Can anyone rate Celebrity vs. HAL?

[sobore]

I have been looking at the two cruise lines and wonder what areas does one excel over the other?

[drk]

We have sailed both a couple of times over the past 2 years. My thoughts:

 

Food: I would give the edge to X for dinner in the main dining room but not by much. Mostly for the better quality beef. HAL definitely gets the edge in the buffet both for the variety/availibility and more flexible casual dining dinner option.

 

Entertainment: Production shows and quest entertainers similar. Lounge music much more skewed to seniors on HAL.

 

Cabins: Similar but HAL has the largest cabins of all the mass market lines which can matter on a longer voyage...especially if you aren't in a suite.

 

Demographics: In general HAL's passengers are an older group than X.

 

Casinos/Pools/Spas: Very similar.

 

There are loyalists to both lines but the right price/itinerary and we wouldn't hesitate to sail either again.

[Druke I]

Thrice on HAL, once on Celebrity.

 

Pretty much in agreement with the above post.

 

HAL, with more ships, has a better variety of itineraries.

[jglass]

I'm a long time Celebrity cruiser and am just back from my 1st HAL cruise in 15 years. I enjoyed myself very much but will be sailing Celebrity for my next 2 cruises. Pluses for HAL: the rap-around promanade deck is wonderful, their private island is the best, their frontdesk personal were wonderful, their service personel fabulous. The entertainment was fine(some great, some really bad). My 14 yr old loved the teen area(brand new), and the bedding was the most comfortable I've ever had on a cruise. Minuses for HAL: the worst embarkation ever(took 3 hrs, granted they had computer problems) OK food but nothing really special, blah pool deck with limitted loungechairs at the main pool and very limitted and crowded whirlpools, very limmitted onboard shopping. What we missed that Celebrity has: much nicer main lounge and entertainment, much better food including better variety, thallasotherapy pool and spa cafe, sushi bar and late night pasta and pizza bar, better selection of channels on TV, better movies. Both have: beautiful ships, nice atmosphere of relaxation and pampering, and fabulous service. All in all, I can definately see sailing HAL again for the right itinerary at the right price, but Celebrity is still my favorite.

[helenp2]

Pretty much agree with previous posters. However, no one has beds as good as HAL's. Also, love the breakfast and lunches served on HAL and find their overall variety of food to be much better.

[usha]

I was surprised by how many things I really like about HAL, and I'd definitely keep them in mind for a plan B, but Celebrity is still my favorite.

Things they do better (IMO):

Service...X

Beds...HAL

Entertainment, especially the Caribbean band...X

Food, diningroom...X

Food, buffet...HAL

Ship layout...X

Fresh flowers everywhere...HAL

Embarkation...X

[kelmac]

This thread comes up all the time, and here is my standand answer::)

Celebrity is our favorite cruise line, however, HAL is a good second choice.

 

We have cruised Celebrity 9 times and HAL 3 times; here is a short list of my impressions:

 

Holland America:..............Celebrity:

1) old school feel..............Modern feel

2) Indonesian crew...........European/International crew

3) All ships have altn Rest..Only the Millennium class ships have altn rest

4) Great food...................Excellent food

5) Lido buffet excellent......buffet great

6) Super beds/bedding.......average beds/bedding

7) large cabins.................better than average size cabins

8) bath tubs....................usually shower only

9) darker decor................brighter decor

10 Covered main pool........very open main pool

11 poor sun deck area.......plenty and varied sun deck areas

12 clumsy threater design..open, nice threater design

13 good entertainment......good entertainment

14 some shops.................many shops

15 wrap around prom deck. wide, but dead end prom deck

16 2 level dining room........2 level dining room (except Zeinth)

17 intimate dining room......open, airy dining room

18 great service (warm).....excellent service (formal)

19 aft pool open (nice)......aft pool Cent class (poor) Thlo pool excellent

20 aft deck areas great......aft deck areas small

 

We love both HAL and Celebrity!

Enjoy!

Kel

[geoherb]

We went on our first HAL cruise in December. We've been on two Celebrity cruises plus a number of cruises on Princess and Royal Caribbean. I'll be looking at all of these cruise lines when booking our next cruise. It all comes down to itinerary and price.

 

Each cruise line has its strengths and its weaknesses. For instance, our cabin on the Maasdam (the highest level of outside cabin) did not have a refrigerator, yet our inside cabin on the Century did. It's not something that will keep us from sailing on HAL again, but it's something that I missed. Just like I missed having afternoon tea in the dining room each day on both of these ships after having been on Princess.

[Liat]

One aspect that nobody has mentioned is the variety and quality of daytime activities. After 6 X cruises and 2 HALs, it seems evident to me that Celebrity is clearly ahead in this aspect. We thought the daytime offerings on HAL were quite limited. Now I understand that HAL is making an effort to upgrade this area on their cruises of greater length than one week; but they will have to make a real effort to match X. [And nobody comes even close to Crystal!]

Another thing we noticed was that the ratio of wait staff to diners is higher on Celebrity, with the result that there is a less rushed feel; and the staff has time to chat and interact with the passengers. Also, the European staff on the X ships are easier to communicate with than the Indonesian staff on HAL, although they really try to make an effort to be pleasant and cheerful.

Both lines have a very "classy" feel, and the smaller HAL ships are cozy.

[Joanandjoe]

We've been on HAL twice (old Noordam III, Rotterdam VI), X once (Horizon). For 2006 we have scheduled one cruise on each, but it probably won't be a fair comparison. Our May cruise will be on the Zenith, the oldest X ship, in a 172 square foot concierge class room. Our November HAL cruise will be on their newest ship, new Noordam IV, in an SA suite with over over 500 square feet, a balcony, and bathtub. If X comes out better than HAL under those circumstances, it will be miraculous.

 

We're dissenters on food. We thought that the X food had too much salt, too little non-salt seasoning. We liked the HAL dining room food better, buffet food much better. However, the X sushi is terrific. X's shows were a bit better than HAL's if we could get into the showroom on the Horizon; but half the time we couldn't get in. We never had a problem getting into the show room on HAL or any line other than X.

 

I see Kelmac's list, and it's pretty accurate. I'm not sure if great is better or worse than excellent. A lot of the impressions are a matter of taste: in general we preferred the warm service on HAL, but our Butler on the Horizon made the cruise really special. You can't really go wrong with either line.

[flashdog_1]

Wait until you sail on a Millenium class or Century class ship so you can make some comparisons with the balcony suite on HAL (I'm jealous. I am on a HAL cruise in March and haven't been assigned a cabin (OV guarantee and all the balconies are sold out) so I won't be able to compare myself). I'm also on Zenith later in the year and will miss some of the amenities of the larger ships.

 

The T pool is just fantastic on Century and great on the M class ships. On Veendam, people on our roll call have told me that the T pool is the size of a whirlpool and nothing to brag about, so I will miss that.

 

Since Horizon and Zenith have neither a T pool, aqua spa cafe, specialty restaurant, or balconies, that's a whole other ballgame in comparison.

[ocngypz]

When it comes right down it, 6 of one half dozen of the other.

 

I sail both inerchangeably.

 

Kudos to HAL's Statendam class.. with tubs available for nonsuites.

 

And you can't beat Half Moon Cay.

 

I've sailed all classes on both lines.

[RickandAnne]

When it comes right down it, 6 of one half dozen of the other.

 

I sail both inerchangeably.

 

Kudos to HAL's Statendam class.. with tubs available for nonsuites.

 

And you can't beat Half Moon Cay.

 

I've sailed all classes on both lines.

 

Gotta ask, ocngypz. I have seen on another thread that you have enough cruises for more than three Elite status's on Celebrity. How many do you have on HAL and is that an indication of favoring one over the other? (Or do different TA bennies kick in, "Not that there's anything wrong with that.")

 

Rick

[ocngypz]

HAL counts days, Celebrity cruises. TA bennies? LOL..... nope. These were all paid for either by me... or my father.

I have a hard enough time counting cruises, let alone days!

 

Next Celebrity cruise, I think, puts me over the 300 day mark.

 

HAL... I know I've paid for 173 days since 89. Before that.... well.... dear old Dad paid.. and when I tried to count days with him, we just got into "arguments".... lol.

 

Celebrity, I paid for every sailing.. most of my Chandris sailings, too.. though they aren't included in the Celebrity count.

[RickandAnne]

HAL counts days, Celebrity cruises. TA bennies? LOL..... nope. These were all paid for either by me... or my father.

I have a hard enough time counting cruises, let alone days!

 

Next Celebrity cruise, I think, puts me over the 300 day mark.

 

HAL... I know I've paid for 173 days since 89. Before that.... well.... dear old Dad paid.. and when I tried to count days with him, we just got into "arguments".... lol.

 

Celebrity, I paid for every sailing.. most of my Chandris sailings, too.. though they aren't included in the Celebrity count.

 

WOW!! There's nothing left to say. You must love your job...(at least I hope so). And here's to D. O. D. for his help.:)

[helenp2]

Wait until you sail on a Millenium class or Century class ship so you can make some comparisons with the balcony suite on HAL (I'm jealous. I am on a HAL cruise in March and haven't been assigned a cabin (OV guarantee and all the balconies are sold out) so I won't be able to compare myself). I'm also on Zenith later in the year and will miss some of the amenities of the larger ships.

 

The T pool is just fantastic on Century and great on the M class ships. On Veendam, people on our roll call have told me that the T pool is the size of a whirlpool and nothing to brag about, so I will miss that.

 

Since Horizon and Zenith have neither a T pool, aqua spa cafe, specialty restaurant, or balconies, that's a whole other ballgame in comparison.

 

 

We have sailed on both the Mercury (with a T pool) and also HAL's Vista class ships (all have T pools). While HAL does not have a spa cafe, the T pools and aroma therapy suites are just fabulous. Yes, HAL does charge to use these facilities, but I prefer they do that to keep it from being overun with guests. I think when HAL drydocked these rest of their ships they attempted to put in some form of a T pool (nowhere near the size of what is available on the Vista ships) and what you will have on the Veendam is going to be this smaller version.

 

With regard to the cabins, HAL has the largest cabins overall of any cruiseline. And, as previously mentioned on this board, their bedding is second to none. Look forward to your review when you return.

[COLGATE]

Have to agree with Kelmac's observations, as they are spot on. HAL's buffet is definitely better, as are the room service breakfasts. X's speciality restaurant is probably slightly better, but HAL's is very good. We preferred the warmer service in the main dining room with HAL, although it is a little more hurried than X's. Overall, enjoyed the warmth and friendliness of the Indonesian crew on HAL immensely. We found X's essentially European staff to be professionally competent but quite cool. HAL's cabins are noticably larger, and as has been pointed out by many, its beds are the best. Overall, I'd give a slight edge to HAL.

[kruznkanuk]

Reading over these replies, I am surprised that so many would prefer HAL's food. We give Celebrity the top marks for food in buffet, dining room, room service and specialty buffets every time--except the chocolates in the Explorer's lounge at night on HAL. Seemed like all the HAL food tasted like butter. I like butter but not 15 times a day....

Having always been in Verandah or suites, I did not think HAL's cabins any larger at all but maybe their standard cabins are..? The main difference, in my mind, is the international staff on Celebrity leads to better communication and we think, better service. The HAL wait staff being all Indonesian, speak to each other in their own languages all the time and most of the senior staff speak Dutch to each other, and we felt they were not as friendly as Celebrity. I also speak some Dutch and at times could tell they were not being very passenger-friendly among themselves. Celebrity Kid's program is way better, and our last Celebrity cruise had the most fantastic evening shows, music, dancing and delights.

On our last HAL ship, the Veendam, there were NO deck chairs available and people saved them for DAYS. Even at night the staff did not remove personal items. That was a source of huge annoyance to many. Celebrity tries to enforce the "no saving" rule and will if there are no chairs available have the pool butlers remove items left for many hours.

Have to agree that Half Moon Cay is fantastic-- if we did a Caribbean next I would think about HAL just for that reason.

I would still leap for joy if I got a free HAL cruise, as it is our next choice after Celebrity and before Princess, RCCL, or any others we have tried.