HAL Zuiderdam or Celebrity Millennium?

[snowcat]

We are looking at two cruise possibilities for next winter: HAL Zuiderdam or Celebrity Millennium on Eastern Caribbean routes. Some background: my husband and I have cruised on HAL, Carnival, RCCL and Princess. It will be the first cruise for the couple going with us. We are pretty quiet, no kids, and not partyers--looking more for interesting shore excursions and/or nice beach time, good dining, relaxation and winter warmth (since we’re from Minnesota!) Zuiderdam calls at Half Moon Cay, St. Thomas, Tortola and Nassau. Millennium calls at Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic; San Juan, St. Maarten and Nassau. I’d love to hear your opinions on these two cruises! I'm going to also post this on the Celebrity board. Thanks!

PS - Caribbean Princess to Princess Cays, Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten is running third place at this point too, so comments about that are also welcome!

[Isis]

I have been on both ships (different itenaries than you are looking at) and loved them both. I felt Millenium was much more elegant than Zuiderdam. Half Moon Cay is the most beautiful place in the world (IMO). Food and service were comparable. We stayed in the family rooms on the back of the ship on the Millenium and they can't be beat. Millenium has the best Chocolates with thier Cappacinos. Hal had great drinks. Either way, you can't go wrong. I gave Celebrity a slight edge over Hal mainly for the Elegance and pampering. Good luck choosing.

[snowcat]

Thanks, Isis for your input! I checked the itinerary of the Celebrity ship and it stops at St. Thomas, not St. Maarten. Oops, sorry. Hope to hear more opinions!

[LCAR]

I've been on both ships. I would definitely recommend Zuiderdam. Although Celebrity's Millennium is very nice, I wasn't very impressed with the food or the staff. I feel the Zuiderdam staff is more accomodating than Millennium. As for the accomodations, we were in the Penthouse Suite on the Millennium and the room was wonderful. We had a suite on the Zuiderdam and were very pleased with the room.

You can't go wrong with either curise line.

[xznwfd]

I've been on both ships too, and agree with the previous poster that the Millennium is much more elegant than the Zuiderdam. I do think the food is better on Celebrity in general, but the rooms were larger and nicer on the Zuiderdam. Half Moon Cay is MUCH nicer than the Celebrity island; in fact, I much prefered the ininerary on the Zuiderdam to the Millenium (and we had the same as those you have selected. I also prefer the service on HAL in general; I think the crews are nicer and friendlier. But, you will love either cruise! Have fun choosing,

Cathy