Loyal celebrity cruiser… should I try HAL or Princess?

[Taclin01]

I  am a loyal celebrity cruiser.  My best friend and I are doing a girls trip and we are thinking about trying either princess or Holland America due to the better itineraries. We always get a drink package and always eat only at specialty dining. We’re not concerned about nightlife just great food and drinks. We prefer wine and like multiple by the glass options.  Which cruise line out of the two would you pick and why? Thank you!

[Damcruiser]

We were long time Celebrity cruisers and decided on taking a HAL cruise.  We enjoyed our recent cruise on Nieuw Statendam so much we booked two more.  The food in the main dining room was great   

[Jammu2]

My recent thoughts on the subject.

 

 

There are things I like about Celebrity and I am sure we will sail them again. But in my opinion they are trending too much towards the ship within a ship concept where "First Class" passengers get separate accomodations and dining experiences. If we want that we like to cruise on Oceania, or would try Viking or something similar.

 

[rkacruiser]

55 minutes ago, Taclin01 said:

We always get a drink package and always eat only at specialty dining. We’re not concerned about nightlife just great food

 

With such a "requirement", only consider a Pinnacle Class ship of HAL which will provide you with a wider variety of specialty dining options.  

[Taclin01]

8 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

With such a "requirement", only consider a Pinnacle Class ship of HAL which will provide you with a wider variety of specialty dining options.  

 We are looking at Nieuw Statendam

[oaktreerb]

Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam, or Rotterdam would give you the most dining options.  

[rkacruiser]

20 minutes ago, Taclin01 said:

 We are looking at Nieuw Statendam

 

Having been a guest on her during her first season of service, that would be a good choice,  Entertainment and dining options are plentiful and the ship, while modern in decor, is lovely.  

[curmudgeon98]

1 hour ago, Taclin01 said:

I  am a loyal celebrity cruiser.  My best friend and I are doing a girls trip and we are thinking about trying either princess or Holland America due to the better itineraries. We always get a drink package and always eat only at specialty dining. We’re not concerned about nightlife just great food and drinks. We prefer wine and like multiple by the glass options.  Which cruise line out of the two would you pick and why? Thank you!

In your circumstances I might lean towards Princess.  I thought the wine selections available in the beverage package (especially at the wine bar) were pretty decent on our Princess cruise this spring.  I like other aspects of HAL (observation lounge and smaller ships), but you didn't mention those as a priority for you.  I think dining can be a bit of luck-of-the-draw on various ships these days, depending on whether you got the good experienced senior chefs or not.

[HELENPSL]

We have done many HAL trips and 3 Princess cruises .  We found the food and service much better on HAL and the entertainment better on Princess. But with all the new entertainment venues on the HAL Pinnacle ships entertainment is pretty even.  I’ve never done Celebrity since they usually price out higher than HAL on Caribbean cruises.  If we want to do a longer cruise we think HAL has the best itineraries for a mass market line.

Helen

[LadyBerard]

I find HAL'S food and service superior to what I have received on Princess.   I also prefer smaller ships.

[Taclin01]

The only reason we are not going celebrity is because the two cruises the only week we can go are not that great. We wanted to stay below a certain price point because this is just a bonus trip. We are looking at Regal Princess vs Nieuw Statendam. Ports are similar. We just want to go with the line that has better food and drinks. 

[CT D&N]

I've been on seven Princess cruises (including two on Regal) and three on HAL (my latest cruise was 14-day Mediterranean Cruise on the Nieuw Statendam).  Based on what your have said, I would recommend HAL (Pinnacle Class, which includes the Nieuw Statendam).  On HAL we find the service, inclusive dining options, and the specialty restaurants to be excellent (if you like you Asian food you have to try Tamarind). We also very much enjoyed the music walk and overall decor/layout on Nieuw Statendam.  HAL ships also have a retractable roof over their main pool area which is really nice if the weather turns. Our last cruise on Princess to Mexico, the weather was unusually cool and overcast - couldn't use the pool area which was a downer especailly on our sea days.  You can't really go wrong with either but that's my two cents!  Enjoy and have a wonderful cruise!

[lcand1923]

I’ve done one Celebrity, one Princess and numerous HAL cruises.  Since food (speciality dining) and wine are your two requirements, I would go with HAL.  I try to visit each of the dining venues on whatever ship I’m on and was not very impressed with those offered on my one Princess cruise.

[tupper10]

We had only sailed on Celebrity and with our children on Royal Caribbean.  We did not like that Celebrity now has the ship within the ship experience.  We also thought the price point was much higher than Holland America/Princess.  We also did not want an infinity veranda which for us meant that it was unusable for the hot Caribbean where all the a/c would leave the room when we opened it up.

 

We tried the Statendam this past winter for a Caribbean cruise and loved it.  With that being said - we don't care about the large production shows and doing trivia etc during the day. Instead we booked a retreat - and we stayed there with a private hot tub and breakfast and lunch delivered to us in our cabana.  We booked two more cruises with Holland thanks to our experience with them.  

[FlaMariner]

I vote HAL.

 

I've been on all 3 over the years and we are fully committed to HAL...and promise never to "leave the reservation" again after venturing off to Princess recently to quickly learn why we continue to stick with HAL. 

 

Price, food, staff friendliness, entertainment, itineraries, fellow passengers, cleanliness and on and on.....are some of the things that come to mind as to why we are happy with Holland America Line. 

 

 

Edited October 6, 2022 by FlaMariner

[Laminator]

2 hours ago, Taclin01 said:

The only reason we are not going celebrity is because the two cruises the only week we can go are not that great. We wanted to stay below a certain price point because this is just a bonus trip. We are looking at Regal Princess vs Nieuw Statendam. Ports are similar. We just want to go with the line that has better food and drinks. 

The Nieuw Statendam does not do Alaska. Are you sure you don't mean Koningsdam? 

[JeffElizabeth]

We like Holland America's food, we don't care about the shows either. We are about to take Konigsdam to Hawaii from Vancouver.  

[larrywizzit]

We too were long-standing Celebrity clients. We decided to give HAL a shot about 2 years before the pandemic, just based on a particular itinerary that we liked. 
 

The higher level of service and noticeably better food sold us on them and we’ve stayed with them since.

 

i also discovered that I prefer smaller ships, which was something that surprised me. 
 

As we’re not drinkers, I can’t really comment much on that. My wife likes an occasional glass of Pinot Grigio and was happy with what she was served.

 

If I had to sum up the difference between the two lines, I would say that Celebrity leans a bit more towards the big mass market cruise experience and HAL a bit more towards the luxury experience. 
 

Overall, the lines are comparable, both with some pros and cons, but overall I would give X a 4.0 and HAL a 4.5 on 5.

 

I Hope this is helpful. 

[Aquahound]

13 hours ago, Taclin01 said:

The only reason we are not going celebrity is because the two cruises the only week we can go are not that great. We wanted to stay below a certain price point because this is just a bonus trip. We are looking at Regal Princess vs Nieuw Statendam. Ports are similar. We just want to go with the line that has better food and drinks. 

 

Like you, I love Celebrity.  Solstice Class is one of my favorite ship classes of all lines. I know this is the HAL board, but I come with a more neutral opinion because I am not a loyalist of any of these lines.

 

I've also cruised Regal Princess and a sister ship to Nieuw Statendam (NS).  I recommend NS.  IMO, NS has better staterooms, better ship design, and slightly better restaurants.  My biggest problem with Regal was the fact there were no lounges with an ocean view.....nothing like NS's Crows Nest.  

 

I will say that the entertainment on Regal is better; I like the central piazza design; and the buffet is the best I have ever seen at sea.  However, I think HAL's Pinnacle Class ships are an overall nicer experience than Princess' Royal Class ships.  Oh, and the showers on Pinnacle Class are the best!

[Taclin01]

10 hours ago, Aquahound said:

 

Like you, I love Celebrity.  Solstice Class is one of my favorite ship classes of all lines. I know this is the HAL board, but I come with a more neutral opinion because I am not a loyalist of any of these lines.

 

I've also cruised Regal Princess and a sister ship to Nieuw Statendam (NS).  I recommend NS.  IMO, NS has better staterooms, better ship design, and slightly better restaurants.  My biggest problem with Regal was the fact there were no lounges with an ocean view.....nothing like NS's Crows Nest.  

 

I will say that the entertainment on Regal is better; I like the central piazza design; and the buffet is the best I have ever seen at sea.  However, I think HAL's Pinnacle Class ships are an overall nicer experience than Princess' Royal Class ships.  Oh, and the showers on Pinnacle Class are the best!

We have been on celebrity solstice, equinox, summit, and apex. We are going on the beyond in December. The only ship I did not love was the summit. This was due to the lack of speciality restaurants. Fingers crossed that I will be pregnant on this sailing, great food is a must for me while, my best friend needs her wine lol. Between both Princess and HAL boards, the overall opinion is HAL sounds like the best fit. We are 38 and 39. Since we are going the week of college spring break we also want to stay away from all of that. 

[txtechmk]

We too are BIG Celebrity fans, having been on four Celebrity cruises in two years, and one booked for next year.  However, I am currently looking at a HAL cruise for next year based on an itinerary.  We had been on a couple of HAL cruises some years ago, and I do remember the food being outstanding, and I remember enjoying the size of the ships, etc.  I'm having trouble getting the "cabin" I want on the Celebrity site, so I think I will go with HAL this time!  And the pricing is so much better!