Celebrity Silhoutte vs. NAL Eurodam?

[Califonria cruiser]

I have found a Baltic cruise with very similar itineraries and can't decide which one to book. Celebrity Silhouette is about $500 more for the 2 of us over HAL Eurodam.

 

Any ideas of what you think it better than Eurodam that might make it worth the cost?

 

Do you think the food is similar to those who have cruised both?

 

Has anyone else compared these 2 ships and has any thoughts?

 

Thanks for your input.

 

Jenn

[cruisead]

We've done both and for us, it's any Celebrity ship over any HAL ship. We find their ships to be dark in the public areas, especially the hallways on the non-stateroom decks. We found the food to be just ok, and their specialty restaurants to be far below those on Celebrity. And the biggest negative for us is HAL's more liberal smoking policy.

[miched]

I have only sailed on Hal one time. There were some nice features at the time being a nice theater that showed movies, and always having a Catholic Priest on board. That was many years ago.

 

My cruise line of choice is now Celebrity as they have more to offfer. I like their restrictive no smoking policy, better loyalty program, better drink packs especially when it is offered as a promo, very interactive and friendly staff, and just a great crusing experience.

 

We sailed on over 40 cruises before trying Celebrity. We enjoyed all of them and had a great time. Just for a change I convinced my wife that we should try Celebrity even though we were told that they were very "stiff". As soon as we walked on the ship we were sold. My regret is that we didn't sail on them sooner as we would now be Zenith in their loyalty program.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Califonria cruiser]

Can you explain the smoking policy? I would have figured them to all be the same.

 

We don't smoke and I don't like to smell it at all. The cruises I have been on in past always allowed them on one part of the ship outside and in the casino. Is it different with HAL? What is Celebrity's policy?

 

Jenn

[hulamoon]

HAL allows smoking in casinos for players and balconies for guests. celebrity does not allow smoking in either location.

[Algebralovr]

My travel agent considers the two lines quite equal. All she does is cruises. She is definitely a Holland cheerleader. I'm pretty sure she is also a smoker.

 

When she realized just how badly I react to smoking, she recommended Celebrity.

[Califonria cruiser]

Thanks for mentioning the difference with smoking. Just trying to gather info to make our selection. Any other comparision about the included restaurant quality or other issues?

 

Jenn

[RickT]

We've sailed the Zuiderdam (sister ship) and agree that the ship is not as functional or airy as the Silhouette. There is also a lot less deck space available unless you consider the very large area at the aft of the ship on Hal. I would rate the Silhouette an 8 out of 10 from a design/impression point of view and would only rate Hal as a 5-6.

 

The staterooms and service are similar on both ships.

 

As far as good goes I was impressed with Hal and thought their food was a step or two above X. So good that we didn't bother with the specialty restaurant so can't comment on that.

 

We looked at a Hal cruise this past summer (also Baltic) but decided on X due to the 1,2,3 Promo that gave us free drinks and a shipboard credit was equated to X being about $900 less than Hal when this was factored in.

 

Would I cruise Hal again? Absolutely. It's on my list of companies I will cruise with. It largely comes down to itinerary and price.

 

All things being equal I'll choose Celebrity though.

[tmcav]

Hi,

We have cruised on both these ships in fact did the Baltic cruise last year on Eurodam. We found Eurodam to be a notch below Silhoutte all round. The food on Eurodam was average and that includes the speciality restaurants, apart from Tamarind which was excellent.

The public areas we found to be dark and the entertainment in the theatre not as good as Celebrity.

We still had a great cruise but given the choice of ship with the same or similar itineraries we would go with Celebrity.

[sjaak]

We also prefer Celebrity because of their smoking policy, but we were very lucky when sailing with HAL and never encountered any problems with neighbours smoking or so. We avoid walking through the casino. We think service onboard the HAL ships is just a little better. Although we like Silk Harvest (not available on Silhouette though), the Asian restaurant onboard Eurodam (Tamarind) is definitly much, much better. Pinnacle and Murano are comparable.

 

We love their promenade deck, which makes it possible to walk around the ship.

 

What we dislike about the HAL ships is the dark interior, we even found the MDR depressing and we got the impression the ceiling was quite low which made it even more dark.

 

It's been a couple of years since we last sailed with HAL, but they did have a happy hour, 2 drinks for 1. And ......... they served "bitterballen" :D:D

 

I would not hesitate to spend those $500 onboard the Eurodam ;)

Edited September 2, 2014 by sjaak

[hulamoon]

We left HAL for Celebrity. Because of the smoking..I like options on Celebrity better. The balcony cabins on HAL are larger.

 

If being downwind of smokers bothers you think twice, because you never know. If it makes little difference then it maybe a great option.

 

Our first cruise with HAL was an SS, it's a suite with few benefits. Our toilet overflowed twice and the neighbor next door was traveling with his grandma. Very nice folks except the young man smoked when he wasn't sleeping or at the casino. Three times in twelve days I had to move inside due to cigar smoke.

 

There are few lines that allow smoking on balconies these days. The question is will it drive more smokers to HAL or is smoking a dying habit.:rolleyes:

 

The itineraries are often the vey best on HAL. Why celebrity can't use their play book for itineraries and website function is a mystery to me.

[Califonria cruiser]

Thank you! That was exactly the info I was looking for. We are not smokers but given that it is a Europe cruise wonder if there will be more smokers.

 

I'll watch the promos and see which one works out best for us, they seem very similar. I did like the stops slightly better with HAL, but I have been on Celebrity and know what to expect, have always loved it. Never sailed with HAL.

 

I did know that there was a thassotherapy type pool on HAL but it was extra. Wonder if there is one on Silhoutte.

 

Jenn

[hulamoon]

You pay extra for that pool on HAL and I love it. The silhouette has the solarium adults only pool, nice but not a T pool.

 

The silhouette will have more dining options. Two more than the first three S class. I agree that the a Tamarind resturant is heads above silk Harvest, but I think they have Qsine on Silhouette anyway. But I like Tuscan much more than the Pinnacle and enjoy the new resturant that is on the Silhouette.

 

In the last few years there are far less smokers in Europe, it depends where the guests come from.

[Cruzaholic41]

I have cruised both ships and without hesitation I recommend the Silhouette. Celebrity's Solstice Class ships are a lot more impressive than HAL's Signature Class. I'd rate food and service about the same on both - although Silhouette's buffet is set up a lot better and has a lot more options than Eurodam.

 

The smoking policy has been made clear. Celebrity is a clear winner here.

[cruise47]

HAL allows smoking in casinos for players and balconies for guests. celebrity does not allow smoking in either location.

 

Now that is enough. One of our cruise was totally ruin by our next door cabin couple. They smoke early in the morning and all night long.

Edited September 2, 2014 by cruise47

[SeagoingMom]

Presumably since you are considering both ships the extra 1000+/- pax on Silhouette is not something that bothers you...

[hulamoon]

If the ship is organized well you won't notice it. The benefits are there is more variety offered on board.

 

In truth the longest lines I was ever on were the diamond princess. It was new then, the staff wasn't managing lines well that cruise.

[Mickb]

We have cruised on Eurodam and C Eclipse. Both ships are very nice - I think the food and the alternative restaurants are better on Celebrity with the exception of the Tamarind on Eurodam which was superb ( we abandoned the MDR and ate every night in Tamarind). Because of the much underused lawn area on Celebrity, the pool area feels more crowded. I personally think the crew are slightly better in terms of service on HAL.

We have chosen Celebrity for our next cruise although I would sail HAL again in a heart beat.

Good sailing which ever you choose.

[kborth]

Thanks for mentioning the difference with smoking. Just trying to gather info to make our selection. Any other comparision about the included restaurant quality or other issues?

 

Jenn

 

I have been on both and I prefer Celebrity. Silouhette is a beautiful ship and our cabin was very noisy on Hal.Also staff on Celebrity are friendlier and the Captain and crew are more visible . I liked the drinks better on Hal , thought they packed quite a wallop and I believe they were cheaper.Also liked the movie theatre on Hal.But I was really wowed by the Silouhette!

[cruisead]

Another thing that got us was the Italian specialty restaurant on Eurodam---total disappointment. It's in the buffet, and it's basically a roped off area. It's not intimate or even very nice and the fact that they charge extra for basic spaghetti is insane. But Tamarind was fantastic, putting Silk Harvest to shame.

 

Another thing we didn't like on Eurodam is the relative lack of air conditioning in the cabins. Both our suite and the cabins of our children were so hot that it was difficult to dress in the evening for dinner because you're doing nothing but sweating your head off.

Edited September 3, 2014 by cruisead