X cruiser tries HAL.

[Muushka]

We are loyal Celebrity cruisers.  Love the ships and the staff.  Love the perks with the Captain's Club.  We had never sailed Holland America before and never gave them much thought.  But right around Thanksgiving they had some great rates on a 2 week Christmas/NYE cruise on a brand new ship that we couldn't refuse.  And the dates were perfect for us so we did a little research and booked it.  The price of their lowest suite (Vista) was only $200 (total) or so more than the regular balcony cabins, so we figured we would give it a try.  After trying it, I would not pay that extra price for it.  It is not comparable to a Sky Suite on X (but the low price for HAL makes me understand why). 

So for us, if we can swing it, a suite (probably Sky) on X will be our first choice.  Luminae, Michael's Club and all of the other suite perks makes it our favorite choice.  If we ever want to do another 2 week holiday cruise, a balcony on a HAL ship will be just fine.  X holiday cruises have become so expensive these past few years, and suites are way too expensive.

 

Celebrity and Holland America (Nieuw Statendam) Comparison

The official welcome aboard

X  What's better than a warm smile and a nice glass of sparkling wine?

HAL  No bubbly, but warm smiles!

 

Christmas

X wins.  They had an artificial tree that almost looked real and they played more Christmas music. 

HAL had a bunch of boxes stacked in the shape of a tree.  Not even green boxes.  It wasn't very Christmassy.  HAL was too politically correct.

Refrigerator

HAL wins.  Big time.  Best cabin refrigerator ever in any cruise line cabin.  Nice and cold

X Meh.  Just like all of the others

Nightlight

X  wins.  they had one in the bath

HAL didn't

Ship Model

X wins.  They (like Disney) have the great detail, molded plastic models

HAL had a glass, minimal detail model.  We always get one for Christmas cruises, not this year.

Robes

X wins.  I love my bathrobe and X's is a thick, luxurious terrycloth robe

HAL is a waffle type, not very thick, not very luxurious

Balcony

X wins

They both had footstools (we always do Concierge class on X and I don't know if all of the balconies on HAL had them).  They seemed to be about the same size.  X has a sliding glass door, HAL's door swung open onto the balcony.  Sliding door is much more convenient.  I would have to give the nod to X

HAL highly tints the balcony glass.  So much so that the water color is distorted!

Cabin readiness on embarkation

HAL wins.  They came into our cabin the day of debarkation while we were having breakfast and started getting it ready.  No problem for me! I appreciated being able to get into our cabin at around 12 when we boarded 2 weeks ago.

X  Like all other cruise lines, after 1.

Disembarkation

HAL It just seemed more orderly and calmer.  Plus that pre-cabin cleaning is helpful.  The steward put everything out for us, easier to gather.

X  We have had a couple of bad disembarkations and unless we are in a suite, they are usually chaotic.

But if we are in a suite, it's great.

Trivia

HAL  It seemed like they put more thought into the questions.  But they do need to add some different types of trivia other than general.  I did convince them to do a couple of music trivias.  So maybe it will improve.

X  Over the past couple of years it has gone downhill.  The people who are running it clearly are not having a good time.  Not a lot of thought goes into it.

Casino

Not that we gamble, but we do walk through them. 

X wins because it is totally smoke free.

HAL, I believe, has rotating smoke free days.

Main Dining Room

It is a toss up.  Except for the lobster, see below.

Buffet

X wins.  The Oceanview Cafe has 'pods' which work very nicely.  And the food is very good

HAL  Has sections that you still line up for the food.  After 14 days the food became tiresome.

Specialty Dining- we didn't experience it on HAL so we can't compare

Lobster

I finally, after trying 4 different cruise lines had a delicious lobster in the MDR!

HAL wins the lobster war.  X, DCL and RCI are all inferior!

Burgers

HAL wins.  At their outdoor Dive-In.  The fries were great also.

X  Their burgers at the Mast Grill are pretty good, but not as good as HAL

Laundry

HAL HAL HAL.  I can't say enough good things about their laundry!  We opted for the $7 a day for the entire length of the cruise (we were on for 2 weeks so it was $98).  All of the laundry you want cleaned and PRESSED!!!  On hangers or folded in a nice basket wrapped in tissue, amazing! 

X Stuffs it into a bag.  X, check out the competition!!!

Shower

HAL It was a great shower.  It is a walk-in and quite large.  Very nice

X  I used to think they had the best shower!

Coffee

HAL It was delicious.  And at all venues (that were no charge).  Even the decaf!

X  I have to go to Cafe al Baccio to get a good cup

APP 

HAL has one, X needs one!  Hopefully they will have one next time we cruise on X.  They had the menus on the app!!!  However, the app did not always work and we couldn't get it to work for IM

Television

HAL  It was HUGE!  It had to be at least 50"

Television Programming

HAL  They had so many movies to watch!  Yes, I am one of those passengers who watch TV while on a cruise!

Hairdryer

HAL You don't have to hold a button to be able to use it.  Yay!

X  You have to hold a button to be able to use it.  Boo!

Binoculars

HAL  We were in a Vista Suite.  The binoculars were as good as the pair that we brought and didn't have to use!

X  For those who have seen them, BYOB (binoculars) right?

Theater/Shows

HAL Their theater (on NS) is amazing.  A 270 degree LED screen surrounded the theater for some amazing shows.  One in particular, Humanity.  The other shows were ok, on par with X. 

Musical Entertainment

HAL Hands down.  They have 3 venues on deck 2.  They had classical music (5 strings) perform 3 shows a day for several days during the week.  That same venue in the evening featured a band under the BB King banner.  They were excellent.  Motown and blues.  In the Rolling Stone venue was rock.  And across the way were dueling pianos.  A husband-wife team and they did a great job.  So basically every single evening you could listen to some great music.

X  You never know what you are going to get on X for music.  Usually not that good.

 

 

Some random comments:

HAL had a poolside restaurant, NY Deli and Pizza.  I love Ruebens.  What a treat!   My husband loved their pizza (but he loves X's pizza also).

 

 

Ship design - X

 

 

Suite amenities - X  Although we stayed in a low-end on HAL, from what I have read, the perks are not that great for all of the suites on HAL.

 

 

 

HAL gives a very nice Voyage Log on the last evening of the cruise.  Nice touch!

 

 

[Cruise Junky]

27 minutes ago, Muushka said:

 

 

 

 

Nightlight

 

X  wins.  they had one in the bath

 

HAL didn't

 

 

 

 

LOL  I so read that as Nightlife :)

[portofrome]

Thanks for your comparisons!

[Nymich]

Going on our 5th Celebrity cruise in a few weeks.  Just finished 5 and 6 on HAL.  We like them both for entirely different reasons.

The good thing is we always have a pretty good idea of what to expect and what not to expect.

[wwcruisers]

Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful review. With X & RC's diminishing presence on the West Coast, we have been considering Princess. And now that HAL has joined the 21st Century, re: smoking policy, we'd be willing to give them a closer look as well.

[marieps]

What a useful review.  Thanks so much for posting it.

[bEwAbG]

I did my first HAL in May and leaving on another this weekend.  The Vista suite you booked includes no suite amenities.  It's basically a bigger room.  They should do a better job of distinguishing between products because it is in no way comparable to a Sky Suite when it comes to amenities.  It doesn't seem that you get any extra perks until you book Neptune Suite or above.  Before they re-did their website last year, it explained the differences much better.    

 

However, as you noted, there is usually a better value proposition between HAL and Celebrity.  I cannot imagine you paid anywhere near what a Sky Suite would have cost for the same two week trip.  For the price differential, you undoubtedly could have paid for specialty dining every night and still come out ahead.  To get all of the "included" stuff on Celebrity, you pay a pretty penny for it.  I dropped a Celebrity Suite on Equinox for next week and switched to this HAL trip in a Neptune Suite for a price difference of a few thousand dollars.  It doesn't include a suites-only restaurant and the lounge doesn't include drinks, but, again, for that price difference, it was an easy choice to make for what is a cold-weather getaway trip.

[Muushka]

2 hours ago, Cruise Junky said:

 

LOL  I so read that as Nightlife 🙂

 Ha!  Actually Night life is better on HAL! Oh that music...

 

9 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

I did my first HAL in May and leaving on another this weekend.  The Vista suite you booked includes no suite amenities.  It's basically a bigger room.  They should do a better job of distinguishing between products because it is in no way comparable to a Sky Suite when it comes to amenities.  It doesn't seem that you get any extra perks until you book Neptune Suite or above.  Before they re-did their website last year, it explained the differences much better.    

 

However, as you noted, there is usually a better value proposition between HAL and Celebrity.  I cannot imagine you paid anywhere near what a Sky Suite would have cost for the same two week trip.  For the price differential, you undoubtedly could have paid for specialty dining every night and still come out ahead.  To get all of the "included" stuff on Celebrity, you pay a pretty penny for it.  I dropped a Celebrity Suite on Equinox for next week and switched to this HAL trip in a Neptune Suite for a price difference of a few thousand dollars.  It doesn't include a suites-only restaurant and the lounge doesn't include drinks, but, again, for that price difference, it was an easy choice to make for what is a cold-weather getaway trip.

 

Yes, we did our homework and knew what to expect with the Vista Suite.  But seeing the difference on paper and in person really drove home the fact that they need to remove the word Suite after Vista.  Considering that they charge you the same for gratuities as the high end suites makes it even more irritating.  But as you said, HAL for Christmas and NYE was a bargain compared to X.  I don't know if we would ever bother with the higher end suites on HAL because the perks are not that good.  Unless the price was right.

Edited January 30, 2019 by Muushka

[George C]

Celebrity has really great suite perks , hal has almost nothing for suite perks, other than a nice cabin. 

[bEwAbG]

I certainly agree that the nightlife on HAL was better than my Celebrity trips, strange as that seems.  Those branded music venues make a big difference (though I don't think they're on every HAL ship), and Celebrity would be wise to copy them.  HAL also had more to do throughout the day, and it wasn't just the sales presentations that seem to have taken over Celebrity.  

 

We liked the Neptune Suite on Nieuw Amsterdam.  Lots of space.  The best bathroom at sea!  And they did have a nightlight in theirs.  It was a style I'm going to copy at home during an upcoming renovation: very faint blue in the ceiling that was just perfect.  There wasn't a butler (which I find useless) but the stateroom attendant and his assistant were awesome.  You get free laundry service.  The lounge is a nice space but doesn't include alcoholic drinks for free (they have an honor bar).  The breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill was nice, but I understand it's the same food they serve in the MDR.  There have been reports of a new concept they were trying this past month for a separate dining space that included an expanded menu for suites only.  I'm sure they're tinkering with doing something more, but I kind of hope they don't go overboard and raise their prices the way X has the last couple of years.  Or, if they do, maybe they'll offer it a la carte so you can pick and choose what's of value to you.

[Iamthesea]

I agree with much of your review. 😉

 

We also enjoyed our pre-Christmas cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam.  Much better than we did our cruise on the new Celebrity Edge the following week (inaugural cruise.)  Our Signature Suite was half $ of what our AQ stateroom was on the Edge.  Yes, the S. Suite did not come with any "suite" perks, but we did not really miss them.

 

The Signature Suites on HAL are more in line (actually better) than the Sky Suites on Celebrity.  And they are half the price!  The bathrooms are wonderful!  And that TV...wow!  Free movies to boot!

 

And you do get a thicker robe in the true suites.  However, I prefer the waffle weave because they are not so heavy, and are cooler when getting ready.  I request one on all cruiselines if available.   If you need more warmth on the veranda, HAL has their plaid watch blankets in the staterooms.

 

 

[TMLAalum]

Hi Muushka-

 

We met onboard the NS at the MeetnMingle, which had to be organized by a roll call member vs. the Connections Party being organized by Celebrity!

 

While we were not in a suite on the NS nor on our previous week's cruise on the Edge, I do agree about the robes and fridge being +'s on HAL. And other plusses included plugs by the bed for CPAPs (on Edge too, but not other Celeb ships). a magnifying makeup mirror, and a very nice in-room bar area. We also had thick robes in our regular veranda on the NS. And Music Row on HAL is great although pretty dated in decor. But there is no bar to gather to watch major sports events- we were 2 of 7 in a bar that seated only 9 watching a CFP semi-final. And the wine I wanted was not available there yet the barman made no effort to offer me other options as I believe would have occurred on Celebrity. BTW the Edge Lobster was as good as on the NS- usually I don't order it on Celeb as it's not been very good.

 

I did post a comparison of the 2 ships title 2 Weeks, 2 New Ships at the beginning of January if you have time to look for it. FWIW, I did much prefer the Edge over the NS.

[markeb]

Interesting review.

 

The first 2-3 cruises my wife and I took were on HAL. The last was about 12 years ago, and obviously we're 12 years older. We switched to RCI for the "active adult" lifestyle, and then to Celebrity when the shoulder and knees really didn't support the Flowrider. 

 

When we cruised HAL (in our early to mid 40's), the service was second to none. Their specialty steak restaurant was amazing. And they had a true onboard sommelier program, with a heavy emphasis on Washington State (they're headquartered in Seattle if memory serves) wine. There was a good mix of music. We were also (at the time) VERY young for the HAL crowd. Posts like this make me curious about going back to HAL and checking it out again.

[George C]

1 hour ago, bEwAbG said:

I certainly agree that the nightlife on HAL was better than my Celebrity trips, strange as that seems.  Those branded music venues make a big difference (though I don't think they're on every HAL ship), and Celebrity would be wise to copy them.  HAL also had more to do throughout the day, and it wasn't just the sales presentations that seem to have taken over Celebrity.  

 

We liked the Neptune Suite on Nieuw Amsterdam.  Lots of space.  The best bathroom at sea!  And they did have a nightlight in theirs.  It was a style I'm going to copy at home during an upcoming renovation: very faint blue in the ceiling that was just perfect.  There wasn't a butler (which I find useless) but the stateroom attendant and his assistant were awesome.  You get free laundry service.  The lounge is a nice space but doesn't include alcoholic drinks for free (they have an honor bar).  The breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill was nice, but I understand it's the same food they serve in the MDR.  There have been reports of a new concept they were trying this past month for a separate dining space that included an expanded menu for suites only.  I'm sure they're tinkering with doing something more, but I kind of hope they don't go overboard and raise their prices the way X has the last couple of years.  Or, if they do, maybe they'll offer it a la carte so you can pick and choose what's of value to you.

I agree Neptune suite is very nice but bathroom is not as good as owners suite on rccl. At least in our opinion.

[Nymich]

1 hour ago, markeb said:

dteresting review.

 

The first 2-3 cruises my wife and I took were on HAL. The last was about 12 years ago, and obviously we're 12 years older. We switched to RCI for the "active adult" lifestyle, and then to Celebrity when the shoulder and knees really didn't support the Flowrider. 

 

When we cruised HAL (in our early to mid 40's), the service was second to none. Their specialty steak restaurant was amazing. And they had a true onboard sommelier program, with a heavy emphasis on Washington State (they're headquartered in Seattle if memory serves) wine. There was a good mix of music. We were also (at the time) VERY young for the HAL crowd. Posts like this make me curious about going back to HAL and checking it out again.

I would give them another look.  The music is really good if you go on the two Pinnacle Ships which the OP went on you also get the Rolling Stone Rock Room.  I was on this ship in December and it was excellent.  The other HAL ships have the BB Kings Blues Club which is very good as well.  They are also on the Pinnacle ships.  HAL is evolving towards the boomers and gen xers slowly but surely.  The Pinnacle Grill you went to still exists and we like it a lot.

Edited January 31, 2019 by Nymich
spelling

[FlorenceItaly]

We have mainly been cruising Celebrity these past few years with a few Princess sprinkled in.  After a long absence last year we cruised HAL in June(Neptune Suite) and November(obstructed OV).  We loved both cruises and agree that there is more live music and nightlife on HAL.  Later this year we will be cruising HAL again on a 51 day cruise.  While on HAL we DO miss the drink package, lol, and Elite perks.  However, their $7 a day per room laundry package is fantastic.  

[Nymich]

3 hours ago, Muushka said:

 Ha!  Actually Night life is better on HAL! Oh that music...

 

 

Yes, we did our homework and knew what to expect with the Vista Suite.  But seeing the difference on paper and in person really drove home the fact that they need to remove the word Suite after Vista.  Considering that they charge you the same for gratuities as the high end suites makes it even more irritating.  But as you said, HAL for Christmas and NYE was a bargain compared to X.  I don't know if we would ever bother with the higher end suites on HAL because the perks are not that good.  Unless the price was right.

It took me some cruises to learn both Celebrity and HAL.  The vista suites are usually booked so people get double points for the Mariners Club.  Just like Princess calls it a mini suite the term is used very loosely these days.

[cruisequeen4ever]

It’s always interesting to compare cruise lines. Thank you for sharing!

[mafig]

We've only done two cruises on HAL but both of those we liked very much.

 

How was the Meet & Mingle.?  On our two cruises, they included cocktails and names were taken and those in attendance were also invited to HAL's VIP Party.  Probably not still doing that, but it was nice.

 

Ice cream in the buffet?  There was a large variety and they had liquors for toppings.  Still?

 

 

[podsnel]

We are booked on our first HAL (also on NS) this December and I will be on my 5th Celebrity when I board Edge 1 week from today!  Thank you so much for the comparison- we really love Celebrity, but are looking forward to all of that amazing music (and the wine blending) in addition to new ports on HAL. 😊

[4774Papa]

On 1/30/2019 at 1:04 PM, Muushka said:

We are loyal Celebrity cruisers.  Love the ships and the staff.  Love the perks with the Captain's Club.  We had never sailed Holland America before and never gave them much thought.  But right around Thanksgiving they had some great rates on a 2 week Christmas/NYE cruise on a brand new ship that we couldn't refuse.  And the dates were perfect for us so we did a little research and booked it.  The price of their lowest suite (Vista) was only $200 (total) or so more than the regular balcony cabins, so we figured we would give it a try.  After trying it, I would not pay that extra price for it.  It is not comparable to a Sky Suite on X (but the low price for HAL makes me understand why). 

 

So for us, if we can swing it, a suite (probably Sky) on X will be our first choice.  Luminae, Michael's Club and all of the other suite perks makes it our favorite choice.  If we ever want to do another 2 week holiday cruise, a balcony on a HAL ship will be just fine.  X holiday cruises have become so expensive these past few years, and suites are way too expensive.

 

 

 

 

Celebrity and Holland America (Nieuw Statendam) Comparison

 

The official welcome aboard

 

 

X  What's better than a warm smile and a nice glass of sparkling wine?

 

 

HAL  No bubbly, but warm smiles!

 

 

 

Christmas

 

X wins.  They had an artificial tree that almost looked real and they played more Christmas music. 

 

HAL had a bunch of boxes stacked in the shape of a tree.  Not even green boxes.  It wasn't very Christmassy.  HAL was too politically correct.

 

Refrigerator

 

HAL wins.  Big time.  Best cabin refrigerator ever in any cruise line cabin.  Nice and cold

 

X Meh.  Just like all of the others

 

Nightlight

 

X  wins.  they had one in the bath

 

HAL didn't

 

Ship Model

 

X wins.  They (like Disney) have the great detail, molded plastic models

 

HAL had a glass, minimal detail model.  We always get one for Christmas cruises, not this year.

 

Robes

 

X wins.  I love my bathrobe and X's is a thick, luxurious terrycloth robe

 

HAL is a waffle type, not very thick, not very luxurious

 

Balcony

 

X wins

 

They both had footstools (we always do Concierge class on X and I don't know if all of the balconies on HAL had them).  They seemed to be about the same size.  X has a sliding glass door, HAL's door swung open onto the balcony.  Sliding door is much more convenient.  I would have to give the nod to X

 

HAL highly tints the balcony glass.  So much so that the water color is distorted!

 

Cabin readiness on embarkation

 

HAL wins.  They came into our cabin the day of debarkation while we were having breakfast and started getting it ready.  No problem for me! I appreciated being able to get into our cabin at around 12 when we boarded 2 weeks ago.

 

X  Like all other cruise lines, after 1.

 

Disembarkation

 

HAL It just seemed more orderly and calmer.  Plus that pre-cabin cleaning is helpful.  The steward put everything out for us, easier to gather.

 

X  We have had a couple of bad disembarkations and unless we are in a suite, they are usually chaotic.

 

But if we are in a suite, it's great.

 

Trivia

 

HAL  It seemed like they put more thought into the questions.  But they do need to add some different types of trivia other than general.  I did convince them to do a couple of music trivias.  So maybe it will improve.

 

X  Over the past couple of years it has gone downhill.  The people who are running it clearly are not having a good time.  Not a lot of thought goes into it.

 

Casino

 

Not that we gamble, but we do walk through them. 

 

X wins because it is totally smoke free.

 

HAL, I believe, has rotating smoke free days.

 

Main Dining Room

 

It is a toss up.  Except for the lobster, see below.

 

Buffet

 

X wins.  The Oceanview Cafe has 'pods' which work very nicely.  And the food is very good

 

HAL  Has sections that you still line up for the food.  After 14 days the food became tiresome.

 

Specialty Dining- we didn't experience it on HAL so we can't compare

 

Lobster

 

I finally, after trying 4 different cruise lines had a delicious lobster in the MDR!

 

HAL wins the lobster war.  X, DCL and RCI are all inferior!

 

Burgers

 

HAL wins.  At their outdoor Dive-In.  The fries were great also.

 

X  Their burgers at the Mast Grill are pretty good, but not as good as HAL

 

Laundry

 

HAL HAL HAL.  I can't say enough good things about their laundry!  We opted for the $7 a day for the entire length of the cruise (we were on for 2 weeks so it was $98).  All of the laundry you want cleaned and PRESSED!!!  On hangers or folded in a nice basket wrapped in tissue, amazing! 

 

X Stuffs it into a bag.  X, check out the competition!!!

 

Shower

 

HAL It was a great shower.  It is a walk-in and quite large.  Very nice

 

X  I used to think they had the best shower!

 

Coffee

 

HAL It was delicious.  And at all venues (that were no charge).  Even the decaf!

 

X  I have to go to Cafe al Baccio to get a good cup

 

APP 

 

HAL has one, X needs one!  Hopefully they will have one next time we cruise on X.  They had the menus on the app!!!  However, the app did not always work and we couldn't get it to work for IM

 

Television

 

HAL  It was HUGE!  It had to be at least 50"

 

Television Programming

 

HAL  They had so many movies to watch!  Yes, I am one of those passengers who watch TV while on a cruise!

 

Hairdryer

 

HAL You don't have to hold a button to be able to use it.  Yay!

 

X  You have to hold a button to be able to use it.  Boo!

 

Binoculars

 

HAL  We were in a Vista Suite.  The binoculars were as good as the pair that we brought and didn't have to use!

 

X  For those who have seen them, BYOB (binoculars) right?

 

Theater/Shows

 

HAL Their theater (on NS) is amazing.  A 270 degree LED screen surrounded the theater for some amazing shows.  One in particular, Humanity.  The other shows were ok, on par with X. 

 

Musical Entertainment

 

HAL Hands down.  They have 3 venues on deck 2.  They had classical music (5 strings) perform 3 shows a day for several days during the week.  That same venue in the evening featured a band under the BB King banner.  They were excellent.  Motown and blues.  In the Rolling Stone venue was rock.  And across the way were dueling pianos.  A husband-wife team and they did a great job.  So basically every single evening you could listen to some great music.

 

X  You never know what you are going to get on X for music.  Usually not that good.

 

 

 

 

Some random comments:

 

HAL had a poolside restaurant, NY Deli and Pizza.  I love Ruebens.  What a treat!   My husband loved their pizza (but he loves X's pizza also).

 

 

 

 

 

Ship design - X

 

 

 

Suite amenities - X  Although we stayed in a low-end on HAL, from what I have read, the perks are not that great for all of the suites on HAL.

 

 

 

 

HAL gives a very nice Voyage Log on the last evening of the cruise.  Nice touch!

 

 

 

We never booked HAL, since until a couple of years ago it had the worst smoking policy of all the cruise lines.

I think it must have attracted smokers.  We did a cruise to Alaska (on NCL-it went to Glacier Bay) and found our own post-cruise land trip that went to Denali.   We were the first on the bus that goes all the way through Denali and before entering the park stopped at another hotel to pickup about 40 HAL passengers.  The smoke odor was awful.  There was no smoking on the bus, but many of the HAL people must have had it on their clothes.  We had to put up with that odor all day.

 

Have read positive reviews of HAL, so it seems they provide a good product, but I wonder if they still attract the smokers?

[GeorgiaPeach51]

We just cancelled a cruise on the brand new Nieuw Statendam due to smoking concerns.  I know it’s only in the casino...some say there are non smoking nights periodically, but enough recent posts re smoke coming out of the casino into the common areas and stairwells that we decided to give it a pass.  (Both on the Koningsdam and the new sister ship, the NS).  We work too hard for our money to put it into something with a high probability of being aggravating or intrusive.  We like HAL but for that one thing.  They’ve come a long way in FINALLY doing away with smoking on balconies but not far enough to meet our expectations.

[ricka47]

We just sailed on the Nieuw Amsterdam for a Thanksgiving cruise.  It was our first time back on HAL after 14 years and, aside from breaking my foot by missing a step the first day, it was very enjoyable.  We're Elite on X and Diamond on RCL but only the lowest level on HAL.

 

Probably the best thing (and the most major difference between the two lines) was the evening entertainment in B.B. King's and Lincoln Center Stage.  The Nieuw Amsterdam doesn't have The Rolling Stone Rock Room.  The quality of the entertainment in these two venues was amazing each and every night. 

 

The five young ladies in the Lincoln Center Stage were great and all of the musicians and singers in B.B. King's were just as good.  I play drums, guitar and bass (not at the level of these folks) and really enjoy live music.   Celebrity would do well to try to incorporate something like this.

 

One big difference for me was that the Internet was expensive and slow as molasses.  I teach online and need to connect a few times daily and that was a concern.  It worked -  but not as good as on X or RCL.  I wasted a good deal of time each day trying to connect and use the service.  Certainly, the Voom service on RCI is much better than what was found on HAL.

 

Other than that, there were few differences between the two cruise lines that I noticed in terms of food and service.

[Fogfog]

Thanks for the post...very helpful

Can you give us an idea on age range on each ship.

TYIA

[Eloise4Ever]

Thanks for your review Muushka. We are keen to try out HALs newest ships. In fact we did have Nieuw Statendam booked for this coming October but cancelled it when we came across a really good deal on X. I was also concerned about smoking on NS. Can you tell me if the Casino on NS is open to other public spaces via a staircase? A lot of people complained that smoke from the casino on Koningsdam came down the staircase to the music lounges. The hope was that HAL would change the design on NS and take out the staircase. I am hoping you can tell me that they did.