If you've cruised both recently X vs. HAL

[rervousneck]

We have sailed on HAL 5 times, but not since 2005. We have sailed on X at least 12 times; the most recent last Feb on Solstice. It was a wonderful cruise.

We are considering a HAL cruise which visits Iceland and Greenland. It is a transatlantic which we normally do not like because of all the consecutive sea days. The HAL cruise hopefully will not have more than two consecutive sea days.:D

FWIW, we dropped HAL because of their "last century" smoking policy. They have made smoking more restrictive, and the cruise looks interesting.

Has anyone sailed both lines in last couple of years? Especially since the new HAL smoking policy went into effect?

 

If so your likes and dislikes of both lines. Food quality of each.

 

Thanks

[susieq222]

I just sailed on Celebrity Millennium and the food was the worst I have experienced on a cruise.

 

 

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[Cakeyandbeano]

We sailed HAL in 2015 & X last year, it was our 1st time with both of these.

 

I thought the food in MDR was very good on both ships, if I had to choose I would say marginally better on HAL.

 

All crew members on both were excellent.

 

I loved MS Ryndam, although very tired (we were on her penultimate cruise) it felt a very traditional ship but I also loved Eclipse for her grandeur & beautiful decor. Very different but not able to compare as totally different ships.

 

We had an OV cabin on HAL but balcony on X but both cabins were similar size & facilities. I preferred X but purely because it was a balcony. If it was a choice between OV or no cruise I'd happily do OV!

 

I would have no hesitation sailing with either again (in fact we are boarding Reflection later this week) but my husband was wowed by X and it will take an exceptional itinerary/deal to get him to book with another cruise line now.

 

Also for info our HAL cruise was the Voyage of the Midnight Sun to Norway & Arctic circle, I can definitely say you are looking at a cruise to an amazing part of the world.

 

Hope this helps a bit.

 

 

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[QueenGlassHalfFull]

If you are sailing in a suite, I give the edge to Celebrity. While the Neptune Lounge and breakfast in the Pinnacle are wonderful suite guest benefits, Celebrity has a separate dining room (Luminae) for suite guest for all meals. You also get Michael's Club on Celebrity with a dedicated concierge, fancy coffee machine, free water and soda available all day and free drinks when the bartender is there (which is most of the day). You also have a concierge in Michael's Club and your suite butler can also handle many things handled by the concierge in HAL's Neptune Lounge. HAL does offer free laundry and dry cleaning to suite guests while Celebrity does not. We enjoy both cruise lines and generally choose based on itinerary. If the itineraries are similar, I'd go with Celebrity.

 

 

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[kenevenpar]

If you are sailing in a suite, I give the edge to Celebrity. While the Neptune Lounge and breakfast in the Pinnacle are wonderful suite guest benefits, Celebrity has a separate dining room (Luminae) for suite guest for all meals. You also get Michael's Club on Celebrity with a dedicated concierge, fancy coffee machine, free water and soda available all day and free drinks when the bartender is there (which is most of the day). You also have a concierge in Michael's Club and your suite butler can also handle many things handled by the concierge in HAL's Neptune Lounge. HAL does offer free laundry and dry cleaning to suite guests while Celebrity does not. We enjoy both cruise lines and generally choose based on itinerary. If the itineraries are similar, I'd go with Celebrity.

 

Just to be clear, Only Neptune and Pinnacle suites can use the Neptune lounge on HAL, and alcoholic beverages are not provided.

[Ozzmund]

Last year we sailed on HAL's Zuiderdam (Balcony) and Celebrity's Equinox (AQ).

 

I thought Zuiderdam had the better entertainment (BB King All Stars), drink prices, Dive-In hamburgers.

 

I thought the Equinox had better food (except free hamburgers), staff, smoke free environment (Zuiderdam casino smelled strongly of smoke).

 

Given the right intnerary and price, we would sail HAL again, but our #1 choice would be Celebrity.

[lvz2cruz]

We were on Eurodam, Zuiderdam, Summit, and Reflection in 2016 and Eurodam again in 2017.

 

We are Elite with Celebrity and wish the cruise experience was good enough to sail them and enjoy their perks. We are three star mariners on HAL and gladly give up the X perks for a better experience on HAL.

 

Food and service are consistently better on HAL. We prefer the entertainment there, too. We love the Solarium on X but also love the aft pools on HAL and miss being back there on X.

We sail in verandah cabins so are not impacted by suite perks on either line.

The condition of HAL ships varies widely. Some are nicer than X, some inferior.

We love that cabins are ready on HAL at 11:30 on embarkation day and that you can stay in them until your color is called to leave on disembarkation day.

We think that X has the beverage packages that people want and guests don't care about all the cutbacks as long as they can get all the free drinks they want.

On Reflection there was a smoker next to us and we and the people on the other side of him complained several times and nothing was done. Eurodam is very smoke free--even the casino.

Edited August 29, 2017 by lvz2cruz
smoking comment

[cachouonacruise]

We sailed the Rotterdam in 2014, Maasdam in 2015 and Solstice in 2017. Inside cabins on HAL and Veranda on X. For the most part, we enjoyed both cruise lines and would do either again.

 

Small details for consideration: Embarkation and debarkation processes : HAL a bit better, may be due to smaller ships.

 

Ship design: Rotterdam was impressive with all the woodwork and art. Maasdam smaller and older, not as much. Solstice layout very efficient, yet not as classic as Rotterdam. Our cabin, bathroom and storage on X, exceeded what we had on HAL; however, not comparable room category. Room attendants attentive and efficient on both lines.

 

Buffet layout on Solstice and available space to sit wins over HAL. We enjoyed food and service in all MDRs; staff excellent on the 3 ships. Wine stewart on Maasdam was exceptional. Wine tasting: HAL's concept was much more inviting than X. Did not think that Canaletto on HAL was worth the extra cost ( food or experience) Experience and food in other Specialty restaurants on HAL as well as on X: excellent.

 

X exclusive lounges and restaurants for suite guests or AQ, almost recreate the old class system that existed in the industry. HAL's smaller ships and layouts are better to meet fellow passengers, without the stigma of class segregation.

 

HAL staff is more pushy ( at times annoying) with art sales and other sales and announcements. Captain and other senior staff on HAL next to invisible. Solstice Captain and crew: Exceptional, visible and attentive!

 

Entertainment : We preferred the evening shows and piano bar on HAL. Days at see, we found limited activity options on HAL, better on X (suggest bringing a book or personal pass-time for sea days on HAL).

 

Smoking: We are non-smokers and did not have any issue on either lines,

 

All and all, we enjoy cruising and the staff on both HAL and X made our vacations memorable. If a crew member is weak, it is easy to find other crew members that will positively contribute to the overall vacation experience. The itinerary and value for the dollar, taking into account your preferred choice of cabin and perks should be your guiding choice. You will have a good time on both lines! And as mentioned, by a frequent poster : Bon voyage!

 

 

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[fozzybear1980]

Hi There,

 

We're long time Celebrity cruisers... in fact, we had only ever sailed Celebrity up until this past year. I was scheduled to do a 2-week cruise on the Eclipse in February, but unfortunately, my dad passed away the week before the cruise, so we had to cancel last minute. After everything was settled with my dad's affairs, we decided to book another cruise, however, this time on HAL's Koningsdam. We had no idea what to expect, but we just needed a getaway. I've always heard stories how HAL skews towards an older crowd (this made us a bit nervous because I'm 36) but I figured why not give it a chance.

 

Anyway, it was, I think the best cruise we've ever done. HAL is a fabulous product. Even though we had no status with them, the cruise was unbelievable. The food was the best on any ship - the buffet was miles better than Celebrity. It's not to say Celebrity isn't good (it always seemed good to me) but after going on the Koningsdam, I was shocked. The ship layout and decor reminded me very much of the Solstice-class ships on Celebrity, but it was even better. Perhaps it was because the ship was brand new? The service on HAL was top-notch, and the crowd on the ship I actually found to be more youthful than what I have seen with Celebrity.

 

I have another cruise booked this coming February on the Eclipse because it was booked years ago, and Celebrity was kind enough to move the money from last year's cancelled cruise to this year's in 2018. Despite that, I'm a bit tired of Celebrity, and I think I'm going to go back to HAL for my next booking. I'm pleasantly surprised with HAL, and I would never hesitate to book them again. I've had a great run with Celebrity, and would consider them in the future, but I don't think it will be for a while. They really have to stop the nickle-and-diming. I never felt like that with HAL.

[blueboro]

Just got back from a 10-day cruise on HAL refurbished Westerdam. 2 HAL cruises in past 2 years and 2 on X also. While there are good and bad on both, all 6 in our group commented that we do prefer Celebrity overall. Some reasons:

 

- Food: Think X food in MDR is a little better and way better in specialty restaurants. Lido layout...X wins hands down as on HAL you must go thru several lines to get what you want. I do like the Dive-In burgers on HAL though.

 

- Service: I feel service and friendliness was slightly better on HAL than on our last Silhouette cruise in February

 

- Cabins: Comparing apples-to-apples, we prefer the X balcony cabins to HAL. However, this time on HAL we upgraded to a signature suite and it was wonderful.

 

- Entertainment: Love the BB King Blues Club on HAL but other than that there was little to do on HAL. While X entertainment is not great I think overall it is slightly better.

 

- Ships: Far prefer the S-class Celebrity to anything HAL has. They are more open and seem to just be better designed. We felt on the Westerdam there were few places we ever found that we felt comfortable just hanging out.

 

- I normally couldn't care less about a cruise director, but we found on the recent HAL cruise the CD was basically invisible. She was not outgoing, never introduced shows, and never acknowledged you. We have found the CD's to be much more involved on X than HAL.

 

These are just my opinions.

[PDXgranny]

We did Panama Canal on HAL Rotterdam in January. 15 days. She's 20 yrs old and showing a bit of wear, but still a beautiful ship. We loved that there were only about 1300 passengers.

Did Alaska on Solstice in July. Much larger and newer. Beautiful.

The food in MDR, burger Grill, pizza all better on Rotterdam. We thought the cocktails were better too. Great Bloody Mary!

Food and layout in buffet on Solstice was much better!

We had aft facing balcony cabins on both. The Rotterdam balcony was covered. Solstice was not. But we enjoyed both.

Cabins were similar in size. But I think service was better on Rotterdam - stewards were more available and attentive.

Beds very comfy on both.

Crews on both ships very friendly!

Entertainment better on Rotterdam - loved BB King blues club!

[nimiq]

Hello,

We sailed the X Connie 2016, Hal Eurodam 2016. Hal Amsterdam 2017, X Silhouette 2017.

I think for us X has a slight advantage over Hal product.

Ships= Not as classy as Hal but X is more modern chic and we like it.

Food= MDR pretty much the same but X has a better variety of speciality restaurants.

Pools= Love X solarium

Entertainment= Although BB King is amazing on Hal after that nothing much is happening. X has a better variety.

Both lines are great would travel on them anytime again but if I would have to choose X new product get my vote.

Thanks

Sea ya

Éric

 

 

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[Beejay4016]

This has got to be one of the most balanced threads I've ever come across. So often people are totally scathing of other lines, but these posts are all great. We are pretty new to cruising, but have done five HAL cruises in the past 5 years (our first intro to cruising was the Volendam for 14 nights Singapore to Hong Kong), and absolutely loved every one of them. We love the size of the vessels, the incredible beds, the food in the MDR, the piano bars (fabulous singalong and atmosphere on Noordam), and the always-smiling, uber professional crew and staff. We have always said that we would love to try Celebrity, and that's what we're doing: 16 nighter from Auckland to Perth next February. From what friends with lots of cruises behind them tell us, the two lines are very similar, which really appeals to us as we're not into rock-climbing walls and hairy legs competitions. We were booked on the Koningsdam for a Baltic cruise next May, but when I saw the Celebrity February cruise advertised a couple of weeks ago and we were able to get a concierge stateroom for Aus$1400 less than an OV on Koningsdam, I knew that here was our chance to try Celebrity. So, we've cancelled our HAL cruise and are super excited about going on the Solstice, despite her being way bigger than we would normally go for. I'm sure that we will have a wonderful time, and that in future our cruises will come down to a choice between these two lines based on cost and itinerary. I'll certainly revisit this thread post-cruise next March.

[PDXgranny]

We're cruising Honolulu to Sydney and then 10 days later, Sydney to Aukland (circumnavigating NZ). We did Alaska on Solstice in July, so 3 cruises on her this year. We wouldn't do it if we didn't love this ship!

But we look forward to cruising with HAL again some day.

[mek]

I was on Eurodam in December and Celebrity Equinox 2 weeks ago - both were only 7night cruises.

 

I was totally disappointed with our Eurodam cruise. The food in the MDR was probably the worst I have in a long time and the entertainment options were totally lacking. Lincoln Center was the bright spot for entertainment and BB Kings's was loud, crowded, and not really what I expected. I've sailed on HAL before, so I know they are low keyed cruises, but this one was just boring.

 

On the other hand, the Equinox cruise was great - entertainment was fun, lively and upbeat. The food was much better than Eurodam. We don't eat in specialty restaurants anymore because my husband eats like a bird and it just isn't worth it, so my opinions are just for the MDR and buffets on both ships.

 

Both ships are lovely, public spaces are very nice, and our cabins were great.

 

We would like to do a South America cruise next winter and it looks like HAL has the best price, but I'm not sure if we will sail with them again simply from our experience in Eurodam.

[Wayneair]

We have sailed on HAL 5 times, but not since 2005. We have sailed on X at least 12 times; the most recent last Feb on Solstice. It was a wonderful cruise.

We are considering a HAL cruise which visits Iceland and Greenland. It is a transatlantic which we normally do not like because of all the consecutive sea days. The HAL cruise hopefully will not have more than two consecutive sea days.:D

FWIW, we dropped HAL because of their "last century" smoking policy. They have made smoking more restrictive, and the cruise looks interesting.

Has anyone sailed both lines in last couple of years? Especially since the new HAL smoking policy went into effect?

 

If so your likes and dislikes of both lines. Food quality of each.

 

Thanks

 

Very nice well balanced reviews here. I will say this as a person who cruised HAL much before the Carnival purchase. Loved loved HAL and while I still like them, what I have noticed is a service change more than anything. If you recall, they had a "tipping not required" in their marketing materials. The Crew members really went out of their way for you. I often tipped more on HAL than on other cruise lines. Well after they built in tips, service slipped drastically. Also, when they launched the Pinnacle Grill I thought it was a joke compared to when Celebrity just had the one specialty. I am more a celebrity cruise her now than HAL. Will I sail HAL again yes because the more than excel in the itinerary category when compared to celebrity. Here is where celebrity needs to improve greatly. I don't think you can go wrong with either.

[miched]

 

We only sailed once on HAL. It was very annoying and got to be very old after every show, announcement and etc when they always reminded you how happy they were to serve us and that tipping was not required but really appreciated.

 

It was the second cruise that we ever took. Hadn't discovered that they had balcony cabins and booked a outside guaranteed on the old Westerdam and we must have been located near the crew cabins as we had a porthole. Our cabin attendant wanted to talk to us and show us something. He took us into what I think was his cabin that was almost opposite and across the hall from us. He showed us a album with photos of his family and told about how they lived, his life and etc. it really came across as if he was begging/ pleading us to TIP him.

 

 

I didn't like the old method that cruise lines used with envelopes that you had to pass out at the end of the cruise. I like the new method of automatic tips paid on my account and don't need the grandstanding of passing out envelopes to receive their thank you. O

 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[kelmac]

Certainly, these are both pretty good cruise lines! We have cruised Celebrity 29 times and HAL ten times, with our most recent being December for the Westerdam and June for the Equinox.

 

Head to head, Celebrity still wins in most categories; better food, better cabins, and better entertainment. HAL is still a close second and our last visit to the Pinnacle Grill was very impressive. HAL has more variety in itineraries, as Celebrity plays it safe with the same stuff. HAL has a World Cruise and Celebrity needs one.

 

Having said that, we have five cruises booked and none of them are with Celebrity or HAL. Why is that?

 

Enjoy!

Kel:D

[HokiePoq]

We sailed HAL in 2015 & X last year, it was our 1st time with both of these.

 

I thought the food in MDR was very good on both ships, if I had to choose I would say marginally better on HAL.

 

All crew members on both were excellent.

 

I loved MS Ryndam, although very tired (we were on her penultimate cruise) it felt a very traditional ship but I also loved Eclipse for her grandeur & beautiful decor. Very different but not able to compare as totally different ships.

 

We had an OV cabin on HAL but balcony on X but both cabins were similar size & facilities. I preferred X but purely because it was a balcony. If it was a choice between OV or no cruise I'd happily do OV!

 

I would have no hesitation sailing with either again (in fact we are boarding Reflection later this week) but my husband was wowed by X and it will take an exceptional itinerary/deal to get him to book with another cruise line now.

 

Also for info our HAL cruise was the Voyage of the Midnight Sun to Norway & Arctic circle, I can definitely say you are looking at a cruise to an amazing part of the world.

 

Hope this helps a bit.

 

I agree with these observations. We sail both lines (Elite and Four Star) and like both. Both have good food and great service. The lower rated cabins on HAL are great in my opinion. HAL does not have Aqua and Consiege experiences. I cannot comment on suites as I have never sailed above Aqua on X or OV on HAL. We did the Voyage of the Vikings on HAl and it was fantastic....even in an inside cabin.