A HAL Regular Tries Celebrity

[Bill S]

DW and I are experienced cruisers with 1 river cruise and 13 HAL cruises behind us. We chose Celebrity for an E. Med. cruise due to the itinerary and very reasonable fare. The cruise originated in Barcelona and ended in Venice. The cruise dates were Nov 4-18, 2007. We had a Category C verandah cabin, 6071.

Embarkation: we arrived at about 2:45 and there were no lines! However, we had to wait at least 5 minutes for the reception person to go somewhere out of view to obtain our room cards. I don’t know if this is typical of Celebrity or just unique to Barcelona. The reception in the main atrium was very nice.

 

The Millennium: we were impressed with the spaciousness and open feel of the public areas, especially the main atrium, the shopping arcade and the Cosmos Lounge. Even most of the stair landings were spacious, but the artwork left us cold-really odd-ball collection. Overall though, the Millennium is a very nice and comfortable ship.

 

Crew & Staff: the crew and staff were congenial and provided a high level of service. We were particularly impressed with the CD, Lisa and most of her staff, especially Leean and Adele. Our cabin steward was very friendly but was inconsistent in some areas, for example, he forgot we ordered room service one morning and inspite of asking him twice for new room service order cards, he forgot to provide them. When he realized his oversight, he apologized and said we could have called a number. My unexpressed thought that under the circumstances, I should not had to call anyone. Also, one evening early in the cruise, we went to our cabin after the show and the steward had retrieved DW’s nightgown from the bathroom door and arranged it out on the bed!!!! What the heck is that about?? DW was not amused and put it in the laundry bag and hid her nightgowns for the rest of the cruise. Rather bizarre! Our table steward, Yalchin, and his assistant Anna, were great. The Assistant maitre’ d, Jobel, was outstanding. He provided our table with extra "goodies and treats" on several nights and he was very attentive to our needs and requests.

 

Entertainment & Excursions: We thought the cast was high caliber, very talented overall, especially the singers. The guest entertainers were also very good, but the cast was a notch better than what we have seen on HAL. We took no ship’s excursions, using private tours at Livorno, Naples, Athens and Istanbul.

 

Food: very, very good–once again, a notch better than HAL’s but we did miss HAL’s famous bread pudding. Except for one evening, I really enjoyed the cold/chilled soups.

 

Disembarkation: smooth and easy, except for having to report to the show lounge at an appointed time, and then wait for our group to be called.

 

What we liked about Celebrity/the Millenium not addressed above:

The spacious feel to the Millennium.

The tie rack in the closet, the wall hooks and the good storage space in the cabin.

The lotion and shampoo dispensers in the bathroom & the storage space in the bathroom.

The phone call alerting us that our room service order was on the way–nice touch! We would like to see HAL invoke this nice service.

The adequate dance venues (we enjoy ballroom dancing).

The nice variety of activities each day, eg, team trivia and other events.

No bingo announcements.

The covered exterior area outside and aft of the buffet restaurant.

ATM onboard.

The tv channel featuring tv shows from the 50s & 60s.

 

The things we didn’t like about the Celebrity/the Millenium:

The muster drill was a joke-very disorganized, crew members joking around, the announcements for the most part sounded like a recording, conducted indoors and then marched to a lifeboat station, no involvement by the Captain whatsoever. Very confusing and most passengers did not pay attention.

Smoking was allowed in some of the public lounges-we could smell smoke even on the non-smoking side.

There was no retractable roof over the pool area-some activities scheduled for pool-side had to be moved inside due to cool weather.

The daily news summary was not delivered to our cabin each day–we had to go down to the guest relations desk area to get one.

In our face tip requests: We did not opt-in to the automatic tip program as we considered Celebrity’s deduction to be a bit too high. We were still going to provide tips commensurate with the level of service we encountered and I tipped the steward each morning for room service, as well. The last sea day we found 5 envelopes in our cabin requesting tips with the envelopes labeled for the positions solicited. We have never encountered such boldness relating to tips and did not appreciate it. We gave generous tips to our dining room staff and a tip commensurate for uneven service rendered by our cabin attendant.

The lack of PA announcements for disembarkation information at ports made it confusing for where to go to get off the ship. We would read the daily program and also listen to the CD’s videotaped update each morning and many times the information did not mesh.

Celebrity charges a fee to watch later run movies on their tv system-$10 a whack!

Early/Traditional seating was still too late for us: 6:15. We were never done before 8:15. We prefer the earlier seating on HAL, starting at 5:30.

We also missed the teak lower promenade deck along with not being able to do a complete walk around on a covered deck.

We prefer HAL’s method of disembarkation, specifically, being allowed to remain in the cabin until our number is called.

 

Admittedly, with the possible exception of the nightgown incident, none of the dislikes were enough to turn us away from Celebrity. HAL and Celebrity both offer a solid product. We like the traditional seating and formal nights offered by both lines. Overall this was one of our best cruises for a lot of reasons: excellent itinerary, outstanding weather and sea conditions for November, wonderful sights and tours, new friends, and outstanding table mates. Even though our hearts belong to HAL, the bottom line is that we would consider cruising with Celebrity again, if they offered an itinerary we wanted that HAL didn’t offer.

 

[aloanldy]

Bill - Nice review!

 

We were on Millennium in October and we thought some of the Art a bit odd also. The pots at the end of the stairs, one of them looked like a bleeding head to me. I just laughed and shook my head.

 

I've been on several cruises where they arrange your night gown on the bed. HAL was one of them. They never go thru the drawers looking, just if it's out or hanging in the bathroom.

 

We would travel on HAL more if the itineraries were better. never had any complaints on their ship. Just wish they had more itineraries.

 

Hope you continue to sail on Celebrity in the future.

 

Charlie

[AZjohn]

Hi Bill,

Thanks for your review. My wife and I have also enjoyed HAL very much, as well as ever other cruise line we have been on. They all have some little differences and that is why for us we enjoy going on different ships and cruise lines.

As far as tips, I already know that Celebrity is going to be different than HAL and thus I won’t feel they are “bold” with supplying envelopes at the end of the cruise.

I too wish that we could stay in our cabin the morning of debarkation, but this won’t be our first time in a crowded room waiting to get off the ship.

Anyways, I always appreciate people with open minds who can find the good (and sometimes the bad) cruising on different lines.

Thanks,

John

[kelmac]

Bill S,

 

Nice balanced review! We pretty much just alternate between Celebrity and Holland America -- both lines do offer a great product, at a great price.

I would give Celebrity the edge in Dinning room service and cuisine quality, but HAL does a better job with the Lido buffet restaurant. We like the open, modern (even the art) feel of Celebrity ships, but we really like the wrap around promenade decks on HAL ships. I could go on and on, but the bottom line -- Celebrity and HAL are different, but wonderful in their own ways.

Great review!

Kel:)

[niborHS]

Thanks for you comprehensive review. We did the reverse last year, after 13 cruises, 5 of them on Celebrity, including 1 on the Millie, and 2 on the Connie (sister ship), we went on HAL for the first time last year. I can concur with many of your points, but it is also what you get used to. I agree about the shows, although I did like some of the things they had on HAL like the string quartet and a piano player in one of the lounges who did things like a Billy Joel night. The smoking issue may have more to do with it being a European itinerary. HAL ships are not smoke free, it is just that many states in the US now don't allow smoking in many places, so there is less smoking over-all. As far as the tipping goes, we are used to the envelopes, and find that it makes it more convenient to give what we want to whoever we want. I actually resented the automatic tip applied to our account by HAL. We normally give more than the suggested amount, and we know who we give what to. As far as seating times, we do late seating, and what most lines have started to do now, is have the show for late seating before dinner. Both HAL and X do that now on some nights, and to me it defeats the idea of having late seating. We like to relax and take our time getting ready for dinner, perhaps going for a drink before dinner. My husband does not go to the show anyway, and I prefer to have something to do after dinner while he is in the casino.

[jt1120]

When are these cruise companies going to stop art auctions? It's the absolute last thing on my mind when I am going on vacation. If I want to buy art, I'll go to the galleries that I frequent. Sorry, maybe it's just me.

 

Thank you for the review. We have never sailed HAL and have said many times that we want to put them on our list. SOunds like they are a close match to our fave, Celebrity. Your comparisons have been helpful.

 

I will say that the tip issue has never bothered us, as we feel the tips we have given were always well deserved.

 

Also, X prides themselves on few announcements, which in my world is a BIG plus.

[osiebosie]

We just sailed on HAL for the first time, and noticed the lack of envelopes for additional tips. I guess we are just accustomed to them. It's not really a big deal to me.

 

I DID like the size of HAL's cabins compared to X's. And we were so excited on our HAL cruise to be getting an actual tub, but it was so small that my five-foot frame was all bent up in it. Forget getting my six-foot plus hubbie in it. So I think I actually prefer the larger showers in X.

 

I do like both cruise lines; they both have their own pluses.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise.

 

Shay

[CrabbyHarper]

I am cruising Millie next month for my 6th Celebrity cruise, and have just booked a HAL cruise for November (my fourth HAL)

 

I really like both lines, and if by some magic the best points of both could be combined, there would be close to perfection.

 

Here's what I see as some (admittedly small) differences:

 

1) Liquor package on X is $60 for a liter, 6 cans of soda, and a package of nuts. You can't buy just the liquor. On HAL, a liter is $25 (or was on my last HAL cruise)

 

2) Laundry. On X I get a coupon for $20 a bag. On my last HAL cruise it was $12 per bag.

 

3) Announcements: HAL announces bingo, X does not.

 

4) Disembark: HAL lets you wait in your stateroom, X does not.

 

5) HAL's evening buffet offers much more than X. HAL is

offering open seating dining, starting at around 5:00 - great for us seniors with ARD...so long as all of us at once don't jam up at the dining room doors!

 

6) both lines usually have a Catholic priest on board.

 

7) HAL's balcony cabins are larger than X; X's concierge class is a bit nicer than HAL's balconies.

 

8) My personal preference in art likes HAL, X is a bit quirky, but fun.

 

9) Art Auctions at Sea a bad idea on both lines.

 

10) X's spa pools on M Class ships are to die for!

 

11) X is a bit less expensive than HAL.

 

12) I'll continue to book both lines, depending on itinerary, and price.

 

13) I like the size of the smaller HAL ships - about 1200 people on the Ryndam, for instance. I have cruised X's Azamara Journey and loved the small size - but there were other issues with Azamara.

 

Service, entertainment, condition of vessel, demographics of the passengers, etc, all are similar on both lines.

[Jimsgirl]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

 

I must confess I simply do not know why your wife was so upset about the nightgown, after all it was in full view on the back of the door. Why did she feel it needed to be put in the laundry after being touched by the cabin steward? I am 82 so I do not think

 

it a matter of "different moral ethics" .

 

Dining at 5p.m is far to early IMO , but perhaps you go to bed early.

 

I believe that the pool does have a retractable roof, that it was not used was the fault of the upper staff echelon, not the cruise line. I cruised for 14 days on the Infinity in 2006 and not only did we not see the Captain at any time, he never made a single announcement, and the CD made announcement after announcement for Bingo, Trivia, Art Auctions etc etc. Again that was the fault of the Captain and the top staff, who deliberately went against company policy.

 

The daily news is often put in the atriium because not everyon wishes to read it, however the program of events should always be delivered to your cabin the previous evenng.

 

No matter which ship or line, we the passengers are always in the hands of the staff on board for every aspect of our cruise , some staff are less attentive than others.

 

Hope you will try Celebrity again,

[TomTN]

How did the beds on X campare to HAL?

Rebekah and I were lucky enough to be on that cruise with you, and we also had a wonderful time. Honestly though, with the fantastic itenerary we could have been on the ss Minnow and enjoyed the cruise.

 

You are correct. the muster drill is a "Joke" with the potential to someday be a "tradgedy". X must do a better job in this area.

 

We've been on five cruises each with HAL and X. I guess Kelmac hit the nail on the head. "X and HAL are different, but wonderful in their own ways."

[Drew B]

I also don't like when the stewards do things like lay out nightgowns, but when I've mentioned so before, others have jumped in and said they like that special touch. Go figure. Still, I would never let such a thing upset me as it seems to have upset you and your wife, and it would not affect my steward's tip (unless I told him to refrain from doing it and he continued).

 

Speaking of tips, I completely disagree with you about the tip envelopes. You chose not to do the automatic tips, which is certainly fine. They provide you with labelled envelopes so that you can know who is traditionally tipped (and who would be tipped if you did the auto-tips). You are not REQUIRED to fill all of those envelopes, but it is helpful to have the organization provided for you. You are an experienced cruiser, but imagine a first-timer. How would they even know who they should tip if the envelopes weren't provided? I don't see anything inappropriate or "bold" about what they did.

[Bill S]

kt88: Hi Tom! Thanks for responding! With respect to beds, HAL wins hands down, IMO. Until HAL initiated their Signature of Excellence improvements 2 years ago, HAL beds were awful-hard as rocks, painful! But their new bedding is outstanding. Having said that, we found the Millenium bed to be good, but just not a comfortable as HAL's.

When it comes to the nightgown event, I guess it is different strokes for different folks. DW found it offensive that a "stanger" was messing with her nightclothes. It is something we had never encountered on any of our previous cruises. But, if we sail Celebrity again, at least she will be prepared and will not leave her nightgown hanging on the bathroom door.

Coming from HAL where tipping used to be "not required", in fact, they would not even suggest tip amounts. It was the passengers' personal decision of whether to tip, and if so, how much. About 18 months ago, HAL implemented automatic tipping of $10/day per person. HAL gives you the choice of opting out. We have always been generous with our tips, both before and after auto-tipping, to those who have provided great service. We did not opt-in to the Celebrity program; however we still provided generous tips commensurate with the service provided. Having been "groomed" in HAL way where tipping has always been a subtle matter, it just greatly surprised by the overt manner in which tips were solicited.

DrewB, you raise a good point about newbies, and I guess if this had been our first cruise ever, our reaction may have been different. At least we will be prepared for this if we cruise Celebrity again.

Bottom line: we were glad to have experienced Celebrity-we will certainly advocate with HAL for some of the nice things that Celebrity does.

[Drew B]

When it comes to the nightgown event, I guess it is different strokes for different folks. DW found it offensive that a "stanger" was messing with her nightclothes. It is something we had never encountered on any of our previous cruises. But, if we sail Celebrity again, at least she will be prepared and will not leave her nightgown hanging on the bathroom door.

 

 

On another line, I once had a steward take my sunglasses (out of a drawer) and use them in a towel animal. I didn't like that either. I thought it was wierd. My sister said I was crazy, though, so I dropped it... I'd still prefer that they not rearrange my stuff (providing that I leave the cabin tidy and they don't HAVE to move stuff in order to do their cleaning). Other people like it. It's a personal thing, I guess...

[woody14h]

We had coffee in our room every morning on HAL Volendam last year and we were always called before delivery. Albeit 30 seconds before but enough time to put a robe on. If X doesn't have a particular itinerary or time when we want to go we go on HAL. 9 HAL and 5 X cruises. Each line unique in its own way and all above average. Tipping customs are changing. HAL never had a tipping policy which of course was a joke as the CD would give suggestions on board. Now the policies seem to be uniform. I don't object to envelopes in the room but think auto charge is tacky as we always seem to tipp more than suggested.

HAL seems to take the lifeboat drill more seriously than X and that does bother me. In the event of an incident there would be enough panic even with a good drill but poor preperation is not a good idea.

[CaroleV]

The nightgown thing reminds me of my 1st cruise on the Home Lines. My parents went on the Oceanic and thats exactly what the room people did with night gowns. When I went years later I put my own PJ's out in the open so the steward would not have to look for them. I was just thrilled to find them out at night. Those were the days before towel animals. Now that I think about it, it is sort of strange & can see why you were a little put off, but that was the norm in those days.

[BBsails]

Hey Bill! We're in the same cabin, 6071, on our SF-->Alaska-->SF cruise in May, 2008. Any further cabin specifics you could pass along?

[Bill S]

BBSails: our cabin was very nice-fairly convenient and quiet. All systems worked fine. The verandah was nice. No complaints at all! :)

Hope you have a great cruise! Enjoy the cabin, too!

[Ma Bell]

Bill,

 

I'm sure your attendant though he was doing something you would like with the nightgown. We had one once who used to arrange the nightclothes differently every night. The PJs would have the arm around the nightgown and one night the PJs were chasing the nightgown. It was funny and we got some laughs from the arrangements.

[Schplinky]

You are correct that HAL isn't so bold as to put tip envelopes in your room. On the other hand, they charge them directly to your room account at the same rate as Celebrity so I'm not sure I would consider that more gentile, considering you have to go to Guest services to adjust them unless you have cash and your own envelopes available.

[terrydtx]

Thanks for your very good review. We are also seasoned HAL cruisers making our first Celebrity cruise next year in the Western Med. on the Century. Made the choice to X because of the Itinnerary and Barcelona departure VS Rome on HAL. Also the Veranda cabin on HAL was $700 more per person than on the Century, this was the final decideing factor. Hope we made a wise decision, it will very hard to beat HAL's service and quality in my opinion.