HAL ships vs Celebrity

[C4HCG]

Am in England and just watched a programme on TV cruising in the Caribbean hosted by a lady called Susan Calman. On a Holland America ship, which didn’t look anywhere near as nice as the Equinox but the destinations were good, any views?

[SueMo]

I just got off the HAL ship Nieuw Statendam.  It is beautiful.  Gorgeous artwork, great layout--every bit as nice as X's ships.

[C4HCG]

1 minute ago, SueMo said:

I just got off the HAL ship Nieuw Statendam.  It is beautiful.  Gorgeous artwork, great layout--every bit as nice as X's ships.

How big is it? The one on this programme looked maybe 9 decks.

[davekathy]

2 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

How big is it? The one on this programme looked maybe 9 decks.

The Statendam is 12 decks, 99,500 GTW. Cruised on her once in 2001. Our only Holland America cruise. 

[Miss Vickie]

We sailed Eurodam to Alaska last month. Lovely ship, great crew, enjoyed the entertainment, food as good as Celebrity’s. The ship is bout the same size as X’s M class ships. We’d sail HAL again for the right itinerary. We’ve done both our Alaska cruises on HAL and were booked for a Mediterranean itinerary we haven’t seen on any other line, which got cancelled by Covid. It hasn’t shown back up yet, and we’re waiting for X and HAL to bring out their 2024 Med itineraries to compare.

[Ipeeinthepools]

9 minutes ago, davekathy said:

The Statendam is 12 decks, 99,500 GTW. Cruised on her once in 2001. Our only Holland America cruise. 

 

There's a new Nieuw Statendam built in 2018.  Passenger capacity about 2666 and about 975 ft.  A little smaller that the S-class ships.

[davekathy]

Just now, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

There's a new Nieuw Statendam built in 2018.  Passenger capacity about 2666 and about 975 ft.  A little smaller that the S-class ships.

We'll pass. Personal preference only. 

[mom says]

JMO, but I don't think there's much of a quality difference between HAL and the Celebrity M or S class ships. But I've no idea what the OP considers "nice".

Edited October 23, 2022 by mom says

[C4HCG]

12 minutes ago, mom says said:

JMO, but I don't think there's much of a quality difference between HAL and the Celebrity M or S class ships. But I've no idea what the OP considers "nice".

Just didn’t look as classy that’s all

[Ken the cruiser]

We have cruised on both quite a few times. Simply put IMHO if you like to go see a variety of production shows and guest entertainers in the main theater during the evening hours, Celebrity is the better choice. If you don’t care about main theater entertainment, you should give HAL a try.

[C4HCG]

Just now, Ken the cruiser said:

We have cruised on both quite a few times. Simply put IMHO if you like to go see a variety of production shows and guest entertainers in the main theater during the evening hours, Celebrity is the better choice. If you don’t care about main theater entertainment, you should give HAL a try.

Thank you, good advice 

[Nashna]

There was a huge difference between Holland America and Celebrity as far as I am concerned.  We were so disappointed in Holland America.  The dining room was crowded, noisy and disorganized.  In spite of having dining reservations each night, we had to wait ten to fifteen minutes in line to be assigned to our table.  The food was not up to par and the dining room staff was the worst we have experienced at sea.  Our main entre was served before a wine steward came to our table.   Dining poolside was almost impossible as groups of people played cards in the dining area at noontime.  Our grilled hamburgers were cold before we found a spot to sit.  We missed several shows as most cruisers got to the theatre 45 minutes before the show to get a seat.  The only bright spot was amazing night club type shows for rock and jazz.  

[Ipeeinthepools]

If you want longer cruises to different ports, HAL seems like a logical choice to me.  For people that enjoy real balconies, HAL seems much more attractive than any E-class ship.

[TMLAalum]

1 hour ago, davekathy said:

The Statendam is 12 decks, 99,500 GTW. Cruised on her once in 2001. Our only Holland America cruise. 

Our only HAL cruise too when she was brand new in 2018. We walked to her berth immediately from the EDGE. I felt like I was a time traveler back to the 1950s on the “new” Nieuw Statendam. One and done!

[davekathy]

23 minutes ago, TMLAalum said:

Our only HAL cruise too when she was brand new in 2018. We walked to her berth immediately from the EDGE. I felt like I was a time traveler back to the 1950s on the “new” Nieuw Statendam. One and done!

Apparently the "Nieue Statendam isn't what we cruised on April 2001. She was just called the Statendam at that time as was less than 56,000 GTW. We haven't considered another HAL cruise. 

Edited October 23, 2022 by davekathy

[MarkWiltonM]

The buffets on the new HAL ships are great. That's Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam, and Rotterdam. We sail on Celebrity and Oceania as well.

[NMTraveller]

I am thinking about retrying HAL again.  It looks like their newer ships have more similiarities with S class plus HAL has better and longer itineraries.  X keeps on shortening theirs.  I am not a fan of E class.

 

Regarding the shows, that is really not an issue for us.  We just drive downtown if we want to see a world class show not constrained by the size of a ship or the budget of a ship.

[Shep_Proudfoot]

I’ve only sailed the Oosterdam and it’s an older ship, but I was fairly impressed with HAL. Considering the age of the ship it was immaculate and felt nowhere near as dated as a Royal Caribbean ship of similar vintage I had sailed a year earlier. Food not quite to Celebrity standards but the musical entertainment was superior on HAL.
 

Celebrity feels more innovative, modern and unique in  many ways vs HAL’s very traditional.I feel they’re very much peer lines for my tastes and would sail HAL again if the itinerary, timing and cost worked, but I still consider Celebrity my go-to and best all around of the mainstream lines.

[retird]

Now pose the same question on HAL board.  Would be interesting to see if responses are similar 

[Ipeeinthepools]

4 minutes ago, retird said:

Now pose the same question on HAL board.  Would be interesting to see if responses are similar 

 

I think that the people on the HAL board would likely sail HAL in the future.

[retird]

6 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

I think that the people on the HAL board would likely sail HAL in the future.

Maybe, but many have tried other lines and may choose different lines based on Itinerary 

[Cruise Junky]

I’d sail on HAL’s newer ships. The older girls, not so much.  IMO they have better itineraries than X 

[mcrcruiser]

We are Elite  +  with X & 3 Star Mariners with HAL   . The New Pinnacle ships imo are equal  to  the  S class  or the M class  . Food is subjective buy we found  the food  & service about  equal  . There are some things X is known for & some things HAL is known for  .I would gladly sail either line based on itineraries   .  

The main difference  is  we found  X generally       more expensive  

 

  

 

 

 

  

[dogsdogs]

If loyalty benefits interest you, HAL doesn't have very good ones.  You don't even get priority boarding until you have 200 cruise days.

[Ipeeinthepools]

31 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

...

The main difference  is  we found  X generally       more expensive  

  

 

Now there's a reason to sail X.