1st Celebrity or Holland Cruise?

[Alaskan Joe]

My wife and I are looking to cruise with Celebrity Cruises for the 1st time. We are also looking at Holland for the 1st time. The cruises are an Alaskan cruise with basically the same itinerary. So come on seasoned cruisers who would you pick and why?

[bookitdanno]

Assuming the price is comparable,

and the perks are comparable (drink package anyone?),

we would go Celebrity because of the no smoking policy anywhere inside the ship. But that's just us...

[ClaudiaB]

Also ask this same question here on the Alaska board. Lots of great experienced Alaska cruisers there from all lines.

[neverbeenhere]

Celebrity: Limited smoking.

Cloth hand towels in the public restrooms.

Even less announcements.

Better food(our opinion).

If you book a S-class ship, you get a much better ship.

Not everyone on Celebrity needs a walker.(no offense to the walker brigade)

Beautiful public rooms.

and on.

 

 

 

BTW... I fought the law and my attorney says I won! ;)

Edited May 27, 2016 by neverbeenhere

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

I have not cruised Celebrity yet, but I would unquestioningly pick them over HAL. I HAVE cruised to Alaska on HAL, and the only good part of that trip was Alaska itself.

 

HAL has probably the most liberal smoking policy at sea, and I found the service far below my standards.

 

I will cruise Celebrity to the Caribbean in February, and based on friends who have cruised Celebrity I am super excited.

 

But seriously...tht one time on HAL was enough for me to avoid them and not recommend them to anyone.

[rolfecms]

We like the small ship experience of Hal although we haven't cruised in Alaska with them. More intimate and you feel closer to the sea. Easier off and on too.

We don't smoke but I didn't notice anything that bothered us.

[davis0056]

We like the small ship experience of Hal although we haven't cruised in Alaska with them. More intimate and you feel closer to the sea. Easier off and on too.

We don't smoke but I didn't notice anything that bothered us.

 

Agree with you about the small ship. We did a 14 day sail to Alaska that sails into Anchorage on the Amsterdam. Going up into Cook Inlet was beautiful and full of whales that served as an escort. We wouldn't hesitate to do it again on HAL.

 

Hope you posted your question on the HAL site also.

[Ox Fan Cruiser]

We've only been on 5 cruises so far. Never on HAL. Our 1st cruise was the Solstice in Alaska. LOVED it. We've done 2 more Celebritys. We also sailed NCL Breakaway & Caribbean Princess. Celebrity is clearly our favorite. Princess was a close 2nd. NCL...... Not so much.

[Alaskan Joe]

Thanks to all that posted!:D My wife and I think after all the post between this board and the HAL boards the it sounds like Celebrity may win:D sorry HAL fans. I think the most promising part was the smoking policies on Celebrity we are both NoN smokers.

[OCruisers]

The big problem with going to Alaska on Celebrity is not being able to go to Glacier Bay ... if that's important to you. ;)

[4774Papa]

My wife and I are looking to cruise with Celebrity Cruises for the 1st time. We are also looking at Holland for the 1st time. The cruises are an Alaskan cruise with basically the same itinerary. So come on seasoned cruisers who would you pick and why?

 

If you don't smoke and don't like cigarette smoke when trying to use your balcony, lean toward Celebrity.

[bigbenboys]

The big problem with going to Alaska on Celebrity is not being able to go to Glacier Bay ... if that's important to you. ;)

 

We have cruised 65 days on HAL. I do have great memories of the Maasdam. We stopped cruising with HAL because of the smoking, just about everywhere back then. Even in the cabins. And that Celebrity has much better perks. IMO the best thing about cruising Alaska is Hubbard Glacier. To see Hubbard Glacier Calving is just awesome.

[MicCanberra]

My wife and I are looking to cruise with Celebrity Cruises for the 1st time. We are also looking at Holland for the 1st time. The cruises are an Alaskan cruise with basically the same itinerary. So come on seasoned cruisers who would you pick and why?

 

I would need more info about yourselves, age, smokers, likes, dislikes, previous cruise experiences, etc. but for me (if all things being equal) it would still be X as they offer 'me' more.

Edited May 31, 2016 by MicCanberra

[lvz2cruz]

I would look at the itinerary of both and see what interests you most.

We have many cruises on both.

Service and food is much better on HAL.

It is way easier to find a table in the buffet and dining room on Celebrity.

Entertainment is better on Celebrity.

Embarkation and disembarkation is much much much better on HAL.

Celebrity has a stricter smoking policy, but there were a few times people smoked inside the solarium area. I assumed that side was smoking until the last sea day because it happened so much. I never saw Celebrity staff stopping the smoking.

If you plan on cruising alot, Celebrity has better perks for frequent cruisers and they kick in at lower cruises than HAL.

 

I have heard Princess and HAL are best for Alaska because of arrangements they have there to get into places other lines do not go to.

Both lines are very good!

[Hydrokitty]

I have not cruised Celebrity yet, but I would unquestioningly pick them over HAL. I HAVE cruised to Alaska on HAL, and the only good part of that trip was Alaska itself.

 

HAL has probably the most liberal smoking policy at sea, and I found the service far below my standards.

 

I will cruise Celebrity to the Caribbean in February, and based on friends who have cruised Celebrity I am super excited.

 

But seriously...tht one time on HAL was enough for me to avoid them and not recommend them to anyone.

 

Wow...sounds like we were on the same cruise. Our first cruise was with HAL to Alaska.... the land portion was fantastic .....the ports were fantastic...the problem? We had to keep getting back on the boat!!! Our room (balcony on 11th deck) vibrated so badly you had to hold onto the wall when showering; the a/c didn't work at all so we had to sleep with the balcony door open for first 2 nights; the first morning we discovered we had no bath towels and waited 90 minutes before I went to the customer service deck in my jammies and demanded to be given 2 towels; cabin steward took 3 calls and 45 minutes to bring ice; and the last straw: I got food poisoning at the farewell dinner from shrimp. Several years later we were convinced to try cruising again with Celebrity and we've never looked back. Go with Celebrity....you won't be sorry.

[MicCanberra]

Wow, that certainly wasn't a pleasant cruise experience, no wonder you waited a while before cruising again.

[aml3679]

This makes me a bit sad but also helped me make up my mind on an important decision. This will be our fourth cruise coming up in April - 1st Celebrity Millenium Pacific Coast Wine Cruise (loved it and set the bar high). 2nd Carnival Freedom - family trip. Did not like the ship lay out, the rowdiness, food was okay but hard to find at night. May take another Carnival in the future. 3rd Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas - New Orleans Western Caribbean - ship crippled, set the tone for the whole cruse and our experience with Royal Caribbean - my husband would sail with them again - I would not. Always wanted to try HAL but also cannot stand smoking. Will stick to Celebrity.

[GUT2407]

My wife and I are looking to cruise with Celebrity Cruises for the 1st time. We are also looking at Holland for the 1st time. The cruises are an Alaskan cruise with basically the same itinerary. So come on seasoned cruisers who would you pick and why?

 

How old are you?

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Wow...sounds like we were on the same cruise. Our first cruise was with HAL to Alaska.... the land portion was fantastic .....the ports were fantastic...the problem? We had to keep getting back on the boat!!! Our room (balcony on 11th deck) vibrated so badly you had to hold onto the wall when showering; the a/c didn't work at all so we had to sleep with the balcony door open for first 2 nights; the first morning we discovered we had no bath towels and waited 90 minutes before I went to the customer service deck in my jammies and demanded to be given 2 towels; cabin steward took 3 calls and 45 minutes to bring ice; and the last straw: I got food poisoning at the farewell dinner from shrimp. Several years later we were convinced to try cruising again with Celebrity and we've never looked back. Go with Celebrity....you won't be sorry.

 

 

Yikes!! My cabin was ok - but I think that they thought I was a spy for DCL (my sis does work for DCL, but I am open-market for cruises - I just have a DCL hoodie, I have a stuffed Mickey who travels with me a la Flat Stanley, and I'd gotten a coveted stuffed Baby Sven in Seattle, plus I had brought a bunch of DCL shampoo, conditioner, and lotion) and took extra care as I heard tales from others in my group similar to yours with no towels, etc.

 

For me it was everything else - crew not even acknowledging a hi/good morning/good evening when passing, general maintenance issues that could be easily remedied, etc.

 

The clincher was the dining room service. The group I was with was divided among around 10 tables and we rotated, so I never expected the remembering/recognition I'm accustomed to on DCL (though our team of servers last year on RCCL where the group now sails managed just fine). But the entire team was so scattered. On lobster night, for example, the lobster was chilled before they remembered they were supposed to remove it for us (especially those of us trying it for the first time who were clueless). The "best" was when I ordered the Grand Marnier Soufflé one night and I was nearly finished with the small vanilla cake before the server remembered he was supposed to bring me the little pitcher of sauce. Just general lack of attention or caring.

 

Couple that with the liberal smoking policy and never again. (I do have cousins who cruise them, but they have admitted that they are willing to deal with the lack of service to be able to smoke relatively freely. I think that says more about their addiction to cigarettes than anything though.)

 

 

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[MicCanberra]

Another damning review on the service. What a shocking cruise, perhaps DCL will treat you better.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Another damning review on the service. What a shocking cruise, perhaps DCL will treat you better.

 

 

They definitely do better than Holland. RCCL this past year was not bad - nothing extraordinary but no problems. (Exhibit A: I am less than a month from 12 nights on Brilliance. Would not have booked if horrid.) And I have high hopes for the Reflection in February.

 

 

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[Sandtrap328]

We are frequent cruisers, mostly on Celebrity. We have just completed our 3rd HAL cruise and found that while HAL does a few things better than Celebrity, overall HAL was dissappointing. First, HAL room and dining staff service was better than Celebrity current level. Second, loved the fresh flowers throughout the ship on HAL and the special themed buffet meals offered by pool. Now, where Celebrity wins--food quality and variety, especially in the buffet area (plus much longer hours) (and why was every medium rare ordered piece of beef and lamb ordered on HAL served well done?); overall ship decor open and airy feeling on Celebrity, closed in and dark on HAL; ship excursion policy on Celebrity is 24 hour cancellation, on HAL it is 3 days. Plus HAL excursion desk was open only 2 hours each day, often while passengers still off ship, or during dining time. We were so disappointed by our first HAL excursion and attitude of excursion staff that we ended up canceling all of our others--over $2,000 worth. While I may take another cruise with HAL, Celebrity will win anytime itineraries are similar.

[MicCanberra]

They definitely do better than Holland. RCCL this past year was not bad - nothing extraordinary but no problems. (Exhibit A: I am less than a month from 12 nights on Brilliance. Would not have booked if horrid.) And I have high hopes for the Reflection in February.

 

 

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I hope it lives up to your expectations and is much better than that previous cruise.

Edited June 1, 2016 by MicCanberra

[cementhands]

It depends on your age and health. My wife and I love celebrity, we are healthy in our 60 so that would be our choice, for food service beautiful ships, and the extras celebrity is the way to go. Now if my mom and dad were to go I would be sure they went on. Holland, as Hal ships always park the closest to ports, cater to the very old, etc. so there is a lot to consider, based on your needs.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

I hope it lives up to your expectations and is much better than that previous cruise.

 

 

Thank you! [emoji3]

 

 

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