Observations on HAL "vs." Celebrity

[deserttraveler]

I've had to good fortune to sail on two ships from each line (Solstice and Infinity, Statendam and Rotterdam) in the past year, and would sail again on either line in a heartbeat.

 

I found the food quality to be even across the two lines, with HAL taking the edge on meat and fish and Celebrity on desserts and breads. Celebrity ice cream was a little better quality (less air, slower melt), and the toppings were better. Creme brulee was not to be found on HAL except in Pinnacle Grill, and their version was not to my taste. In my experience, food was a bit better on Infinity than on Solstice, and on Statendam than Rotterdam.

 

The libraries on Statendam and Rotterdam were WAY better than either Celebrity library.

 

Internet service was about the same on both lines, all ships, and it was nice to be able to read the New York Times online free on HAL. Their supposedly free access to the HAL website must have been a joke, as it was never available in my 17 days onboard.

 

Murano on Solstice and SS United States on Infinity had a better product than Pinnacle Grill on Statendam, although this can come down to what we ordered. I did not try PG on Rotterdam.

 

Yes, the service on HAL is more "smiley" but not more efficient or effective than the service on X. At the same time, this friendliness might inspire the HAL passengers to be more friendly in return, a good thing. Much more difference between individual staff (restaurants and cabin care) than between ships or lines. Bartenders on both HAL ships seemed more businesslike than friendly, while the ones on Celebrity were more outgoing. This might have had to do with Celebrity's option for adding to the tip, which did not seem to be available on HAL.

 

Drink and wine prices (especially with wine card) seemed slightly lower on HAL. And on HAL you can bring aboard all the wine you want.

 

I only attended one or two shows each cruise, and found them comparable across the two lines: fair to middling. Neither as good as on my one cruise on RCCL.

 

I hope that HAL will catch up with X's better TV system, including room service and account checking from your cabin.

[algorithmannie]

Thanks for sharing your observations! Any comments regarding the overall level of energy on both lines? I've never been on HAL but liked that Solstice has a pretty calm, relaxed atmosphere without feeling dead. I've heard that HAL has an older crowd than X... any thoughts on that?

[royalcruz]

HAL felt close to dead to me.

[packedandready]

Thanks for the comparison. X has a stricter smoking policy, but is there a NOTICABLE difference? I believe smoking is allow on HAL's balcony, what about cabins? Is there an area where smoke would be less of a problem on the balcony? Thanks

[Infi]

Great comparison. We took our first HAL cruise this year and had similar comments. Although we found many of our fellow passengers to be absolute jerks, the line itself was excellent. No complaints there, I would definitely cruise them again. HAL's service does emphasize friendliness above all else - so many of the crew knew us by name by the end of the cruise, it made for a very home-y feeling. I think that's a product of the crew's nature more than anything.

 

I think food and entertainment are pretty comparable, but each line has their strengths. I know most people on CC hate HAL's desserts, but we found them much better than Celebrity's. Breakfast on HAL was to die for!

HAL sure was dead after 10pm though. Celebrity is hardly a party ship at that hour either, but you'd be hard-pressed to find any life or action around on HAL. And this was a spring break cruise, to boot. :p

[krewzin]

Although we found many of our fellow passengers to be absolute jerks, the line itself was excellent.

 

 

 

Interesting. How so?

[sailtheoceanblue]

Interesting. How so?

 

We've experienced rude passengers on HAL and Princess .. but I don't think it has anything to do with the cruise line .. more the time of year we sailed and the makeup of the passengers. When we cruise in early december we seem to find more groups on board .. not social groups, but groups from a community .. like a senior complex etc. I don't think they intend to be rude ...but it just happens as they always seem to move in packs trying to get through the buffet, find a table, find a seat for the show etc. Husbands/Wifes always harping on each other .. arguing between fellow passengers ...we wondered if they were always this miserable! :eek: We got to the point that when we saw them coming our way we'd leave the area and find another quiet spot. We have also been on board HAL and Princess with fellow passengers who were fun to be around and always polite to one another.

[jd1966]

Any issues with smoking on HAL??

[Ine]

The beds are by far the best in HAL.

[airhose]

Any issues with smoking on HAL??

 

What bothered me was that there was no designated side (port/starboard) of the outside areas where smoking was permitted. I mentioned this to guest relations, so I don't know if the situation has changed since October '09.

[smtcan]

We have cruised with both lines in the past two years and generally agree with your comments. The libraries on HAL are definitely better organized and have more current books. We like the HAL policy of bringing as much wine as you like on board. The food and entertainment are very similar. Bedding on the newer ships is comparable, but between Zuiderdam and Mercury HAL has the edge. We are not Casino users, but after walking through the smoky casino on HAL once, we avoided it in future by changing floors. The smoking policy makes Celebrity our line of choice, but if the itinerary and price were right we would cruise HAL again.

Sheila

[deserttraveler]

As a non-smoker, I noticed very little difference between the two lines, even though their smoking policies differ. Both have designated smoking areas on lido deck or equivalent, and I think (but could be wrong) that both allowed smoking in a portion of the Crow's Nest/Constellation lounge (the big lounge above the bridge with the big windows). Our cabins on both Statendam and Rotterdam had ash trays in a drawer, but there was not the slightest odor of smoke from previous passengers. Beds were excellent on HAL, but not bad on X, so I would never make the decision based on that alone.

[deserttraveler]

Thanks for the comparison. X has a stricter smoking policy, but is there a NOTICABLE difference? I believe smoking is allow on HAL's balcony, what about cabins? Is there an area where smoke would be less of a problem on the balcony? Thanks

 

 

I did not find the difference noticeable except in the casino.

[deserttraveler]

Because I am part of what makes HAL seem dead to a nightowl, and was only awake past 10 p.m. to attend the Indonesian crew show, I think the age issue is legitimate. At the same time, the itinerary has something to do with the age of cruisers. Average age on HAL seemed about 10 years older than X. That makes me a bit older than average on X and below on HAL. It didn't bother me, but my adult children would probably choose X (or RCCL or Carnival). While not strictly a product of age, I believe that cruisers on HAL represented a more conservative element of American society than the cruisers on X. This is purely subjective, and may have had as much to do with the fact that my HAL itineraries were domestic and my X itineraries were international. Don't read too much into this. Every trip is different in so many ways.

[Woobstr112G]

I've had to good fortune to sail on two ships from each line (Solstice and Infinity, Statendam and Rotterdam) in the past year, and would sail again on either line in a heartbeat.

 

I found the food quality to be even across the two lines, with HAL taking the edge on meat and fish and Celebrity on desserts and breads. Celebrity ice cream was a little better quality (less air, slower melt), and the toppings were better. Creme brulee was not to be found on HAL except in Pinnacle Grill, and their version was not to my taste. In my experience, food was a bit better on Infinity than on Solstice, and on Statendam than Rotterdam.

 

The libraries on Statendam and Rotterdam were WAY better than either Celebrity library.

 

Internet service was about the same on both lines, all ships, and it was nice to be able to read the New York Times online free on HAL. Their supposedly free access to the HAL website must have been a joke, as it was never available in my 17 days onboard.

 

Murano on Solstice and SS United States on Infinity had a better product than Pinnacle Grill on Statendam, although this can come down to what we ordered. I did not try PG on Rotterdam.

 

Yes, the service on HAL is more "smiley" but not more efficient or effective than the service on X. At the same time, this friendliness might inspire the HAL passengers to be more friendly in return, a good thing. Much more difference between individual staff (restaurants and cabin care) than between ships or lines. Bartenders on both HAL ships seemed more businesslike than friendly, while the ones on Celebrity were more outgoing. This might have had to do with Celebrity's option for adding to the tip, which did not seem to be available on HAL.

 

Drink and wine prices (especially with wine card) seemed slightly lower on HAL. And on HAL you can bring aboard all the wine you want.

 

I only attended one or two shows each cruise, and found them comparable across the two lines: fair to middling. Neither as good as on my one cruise on RCCL.

 

I hope that HAL will catch up with X's better TV system, including room service and account checking from your cabin.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on both lines.....:):):)

 

Bob

[frogsgirl]

Appreciate the comparisons, it helps with our decision for our next cruise....Celebrity it is:)

[Infi]

Interesting. How so?

 

First, I'll preface this complaint by saying that rude people sail all cruiselines, not just HAL. We've met some "winners" on Princess and Celebrity too. I know HAL is not to blame for the passengers we encountered. But, rude passengers can impact the enjoyment of a cruise and this was one of our main disappointments in our cruise. We did enjoy the HAL experience greatly. I just think we got stuck with a bad week. :( I do hope to sail HAL again in the future - and will hope fervently for a different passenger mix.

 

As for the issues, a good amount of the other passengers were just plain rude. They would cut in line, push and shove to get ahead in crowds, close the elevator door on you, steal others' tables in the buffet, snottily refuse to share tables with us in the MDR (during open seating lunch, why not just ask for a table for two, then?), etc. Lots of Very Self-Important People. No manners or common decency. We had a couple moments where we would just scratch our heads and wonder "did that just really happen?" It was pretty unbelievable to see.

The thing I found most insulting was how a lot of the passengers treated the younger set. One of our dinner tablemates (who was no fashion plate herself!) would make catty remarks about my daughter's dresses each night at dinner. I would catch passengers giving my daughter (an older teen, who's pretty mature and well-behaved) dirty looks as we walked around the ship, or overhear loud comments complaining about all the kids on the cruise, and how kids shouldn't be allowed to cruise. I completely understand and respect that some people don't want a cruise full of kids, that's fine - just don't book a cruise during Spring Break! :rolleyes: Not sure what they expected, booking a cruise in March. Every child I saw was either occupied by the kids' clubs or impeccably behaved. I'd hate to see what would happen if they had actual rowdy kids to deal with.

 

We did meet some nice folks, but all of these jerks just really left a bad taste in our mouths. On all of our other cruises, people have been friendly and nice, maybe with the occasional bad apple, but nothing's perfect. This cruise felt like the Twilight Zone!

[Redtravel]

HAL has better cabins, and worse service. Good entertainment, and so so food. Celebrity has great service, better food, and acceptable cabins. I like Celebrity better. HAL attracts the older passengers. It's dead at night. Great place to sleep.