Just booked Rotterdam, excited to see differences from Celebrity

[Smmessineo]

Hi everyone!

I'm a Celebrity regular, we have 8 cruises booked with them from now through spring of 2025. 

I always keep an eye on other lines, but no matter how great ships look on some popular cruise lines ( like the Carnival Celebration) there's always downsides that keep us from sailing with them. 

Too many kids, too many teens, too many obnoxious adults,  lousy areas for us degenerate cigar smokers, too huge ships, etc. But thanks to research and helpful advice on the smoking thread here, I booked the Rotterdam for March 29, 2024. 

We sailed on HAL Westerdam to the Baltics back in 2005 and it was glorious! I don't know why it has taken us so long to rediscover this line.

Honestly, Celebrity is worrying me with cuts to MDR menu and rising costs of sailings and drink packages. 

I'm looking forward to reading this board and finding out more about Holland America. I always love to learn everything I can about my upcoming cruises  , all the best food and drink items, the secret spots, that sort of thing😀

 

[sailawayward]

I'd recommend joining the Roll Call for your sailing. We sailed on the Rotterdam in June of this year and will again in February 2024.

[Boatharbour]

4 hours ago, Smmessineo said:

Honestly, Celebrity is worrying me with cuts to MDR menu and rising costs of sailings and drink packages. 

I'm looking forward to reading this board and finding out more about Holland America. I always love to learn everything I can about my upcoming cruises  , all the best food and drink items, the secret spots, that sort of thing😀

We’re in the same boat so to speak. Have only ever sailed Celebrity but have now booked our first HAL cruise in May 2025 for the same reasons as you. I’m enjoying reading the posts on this board. 

[jules815]

Same boat here. Love Celebrity, took a detour for the past 3 cruises and sailed with MSC (Caribbean) in their Yacht Club and loved it. Don't love the entire ship though and as nice as the Yacht Club is, we miss really enjoying the rest of the ship. We'll be on Nieuw Statendam in April for a transatlantic crossing to Rotterdam. We're both really excited to try HAL. 

[FloatSomeMore]

It must be in the water!  We will sail with HAL to Hawaii in January 2024.  This will be our first cruise with them in years.  We still cruise with Celebrity, we leave next month for a transatlantic crossing.  We also have gone back to Regent and look forward to returning to Crystal now that they have been purchased.  Our last couple of Celebrity cruises have been fine, not outstanding.  We have cruised with them in many different categories, our favorite is the suite/Retreat.  Their pricing for suites now are about equal to Regent and Regent provides air and shore excursions.  I'm glad we have choices.  Looking forward to revisiting some past choices.

[islandgirlejfan]

We are going to be *jumping ship* from Celebrity and will be sailing on HAL Rotterdam in January....we are looking forward to seeing how we like it.  I just made final payment today.  We are in an aft cabin for 9 days with all the perks for the same price that Celebrity wanted for 7 days.  We are considering a TA on HAL or Cunard, haven't decided which yet.  It's a bucket list thing.  I watched a YouTube couple today give their thoughts on the Rotterdam and HAL, so we are feeling pretty good that it will be a good fit for us! 

[Smmessineo]

We're on the Equinox October 22, I'm interested in seeing if X feels different since our last cruise, the Equinox last December. But I think our best  comparison will be I've got 14 days on the brand new Celebrity Ascent in January, then 9 days on the Rotterdam in March.  

From everything I've read, I'm guessing HAL will be at least a good option to mix in with our Celebrity cruises ...and maybe even a replacement.

I'll miss the martini bar though...

[islandgirlejfan]

17 minutes ago, Smmessineo said:

We're on the Equinox October 22, I'm interested in seeing if X feels different since our last cruise, the Equinox last December. But I think our best  comparison will be I've got 14 days on the brand new Celebrity Ascent in January, then 9 days on the Rotterdam in March.  

From everything I've read, I'm guessing HAL will be at least a good option to mix in with our Celebrity cruises ...and maybe even a replacement.

I'll miss the martini bar though...

We love the Martini Bar.....we usually have before dinner drinks there.  Our last cruise was on the Edge last year when we went to Europe last summer.  Had an aft stateroom....it was wonderful and a great end to traveling all over for 20 days!  Our cruise was lovely and encountered a lot of wonderful people, but this year we are just very uninspired by the itineraries being offered to the Caribbean.  I'm at the point that it's ok to try new things.  The couple on YouTube reminded me a lot of my husband and myself, so I feel it's going to be a good match! 🙂  

[cruising sister]

I had my 2nd HAL cruise in May (my first HAL cruise was in 2013).  I had mainly cruised Royal than Celebrity. I chose the May cruise for it’s  itinerary and loved the ship and people. I have two more booked (94 days and 35 days). Celebrity is not offering the cruises I want so I found them somewhere else. 

[Haljo1935]

3 hours ago, Boatharbour said:

We’re in the same boat so to speak. Have only ever sailed Celebrity but have now booked our first HAL cruise in May 2025 for the same reasons as you. I’m enjoying reading the posts on this board. 

Welcome to HAL!!

[jules815]

26 minutes ago, islandgirlejfan said:

very uninspired by the itineraries being offered to the Caribbean.

This is us. We just did a 2 week eastern/western Caribbean itinerary and feel so burned out by those ports. Really looking forward to our crossing in April. All new ports and a cooler weather cruise.

[PalmSprings]

7 hours ago, Smmessineo said:

I always love to learn everything I can about my upcoming cruises  , all the best food and drink items, the secret spots, that sort of thing😀

Welcome to HAL. 

 

A couple of favorites we love on the pinnacle ships are the speciality restaurants Rudi’s and Tamarind. 

 

The ships have recently embraced the pickle ball craze in a big way, so if you are a fan, you’ll be able to get lots of fresh air and exercise on the court.

 

 There are many places to relax and read a book or just chill - I personally love Ocean Bar, and found the coffee and treats at the Grand Dutch Cafe to be really great.

 

 Enjoy your cruise!!

[shipshape sam]

Having sailed a lot of Celebrity cruises and overall loved the early ones and not so much the most recent ones (in comparison)  Still liked them.  Last Celebrity was in January 2023 on Beyond and then in March 2023 we sailed Rotterdam.  For us, it was great.  I really liked the music (Live bands/pianos) that were playing each night and all evening, not just one set.  Rock and Roll, Blues, and two pianos.  Out of our 11 day sailing I would guess 7 of the nights had all 3 groups playing those nights, usually 45 minute sets with 45 minutes off.  The blues band had a completely separate location next to the area where the rock and roll bank and the two pianos played.  I say all the above to say, we have now booked again on Rotterdam for an early 2025 cruise.  We were thinking of Ascent, but have pushed that option out to a later year.  They still do some production shows (I think) but we never went to one.  We were listening to live music almost every night and it was great. Everyone seemed to be having a great time and for sure there was a lot of the audience singing along!

 

Still missed cafe bacio and all the choices there.  Rotterdam has a very nice one too, just more limited in desserts. They also had a New York style deli and I did not find it till day 4 and then it was hard not go back there for lunch for great corn beef everyday. 

 

I wish everyone a great NEXT cruise.

[horseymike]

On 10/2/2023 at 8:36 PM, Smmessineo said:

We're on the Equinox October 22, I'm interested in seeing if X feels different since our last cruise, the Equinox last December. But I think our best  comparison will be I've got 14 days on the brand new Celebrity Ascent in January, then 9 days on the Rotterdam in March.  

From everything I've read, I'm guessing HAL will be at least a good option to mix in with our Celebrity cruises ...and maybe even a replacement.

I'll miss the martini bar though...

I will be looking forward to your observations on Equinox as we are booked on her Nov 30.

Hope you have a great cruise 🚢 

[shipshape sam]

On 10/2/2023 at 9:38 PM, PalmSprings said:

Welcome to HAL. 

 

A couple of favorites we love on the pinnacle ships are the speciality restaurants Rudi’s and Tamarind. 

 

The ships have recently embraced the pickle ball craze in a big way, so if you are a fan, you’ll be able to get lots of fresh air and exercise on the court.

 

 There are many places to relax and read a book or just chill - I personally love Ocean Bar, and found the coffee and treats at the Grand Dutch Cafe to be really great.

 

 Enjoy your cruise!!

Rudi's is great.  Plan to go there a couple of times on next Rotterdam cruise.  Tamarind, for me okay, couple with us love it as did DW. Will have to check out Pickleball.  Never played it, but I understand they have some lessons

Edited October 5, 2023 by shipshape sam

[donandmelissa]

Pre-Covid, I felt like Celebrity and HAL were pretty much similar in quality and value. Post-Covid, HAL has been much better for us than Celebrity.  HAL has better service, better food, and better music, and you don’t need to book a suite to get them.  Loved our last TA on Nieuw Statendam and we are doing two more TA in 2924 and 2025.  Don’t get me wrong. Celebrity is fine. It just isn’t as good as HAL. YMMV. 

[jules815]

5 hours ago, donandmelissa said:

 Loved our last TA on Nieuw Statendam

Our first HAL cruise is going to be a TA on Nieuw Statendam in April. We're both very excited!

[Jazzy33]

Some information to those new on the Rotterdam and HAL in general. Cigar smoking is only allowed on deck nine by the sea view pool on the starboard side. No cigar or pipe smoking is allowed anywhere inside the ship.

 

The difference between Holland America, and celebrity cruises is that the clientele is a bit older, and therefore the offering of activities and entertainment are geared to an older set. The first thing to realize is, there are no production shows. They have a very good dance troop, and they have other entertainment like comedians and magicians on board. They also have guest speakers and lecturers covering different topics and depending on the location, they will also have cultural ambassadors to talk about the various locations that you will be visiting. For instance, if you take an Alaskan cruise with Holland America, you will get a naturalist on board to help you with wildlife that you will be experiencing. 
 

The other thing you will notice is that things start a bit earlier in the morning, than on other cruise lines, and by about midnight, most things are quiet and over. 
 

I have been on all three pinnacle class, Holland America, cruise ships, including the Rotterdam just a few weeks ago. In my opinion the food on this cruise line is much better than you will experience on celebrity, royal Caribbean or other lines. I would recommend, however, getting the club orange upgrade as there is a specific separate more intimate dining room for club orange guests In my opinion it’s well worth the extra cost of $25 per day per person.  They only sell access to club orange for a limited number of people so if you want to do it, you had better book it as soon as you can. After they have sold out or after you have boarded, they will not let you book club orange. The other advantage to club orange is that if you buy a restricted balcony, you will be automatically upgraded to the highest balcony available in that class. The other thing is at customer service. There is a specific line for club orange inquiries, this avoids the long lines if you have a question also, be aware that club orange gets your priority to board and to disembark. 
 

If you’d like to shop on board ship, Holland America has a much smaller offering than the other lines, but it is upgraded and they sell mostly only quality items. 
 

One last tip for new Holland America pinnacle class cruisers is don’t forget to make use of the grand Dutch Café. It is a gem not found on other lines best of luck, and I look forward to seeing you on deck.

[mailmama]

Thank you for that info from a first time HAL cruiser next May! 

[vicd1969]

3 hours ago, Jazzy33 said:

I would recommend, however, getting the club orange upgrade as there is a specific separate more intimate dining room for club orange guests In my opinion it’s well worth the extra cost of $25 per day per person.  They only sell access to club orange for a limited number of people so if you want to do it, you had better book it as soon as you can. After they have sold out or after you have boarded, they will not let you book club orange.

Another strong vote for CO on Pinnacle class ships, especially the Rotterdam. One disadavantage of the Pinnacle class ships is their lower space-to-passenger ratio, which means a far more crowded and less pleasant MDR experience for those who get anytime-dining. This can be avoided by getting Club orange and its dedicated dining room, sort of like Luminae or Blu on Celebrity. It is about 90% same menu as MDR, though with lower risk of luke-warm food.

[Jazzy33]

The other plus for Club Orange is you can make requests for special additions and deletions on dishes and they will be able to do it with delay or issue and the food comes hot. 

[OlsSalt]

When you sailed HAL in 2005, it was mainly very small ship and indeed was glorious.  Today the larger ships lose much of that former HAL small ship comfort, so be prepared.  You will have a very different HAL experience this time on the ship you chose.  But it may still be in good competition with Celebrity.