HAL or Celebrity?

[rain_bowbrite]

I am starting to think about the next cruise that I want to book and would like opinions from someone who has sailed both lines. So far I have sailed on NCL (1), Carnival (2) and RCCL (1). I know that I want to do a caribbean itinerary since departing from FL is what currently fits my travel/time budget.

 

However, I would like to treat myself to a more beautiful ship for this cruise and I am looking at doing either Celebrity or HAL. Although I am in my mid thirties, I am an early riser on a cruise and enjoy the activities such as the wine tastings, hot tubs, act auctions, shows, and the traditional dining experience. I am usually ready for bed by 11:00 on a cruise so late night activities are not important to me.

 

Who has the more beautiful ships in your opinion and how does the food compare? I am not a meat and potatoes eater and enjoy lots of spicy ethnic foods.

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

Jodie

[Traveler Nina]

I think you would enjoy them both equally well. My husband and I went on the Century and loved it! We met a lot of other young couples and were never bored. The service is excellent, room was comfortable and the staff were very friendly. Went out of their way several times to show extra attention. Like the night my husband was not feeling well (Forgot to take his sea sick pills) and had to leave dinner before the main course. His favorite filet migon. Our waiter Nuno had it cooked to order and delivered to him in our stateroom with a dessart without us even having to ask! DH enjoyed it much better at the center of the ship:)

 

The service was like this through out the cruise.

 

Enjoy your trip!

[fcorey]

Sounds like you've got an open mind and are willing to try new things. We tried HAL because my wife hated a Carnival experience we had.... we are in our mid thirties and had a great time on HAL, we also resemble your description. I think that both Celebrity and HAL are great cruise lines and you probably cant go wrong with either. In my experience HAL seems to have lower fares and is generally a better value.

[cruizelvr]

I would recommend Celebrity, however we are trying HAL for the first time this December. I have cruised several Celebrity cruises though, I would recommend Millie or Constellation if you want a "newer" ship, however they just spent millions redoing the Century and it looks beautiful once again. Upkeep on these ships have been constant. Staff is always helpful, courteous and entertaining. Food quality has been much better than on RCCL. I have heard good things about HAL though too, which is why we are giving them a try.

 

Hope this helps :o

[eh2zed]

Given the profile you gave you really can't go wrong with either of these 2 premium lines. HAL may have slightly better food but that is a personal and subjective opinion. Celebrity probably has slightly better entertainment. In the final analysis you can't go wrong with either. Enjoy:) :D :) :D

[rebeljohn]

You've chosen two lines that will definately give you what you are looking for. Our favorite line is Celebrity, but our HAL cruises were so nice and relaxing, that we have booked one for later in the year. Try one, then try the other........I think you'll be pleased with either...........

[barbels]

We are long time Celebrity fans who have just booked our second cruise on HAL's Noordam. We love both lines and feel that they are similar in many ways. I give Celebrity a slight edge in food and service in the main dining rooms and the Noordam a slight edge in food in the buffets. Cabins are bigger on the Noordam, but they are fine on both lines.

 

I would book my cruise choosing on price and itinerary because these lines are so close in quality.

[MrLee]

I thought the food on Celebrity was exceptional but I never got to try the main dining room on HAL. (long story) Both lines were terrific but you do have to "dress up" twice a much on Celebrity. On an 11 day cruise we had 3 formal (tux) and 3 informal (jacket and tie) nights on Celebrity. On HAL we just had the 3 formal nights.

 

Frankly, I don't mind having to dress up occasionally but I thought 6 out of 11 nights was overdoing it. But that's just me. :rolleyes:

[plantlady095]

We loved the wine tasting seminar on the Zaandam. They also offered a multi-bottle wine package and we were very pleased with the wines served. The wines successfully followed us to the Pinnacle Grill and it was so nice. The PG was superb, so that we had dinner there for two out of four nights on board. Formal night was not as we expected food-wise. It was sad that we only had four nights to see what they could do in the Renaissance Dining Room. Our experience with Carnival was so positive, that we had a hard time comparing the ships. The Zaandam was decorated more sumptiously than the Conquest or Ecstasy but we found that the Carnival ship crews seemed more anxious to please us. The ages of the passengers on the Zaandam were very, very mixed. You would find people to party with (or not). I am sorry that I cannot compare our HAL experience with Celebrity for you. Our land excursions were awesome if that helps (& these were booked through HAL).

 

You will have a swell time no matter what. I would probably choose the most economical for the destination and spend my savings on extra niceties.

[esther e]

That's a hard decision. Both lines are terrific. However, now that HAL has gone to open seating, for us it's a no brainer. We're going on HAL.

[Coolcruise02]

We enjoyed our cruise experience on both lines, but thought HAL was a notch above in food and service.

[Jade13]

I thought the food on Celebrity was exceptional but I never got to try the main dining room on HAL. (

 

Hmm?

[cle1]

I am starting to think about the next cruise that I want to book and would like opinions from someone who has sailed both lines. So far I have sailed on NCL (1), Carnival (2) and RCCL (1). I know that I want to do a caribbean itinerary since departing from FL is what currently fits my travel/time budget.

 

However, I would like to treat myself to a more beautiful ship for this cruise and I am looking at doing either Celebrity or HAL. Although I am in my mid thirties, I am an early riser on a cruise and enjoy the activities such as the wine tastings, hot tubs, act auctions, shows, and the traditional dining experience. I am usually ready for bed by 11:00 on a cruise so late night activities are not important to me.

 

Who has the more beautiful ships in your opinion and how does the food compare? I am not a meat and potatoes eater and enjoy lots of spicy ethnic foods.

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

Jodie

 

Jodie...Our last Celebrity cruise was in Sept., and our last HAL cruise was in April. IMHO, both lines offer a similiar cruising experience. Celebrity still had traditional dinning, and informal nights. HAL is now going to As you wish dinning, and dress is either "Country Club Casual", or Formal. HAL has just finished refurbishing the whole line. Celebrity, IMHO, should consider the same. I am finding Celebrity's cruise prices to be higher than HAL's in the cruises I have looked into, and I do not feel they are woth a higher price. But, I think, you will be happy with either line.

[rain_bowbrite]

Wow...thanks for your great descriptions and advice. You have definitely given me much to think about.

 

I do like the fact that Celebrity is still traditional dining although the open seating on HAL sounds intriguing. I like the cabins on HAL better and the shower/tub combos but Celebrity's ambiance seems more what I am looking for.

 

Does anyone know if HAL has sushi? I have asked this question on the Celebrity board as well and mostly people are saying both lines are very similiar so the sushi question might be the deciding factor for me.

 

Thanks,

 

Jodie

[MrLee]

Hmm?

 

 

I posted this in another thread but it seems appropriate here also:

 

 

On the Ryndam, my wife and I had a table for two and the waiters were so busy with the larger tables that we sat for over an hour and never even got a menu. We gave up and ate in the buffet. The next night it was exactly the same story (and I timed it) we gave up after an hour. We ate the rest of that 14 day cruise in the buffet.

[O2B@C]

.... I do like the fact that Celebrity is still traditional dining although the open seating on HAL sounds intriguing. I like the cabins on HAL better and the shower/tub combos but Celebrity's ambiance seems more what I am looking for. Does anyone know if HAL has sushi? ... Thanks, Jodie

 

Clarification: HAL does still have traditional dining. "As you wish" (open seating) dining is being introduced as an option, ship by ship on various dates. If they have "as you wish" on your sailing, then at booking, you will have a choice between that and traditional - though traditional may or may not still be available if you book late. Check the "sticky" on this topic for details. On both lines, casual dining in the Lido is an option any night you don't feel like going to the dining room, and both lines have extra-charge specialty restaurants and free room service.

 

HAL's cabins and bathrooms are definitely larger than Celebrity's at the same price level, and from all accounts, the beds on HAL are more comfortable.

 

However, HAL does not have a sushi bar like Celebrity's. There is some sushi available at the buffet but from what I have been told it is only supermarket-quality. So if that's really the deciding factor for you, you may want to go on Celebrity.

[geonna]

In my opinion, Holland America is much nicer. It has all the things that you mentioned you liked, and the ships are "classic". The food on celebrity was better, but the service people, the Indonesian and Phillipinos, are MUCH, MUCH nicer than the service people on Celebrity. To me it makes a BIG difference. Besides, HAL cruises are just better!

[agabbymama]

I have only one cruise on HAL sailing on the "old" Noordam and one cruise on Celebrity on Constellation.

 

I preferred HAL, because of the aura of an "old ocean liner". Lots of brass and wood as an old sailing vessel would have. Teak wood promenade deck all the way around the ship (HAL is the only mainstream line that still does), teak wood deck chairs with blankets on deck, deck boys (in cute little Phillip Morris uniforms) to make sure you had everything you needed while on deck, fresh flower arrangements (not plastic or silk), real towels in the public restrooms (Celebrity had this too), and chimes to announce dinner. It just had the ambiance of an ocean liner (which is what HAL actually started as). Maybe just the name "Holland America Line" also holds some glamour of an era gone by.

 

Not that I didn't enjoy Celebrity Constellation (but she is a much bigger ship, and we went Concierge Class, so not a true comparison) than the Noordam. My upcoming cruisetour on Zuiderdam will be a better comparison for me, as she will be at the same 90,000 tons that Constellation is. But, I again chose HAL for my Alaska Cruisetour

in just a little over 3 weeks. And I did get "Traditional Dining Early Seating", at least that's what my docs state.

[kaimanu]

We have been on two cruises with Celebrity and just got off the Ryndam on Sunday. I was a little hesitant about her because she was one of the smallest ships I've ever been on (the only smaller was Carnival Holiday we went on in the late 90s).

My opinion on the two lines are they BOTH have good points and not so good points.

 

Celebrity (IMHO) has better food and definitely better shows. But the ships we were on were just as beautiful as the Ryndam.

 

The Ryndam never felt crowded, even though full, whereas the two Celebrity ships we were on (Mercury and Century) felt full on sea days...esp on Lido. The two best things I can say about the Ryndam, are, the absolutely friendliest crew I've EVER had (out of 12 I think) and the BEST beds ever on a cruise ship. We were on late seating which is way too late for us, so only went to the dining room 3 times...which was very good, but Lido was nothing to write home about.

 

As those have written before, I think both lines are very good and won't hesitate to take either again...

 

oh, one more thing that I did notice about our HAL cruise...they certainly did NOT push the cocktail drinks and other frivilous spending as the other lines have in the past.

 

Kai

[frankie-toronto]

Hi Jode

We have been on many cruises including Celebrity/RCCL/MSC/Princess and HAL - of all of those we prefer Celebrity #1 - Princess #2 and RCCL #3 - I would not suggest MSC at all. It was terrible.

As for HAL we did a cruise to Hawaii last Feb. and it was lovely but service was very very slow both in the diningroom and the Lido buffet - where they cooked your items while you waited and your other food got cold - the lineups were always long and very slow - many times they ran out of things i.e. buns/bread/cheese in the morning you had to wait until someone was free to get it for you . There were no toasters you had to wait for that - no peanut butter you had to ask and then they would scoop it out of a huge bottle (not very healthy in my estimation) the ironic thing is we are booked on the Amsterdam for the World Cruise in Jan /08 - we would have gone with Princess but did not like the itinerary and this is 50th anniversary of HAL and it will be much fun - we area already in touch with others going on this 115 day cruise... sounds wonderful. After that we probably can get a lot of perks after 115 days sailing hahahah. We will opt for Celebrity next time again the Century - Millenium - Mercury - Constellation all fantastic ... lots do to as HAL does not have enough to keep one busy i.e. games/water sports etc... rather low low key... I am 67 but like the things of 40 year olds hahahah. Hope that helps somewhat.

Happy Holiday...

Frankie in Toronto

[kelmac]

Jodi,

 

After 26 cruises, my wife and I pretty much just alternate between Celebrity and Holland America. They are similar in many ways.

Celebrity is switching out the bedding and beds ship by ship and I thought the new beds on the Millennium were just a cut above the beds on the Maasdam. That's hard to do, because the beds on HAL are wonderful.

Celebrity still holds the edge in dining room cuisine and alternative restaurant cruisine, but Holland America's Lido (buffet) is the best!:rolleyes: :)

Celebrity is modern and very european and HAL is traditional and very asian.

Can't make a mistake with either of these two wonderful cruise lines:

 

By the way:

A while back I did a head to head comparison of our cruises on the Westerdam and the Millennium:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=464131&highlight=millennium+westerdam

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[HeatherInFlorida]

...................Who has the more beautiful ships in your opinion and how does the food compare? I am not a meat and potatoes eater and enjoy lots of spicy ethnic foods.....

 

As so many have said, both are wonderful cruise lines and I very much doubt you can go wrong with either one.

 

In the past 7 years we have been on HAL's Maasdam, Oosterdam and Prinsendam and Celebrity's Millennium and Summit. All are beautiful ships. We absolutely prefer Celebrity, but having said that you'll see we have 2 cruises booked on HAL. So we love both and choose for itinerary as opposed to cruise line.

 

However, from my experience you're not going to find a lot of spicy ethnic foods on either line. We prefer the food and service on Celebrity, but if you want a blissful night's sleep, choose HAL.

 

If I've confused you more, I apologize:) . But the truth is I would pick based on the timing, the prices, and the itinerary. You'll have a fantastic time whichever you pick.