Princess, NCL, Holland America or Celebrity?

[Mr. Click]

Thanks Prish for posing the question because I am wondering the same things.  IF we ever get back to cruising Celebrity's new AI policy is not great for us and it just pushes the price up and up.  Thanks also to everyone who has posted their thoughts and experiences, there is a lot of useful info here. My original thinking was to check out Princess but between my negative experience with Princess Lodges in 2020--over 90 days to get a refund on hotel rooms-- and the lack of a simple sofa in veranda cabins I am thinking Princess is not for me.  For now it is back to the waiting game.  Still have the Panama Canal booked for September, until they get around to canceling it since it does not meet CDC requirements.....

[markeb]

Interesting thread. We've cruised HAL, RCI, and X over the years. Even though we were early 40's at the time, our first two cruises were on HAL, but that's now been 14+ years ago. I don't know today's HAL. Kind of wish I did, and maybe I'll pop over to the HAL board and see what kind of comments are over there!

 

At the time we cruised HAL, we were on smaller ships, and one of our cruises was from Montreal to Boston on the St Lawrence Seaway and is probably right behind the Baltics and Norway/Iceland on RCI as our favorite cruise. The ships at the time used a lot of wood in public spaces and were somewhat darker than what you'd see today on RCI or X. But the service was amazing! If you left your cabin at 10:00 in the morning and turned around 10 minutes later because you forgot something, your steward was cleaning your cabin, again! May no longer be true and could be one of those "price cutting back in the day" things. We switched to RCI because of the activity level, X because the activity level (ours) was declining, and would consider HAL again for the service (if it's still there). And the cute little music venues. It does appear they've dramatically limited their smoking policy, which would be a plus for us. Otherwise, it would be a question of how much of what we really enjoyed about HAL is still there!

[Torfamm]

 We have cruised with Celebrity almost exclusively. We took our first cruise with Princess in 2019 to take advantage of a 14 day cruise from London going along the fjords of Norway and then to Iceland.  We found Princess much more like Celebrity than different. 

 

Embarkation was very similar and the balcony cabin also felt quite a lot like Celebrity. There was an advantage in having a huge closet on the Sapphire Princess, especially since we had cold weather and bulky clothing. Having a shower curtain instead of a glass door was a small negative though.

 

What we liked about Princess was the availablility of savory food at the International Cafe, especially to grab a breakfast sandwich to enjoy with coffee on the balcony in the morning.  Neither of us liked the buffet for breakfast, the ordering system for omelets where you have to place your order then find a waiter to bring your omelette to you and then return to buffet to get whatever else you are having was annoying at best and impossible when there were no seats to be found.  We tried eating breakfast there once and gave up.  We either relied on the International Cafe and ate on our balcony or went to the main dining room..

 

Another positive for Princess was that we really enjoyed Alfredo's Pizza for lunch. On the negartive side, the food in the MDR and specialty restaurants did not seem to be as good as on Celebrity and their "every day" options on the MDR menu ran more toward hamburgers than steaks which was a disappointment when nothing on the evening's menu was appealing.  

 

For me, a huge negative for Princess is that they allow smoking in the casino. On the positive side, self-service laundry is very helpful on longer itineraries and we enjoy formal nights.

 

The differences all come down to personal preference. IMO if you like Celebrity, Princess is worth a try 

[prish]

Thanks again guys for giving me the pros and cons of the major cruise lines. We really liked the Celebrity experience but over the years we find it’s being cut back. And we’re definitely looking for different itineraries, with X it’s just the same old, same old. Perhaps the others are too, but this will be our first time with them. 
 

Sounds like HAL could be a good fit for the Med. I’d also love to do the fjords going all the way up to Nordkaap, I believe Royal does that one. Plus we’ll get reciprocity for our Elite status, though  that’s mainly for the laundry and wifi minutes. There’s a FLL- San Diego Panama Canal sailing in April 2022 which looks attractive, we may do that one if we cancel the Infinity South America cruise March 2022. 
 

Of course all of this is dependent on ships being safe post Covid. We take at most a cruise a year, but it’s something we’ve always enjoyed and I do hope for some semblance of normalcy in the cruise industry next year...

[lyndarra]

2 hours ago, markeb said:

Interesting thread. We've cruised HAL, RCI, and X over the years. Even though we were early 40's at the time, our first two cruises were on HAL, but that's now been 14+ years ago. I don't know today's HAL. Kind of wish I did, and maybe I'll pop over to the HAL board and see what kind of comments are over there!

 

At the time we cruised HAL, we were on smaller ships, and one of our cruises was from Montreal to Boston on the St Lawrence Seaway and is probably right behind the Baltics and Norway/Iceland on RCI as our favorite cruise. The ships at the time used a lot of wood in public spaces and were somewhat darker than what you'd see today on RCI or X. But the service was amazing! If you left your cabin at 10:00 in the morning and turned around 10 minutes later because you forgot something, your steward was cleaning your cabin, again! May no longer be true and could be one of those "price cutting back in the day" things. We switched to RCI because of the activity level, X because the activity level (ours) was declining, and would consider HAL again for the service (if it's still there). And the cute little music venues. It does appear they've dramatically limited their smoking policy, which would be a plus for us. Otherwise, it would be a question of how much of what we really enjoyed about HAL is still there!

My last cruise was on HAL Maasdam just shy of one year ago. I can assure you the service on her was fantastic and has just nudged out Celebrity for my favorite service cruise.

[Miaminice]

13 hours ago, drsel said:

What are the other things that you take for granted on Celebrity?

 

Quite a few things... some of them hard to put into words because they are more feelings and little parts of the puzzle of an overall cruise experience. After the cruise we just felt that in regards of the cruise line we had nothing to complain about, but also nothing to be exited about .

 

Here´s what I wrote after the cruise:

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and we would book HAL again for the right itinerary. However, we did notice some differences to what we are used to from Celebrity. Maybe we took things for granted on Celebrity which we only got to appreciate by seeing the difference.
 

The Westerdam is a fine ship. Clean and in good shape, and about the size of a Celebrity Millennium class (Millennium, Constellation, Summit, Infinity). We found that the interior design is a bit darker and more traditional, but nice nonetheless. Celebrity is more loungy in a modern sense.

 

On Westerdam we missed the many open spaces we are used to from Celebrity ships - even the ones of the same size. All the spaces here seemed small and confined to us. The layout is not as intuitive as we found it on other ships of other cruise lines.

 

Breakfast and lunch at the Lido were of good quality. However, although all we needed was there, the choice was limited in comparison to Celebrity. FYI, there is no self-service at the buffet, where you just help yourself on Celebrity. We missed outside seating on HAL.

 

The seating at Lido is very comfortable and when it comes to the service at the buffet restaurant HAL beats Celebrity by far. An empty plate didn’t last more than a few seconds on the table. There was also a constant offer of coffee, water or lemonade by very attentive waiters. Tables are set when you get there. Cutlery, cups and glasses are on the table. That’s definitely something that could be improved on Celebrity.

 

We found the service in the Main Dining Room good and the food very tasty - so on par with Celebrity. The menus, however, seemed very repetitive.

 

We can’t and won’t comment much on entertainment since we generally don’t care for shows on any cruise. However, we liked that there was an offer of classical music performances at the “Lincoln Center Stage” and we enjoyed the live music at “Billboard Onboard” and the “BB King´s Blues Club”.

 

Bars were pretty empty in the evenings, and once we were even asked for our last order at around 10pm (!). That would never happen on Celebrity. We were surprised by the short opening hours in general. Even the regular buffet closed at 8pm. After that it was just snacks, which we found very unusual.

 

Westerdam features nothing like Celebrity’s fabulous Sunset Bar, where you can end a beautiful day on a drink outside while enjoying the sea breeze as you sail away. Westerdam doesn’t provide much open deck space in general, which is something we really missed.

 

I am 47 and I certainly helped bring down the average age on this cruise... Hey, here I am: the young guy! I don’t know if that is good or bad.

 

We also noticed that ship‘s officers weren’t as present and engaging as they are on Celebrity. Not that we personally care, but it was noticeable.

 

Again, we really enjoyed our cruise and we are definitely NOT complaining! Celebrity and HAL are both good cruise lines and HAL will remain an option for us, especially with the lower prices and different itineraries. However, when it comes to our personal preferences, Celebrity still remains our preferred cruise line and the better fit.

[sandancer]

19 hours ago, prish said:

 

We’re Stateside, not UK, though I’ll certainly take a look at P&O and TUI. For May/June 2022 we’re thinking of an eastern Mediterranean itinerary, with a land tour in Greece either pre or post cruise. 
 

 

Yes, we’re looking at European itineraries and not the Caribbean. And as I mentioned earlier these are port intensive and at the end of the day entertainment isn’t our top priority. 

Almost all of our recent cruises have been with Celebrity but for 2022 we have booked Sky Princess, Land of the Midnight Sun, mainly for the itinerary and a Southampton departure port. Unlike Celebrity’s Always Included, Princess offer Princess Plus for £35 pp per day. (around $50) Not a requirement though. You can choose the basic cost if you prefer but with drinks package, grats and internet for us the upcharge is well worth it. 

[prish]

4 hours ago, Miaminice said:

 

Quite a few things... some of them hard to put into words because they are more feelings and little parts of the puzzle of an overall cruise experience. After the cruise we just felt that in regards of the cruise line we had nothing to complain about, but also nothing to be exited about .

 

Here´s what I wrote after the cruise:

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and we would book HAL again for the right itinerary. However, we did notice some differences to what we are used to from Celebrity. Maybe we took things for granted on Celebrity which we only got to appreciate by seeing the difference.
 

The Westerdam is a fine ship. Clean and in good shape, and about the size of a Celebrity Millennium class (Millennium, Constellation, Summit, Infinity). We found that the interior design is a bit darker and more traditional, but nice nonetheless. Celebrity is more loungy in a modern sense.

 

On Westerdam we missed the many open spaces we are used to from Celebrity ships - even the ones of the same size. All the spaces here seemed small and confined to us. The layout is not as intuitive as we found it on other ships of other cruise lines.

 

Breakfast and lunch at the Lido were of good quality. However, although all we needed was there, the choice was limited in comparison to Celebrity. FYI, there is no self-service at the buffet, where you just help yourself on Celebrity. We missed outside seating on HAL.

 

The seating at Lido is very comfortable and when it comes to the service at the buffet restaurant HAL beats Celebrity by far. An empty plate didn’t last more than a few seconds on the table. There was also a constant offer of coffee, water or lemonade by very attentive waiters. Tables are set when you get there. Cutlery, cups and glasses are on the table. That’s definitely something that could be improved on Celebrity.

 

We found the service in the Main Dining Room good and the food very tasty - so on par with Celebrity. The menus, however, seemed very repetitive.

 

We can’t and won’t comment much on entertainment since we generally don’t care for shows on any cruise. However, we liked that there was an offer of classical music performances at the “Lincoln Center Stage” and we enjoyed the live music at “Billboard Onboard” and the “BB King´s Blues Club”.

 

Bars were pretty empty in the evenings, and once we were even asked for our last order at around 10pm (!). That would never happen on Celebrity. We were surprised by the short opening hours in general. Even the regular buffet closed at 8pm. After that it was just snacks, which we found very unusual.

 

Westerdam features nothing like Celebrity’s fabulous Sunset Bar, where you can end a beautiful day on a drink outside while enjoying the sea breeze as you sail away. Westerdam doesn’t provide much open deck space in general, which is something we really missed.

 

I am 47 and I certainly helped bring down the average age on this cruise... Hey, here I am: the young guy! I don’t know if that is good or bad.

 

We also noticed that ship‘s officers weren’t as present and engaging as they are on Celebrity. Not that we personally care, but it was noticeable.

 

Again, we really enjoyed our cruise and we are definitely NOT complaining! Celebrity and HAL are both good cruise lines and HAL will remain an option for us, especially with the lower prices and different itineraries. However, when it comes to our personal preferences, Celebrity still remains our preferred cruise line and the better fit.

Thank you Miaminice for the detailed comparison between Celebrity and HAL, I believe we too would have echoed your feelings. The Sunset Bar has been a fav haunt on all our cruises, especially at sail away. But at the same time I think there’s a lot we’ll like on HAL too, definitely time to give it a try...

 

4 hours ago, Miaminice said:

 

Quite a few things... some of them hard to put into words because they are more feelings and little parts of the puzzle of an overall cruise experience. After the cruise we just felt that in regards of the cruise line we had nothing to complain about, but also nothing to be exited about .

 

Here´s what I wrote after the cruise:

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and we would book HAL again for the right itinerary. However, we did notice some differences to what we are used to from Celebrity. Maybe we took things for granted on Celebrity which we only got to appreciate by seeing the difference.
 

The Westerdam is a fine ship. Clean and in good shape, and about the size of a Celebrity Millennium class (Millennium, Constellation, Summit, Infinity). We found that the interior design is a bit darker and more traditional, but nice nonetheless. Celebrity is more loungy in a modern sense.

 

On Westerdam we missed the many open spaces we are used to from Celebrity ships - even the ones of the same size. All the spaces here seemed small and confined to us. The layout is not as intuitive as we found it on other ships of other cruise lines.

 

Breakfast and lunch at the Lido were of good quality. However, although all we needed was there, the choice was limited in comparison to Celebrity. FYI, there is no self-service at the buffet, where you just help yourself on Celebrity. We missed outside seating on HAL.

 

The seating at Lido is very comfortable and when it comes to the service at the buffet restaurant HAL beats Celebrity by far. An empty plate didn’t last more than a few seconds on the table. There was also a constant offer of coffee, water or lemonade by very attentive waiters. Tables are set when you get there. Cutlery, cups and glasses are on the table. That’s definitely something that could be improved on Celebrity.

 

We found the service in the Main Dining Room good and the food very tasty - so on par with Celebrity. The menus, however, seemed very repetitive.

 

We can’t and won’t comment much on entertainment since we generally don’t care for shows on any cruise. However, we liked that there was an offer of classical music performances at the “Lincoln Center Stage” and we enjoyed the live music at “Billboard Onboard” and the “BB King´s Blues Club”.

 

Bars were pretty empty in the evenings, and once we were even asked for our last order at around 10pm (!). That would never happen on Celebrity. We were surprised by the short opening hours in general. Even the regular buffet closed at 8pm. After that it was just snacks, which we found very unusual.

 

Westerdam features nothing like Celebrity’s fabulous Sunset Bar, where you can end a beautiful day on a drink outside while enjoying the sea breeze as you sail away. Westerdam doesn’t provide much open deck space in general, which is something we really missed.

 

I am 47 and I certainly helped bring down the average age on this cruise... Hey, here I am: the young guy! I don’t know if that is good or bad.

 

We also noticed that ship‘s officers weren’t as present and engaging as they are on Celebrity. Not that we personally care, but it was noticeable.

 

Again, we really enjoyed our cruise and we are definitely NOT complaining! Celebrity and HAL are both good cruise lines and HAL will remain an option for us, especially with the lower prices and different itineraries. However, when it comes to our personal preferences, Celebrity still remains our preferred cruise line and the better fit.

 

Thank you very much Miaminice for that detailed comparison between HAL and Celebrity, I believe we too would echo your sentiments. We love the Sunset Bar and it has been a fav haunt on many an occasion, especially at Sail Away. But at the same time I think there’s a lot we’d like on HAL, definitely time to give it a try.

 

Weren’t you the one who did a short cruise with TUI some months back? Am seriously going to explore their options and itineraries too. 

 

2 hours ago, sandancer said:

Almost all of our recent cruises have been with Celebrity but for 2022 we have booked Sky Princess, Land of the Midnight Sun, mainly for the itinerary and a Southampton departure port. Unlike Celebrity’s Always Included, Princess offer Princess Plus for £35 pp per day. (around $50) Not a requirement though. You can choose the basic cost if you prefer but with drinks package, grats and internet for us the upcharge is well worth it. 

 

Thanks for the tip about Princess Plus sundancer, does the upcharge include drinks, grats and wifi?

[deliver42]

We haven't been on HAL, but sailed on the other 3 lines you mentioned, plus RCCL. While we enjoyed our princess cruises, in our opinion, they didn't stack up against Celebrity. The food, entertainment, bars, service, and balcony cabins were superior on celebrity. NCL and Royal are different animals, catering to families. I'm emerald on Royal, and have been on 2 NCL ships. I think Royal's ships are much nicer with more room in public places, especially on deck. NCL tries to put too much on it's ships at the cost of room. The food and entertainment are comparable, with the edge going to Royal. Hope this helps you. These are just our opinions of course, and I'm sure you will have conflicting thoughts.

[sandancer]

Yes all 3. We are not big drinkers but a few coffees, a pre dinner drink, a couple of glasses of wine quickly adds up so we think this is worth the upcharge. We only had to pay £50 pp deposit as well. 

[Miaminice]

10 minutes ago, prish said:

Weren’t you the one who did a short cruise with TUI some months back? Am seriously going to explore their options and itineraries too. 

 

Yes, that is correct. One week Greece in October.

 

It´s just important to note that it was TUI Cruises Germany - not to be mistaken with TUI UK who operate Marella, former Thomson Cruises.

All in all TUI was pretty similar to Celebrity - especially in terms of ship design.
The only thing that would keep us from cruising with them again is that it was very German - food, passengers etc. It felt like a hotel, or better a very good hotel in the middle of Germany. And since we live in Germany there was just no "being away" feeling for us. That would probably be very different for you.

Edited January 26, 2021 by Miaminice

[Miaminice]

Sorry, double post 😳

Edited January 26, 2021 by Miaminice

[prish]

1 hour ago, Miaminice said:

 

Yes, that is correct. One week Greece in October.

 

It´s just important to note that it was TUI Cruises Germany - not to be mistaken with TUI UK who operate Marella, former Thomson Cruises.

All in all TUI was pretty similar to Celebrity - especially in terms of ship design.
The only thing that would keep us from cruising with them again is that it was very German - food, passengers etc. It felt like a hotel, or better a very good hotel in the middle of Germany. And since we live in Germany there was just no "being away" feeling for us. That would probably be very different for you.

Thanks for pointing out that these are two different cruise lines MN, absolutely  didn’t have any idea about it. Half our group is vegetarian, so am not sure what kind of options would be available on TUI Germany. Celebrity was extremely good in that respect and we were spoiled for choices, they also have a good, though somewhat repetitive Indian menu too.

[ExArkie]

In reading this thread and some others comparing different lines, I believe our experience with HAL must have been an anomaly. Our one trip with HAL was an early-season Alaska cruise on the Oosterdam in mid-May 2014, chosen for itinerary (Glacier Bay was high on the list) and price. I do not plan to sail with them ever again, due to the food and food service issues.

 

The service in the main dining room was abysmal, with long delays between seating and first sign of a server and another, even longer delay between each course. MDR Breakfast, which we tried once out of seven mornings, took two hours (or longer - can't recall exactly) to complete. Food quality was, at best, marginal. It never rose above a mediocre chain restaurant and frequently dipped below that. The course descriptions weren't accurate, either. Examples: One salad was said to include "roasted beets," which I really like (it's the only way I like beets), but turned out to be canned pickled beets. One evening advertised a "veal chop" that was actually Wiener Schnitzel, and not a very good one at that. The package we booked included one dinner in the Pinnacle Grill specialty restaurant, which turned out to be no different from the MDR in service or quality.

 

Our booking included some version of a beverage package, but there were only three incredibly bad wines available by the glass under the package. We gave up on that and just paid for bottles of wine separate from the package.

 

I am assuming that we had very bad luck with a new crew at the beginning of the season, but the food experience, plus the general lack of amenities when booking a Signature Suite, rather soured me on HAL. To be fair, the rest of the cruise was perfectly fine. The suite was great - sufficiently large and with a good view. Offerings were limited in terms of daytime activity and evening entertainment, but we were in port almost every day, so that didn't create too many problems. I do agree with the previous post that said the HAL spaces felt smaller and darker than on Celebrity, which was a bit of a disappointment, but the pleasant parts of the experience were definitely offset by the food and food service problems.

 

[Miaminice]

15 minutes ago, prish said:

Thanks for pointing out that these are two different cruise lines MN, absolutely  didn’t have any idea about it. Half our group is vegetarian, so am not sure what kind of options would be available on TUI Germany. Celebrity was extremely good in that respect and we were spoiled for choices, they also have a good, though somewhat repetitive Indian menu too.

 

Vegetarian food shouldn´t be the problem. Quite a few people in Germany are vegetarian and vegan. And there´s more to offer than just Sauerkraut 🙂 🙂 

The Indian or Asian sections are things I missed on TUI... the typical TUI clientel is obviously not very adventurous. And that´s what many of them would call trying Indian food.

DW found that the choice of seafood was good.

[markeb]

15 minutes ago, ExArkie said:

In reading this thread and some others comparing different lines, I believe our experience with HAL must have been an anomaly. Our one trip with HAL was an early-season Alaska cruise on the Oosterdam in mid-May 2014, chosen for itinerary (Glacier Bay was high on the list) and price. I do not plan to sail with them ever again, due to the food and food service issues.

 

The service in the main dining room was abysmal, with long delays between seating and first sign of a server and another, even longer delay between each course. MDR Breakfast, which we tried once out of seven mornings, took two hours (or longer - can't recall exactly) to complete. Food quality was, at best, marginal. It never rose above a mediocre chain restaurant and frequently dipped below that. The course descriptions weren't accurate, either. Examples: One salad was said to include "roasted beets," which I really like (it's the only way I like beets), but turned out to be canned pickled beets. One evening advertised a "veal chop" that was actually Wiener Schnitzel, and not a very good one at that. The package we booked included one dinner in the Pinnacle Grill specialty restaurant, which turned out to be no different from the MDR in service or quality.

 

Our booking included some version of a beverage package, but there were only three incredibly bad wines available by the glass under the package. We gave up on that and just paid for bottles of wine separate from the package.

 

I am assuming that we had very bad luck with a new crew at the beginning of the season, but the food experience, plus the general lack of amenities when booking a Signature Suite, rather soured me on HAL. To be fair, the rest of the cruise was perfectly fine. The suite was great - sufficiently large and with a good view. Offerings were limited in terms of daytime activity and evening entertainment, but we were in port almost every day, so that didn't create too many problems. I do agree with the previous post that said the HAL spaces felt smaller and darker than on Celebrity, which was a bit of a disappointment, but the pleasant parts of the experience were definitely offset by the food and food service problems.

 

 

Wow! What you're describing is almost completely opposite of our experience, but again, that was a while back.

 

Your MDR experience is extreme, and I wouldn't have cared for it either, but I do seem to recall HAL having what seemed like almost conscious pacing decisions in the MDR. I don't recall issues getting a drink when first seated, but I may well have carried one in most nights. But their usual clientele probably enjoyed sitting down with a group, taking their time without being interrupted, and ordering and eating at a slower pace. The MDR would have been timed for the shows, and they did seem to take their time.

 

The Pinnacle Grill was my favorite shipboard specialty restaurant. We sailed Maasdam from Montreal to Boston, and at the time they had an onboard sommelier (real one, don't know the level but he was dressed as an officer and may have also been the manager of the Pinnacle Grill). Years ago, but they had a well curated, mostly Washington State, wine selection (by the bottle). This was before drink packages, and we'd usually buy a bottle of something better, and they'd cap it in the MDR overnight if we didn't finish. I don't think we finished the bottle in Pinnacle Grill, and they moved it to the MDR the next night.

 

I was looking last night, and yeah, the suite packages and benefits on X are definitely better than HAL, but we're paying as much for a 12 night Southern Caribbean (haven't checked pricing recently!) in a Sky Suite (with perks) in 2022 as a Neptune Suite on HAL (different perks).

 

Agree on activities, but that's their audience. They always had great little live music venues scattered across the ship, and looks like that's become much more formalized. The ships' looks at relative lack of open space is a matter of preference, I think. I also think the dark wood look is a nod to Dutch sailing ships.

 

Still prefer X, but we'd definitely look at HAL again, especially for a port heavy itinerary.

[Fouremco]

45 minutes ago, ExArkie said:

In reading this thread and some others comparing different lines, I believe our experience with HAL must have been an anomaly. Our one trip with HAL was an early-season Alaska cruise on the Oosterdam in mid-May 2014, chosen for itinerary (Glacier Bay was high on the list) and price. I do not plan to sail with them ever again, due to the food and food service issues.

 

We took a late-season Alaskan cruise on the Oosterdam later the same year and our observations were quite similar, particularly with respect to dining. While I don't have a copy of my post-cruise Guest Satisfaction Survey, it resulted in a very apologetic reply from HAL.

 

Fortunately, we had cruised with HAL prior to our experience on the Oosterdam, and knew what they were capable of, so we chalked up the Alaska cruise as an unfortunate exception. We're certainly glad that we adopted that approach, as we've had many wonderful HAL cruises since then, with never a complaint about the dining.

[Fouremco]

10 hours ago, prish said:

Sounds like HAL could be a good fit for the Med. I’d also love to do the fjords going all the way up to Nordkaap, I believe Royal does that one.

HAL also goes to the Nordkaap on its Voyage of the Midnight Sun cruise. A great 14-night cruise RT Amsterdam.

 

The Globe, Nordkaap

 

[dani negreanu]

13 hours ago, Torfamm said:

Neither of us liked the buffet for breakfast, the ordering system for omelets where you have to place your order then find a waiter to bring your omelette to you and then return to buffet to get whatever else you are having was annoying at best and impossible when there were no seats to be found.  We tried eating breakfast there once and gave up. 

 

This, for us, was the "breaking point".

[kelmac]

2 hours ago, Fouremco said:

We took a late-season Alaskan cruise on the Oosterdam later the same year and our observations were quite similar, particularly with respect to dining. While I don't have a copy of my post-cruise Guest Satisfaction Survey, it resulted in a very apologetic reply from HAL.

 

Fortunately, we had cruised with HAL prior to our experience on the Oosterdam, and knew what they were capable of, so we chalked up the Alaska cruise as an unfortunate exception. We're certainly glad that we adopted that approach, as we've had many wonderful HAL cruises since then, with never a complaint about the dining.

Fmco,

You make a good point.  You need three or four cruises with a line to have a real feel for their product.

We have 30 cruises on Celebrity; 12 cruises on HAL; 8 cruises on NCL; and three cruises on Princess.

Coming up in 2021--2022:

--32 days (4 cruises) on Celebrity

--56 days (3 cruises) on HAL

--36 days (4 cruises) on NCL

--0 days on Princess

 

I stand by my current assessment of these four lines, but it is a moving target and things can, and will, change.  I'll be really curious about what each line will look like as they "build" crews to bring voyages back on line after this Covid pandemic.

 

 

#1 --  Still Celebrity.  Even as they move into their "all-inclusive" phase, we prefer everything X over the other four.  Food is better, ships are modern and unique, and the crew seems happy.  Many don't like the new balcony cabins on the E-class, but we love them.

 

#2 -- Holland America is getting better.  New ships and the old guard is fading away.  Consistently good food, excellent itineraries, and some of the best prices going.

 

#3 -- NCL can be a great experience.  Make sure you get a full dining package and eat every evening meal in one of their great alternative restaurants.  MDR for lunch only. Yes, they will nickel and dime you to death with their high "fees" and extra costs.  They even cheat a bit on their higher taxes.  Modern, active ships, but beware of the smoke issues near the casino.

 

#4 -- Distant fourth.  Never really liked much about Princess.  Venues are compact and crowded.  I'm sure we will give them another try down the road, but as of today, they are at the bottom of the list.

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[TMLAalum]

I wonder if any comparison of cruiselines based on experiences pre-Covid shutdown will hold true once ships set sail again.To recoup lost revenue, what cutbacks will ensue that negate the positives of the past? Or conversely, what added incentives might be offered to encourage bookings?

 

I look forward to reading reviews for future cruises on Princess, HAL, RCCL, NCL and of course, Celebrity, to learn what is different from past sailings!

[ECCruise]

41 minutes ago, kelmac said:

Fmco,

You make a good point.  You need three or four cruises with a line to have a real feel for their product.

This.  I am so over posts that talk about their one time on XXX line 12 years ago that was horrible.  Absolutely horrible. And how they would never sail them again.  And by inference, neither should anyone else.

I find the differences between these 4 lines, although there absolutely are some, in toto far less glaring than would be initially apparent. 

I is important that any prospective cruiser finds what the majority feel is a line's strong--and weak--points and make their decision based on their interest in those strengths and weaknesses. 

[ECCruise]

2 minutes ago, TMLAalum said:

I wonder if any comparison of cruiselines based on experiences pre-Covid shutdown will hold true once ships set sail again.To recoup lost revenue, what cutbacks will ensue that negate the positives of the past? Or conversely, what added incentives might be offered to encourage bookings?

 

I look forward to reading reviews for future cruises on Princess, HAL, RCCL, NCL and of course, Celebrity, to learn what is different from past sailings!

That is a great point.  I  think the basic experience post covid (e.g., masks, inoculations, dining) will likely be fairly similar, there also will likely be a good number of differences in the total experience.

[Ray in NH]

Hi All,

Interesting thread -- just stumbled upon it today.  This is one of those threads where it is "difficult" to find much consensus.

For whatever it may be worth, here is my "two-cents" worth, based upon over 125 cruises, on 12 different cruise lines (ocean and/or river), covering in excess of over 1300 cruise-days

I'll limit my ranking to the four named cruise lines.

1) Celebrity (15 cruises/141 days)

2) Holland America (20 cruises/295 days)

3) NCL (3 cruises/29 days)

4) Princess (3 cruises/36 days)

 

I guess the number of cruises/days on each of these four rated lines is somewhat telling?  We do enjoy variety, and trying new lines/itineraries.

 

The best part of something like this survey is going back and re-living some very enjoyable places, people, and experiences.

Of course, what we have most enjoyable/memorable, may have no impact on your personal experience.  The beauty of cruising is the memories we retain for future remembrances.

 

Hoping you enjoy whatever cruise you decide to enjoy.

 

NRayH

 

[ExArkie]

3 hours ago, markeb said:

 

Wow! What you're describing is almost completely opposite of our experience, but again, that was a while back....

 

Still prefer X, but we'd definitely look at HAL again, especially for a port heavy itinerary.

 

That seems to be the impression from everything I read. We were almost certainly just spectacularly unlucky in our experience on HAL. I've never totally discounted them, but definitely tend to favor others...like Celebrity.

 

3 hours ago, Fouremco said:

We took a late-season Alaskan cruise on the Oosterdam later the same year and our observations were quite similar, particularly with respect to dining. While I don't have a copy of my post-cruise Guest Satisfaction Survey, it resulted in a very apologetic reply from HAL...

 

This makes it sound like a ship and season specific problem that year. "Spectacularly unlucky" sounds about right. Good thing I didn't frequent the casino on that trip.