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Need help picking our preferred line: Celebrity? HAL? Would love your input.


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We want to pick a preferred cruise line and may be down to Celebrity or HAL. We have cruised NCL, Celebrity, Holland America, RCCL, and just got off of Princess yesterday. We really want to select a line we can settle into and really get to know. Here is why weare thinking Celebrity or HAL:

 

When cruising, three things are crucial to us: great food, very good service, and lots of good music. We felt very comfortable with the “feel” or personality of both lines, maybe preferring Celebrity a bit over HAL, and service was good on both. On Holland America we liked wandering from the Jazz trio to the classical string quartet, to a few other genres of music, but do not remember Celebrity having anywhere near as many music choices. (Unfortunately, the Princess cruise had the best variety of top-notch music we have experienced onboard, but the rest of the cruise was terribly disappointing, and we will not sail on them again.) We were very happy with the food and overall dining experiences on Celebrity and HAL.

 

We enjoyed our cruises on RCCL overall. The food and dining service were very good, but their music throughout the ship seemed nearly nonexistent. We know we could pay more to move to higher levels of cruise line, but choose not to.

 

We would love to hear your thoughts and input! Some of you have been on these two lines frequently in the past year or two. Has someone been on Celebrity recently who experienced a wide variety of music throughout the ship? How do you feel the dining diversity and quality on the two lines compare? Do you have a different favorite line you would love to advocate for? We really appreciate hearing what folks more experienced in cruising have to say. Thanks!

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Thank you,

capriccio,

for your helpful message. We are still hopeful others will share their thoughts about some of our questions. Of course we all do not know each other, nor are we asking anyone to make a decision on our behalf, but we are still happy to hear suggestions and hear the experiences of others.

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By "preferred" do you also mean "exclusive"? I have several lines that I prefer to others, but I feel no need to select one of them to sail on exclusively. The loyalty perks sure aren't enough incentive for me to sail just one line. If you enjoy both Celebrity and HAL, why not continue to sail both and benefit from the best itineraries and prices being offered?

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Thanks, Mnocket. We were thinking mostly exclusive, but your answer brings up something we were assuming that may not be true. You are the second person to mention that the loyalty perks are not worth an exclusive commitment. Good to know! Thanks for pointing that out. Apparently, that has changed from years ago when moving up the loyalty ladder brought better benefits.

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My last celebrity cruise had best entertainment we have seen in over 60 cruises, but it was a charter with Micheal McDonald, America , BJ Thomas air supply and others . They have charters for lots of diffent types of music, 50’s 60’s 70’s, country, soul etc , we are booked again for next year

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Thanks, George C!. Last year, we tried to get on a Cunard ship from London to NYC that would have worked perfectly with the end of our itinerary, but that one ship was much more expensive than all her other sailings that month. We later found out Crosby, Stills, and Nash were onboard, doing daily lectures and concerts. Sigh..... Wish we had knows about that earlier! Thanks for the head's up. We will check out the specially cruises for music!

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We haven't sailed HAL since 2010, but we did 3 previous cruises with them. I thought food was good, service was always excellent, but sorely lacking in the entertainment department.... so we moved on to other lines. We sailed Celebrity for the first time this past February on the Equinox. Food was good, cocktails were strong, service was excellent, & great entertainment.....only 1 problem....staff trying to sell you everything from drink package, watches, specialty dining, & spa treatments....this was every day! Right now, I won't sail with Celebrity, in time I might change my mind.

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Please correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t celebrity a higher level of RC? Newbie here so just checking! Since I’m a newbie no help but following cause interested. :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Celebrity and RCCL are owned by the same parent company - RCI - but are two distinct brands operated independently. Celebrity was its own company until it was acquired by RCI - it was not a separate division launched by them. It was acquired because it was oriented towards a different market than that targeted by RCCL. As such, I would not characterize Celebrity as a higher level of RCCL, but a cruise line that targets a different market.

 

RCCL targets more of a family demography and their ships have many activities and venues to appeal to that market. Some examples are ice skating rinks, rock climbing walls, zip lines, bumper cars, aqua theater, carousels, water slides, I-fly, etc. Celebrity targets more of an adult demography and their ships have none of those activities and venues and are more of a traditional cruise experience. But don't confuse "adult" with "older". Just a range of cruising ages with less of a family orientation and younger children focus.

 

Our family grew up cruising on RCCL as that atmosphere worked for us. Now that our kids are adults, my wife and I have shifted to Celebrity as that works better for us now.

Edited by leaveitallbehind
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I would not want to pick one line only, my wife and I sail to see and experience different countries and cultures. It would become boring to always sail the same style. Also I have been on Holland where the music was super, the next time the piano player/singer sang about 4 to 5 beats off pitch, and he was on a 2 month contract. After a half dozen songs of off key singing I had to move. Every time I went by his venue the same thing. Hopefully the next musician was better. You can't base the music on one trip on the line. Next time we sailed Holland it was good. The best piano player I have ever heard on a ship was on Princess.

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We have not cruised with Holland but I'll stick in my 2 cents anyway.

 

We are Diamond+ with Royal, Elite with Celebrity, but that is no great reason to stick to either.

 

We choose our cruises by itinerary, and at this point that itinerary has to be pretty special. We don't care to go the same places over and over, we want variety and something special.

 

So with that thought I will give some food for thought, Oceania and Azamara. Now Azamara is also under the RCL but no comparison to RCCL or Celebrity.

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Here is our preference in cruise lines as of today (this is a moving target):

Note: We will eliminate the more expensive upscale lines we have cruised. (i.e. Azamara, Oceania...,)

 

#1 -- Celebrity is still the best bang for buck. Great food, large cabins, good entertainment, and a modern uncrowded ship.

#2 -- MSC Yacht Club is a bit more expensive, but it is all inclusive. We do an inside cabin to save money. Ship within a ship set up. Very upscale feel.

#3 -- Holland America is now one of the great deals in cruising. Very inexpensive for what you get. Improved smoking policy and great service.

#4 -- NCL, but a lot of buts. We prefer the smaller Jewel class ships, as the newer ships are very crowded. We only eat evening meals in the alternative restaurants which are very, very good. This requires purchasing an ultimate dining package. Their free drink package requires a service charge. Nickel and dime city. It's a great experience, but it pushes NCL to a cost now above HAL and Celebrity. Plus, their taxes + fees are the highest in the cruise industry. Excellent entertainment.

#5 -- Cunard is HAL on steroids. Very formal, but kind of fun doing that old school Titanic British experience (sans the iceberg). Good MDR food, but the buffet is iffy.

#6 -- Royal Caribbean. Family fun, with loads to do. Food basic, so you need to get at least a three night dining package. Entertainment is very good.

#7 -- Princess. We don't get it. People love this line and we have had nothing but mediocre experiences in three tries. Crowded, so so food, and small venues. Great deck spaces however.

 

Never cruised Carnival, Costa or Disney.

 

Your milage may vary,

Enjoy!

Kel:D

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We want to pick a preferred cruise line and may be down to Celebrity or HAL. We have cruised NCL, Celebrity, Holland America, RCCL, and just got off of Princess yesterday. We really want to select a line we can settle into and really get to know. Here is why weare thinking Celebrity or HAL:

 

When cruising, three things are crucial to us: great food, very good service, and lots of good music. We felt very comfortable with the “feel” or personality of both lines, maybe preferring Celebrity a bit over HAL, and service was good on both. On Holland America we liked wandering from the Jazz trio to the classical string quartet, to a few other genres of music, but do not remember Celebrity having anywhere near as many music choices. (Unfortunately, the Princess cruise had the best variety of top-notch music we have experienced onboard, but the rest of the cruise was terribly disappointing, and we will not sail on them again.) We were very happy with the food and overall dining experiences on Celebrity and HAL.

 

We enjoyed our cruises on RCCL overall. The food and dining service were very good, but their music throughout the ship seemed nearly nonexistent. We know we could pay more to move to higher levels of cruise line, but choose not to.

 

We would love to hear your thoughts and input! Some of you have been on these two lines frequently in the past year or two. Has someone been on Celebrity recently who experienced a wide variety of music throughout the ship? How do you feel the dining diversity and quality on the two lines compare? Do you have a different favorite line you would love to advocate for? We really appreciate hearing what folks more experienced in cruising have to say. Thanks!

From 1973 to present we have cruised on 6 lines:Cunard,Carnival,Celebrity,HAL,NCI and RCI.

Our overall favorite is Celebrity

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Thanks, Mnocket. We were thinking mostly exclusive, but your answer brings up something we were assuming that may not be true. You are the second person to mention that the loyalty perks are not worth an exclusive commitment. Good to know! Thanks for pointing that out. Apparently, that has changed from years ago when moving up the loyalty ladder brought better benefits.

Don't get me wrong. There are better perks as you move up the scale, but for me it isn't worth tying myself to a single line. This is obviously an individual decision and you may well decide differently.

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Thanks, kelmac. Your thoughts pretty much mirror my notes on each line, though I was not familiar with the MSC Yacht Club and will look into it.

 

We were just on Princess and spent the whole time saying "why do folks love this line?" However, I was part of a focus group in which I was the only one who was not a long-time Princess cruiser and, apparently, there has been a big change in culture in the past 3-5 years.

 

Thanks for the iceberg line -- made my morning!

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I would say that if you’re considering “going steady”, then looking at the perks is a good idea. Just because you may never use them doesn’t mean having them isn’t potentially important.

 

Also, look at what ports and regions they sail. You might be surprised at the limited number of destinations after a few cruises.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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