Celebrity Solstice vs Holland America Noordam in Austrailia/New Zealand

Has anyone out there have experience with either or both of these ships in Austrailia/ New Zealand or anywhere else and would like to share their experiences and preference?

Thanks.

Has anyone out there have experience with either or both of these ships in Austrailia/ New Zealand or anywhere else and would like to share their experiences and preference?

 

Thanks.

This story provides a good overview on both ships and compares the two. Noordam will have had a refurbishment by the time she comes Down Under again next season.

https://www.cruisecritic.com.au/articles.cfm?ID=2214

Has anyone out there have experience with either or both of these ships in Austrailia/ New Zealand or anywhere else and would like to share their experiences and preference?

 

Thanks.

We did the Noordam round trip from Sydney last year and it was superb. She is a lovely-sized vessel at just under 2000 guests, and the service was impeccable. We thoroughly enjoyed spending most evenings in the piano bar, where a fantastic atmosphere was enjoyed singing around the piano and chatting to fellow guests. The port stops were excellent. The beds on HAL are nothing short of fabulous, to the point where, after our first cruise, which was on the Volendam in 2013, we came home and bought a new bed. The afternoon teas are fantastic, and the Pinnacle Restaurant is superb.

Next year (wow, in only about 7 weeks) we are doing Auckland to Fremantle on the Solstice, so it will be good to compare the ships as we've been HAL cruisers up until now but wanted to try something different, and the itinerary, ending up in our own backyard, really appealed.

We have friends who cruise A LOT and they find very little difference between Celebrity and HAL, so we feel we will love our Solstice cruise. Bear in mind that for cruises around Asia, Australia and New Zealand, there is going to be quite a few Aussies, Kiwis and people from Asia, and they will generally be a younger demographic than folks from the US simply because we get a lot more vacation time here (at least a month, but some trades/industries it's 5 or 6 weeks a year). And Australians have taken to cruising in crazy numbers in the past few years. Taking into account that our population is less than 25 million, when I say that the cruise industry figures show that 1.2 million Aussies cruised in 2016, you can appreciate that you are likely to come across lots of us from Down Under on whichever line you cruise with.

Having said that, I think it's fair to say that Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean are probably the most popular lines with Australians. I wouldn't sail with Princess because I'd walk in fear and trembling of bumping into umpteen cousins, and the RCI vessels are just simply too big and too rah-rah for our taste.

Whether you opt to go HAL or Celebrity, I'm sure you will have a wonderful time in this part of the world. :)

This seems like a good problem to have! We have cruised HAL a lot (3 star) but not Noordam and just took Solstice from Sydney to GBR/Port Douglas and back last April.

I think they would both be good. If I had it to do over, I would take HAL, just because I am familiar with them, and Australia was our first X cruise. I think Noordam is smaller too.

The main issue I had with Solstice was their total confusion with tendering. Every tender port was like a new experience for them. We spent an hour floating just off the ship trying to return from the reef. Similar issues at other tender ports but GBR was the worst (we did this out of Cairns). Talked to people on the ship and they said this always happens, no matter the itinerary. Not the end of the world but it did get annoying.

Don't know your itinerary, so it may not apply.

Good luck, enjoy your cruise

ML

We enjoyed the Noordam for Alaska this summer but are doing RCCL for Australia this Spring. Zero help for you unfortunately, but do consider some land time in NZ / Australia if you can. We have almost as much land time as we do cruise nights and are incorporating stopovers on the flight down.

Has anyone out there have experience with either or both of these ships in Austrailia/ New Zealand or anywhere else and would like to share their experiences and preference?

 

Thanks.

I think when it comes down to these two cruise lines, it's more of the age demographics than anything else. My wife late 40's and myself early 60's, both feel that Celebrity offers a (somewhat) younger crowd w/ a moderate party atmosphere without the "Carnival Crowd" hysterics... where as HAL seems more mature in age and a little more subdued in the party sense. We did the Solstice Auckland to Sydney 2 years ago and had a blast with all the Aussies and Kiwis. We've done HAL many times and while for the most part we love the food, we found the vibe just a little to boring for us. Their drink package is basic and doesn't give you the high end choices we like, so we never get the package and opt for their happy hour options through out the ship. This was the best way to meet other like companions to chat with, where as Celebrity's drink package, which seems always included, gets you to all the bars all the time. Don't get me wrong on this train of thought, we're not THAT big of drinkers, but for socializing the bar atmosphere on Celebrity is much more entertaining than HAL.

Celebrity's Solstice class ships are bigger than the Noordam but it doesn't feel like it to us. And I would say the food quality is comparable for both. As for the on board entertainment, we don't really enjoy either but that's probably subjectable to one's tastes.

Go with your favorite port itinerary and you won't be disappointed in either!

Have done two HAL trips, one on Noordam and loved it. Beautiful ship and we were very satisfied with the cruise line. Would not hesitate to cruise with them again. We are going on our first Celebrity ship next week so I can't compare. We really liked HAL entertainment, especially the BB King room.

Tough call. We are 5 Star Mainers on HAL and Elite Plus on Celebrity....have cruised on the Noordam (and all of her sister ships) and been on several Solstice Class ships (the most recent just last week). There are pros and cons to each line and ship but both are darn good products. We would start out by carefully comparing itineraries, times in each port, etc. This type of cruise is all about itinerary and a few extra hours in port is a good thing. If itinerary is equal we would then look to price. However, I will add a caveat. If you are a late night person (we are talking about after 10pm) then we would lean towards Celebrity. HAL is just not a late night line. On Celebrity you might find hundreds of passengers partying during a late night deck party or an atrium event....but on HAL those events would not generally happen...and if they did.,...they are usually very sad. Celebrity might have several late night Adult Comedy shows (usually at 11:30) but that will not happen on HAL (because few are awake at 11:30). Entertainment wise we would give an edge to Celebrity. On Celebrity you will hear bands with saxes and horns ...whereas HAL thinks you can replace most instruments with a keyboard. When you hear modern music played by a band with just keyboard and guitars it can often sound like a roller skating rink. That being said, we do like the BB King groups on HAL (and that should be on the Noordam) which is a real band. But be prepared for HAL passengers to whine "they are too loud" or "why don't they play Glenn Miller" or "who are the Eagles?"

As to food, we think both lines are comparable in the MDR (maybe a small edge to HAL) but the Solstice wins hands down when it comes to alternative restaurants. But one negative we have found on all the S-Class ships is that elevator service just seems to be slow. We do not know if its due to bad software or just the fact that 14 elevators are not enough for that many passengers. On the Noordam we never had an elevator issue (although we do prefer to use the stairs if its only a few decks). But on those Celebrity S-Class ships the elevators can be very frustrating. DW and I prefer to walk 5 or 6 decks rather than wait for elevators...and possibly by run over by scooters and wheelchairs who have become desperate to get into an elevator.

Hank

We did the Noordam round trip from Sydney last year and it was superb. She is a lovely-sized vessel at just under 2000 guests, and the service was impeccable. We thoroughly enjoyed spending most evenings in the piano bar, where a fantastic atmosphere was enjoyed singing around the piano and chatting to fellow guests. The port stops were excellent. The beds on HAL are nothing short of fabulous, to the point where, after our first cruise, which was on the Volendam in 2013, we came home and bought a new bed. The afternoon teas are fantastic, and the Pinnacle Restaurant is superb.

 

Next year (wow, in only about 7 weeks) we are doing Auckland to Fremantle on the Solstice, so it will be good to compare the ships as we've been HAL cruisers up until now but wanted to try something different, and the itinerary, ending up in our own backyard, really appealed.

 

We have friends who cruise A LOT and they find very little difference between Celebrity and HAL, so we feel we will love our Solstice cruise. Bear in mind that for cruises around Asia, Australia and New Zealand, there is going to be quite a few Aussies, Kiwis and people from Asia, and they will generally be a younger demographic than folks from the US simply because we get a lot more vacation time here (at least a month, but some trades/industries it's 5 or 6 weeks a year). And Australians have taken to cruising in crazy numbers in the past few years. Taking into account that our population is less than 25 million, when I say that the cruise industry figures show that 1.2 million Aussies cruised in 2016, you can appreciate that you are likely to come across lots of us from Down Under on whichever line you cruise with.

 

Having said that, I think it's fair to say that Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean are probably the most popular lines with Australians. I wouldn't sail with Princess because I'd walk in fear and trembling of bumping into umpteen cousins, and the RCI vessels are just simply too big and too rah-rah for our taste.

 

Whether you opt to go HAL or Celebrity, I'm sure you will have a wonderful time in this part of the world. :)

I'm surprised at your view of RCL, does Radiance no longer sail Aus/NZ itineraries as she is certainly not a big ship being slightly smaller than Celebrity Solstice.

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