Celebrity faithful moving to HAL....questions

[obriendan]

Checking the deck plans, you will find that the Zaandam does have a Neptune Lounge.

[JNLROSE]

JNLROSE - Welcome to HAL. I remember you helping me out last year when I was on the Celebrity board asking questions as a HAL cruiser trying Celebrity for the first time. I hope you enjoy HAL. :)

 

Hi Randy! It's Rosie! :D Did you enjoy the Galaxy trip?

Yes, the butlers are useless I think. We don't "do" meals in our room so we don't use him for room service. We HAVE have him get several iced coffee drinks for us from the Cova & bring them to us at the pool only because he was walking by & insisted on "can I do anything for you", so we asked. They DO prepare a cocktail party in the suite which is very nice, but we don't ask him to stay & tend bar or anything. They just "bug" me! :p I like to ask when I need something but be left alone the rest of the time. We just enjoy all the space of the larger rooms. That is why we REALLY love the aft cabins, especially the FV's on the Celebrity M class ships!

The S suites on HAL look VERY inviting, we're excited about seeing what the TA comes up with for us!

It's nice to hear there is a Neptune lounge on the Zaan. that soounds like a real nice option!

[Rebecca J]

Hi, I have stayed in a sky suite on the Century and the S suite on the Zaandam, and I thought that the Zaandam accomodations were clearly superior. Lovely dressing area and bath, large room, huge balcony, plenty of glass to enjoy the view.

 

THe butler on the Century was wonderful and took such great care of us. The teas were excellent and when we dined in the room he was so efficient, pleasant and set everything up perfectly. No request was too small. He really made our trip.

 

Service to the suite however, on the Zaandam left something to be desired. The teas and appetizers were just brought in by someone I never saw or spoke to and left on the table. Everything was taken care of, shoes, laundry, etc., but not by the same person. When I sailed last year there was not a Neptune Lounge and now there is one. That may help with the personal touch in having staff there to answer questions, etc.

 

Both experiences were highlights of my travels. I loved the S suite on the Zaandam for all the special parties we were invited to, and the chance to get to talk to so many of the staff.

 

I cruise both lines frequently, though rarely in suites, only when deals or upgrades allow it. They are both fantastic.

 

My husband and I are young 53-year-olds, and our favorite evening activity on Holland is the Explorer Lounge for after dinner drinks, music and chocolates. Please try it at least once. The staff on the Zaandam there was unbelievable. We chatted each evening, and they hand painted a little Dutch hat for us with our names, flowers and their names. They were so sweet, it almost brings tears to my eyes. That was one of the many outstanding examples of our cruise. My 24 year old daughter has cruised with us on both lines. She says on Celebrity you have an outstanding cruise, but on Holland you are made to feel really special like you are the only passengers on the ship.

 

I just love cruising. Don't you? Hope this helps. Rebecca

[HeatherInFlorida]

Hi Rosie!!! Just saw this thread and wanted to welcome you over to thinking about HAL. You were so helpful to me when I was booking a Celebrity cruise that we've since cancelled. Am I remembering right that you sent me all the pics of the Sky Suite? I'm sure it was you.

 

I've cruised both Celebrity and HAL and still prefer Celebrity overall. But HAL is such a close second that we recently changed over to a HAL Southern Caribbean on the Volendam because the itinerary was just so much better.

 

They're really close in feel and I think Kel did an excellent comparison above for you. I don't find the passengers any older on HAL than Celebrity, but that could be just my experience. And I find the service to be far better on Celebrity particularly in the dining room. This has nothing to do with the quality of the dining room stewards, but more to do with their workload. On a recent Celebrity cruise our waiter and his assistant had 3 tables to serve. When discussing this on a recent board I found out that often HAL stewards have more than double the amount of people to serve. So that would explain it.

 

Personally, I also prefer the food on Celebrity with the exception of the Lido Buffet which I think is excellent on HAL.

 

But you can't go wrong with either line and I think if you like Celebrity, you'll like HAL ... you'll just find some finite differences which really shouldn't have an effect on your overall experience.

 

The S suites on the Zaandam are huge ... bigger than the Sky for sure. We're in an A on the Volendam and even that is much larger than a CC on the Millennium class ships. Love the deck furniture on HAL, too ... also the ice cream is sooooo much better:) . And the BEDS!!! Awesome:p

 

I'll be anxious to read what you decide!

[JNLROSE]

Thanks Rebecca, enjoyed your insights! :D

Hi Heather! :D

Yep, that was me! Why'd you cancel the Celeb cruise? We aren't doing any cruises this year--have 3 huge land vacations booked & we spent 10 days in Puerto Vallarta over Thanksgiving. a LOT of vacations! :p (ain't life grand?)

I really am interested in HAL, just the S suite, the suite amenities--Neptune, etc-- and the culinary program are enough to sway us to try it.

Another question--are there anoying announcements on HAL, unlike Celebrity????

[arzz]

Zaandam does have a Neptune lounge -- received it during drydock in January of 2005. I was on the Zaandam both before and after SOE so I can confirm this though I have never been a suite passenger.

[Copper10-8]

Hey Rosie; how are you? Just came off the Zaandam little more than two weeks ago and just to echo what Obriendan said, she does have a Neptune Lounge. Never been on Celebrity but heard great things about those Greeks:) Here's a pic of the aft pool deck on Zaandam; take care!

[Randyk47]

Rosie - We really liked our Galaxy cruise. Great itinerary and great service on the Galaxy. There are things Celebrity, at least on the Galaxy, did better than HAL and things HAL does better than Celebrity. When all is said and done I think the lines are very comparable and a Celebrity cruiser should be very comfortable on HAL and vice versa. I'd say we still prefer HAL over Celebrity but that's probably due to all of our cruises, but our one Celebrity cruise, have been on HAL and we're used to the ambience and the ships. I imagine if our TA years ago had started us out on Celebrity instead of HAL we'd feel more comfortable on Celebrity....they're that close in our minds.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Rosie, we were so excited about that cruise AND the fantastic cabin (I still have the pics you emailed me:) ... maybe someday).

 

When we took our October Panama Canal cruise on the Summit (awesome), we met some people who had also taken the Mercury from Seattle to Ensenada (only a 7 day). We were told by them (and even by Celebrity staff) that the trip from Ensenada to San Diego is horrendous ... endless hours on a cramped bus with a lovely stop at the border where you have to get out and go through such a mess).

 

For a 7-day it just wasn't worth it, but it did explain the great price:o !!! After our 14-day on the Summit we decided no more 7-day anyway.

 

Unlike Celebrity, HAL does unfortunately have the announcements and I hate them. But many on here said they haven't noticed them as much lately so maybe they're toned them down. If not, just tune them out. You will love the "S". Go for it definitely ... you won't be disappointed. Be sure to let us know:D

[JNLROSE]

Hi Randy--I understand about feeling so comfortable with the ship design, amenities & ambiance. I feel that way about the M class ships! It's like being at home. ;)

John, GREAT picture--thanks for posting it!:D

Heather, I know what you mean, we won't do any 7 nighter's either---just too short to bother unpacking! :rolleyes: I've heard stories about that Ensenada trip too. When we did the Mercury Mexican Riviera, we did San Diego--San Diego. It was cold coming & going in/out of SD, but other than that it was wonderful.

[SueSea]

I agree with kelmac's assessment of almost everything. The two areas I differ with him are food & service. Just to give another viewpoint, I found the food of better quality, selection, and presentation on my Westerdam cruise than on my Zenith and Summit cruises. And I gotta give the edge on service to HAL as well, especially in the dining room and bars. I do understand the distinction between warm & formal service, but I've had servers of both types on both lines. I feel like the servers knew me better on HAL and so were better able to meet even my unstated needs!