Do you think HAL is "overrated?"

[ekerr19]

DH & I had drinks with some friends the other night... they've been trying to get us to cruise with them on Celebrity, but we both want to cruise only HAL at least until we get our 100 days at sea (which for me, will be on the Volendam next month) so we've been trying to convince them to cruise with us on HAL.

They made the comment that their TA thinks HAL is very overrated and is not an upscale experience at all - basically just a notch above Carnival. We were pretty surprised, we have always considered HAL to be a wonderful cruise experience for the money. Sure it's not Silersea, Radisson or Crystal - but I don't think it's in the "budget" cruise category either.

Since we've only cruised on HAL, I couldn't make a strong argument. I look at the advertisements in Conde Nast, National Geographic Traveller, etc. and sure they portray a different "luxury" image, but I still feel it is not overrated. Am I wrong?

[cruisinjudy]

I do think you will probably be just as happy on Celebrity. Many of us cruise both lines. This year we have three with HAL and one with Celebrity. Last year it was the reverse. We like them both.

[Sigtau21]

I have never been on HAL but will be going in May. I cant say if it is overrated. However, if you have not been on anything else, how can you compare. Maybe you need to try another cruise line and find out your are right and stay with HAL in the future. For the most part, I have only heard good things about HAL.

[CrabbyHarper]

Hi Laura! We've cruised both Celebrity and HAL - and will be going on Maasdam again in April and Summit in September.

I cruised Celebrity in 1998 - Zenith through the Panama Canal, and in 2003 -Galaxy to Canada/New England. Both very enjoyable cruises.

There are some differences between the two lines - at least IMHO.

Size of ship: Maasdam is around 1200 pax, Summit is around 1900 pax.

Size of Stateroom: Verandah "Suite" on Maasdam is 284 sq ft including verandah, Summit Concierge level with Balcony is 190 sq. ft.

Maasdam - only with S suites do you get perks - but WOW! are those S suites ever nice with over 500 sq ft! Celebrity's Sky Suites are only 250 feet with balcony.

Summit - we get concierge level perks. Since I haven't yet sailed in this category - I'll let you know when we get back just what and how great they are.

Food was marginally better on Celebrity as was entertainment.

Shore excurions equally expensive.

Both lines do not make excessive use of the public address system.

Age of PAX roughly the same on both lines - if you exclude the kids! Kids seemed to be more of a problem on Maasdam in April 04 - but then it WAS Easter break.

Customer service a tad better on Celebrity.

I prefer the decorating style of HAL. Galaxy was full of modern "art" and I am a Philistine so do not appreciate that!

Chair hogs and people who "save" seats in the theatre about the same. Equally boorish.

Nice people who are fun to chat with whether at meals, in line, or in the bar -- always a delight on both lines.

No laundry facilities on Celebrity. This will be tough on our September 14 day cruise. But one can always swish a few things in the sink, or bite the bullet and pay the expensive laundry fees.

Hope this helps.

Say hi to Sonny and the kids for me!

Gerry

[Randyk47]

We're HAL cruisers but we're going to find out the difference between the lines up close and personal in just 3 weeks when we take our first Celebrity cruise on the Galaxy. However, far as I can tell the two lines pretty much target the same audience and offer, within reason, pretty much the same experience. As for any TA saying one or the other is overrated in comparison to the other....well....that's just a bit silly in my book and is best written off as a matter of personal choice.

A few comments about CrabbyHarper's post. Good points. However, consider that HAL's bigger ships, their V class like the Oosterdam, are pretty much the same size as Celebrity's Summit. Secondly, HAL's bigger/newer ships have done away with the self-service laundry.

[dakrewser]

Remember that the TA is probably (with RCCL's new discounting rules) making more on a Celebrity booking than one on HAL ....

Still, we'll be on the Infinity in September, so if you can wait that long I'll give you the honest answer. Well, as honest as any personal opinion can be! :)

[ExpCruiser]

Ekerr199, I thinkyou know my answer! But (in case anyone missed my previous comments on the two lines) here are the highlights.

Celebrity is better maintained, and has better food/entertainment. Lot's more choices (I was on the Galaxy). And the service on celebrity was IMHO much higher quality than my HAL mishaps.

As always, it depends upon what you are looking for. The cabin will be cleaned on whatever line you take. The crew is friendlier on Celebrity. And bar staff takes drink orders from around the ship, not just at the pool. Hence when I'm on one of the decks, the bar staff ACTUALLY brings the drinks to me instead of me walking up 4-5 decks to get a drink. If you bring your own liquor on board (per other threads) and have a balcony, having bar service would be less important. But the public areas of other cruise lines are nicer and offer more and there are more activities on other lines as well.

I urge you to try Celebrity and report back. I think you'll be most surprised. :)

[stanford's girl]

I'll have to get back to you after Oct.22 cruise. It will be our first HAL cruise but after reading the posts, I think I have been missing something the others don't offer or do.:)

[ekerr19]

Ekerr199, I thinkyou know my answer! But (in case anyone missed my previous comments on the two lines) here are the highlights.

Celebrity is better maintained, and has better food/entertainment. Lot's more choices (I was on the Galaxy). And the service on celebrity was IMHO much higher quality than my HAL mishaps.

As always, it depends upon what you are looking for. The cabin will be cleaned on whatever line you take. The crew is friendlier on Celebrity. And bar staff takes drink orders from around the ship, not just at the pool. Hence when I'm on one of the decks, the bar staff ACTUALLY brings the drinks to me instead of me walking up 4-5 decks to get a drink. If you bring your own liquor on board (per other threads) and have a balcony, having bar service would be less important. But the public areas of other cruise lines are nicer and offer more and there are more activities on other lines as well.

I urge you to try Celebrity and report back. I think you'll be most surprised. :)

ExpCruiser - thanks! Actually, we are going to give Celebrity a try soon. A question for you, what nationality are the crew? I heard they a have a large number of Panamanian crew members and I'm curious if this is true.

We really like the crew on HAL, and a good crew is a biggie for us.

[jhannah]

I don't put much stock in ratings. While they might be guidelines, someone has to make a subjective call somewhere along the line. While I've not sailed Celebrity, and would not object to doing so, I have sailed Princess. I feel HAL is a notch above. Guess I'll have to branch out to see what others offer. OTOH, as long as HAL provides me with the experience I expect, why mess with a good thing?

[DFD1]

I agree with Jim. The only rating that really matters is yours...and about the only way to get that one is to experience Celebrity or HAL first hand. I rate HAL high because, for us, HAL provides a really good cruise experience for the amount of money we spend to get it.

We chose not to spend the additional amount of money for a cruise which would provide the level of service by, say, Seabourn or SilverSea. It's just not that important to us.

[sabaka]

We will be cruising with HAL for the first time this March so we will let you know. However we have sailed with Carnival, Disney, Princess, Celebrity and Seabourn. We enjoyed them all. None of them were over or under rated. We realize that each has a different price and type passenger that they aim for and that each is a different cruise experience and plan on having that experience. We do not do Carnival anymore as we no longer appreciate what they have to offer as we did when we were younger and before children. When tavelling without our children we enjoy Seabourn and Celebrity however as the kids get older we may try Celebrity with them. Disney is the best with kids it truely is the best of both worlds for parents and kiddos, Princess was fine fun for kids and easy on the pocket book for us! Our travel agent suggested HAL and said they are trying to offer a better program for families with children and for the price we get a Suite vs a reg cabin on Disney we thought we would give HAL a try. I guess what I am trying to say is we do not expect a Seabourn experince on HAL price however we do expect the experince they advertise. And so far with alittle reasearch and with expectations that are realistic we have gotten them every time we have cruised! Happy sailing!!

[longtimecruiser]

I disagree with the comment that Celebrity has a friendlier crew. NO WAY!!! I have sailed on the Galaxy and hands down Hal has a more friendly crew.IMO The lines are very similiar with some things being better on Celebrity, and some better on Hal. I agree that food was better on Celebrity. I don't like the fact that Celebrity has no laundries. That can be a hassle on a longer cruise. Celebrity has gaudy ships. Not as attractive and refined as Hal. I would have said at one point that Celebrity nickeling and diming passengers to death, however Hal has been doing more and more of that lately. I feel Hal has the edge over Celebrity.IMO

[ExpCruiser]

From Ekerr19: thanks! Actually, we are going to give Celebrity a try soon. A question for you, what nationality are the crew? I heard they a have a large number of Panamanian crew members and I'm curious if this is true.

We really like the crew on HAL, and a good crew is a biggie for us. Not sure where the crew is from, I may be wrong but HAL is the only line that I can recall that has all crew from one country. e.g. Roy Car. 2 years ago had a "parade of Flags" one afternoon with one crew from each country carrying his/her flag during a display of building peace among nations. I recall close to 150 countries being represented. It was very moving. I am clearly in the minority on this point but my 2 HAL experiences left me quite disappointed with crew. I thought all of my other cruise experiences were better on that single point. (Roy Car; NCL; Princess; Celebrity, etc.) I think it must be a combination of culture and HAL training on the service. So many of you love it but it leaves me cold. Different strokes, can't wait to hear your opinion since you've only experienced HAL.

Do agree with other poster ... no laundry facilities on most of the other lines we took. Per other thread you'll have to take 6 suitcases.;)

[TrentS]

IMHO your friend's agent is correct, HAL IS just a slight step up from Carnival... It's definitely not what it used to be!!! Try CELEBRITY, you'll be very happy you did, and wonder why you spent all that time on HAL.

[doone]

I don't believe any of the cruise lines are what they used to be. They have all had to make changes, cutbacks, whatever you want to call them, to stay comeptitive. I agree with the other posters here who say the only rating to be concerned about is yours.

A friend of mine always sails Carnival, decided to try Celebrity. She thought Carnival had it all over Celebrity. So, who knows, its what makes you happy. She has now reverted back to Carnival, is happy and won't change cruise lines again.

I have never sailed Celebrity but from what everyone says on the boards about being similar to HAL, I wouldn't hesitate to book Celebrity if the itinerary and prices were right. I don't think you can go wrong with either cruise line.

[kelmac]

After 19 cruises I would say Celebrity and HAL are my top two choices. Both are upscale compared to RCCL, Princess, NCL..., I would give Celebrity the edge in dining room cuisine and service, however, HAL gets my vote for the selection and preparation of food in the lido. I've had great service from individuals on both lines. As for ship decor, I have to give Celebrity the edge--I like the clean lines and open feeling; HAL has a bit of a 1950's Vegas feel to me.
Oh course, HAL is Asian; Celebrity is European/Internaitonal. What's not to like! They are a little different, but both are wonderful.
Coming up: Mercury, Caribbean Princess, Zuiderdam, Costa Mediterranea, Coral Princess and the Millennium--No such thing as a bad cruise!:D

Enjoy!
Kel

[shonuf]

We are HAL veterans, however our last cruise on them was about 2 years ago. We just returned from a cruise on the Galaxy (our first on X). As we departed the ship we looked at each other and said "Next time, Holland America."

We normally get a "S" suite on HAL and had wanted one of the aft suites on the Oosterdam Panama Canal. We had received the brochure in the mail and called them immediately about pricing. They didn't have the prices in the computer yet! Our TA called every day for about 6 weeks and they still couldn't quote us a price. In the meantime, we found the Canal cruise on the Galaxy. When HAL finally got back to us, they wanted about $3000 more for their cruise than X. ("S" suite vs Sky Suite on X). Plus air fare.

We decided we would rather drive to Galveston (6 hours, no air) and do the partial transit. And pay for our laundry (no free laundry on X).

What we liked and didn't: Loved having a butler. The ship is worn and in need of refurbishing but didn't ruin our trip. Entertainment was good to very good, on the whole better than HAL. We found the food to be a big disappointment, both in the buffet and dining room. The food in the buffet often didn't even look appetizing, and several nights we ordered "off" the menu as none of the selections sounded good. We found the steaks to be very tough. We would have liked an alternative dining room. However, the folks in the suite next to ours said they thought the food was great. Go figure! Our waiter, steward, etc. were all good, friendly, etc. Butler was the only one to get extra tip tho. We also liked the Cruise Director, John Challenger. I had never sailed with him but figured out he came from HAL.

Would we do X again, I don't know. Maybe if we got a really good deal.

Just my 2cents worth,
Susan in overcast Frisco TX

[dakrewser]

IMHO your friend's agent is correct, HAL IS just a slight step up from Carnival... It's definitely not what it used to be!!! Try CELEBRITY, you'll be very happy you did, and wonder why you spent all that time on HAL.

Funny, that's not what the folks on the Celebrity boards are saying...:)

[pumpkin123]

In MY mind, HAL was under-rated. I recently returned from my first HAL cruise on the Westerdam. I have previously cruised on RCCL, Celebrity, Princess, Disney, Radisson, and others.

I think they have a terrific product for the money. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food. The service was excellent, and as they say "unobtrusive". Our dining room staff was extremely efficient, but lacking in any warmth or chit-chat. The things that stood out for me in comparison to some of the other mass-market lines were: fresh-squeezed OJ, complimentary cappucino in the dining room, the linens and bedding were wonderful, plentiful towels available around the pools, freshwater pools, $12 bag of laundry was a deal.

The negative comparisons for me, would be in the nightly entertainment (geared toward an older audience) and the kids club (age groupings were too broad) All in all, my family really enjoyed HAL and we would return.

[Landlubber54]

about a month ago. Because we have never cruised I was interested in going to a web site that offered a variety of opinions. And that is exactly what I have found at CC.

We did not select HAL, my FIL did. No problem there since he's paying for it (25th anniversary thing). What is tough to work through are the strong opinions that either deify or lambaste a particular ship or line. Each experience (and consequent opinion) is to tied to so many things; personal background, previous experience, expectations, itinerary, unanticipated cruise problems (plumbing, food, weather, etc.) and how the crew responds, fellow travellers and diners, crew service, amenities, accommodations, decor, personal health (or lack thereof), door decorating, toilet paper direction, ad nauseum.

There are clearly those with agendas (and their favored lines) and there are those who provide even-handed evaluations. I appreciate it all. My attitude is that my ability to appreciate my experience will depend on my...attitude.

The threads here can be informative, puzzling, thought provoking, and strangely entertaining -- just as they ought to be. :rolleyes:

My only goal is to keep my perspective through it all and appreciate the experience for what it is.

Happy sailing to all.:D

[HeatherInFlorida]

I prefer Celebrity from my past experience. That may change when we sail on the Summit in October and I'll let you know. Better yet, why don't you join us?:) I'm not sure why it's so important to cruise just one line to get the "days". What are the perks of that?

Dave, I don't believe you're right about TA's getting a bigger commission from Celebrity because they're making it up in other ways. In our case our TA is giving us a Giftcard for the difference. So that all comes out the same.

The Celebrity crew is from all over the world and usually their nametag shows what country they're from. I really enjoy this and we get into great conversations with the crew about their home countries. I find the crew much friendlier on Celebrity ships. I also find the Officers more friendly and they also seem to be more apparent. We were greeted every morning by an Officer outside the Lido on the Millennium. There are more varied activities on Celebrity. And I've often said here that personally I prefer the food on Celebrity (except in the Lido where I prefer HAL), but food is very subjective.

Yet I always come back to saying that for some reason we've made the most lasting friends on Holland America. And so we come back. Because for us that's really the most important part of the cruise. So in a way it ends up being a toss up.

I still honestly feel that anyone who enjoys HAL will enjoy Celebrity.

[ekerr19]

Better yet, why don't you join us?:)

I actually considered asking you - but seeing that it was your anniversary cruise, I thought you may prefer that we don't! ;)

I don't know what my hang-up with the days is - it was just always one of those milestones I hoped to achieve. I will have accomplished it once we cruise on the Volendam this month, so it's going to be a non-issue anyway. You are right, there is no real benefit to having so much loyalty with HAL. We can't even get VIP status on our bookings yet!

I must admit to being really interested in trying Celebrity. My aunt and uncle love it (and they are picky), as do our very good friends. :)

I will have to check out your itinerary...

[ron46936]

We've cruised RCCL, Carnival, NCL, Celebrity, and HAL. I agree with the TA that said HAL is just a notch above Carnival (and RCCL). HAL does have a loyal following but lives a lot on past reputation.

[HeatherInFlorida]

I actually considered asking you - but seeing that it was your anniversary cruise, I thought you may prefer that we don't! ;) ........

I will have to check out your itinerary...

Don't be silly!!! When we want to be alone, we stay home ... we cruise to meet people and have fun. I'll email you the details. I would LOVE for you to come!

Of course, you may want to wait until we meet the end of March to make sure I'm not an ax murderer and you're not a eldernapper;) . LOL!

[Tatka]

DH & I had drinks with some friends the other night... they've been trying to get us to cruise with them on Celebrity, but we both want to cruise only HAL at least until we get our 100 days at sea (which for me, will be on the Volendam next month) so we've been trying to convince them to cruise with us on HAL.

They made the comment that their TA thinks HAL is very overrated and is not an upscale experience at all - basically just a notch above Carnival. We were pretty surprised, we have always considered HAL to be a wonderful cruise experience for the money. Sure it's not Silersea, Radisson or Crystal - but I don't think it's in the "budget" cruise category either.

Since we've only cruised on HAL, I couldn't make a strong argument. I look at the advertisements in Conde Nast, National Geographic Traveller, etc. and sure they portray a different "luxury" image, but I still feel it is not overrated. Am I wrong?

I don't think HAL is overrated..I liked our cruise on Zui (although we had some service issues).

If I were you I would give Celebrity a chance..I liked it little bit more.

Overall experiences are comparable so you are not risking anything.;)

[ekerr19]

Of course, you may want to wait until we meet the end of March to make sure I'm not an ax murderer and you're not a eldernapper;) . LOL!

Oh my, now you have me in stitches! Your poor DH is going to be worried sick! :eek:

[RichardK]

I too found the crew differences noticeable.......

On HAL most of the crew were Asians (Indonesians, I believe making a good % of that) and they are the most friendly crew I have experienced on all of the various cruise lines that I have been on. Always a smile on their face.

On Celebrity I noticed a large percentage of the men were of Eastern European descent, and they were not very friendly – at least not to me and other American males. The Easter European women, however, were. In some ways I felt that the men thought that they had to do this sort of work because we Americans won the Cold War, and as a result were not happy about it. This is just my very personal opinion, however.......and has no basis in fact!!

[ekerr19]

I think it is the Filipino and Indonesian crew that makes such a difference. I asked the question because our friends did share that one of the things they least liked about Celebrity was the crew.

They had a horribly surly cabin steward on one voyage and the same on another voyage in the D/R.

I always look forward to the crew on HAL, and especially look forward to seeing a familiar face.

[Tatka]

I too found the crew differences noticeable.......

On HAL most of the crew were Asians (Indonesians, I believe making a good % of that) and they are the most friendly crew I have experienced on all of the various cruise lines that I have been on. Always a smile on their face.

On Celebrity I noticed a large percentage of the men were of Eastern European descent, and they were not very friendly – at least not to me and other American males. The Easter European women, however, were. In some ways I felt that the men thought that they had to do this sort of work because we Americans won the Cold War, and as a result were not happy about it. This is just my very personal opinion, however.......and has no basis in fact!!

I got smiles on both lines..Probably I usually smile myself...

One thing I noticed..as much as HAL crew were trying to please us they were severely understaffed... They looked tired.

[DFD1]

I respectfully disagree with the posters who say that HAL is just a cut above Carnival. We have cruised both lines several times within the last three years.

HAL provides a space ratio per passenger which is much greater than Carnival. If you check the sizes of the ships relative to the number of passengers each carries you will find the HAL ships are much less crowded. It is evident within a few moments after you board.

The housekeeping on HAL is far superior, in my opiinion. During peak dining times we often cannot find a clean table in the Lido on Carnival and the number of staff on hand in the Lido to help passengers and clean up is far fewer than on HAL. The pool areas on HAL are much better kept during the day than on Carnival. Cups, beer cans and glasses are left all over the ship for long periods of time. There are lots of other housekeeping details where Carnival staff is just not as attentive to keeping things ship-shape.

The food quality, presentation and the variety on Carnival do not compare well to those on HAL, especially in the buffets. We found a problem on Carnival with the buffet food being cold and the buffet looking very messy and unappetizing. We often just by-passed the buffet and got a sandwich or a piece of pizza because of the mess.

While this is purely subjective, we find the Carnival ships decorated in wild, glaring, over-top-styles as opposed to the more traditional feel of HAL ships.

Embarkation and disembarkation on Carnival have, almost without exception, been disorganized and often involved sitting around for long periods before either getting on board or leaving the ship.

On the other hand......we almost always pay significantly less for a cruise of the same duration on Carnival than we do on HAL. That, together with the fact that we enjoy cruising out of New Orleans, more than justifies our cruising on Carnival from time to time.

In the final analysis, we believe HAL's traditional approach to cruising results in a superior product. Carnival, however, does a fantastic job of satisfying hundreds of thousands of passengers every year and makes tons of money in the process. They must be doing something right!

The above is my personal opinion based on our experiences with both cruise lines.

[Pete Jackson]

In the 2004 ship-by-ship ratings from another magazine, it is clear that HAL has a very good product that is consistent from ship to ship. Celebrity also has a very good product, but is not so consistent from ship to ship. Crystal is the best big-ship line overall.

We've sailed Crystal, Cunard and Princess, and enjoyed them all, but prefer HAL.

Carnival is a good line, having a reputation with the 'fun crowd'. This might work well for singles.

One thing that distinguishes the top lines from the others is how they handle special requests. We've had excellent experience with HAL in this regard.

[RobbieCruises]

I'm leaving on my 3rd HAL cruise in 6 months next week. I've done Galaxy recently (Celebrity) and I've done 17 others on a wide variety of lines. If anyone hasn't cruised on a certain line lately, the opinion is of little value. For instance, I loved Windstar -- my favorite cruise. But that was 10 years ago, so I don't tell people that is the best. Everything changes so quickly.

Since this is my 3rd HAL cruise in 6 months, I feel confident about giving an opinion. I think it is improving, not going down hill. Some HAL oldtimers want to complain about changes, but I think most are much for the better. I shopped everything to get a decent price spring break week (my last year to care; my son is going with us and he graduates in May). I got two SS category rooms on Westerdam for $600 less than the cheapest outside (no balcony!) rooms I could get on 3 Carnival cruises with comparable itineraries.

I am no longer anti-Carnival as long as the ship is quite new. Had a great time on Glory last year. But HAL is a much, much better experience.

But I got SO much better service on HAL than ever on Celebrity (same levels of cabins) and found the passengers nicer, too. FWIW.

[Peggy Sue]

We've enjoyed 2 HAL cruises and have one coming up in May. When looking around for a cruise in November (Thanksgiving week) we considered HAL first .. we know we've had good experiences .. but, we also wanted to try different islands this time...so we booked princess. We've never been on a mega liner, and this will be our first princess experience. Our HAL experiences have been in an S suite .. this will be a mini-suite, a lot less room, and no conceriege service .. but...nothing ventured, nothing gained .. we won't know if we like this line until we try it.

Celebrity is a line we would love to cruise, but I find the cabins we like to book are usually gone by the time I find a cruise we'd like to try! We have friends and family who've cruised celebrity and they love the line ...they've never been on HAL....

Last November, our 10 day Volendam cruise was very enjoyable due to the CC people we met on board .. our group had a fantastic time, despite the horrible weather we experienced....Reading reviews of peoples experiences ..I find myself focusing in on exactly why they were not happy ... most you will find was a reservation was botched, dining time wasn't want they wanted etc...for our Volendam cruise, we were sans sun most of the time, and had rain in many of the ports..excruisions were canceled by hal and private vendors and people were left for hours on end to find ways to entertain themselves .. I found this was when we all really LOOKED at what we saw around us .. we saw a lot of bored passengers, because we were hanging around the ship more than normal, we learned a lot more about the staff and what they were unhappy about .. problems were magnified .. we had a great time .... but we didn't have the sun, sand and enjoyable days in port that we were all looking forward too .... instead, we left the ship with web feet and not a very good impression of our voyage, except for the people we met... so, I read all reviews with a grain of salt and after our own less than wonderful experience... We left this cruise thinking it may be time to try another line..There is so much to choose from out there and I haven't seen much evidence that lines offer much to past passengers to try and get repeat passengers. But...we are novices in the cruising world..so we have much to learn and experience!!

So...we will try other lines ... but our S suite experiences may keep bringing us back to HAL..who knows!!

Peggy Sue

[obriendan]

No!!!!!

In the most recent issue of Ocean & Cruise News, the yearly cruise ship survey was reported. In the top ship of the year award, twenty five ships were listed. HAL had 11 ships (Zaandam, 2; Amsterdam, 6; Ryndam, 8; Volendam, 12; Maasdam, 15; Oosterdam, 16; Prinsendam, 17; Rotterdam, 18; Veendam, 20; Westerdam, 21; and Zuiderdam, 23)! This was by far the most ships from one line. By contrast, Carnival had only two ships listed: Legend, 9; and Pride.

[Sueseb]

Longtimecruiser states that Celebrity has gaudy ships -- how about the "organ" on the Zaandam? Think caliope. Overall, we had better service on Celebrity but will be on the Zaandam again later this month. A cruise is what YOU make it and they are all great.

[cruznon]

We just back got from our first HAL cruise...I loved this cruise. The crew was incredible. We'll be back

[cruzingqueen]

I traveled Windjammer many, many years ago and then Carnival Elation probably 8 years ago. Neither were that eventful or memorable and I didn't see what everyone saw in cruising. Approximately 2 years ago, I needed a last minute getaway and booked with HAL Rotterdam as my parents were already booked on this ship. Since that time, I have been on 9 HAL cruises (78 days). I've been on the Zuiderdam for 4 cruises in the last 6 months. The whole overall experience with HAL far exceeds anything I encountered on either of the first two cruises.

The crew on HAL work so hard to ensure that everything is perfect. Sure, things go wrong...that's a fact of life, but it's the efforts made by the staff and crew to handle the problems that keeps me going back. What someone said about space availability is also very true. The Zuiderdam carries appx 1800 passengers, but you would never know it. Overrated? Definitely not!

[DFD1]

Well said, Cruzingqueen.