Celebrity VS Holland America

[Hydrokitty]

I am worried about the carryover smoking attraction of HAL. As each line tightened its smoking policies, some smokers left in a huff [puff?] and went where they still felt welcome. HAL was the last such refuge, so there is nowhere for them to go. Therefore my guess is they will stay and [hopefully] live by the new rules -- but that will make the smoking areas on HAL very smoky and the post-smoke breath issue more apparent. I am waiting for more recent reviews to either confirm or disprove this hypothesis.

 

Jazz do you think HAL could be keeping their smoking policy because they draw an older crowd and since they don't appeal to a large younger crowd don't want to give up the customers they can count on. I know I couldn't stand walking through the casino because they allowed smoking in some areas and as an ex-smoker I can smell cigarettes a mile away!

[Cruise Junky]

Jazz do you think HAL could be keeping their smoking policy because they draw an older crowd and since they don't appeal to a large younger crowd don't want to give up the customers they can count on. I know I couldn't stand walking through the casino because they allowed smoking in some areas and as an ex-smoker I can smell cigarettes a mile away!

 

They've changed their smoking policy. No longer allowed on balconies. Still allowed in the casino, but no different to Princess.

[4774Papa]

I am worried about the carryover smoking attraction of HAL. As each line tightened its smoking policies, some smokers left in a huff [puff?] and went where they still felt welcome. HAL was the last such refuge, so there is nowhere for them to go. Therefore my guess is they will stay and [hopefully] live by the new rules -- but that will make the smoking areas on HAL very smoky and the post-smoke breath issue more apparent. I am waiting for more recent reviews to either confirm or disprove this hypothesis.

 

I suspect that HAL may be the smoker's refuge, even with the change in their policy.

 

I do like competition and check prices now for similar cruises with Princess, Carnival as well as the ones we have status with (Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and NCL). Unless I can save enough to make up for elite, diamond or platinum benefits, I stick with those three.

[CaroleSS]

We have sailed both lines and both are wonderful. I will mention that HAL always surprised me in that my cabin steward knew my name from day 1 and always called me by name upon seeing me. I've not seen that from X.

 

Another thing that surprised me about HAL was that the cruise directors apparently read the Roll Calls and know about the people who will be sailing. That was apparent at our most recent M&M as he mentioned something that had been discussed on these boards. That impressed me.

 

While we love X and have sailed with them frequently, I will say that we do "mix it up" as all cruise lines don't rotate menus, entertainment, etc enough. We will be sailing the Equinox in October - sailed her Nov 2016 and did the Sillhoette the year before and expect the same stale menus we saw on the previous two cruises. :( While I understand that there is a huge up front cost to the production shows, sticking with the same show for more than a year means those that are "loyal" don't see something new and fresh with each sailing.

 

I will mention that we sailed with HAL when we went to Bermuda only because they ported directly in Hamilton, so it was great/easy to walk off and do things without having to bus from the Shipyard!!!!! Major plus.

[LadyVol1]

My husband and I cruise a lot with HAL due to its longer cruises (50+ days, ~700 total days each) and cruise a 2-week Celebrity Eclipse Caribbean cruise each February in a Sky Suite. In HAL we always book a veranda and hope for an upsell to a suite. The best thing about HAL, IMO, is the crew. The room stewards and food wait staff are from Indonesia. The wine stewards and bar staff are from the Philippines. Officers, chefs, production show people, gift store personnel, etc. are from all over. However, having ~90% (?) of your crew from 2 countries really seems to foster a great work environment and they really seem happy to be there.

 

Also, I have no ear for accents and have a very hard time understanding crew from around the world. However, on HAL I only have to get used to two accents.

 

The ms Amsterdam is our favorite HAL ship. We think the size is perfect and it is also one of HAL's flagships. Our three best cruises ever have been on the ms Amsterdam.

 

A Panama Canal cruise on any cruise line will be great! Go in with an open mind and you'll enjoy it.

[G&G]

We have been sailing on HAL past 35 years; total of 42 cruises. Started sailing Celebrity 3 years ago; 5 cruises.

 

Big difference between two cruise lines. HAL has much smaller ships. Staff on HAL very friendly and remember your name. Older group on HAL due to high loyalty and longer cruises. If you sailed on a 7 day cruise in the summer to Alaska you would experience a good mix of passengers.

 

I find entertainment on Celebrity better than HAL and more restaurant choices on Celebrity.

[Hlitner]

I am loving the posts on this thread. All very constructive and relevant. After reading everyone's comments it just reinforces our practice of cruising on both lines (plus several others). Each line has their pros and cons. But there is one "truth" without much debate...which is that for long cruises (arbitrarily over a month) HAL is the best of all the mass market lines. And for us, it is unlikely we would ever take a short (14 days or less) Caribbean cruise on HAL. Put us on HAL for a month in Europe, Asia, etc. and we are in heaven. But put us on HAL in the Caribbean...and its an awful experience when compared to Celebrity, Princess, RCI, Carnival or just about anyone else. We are not even sure why HAL bothers with the Caribbean.

 

Hank.

[Gracie115]

Interesting thread for us too as we are trying our 1st HAL cruise in Alaska this June. We've cruised Celebrity mostly but have several on Royal and tried Princess and Carnival:eek: too. A couple have mentioned that HAL's room stewards remember their name and they did not find that on Celebrity. I can't agree as our stewards have been very good in that regard.

 

We are looking forward to a new cruiseline and so hopeful that we will enjoy it because of the wide variety of itineraries that HAL has and X does not....

[Hydrokitty]

Interesting thread for us too as we are trying our 1st HAL cruise in Alaska this June. We've cruised Celebrity mostly but have several on Royal and tried Princess and Carnival:eek: too. A couple have mentioned that HAL's room stewards remember their name and they did not find that on Celebrity. I can't agree as our stewards have been very good in that regard.

 

We are looking forward to a new cruiseline and so hopeful that we will enjoy it because of the wide variety of itineraries that HAL has and X does not....

 

Gracie that's been our experience on X as well. The cabin stewards have always come to our room within 30 minutes of our arrival, introduce themselves and ask if we need anything. I always ask them to empty the fridge and bring me 2 extra pillows... and they usually call us "Miss J and Mr. R" but we have a long Italian last name! I found room stewards to be indifferent and inefficient on HAL.

[Hydrokitty]

Interesting thread for us too as we are trying our 1st HAL cruise in Alaska this June. We've cruised Celebrity mostly but have several on Royal and tried Princess and Carnival:eek: too. A couple have mentioned that HAL's room stewards remember their name and they did not find that on Celebrity. I can't agree as our stewards have been very good in that regard.

 

We are looking forward to a new cruiseline and so hopeful that we will enjoy it because of the wide variety of itineraries that HAL has and X does not....

 

 

Gracie that's been our experience on X as well. The cabin stewards have always come to our room within 30 minutes of our arrival, introduce themselves and ask if we need anything. I always ask them to empty the fridge and bring me 2 extra pillows... and they usually call us "Miss J and Mr. R" but we have a long Italian last name! I found room stewards to be indifferent and inefficient on HAL.

[varoo]

Thought of one more thing they do on HA. They keep giving their passengers stuff like HA pins and medallions and tiles with pictures of ships.

 

We saw a few (but very few) passengers actually wearing those pins and medallions! :eek:

We just left ours behind in the cabin when we disembarked.

 

Last time they also gave us a large, heavy book about their ships.

I think they just unload stuff they can't sell in the gift shop by giving it away as "gifts" to their passengers, similar to the way that Royal Caribbean sometimes does.

 

 

All we want from the cabin stewards is good service.

We could not care less whether or not they remember our names (as long as we can still remember them ourselves). ;)

Edited April 25, 2017 by varoo

[Hydrokitty]

 

All we want from the cabin stewards is good service.

We could not care less whether or not they remember our names (as long as we can still remember them ourselves). ;)

 

And put towels in the bathroom....or at least bring them in under 45 minutes when they haven't.

[cl.klink]

I see X and HAL as slightly different but both enjoyable for slightly different reasons. I compared the at length on post #147 at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2212647&page=8.

 

- Joel

[bigbenboys]

They've changed their smoking policy. No longer allowed on balconies. Still allowed in the casino, but no different to Princess.

 

It is my understanding that you can still vape in the cabin on HAL, just not smoke a cigarette. I just have this thought of walking into my cabin and it smelling like grapes.

Edited April 26, 2017 by bigbenboys
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[Kamloops50]

E cigs aren't allowed on HAL because they are a fire hazard. They also can leave the cigarette smell as well.

 

 

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[Cruise Junky]

It is my understanding that you can still vape in the cabin on HAL, just not smoke a cigarette. I just have this thought of walking into my cabin and it smelling like grapes.

 

This is on their website. Looks like it's allowed in staterooms but not on balconies.

 

Electronic cigarettes are permitted in staterooms but not in other public areas of the ship other than on outside decks designated as smoking areas.

https://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-vacation-planning/PlanningAndAdvice.action?tabName=Shipboard%20Life&contentMenu=Onboard%20Policies&contentSubMenu=Is%20Smoking%20Allowed%20On%20Board%3F

[Cruise a holic]

We might consider HAL in the future but not yet. In all fairness if you stayed in a suite on Celebrity and on HAL an inside cabin, I wouldn't think it a fair comparison. Perhaps the perks will not be the same and the overall experience negative. At this time, we love the newest solstice class ships, but in August typically sail to Bermuda on the Summit. Next year the Adventure of the Seas Is sailing to the bahamas and will try that for a change. As said previously, we might consider a newer HAL ship in the future

[LoveFamliyVacations]

We've sailed Neptune suites on HAL and Sky/Royal suites on Celebrity. As others have said, each line has unique benefits. The unlimited laundry perk on HAL can't be beat. It's great to come home to all clean clothing. Also, I prefer the full promenade deck on HAL. However Celebrity's Michael's Lounge with special entertainment and Luminae restaurant give us a club like, intimate experience. Any ship is a great choice. It is a vacation!

 

 

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[Cruise a holic]

We've sailed Neptune suites on HAL and Sky/Royal suites on Celebrity. As others have said, each line has unique benefits. The unlimited laundry perk on HAL can't be beat. It's great to come home to all clean clothing. Also, I prefer the full promenade deck on HAL. However Celebrity's Michael's Lounge with special entertainment and Luminae restaurant give us a club like, intimate experience. Any ship is a great choice. It is a vacation!

 

 

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I have a couple of questions. We might consider HAL in the future and love the idea of unlimited laundry. What about dry cleaning? What is the miminun level suite on HAL that you need to get the really good perks? Does that level included unlimited drinks , etc. Do the rates compare with Celebrity? We are Elite plus on Celebrity. Thanks

[Fouremco]

E cigs aren't allowed on HAL because they are a fire hazard. They also can leave the cigarette smell as well.

HAL's concern from the outset with electronic cigarettes was that passengers and crew alike might confuse someone smoking an e-cig with someone smoking a real one. Thus the only place passengers can smoke them is in public designated smoking areas, where it doesn't matter if someone confuses them with real cigarettes, and in the privacy of their cabin, where no one will see them.

 

While you might be able to notice a mild scent while the e-cig is being smoked, there's no lingering odour in the cabin afterwards, so HAL doesn't have to worry about doing a post-cruise deep cleaning.

 

 

This is the related wording from the current HAL policy, which commenced January 2017, followed by the previous, very similar policy:

 

 

Electronic cigarettes are permitted in staterooms but not in other public areas of the ship other than designated smoking areas. (2017)

Electronic cigarettes are permitted in staterooms but not in other public areas of the ship other than on outside decks designated as smoking areas. (pre-2017)

Edited April 26, 2017 by Fouremco

[Constance331]

I don't believe this has been mentioned yet. I give the pool grill where they serve burgers, hotdogs & fries on HAL a HUGE plus over X. You place your order at the counter, they give you a beeper, and your food is prepared fresh-to-your-order. You may wait five minutes, but when that beeper sounds, you go right up and pick up your food, and it's nice and hot.:)

 

X's pool grill is an assembly line where you get food that's been laying in a warming bin for who-knows-how long, and frequently your meal may be dry and/or just warm.:(

 

Of course, you have the option to ask for a burger made from scratch, or fries just out of the fryer, but now you're standing off to the side, waiting, and having to flag the server to remind him that "that one" is yours...

 

What can I say? I love a good hamburger.;)

[Cruise a holic]

I think we will nix HAL due to its policy allowing cigarettes and VAP on board. smoking is restricted on Celebrity ships and as a non smoker I really cannot deal with the smell or smoke nor can my DH On celebrity no smoking allowed inside the ship even in the casino. I would assume in the Future All cruise lines will do the same Until then no HAL

[mcrcruiser]

We have sailed HALs newer ships & the older smaller ships as well as over 40 Celebrity cruises .

 

The main differences we have noticed are the pax ages are generally older on HAL than Celebrity . food quality about the same .Service about the same . We do like the BB King room on HAL with the great dance music :D

 

Entertainment in the show rooms about equal quality ;except when Celebrity has a single with superb talent :)

 

Main differences you may find is the itineraries .Generally HAL has more interesting itineraries;)

 

Both of us are non smokers & HALs policies never bothered us

[LoveFamliyVacations]

To Cruise a holic- yes laundry includes dry cleaning and pressing of garments. To access the Neptune Lounge you must book Neptune or Pinnacle suites. HAL does not include unlimited drinks with their suites.

 

 

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[Jade13]

OK, so after 30 cruises on Celebrity we are going to try someone else. Leaving next week on the MS Amersterdam through the canal to SFO. I am looking for some insight regarding the difference between the two lines. We are not going to invest a lot of money since this is an experiment, so we booked an inside cabin. I have already discovered that this HAL class does not have a mini-bar in the cabin. Not a big deal, but I think I may miss it. Always liked to store my late night snacks along with milk in the fridge. The ship a smaller which no doubt will be adjustment. We love the size of all classes with Celebrity. So fellow Celebrity lovers, who had tried HAL and what did you think?

 

 

Call ahead and rent a mini fridge. This is one of the older ships but the newer ones all have coolers in the cabins.

 

 

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