Celebrity vs. Holland America

[cruisedad2]

Hi everyone. My wife and I are considering a cruise on Holland America, as it has some itineraries that fit our work schedules, but we have never sailed that line. We like the food quality on Celebrity and the fellow guests. We are in our late 40's. How do they compare? (We have also cruised on Princess and Royal Caribbean, but really prefer Celebrity.) Thanks!

[flames9]

make sure u post on the Holland America forum as well, and compare responses http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=171

[tbugstwo]

We have cruised both lines and enjoy both. However, HAL does generally skew towards older passengers. Food and entertainment are similar. Trivia is more active (and better prizes) on HAL.

[Straughn]

We have cruised both-significantly more on Celebrity. We thoroughly enjoyed Holland America, but found it a bit staid for our tastes. The ship gets really quiet after 10 PM. Yes there are activities, but they are not as well attended as comparable ones are on Celebrity. We considered the food on both to be excellent. Education programming/lectures were better on Holland. In our opinion, Celebrity stage shows are better. It is definitely a cruise line with an older demographic. Would we cruise them again, yes, but only after careful consideration of similar itineraries on Celebrity.

[eandj]

We have cruised both-significantly more on Celebrity. We thoroughly enjoyed Holland America, but found it a bit staid for our tastes. The ship gets really quiet after 10 PM. Yes there are activities, but they are not as well attended as comparable ones are on Celebrity. We considered the food on both to be excellent. Education programming/lectures were better on Holland. In our opinion, Celebrity stage shows are better. It is definitely a cruise line with an older demographic. Would we cruise them again, yes, but only after careful consideration of similar itineraries on Celebrity.

 

We agree totally with your comparison. HAL has a new ship coming out next year that I'm anxious to see. We found food and service good. It's the one mainstream cruise line that feeds dh's wish for a fine cheese selection. I find X and Princess more lively...not that we are late partiers.

[OCruisers]

While very laid back , HAL does provide a very good cruise experience. :)

 

LuLu

[kitty9]

We were really looking forward to our cruise on Eurodam, but we came home very disappointed. We found the ship's public rooms to be very dark and not warm or welcoming. Their more liberal smoking policy isn't what we like. The ship seemed to roll up the carpets before 11pm. We didn't find the food in the MDR to be all that great. And as someone who prefers to have a cool cabin, mine was always very, very hot despite many calls to guest services to ask them to fix things. My sister was in another cabin on the opposite side from mine, and her cabin was also very hot, with warm air coming out of the vent, despite having the thermostat on the coldest point.

[cl.klink]

We recently did an Alaska HAL cruise, my first non-Cleebrity sailing after 3 on X, and I did a live review (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2212647). Lifting my direct HAL vs. Celebrity comparison (post #147), I wrote this:

HAL vs. CELEBRITY

I have liked Celebrity a lot, and did not intend to consider other mass market lines before this. My initial feeling on this ship was a bit disappointed, seemed less luxurious, less exciting, food less good. While I think those impressions were true to some degree, I warmed to HAL each day, and I would now temper my initial feelings. The HAL experience is more like going to a hotel in the US National Register of Historic Places than a modern glass and shiny new hotel. I appreciated the feeling created on ship. I would sail HAL again if I can. I will still like Celebrity too.

 

Much has been written about the smoking policy. I did smell smoke from cigarettes and some pipe / cigar on our deck from time to time. I would have preferred that it were not so. I prefer Celebrity's more restrictive policy. That said, this was not a major theme of the trip.

 

Which line is better? I think the question is unanswerable. While I can see some people having a clear preference, I think it's more correct to say that they are both good in somewhat different ways. Just as an apple and an orange are good foods, or New York and Chicago are good cities to visit, I don't think one can say one is objectively better than the other. There are some that hate apples or Chicago, but most would find plenty of merit in all these choices. Celebrity I think had better food, and feels more shiny, splashy, and HAL feels nice, calm, relaxing, warm, contented. I'm glad to have extended to be in the HAL family now.

 

- Joel

[airhose]

My father (80's) and I (50's) sailed together a couple of times on each line over the last five years. His preference was Holland, mine is Celebrity! I did enjoy the Holland Cruises. My reasons for preferring Celebrity include, IMO, better food, smoking policy, entertainment, and loyalty benefits.

[CaroleSS]

We have done both.....and are loyal to none. We cruise for the itinerary, not the line.

 

Many people say that Holland is for the blue hairs, we've not seen that. We see as many elderly on X as well as HAL and have been on sailing with both lines where they roll up the rugs (no sidewalks on a ship) at 9.

 

I will say that we have enjoyed both lines. I suggest you try them and decide for yourself!!

[need2cruisesoon]

We have done both.....and are loyal to none. We cruise for the itinerary, not the line.

 

Many people say that Holland is for the blue hairs, we've not seen that. We see as many elderly on X as well as HAL and have been on sailing with both lines where they roll up the rugs (no sidewalks on a ship) at 9.

 

I will say that we have enjoyed both lines. I suggest you try them and decide for yourself!!

 

Whats your favorite Holland ship if you had to recommend one?

[WisRiver]

We are 3* Holland America and did our first Celebrity Cruise in April, 2015. Our Celebrity Cruise was a Transatlantic (west to east) and we have done two Transatlantics on HAL (east to west) The cruise lines are comparable. Age mix of the passengers seem about the same. Lots of people in the 50+ age group, not many younger passengers. Each are filled with loyalists. The only major difference in the food was the dinner buffet in the Lido. HAL tended to serve the MDR menu buffet style, while Celebrity's was a different menu. We did not like the Celebrity dinner buffet. There were lots of little differences, but nothing that would be a game changer. Choice of itinerary would the major factor in choosing a cruise line. Our 2016 cruise will be on the Hurtigruten Fram to Antarctica because neither Celebrity or HAL ships allow you off their ship in Antarctica.

[maggie.1008]

I have only cruised on HAL once. While we enjoyed a large suite, the people in the next cabin sat outside on the balcony smoking all week. Will not be back on HAL until they change smoking policy. Not sure if it has changed ?

[cl.klink]

I have only cruised on HAL once. While we enjoyed a large suite, the people in the next cabin sat outside on the balcony smoking all week. Will not be back on HAL until they change smoking policy. Not sure if it has changed ?

 

Has not changed.

 

- Joel

[snowmc]

We have sailed both lines. We find the food to be better on celebrity and the service is much better. At this point, we will only sail celebrity, unless HAL does some major improvements. Crew attitude was a major deciding factor. celebrity crew goes above and beyond.

[alcpa1]

Itinerary and specific ships would make comparisons much more accurate.

One thing that could affect your cabin comfort is the comparative number of cabins your steward and assistant must care for. HAL's staff have more cabins to clean and the older ships seemingly should get a more thorough cleaning. HAL cabins have bathtubs not showers, except for the handicapped cabins.

Also carefully compare cabin sizes. Some of the older HAL diagrams include balconies in the dimensions.

The MDR staff on HAL are proficient but not necessarily responsive to dietary requests.

Celebrity has mirrored the suites Neptune lounge in its Michael's Club if you are considering a suite above a Sky Suite.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I sailed HAL once. I actually thought the cabin was a more intelligent layout and bigger than a comparable balcony cabin on Celebrity. The bed was heavenly, although that was before Celebrity put in its new beds.

 

The service, however, was terrible. Our bathroom had not been properly cleaned. The toilet didn't work. Took 3 calls to guest relations to get that fixed. It got really old wandering the ship in search of a functioning restroom. Food was OK, but Celebrity is better. Service in the MDR was indifferent.

 

I would be reluctant to take a long cruise on HAL after that experience, even though they have some very interesting itineraries.

 

Linda

 

[mcdermott]

I sailed HAL once. I actually thought the cabin was a more intelligent layout and bigger than a comparable balcony cabin on Celebrity. The bed was heavenly, although that was before Celebrity put in its new beds.

 

The service, however, was terrible. Our bathroom had not been properly cleaned. The toilet didn't work. Took 3 calls to guest relations to get that fixed. It got really old wandering the ship in search of a functioning restroom. Food was OK, but Celebrity is better. Service in the MDR was indifferent.

 

I would be reluctant to take a long cruise on HAL after that experience, even though they have some very interesting itineraries.

 

Linda

 

Have just returned from 3weeks in Artic circle on Prindendam and we really enjoyed the cruise this is a very old ship but everything was great they make the best French fries at sea however we are looking forward to October when we sail on the Equinox.My DH likened it to an old peoples home even the lifts smelt of old people and there were lots of wheel chairs and zimmer frames.We are not young late 60s early 70s but we felt very young.I find it difficult choosing between more modern ships with badly behaved kids or geriatric cruise companions.We are Elite with x so have sailed many times with her.

[dorisis]

Most HAL ships are smaller than most X ships.

[mafig]

I've been on two HAL cruises and enjoyed them both.

 

Can't assume the passengers are older. We had two very active roll calls. The first one most people were 40s to 50s and we did a lot together.

 

The second one also had a very active roll call. We rented "the Oasis" together (a private area on their private island). The person who set this all up was a 22 year old. She had been cruising with HAL since she was a child and it was her favorite line.

 

Some service issues stand out in my mind. Our balcony had toenail clippings and glass shards on it.(NOT

from us!). We had received a notice that our carpet was going to be cleaned (on a port day), so I left them a note to clean the balcony while they were at it. When we came back our cabin steward was very upset with us and practically yelled at us for not telling him first. I guess we should have, but I thought I would save him time and a job since the cleaning crew were going to be there for the carpet. When it came time for our guest survey he kept asking us if we wanted him to bring it down to guest relations. I guess he thought we'd give him a bad rating ... which we did NOT.

 

Also I thought our waiters were phony. Our last day we gave our tips (additional) and said good by. Big smile on their faces. I turned back to say something else and the big smile was gone ... immediately. It was just weird to me.

Edited August 28, 2015 by mafig

[Champagne Cruiser]

I have sailed HAL twice and coming up on our 7th X cruise (mostly M class which is more comparable to HAL). I would sail HAL again for itinerary (you can't beat Half Moon Cay) and price. We sail X for the overall best experience. X wins on food, atmosphere, entertainment, loyalty benefits. If you get caught behind the HAL "walker brigade" on the way to the MDR it is a total traffic jam. On the plus side my DS says it's always easy to get a lounger around the pool and a spot on snorkel trips on HAL!

[vickykay]

We mainly cruise on Celebrity. We did cruise on the Westerdam a few years ago. At that time, service and food was comparable however, much older crowd ( this was a seven day Caribbean cruise) and nothing going on after ten. We thought the shows were not good. What we really did not like was the design of the ship - very closed in feeling, passages only on one side of the ship, etc. We still enjoyed ourselves and the ports.

[RocketMan275]

Also I thought our waiters were phony. Our last day we gave our tips (additional) and said good by. Big smile on their faces. I turned back to say something else and the big smile was gone ... immediately. It was just weird to me.

 

When I read comments like this, I am reminded of other comments about how much some enjoy the special relationship with their waitstaff when they do traditional dining.

[Hlitner]

We are 4 Star Mariners (with about 350 days) on HAL and Elite Plus on Celebrity...so obviously enjoy both lines. But when trying to draw a comparison with HAL we advise that much is dependent on the actual itinerary, length of cruise, and time of year and also the actual ship. When we took the Grand Med cruise on the Prinsendam (a 62 day voyage...but with many shorter segments) the youngest person on the ship was a 27 year old lady (traveling with her grandmother) and just about everyone else was over 60. But on a 7 day Caribbean cruise you might find HAL has similar demographics to Celebrity. And there are other differences. HAL ships tend to die about 10pm on most nights while Celebrity might actually have a late night adult comedy show! And HAL still allows smoking (cigarettes and cigars) on all passenger balconies which can be a major turn-off for those that want to breath clean ocean air on their balcony. HAL also allows smoking in their casinos, although they now try to limit it to only those who are gambling.

 

Hank

[Debordo]

We are Elite on X and have also sailed several times on HAL. I agree with posters who say the itinerary is what would make my decision as we too feel both lines are comparable. Each line has many pluses. If you like late seating for dining, you may wish to choose HAL. Celebrity has changed their late seating to 9 PM which, in our case, we feel is WAY too late.

 

Debordo