Celebrity vs. HAL

[Zigster]

Hello Everyone - My 1st time on the HAL board. My DH and I have always cruised with Celebrity. This December will be our 11th. Would appreciate your help in deciding if we should give HAL a try. We love the experience of cruising more than what ports we travel to. Love dressing for dinner (not seeing people in the DR dressed casually on formal night) and a table for 2 (are they hard to come by). In your opinion is HAL a step up or equal to Celebrity. What wonderful things can you tell me about HAL? Thanks for your help.

Patty

[venicecruiser]

I used to be an X fan, but not any more. I got off Volendam 2 weeks ago after not sailing on HAL for about 4 years. The Volendam cruise was great! I had no complaints..........Celebrity has slipped quite a bit in my opinion.

 

Claudia

[RuthC]

Welcome to the HAL board, Zigster. You will find us a rowdy, but delightful bunch.

I've never sailed brand X, but have extensive days on HAL. And I've read everything on this board that compares/contrasts the two. Most posters are in agreement that Celebrity and HAL are comparable. For some the food on one is better; for others, it's the other line. It's subjective anyway.

The atmosphere on HAL is that of a traditional cruiseline. There is wood and brass everywhere; fine artwork is found all around the ship. There are fresh flowers---even in the public restrooms!, and cloth towels there, too.

The service is friendly, while not pushy. I love that the lounge stewards remember my name, drink preference, and cabin number after only one visit. Even when they run into you on another ship years later!

I'm certain that posters who have been on both lines will respond.

I'm also certain that if you do decide to sail HAL you will have a fine time.

[Spender Nui]

There was a time I would have told you HAL was better by far. I don't feel that way any longer. While HAL may have slipped a little, Celebrity has improved. I was on the Maasdam last month and the Infinity last October. I've sailed 19 times on HAL and 23 on Celebrity. They are both excellent lines and I think if you enjoy one you will probably enjoy the other

[flashdog_1]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=317847

 

I also wrote a review which you can read on CC, reviews, Veendam/member reviews.

[SANDY BEACH]

We also sail Celebrity and Holland and enjoy both. I think the European service on Celebrity is a little more formal. I use to say food on Celebrity was better but now I think they are about equal. My opinion is if you like Celebrity you will probbly enjoy your Holland cruise. Give it a try. It's the only way to find out. Enjoy!!

[dakrewser]

There's a long thread at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=231778 comparing HAL & X in general, the Infinity & The Oosterdam in particular...

[iceman93]

As a HAL loyalist, it's tough to say what's going to come next. But if you're happy with X, and you must be to have cruised them that many times, I would say to stick with what you know you like.

 

You may or may not enjoy HAL. Are you willing to take that chance on your 11th anniversary cruise? I certainly wouldn't be willing to take a gamble like that on X, even given that many people here say the two lines are roughly equivalent.

 

Maybe you're more adventurous than me. Maybe there have been little things that bother you about X that make you want to search out greener pastures elsewhere. I could tell you all kinds of wonderful things about HAL (including the fact that I've always gotten the table size, even for 2, that I've requested), but I don't think that would really sway your decision.

 

Let me throw it back at you: why are you considering giving HAL a try after so many X cruises?

[bepsf]

I just received my tix for my first X cruise on Mercury this week.

 

I must say that the documentation packaging is nowhere near as impressive as with HAL as the whole thing is in a spiral-bound booklet - rather like something one might recieve as a presentation in a staff meeting at the office - instead of the navy vinyl pouch with enclosed booklets that encompass HAL's cruise documents (which is so handy to keep additional items in like one's passport/identification, etc.)

 

In addition, the pages of X's booklet that one uses for credit card check-in, gift order form, and contact info to leave at home for friends and family are pages that one rips out of the book, and the insert for shore excursions is a part of this whole deal too, so by the time one arrives at the ship, one's ticket book could be a marked up, dog-eared, tattered mess...

 

The luggage tags from X, while I'm sure are quite effective w/ one's name and stateroom number pre-printed, look very much like something that an airline would slap on your bags rather than the elegant hangtags that HAL uses: something that you'd want to save and keep in a scrapbook.

 

From the looks of this thing, I feel less like I have tickets for an adventure at sea and more like I have fairly well-organized kit to a business conference (Yawn)...

[Ine]

We have sailed both HAL and X. Just recently returned from Summit to Hawaii. Although I have read reports about quality of food etc., I must honestly say we had great food and fantastic service. We had a great time.We simply chose X because on this cruise their price was very good.

 

We really love them both.

 

Nobody and no cruise company is perfect. On both lines we notice small things that can be better. However not important to us to spoil the cruise.

 

Next cruise might be HAL again, depending on itinary and price.

[caviargal]

I am recently off ZUI and have several cruises on both lines, my most recent on Mercury last October.

 

I really like the M class ships on H for decor, layout and sheer beauty. I did not find ZUI at all to be a pretty ship, although the art work was really lovely and some of the public areas very appealing.

 

ZUI has great beds and linens, the best yet on a cruise ship IME.

 

I prefer the food in the main dining room and the Lido on X (on ZUI the lido was crowded feeling, mostly due to design) and I really enjoy the Aqua Star cafe for a quiet and healthy light breakfast and lunch. The dining room service is better on X and the staff trained in the European style. We had very few meals in the main dining room for that reason and stuck to the Pinnacle Grill and Room Service for most meals.

 

I also prefer the Thassolotheraphy pool fitness facitites, gym and sauna on X, as well as the live music for dancing in the evenings.

 

I enjoyed my SB suite on HAL and the perks that came with it. We only used the Neptune a few times but did not find it particularly appealing. In the mornings it was a hangout for unsuperivsed kids who had the cartoons turned up and were sprawled all over the counches.

 

I found the housekeeping to be excellent on ZUI, the staff warm and responsive (except for the front desk who were consistenly inept), and the senior management team to be visible and involved.

 

I found the quality and selection in the gift shops disappointing on HAL, not so on X.

 

For my personal tastes, I would choose an M class ship on X over a HAL ship but definitely intend to be back aboard HAL. I had a large group with my this past trip and we received excelllent service in terms of our meetings and functions, the best yet on any of our cruises. I have booked them on HAL for 2007 as well.

 

But, for my own vacation, it would be Celebrity.

[Zigster]

Thank you to everyone for your response. Good question iceman93, but honestly, we don't have a good reason for considering giving HAL a try other than we thought perhaps we were missing out on something better. We really do love X and haven't had a bad cruise yet. Were just looking for something to compare it to. As with everything, there's good & bad for both lines. I'll read the reviews that you have pointed out to me and then go from there. Again, thank you for your input - you really are a great group! :)

[boomerSexyK]

We've only cruised once before....on X's Constellation last Nov (Sky Suite). Enjoyed it very much and when we got off we figured we were X-type pax for life. However, ta-da ... checking prices we have found that HAL seems to promise a similar cruise experience for less $$$. We have booked Zuiderdam for Nov in a SY cabin. Cabin appears to be larger than our Sky Suite was although we are doing without the Concierge service. Not that we used our butler all that much anyways. It'll be interesting to compare the various "cruising factors" on the two lines.

[C 2 C]

We really love them both.

 

Nobody and no cruise company is perfect. On both lines we notice small things that can be better. However not important to us to spoil the cruise.

 

Next cruise might be HAL again, depending on itinary and price.

 

Absolute agrreement. We have cruised a lot on both and find them comparable. We really like the Transatlantics though and Celebrity normally has better pricing. We had the opportunity to sail on Veendam and Zenith in January February 2005 when both ships experienced the dreaded Norwalk. Although food and service were similar, the communication on HAL was better and the organization and reaction to the situation more professional. I would not hesitate to cruise on either line and base my choice on price and itinerary.

[SandyMc]

We were, unfortunately, on one of the dreaded X "bleach" ships in March (our only X experience) but I will try to give an unclouded opinion.

 

We felt the Celebrity Mercury was not nearly as friendly or classy as either the Maasdam or Volendam. We also felt the food was not nearly as good in the buffet. The dining room on Celebrity was excellent but no better than what we had experienced on HAL.

 

The biggest difference was the size of the cabins. Mercury cabins were quite a bit smaller than similar cabins we had on HAL. (However the shower was wonderful!)

 

HAL is justifiably famous for its bedding and should be! It is far superior to Celebrity.

 

I understand there are people absolutely devoted to specific cruise lines but we have tried numerous lines and have always found something to like about each. So - try something new and enjoy!

[Cauvet]

I have been on HAL many more times than X, but have done both to Hawaii. The itinerary and ambiance on board the Statendam was better than X, but I have to say the food and accommodations were better on X. We had a Celebrity Suite which couldn't have been more perfect for this cruise and still cost less than what we paid for a Cat B on the Statendam, plus we had a butler. And then there is the Martini Bar on X--fabulous. One last thing, the crowd on X were much more our age. Being mid 50's, we found ourselves being about the youngest on the Statendam. We had a very large group that responded to the "Roll Call" board and met a group of very interesting people and we are still keeping our thread alive. Finally, things were more intuned to the "boomers". Oh, one last thing. RCI and X have a reciprocal agreement with their Crown and Ancho and Captains Club and even though this was our 2nd X cruise, since we were Diamond C and A's, we still reaped all the benefits and there were many.

[C 2 C]

Oh, one last thing. RCI and X have a reciprocal agreement with their Crown and Anchor and Captains Club and even though this was our 2nd X cruise, since we were Diamond C and A's, we still reaped all the benefits and there were many.

 

How do you rate the two "reward" programs? We are elite CC and about to sail on Voyager as Diamond C&L through the reciprocal program. We had done quite a few HAL (big medallion) but HAL has no real perks that I know of. :confused:

[Spender Nui]

How do you rate the two "reward" programs? We are elite CC and about to sail on Voyager as Diamond C&L through the reciprocal program. We had done quite a few HAL (big medallion) but HAL has no real perks that I know of. :confused:

 

 

HAL reward program gets you very little. We've had medallions for years but other than that and a tile when you sail I can't think of anything they do for you.

[kelmac]

Celebrity and HAL are our two cruise lines of choice these days. They both offer a traditional and upscale cruise experience compared to all the mass market cruise lines.

I too have noticed a slight decrease in quality of food through the years, but it is very slight. The service, organization and "bang for the buck" has actually improved since 1993 when we first cruised Celebrity.

 

Here is my standard short list of comparisons between HAL and Celebrity:

 

(We have cruised Celebrity 10 times and HAL 3 times)

 

Holland America:..............Celebrity:

1) old school feel..............Modern feel

2) Indonesian crew...........European/International crew

3) All ships have altn Rest..Only the Millennium class ships have altn rest

4) Great food...................Excellent food

5) Lido buffet excellent......buffet great

6) Super beds/bedding.......average beds/bedding

7) large cabins.................better than average size cabins

8) bath tubs....................usually shower only

9) darker decor................brighter decor

10 Covered main pool........very open main pool

11 poor sun deck area.......plenty and varied sun deck areas

12 clumsy threater design..open, nice threater design

13 good entertainment......good entertainment

14 some shops.................many shops

15 wrap around prom deck. wide, but dead end prom deck

16 2 level dining room........2 level dining room (except Zeinth)

17 intimate dining room......open, airy dining room

18 great service (warm).....excellent service (formal)

19 aft pool open (nice)......aft pool Cent class (poor) Thlo pool excellent

20 aft deck areas great......aft deck areas small

 

Your dollars are well spent when cruising Celebrity, or Holland America!:)

Kel

[dakrewser]

Very good summary Kel!

[Ine]

Under point 15, I miss the walkingfacilities on the topdeck at X...

[caviargal]

How do you rate the two "reward" programs? We are elite CC and about to sail on Voyager as Diamond C&L through the reciprocal program. We had done quite a few HAL (big medallion) but HAL has no real perks that I know of. :confused:

 

 

I am Elite on X and find the perks very minimal. As a Diamond Plus on RCI, I am treated MUCH better.

[Arubalisa]

Yes, I do have to also agree with Kel. Correct on every point. Have to add though, and this is very minor considering the number of overall sum total passengers it affects...HAL does an excellent, and much better job of Christmas presentation on the ship. From decorations to activities to just the overall "feel" and ambiance for a holiday cruise. But, in the future we know what to expect.

 

When given a choice this year of HAL vs. Celebrity. X won out only because their itinerary was slightly more interesting to our family.

[napunani]

I sailed on Celebrity CENTURY in March 2005 and HAL VOLENDAM in Feb 2006, both 11 night cruises. Previous to March 2005, I had sailed on two other HAL 7-night cruises in 1999 and 2000.

Celebrity pampered me and indeed, made me feel like I was a special customer, not just one in a thousand. I didn't get that feeling on the 2006 HAL cruise. I liked being pampered on my vacation and Celebrity did a good job of pampering! I contend that the HAL mandatory tipping policy has degradated the crew service.

The VOLENDAM was a super ship and I loved her ammendities, especially the wrap-around deck, spa and workout center.

I sure wish there was a HAL cruise ship with Celebrity service values!!

[niborHS]

We are also considering HAL this year after cruising 13 times, 6 of which were on X, our favorite. What we found to be the problem with X is their poor itinerary choices for 7 day cruises. They have many fewer ships, so therefor a more limited number of choices for us. Like someone else said, if you love X, why switch? I am sure if you were not basing your decision on the same things that I am, he is right. I know that we will be comparing. Our last cruise on Princess really didn't measure up, although the bedding is wonderful. We were in a suite on Princess, have been in various types of suites on Celebrity, but I have won over and we are sticking to the sky suite price range, so will go with a similar suite on HAL. I hope we will enjoy it.

For anyone who has been on both, our choices are Zuiderdam or Westerdam, any opinions one over the other, or are they basically the same?