HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE HAL vs CELEBRITY?

[cheeseheads4ever]

sorry this my have been covered in the past but was wondering is fellow cruisers who have been on both cruise lines could shares what the feel the differences are between Celebrity and HAL?

Food quality

Shows

Drinks cost

Service

 

Looking to try Konsingdaam.

Any help would be appreciate!

[Aquahound]

Free food quality I rate exactly the same. However, it is my opinion that Celebrity has better specialty restaurants.

 

Shows aren't even close. Celebrity is much better with main shows, and the evening entertainment is much more abundant and varied than HAL. Also, Celebrity does evening theme parties....like a 60s party and a 70s night. HAL does none of that. They also do several game shows. On K'dam, you might have 1 game show.

 

I'm fairly certain that HAL is the winner on drink costs. I can't remember specific prices, but Celebrity seems to be one of the most expensive with drinks in the mass market industry.

 

I'd rate general service exactly the same. However, where I give Celebrity the edge is service provided by senior officers. Senior officers are much more visible and mingle with passengers much more.

 

Koningsdam is not a bad ship. I cruised K'dam in November and it was a lovely cruise. I've also cruised 2 Celebrity Solstice Class ships (Solstice and Eclipse). If you are considering Solstice Class, that's what I would recommend. Solstice Class is very modern and in my opinion, the most beautiful cruise ships at sea.

[cashmeremypuppydog]

We enjoy both lines. But for us, it is all about the itineraryies and you can not beat HAL. We usually do B2B for total of 28 days and Celebrity does not compare to HAL.If you are heading to the Caribbean then I would pick Celebrity as the evening shows are much better than HAL. But anywhere else in the world, if you analyze the itineraries, you should see that HAL have superior B2B.

 

 

The Canadians!:cool:

[drsel]

Celebrity is a 5* cruise with fabulous shows, entertainment, lots of activities and a great cruise director/entertainment team.

HAL is quiet and peaceful. Not many activities. But beautiful architecture.

Food is excellent on both. The ports and itinerary depend on each particular cruise.

Since I like non stop action, I would choose Celebrity hands down! Even if it cost more.

[avian777]

There are many differences between HAL and Celebrity but IMHO there is only one significant difference - only HAL has a Roman Catholic priest (who celebrates daily Mass) on board every one of its cruises. Because spiritual renewal is an important component of our vacation experience, HAL is our hands-down choice. YMMV

[roses313]

if you want nonstop activity...then go Celebrity. The only quiet place on Celebrity to read is in your own cabin. Found the tables in the Celebrity (Solstice) MDR so close together you could quite easily mistake the cutlery on the next table to be yours.

 

Guess what I'm saying is it all comes down to what kind of onboard experience you want.

[Aquahound]

The only quiet place on Celebrity to read is in your own cabin.

 

This is a very untrue statement. Come on. It doesn't even make sense.

[drsel]

The Solarium on Celebrity is quite quiet and peaceful.

[RedneckBob]

Celebrity has best entertainment in showroom. Recent 11 day cruise on Reflection there were eight (8) different professional entertainers in 11 days. If you book with extras included such as drinks, wi fi, large cabin credit and tips, price is very reasonable for balcony.

 

Been sailing with HAL +35 years. Like smaller ships, crew and ports of call

[Cruising-along]

(IMO)

If you cruise for the entertainment, go with Celebrity. If you cruise for the itinerary, go with HAL, especially for European cruises.

 

Laundry options -- HAL hands down. $20/bag ($30 for European cruises) for everyone. Or unlimited laundry $7/day for everyone. Not just those who have attained upper tiers of loyalty.

 

Food -- equal, but more and better options on Celebrity for specialty restaurants.

 

Service -- equal

[baggal]

The Koningsdam is a beautiful ship with a wonderful crew and so are any of the Celebrity Solstice class ships. The food is about the same but the charge for specialty restaurants on Celebrity is higher than on HAL. IMO, the big difference between the two is the quality and variety of entertainment. HAL's entertainment is really poor. The singers and dancers are pretty good but on our Koningsdam cruise in May the specialty acts were so cheesy that we stopped going to the shows. Not a significant issue on a port intensive cruise with a lot of daily sightseeing but for a Caribbean cruise we'd rather sail on Celebrity.

 

 

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[Fouremco]

For the past few years we have more or less alternated between Celebrity and HAL and would have a hard time deciding which we prefer as both have their pluses and minuses. We never book a cruise based on the ship, with itinerary, price, availability and scheduling taking precedence. On HAL, we've cruised on a variety of ships, from their second smallest/oldest current ship to their largest/newest, but with Celebrity have only sailed on the Eclipse, which we love. The K'dam isn't our favourite HAL ship, but that hasn't stopped us from booking our next HAL cruise on the Nieuw Statendam.

 

Food quality is very similar IMO, with as much of a variance from ship to ship or cruise to cruise within a line as between lines. We've had some excellent dining in the specialty restaurants on both, but the HAL's are less expensive. Our favourite is Tamarind, which you can experience on the K'dam. For quick eats, the New York Pizza& Deli (HAL) is hard to beat. Overall, very similar quality in the MDR, but I'd give a slight nod to HAL overall.

 

For shows, Celebrity wins hands down IMO.

HAL has the advantage here. For example, the price of a bottle of gin and a few cans of mix for your cabin is double the price on Celebrity.

 

Service is very comparable on both lines and is excellent. Those occasional posts complaining about the service I attribute to to "high maintenance" individuals.

 

If you've enjoyed sailing with Celebrity, you should be happy on HAL. Overall the quality of their cruises is very similar.

[kenevenpar]

We both are fans of both lines with me calling =X= 1 and HAL 1A, DW reversing the two. After 6 or 7 consecutive cruises on =X=, and then Konigsdam in November. We both now give =X= the slight nod. For us:

 

 

Specialty restaurants, favor =X=. The base cost is higher, but we have never paid full price. In fairness, Pinnacle on K'Dam was outstanding, both the food and our waiter was so good and enjoyable, we had to back for another meal.

 

 

Suites - no caparison - =X= hands down. We have never stayed in the Penthouse, so cannot compare. The Vista suite on K-Dam is anything but a suite, smaller than a Sky on =X=. It should be embarrassing for HAL to call them a suite. We favor Michaels club over the Neptune. The hosts in both are usually great, but the bar service (gratis) and refreshments in Michael's are a great benefit. The butler is a nice touch, but I can certainly live without one. We have only sailed in suites on HAL, but have sailed in balcony, concierge and suites on =X=.

 

 

MDR - More similar than different. A slight nod to HAL for friendlier service, not that =X='s service is lacking.

 

 

Buffet - In 31 cruises we have never had dinner in the buffet. For lunch and breakfast, they are both good. I like the stations on K'Dam and the Indonesian inspired items were outstanding. The =X= S class buffet is more station oriented, and also quite good.

 

 

Bars - We absolutely loved the Billboard piano bar on K'Dam! We had a hard time finding the Crows Nest (?), and when we did it was absolutely deserted. On =X= the Martini Bar is very popular for both the drinks and show they put on. It gets quite crowded, which we do not mind as we sneak off to a quiter venue. We usually like the more calm music of rendezvous (I'm sure I butchered that name).

 

 

Overall Service - a slight nod to HAL, even though the last couple of HAL cruises have had some guest relations issues. With a gentle discussion with officers, the issues (minor) were resolved fairly.

 

 

Customers - definitely older on HAL, in our experience, which for us makes absolutely no difference. The sidewalks on HAL roll up earlier than on =X=.

 

 

For the OP, if we were to choose K'Dam again, we would be very happy. We are at a point that we select mostly on what we perceive as the best value, at the time we want to go, and the itinerary we like.

[hillsprint]

We have sailed on the Solstice Class ships and the Noordam, would be happy to sail on both again and if possible give the Koningsdam a try. We don’t do the shows, but enjoy the smaller musical events across the ship.

 

Celebrity has a lot of loud music round the pool and yes the tables in the MDR are close together, but that said it’s a nice way to meet folk, if you choose to start a conversation, or if you choose not to. We love HAL for all the great small venues in the ship, it may be an older decor style, but it’s not dated.

 

Ronbe’s assessment above is spot on

[cbr663]

HAL has the better itineraries.

 

We also like that HAL feels like a ship. We found X felt more like a floating hotel. HAL's standard cabins are larger.

 

We loved Aqua Class on X. Dining in Blu was wonderful. We enjoyed the food, the ambiance and the service was impeccable. HAL doesn't have anything that comes close to this option.

 

We much preferred the Lido on HAL. Room service on HAL is better, as is the MDR.

 

I agree with others that the evening shows are better on X. As for other types of entertainment, we prefer HAL. We do not typically visit bars on cruise ships and found ourselves quite bored on X.

 

We found the service to be similar on both.

 

As for passenger demographic - we found both to be about the same.

[SeaWatch12]

.

 

Laundry options -- HAL hands down. $20/bag ($30 for European cruises) for everyone. Or unlimited laundry $7/day for everyone. Not just those who have attained upper tiers of loyalty.

 

Does the unlimited laundry at $7/day apply to Trans Atlantics?

Also, is that price per person or per stateroom?

This will be our first HAL cruise, the Nieuw Statendam in April-Fort Lauderdale to Amsterdam.

Thanks.

[OCruisers]

Celebrity has a few more activities than HAL.

[Cruising-along]

.

 

 

 

Does the unlimited laundry at $7/day apply to Trans Atlantics?

 

Also, is that price per person or per stateroom?

 

This will be our first HAL cruise, the Nieuw Statendam in April-Fort Lauderdale to Amsterdam.

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

The price is per stateroom. I haven’t done a transatlantic (yet) but would think it would be the same as Europe so $9/day.

 

 

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[drsel]

sorry this my have been covered in the past but was wondering is fellow cruisers who have been on both cruise lines could shares what the feel the differences are between Celebrity and HAL?

Food quality

Shows

Drinks cost

Service

 

Looking to try Konsingdaam.

Any help would be appreciate!

Put this same question on the Celebrity forum and see the huge difference in replies from the Celebrity cruise lovers!

Or put it in the "ask a cruise question" forum to get unbiased opinions

[cruising cockroach]

Celebrity had no happy hour drink specials, though recent reports say that specials on HAL aren't as good as they used to be. Didn't spend a red cent in drinks on the Celebrity cruise (Millennium) last September.

 

 

Food - HAL in the MDR is much better, but that was from 4 years ago so HAL may have deteriorated since. Celebrity has none of the MDR items in the buffet.

 

 

X practises classism much more than HAL with the suites and spa restaurants. Food and service might be better than HAL MDR.

 

 

 

HAL breakfast in the MDR is (was) much superior to X. The X waiter said on the first night recommended to have breakfast in he buffet. It took us just one breakfast in the MDR for us to believe him. HAL also has afternoon tea.

 

 

 

As others say, MDR in X is tight, probably due to carve-outs for the suite, spa and speciality restaurants. Service on a full ship (only X sailing I've been on was full 2 HAL ones less so).on X isn't very good (e.g., food not coming in order of order).

 

 

Shows on X are much better as others have said..

 

[Cruzaholic41]

Go Celebrity. HAL is still about a decade behind them.

[drsel]

Go Celebrity. HAL is still about a decade behind them.

Absolutely! Even on the HAL forum, some folks prefer Celebrity. Just imagine what replies you will get on the Celebrity forum!

[*Miss G*]

I appreciate reading the comparisons between the two lines, but there is really no call for disparagement.

[navybankerteacher]

Go Celebrity. HAL is still about a decade behind them.

 

Perhaps being “a decade behind” is not such a bad thing - since many of the developments on both lines over the past ten years have been aimed at cost-cutting, service reducing, and quality diminishing.

[drsel]

Perhaps being “a decade behind” is not such a bad thing - since many of the developments on both lines over the past ten years have been aimed at cost-cutting, service reducing, and quality diminishing.

Agreed that all the mass market lines are into cost cutting and that their standards have gone down.