HAL ships vs Celebrity

[Ipeeinthepools]

10 hours ago, davekathy said:

Based only on what I've seen on the internet this and infinite style balcony isn't as appealing (IMO) as the traditional balconies of the M&S class ships, but IMO (no experience) far better than the infinite style balconies. The videos showing the infinite balconies we watched on the internet didn't interest us. 

We have no issues with our selection. We had a similar style balcony on the Explorer Of The Seas this past March. We called it the  cave balcony and worked for us and that's all that matters. Others opinions don't count. We didn't pick this cruise for the ship, but for the itinerary. This will be our first time on an E class ship. Jury will be out on the ship and balcony until we complete the cruise. 

 

What?  Then why do you come to CC?  Maybe you only come for my witty humor, but most people participate because they find it useful to get other's opinions.  Most people find it valuable to hear about other people's experiences and opinions.

[julia]

4 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

When people say the music is great on HAL , 

What great about it ? 
 

 

What's great about the music on HAL?  The level of talent!  The bands that play in their BB Kings club are enormously good, across the fleet. The Noordam had a Rolling Stone Rock Lounge, and the band was AMAZING.  Dueling Pianos have mixed sets of 70's, 80's etc, and Lincoln Center is always class.

[visagrunt]

The choice of cruise line should always be grounded in the question, "what do I want from my cruise experience?"  In the absence of that context, comparisons can be pointless.

There is much to love on both lines, with nothing to be gained by turning up one's nose at the line one regards as lesser.

[rj59]

You can't really generalize, because each line has dazzling, larger new ships and older classic ones, although HAL got rid of many of their small ships during shutdown, alas. The 3 newest ship also abandoned what was for me the main advantage of HAL--an outside teak wraparound promenade, which was perfect for someone like me who hates crowds and noise and just wants to be close to the sea and watch whales and sunsets. HAL has also steadily cut back offerings and corporatized and standardized almost all experiences, so each music venue will have a corporate sponsor and play the same setlists on every ship, every cruise. They've also gotten rid of singers and dancers and production shows on most ships, so you get a choice of two dance shows and a nature movie. There's also very little diversity on HAL--only male Indonesians work in the dining room, and only Filipinos get to handle money or serve in the buffet.  The advantage of HAL is that they don't have a class/tier system like Celebrity and they're less pushy for selling packages and things--they even did away with art auctions, thank god. Another HAL advantage is their ships all have retractable roofs over the Lido pool area, which helps for Alaska and other colder climates, and they do more long cruises than on Celebrity. I also like that they cruise out of San Diego for Mexican cruises, and have a much stronger presence in Alaska than X. HAL tends to have an older, more sedate crowd--so no disco parties at 10 pm, and as one young guy remarked to me once on a HAL cruise, "I've never seen so many mobility scooters in my life" (Joke on Solstice last month..."They put carpets with the day of the week in Holland America elevators so people can remember what day it is...are there that many people with dementia on their ships?").

[davekathy]

58 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

What?  Then why do you come to CC?  Maybe you only come for my witty humor, but most people participate because they find it useful to get other's opinions.  Most people find it valuable to hear about other people's experiences and opinions.

What! I never said I didn't read others opinions, experiences, positive or negative without interest or respect their reason(s).  Only that they don't count (influence) with our cruise decisions. I also participate and share useful information and also find valuable and useful information by others over the years on CC.  Your assumption (especially about your wit, 😏) is wrong. Your opinion on the balcony type I selected on the Apex is one great example of why your opinion doesn't influence (count) our cruise decisions. Especially those opinions not based on actual experiences. We started cruising long before even knowing about CC.

[zgscl]

1 hour ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Thank you so much for your expertise. What time do the theatre shows begin and how early can one dine in the MDR ?  Thinking if we dine early we can get to the shows without a problem finding seats together? How late is the buffet open after the show ? Do not go to self-serve buffets, so this would be new option for us. Trying to 'work around' certain 'deficiencies' found only in the Retreat and Yacht Club.

Of course. Always happy to help-cruise critic is such a great resource for planning. 
 

MDR is open 5:15 to 9 PM for open seating and with fixed seating at 5:15PM & 8 PM. Absolutely no issue to get through early dinner to make the first show and get a seat. I will say BB kings is very popular - for all of the shows here including comedians it is best to arrive 20+ minutes early to get your choice of seats. For main stage 10-15 mins is usually plenty. 

Show times are typically 7:30 & 9:30. I’m onboard Koningsdam currently and will post a couple daily programs when I get back to my cabin later. This does vary some as on nights with a late port call or embarkation day they will often have only one show on the main stage at 8:30 or so and this might be an EXC talk or a movie. 
 

The buffet food is always quite good. Depending on the ship there are 4 or 5 Stations with lots of options. Embarkation day lunch is usually particularly good. 

[zgscl]

1 hour ago, julia said:

What's great about the music on HAL?  The level of talent!  The bands that play in their BB Kings club are enormously good, across the fleet. The Noordam had a Rolling Stone Rock Lounge, and the band was AMAZING.  Dueling Pianos have mixed sets of 70's, 80's etc, and Lincoln Center is always class.

Totally agree. The BB Kings groups range from very good to exceptional. Rolling stone rock band is also veer good when available. I don’t spend much time in Lincoln Center Stage or Billboard but both get rave reviews on almost every cruise. 
 

1 hour ago, visagrunt said:

The choice of cruise line should always be grounded in the question, "what do I want from my cruise experience?"  In the absence of that context, comparisons can be pointless.

There is much to love on both lines, with nothing to be gained by turning up one's nose at the line one regards as lesser.

So true. Pros and cons for every line and a different experience on all. Everything from Carnival to Silversea has good and bad. 

[morpheusofthesea]

2 hours ago, zgscl said:

The buffet food is always quite good. Depending on the ship there are 4 or 5 Stations with lots of options. Embarkation day lunch is usually particularly good. 

On embarkation day is the buffet the only open setting for lunch ?

[zgscl]

4 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

On embarkation day is the buffet the only open setting for lunch ?

There are options. On some cruises the main dining room is open from 12-1. Frankly I’m not sure what determines this. I’ve not really noticed a pattern by ship or itinerary.
 

Dive in which is their burger/hot dogs/fries place will be open as will the NY pizza assuming your ship has it (on vista & R class ships the pizza is just a station on the buffet and not cooked to order). Both of these let you order on the app if you want and the you can go pick up when it is ready, or you can go order in person.
 

Also if you are on a Pinnacle class ship there is also the Grand Dutch cafe will be open and has some sandwiches & Dutch food as well as coffees, teas and some delicious pastries and sweets. 
 

Other than possibly embarkation day MDR is closed for all port days (if you arrive in Juneau at 1 pm on an Alaska sailing they will open with an express menu that has maybe 2 options). Also, the lunch menu (which is pretty large actually) will be the same every day they are open no matter how many sea days you have. On sea days I highly recommend the Pinnacle Grill which is a $15 surcharge for lunch and has the best burger onboard among other options. 

[Nashna]

4 hours ago, julia said:

What's great about the music on HAL?  The level of talent!  The bands that play in their BB Kings club are enormously good, across the fleet. The Noordam had a Rolling Stone Rock Lounge, and the band was AMAZING.  Dueling Pianos have mixed sets of 70's, 80's etc, and Lincoln Center is always class.

While we decided that we were not HAL fans on our cruise.  We raved about the music venues.  We gave up on the shows and just concentrated on dancing the night away.  Only issue was that they were so popular, seating was difficult to find.  We solved that by dancing to rock and roll, then dashing over to get a seat at dueling pianos before the crowds arrived.  For some reason, we were always able to get a seat at  B.B. Kings.  We thought the performers were the best.  We did find that the theatre on E  Class Celebrity Ships is the best venue currently offered at sea.  The shows were amazing.  

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, Nashna said:

While we decided that we were not HAL fans on our cruise.  We raved about the music venues.  We gave up on the shows and just concentrated on dancing the night away.  Only issue was that they were so popular, seating was difficult to find.  We solved that by dancing to rock and roll, then dashing over to get a seat at dueling pianos before the crowds arrived.  For some reason, we were always able to get a seat at  B.B. Kings.  We thought the performers were the best.  We did find that the theatre on E  Class Celebrity Ships is the best venue currently offered at sea.  The shows were amazing.  

I don’t like E class theatre, and  didn’t care much for the production shows 

[MISTER 67]

We sail mostly with HAL, Celebrity and Princess and IMHO all 3 lines have great ships but bottom line we prefer the smaller Vista and Signature Class ships of HAL and Celebrity's Infinity and Equinox.

[phoenix_dream]

On 10/24/2022 at 4:59 PM, ShelleyQT said:

 

It's always a bummer when someone gives their opinion, especially when the OP has asked for opinions, and other people tear them apart for their views.  😞 

Sometimes you can't win for losin' on these boards as the saying goes.  Describe an issue or a problem and you are a complainer who is never satisfied.  Defend Celebrity and you get called a Celebrity cheerleader.  

[NMTraveller]

9 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

What?  Then why do you come to CC?  Maybe you only come for my witty humor,

This.

[Ipeeinthepools]

1 hour ago, NMTraveller said:

This.

 

You're not alone.

[C4HCG]

7 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Sometimes you can't win for losin' on these boards as the saying goes.  Describe an issue or a problem and you are a complainer who is never satisfied.  Defend Celebrity and you get called a Celebrity cheerleader.  

😂as the OP we know that the only way to really find out is to try HAL ourselves but good to see the conflicting views, if we were all the same the world would stop. Plan is to stick with the Equinox for the foreseeable as not prepared or ready to spend money on a ship we may not like. And before the challenge of why the Equinox and not other Celebrity ships, we combine cruises with Orlando and / or Fort Lauderdale stays and only want to cruise in the summer, if other Celebrity ships were available we’d consider them but they’re not and we love the old Nox.

[Ipeeinthepools]

2 hours ago, C4HCG said:

😂as the OP we know that the only way to really find out is to try HAL ourselves but good to see the conflicting views, if we were all the same the world would stop. Plan is to stick with the Equinox for the foreseeable as not prepared or ready to spend money on a ship we may not like. And before the challenge of why the Equinox and not other Celebrity ships, we combine cruises with Orlando and / or Fort Lauderdale stays and only want to cruise in the summer, if other Celebrity ships were available we’d consider them but they’re not and we love the old Nox.

 

This sounds like a nice plan.  So if you plan on continuing to sail the Equinox in the summer, then it appears your plan is to sail the Caribbean in the summer and HAL really isn't an option.  From my perspective, I enjoy longer cruises and Celebrity is continuing to make themselves less attractive.  For the summer in the Caribbean next year, they only offer 6 and 8-day cruises.  If you want to try HAL, perhaps a summer European trip could be an option that invests less time and money.

 

In any case, enjoy your summer Caribbean trips.

[C4HCG]

11 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

This sounds like a nice plan.  So if you plan on continuing to sail the Equinox in the summer, then it appears your plan is to sail the Caribbean in the summer and HAL really isn't an option.  From my perspective, I enjoy longer cruises and Celebrity is continuing to make themselves less attractive.  For the summer in the Caribbean next year, they only offer 6 and 8-day cruises.  If you want to try HAL, perhaps a summer European trip could be an option that invests less time and money.

 

In any case, enjoy your summer Caribbean trips.

Never looked at HAL itineraries to be honest so didn’t realise they didn’t do summer Caribbean and being from the UK, want to explore more of the Caribbean until we look to cruise Europe. With you on longer cruises, we did the 10 night Southern Caribbean one this year and would love to repeat it next year but as you say, not on offer. There are loads of gaps in the calendar for Equinox though but I understand from a previous threads these will be weeks where there are charter / private bookings. We have booked the best available for us next year which is an 8 day eastern Caribbean with some destinations that are new to us.

 

and thanks for the good wishes, you enjoy your cruises too 👍

Edited October 27, 2022 by C4HCG

[Ex-Airbalancer]

3 hours ago, C4HCG said:

😂as the OP we know that the only way to really find out is to try HAL ourselves but good to see the conflicting views, if we were all the same the world would stop. Plan is to stick with the Equinox for the foreseeable as not prepared or ready to spend money on a ship we may not like. And before the challenge of why the Equinox and not other Celebrity ships, we combine cruises with Orlando and / or Fort Lauderdale stays and only want to cruise in the summer, if other Celebrity ships were available we’d consider them but they’re not and we love the old Nox.

That is funny , the last thing we want to do is spend time in Florida and cruise the Caribbean

We have done a couple of Caribbean ports on a TA cruise and decide that was enough 

if we want to do a Caribbean/ Central American trip we will do a land trip 

Also wouldnt visit the area in the Summer months as Ontario is pretty nice in the Summer months 😁

 

[C4HCG]

16 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

That is funny , the last thing we want to do is spend time in Florida and cruise the Caribbean

We have done a couple of Caribbean ports on a TA cruise and decide that was enough 

if we want to do a Caribbean/ Central American trip we will do a land trip 

Also wouldnt visit the area in the Summer months as Ontario is pretty nice in the Summer months 😁

 

😃did Disney for years until the kids grow up and still enjoy the Orlando area.

 

We would love to do Hawaii but not seen a Celebrity cruise that suited us - too many days at sea either end. Would prefer a cruise that starts and finishes in the islands. But that’s for future years too. 

[zanderblue]

In my own mind, I think of the HAL ships being more wood and brass, whereas X ships are more stainless steel and glass.

We have been almost exclusive with X over the last 15 years or so, but have recently booked a cruise with princess for next March. A few factors involved in that decision; departure port convenience, deal with Princess and erosion of X elite benefits means we have less to lose.

I will feedback our thoughts………

[Nashna]

On 10/23/2022 at 11:13 PM, julia said:

Oh thank goodness I don't have to deal with you on my next HAL cruise!  We've had wonderful MDR's, excellent food, great service, and great entertainment EVERY TIME on HAL.

Thank you for your input.  I find it odd that some folks take it as a personal insult if others do not agree with their taste in clothes, movies, cruise lines, etc.  The reason there are so many options in cruising today is that people have different tastes and expectations.  Because I don't like what you like does not mean that your likes are not valuable.  It's perfectly ok for folks to disagree.  The important thing is to do it respectfully.  If I met you on a HAL cruise, I would be positive.  I find it disrespectful to complain to total strangers.  If I asked you, how you were enjoying the cruise and you told me that you were thoroughly enjoying the cruise, I would agree and bring up the positives.  The original poster wanted to know the difference between Holland America and Celebrity.  I gave them my opinion because they asked.  

[Ipeeinthepools]

11 minutes ago, Nashna said:

Thank you for your input.  I find it odd that some folks take it as a personal insult if others do not agree with their taste in clothes, movies, cruise lines, etc.  The reason there are so many options in cruising today is that people have different tastes and expectations.  Because I don't like what you like does not mean that your likes are not valuable.  It's perfectly ok for folks to disagree.  The important thing is to do it respectfully.  If I met you on a HAL cruise, I would be positive.  I find it disrespectful to complain to total strangers.  If I asked you, how you were enjoying the cruise and you told me that you were thoroughly enjoying the cruise, I would agree and bring up the positives.  The original poster wanted to know the difference between Holland America and Celebrity.  I gave them my opinion because they asked.  

 

Excellent advice.  Hopefully we'll get a chance to meet by the pool one of these days.  I'm sure we would have a nice chat.

[MarkWiltonM]

On 10/26/2022 at 11:44 AM, julia said:

What's great about the music on HAL?  The level of talent!  The bands that play in their BB Kings club are enormously good, across the fleet. The Noordam had a Rolling Stone Rock Lounge, and the band was AMAZING.  Dueling Pianos have mixed sets of 70's, 80's etc, and Lincoln Center is always class.

 

It's very subjective, but we have not found the rock band or the dueling pianos or the blues band (mostly pop, not blues) to be very good on our last three HAL cruises. The Lincoln Center classical musicians are a little better, but that's also uneven depending on the cruise. 

 

We have enjoyed some of the roving singer-songwriter-type musicians on Celebrity, and a couple of Celebrity's "house" bands that perform nightly in the atrium on the S-class ships.

 

We like HAL's Pinnacle class ships a lot, regardless. But we don't partake of much entertainment on cruises.

Edited October 28, 2022 by MarkWiltonM

[zgscl]

We sail in suites and that is one of the things that has held us back from switching. A sky suite is a downgrade from a Neptune (in terms of the cabin, not necessarily in terms of the perks) and a Celebrity Suite or Royal Suite is about the same in terms of size but very different layout. Price wise I’ve always found SS to be somewhat higher than a Neptune and CS/RS to be much higher. It never really made sense to me to switch. What finally convinced me was getting a fantastic price on a Royal Suite solo cruise that I absolutely could not pass up. My mom ended up deciding to join me and she will be in a sky suite down the hall. So we will get a chance to compare both.