Mercury vs Oosterdam

[Beachkeefes]

We're considering a spring Alaska cruise, R/T Seattle. It looks like its between these two ships. We have sailed on Summit and loved it, but never on HAL. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Jim

[bostom]

We're considering a spring Alaska cruise, R/T Seattle. It looks like its between these two ships. We have sailed on Summit and loved it, but never on HAL. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Jim

 

Classy in different ways: Holland America's passengers tend not to be as young as Celebrity's (more skewed to 60-70 yo demographic on HAL; 40-50 is the target for X) but each has advantages and disadvantages. I think the food, day-in, day-out, is as good but have seldom gone on 7 day cruises (only one on each line) and I think the effort that goes into devising menus on longer (14 to 25 day) cruises on both HAL and Celebrity differs from the items served on a weekly rotation with a new group of passengers every week.

 

Oo-dam is newer; neither is a knockout design-wise but that's always a matter of taste. Mercury is a deade or so old and that's reflected in the design. The staffs on both ships (and lines) are friendly and competant but again, every cruise is different and every passenger's experience subjective. HAL has been going to Alaska since before it was a state so they have the edge in terms of infrastructure with Westours if you do any touring.

 

I have seen the same entertainers on both ships, so they either aim to please the same audience or have a relatively small pool of talent from which to choose.

 

I have found - and no doubt others will differ - the captain and senior officers on HAL are more social. We usually get a suite, but not always, and are past passengers on both lines, so are invited to more "events" per cruise than perhaps some others onboard but find that the Captains on HAL are uniformly both more approachable and involved with their passengers socially.

 

I have - and again, my experience is totally subjective - met many more long time cruisers, with dozens if not hundreds of voyages under their belts, on HAL but that's not too surprising as I also know people who came to the States as refugees when they were children at the end of WW II on board HAL ships. Holland-America's been in business a lot longer.

 

The largely Indonesian and Phillipino staffs on HAL stand in contrast to the more international (with a lot from Eastern Europe) staffers on Celebrity but I've seldom, if ever, run across bad service on either line, or, for that matter, or any line: the standard at sea is far higher than on land.

 

All that said, and time and price may be issues for you, but it's usually rainier and always colder in Alaska in May: late June used to be when the cruises started going there but they've crept earlier and later every year. So indoor things, onboard, become more important when the outside weather is either really cold or simply too bad (fog, rain, etc.) to be on deck.

 

Having said all that (more about the ships and the lines) we went to Alaska on Crystal and enjoyed it a lot. They sometimes have specials that make the price competitive with both the lines you're considering and they are a cut above either in terms of quality.

[Beachkeefes]

Thanks, Bostom!

 

Jim

[Tatka]

We sailed on Mercury (and her sister Century) and on Zuiderdam (sister ship to Oo).

 

Century and Zuiderdam in Caribbean during school vacation, Mercury West Coast when schools (there) were in session. Both Caribbean sailings had approx the same PAX agewise. Some families (about 300-400 kids 1 - 18 yo), alot of people between 40 and 50. On Mercury PAX was close to 65-70+ ...

 

HAL

 

loved: terrific bedding, variety of food in buffets, food overall, selection of fresh juices.

 

not so much: slow service everywhere, from room attendants to waitors.(quality was good but teams are def understaffed).

 

 

Celebrity: terrific service both in staterooms, in restaurants..

 

not so much : lunch selection.

 

 

We usually only watch production shows and liked both.

 

Would sail on both again.:)

[usha]

Oosterdam is closer in size and age to Summit than it is to smaller and older Mercury. That said, having sailed both Oosterdam and Mercury, I still prefered Mercury over Oosterdam. I think the layout of Mercury is easier to navigate. Oosterdam's staff is very friendly and eager to please, but I didn't think they were as well-trained or as efficient as the staff on Mercury. I'd say that Oosterdam has more variety in the buffet, but Mercury's main diningroom food is much better. Mercury's standard cabins have more drawer and closet space, which any woman can appreciate.

I didn't notice any shocking difference in age range between the two ships, not that I pay a lot of attention to that anyway.

If you like the caribbean bands on Celebrity ships, you'll really miss them a lot on Oosterdam. There was a caribbean duo on Oosterdam that only did instrumental songs, and nobody paid much attention to them. To me, they were a huge let down. On the other hand, if Oosterdam's cruise director is still Dane Butcher, and his assistant is still Kat, they really show other CDs and assistant CDs how to do the job. I don't even remember who our CD was on Mercury, and we were on a back/to/back!

If the price isn't a ton of difference, I'd personally choose Mercury, but Oosterdam is a perfectly lovely ship, and provides a very good cruise experience, too.

[Sunsearchers]

I knew that HAL was shooting for seniors, and the boat's knickname became "Oldsterdam", but the prescription glass used in the "sneeze trays " at the buffet line is a little much....

 

Actually, both boats were great, the Mercury being smaller. older.

Celeb's crew (waiters, housekeepers)seemed a little happier, maybee a little bit better treated by the bosses.. they seemed to make it fun while they were at work.

[avalon1025]

if you are looking at booking a verandah cabin the Oosterdam wins, more selection and better pricing as most of the outsides are verandah cabins. Also the beds are amazing!