Trying Holland America Line-Ms Rotterdam

[JGCRUISE0507]

I have a cruise booked in October on Rotterdam doing 12 Nights to the Caribbean/Panama Canal. Frequent Celebrity Cruises with 22 completed cruises with them. I am little apprehensive to try something new since I am so used to sailing with Celebrity. What do you think? Stay with Celebrity or cimmit to this sailing, final payment is next month. The cruise isn't cheap either, lol. Thank You for your input.

 

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by JGCRUISE0507

[CNSJ]

I suggest keeping your HAL booking, and would recommend keeping a first Celebrity booking if you had this situation backwards.  Trying new cruise lines helps you to either appreciate your favorite line more, or potentially find a new favorite.

 

We have cruised Royal caribbean (smaller ships only - no waterslides!), and Celebrity (not the new Apex ships though) and find HAL to be our sweet spot. that said, if entertainment is your thing, you may find Hal not your cup of tea.  We cruise HAL for clean, safe, well maintained ships with the best crew/service.

 

I think you will enjoy the Rotterdam (we have sailed her twice)

[JGCRUISE0507]

Hi CNSJ, entertainment is not important to me. Food and Service are. I been cruising Celebrity since I was 14 so I am quite familiar with the line and attached to it as well, almost feel like I am cheating. However, the Rotterdam in videos looks great and I think it will be nice to compare Celebrity to another premium line. I did sail on the Veendam in 2008 however I don't remember much of the cruise.

[81Zoomie]

Variety is the spice of life!  We have found it’s nice to mix it up every once in a while.  Hope you get to experience HAL’s tranquil private island Half Moon Cay.  The beach has fine white sand, crystal clear stunning water, and is very relaxing. Celebrity and HAL each have their strengths and weaknesses.  Go with an open mind and enjoy the sea breezes!

[JGCRUISE0507]

Thank You!

[BermudaBound2014]

47 minutes ago, JGCRUISE0507 said:

 I think it will be nice to compare Celebrity to another premium line.

 

I don't consider HAL nor Celebrity to be premium lines. Especially post-covid. 

 

The only way to compare Celebrity to HAL is if you have sailed both post covid and within a short time span.  I sailed Celebrity several months ago and the financial strain on the company was evident. I suspect the same can be said for HAL. Policies keep changing rapidly. It's a new game.

 

With that, overall I've found all cruise lines to be more similar than different. I have zero brand loyalty and believe there are things that each of the cruise lines excel at. 

[YourWorldWithBill]

8 hours ago, JGCRUISE0507 said:

Hi CNSJ, entertainment is not important to me. Food and Service are. I 

My prediction is that you'll find the service on HAL worth making a switch and giving them a chance.

[Mary229]

If the itinerary is unique stay with HAL.  If not you may want to stay with celebrity.  I have sailed the Caribbean numerous times on a  variety of lines.  Though we really like HAL I can’t say HAL was particularly special in the Caribbean.  I sailed once on a bargain they offered to me as a “kiss and make up” and that was just ok and I sailed through the Caribbean from South America with them and that was much better.  So again, if the itinerary is special you have made a good choice, if not go with what you are comfortable with. 

[shipshape sam]

We sailed HAL's Rotterdam this past March (HAL's newest ship) and liked it so much we have booked the Rotterdam again on the same/similar itinerary as you have.  We have sailed Celebrity and Royal a lot and wanted to try a newer ship.  We also sailed Celebrity Beyond (their newest ship) in January.  I personally was intrigued by the entertainment area and I got a great experience.  Loved the music EVERY night for most of the evening vs  other ships having musical entertainment a few nights and limited in length.  You could go see a show and most likely  before and after the show go listen to live music. 

 

Wishing you a great experience on the Rotterdam VII.

Edited June 5, 2023 by shipshape sam

[montythecat]

Of our thirty or so cruises half have been with Celebrity (Elite plus) with

the other 50% being a mixture. We have recently dipped our toes in

the HAL pond Nieuw Statendam (1) and Oosterdam (2) and loved every

moment. Taking any aspect of these three cruises we think HAL is

superior to Celebrity. We much prefer the designs and layouts of

the newer Holland America Pinnacle and Vista class ships. I can only
echo the views of Shipshape Sam when it comes to talking about

entertainment and music on the newer, larger (but not too large) ships.

The highlights for us have the rock band and the two pianos. Apart

from having dinner that is where we spent most of our evenings.  It

seems to me that. HAL is the only cruise line which has realised

that a rock band, a blues /soul band and pianos playing a variety

of popular music is more to some people’s tastes than theatre

productions.

 So, I would say to the OP, give HAL a go. We have certainly had 

very good times on Celebrity but do feel it has become somewhat

stale.  If you continue with your Rotterdam booking I do hope you

enjoy it.

 

 

[JGCRUISE0507]

Thank you so much for your valued feedback, as a loyal customer of Celebrity since 1999 and 23 Celebrity Cruises I am hesitant to try something new, but I think I will give HAL a try in October.

 

Thanks again,

 

Jonathan

[lauriek]

We are Ellite with Celebrity and have 31 days booked this fall on the Koningsdsam.  Last year we sailed to Alaska on HAL then did the next week on the Eclipse.  I have to book Aqua on Celebrity because of Blu and booked Club Orange on HAL.  We really enjoyed Club Orange and Blu felt not off but not as enjoyable!  We are doing B2B in Alaska then a 17 day to Hawaii, with one airfair.  

I think you will enjoy the Rotterdam and the new library.

Laurie

Michigan also!

[YourWorldWithBill]

Another note: you chose the right ship! We thought there was a big difference between the Rotterdam and an older HAL ship we had sailed on. Some like the older ships, but we felt that many things were better.

[RMLincoln]

I don’t understand why, after cruising Celebrity twenty+ times, you booked HAL. Why didn’t you stick with Celebrity?  What attracted you to HAL?  Only you can answer that. 
 

Most cruisers on this HAL  forum have cruises on HAL. Some are new and ask about specifics. But we all have things we like and things we don’t like on HAL and other lines that many of us have cruised on. 
 

If you have specifics you’d like compared, this group will give it our best shot. But for us to guess why you booked HAL instead of Celebrity, and what makes you hesitate is a stretch. Did I miss something?  Maybe I did. 
 

We like Celebrity too. But what do YOU need?  
Maureen

[shipshape sam]

1 hour ago, lauriek said:

We are Ellite with Celebrity and have 31 days booked this fall on the Koningsdsam.  Last year we sailed to Alaska on HAL then did the next week on the Eclipse.  I have to book Aqua on Celebrity because of Blu and booked Club Orange on HAL.  We really enjoyed Club Orange and Blu felt not off but not as enjoyable!  We are doing B2B in Alaska then a 17 day to Hawaii, with one airfair.  

I think you will enjoy the Rotterdam and the new library.

Laurie

Michigan also!

What did you like about Club Orange?  How is the dining better.different than MDR.  We walked pass the dining area every evening on our way to MDR from the Half Moon bar.  Not sure the cost either, but assume it is based on length of Cruise.  Any info would be appreciated.  Thinking it might be a nice surprise for DW.🙂

[shipshape sam]

2 minutes ago, RMLincoln said:

I don’t understand why, after cruising Celebrity twenty+ times, you booked HAL. Why didn’t you stick with Celebrity?  What attracted you to HAL?  Only you can answer that. 
 

Most cruisers on this HAL  forum have cruises on HAL. Some are new and ask about specifics. But we all have things we like and things we don’t like on HAL and other lines that many of us have cruised on. 
 

If you have specifics you’d like compared, this group will give it our best shot. But for us to guess why you booked HAL instead of Celebrity, and what makes you hesitate is a stretch. Did I miss something?  Maybe I did. 
 

We like Celebrity too. But what do YOU need?  
Maureen

I can give you why we (have sailed on Celebrity 10 times (with many 14/15 sailings) and Royal 17 times with 2 more Royal already booked plus Carnival and Princess cruises taken, sailed on Rotterdam VII.  We wanted to try something different and our TA mention Rotterdam and he himself having not sailing HAL in years and was impressed with Rotterdam and I was intrigued by the entertainment area with live music every night and not just a couple of performances, we had non stop music most nights. We also tried other aspects of HAL with some better than Celebrity and some not better, but it was not a pure better/not better comparison.  For us it was the differences/variations.  Just like if you sail a Celebrity E class vs  S class vs M class.  Different but still good. We had sailed HAL in mid 2000's on Westerdam and Zuiderdam, so we had previously sailed HAL.

[YourWorldWithBill]

3 hours ago, shipshape sam said:

What did you like about Club Orange?  How is the dining better.different than MDR.  We walked pass the dining area every evening on our way to MDR from the Half Moon bar.  Not sure the cost either, but assume it is based on length of Cruise.  Any info would be appreciated.  Thinking it might be a nice surprise for DW.🙂

On our recent cruise on Rotterdam we had CO because of our Neptune cabin, but my cousins paid for it and said they felt it was worth it. Just a bunch of small things about how comfortable it was to have the CO dining room with a bit of extra attention, some priority boarding and tender access, a concierge by phone, etc.