HAL vs X

[AV8rix]

Looks like a good time to post this, knowing that at least two folks who sail X (Rupert and Go Go Go!) are currently reading this board. There are probably more.

 

I’m planning two more cruises on HAL this year, then I’m thinking of migrating over from to Celebrity for a few reasons.

 

1) I’m a solo cruiser and some of the lines are beginning to award loyalty points commensurate with the burdensome supplement that we solos pay. X is one of them, HAL is not (so far).

 

2) HAL may be changing its target demographic. Please note my use of the word “may” in the preceding sentence before flaming me. HAL is in the process of retiring the small S class ships (and I wonder if R class is next?) which appear to be preferred by the current core demographic, including me. The newer builds – Vista, then Signature, and now Pinnacle – each one larger than the preceding class. Not on the scale of RCI’s Allure or Oasis, but unquestionably larger than S and R classes.

 

3) There is NO indoor smoking on X. I like to play blackjack (tournament player on land) but have to limit myself to a very constricted schedule on HAL. I can only play for the first few morning hours on sea days. After that the casino space becomes smoke-soaked. And smells sorta bad (to me, anyway) at all times – even when not operating. My observations of the casino atmosphere are, of course, subjective. Each individual’s tolerance level is different. But the objective fact remains that X does not permit smoking in their casinos and that’s a plus for me.

 

I will say up front that I am a member of the current core demographic of HAL (mid 70s in age) – although not the doddering blue-haired lady with the walker. I have nothing against doddering blue-haired ladies with walkers but just want to reassure any potential responders that I may have somewhat more tolerance for a slightly higher noise level and sharing the ship with younger cruisers. Although it is my understanding that on the longer cruises (which I prefer anyway) I will likely fit the age demographic on X – but correct me if I’m wrong.

 

Can anyone offer a well-reasoned comparison between the two lines -- food, ship’s ambiance including décor and noise level, music, entertainment, etc? I’d most appreciate responses by folks who actually have experience with both X and HAL. Thanks in advance.

[curiouscat]

I can respond after March 29th... my first HAL cruise but I'm Elite on X

 

 

CC

[jmps]

There are many threads on this topic. Here is a current one:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2162122

[Murray's Pop]

There are many threads on this topic. Here is a current one:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2162122

 

 

I'm pretty sure the OP knows about that thread, as she posted in there that she will be starting a thread asking for comparisons of HAL and X.

[StartrainDD]

That is a rather fair assessment, although I do not agree about the Promenade (a lovely feature HAL has that X completely lacks!) and I don't mind in the least seeing walkers during dinner!

 

Also, HAL entertainment in the main showroom has significantly improved (again, my opinion) over the last 18 months.

 

We have nothing booked right now but are looking at several options for May. "X" prices are not-competitive with HAL in most cases these days.

[Hlitner]

We have found many subtle (and some not so subtle) differences between HAL (4 Star Mariners) and Celebrity (Elite Plus). The frequent cruiser amenities we get on Celebrity are far more valuable then what we get on HAL. Celebrity does have nightlife after 10pm....which is something not seen on most HAL cruises (with the exception of the shorter 7 day Caribbean trips).

 

On Celebrity we can get food at the Lido nearly all day and night. But on HAL there is usually no Lido services after 8pm (except for an hour of a limited later night buffet). Celebrity also serves breakfast later then on HAL. But HAL has the best room service menu and we do enjoy the free Fresh Squeezed OJ in the Lido. That being said, we can get free fresh squeezed OJ if we simply go to the daily Elite breakfast (where we can also get free Bloody Mary's, Mimosas, etc).

 

As to entertainment, where we used to find the two lines nearly equal we now think that Celebrity has charged ahead while HAL keeps cutting back. Celebrity does try to do some interesting things with their production shows (such as having world-class Eastern European acrobats incorporated into some of the shows). Celebrity also has some decent bands on many of their ships (as opposed to the pick-up band HAL Cats...which now might be finally eliminated).

 

As to the quality of cuisine, this is really subjective. But the alternative restaurants on Celebrity are far superior to the Pinnacle on HAL (but the Celebrity restaurants are more expensive). Food in the MDR is hit and miss on both lines so we will call it a draw. But Celebrity does have an interesting concept called "Aqua Class" which is just slightly more expensive then regular balcony cabins and includes having dinner in "Blu" which is a small restaurant with some interesting (not liked by all) cuisine.

 

As to smoking, we really do not see that much difference inside the ships with the exception of the Casino (no smoking on Celebrity). The major difference has to do with passenger balconies where HAL still allows both cigarette and cigar smoking and Celebrity allows clean air :).

 

 

 

Hank

Edited February 5, 2015 by Hlitner

[AV8rix]

This all looks like GOOD information! Particularly the opinion concerning the loyalty program of Celebrity. I'm going to look at their site today and see how the benefits are tiered.

 

Also looking forward to curiouscat's review after her Ryndam cruise.

 

Anyway, I've got Amsterdam in May and Statendam in September, so won't change lines until 2016 anyway. A lot can happen before then. There may be policy changes for better or for worse (being subjective again :)).

[brentp]

My take

 

- you should fit in the Celebrity demographic nicely, especially any cruise over 7 days.

 

- MDR Food: Celebrity

- Buffet Food: HAL

- Specialty Food: Celebrity

- Entertainment: Celebrity

- Rooms: HAL

 

I will add, that Celebrity kinda shuts down earlier at night, . . . at least that is our experience (which is OK with us most of the time).

 

From a pure cruise to cruise perspective, Celebrity would be our go to line. On our Panama cruise, we were the youngsters (at late-40s). The last Celebrity cruise, we were probably a little over the average age (early-50s) given this was a 7 day over T-Day week out of Miami (lots of families).

 

However, most of our cruises are all about the itinerary now, so we will go and look at a select number of lines (and don't even look at the rest) to find what fits in best for what we want.

 

To your smoking point and the reason you are considering a switch, . . . totally valid and would be a solid reason to at least give Celebrity a try. Now that you mentioned it, I do not play, but found myself avoiding even having to walk through the Casino last HAL cruise.

[hmorrow]

Hi,

We are elite on X and 3 star mariners on HAL. I like both lines, and usually pick by itinerary and price. I hate HAL's smoking policy,(as a non smoker), yet we are cruising with them for 31 days in April. Great itinerary.

 

We usually book Aqua on X, and therefore get to eat in Blu, which we love for the small venue, rather than the big loud dining rooms on most ships. (and another reason we cruise X)

Also, we have much better perks on X- free internet minutes among the best imh0......

We are not late night people, so lack of entertainment after 10 is not a big deal to us, a nd we are in our 60's........

Basically, we want good food, good service and relaxing environment, That being said, we like both and would cruise either.....

 

Helaine

Edited February 7, 2015 by hmorrow

[Jalex63]

At the moment I do not have the answer to this question, but as you can see from my signature, I will have some idea in just a couple of weeks. We have been sailing HAL almost exclusively the past ten years and do find things not quite as what they were when we began. The only potential problem I see with being able to do a really thorough comparison is that the Celebrity we are going on is only five days long and that could mean quite a lot with regard to demographics. However, most of the things we are interested in determining, such as food quality and ship amenities, etc. should remain the same?

 

I certainly intend to post our take on the matter when we return.

[iancal]

We find that HAL ship decor is too dark. We much prefer the larger, brighter public areas on X.

 

We also find that the X ships feel less crowded since they appear to us to be much better designed to accommodate traffic flow. Most especially the Solstice class vessels.

Edited February 8, 2015 by iancal

[AV8rix]

Thank you all who were kind enough to respond!

Now, having researched it, I agree with those who responded here and posts I’ve seen elsewhere – Captain’s Club definitely has better benefits than the Mariner’s Society. Disclaimer: That’s JMO and it is with regard to things that are important to me – points awarded commensurate with the single supplement that I must pay, internet benefits, and laundry benefits.

I’m also glad to learn of the demographic fit – can’t really see myself on Carnival, RCI or NCL :). And I’d quit cruising before I’d board a ship whose pax capacity is greater than the population of my home town. Again, I’m just expressing my preferences.

Having said all that I hope that I won’t have to make the change. I’m old so I doubt that all of the S class and R class ships of HAL will be retired during my lifetime. And company policies can always be revised. If I do jump ship (the dam ship) I’ll miss the unique HAL ambience – I was a sailor when I was younger and I LOVE the nautical theme of the HAL ships and the priceless artifacts.

Looking forward to updates from curiouscat and Jalex63 when they complete their cruises.

[cbr663]

We just stepped off the Celebrity Reflection yesterday and I generally agree with @Hlitner and @brentp.

 

We sailed in Aqua Class and dined in Blu. The food and service was very good. Smaller portions and "clean" food was a great change from the regular over-sauced menu options usually found on cruise ships. While 4-course options were available, we chose 3-courses every night. The only weak point was desserts - not that the desserts were bad, just nothing too terribly exciting.

 

X's cabins are noticeably smaller than HAL's, with the washrooms significantly smaller. The Reflection is in excellent shape and is spotless. The only sign of wear that I noticed was on a dining room chair in the Opus MDR. The Reflection's design reminds me very much of a Hampton Inn and Suites hotel, with browns and aqua blues used throughout.

 

We found the entertainment to be very similar. X tends to have activities in the center atrium which makes it very difficult to watch and enjoy. Most simply lean over the railings on the upper floors. This does, of course, make for a noisy ship when out and about. Thankfully, once in your cabin, nary the peep can be heard from the atrium.

 

Age wise, we didn't notice any difference between passengers on HAL and X. We did notice that we have seen more children on previous HAL cruises than on X.

 

You will certainly enjoy the smoke free casino, as we did also. Smoking is very restrictive on X and while technically not a smoke free line, you will have to search to find the smoking locations.

 

We had 2 groups on our X sailing, and at times, this caused considerable congestion throughout certain areas of the ship. I would suspect that things would be different with no groups sailing. We did have 3000 passengers on board, making for very crowded elevators.

[Go Go Go!]

You would love Celebrity!! I think X and HAL lines are very similar and both wonderful!

 

- Love all the benefits of the Captains Club - Celebrity wins here.

 

- Love the no smoking policy on X - there are only about two or three designated spots to smoke on the whole ship, so they are easy to avoid, and we do! Plus, absolutely no smoking on the balconies - had a balcony next to a smoker on HAL, and we could barely stand to be outside when they were out there as well.

 

- Food is very similar on both lines unless you book Aqua (more expensive) on X which I feel is better than the main dining rooms on both ships. Both have great specialty restaurants. HAL's seem to be less expensive.

 

- Service is wonderful on each line - maybe an edge here to HAL - love the majority Indonesian crew on HAL.

 

- Our last three or four cruises on Celebrity, we took advantage of the 123GO promotion. This promotion seems to be almost always available. Choose one perk - either a free drink package, free gratuities, or an onboard credit. Our travel agency pays our gratuities, so we always choose the drink package. We are booked for Turkey and Greece this summer, so with 123 we were able to choose two perks. Really a great promotion!! Plus we booked onboard while in Alaska, so we will be loaded down with OBC!

 

- Better/quicker boarding with X, but you aren't allowed into your cabins until about 1:30pm. Love boarding HAL and going straight to our cabin.

 

- Cabins - HAL wins here! S class on X has great bathrooms, but limited closet/drawer space. M class on X has great storage - still not as good as HAL - but the bathrooms are small and dated. Love the bathtubs on HAL. Very similar but probably better balconies on HAL as well.

 

- Entertainment about equal although The Nieuw Amsterdam was one of our very favorite cruises because of the entertainment.

 

- Clientele is very similar. You would fit in perfectly! X is fun, but definitely not a party ship! We are in our early fifties and have always traveled with our kids - both lines do a great job with the children's programs. In my opinion, both lines have just the right number of children! Love that both HAL and X have very limited announcements - only one a day on X.

 

- I think I like the décor better on X - bright and airy and love the glass elevators and atriums on the S class on X. Although we loved having the library and coffee shop up top on HAL. Also LOVE the full walk around promenade deck on HAL. Miss this greatly on X.

 

- Truly love both lines! Boarding on the Eurodam in six days!!!

[AV8rix]

cbr663 and Go Go Go!

 

OK, it seems the unanimous opinion of everyone that the Captain's Club perks beat out the Mariner Society. I examined the loyalty tiers at the Celebrity site and can't help but agree.

 

Also there seems to be agreement that the staterooms and bathrooms are smaller on X. I've looked at the deck plans and agree with that too. Sort of a bummer but at least I'm solo and probably don't really need all of the space that I have on HAL.

 

But I've gotta say that I ***LOVE*** the HAL nautical ambience and the priceless artifacts. Maybe 'cause I myself am an antique :). In fact, I love EVERYTHING about HAL except the issues enumerated in my first post.

 

So I've got an Amsterdam repo in May and then a farewell to Statendam in September. Unless HAL enacts some policy changes I do believe that I'll sample Celebrity in 2016. The larger-ship trend of HAL is sort of a non-issue since if I leave HAL for ANY other line I'll have to deal with larger ships anyway since I can't really justify the expense of the high-end lines that operate the smaller ships.

 

Again, thanks to all who took the trouble of posting such well-reasoned responses.

[DAllenTCY]

Does the size of the ship matter to you? HAL retains a few smaller (1200-1300 guest) ones. Do you like alternative restaurants? HAL only has one per ship, X has a few more. You won't find butler service on HAL, but it is available on X. Both are great lines, and priced within my range, at least for now. I think they are comparable....you won't be disappointed on X.

David

[Stateroom_Sailor]

We haven't been on HAL yet, but are planning to in 3 years, perhaps on the Oosterdam. We're in our mid-30's, young even on a 7 day Alaska cruise (on the X) where most people seemed to range between 45 -65. Fellow passengers told me that the 8 day+ significantly jumps in age.

 

There is current hip music playing on the pool deck, but the rest of the ship is nice and relaxed. Nearly all the shows are focused on the 60's and 70's, other than 1 80's dance night and some 90's trivia, the ship is geared towards Boomers. Some of the complaining, in my opinion, is overreacting.

 

We're sailing on a 5 Day Carnival Cruise this October, half the ship will probably be younger than us. I welcome the 18 year olds, and the 80 year olds, to help pay for our voyage. ;)

Edited February 10, 2015 by Stateroom_Sailor

[iancal]

I am positive on Celebrity, neutral on HAL-at least on most of thier ships.

 

DW the other hand, is only in favour of selecting HAL over Celebrity or Princess IF the itinerary is truly unique or the HAL per diem price is more attractive than the other two alternatives.

 

Celebrity, especially Solstice class ships, are at the very top of her mass market cruise line list.

Edited February 10, 2015 by iancal

[Stateroom_Sailor]

I am positive on Celebrity, neutral on HAL-at least on most of thier ships.

 

DW the other hand, is only in favour of selecting HAL over Celebrity or Princess IF the itinerary is truly unique or the HAL per diem price is more attractive than the other two alternatives.

 

Celebrity, especially Solstice class ships, are at the very top of her mass market cruise line list.

 

This is what has caught our eyes, HAL's itineraries. We loved Alaska, but Celebrity's options are limited, giving HAL the edge on seeing new stuff. I really like the Art Deco design of the newer ships too.

[HokiePoq]

[

Won't know about Blu until April...but here are a few observations from just completed Celebrity cruise, our second. We are three star Mariners.

The coupons we received were far more valuable than the perks from being three star Mariners. This is one area HAL needs to improve on. We are treated like Royalty on NCL after only 75 days (now have more) but HAL not so much and Celebrity pretty good as well with less credits.

Had the biggest lobster tails in MDR we've ever had on just completed cruise on Celebrity. Rest of food in MDR is pretty much the same on both lines. Buffet (in my subjective opinion) is much better on HAL. The X Lido on our recent cruise was not open all the time, day and night. Service is excellent on both lines. Production show was much better than any I've seen on HAL. Lounge entertainment was pretty much the same (not as good as NCL or RCCL). The stage entertainers were nothing special on our recent Celebrity cruise except for the singers and dancers in the production shows. They are contracted by a UK company which seems to do an excellent job in that regard. I love the older HAL ships and am very glad to be going on one that has self service laundry. I won't be having do to loads in the sink every night. I will hate when those older ships are retired as it seems many lines are doing away with self serve on the newer ships....didn't have one on the Westerdam, for example.

I will continue to choose based on itinerary and price. Demographic is pretty much the same and dependent on the itinerary and time of year. There were very few children on our recently completed X cruise, but staff said they had hundreds during the holidays. X has more balconies and we've always had one (useless on just completed cruise as it was cold); have never had one on HAL due to cost.

As far as cutbacks go, folks on the Celebrity board point out their cutbacks on a daily basis. For example, no pillow chocolates, no towel animals and no fresh squeezed OJ. One could order OJ on the drink package, but turns out it isn't fresh squeezed. I didn't know that until reading on return but stopped ordering it as it wasn't very good...and found out why on CC.

Edited February 10, 2015 by HokiePoq

[Hlitner]

It does seem like Orange Juice has taken on its own life here on CC :). But regarding Celebrity, unless they have changed since December (our last X cruise) there actually is fresh squeezed OJ (although it is squeezed in the galley). It is available at the Elite Continental Breakfast (free) for those who are Elite or Elite Plus and it is also sold at the bar located in the Lido/buffet area. If one has a drink package they can get it at the Lido bar for no additional cost.

 

Hank

[cbr663]

We didn't have fresh squeezed OJ on our X cruise last week. We received towel animals twice during the 7 day cruise. Chocolate covered Oreos were provided on the last night of the cruise - they weren't very good at all.

 

One thing that I wish to add is that the Reflection did not have a nautical theme. For us, it was very reminiscent of a floating hotel and its shopping area reminded me of a mall. The Reflection is not a small ship. We had 3000 passengers and 1200 crew on board. Both the Reflection and Westerdam were docked in St. Martin at the same time and the Reflection towered over the Westy.

Edited February 10, 2015 by cbr663

[Aquahound]

I am positive on Celebrity, neutral on HAL-at least on most of thier ships.

 

DW the other hand, is only in favour of selecting HAL over Celebrity or Princess IF the itinerary is truly unique or the HAL per diem price is more attractive than the other two alternatives.

 

Celebrity, especially Solstice class ships, are at the very top of her mass market cruise line list.

 

I could have written this because that perfectly describes DW and me. We both love Celebrity for their ships, especially Solstice Class, but the 2 HAL cruises we've booked were primarily because of itinerary. With regard to HAL ships, we both feel...meh.

[Roz]

"I will say up front that I am a member of the current core demographic of HAL (mid 70s in age)" - Is this, in fact, the core demographic on HAL?

 

Roz

[FredT]

I am positive on Celebrity, neutral on HAL-at least on most of thier ships.

 

DW the other hand, is only in favour of selecting HAL over Celebrity or Princess IF the itinerary is truly unique or the HAL per diem price is more attractive than the other two alternatives.

 

It's simple... Whats important to YOU? We love X, and each time we plan a trip one of the first lines I look at is X. THEN we start "comparison shopping".

 

For us the breaker is the itinerary, and that (or the lack of "that") is what has kept us off of X in the recent past and on HAL. On each of our last three cruises (Alaska, Antarctica, far east) HAL has put the competition to shame, with more ports, and longer stays in those ports than any of their "mass market" competitors. The same holds true for our upcoming cruise around Australia/New Zealand.

 

Now do other lines have better itineraries? Sure. But at this point in my life we cant justify the added expense of the Ocenias/ Silver Seas options. (Although I salivate every time I see the Silver Seas itinerary that includes the White sea... :D )

Edited February 10, 2015 by FredT