4 Celebrity loyalists back from first HAL cruise

[Tricia724]

We sail HAL and Celebrity and enjoy both for different reasons. Both cruiselines do some things well, and depending upon individual needs or preferences, sometimes it's the small things that count the most.

 

I prefer HAL for their Indonesian staff, room service...particularly breakfast...and their laundry service.

 

I prefer Celebrity for the ambiance and layout of the ships. And most of all, I love blu.

 

HAL gives us better itineraries; Celebrity gives us more perks.

 

Celebrity definitely wins out with their smoking policy. It's my least favorite aspect of HAL. Usually it doesn't bother me, but depending on the demographic onboard, it can be annoying, especially since I spend time in the casino.

 

Food and entertainment can be alternately good or mediocre on any ship or any cruise or any cruiseline. No one hits a home run every time, so we don't consider one bad experience a deal breaker. There are so many variables in cruising that each cruise is an adventure in itself. The fact that we keep coming back says that it works for us.

[LabGuy64]

I was surprized when you mentioned bathrooms as a HAL "PRO" I have never sailed with HAL but have always thought Celebrity had the best bathroons....granted I only sail in full suites and the bathrooms are fantastic....that was better..to you with the HAL layout?

[Queen of Oakville]

Does HAL still do the Chocolate Extravaganza?

 

lol - my daughter still talks about it! She was 5 or 6 at the time and that was her best memory of our Eurodam cruise.

[Galaxy2004]

Does HAL still do the Chocolate Extravaganza?

 

lol - my daughter still talks about it! She was 5 or 6 at the time and that was her best memory of our Eurodam cruise.

 

No Chocolate Extravaganza on our 10 night cruise. As a matter of fact, the only "food event" was a "Caribbean Lido BBQ" one evening from 6-8.30. We stopped by but it was extremely limited and underwhelming, plus it was during our regular dinner time so that didn't make much sense to us. It's my understanding that HAL and Celebrity have both done away with the midnight buffets and extravaganzas. I promise that I got plenty of HAL chocolate treats during the regular hours though! Yummy.

[Galaxy2004]

I was surprized when you mentioned bathrooms as a HAL "PRO" I have never sailed with HAL but have always thought Celebrity had the best bathroons....granted I only sail in full suites and the bathrooms are fantastic....that was better..to you with the HAL layout?

 

We've never sailed in a suite (maybe someday), so I can speak only to the regular rooms. IMO the HAL bathroom was a bit bigger, had the larger tub/shower combo (just a shower on Celebrity), and had more shelving and toiletry storage. We did peak in the corner Aft suites next to us on disembarkation day, and those bathrooms looked huge to us! We are boaters and can handle small bathrooms but did feel we had more space on the ms Zuiderdam than we had on earlier Celebrity sailings.

[sprockie]

Having been on 4 different ships on HAL, we had really enjoyed most all of their ships except the Neiw Amsterdam. Which was in the inaugural season when we sailed her and they had a defective air exchange problem that blew the pizza oven exhaust in ours and a few surrounding cabins, but hopefully they have it fixed by now. Anyway, IMO, I was and still am impressed with HAL's staff and the friendliness as well as their ability to learn names and remember them within the first couple of days. Even staff that we didn't have anything to do with, like stewards from maybe another part of the ship, would always make eye contact and smile with a greeting spoken to us. Didn't get that on my first Celebrity cruise and we will see if that stands On the one coming up.

 

Also, I really loved the old time paintings and artworks on the HAL ships. Celebrity's artwork seems rather tacky and some of it is downright aweful with out of focus photography on the wall (On the Infinity). However, the Celebrity MDR decor is so much better than any of HAL's ships I have been on.

 

I like HAL's food better and I agree with the poster who said HAL knows how to do chocolate!

 

HAL's shows and entertainment is a step above Celebrity.

 

However, this is the biggest part for me, Celebrity is number 1 when it comes to accessibility. They have the lifts for the pools, which I utilize and its so nice to be able to swim (or at least float) on a cruise again. Their hallways are more accessible for wheelchairs as long as no one leaves their freaking walkers in the hallway. (A big pet peeve, I can't get around them so someone has to lift it over my head.). The automatic doors to accessible cabins and low thresholds (for the most part) are wonderful! The elevators also for the most part, seem to have availability for me. Its a nightmare on HAL elevators, with wait times that sometimes would be up to 20 minutes long because of crowding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree with you about the friendliness of the staff. I like to chat with the crew and learn where they are from. On Celebrity, I had to initiate eye contact and conversation for the most part and from there, we struck up some good exchanges. On HAL, the Lido staff and many others knew my kids names and waved and smiled. That means a lot to me.

I'd also agree about the artwork on HAL. Interesting paintings and art around every corner an beautiful fresh flower arrangements.

Edited February 5, 2015 by sprockie

[Aquahound]

HAL pros:

BB King’s Blues Club – Seriously, this is probably the best entertainment we ever experienced on a cruise ship. We never have high expectations in that department, but we enjoyed this venue, which was full almost every show.

 

Darn!! :mad: They must have just added that. I cruised Zuiderdam in July and that did not exist. Sounds fun!

 

I totally agree on your comparison. I love Celebrity, but won't have a problem booking another HAL cruise. I just wish they would install interactive TVs and catch up to everyone else with their balcony smoking policy.

[OCruisers]

Thanks so much for your review/comparison!

Happily, there are lots of good things about both X and HAL. :)

LuLu

[Galaxy2004]

Darn!! :mad: They must have just added that. I cruised Zuiderdam in July and that did not exist. Sounds fun!

 

I totally agree on your comparison. I love Celebrity, but won't have a problem booking another HAL cruise. I just wish they would install interactive TVs and catch up to everyone else with their balcony smoking policy.

 

Oh, totally forgot to mention the missing interactive TVs. We all hated that we couldn't easily review our accounts and pictures and order room service on TV HAL, something we loved on Celebrity!

 

Another think I forgot to mention is we are Elite level on Celebrity and did miss the extra perks that come with that, mostly the free internet minutes. HAL did have reasonably priced packages (30 mins for $9.99 and other packages for higher use) and we had no problem using the Wi-fi from our Aft stateroom and balcony. Slow but it was fine for checking email.

[sginva]

Thank you for sharing your review!

 

We just booked a 14 day cruise on HAL in March followed by a 10 day cruise on the Equinox.

We cancelled b2b on Celebrity to give this a try. The HAL itinerary was inviting as was the pricing. Stay tuned.

Thank you

[Queen of Oakville]

No Chocolate Extravaganza on our 10 night cruise. As a matter of fact, the only "food event" was a "Caribbean Lido BBQ" one evening from 6-8.30. We stopped by but it was extremely limited and underwhelming, plus it was during our regular dinner time so that didn't make much sense to us. It's my understanding that HAL and Celebrity have both done away with the midnight buffets and extravaganzas. I promise that I got plenty of HAL chocolate treats during the regular hours though! Yummy.

 

thanks for the reply! that's too bad though :(

[wwcruisers]

We were also concerned about the smoking policy but lucked out, for the most part, on this cruise. We did have someone in another aft cabin that smoked a pipe a couple of times, but that was about it. The casino was a bit worse. The Zuiderdam casino is rather small and had one side dedicated to none smoking machines. All of the table games as well as the higher-priced slot games were placed beside the smoking machines, so maybe HAL stats showed them that smokers spend more in casinos?? Anyway, the smoking was not terrible in the casino on our sailing, but it was definitely there and for the most part we avoided that area of the casino. Definitely prefer Celebrity's more limiting smoking policy.

 

Thanks for starting this thread, and the great comparison/review of HAL/X. :cool:

 

We've only cruised X and RC, but I've been intrigued by HAL -- especially their West-Coast itineraries. I love the fact that HAL ships -- even the newer, larger ones -- look like SHIPS. Contrast this to the new NCL builds, that resemble hotels with roof-top amusement parks. :rolleyes:

 

The only thing that really keeps us from trying HAL is their balcony smoking policy. We can usually avoid public areas where smoking is allowed -- and we don't spend much time in the casino, even on X. But, having been "smoked off" a couple of pricey balconies on RC -- that's become pretty much a deal-breaker for us! :eek: Hoping that HAL changes this policy, soon.

Edited February 5, 2015 by wwcruisers

[tangerinebunny]

I was surprized when you mentioned bathrooms as a HAL "PRO" I have never sailed with HAL but have always thought Celebrity had the best bathroons....granted I only sail in full suites and the bathrooms are fantastic....that was better..to you with the HAL layout?

 

Comparing an Oosterdam/Westerdam HAL suite to a Silhouette Celebrity suite -

 

HAL has a separate shower plus a spa tub. There are two sinks, two medicine cabinets, and more floor space. Then there's a separate small dressing area with lighted mirror and a vanity.

 

The shower fixture on Celebrity offers more options.

 

Both suites are nice; I like the layout on Celebrity better, but HAL offers larger verandahs with more comfortable deck furniture.

[Wastegirl]

I'm glad people are mentioning the HAL staff, that was the big difference we noticed on our Celebrity cruise after 3 on HAL.

 

We found things we liked on HAL (laundry package, promenade deck, art work, flowers, etc) and things we liked on the Century (Cova Cafe, oceanview bar, etc) and enjoyed both cruise lines for what they offered. You can't afford to be loyal to one cruise line in Australia if you want to try different destinations.

 

BUT the one thing we noticed between HAL and Celebrity were the staff, not that there was anything wrong with the Celebrity staff but HAL staff are just so friendly and cheerful that they make you happy just interacting with them. One day in the Buffet on the Century we heard this incredibly happy voice, chatting to all the passengers, laughing and joking. We both looked at one another and commented that this is what we missed from HAL, the staff and this Celebrity staff member must have been trained at HAL because he gave off the same vibe.

[Wastegirl]

Deleted Double Post

Edited February 6, 2015 by Wastegirl

[kborth]

We sailed on Niew Amsterdam and liked Hal's fresh grilled salmon in their oceanview every day and also the movie theatre with popcorn. We also loved the bread and room service breakfast with lovely baked goods and fresh orange juice. We found her a bit quiet in the evenings but the crew were very friendly .

One thing I noticed was the noise of the ship moving which I never experienced on Royal, Princess or Celebrity. We prefer Celebrity overall because the atmosphere is elegant and the staff were friendly. We also loved the solarium on the Silhouette.

[neptuno]

We just returned from our first HAL cruise (xmas/new yrs) after our first X cruise on Reflection (thanksgiving). Both lines are top shelf, we would book either again. Having said that, the itinerary on HAL was way more exotic and appealing (nine Caribbean islands in fourteen nights) on an "old world classier" smaller ship, ms Amsterdam, but Reflection with it's newer decor and great night life albeit less attractive itinerary, was still a blast. Our only complaint about HAL is that first time cruisers are treated like second class citizens, the MDR is not available for lunch on embarkation day nor after being closed for lunch for eight port days, it was reserved for 'Mariners' (previous cruisers) only, on our first of two sea days returning to Port Everglades.

[Redtravel]

I like HAL. I like Celebrity. HAL has bathrooms with tubs. Cabins are arranged well. Celebrity cabins/bathrooms are good....no tub. Food on Celebrity is better than HAL. Entertainment varies from cruise to cruise. I just got off Eclipse. 4 Tenors were fabulous and production numbers were excellent. I am elite and often sail on Celebrity or Azamara. I do not sail on them exclusively. I am often driven by when, where, and price of a cruise. Cost of airfare is also a factor. A cheap cruise with a long expensive air ticket doesn't make sense.

[mickey89]

Very surprised that OP made no reference to smoking as it is the smoker's cruise line of choice. My advise is don't choose a balcony cabin as the air is so polluted.

[motherchic]

I could not resist reading this post. Last Feb we sailed on HAL for the first time. 14 day caribbean on the Nieu.

I never wrote a review about it, but I was a tad disappointed. Prior we have sailed Celebrity and RCCL. (And once Carnival)

I have always enjoyed Celebrity and RCCL.

I did enjoy the old photos on the Nieu and the food at the buffet was the best we have ever had. I enjoyed the cooking classes very much also.

I had a handicap room, it was VERY small and very tight to get around and the balcony was "off set" so you could not see out while laying in bed. I really missed that.

I dont need allot of glitz, but I do like a little. The atrium on the Nieu almost needed a sign that said "atrium". No WOW at all. But what I really, really was disappointed with was the adult pool area. It was sad looking. 2 hot tubs and a bar. If I were looking down on this area from another ship, I honestly would have thought that perhaps this area was a private little area for the crew. My favorite area to "hang" was always the Thallo area on the M class ships or the beautiful adult areas on RCCL.

HAL has wonderful itineraries, but I missed the "special prettiness"

We are not big partiers but the evening entertainment was pretty darn quiet too.

For those who have sailed on other HAL ships, are there prettier ones with pretty adult pool areas?