14 Day NE/Canada Celebrity or Holland

[Nana57]

Thinking of taking this cruise. We are loyal fans of Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, but Holland America seems to offer this cruise for 14 days in the summer. Not so sure of the smoking that everyone complains about. Do you think we will be disappointed? How does it compare to Celebrity - food, entertainment, etc. Any advice would be appreciated.

[K&RCurt]

Just my 2 cents.

 

We are loyal HAL cruisers and are about to take our first X cruise. We are going in open minded and will try not to keep thinking "But HAL does things another way." We are as prepared to have a new favorite as we are to say "nice, but we prefer HAL."

 

We have never been bothered by smoke on a HAL cruise, but we do not frequent the casino area. If you enjoy the casino and smoke bothers you, I don't think you will enjoy your casino time.

 

Other than that, I say why not try something different? There are certainly things one line may do differently than another - some we may prefer and some we may not. The only way to tell for sure is to try it!

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

I'm preparing for my first Celebrity Cruise and am super excited about it.

 

I cruised HAL to Alaska two summers ago, and the only way I will be back on HAL is if the group I sometimes go with decides to go back to them after RCCL last year and this year (doubtful they will change back as everyone LOVED RCCL and the alumns in the group uniformly said how much better it was). From all i've heard, Celebrity is a step up from RCCL.

 

A few things I observed on HAL...

There were obvious places on stair carpeting that should have been replaced - for safety and not just appearance. Ditto places on rails that should have been refinished/repainted. Granted, I'm used to Disney where there isn't a second thought about "should we" - they just do. But even on RCCL they were making in-cruise repairs to things.

I didn't have great experiences with either the cabin stewards or the dining room staff. And with the cabin stewards that was even after a supervisor was there with a check-list the first day. (I hadn't said anything, but I did have a DCL hoodie hanging on the wall hook and I stocked the bathroom with DCL shampoo, conditioner, and soap rather than deal with the mystery gel, so I'm thinking they felt like they needed to up the game. Sadly, they didn't.) The dining room staff consistently forgot orders from people at our tables, mixed things up, etc. I have a peanut sensitivity, and the inattention to detail in serving made me leery if anyone ordered anything that might have had peanut ingredients for fear that some plate exchange could have happened or just general carelessness.

And of course the smoking. Unless things have changed since summer 2016, HAL still allows smoking on the balcony, so if you are sensitive to (or just flat-out dislike) smoke and are unlucky and have smokers either in front of and/or below you your balcony time will be limited of you can use it at all (a friend who was further aft was unable to use her balcony ever because she was surrounded by chain smokers who seemed to take turns - even at 1am someone was outside smoking). Also, at least on the Westerdam and her class with HAL, the casino is such that unless you want to do stairs a lot, you have to walk through it, and even when it is closed, the smoke smell permeates the air. Put it this way... I have cousins who smoke and who cruise a lot, and while they like some other lines, they will almost always pick HAL because of the smoking policy. So...

 

Like I said, I can't speak to Celebrity as I've not been on them yet. But I would pick almost anything (if it was between Carnival and HAL I might opt for a different vacation) over HAL.

[Hlitner]

Smoking can be a real issue on HAL! This is especially true if you are planning on booking a balcony cabin. HAL still allows smoking (cigarettes, cigars and pipes) on all passenger balconies. If you happen to have a few nearby smokers it can really impact your own balcony experience. HAL also allows some smoking in their casinos.

 

Hank

[bar_20]

We did a 14 day NE/CN cruise with HAL round trip out of Boston in 2013. It was sold as one cruise but it was basically two cruises. It went to the same ports in both directions. The turn around point was Quebec City where we stayed 3 days. We noticed they had made many cutbacks. In the MDR the waiters had to take care of 36 passengers per seating instead of the former 18. They only offered ice tea at the buffet. When I asked why no lemonade I was told it was up to every ship to decide what free beverages they were going to offer plus the fact that the glasses were only 4 oz turned me off. Sydney, CN was a wasted port, nothing to do and we went there twice. If the ship is going there book your excursion before you go because the few they offer sell out fast. That cruise turned me off to HAL. If Celebrity offers a 14 day cruise grab it or any other cruise lines other than HAL for that matter.

[allentownahoy]

I would opt for Celebrity because I believe you would go to more ports in all. It does overnight in Quebec so you do still get 2 days there.

[SailBadtheSinner]

Thinking of taking this cruise. We are loyal fans of Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, but Holland America seems to offer this cruise for 14 days in the summer. Not so sure of the smoking that everyone complains about. Do you think we will be disappointed? How does it compare to Celebrity - food, entertainment, etc. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

I faced the same problem, Celebrity vs HAL, for our 50th anniversary 14 day cruise. I originally wanted to do HAL because of the smaller cruise ships, but saw the itinerary of HAL which their 14 day cruises were back to back 7 day cruises visiting the same ports. up and down.

 

I looked at Celebrity (the Summit) with an itinerary of different ports, up and down, with an overnight in Quebec, and I was sold.

 

The only downside with the Celebrity cruse is it was only offered 3 times, twice in September, and once, October.

 

 

SBtS

[Fouremco]

DW and I have alternated between Celebrity and HAL over the past few years and are equally at home on both lines. We are non-smokers but have generally found the smoking on HAL not to be an issue.

 

We did the Boston - Montreal 7 day cruise last September and would have loved to have had the time to do the return. Yes, with HAL you will hit the same ports, but let me assure you that you'll barely scratch the surface in 2 days! We lived in Halifax for a good many years and had previously visited most of the ports of call many times over, including Bar Harbor, yet we had no trouble entertaining ourselves during the cruise. Our biggest problem was having to narrow our list of things to do at each port to something manageable! A second visit a week later would have been wonderful.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to go with either line. Check schedules and pricing and go with whichever best meets your requirements.

[MustBCruzn]

I love HAL's varied itineraries and would consider cruising with them again if they changed their archaic smoking policy. On our one and only HAL cruise (to Alaska) we were unable to use our balcony because of the constant cigarette smoking on our left, and the cigar smoking on our right. Had I done more homework I never would have selected HAL for Alaska where (for us) it's all about the balcony. It was a huge disappointment for us.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I wouldn't want the same itinerary up and back. And the smoking on HAL is definitely an issue.

 

[HokiePoq]

Thinking of taking this cruise. We are loyal fans of Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, but Holland America seems to offer this cruise for 14 days in the summer. Not so sure of the smoking that everyone complains about. Do you think we will be disappointed? How does it compare to Celebrity - food, entertainment, etc. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

We cruise both lines and like both. Our two most recent cruises were on the Veendam (35 days out of Boston) and the Equinox out of Ft. Lauderdale. The food was good on both ships and service was excellent on both. I was surprised to find the entertainment on HAL far better (in my opinion of course) than what was on the Equinox. They had been comparable in the past. We don't use the casino so smoking was not an issue. I would choose based on price and itinerary. I don't think you can lose either way.

[Aunt Tina]

I was on the 14 day Summit cruise to New England last September/October. It was wonderful. We love the Summit and have sailed on her many times. It is small enough to be cozy and large enough to have a variety of activites and plenty of room for everyone. The a dozen senior staff officers attended the Cruise Critic meet and greet - including the new Captain Kate. The officers make a real effort to get to know passengers.

 

The overnight in Quebec was great - we were docked at one of the farther out docks - but it had a shuttle bus. It was near the public market which was great - an inexpensive way to bring back some great souveniers (maple butter) and othe items.

 

In one of the main ports the ship bought a lobster for each person on board to have for dinner that night.

 

When we left the NJ harbor, Captain Kate turned the ship from side to side so everyone had a great and upclose view of the Statue of Liberty.

 

There was free wifi in the terminal in Quebec for the two days which came in very handy.

 

I vote for Celebrity.

[mcrcruiser]

Having many Celebrity sailings & less sailings on HAL this is how I would decide . First the itinerary ,then the price ,then the age of the ship ,for a 14 night Canada cruise .:)

 

Going in the summer months you will not get the fall colors ;as you know :eek: