Why would I consider Hal?

[cruiseorbust]

I love Celebrity. A friend of mine would like us to join them on HAL line this Christmas. We had thought about going on the Century again and are leary of switching. Our motto is "If it isn't broken, why fix it? Any comments?

 

Big Red Boat

Royal Majesty

Royal Majesty

Sensation

Sensation

Big Red Boat

Majesty

Ecstasy

Ecstasy

Century

Celebration

Horizon

Destiny

Mercury

Century

Voyager

Zenith

Mercury

Horizon

Galaxy

Summit

Horizon

Galaxy

Century

Mariner

[teedee]

Well, I've never cruised on HAL, so I'm not the best person to answer this, but I will anyway

I absolutely love Celebrity, but occasionally cruise on other lines depending on what is available during the time I want to sail. The only bad thing I've heard about HAL is they cater to an older crowd. Depending on your age that could be a good thing.

 

Terri

 

Skyward - 1989

Carnivale - 1991

Holiday - 1994

Fantasy - 1998

Century - 2002

Century - 2003

Jubilee - 7/04

Century - 9/04

Coral Princess 3/05

[Parrotgirl]

Celebrity is our cruise line of choice. That being said, we thoroughly enjoyed our Holland America cruise. At the time, we were in our late 40's and it was a 10 day Panama Canal cruise. We practically had the pool to ourselves. Most night time activities ended a bit early, as they do cater to an older crowd, but we still had a great time. It has been a few years now and I have heard that the food is not as good as it was. Maybe someone who has cruised with them more recently could shed more light for you. I would sail with them again.

[dougnewmanatsea]

Well, the first reason would seem to be that your friends are going. That, right there, is one thing HAL has got that Celebrity hasn't.

 

Other than that, Celebrity v. HAL is probably a matter of personal preference I haven't been on Celebrity in nine years so I really can't do a comparison. I can say that of people I know who have been on both, they seem to be almost evenly divided between which they prefer - but most usually concede that they're both pretty good.

 

HAL is a fine cruise line... There's nothing to be afraid of, they don't bite . There is even a chance that you may find you like them better than Celebrity - and of course you might not. There's the remote chance that you find HAL to be terrible, absolutely hate it, and never want to go back again, but that IS remote. HAL and Celebrity generally compete directly for the same type of passenger, so you probably won't find anything radically different between the two.

 

Personally, I would say that if you want to go with your friends, take HAL... Even a lousy vacation can be a good time if you're in good company (not that I think you would find an HAL cruise to be a lousy vacation). No cruise line is perfect and nobody can guarantee that you'll like HAL, but I think it's very likely that you will, even if you don't like it nearly as much as Celebrity. And if all else fails you'll at least be able to cross HAL off your list of vacation options, and will have enjoyed a vacation with good friends, which alone counts for a lot.

 

Doug Newman

Cruise Critic Message Boards Host

e-mail: shiploverny AT yahoo DOT com

[LynnObie]

We have taken several HAL cruises and loved every one. We decided to try Celebrity based on recommendations of friends and a 14 day itinerary that sounds great. We will be on our 1st Celebrity cruise in May. I am quite sure we will be sailing HAL in the future and hope our Celebrity experience turns out to be as good as we've had with HAL. I agree with Doug's post above..... go with your friends and enjoy!

 

Lynn Obie

 

Until 14 day Summit - San Diego to Alaska

 

 

8/1995 HAL Noordam, 6/2000 Carnival Ecstasy, 2/2002 HAL Maasdam, 3/2003 HAL Statendam, 1/2004 HAL Oosterdam, 5/2004 Celebrity Summit, 5/2005 Celebrity Infinity

[brigittetom]

I agree also. We had a fantastic cruise on the Volendam. In all fairness, we had the best dinner table ever so that was a big contribution but the service was excellent and the ship was beautiful. I still don't understand all the comments about Hal catering to old people. I was there and they catered to me as well. I cruised single on the Noordam and met a great group of people my age both single and married and had wonderful company for all evenings and daytimes ashore.

 

We have become Celebrity loyalists also but we would not hesitate to book HAL. Book your cruise with your friends and have a wonderful time.

 

Zenith from Jacksonville

Feb. 13 05

[boten]

You should consider HAL. HAL is a very intelligent computer, featured in 2001: A Space Odyssey .

Hope this helps.

 

NBP [7²=49]

Boten, you're always good for a laugh - newtocc

Boten, I want to speak with Mrs. Boten. NOW - brigittetom

[brigittetom]

No offense intended Boten but I like my post better.

 

Zenith from Jacksonville

Feb. 13 05

[Danno]

If you enjoy watching SERIOUSLY overworked staff attempt to deliver a glimmer of the service this line was once renowned for...HAL's your cruise line. That was our observation, but it still comes up over and over again on the HAL board.

 

Oh...and the dining room food was horrible!! The buffet was very good.

 

Dan

 

CenturyX1,GalaxyX2,HorizonX5,VolendamX1,

 

Zenith to Bermuda Oct/04

Century to E.Caribbean Feb/05

[brigittetom]

You can't argue with someones personal experience. Now I guess you just have to make a choice. I still vote to give HAL a try.

 

Zenith from Jacksonville

Feb. 13 05

[nealberk]

HAL and Celebrity are very similar and quite different. Look at my comparison on my web site www.celebrity-century.com or www.hollandamericaVeendam.com.

Of course, the people you are with will more than make up for minor differences. We are considering Princess for that very reason.

[Jimsgirl]

I am considering changing my April 2005 Galaxy cruise to HAL Statendam Jan 2005 cruise.

 

The reason is ports, length of cruise , advance notice and of course discounted price. Celebrity has nothing like the HAL cruise on the books.

 

Celebrity is very slow in getting 2005 schedule out, I have called several times only to be told "wait for the brochure which will be out July or August "

 

Even if they have not settled on the pricing, they could inform callers or on line people the proposed schedules then we would know if the cruises will be worth the wait.

 

------

[Randyk47]

Ten years ago when we were considering our first major cruise (we'd done a 4 day on Carnival to see if we liked cruising) our TA recommended Celebrity. At that time Celebrity didn't have any verdanahs and we had one on Carnival and really liked the idea. We took a HAL cruise and really loved it and have stayed with HAL since then. Having said that you can see that we've booked what will be our first Celebrity cruise. Two reasons for the change. One is that Celebrity has a great itinerary out of Galveston next year to the Panama Canal and we can drive to Galveston and put the monies saved on airfare against a really nice cabin. Secondly, we've seen a real drop off in the service on HAL. Don't get me wrong, our cruise on the Oosterdam in March was great but not up to our previous experiences on HAL. Might have been it was the larger Vista class or it might have been, as our cabin steward pointed out, that HAL had cut staff about 30% from previous levels. Whether it was one or the other or a combination of the two we're going to give Celebrity a try. Who knows, we may switch and never go back to HAL....time and the next cruise will tell.

 

Until Galaxy

 

 

[boten]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by brigittetom:

No offense intended Boten but I like my post better.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

BT, I like your post better too.

 

NBP [7²=49]

Boten, you're always good for a laugh - newtocc

Boten, I want to speak with Mrs. Boten. NOW - brigittetom

[SANDY BEACH]

We were on the Holland Zuiderdam Nov 2003. Great rate for an S Suite that couldn't be passed up. A very good cruise and would not hesitate to go on Holland again if price was right. Celebrity is my favorite and I think just a notch above but Holland prices are sometimes great. I did find the crowd was much older but everyone very pleasant. Service was good and no complaints with food. The Specialty restaurant was outstanding and if you go on a ship that has one, make sure you book it. Well worth the extra money. Most of all you will be with friends and any cruise would be great in that respect. Go, enjoy, life is good. Let them know that next time it will be your choice.

[Joyvey]

We have been on many HAL cruises and they were all awesome. THe cabins are much larger than Celebrity and the service is white glove all the way. The Explorer lounge with the string quartet and coffees and chocolates is a great way to relax after dinner.

That being said, Celebrity and HAL tie for me for the best cruiselines.

We have been on 37 cruises so I have experienced both lines extensively

 

Carnival Miracle 12/2004

Galaxy 2004, fantasy 2004, glory 2003, zaandam 2003, fantasy 2003, century 2002, voyager 2002, maasdam 2002, Ncl star 2003, norway 2002, inspritation 2002, fantasy 2002, sovereign 2001, statendam 2001, noordam 2001, Grand princess 2003, golden princess 2003, regal empress 2001,

[MISSYLOU]

We use to be HAL loyalists until we found Celebrity. Celebrity offered us better rates a couple of years ago and we just are completely satisfied with X. However, if HAL offers a reasonable price on a cruise I would like to sail on, then I would go again. HAL offers a very good product but Celebrity is a notch above. One thing I preferred on HAL that Celebrity does not have is the buffet is opened in the evening.

 

Never been on a bad cruise.

 

Karen & Paul kmbix56@wmconnect.com

http://community.webshots.com/album/124134511FOjEih

Galaxy B2B 10/04

Mercury 03/04

Radiance 01/04

Summit 09/03, Infinity B2B Hawaii 03/03,Infinity 10/02,

Maasdam 07/02, Sun Princess 03/02,Maasdam 11/01,Statendam 07/01,Dolphin 1990?

 

[RodPat]

We were on the Zuiderdam last October. I found the rooms to be a little larger than Celebrity. The buffet lunch and dinner were a little better than Celebrity. The food in the dining room was not as good as Celebrity nor was the service up to what we have gotten used to on Celebrity. We love Celebrity and have our next trips booked with them. Our price on Holland America was really good and would not hesitate to sail them again for the right price. We enjoyed ourselves that week and really any time we can go out on the seas is good for us. Enjoy your time with friends.

[usha]

I took a 7 night Eastern Caribbean on Oosterdam with my 24 yr old daughter last month. This was after 13 Celebrity cruises and 1 Princess cruise. We got a last-minute bargain price for the Oosterdam sailing, and decided to try HAL. We liked the ship, for the most part, and loved the private island, Cocoa Cay. The staff was very friendly and welcoming, and we enjoyed the food. Actually, we thought that HAL had a better variety of food at the buffet than Celebrity, but we did think Celebrity still had much better diningroom food. Our inside cabin on HAL seemed very small, and that might have been the layout. I liked the lighted makeup mirror on HAL, as well as the shampoo and lotion provided. The pools on Oosterdam were fresh water, and that was kind of nice. Celebrity is still my favorite cruise line, but I enjoyed the HAL cruise very much, too, and might try HAL again in the future. (I don't feel that way about Princess after having tried that line.)

[usha]

Woops! The HAL private island is Half Moon Cay, not Cocoa Cay! Must have Celebrity on the brain!

[brigittetom]

 

Zenith from Jacksonville

Feb. 13 05

[floridacruisers]

Usha,

We went on the Zaandam in Jan and our experience was similair to what you had. We had good service and the buffet was extensive but the dining room food wasn't as good IMHO. What we didn't like was the pool deck cover and the lack of activities around the pool. Any music played there had to be kept low because it echoed under the dome even when it was pulled back. There were no chairs or anything around the upper decks of the pool area. That's the area we like to sit and look at the pool and out to the ocean. We missed that. We would go on HAL again but it would have to be attractive to us. We are going in June on the Mercury to Alaska and are looking forward to it. Hope all is well with you.

Regards, Phil and Laraine

[nealberk]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joyvey:

We have been on many HAL cruises and they were all awesome. The Explorer lounge with the string quartet and coffees and chocolates is a great way to relax after dinner.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Are you referring to the Rosario Strings? If so, I agree with you, they are fantastic.

[JMB]

I have been fortunate enough to have been on one Celebrity (SUMMIT) cruise and three HAL (ZAANDAM, ZUIDERDAM, VOLENDAM) cruises within the past two years. Frankly, I saw many more similarities than differences between the lines during our experiences, and would highly recommend either line. My DW and I thoroughly enjoyed all of our cruises.

 

JMB

[steveweese]

If you like X you will enjoy HAL. They are very similar.