Disillusioned with Celebrity, looking for a new cruise line to be loyal to

[irishayes]

Would I enjoy HAL? Sailed Celebrity for the first time 5 years ago and I was smitten with "modern luxury."

 

I just returned from the exact same cruise I went on 5 years ago, and was so disappointed with how everything has changed. IMO, they are indistinguishable from the Carnival and NCL cruises I've also taken.

 

Sell me on HAL? Would I like it if I'm looking for the modern luxury that Celebrity used to be?

[kazu]

What is "modern luxury"?

 

I have been on Celebrity.

 

I guess it depends on what ship you are going on. If it's the Koningsdam I think you wil find what you call modern luxury on it.

 

If you are going on the S & R ships or the Prinsendam, they take you back to the days of "old cruising" in a sense with their art, etc.

 

Eurodam and N Amsterdam are a mix but I guess you could call them modern luxury if I understand your definition.

 

We have sailed NCL, Celebrity, Princess, Oceania, and some now defunct cruise lines and kept coming back to HAL.

 

Their crew is stellar - warm, inviting and always smiling.

 

We enjoy the ambiance and lean to the smaller ships (although we have sailed the newer ones, but not the King) but everyone's taste is different.

 

If you are seeking "modern" I would go with the Koningsdam and then the N Amsterdam or Eurodam.

 

But do let us know what your definition is, I may be assuming ;)

 

Edited to say, just read the review posted on this board for the first time on HAL - Celebrity cruisers previously . You might want to take a look

Edited January 18, 2017 by kazu

[Krazy Kruizers]

A lot of things have changed quite a bit on all cruise lines.

In the spring of 2016 we did the same repositioning cruise that we had done in 2013 -- 21 days repositioning cruise. And we were very disappointed in nearly everything. Far too many things that we had grown to love over the years on HAL were gone!!

You may have experienced changes on Celebrity as well and were disappointed.

Times are changing.

We were going to try HAL again (we have over 1000 actual sailing days on HAL) but unfortunately I have a health condition that now prevents me from sailing.

I know that many people complained about the new changes -- to HAL in Seattle and some changes have happened -- going back to the old ways in some areas.

If you do decide to change to HAL, please come back and tell us about your experience.

I wish you would tell us why you were disappointed in Celebrity and if it involved major changes.

[irishayes]

It sounds so petty when I type it out...but our first cruise was with Celebrity and it felt completely pampering. This time, not so much. I felt like I was wearing the cloak of invisibility at the pool, wood waiters looking me in the eye and then turning away and ignoring me.

 

I remembered our favorite time of day was returning from the day in court, going up to the Sunset Bar and grabbing munchies and a drink and toasting our departure from that day's port. This time, we return from the port to find absolutely no food available at the buffet until 30 to 45 minutes after we had already sailed away. When they finally did put food out they had a lovely assortment of cheeses, but only packets of Zesta Saltine crackers to go with it.

 

We were instructed that we needed to be out of her cabin by 7 a.m. the last morning. Felt very rushed.

 

No more chocolate buffets. No more Grand Buffet on the last sea day.

 

Live band and party atmosphere at the pool instead of laid back atmosphere.

 

It just almost didn't seem like the same Cruise Line. It really was indistinguishable from the Carnival Cruise I took with my daughter last year.

 

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[bUU]

I think it is easy to become disillusioned with any of the major cruise lines if you rely on any particular aspects of their prior offerings; things are dynamic. I'm not a fan of being loyal to a brand but cruise lines do make it worthwhile at least for now. If I were aiming for loyalty benefits then I'd just stick with one brand (in my case Royal Caribbean), regardless of the changes over time, knowing (from what I've learned here at Cruise Critic) that the grass always seems greener somewhere else, but probably isn't.

[igraf]

HAL definitely allows more time in the cabin on the last day, time enough for a served breakfast in the main dining room. I would not want to end my cruise by being pushed out of my cabin at 7am!

 

igraf

 

 

 

..We were instructed that we needed to be out of her cabin by 7 a.m. the last morning. Felt very rushed....

[iancal]

We have never been forced out of our cabin at 7AM on a Celebrity cruise. We are hardly up at that time. Usually it is 9:30ish, after breakfast. But, there is a first time for everything.

 

ON our last NCL cruise we did not have to vacate until quite late. We were ordering eggs benny in the DR shortly after we docked in Miami.

 

We cruise on several lines. All of them, including HAL, have suffered from cost constraints and staff reductions. The only certainty is that there appears to be little consistency between voyages and between ships in the same cruise line.

 

Lots of good choices on HAL, just select your ship carefully since they have a wide range of product/condition.

Edited January 18, 2017 by iancal

[boscobeans]

Would I enjoy HAL? Sailed Celebrity for the first time 5 years ago and I was smitten with "modern luxury."

 

I just returned from the exact same cruise I went on 5 years ago, and was so disappointed with how everything has changed. IMO, they are indistinguishable from the Carnival and NCL cruises I've also taken.

 

Sell me on HAL? Would I like it if I'm looking for the modern luxury that Celebrity used to be?

 

I started cruising in 2001 with Celebrity, back when their motto was exceeding all expectations or something to that extent. They lived up to it at that time. Slowly they began taking away those little things that made it special.

 

Eight years later we decided, because of itinerary and port of departure (N.Y.C.) , to cruise on the Noordam.

 

It was so enjoyable that we booked the same cruise the next year and took along several friends, who all became hooked on cruising by the time we returned.

 

When HAL left NYC (WE DO NOT LIKE TO FLY) we went back to Celebrity and Royal Caribbean and sailed with them when possible from New Jersey or Baltimore. Now that BOTH lines have deserted N.Y or N.J. and we have tired of the one sailing RCCL has out of Baltimore we have bee forced to fly. The MEGA ships they are sending out of N.J. are NOTHING we would ever want to cruise, no zip lines, rock climbing walls or ice skating rinks for us.

 

Captains Club benefits kept us with Celebrity and with reciprocal benefits at RCCL we have cruised more than 21 or so times since 2001. If it wasn't for those benefits we would be on HAL in a flash.

 

Now with the obvious disdain Celebrity is showing to its loyal long time passengers we have decided to switch.

 

I understand that there are complaints on any CC board, and understand things do change.

 

If Holland America offers any semblance of what they did 7 years ago we will be glad we switched our Celebrity cruise to an 11 day cruise next April which includes a partial Panama Canal transit on the Zuiderdam. Not hard to please really, give us a well kept room, a nice veranda (WE SNAGGED AN AFT FACING VERANDA), friendly and attentive staff, a nice friendly casino, some decent entertainment, a nice less rushed dining experience whether it is in the buffet, the dining room or any other place including room service. Even if they no longer have the YUM YUM man greeting us when we leave the MDR or the ship isn't the newest, glitziest floating amusement park with robot bartenders I feel we will be happy.

 

We have NEVER had a bad cruise, but we want one that was like (nothing can be exact) what we enjoyed a few years ago.

 

We loved HAL and it is too bad we didn't just follow them to Florida, we would have well over 200 days at sea. Now we have something new to shoot for... LOL.

 

Will you like Holland???

 

If Holland America is HALF of what it was, it will be at least equal to if not better than what Celebrity was 5 years ago.

 

bosco

[dcsam]

We've cruised with HAL a lot. Many changes have occurred since we first cruised with them. We still enjoy their smaller ships. But I disliked the Oosterdam. I also dislike the mega Princess ships. But for some reason Im tempted to give the Koningsdam a try. The interior looks bright and airy. Oosterdam seemed dark, and I avoided walking the interior as much as possible. So yes, it is very important to pick your ships wisely. But I think you'd enjoy their smaller ship (i.e., Maasdam, Rotterdam, Amsterdam...). Love their wide walking lowe promenade deck.

We have taken 2 cruises with Azamara and another booked in February. They are our favorite line now. But expensive, so we're happy to cruise with Holland too. Our expectations just change accordingly.

[OlsSalt]

Would I enjoy HAL? Sailed Celebrity for the first time 5 years ago and I was smitten with "modern luxury."

 

I just returned from the exact same cruise I went on 5 years ago, and was so disappointed with how everything has changed. IMO, they are indistinguishable from the Carnival and NCL cruises I've also taken.

 

Sell me on HAL? Would I like it if I'm looking for the modern luxury that Celebrity used to be?

 

In a word, no. It is not likely you will like HAL ships.

 

There is no "modern luxury" on HAL ships except for the brand new Konigsdam. HAL ships instead appeal to many of us because they are not modern, are more old fashion, fusty, dated color schemes, but comfortable and far more traditional as classic cruise ships. Like a visit to an old aunt's country home - highly welcoming but never trendy. With good cookies and ice cream always available. And lots of smiling and professional staffers who seem to stay and stay.

Edited January 18, 2017 by OlsSalt

[Eboracum_d]

Having cruised with both I would say that HAL ships have a more relaxed feel to them than Celebrity. They also have a more settled crew.

 

It's a while since I was on Celebrity but at that time Cabin and Dining Stewards were employed by an Agency rather than directly by Celebrity.particularly in the Dining Room supervisors were hyper-critical. By contrast the supervising staff in the HAL Dining Room are good at spotting pressure points are discretely move staff in or even help themselves.

 

Like HAL, but with much smaller ships, Azamara is also a more relaxed and very much customer-focussed experience.

 

 

 

 

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[TheCalicoCat]

1. We choose by itinerary, not cruise line & have had several lovely cruises. (Without the crutch of whatever you "earn" through loyalty or a "suite." With the assumption being that if you book a Neptune Suite on HAL that you will probably have a different experience that someone who books an inside cabin. I guess the same could be said for Celebrity?)

 

2. We are of a mind that a bad day on a cruise is far better than a good day at work.

(We are obviously not retired, my opinion on this may change when my status changes.)

 

3. We are satisfied with a clean room & edible food.

(I can't recall the last "show" that I saw on a cruise.)

 

4. I find the cruise lines to be more alike than different.

(I've not tried Disney, UnCruise, Regent, etc. maybe for the higher price point they are "different." Different enough for me - I doubt it, I guess I'd have to see the itinerary & compare it to what is available at my price point.)

 

5. If you are going into it looking for great & only get good then you will be disappointed.

Edited January 18, 2017 by TheCalicoCat

[shipfriend_max]

 

I just returned from the exact same cruise I went on 5 years ago, and was so disappointed with how everything has changed. IMO, they are indistinguishable from the [...] NCL cruises I've also taken.

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences and information, I just agree with you on that.

As such I find Celebrity do be a good cruise line, but compared to NCL, they are NO PREMIUM anymore, which we recognized on NCL Jade in April 2016 - everything which was offered on our last X cruise in Aug 2015 was nearly also offered on NCL.

 

I also will try out HAL in late summer 2017 on new Koningsdam, to see whether they are a favourable alternative to X, and I also really enjoy Princess. :)

HAL will be the third of the premium cruise lines I will try than and I am happy to have the comparison between those three than...

[Caribbean Chris]

We sail both HAL and Celebrity every year. I prefer HAL for the strong, professional crew and classic ocean liner feeling.

 

DH likes to book suites on Celebrity for their private dining room Luminae and Michael's Club lounge for suite passengers, and at that level and increasingly higher price, yes, there is plenty of pampering.

 

I really love a standard outside double room on a HAL promenade deck (a category not available on the newer HAL ships) and always book a room nearest to a set of doors to easily step outside and be close to the sea. It gives me the feeling of being on an ocean voyage.

 

HAL does a consistently better job with dining room and stateroom service than Celebrity does, IMHO, regardless of the category we book. Our dining stewards were better on our August HAL cruise than in the X suite dining room. As others said, there's a comforting, homey feeling on HAL.

 

Celebrity puts more emphasis and invests money in being trendy with things like cutting edge entertainment or grass lawns on the top deck (unfortunately some of it brown and dead on Eclipse in December), but most of that is lost on me.

[Cruise Junky]

OP, I think you'll find every line has downgraded in the past 5 years. There are the same threads on every line about things going downhill.

[iancal]

Our impression of Celebrity, Hal, Princess etc is two fold.

 

They are moving in the same direction-to the lowest common denominator

 

They are all inconsistent. Between ships in the same fleet, between voyages.

This applies to food, entertainment, service, etc. I suspect that it is attributable to the constant focus on cutting costs and reducing staffing levels.

 

Our expectations have been adjusted downward over the past few years. Not complaining since we expect this. It is impossible to deliver the same product when your pricing is restrained by the marketplace. In some instances we are paying the same or less for cruises today that we did for cruises ten years ago on a per diem basis. Something had to give. And it did.

 

We do have the option of paying what we did ten years ago simply by adjusting that expenditure for inflation and selecting a premium cruise line. We choose not to and to use the savings to extend our travels.

Edited January 18, 2017 by iancal

[igraf]

The attraction of a grass lawn on a ship also escapes me, unless of course if I were a dog....

 

igraf

 

 

 

...Celebrity puts more emphasis and invests money in being trendy with things like cutting edge entertainment or grass lawns on the top deck (unfortunately some of it brown and dead on Eclipse in December), but most of that is lost on me.

[lvz2cruz]

Been there. Done that. LOVE HAL!!

 

I so agree with above posts about better service and food on HAL than X. We cruised both twice last year and much preferred our time on HAL.

We are elite on X and wish we loved it to get their great loyalty benefits, but the onboard experience is not good enough. We will sail HAL and pay for internet and drinks, etc.

[SoBe2010]

Been there. Done that. LOVE HAL!!

 

I so agree with above posts about better service and food on HAL than X. We cruised both twice last year and much preferred our time on HAL.

We are elite on X and wish we loved it to get their great loyalty benefits, but the onboard experience is not good enough. We will sail HAL and pay for internet and drinks, etc.

 

The same with us. Elite on X, but the benefits are not worth it. Hope, our next HAL gets as half as good as our first one.

Edited January 18, 2017 by SoBe2010

[geoherb]

Our last Celebrity cruise left me underwhelmed. I still look at prices for Celebrity when deciding between cruises, but we've booked mostly Princess cruises since then with a few on HAL thrown in the mix. Our upcoming cruise on the Zuiderdam will be the fourth HAL cruise we'll have been on since our last Celebrity cruise. During the same period we've gone on a dozen Princess cruises.

 

That said, I'm not sure the OP would be happy on HAL or Princess either. Perhaps it's time to move up to Oceania, Silversea, Crystal, etc.

Edited January 18, 2017 by geoherb

[OlsSalt]

......

HAL will be the third of the premium cruise lines I will try than and I am happy to have the comparison between those three than...

 

Not sure what you expect calling HAL a "premium" line, because it is not in the class of the pricier ones like Crystal or Regent.

 

It is a very good mass market cruise line with some unique built in advantages like smaller ships and in-house trained crews, compared to other similarly placed mass market lines as you mentioned: Celebrity and Princess.

[OlsSalt]

It would be interesting to get the inside perspective from the management side about how much passengers themselves have changed over the past decade. What are the emerging demographics asking and expecting from a cruise ship vacation?

 

One immediate change is accommodating to the numerous dietary demands, less formal attire, more variety in entertainment and music. Another is the wider range of nationalities and languages now on board, which used to be primarily North American English speakers.

 

This begs the question - who changed the most: HAL or the passengers themselves?

Edited January 18, 2017 by OlsSalt

[iancal]

I think that comment about understanding how cruisers have changed over the past 10-15 years is very perceptive.

 

This would not be restricted to the product itself. It would be extended to how they buy, when they buy, and where they buy. Geographic pricing discrepancies will be a thing of the past.

 

Not to mention what services/products, inclusive or optional, trends are coming or have arrived. Not to mention non traditional on board revenue opportunities for forward thinking cruise lines.

[Tampa Girl]

But I disliked the Oosterdam. I also dislike the mega Princess ships. But for some reason Im tempted to give the Koningsdam a try. The interior looks bright and airy. Oosterdam seemed dark, and I avoided walking the interior as much as possible.

 

Have you been on the Oosterdam since her major refurbishment? If not, you may find a big difference. We sailed on her in November, and I did not find her to be dark. However, that was just my impression.

[NMLady]

Would I enjoy HAL? Sailed Celebrity for the first time 5 years ago and I was smitten with "modern luxury."

 

I just returned from the exact same cruise I went on 5 years ago, and was so disappointed with how everything has changed. IMO, they are indistinguishable from the Carnival and NCL cruises I've also taken.

 

Sell me on HAL? Would I like it if I'm looking for the modern luxury that Celebrity used to be?

 

ALL the cruise lines have changed a lot in the past five years.

I have a feeling that whether you choose HAL or Princess you will have some of the same disappointments that you had on Celebrity. Cost-cutting has hit all the cruise lines, doing away with a lot of luxury feeling.