HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE HAL vs CELEBRITY?

[drsel]

I appreciate reading the comparisons between the two lines, but there is really no call for disparagement.

Indeed, the hallmarks of HAL are--

1. An authentic, traditional cruising experience, without all the bells and whistles of the floating hotels.

2. Excellent food and top notch personal service with a smile!

3. Beautiful art and architecture all around.

4. A nice open deck

5. A quiet and peaceful cruise, good for relaxing.

6. Well planned itineraries and ports of call.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

sorry this my have been covered in the past but was wondering is fellow cruisers who have been on both cruise lines could shares what the feel the differences are between Celebrity and HAL?

Food quality

Shows

Drinks cost

Service

 

Looking to try Konsingdaam.

Any help would be appreciate!

 

We only spent 3 days on the ship before a cruise tour, but from our limited experience:

 

Food Quality - The buffet was hands down better on HAL with all the fresh cook stations. Slightly better in the MDR, though Aqua Cabins / Blu restaurant is very equivalent, and better atmospher.

Shows - About the same, but the afterparty show gives X the nod

Drink Cost - Better on HAL, but X often has free drink package promos

Service - Equal but different. HAL is nearly flawless in classic professionalism, never missing a beat. Celebrity is a bit more individualistic in interactions.

 

Decor - HAL is beautiful and classic, Celebrity is more modern

Loyalty - HAL makes it easier to climb the ladder, especially with 1 point for every $300 in spending onboard. Though if you book the most expensive suites, X takes the torch.

[OlsSalt]

There are probably a lot here who wish HAL was 20, even 30 years behind the times.

 

Have to laugh when I hear HAL decor is "dated". (Fusty is my own choice; not dated.) To what reference does one use the term "dated" as we now see trending "mid-century modern" decor which has become a new look today. A revival of "modern" look of the 1950's is one style many of us were happy to leave behind, if we are of a certain age.

 

Chartruse, purple, orange zig zags, white plastic, space age art forms etc - nothing looks more dated to some of us ....of a certain age. Are shag carpets that far behind? Plus c'est la change, plus c'est la même chose.

[iancal]

Depends on the ship. Would we book on Veendam or a few of the other oldies? Never.

 

Would would book on a Celebrity Solstice class ship? In a heartbeat.

 

Would we book on Eurodam or Kdam. Absolutely.

[baggal]

Depends on the ship. Would we book on Veendam or a few of the other oldies? Never.

 

 

 

Would would book on a Celebrity Solstice class ship? In a heartbeat.

 

 

 

Would we book on Eurodam or Kdam. Absolutely.

 

 

 

Agree completely! And if the Nieuw Statendam is anything like the Kdam I would include that ship too.

 

 

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[drsel]

Depends on the ship. Would we book on Veendam or a few of the other oldies? Never.

 

Would would book on a Celebrity Solstice class ship? In a heartbeat.

 

Would we book on Eurodam or Kdam. Absolutely.

Interesting! What are the differences between the old HAL ships and Eurodam, Kdam, Statendam?

[George C]

Comparing best ships of the cruise lines (Nieuw Amsterdam vs Solstice):

Food quality

MDR - HAL wins

Buffet - HAL wins

Specialty restaurants - Celebrity wins

Shows - Celebrity wins

Service - equal

Spa & fitness - HAL is incomparably better (Nieuw Amsterdam)

Open deck - HAL wins

 

Koningsdam does not compare to the HAL best ships.

I would prefer the Solstice class for the same itinerary.

 

Hal buffet is not even close to being as nice as celebrity , on my last hal cruise in itilian section they had a dish they said was itilian sausage , turns out it was hot dogs.

For those that book suites, perks are so much better on celebrity , dedicated suite restaurant , elegant lounge with free drinks all day.

[cruising_Bif]

I consider them about equal.

[stickey_mouse]

I have sailed twice with Holland and once with Celebrity. I enjoyed both. I give the nod to HAL in terms of the classic cruising experience, but prefer Celebrity for entertainment, casino (large and non-smoking!), buffet, and nighttime "vibe." The Celebrity Solstice class really nailed the interior public spaces. They are open, inviting, and disperse crowds well. HAL's interiors, although nice, are closed off and consist of, well, corridor after corridor (or so it seems). The Solstice ships are similar to a modern, 4-star Vegas hotel. Some people use this as a negative, but I think it's mostly a good thing, as it's done well and in good taste. Food and Service are comparable on both ships.

[ASIWISH]

We absolutely hated the service on Celebrity. In our opinion, HAL is far superior.

 

We didn’t have issue with anyone one staff member, but the overall experience was horrendous.

 

The ship was gorgeous though.

 

 

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[sandyss]

We have traveled with both Celebrity and HAL. Most recently, we were on the Westerdam. We choose cruises for itinerary.

The evening shows are definitely superior on Celebrity. The seating in the Celebrity Theaters is much better designed than on the Westerdam.

But, Celebrity has pretty much done away with piano and violin music on their ships. We enjoy the low key music venues on HAL - Lincoln Center Stage and Piano music in the Ocean Bar.

On Celebrity, there is also very loud canned music in many venues that is difficult to avoid.

Celebrity has a much superior loyalty program IMHO. For Elites, there is a complimentary nightly cocktail hour before dinner, complimentary internet minutes, one complimentary bag of laundry, etc. On HAL, there are mainly discounts.

The service on HAL is better.

HAL has a Happy Hour.

The Cruise Critic Roll Calls are much more active for Celebrity cruises - with many private tours being planned. The HAL Cruise Critic Roll Calls seem to have very few participants, making it very difficult to arrange private small group tours, which we prefer.

[baggal]

OK. We did it. Anticipating a cold winter to counter balance the 99 degree temps we are experiencing in the Northeast, last Sunday we decided it was time to book a Caribbean cruise for February 2019. We were looking at both HAL (we are 3 star) and Celebrity and we started out by calling our HAL PCC for more information. She was out of the office, we do understand that its a holiday week, and then we called the two other PCCs that she named in her voice mail. Today is Thursday morning and we are still waiting for a call back from someone/anyone.

 

We had been using a lovely TA for our past cruises but weren't getting much in the way of additional perks, etc. from her. So we decided to call the big online TA based in Houston. We went over our options and they were able to get us a very nice rate on the Celebrity Equinox so we booked it. The only negative that I can see is that Celebrity doesn't have a private beach - at least not on this itinerary. I'll get over it.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

OK. We did it. Anticipating a cold winter to counter balance the 99 degree temps we are experiencing in the Northeast, last Sunday we decided it was time to book a Caribbean cruise for February 2019. We were looking at both HAL (we are 3 star) and Celebrity and we started out by calling our HAL PCC for more information. She was out of the office, we do understand that its a holiday week, and then we called the two other PCCs that she named in her voice mail. Today is Thursday morning and we are still waiting for a call back from someone/anyone.

 

We had been using a lovely TA for our past cruises but weren't getting much in the way of additional perks, etc. from her. So we decided to call the big online TA based in Houston. We went over our options and they were able to get us a very nice rate on the Celebrity Equinox so we booked it. The only negative that I can see is that Celebrity doesn't have a private beach - at least not on this itinerary. I'll get over it.

 

Excellent, I hope you enjoy your cruise. Celebrity has iced towels and infused water, waiting at the gangway when you return from warm part, one of their many nice touches.

[drsel]

Excellent, I hope you enjoy your cruise. Celebrity has iced towels and infused water, waiting at the gangway when you return from warm part, one of their many nice touches.

And champagne to welcome you on board

[OlsSalt]

Excellent, I hope you enjoy your cruise. Celebrity has iced towels and infused water, waiting at the gangway when you return from warm part, one of their many nice touches.

 

So does HAL. Except with nearly 3000 passengers on the Celebrity Equinox, they will obviously have a lot more and longer lines to get them.

[Aquahound]

We went over our options and they were able to get us a very nice rate on the Celebrity Equinox so we booked it. The only negative that I can see is that Celebrity doesn't have a private beach - at least not on this itinerary. I'll get over it.

 

Good choice! Equinox is a great ship.

 

Celebrity does go to private beaches. They use RCI's beaches...Coco Cay and Labadee.

[iancal]

It may seem counter intuitive but our experience on the newer, larger ships is that line ups and waits are actually less than on some of the older, smaller ships. We put it down to much better design and traffic flow. That is why, in some regards, we actually find the larger ships less crowded at times.

 

We were on one older ship, forget which, where the elevators let our directly in front of the MDR entrance ways. It was a zoo on both floors every night.

[Fouremco]

So does HAL. Except with nearly 3000 passengers on the Celebrity Equinox, they will obviously have a lot more and longer lines to get them.

Our last 3 Celebrity cruises were on the Eclipse, same passenger load as its sister ship Equinox. They were all 14 day Southern Caribbean cruises, and we've yet to encounter lines of any length coming back to the ship. Maybe we're just lucky, but I think it's more a question of people all rushing to get off the ship early but meandering back in dribs and drabs over the course of the day.

[drowelf]

The Cruise Critic Roll Calls are much more active for Celebrity cruises - with many private tours being planned. The HAL Cruise Critic Roll Calls seem to have very few participants, making it very difficult to arrange private small group tours, which we prefer.

 

Thats interesting, on 5 Roll Calls I've been part of have all been very active with no problem getting small and private tours together. In fact some of them have been so active that the small tours filled up within days of being posted.

 

A classic case of YMMV.

[iancal]

We have been on a few smaller ships where, after standing in line for something or other DW has sarcastically asked 'who designed this mess'.

 

I always assumed that some of the traffic flow unfriendly designs were due to engineering restrictions. Still don't know but we do notice them more after spending more time on larger ships 2200-3000 passenger capacity vessels. Mostly the location, access, and number of stairwells, elevators, etc. and how access to popular public rooms has been designed.

[sandyss]

Thats interesting, on 5 Roll Calls I've been part of have all been very active with no problem getting small and private tours together. In fact some of them have been so active that the small tours filled up within days of being posted.

 

A classic case of YMMV.

 

On our recent cruise on the Westerdam, there were less than 10 people on the Roll Call. No tours were planned.