed reviews. Checking out videos of X's brunch buffet me and my 4 yo's mouths were watering.

I can't believe that Celeb doesn't have cabanas or private areas to reserve for a fee. I guess you can only tell so much from pics or videos, but that lawn area seems like a waste...?..

[YAC]

We sailed Eastern Med on Celeb Millineum in 2005 - balcony stateroom for $200 per person per day excluding air. In 2007 we die the Western Med on Hal Rotterdam - OV for $250 per person per day excluding air. Celebrity had more balcony staterooms which were larger than the OV rooms on HAL. The entertainment was better on Celebrity. HAL tended to have older people - over 65; whereas Celebrity had younger people. I liked both ships, but if I had to choose one, I vote for Celebrity, even if the ship held 800 more people than HAL!:o

[brandy3415]

Re: smoking on Celebrity:

We were in a CC on Celebrity a few months ago. On a regular basis, we smelled smoke in our cabin and on the balcony. When we called CS desk, they said they would look into it. Obviously the guilty couple had more status than we did because it never stopped! (And we could see through the glass wall of balcony)

 

Re: Food on Celebrity

We had been on a shorter cruise previously and looked forward to dining when we went to Hawaii. NOT! Food overseasoned, over salted and at times the choices were so strange (not gourmet-strange, just strange) that we did not really eat dinner.

 

Wine prices astronomical--

Thus we just booked our 2012 cruise on HAL.

[scarlett81]

We sailed Eastern Med on Celeb Millineum in 2005 - balcony stateroom for $200 per person per day excluding air. In 2007 we die the Western Med on Hal Rotterdam - OV for $250 per person per day excluding air. Celebrity had more balcony staterooms which were larger than the OV rooms on HAL. The entertainment was better on Celebrity. HAL tended to have older people - over 65; whereas Celebrity had younger people. I liked both ships, but if I had to choose one, I vote for Celebrity, even if the ship held 800 more people than HAL!:o

 

What did you think of the food on Celeb vs HAL?

[ariawoman]

In my opinion, if you're the type to make lemonade out of lemons, it won't matter what line/ship/itinerary you choose. Choose whatever appeals to you and don't look back :-)

 

You really can't go wrong with either ship. I do have to say though, i've not met a better crew than HAL crew....seabourn and X and still HAL wins hands down. X crew was very happy but HAL crew was like, happy on steroids lol.

[StartrainDD]

The brunch referred to is wonderful on X's "M-class" ships. On Solstice it was way overcrowded - long lines for everything.

 

We had a balcony on Solstice and were bothered by smoke on several occassions. We never could determine where it was coming from (not our immediate neighbors for sure). We don't typically book verandah staterooms but were offered a great upgrade deal. We have an "Outside" on our upcoming Eurodam cruise.

 

Solstice is a gorgeous ship but we found that many events are held in the grand foyer but there is way too little seating. Dining room service was two steps below our last HAL experience. Food was good, not great - we would say on par with HAL. Solstice ran out of shrimp cocktail appetizers before the cruise was half over.

 

We agree the lawn club is a waste of space. The "Hot glass show" is unique and we enjoyed that several times.

 

If you are enjoy a drink now and then (but not so much to buy X's $60/day drink package) then HAL is less costly. Bar prices on X have become extreme (our opinion of course). HAL seems to offer more deals (happy hours, etc).

 

I know this is very subjective, but X's coffee is really bad. HAL's is tolerable. With HAL you get no charge cappuchino in the dining room, not to mention the fresh squeeze OJ. Both of these will cost you $$$ on X.

 

We like X but prefer HAL by a smidgen. On X we prefer the M class ships.

[hammelala]

We are 3 star mariners on HAL and we have found of late that there are too many little things that have changed. They all have to pull in their horns, however, the smoking policy on HAL is bothersome. We just had a cabin next to smokers even though we were on the port side. They smoked on the veranda and inside the cabin. HAL tells me that as of Jan. 2012 smoking in the cabin will be forbidden. We sailed on the Millenium (sp?) which was substituted for the Infinity on a 'round South America' trip and it was well worn and was in bad need of refurbishing. That's the only comparison we have, but we are now willing to try X again on their newest ship this year.

[Pam in CA]

I was on the Oosterdam in April and the Summit in June, and in my personal experience, there was nothing Celebrity had that HA doesn't do much better. While my waitstaff on the Summit was excellent, the dress in the dining room, even on formal nights, was everything from cargo shorts to t-shirts and jeans. Few dressed up. Definitely not more upscale than HAL. Food is very subjective but in the buffet on the Summit, some of the food was so overcooked, it was like a hockey puck, entrees at dinner were unrecognizable as meat (grey?), my 2C verandah cabin was tiny (only 11" between the end of the bed and wall), and my toilet didn't work for three days with no acknowledgement from the front desk or anyone else other than, "You, too?" even though I reported it repeatedly. Interestingly, we were bothered by smoke far more on the Summit than on any other recent cruise.

 

IMHO, HAL is much better. :)

[NMLady]

I've familiarized myself with Celeb. Now you HALers, how do they compare with each other? Celeb seems to brand itself as slightly more upscale. Checking out things, I don't see how though.

(I'm interested in Celeb Equinox Med sailing vs. Nieuw Amsterdam's Med cruise)

 

I have sailed twice on Celebrity and two long cruises on HAL. I would have a hard time comparing them since imo they are more similar than dissimilar. Both have formal expectations, both have outstanding service, both have excellent food, presented well, both have good entertainment.

I'm not sure how Celebrity can brand itself as slightly more upscale when it is so similar to HAL.

[kazu]

Cruises are very subjective. It depends upon the ship, what week it is (things can change) and what makes you happy. We prefer HAL, lost weight on my Celebrity cruise, but food is subjective. Who knows? You could prefer their food.

 

Book what suits - go and have a good time - for now, we prefer to have our good time on HAL. :D

[Valley Girl of VA]

I've familiarized myself with Celeb. Now you HALers, how do they compare with each other? Celeb seems to brand itself as slightly more upscale. Checking out things, I don't see how though.

(I'm interested in Celeb Equinox Med sailing vs. Nieuw Amsterdam's Med cruise)

 

I have cruised both and would highly recommend the Equinox Med. cruise, which we just did in September. Loved it!

[eponine1974]

I have been on both the Solstice and the Eclipse and was on the Nieuw Amsterdam last week. I found myself often wishing I was back on Celebrity! I personally find the S-Class ships gorgeous - they flow better and have more open spaces. I also much prefer the (nearly non-existant) smoking policy - on our HAL balcony we often smelled smoke, and I like to go to the casino but rarely did because I'd come back smelling like an ashtray. And while I did rather enjoy the fresh squeezed oj on HAL, I would still chose X over HAL in a heartbeat.

[YAC]

I thought the food on both Celebrity & HAL were good. We've been on 2 Princess cruises - Asia last year & NE/Canada this year - food wasn't very good! I prefer sailing on Celebrity & HAL!:)

[celyvabeach]

We usually choose a cruise depending on itinerary and price.

 

We cruised on X Constellation last month, a 14 day Holy Land and had a very high expectation having heard that X is more upscale than HAL. I was a bit disappointed with the ship but loved the itinerary. Although didn't have much time getting to know the ship due to the intensive port itin I realized that HAL has better service and food . Have not seen crew better than HAL. The food on X was the same every day with a few variations. Heard lots of people complained.

 

Don't know if I missed something but the atrium was just a set of stairs from 3rd to 4th deck? No wow factor at all compared to other ships.

 

The only thing that was sweet was the butler service since we were on a sky suite which is about the same size as a mini/junior suite on RCL (Enchantment of the Seas). I had 2 parties in the cabin, get together for my CC friends and a b-day party for my cousin. Our butler was really good coordinating the events.

 

So are we sailing on X again? Yes, we're interested in the SE Asia itinerary on X-Millenium. Actually bought a future cruise certificate while on the Constellation. But if HAL had a similar itinerary I would definitely cruise with them .

[whogo]

Nice to see kind words about Celebrity on the HAL board.

 

Cruise Critic reviews, both professional and amateur, favor Celebrity's Solstice class over Holland America's ships.

[grandgeezer]

We have sailed 8 times with HAL, the last being on the Ryndam two weeks ago. We have sailed 7 times on Celebrity, the last being this past May on the Millenium. Before the Ryndam, we had them rated neck and neck, with the slight edge to Celebrity.

If the changes and cutbacks on the Ryndam are an indication of a fleetwide change, it's not even close, Celebrity wins in a landslide.

Judge for yourself though, everybody has their own opinion based on what's important to them and what's not.

[GeriatricNurse]

We have sailed 8 times with HAL, the last being on the Ryndam two weeks ago. We have sailed 7 times on Celebrity, the last being this past May on the Millenium. Before the Ryndam, we had them rated neck and neck, with the slight edge to Celebrity.

If the changes and cutbacks on the Ryndam are an indication of a fleetwide change, it's not even close, Celebrity wins in a landslide.

Judge for yourself though, everybody has their own opinion based on what's important to them and what's not.

 

 

Could you please elaborate on the "changes and cutbacks on the Ryndam"? :)