Have you sailed Celebrity lately?

[Amolin]

We used to sail Celebrity frequently but due to several cruises with issues our last cruise was 8 years ago. We have done about 10 cruises on HAL since then and are about to give them another try on the Reflection. Since I know many on this board also do Celebrity and have seen many of the same posters over there I would like any info you think would be helpful.

 

I am really looking for things from a HAL cruisers perspective - so I am posting this here.

 

Thanks for all the help.

[ken4556]

I did my first Celebrity cruise in December after many HAL cruises. You can read and see my comments about our Christmas Cruise here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2290166&page=3

 

Here is a summary I posted in that post:

 

"For the biggest thing I liked about Celebrity over HAL was the ship was alive and had a great vibe. From the music to the activities to the vibe on the ship, they did not treat everyone as if they are over 80. I do not mean that as an offense if you are over 80’s, but the HAL ships just have an older feel that the Celebrity ships do."

 

The Eclipse, in my opinion, was also a much more beautiful ship than the HAL I have been on. I would sale in a heart beat back on Celebrity; you would need to do some convincing (except for an unique itinerary) for me to sail on HAL again.

 

Hope this helps ya,

[iancal]

Agree completely with the above.

 

We are not married to any one line but, ignoring itinerary, we will select Celebrity hands down for the above reasons. And for the fact that their ships are newer, in much better condition, and appear (to us) to be better maintained.

 

We like HAL, but it's order on our pecking list of cruise lines/ships is dropping quickly. Mainly because of either improvements in the competition or not as many cutbacks on other cruise lines.

 

HAL desperately needs to improve it's game.

[dogo88]

Thank you both. We've never done Celebrity but now it's on the radar.

 

Dan

[Quo Vadis?]

We are presently on Eclipse and she is our favourite Celebrity ship but Reflection would be our last choice.

 

The Cruise Director is loud and obnoxious.

At a Cruise Critic gathering a couple of years ago he stated that if you did not like the loud music, find yourself another cruise line.

 

The ship is beautiful, the service great but the onboard entertainment was not to our liking. Celebrity is trying to remake itself to attract the younger generation which generally doesn't have the time nor disposable income needed to replace the clientele presently paying the fares.

[Amolin]

Thanks to all who have replied. Our last HAL cruise was in November. Looking forward to a comparison. Any specific things we should know about Celebrity?

[Cruising-along]

Thanks to all who have replied. Our last HAL cruise was in November. Looking forward to a comparison. Any specific things we should know about Celebrity?

 

One very recent change is they no longer require people with Select Dining to pay the gratuities when final payment is made. They now add it daily to your onboard bill, as HAL does. This may not apply to you, but it's big news for us because we like Select Dining just as we prefer Open Dining with HAL.

 

We like both Celebrity and HAL, although we book more HAL cruises because of itineraries. Our last Celebrity cruise was summer 2014, Northern Europe.

[Caribbean Chris]

We sail in both lines most years, and were on Reflection in December. I think it is Celebrity's best, most modern ship, with more attractive decor than the others and lots of activity going on everywhere. I'd never hesitate to book it again.

 

I do miss some things about HAL when I am on Celebrity. As you may know, the X ships do not have full promenades for daily long walks around the ship outdoors. HAL's ships to me have more of an ocean liner feel (vs a big hotel feel.)

 

Second, as you also know, the HAL Explorations Cafes are peaceful places while at sea for reading, having coffee, checking messages, printing boarding passes, etc., compared to X which divides these functions into separate locations. The library on X cannot compare to HAL's, but the Al Bacio coffee area is more extensive on Celebrity, with waitresses and cafe tables.

 

Third, HAL seems to offer more for people who like to ballroom dance in a lounge with small live music groups before or after dinner. X seems to mostly place the dancers and many other events on the lower level of the central atrium next to one level of shops. We rarely participate in evening entertainment and activities, but X seems strong there.

 

Celebrity has more suite amenities, if that matters to you, and we enjoyed the new Luminae dining room and Michael's Club a great deal. On the other hand, HAL's main dining rooms don't seem as crowded as the MDR on X.

 

Book your specialty restaurants early - these are popular on X with a lot to choose from on Reflection. They tend to be pricier than On HAL, as do many drink options on board.

 

In my experience, stateroom attendants and waiters seem better trained and more gracious on HAL in any room category than on X overall. Some ups & downs with both lines, but I think the crew is a real strength at HAL.

 

Celebrity offers much more for their repeaters, including reciprocal arrangements with RCCL and Azamara.

Edited February 13, 2016 by Caribbean Chris

[Lady Arwen]

We've been Celebrity loyalists for many years. Love M class, but we do enjoy the S class ships as well. Smoking policy is solid. Food, service, accomodations are wonderful. That being said, we've booked Koningdam for November! Last HAL cruise was Eurodam in 2009 and we enjoyed it very much so we decided to give HAL another try.

 

You can't go wrong with either one, just depends on what type of atmosphere you prefer. Celebrity is more vibrant and sophisticated and HAL more elegant and formal.

[baggal]

We used to sail Celebrity frequently but due to several cruises with issues our last cruise was 8 years ago. We have done about 10 cruises on HAL since then and are about to give them another try on the Reflection. Since I know many on this board also do Celebrity and have seen many of the same posters over there I would like any info you think would be helpful.

 

I am really looking for things from a HAL cruisers perspective - so I am posting this here.

 

Thanks for all the help.

 

You don't say where you plan to cruise. If its the Caribbean, I would choose a Celebrity Solstice class ship in a heartbeat over HAL. That being said, we are booked on a HAL Med. cruise this spring - the first time on HAL since 2009. The Celebrity Med. itineraries are basically all the same and this particular HAL cruise has a unique itinerary compared to the other lines. But if the ship is primarily your destination, I would choose Celebrity.

[Ichiban Nekko]

We used to sail a lot with Celebrity and really enjoyed it. However our 2013 sailing on the Millennium was disastrous. The comment cards were so uniformly negative that Celebrity reached out by email & telephone to those passengers to try to figure out what went wrong. Our phone conversation lasted over 45 minutes. The person I was speaking with could not believe her ears when I recounted our start to dinner in the specialty dining room (the one you pay extra for): the chef sent us an 'amuse bouche' consisting of a Melba round topped by a small dab of cream cheese. To say we were not amused would be an understatement. Sadly, it was so indicative of the cruise experience that included (but was not limited to) mismanagement of boarding and disembarkation at practically every stop (e,g,m 90-plus minutes in an airless, hot jetway with no seating or water); sub-par meals; and a loathsome CD. We were not offered so much as a farthing for a missed port, shortened time in ports (due to mismanagement of embarkation/disembarkation), etc. The episode of docking at Petropavlosk in Russia was beyond the realm of a Fellini script (people were still trying to get off at 2pm for their 9am shore excursions). I am trying to remember is there was a Noro outbreak - we have tried to erase those two weeks from our memory. The end result for us was vowing Never Again.

 

The couple we sailed with also said 'Never again' and have happily sailed with Azamara since.

 

Just our personal experience. And just our personal opinion.

[serialcruiser48]

We sailed 2 weeks on the Celebrity Summit in Dec 2015 out of San Juan and loved the food. The Lobster in the main dining room was fantastic and service is very good. Also, there were plenty of public spaces so the ship wasn't crowded during rainy days.

My only complaint was the Internet service was worse than usual. Most times Internet would not work in the cabin and if it did you really couldn't tell it was so bad.

[Aquahound]

We used to sail Celebrity frequently but due to several cruises with issues our last cruise was 8 years ago. We have done about 10 cruises on HAL since then and are about to give them another try on the Reflection. Since I know many on this board also do Celebrity and have seen many of the same posters over there I would like any info you think would be helpful.

 

I am really looking for things from a HAL cruisers perspective - so I am posting this here.

 

Thanks for all the help.

 

My last 2 cruises were on HAL and Celebrity. The 2 cruise lines have become very different from one another. Celebrity Solstice Class ships are beautiful, modern ships and HAL currently has nothing that can touch them. Definitely book that Reflection cruise. You'll love it. :)

[travellovers2]

We are in our 40's and 50's and have sailed with Princess and Celebrity where you tend to also find more "older" passengers, but judging from the cruises we've been on, we think the "vibe" of the ship is created by the passengers, not the line.

 

Our first HAL cruise will be on the Koningsdam, although it will be in Europe, but who knows if larger more modern ships will change the vibe for HAL? It attracted us to choose HAL over Princess for our Norway cruise. Although it does not bother us one bit, we actually prefer cruising with older passengers instead of families with kids.

[Lizzie68]

We used to sail a lot with Celebrity and really enjoyed it. However our 2013 sailing on the Millennium was disastrous. The comment cards were so uniformly negative that Celebrity reached out by email & telephone to those passengers to try to figure out what went wrong. Our phone conversation lasted over 45 minutes. The person I was speaking with could not believe her ears when I recounted our start to dinner in the specialty dining room (the one you pay extra for): the chef sent us an 'amuse bouche' consisting of a Melba round topped by a small dab of cream cheese. To say we were not amused would be an understatement. Sadly, it was so indicative of the cruise experience that included (but was not limited to) mismanagement of boarding and disembarkation at practically every stop (e,g,m 90-plus minutes in an airless, hot jetway with no seating or water); sub-par meals; and a loathsome CD. We were not offered so much as a farthing for a missed port, shortened time in ports (due to mismanagement of embarkation/disembarkation), etc. The episode of docking at Petropavlosk in Russia was beyond the realm of a Fellini script (people were still trying to get off at 2pm for their 9am shore excursions). I am trying to remember is there was a Noro outbreak - we have tried to erase those two weeks from our memory. The end result for us was vowing Never Again.

 

The couple we sailed with also said 'Never again' and have happily sailed with Azamara since.

 

Just our personal experience. And just our personal opinion.

 

Interesting. My friends who were loyal to X, sailed on the Millie in 2014, and said never again. Up until then they had refused to try HAL based on erroneous opinions about the demographics, etc., but they have now booked an Alaska cruise on the NA. However, I must say that from all reports and pictures I've seen, the Solstice Class is extremely nice and I don't think HAL has anything to close to it.

[iancal]

We very much like the Solstice class ships.

 

But there is something else that we want. We like anytime dining and we like to dine between 6:45-7:15ish. Never, ever a problem on Celebrity's MDR. Two top, join a larger table...whatever.

 

None of this nonsense about having to dine before 6 if you are doing anytime. Plus, the range of specialty restaurants is first rate.

Edited February 13, 2016 by iancal

[INSIDERS CABIN]

We sailed on Reflection January 2016. See my review and comparison under Reflection. We were reluctant to try the larger ship, but actually enjoyed an excellent cruise! Still think the suites are more spacious on HAL, and enjoy our Mariner status and the kindness of the staff and crew- and the expertise of the Dutch Captains of course. But, frankly, we grew very tired of other passengers; each year the HAL demographic seems to attract more complainers than ever before. We have to laugh- how many of these people come from fully staffed homes?? Well, they sure act entitled as they order around the crew! And no filters on chatter either!! Just don't get it. Final straw was when I sat down In lounge after dinner with my 20 something son, and 3 people across started making rude remarks about me and my young companion!! Until my husband ( and the dad) came along and took us away! On Reflection, passengers were a lot more enthusiastic and not as sour! Just saying....my 2 cents.....

[INSIDERS CABIN]

That is another thing- we never had any problem getting our own table at any meal on Reflection. We were never asked to share or stuck at a table to fill it.

[cbr663]

We sailed on the Reflection Jan 2015. We found the ship to be in tip top shape. The ship is a pleasing design and reminds me of a floating hotel. We sailed in an Aqua Class cabin and really enjoyed dining in Blu. The meals and experience were some of the best that we have ever had on a cruise ship. I would certainly visit the other speciality dining venues based on our experience.

 

We did notice some differences between HAL and X. The cabins on X are noticeably smaller, especially the washrooms. Room service options are more limited on X and we missed the full hot breakfast that we enjoy on HAL on our balcony each morning.

 

Our biggest gripe with our cruise was that we found ourselves completely bored. We didn’t find a lot of activities that peaked our interest. We do not drink, so going to the bars was out for us. The evening shows were great, but we were bored throughout the day. The problem was aggravated by the fact that we had heavy winds during the first 3 days of the cruise that made being outside quite difficult.

 

A friend who was a constant X cruiser told me that she recently switched cruise lines for the very same reason - boredom. Her last X cruise she read 10 books in 10 days.

 

I would sail X again for a port intensive cruise, but throw in a couple of sea days and I will look elsewhere.