Comparing Zenith (Celebrity) to Holland American (Maasdam)

[cohengm]

We just came off our first HA cruise, the 7 day Montreal to Boston itinerary. I thought I would post by comparison comments while they were fresh in my mind. Remember, these our my opinion only. I've sailed on the Zenith for four weeks. So, here I go:

Food: Very close in quality and variety. The differences I noticed are as follows: For the breakfast and lunch buffet, there lines are only one-sided and they serve out the main items. Breakfast options are almost identical, except omelets are prepared in the buffet line. Lunch buffet line contains cuisines Italian and Oriental and American everyday. The dessert area (especially ice cream) HA has a notch up serving a larger variety of flavors, in a bowl or nice waffle cone.

Cabins: HA definite notch up. Standard rooms 197 sq. ft. Maasdam cabins have been upgraded to include flat-screen TVs and DVD players. Beds very comfortable.

Entertainment: Give Celebrity the notch up here.

Service: Cabin stewards both excellent; wine steward, give Celebrity definite edge up here; waiters and assts. again notch up to Celebrity.

Ship: Since we were on after the dry dock upgrade, Maasdam is one of nicest ships we've been on. No problem getting lounge chairs with cushions. Slightly bigger ship with less passengers. Library is magnificent. Internet area beautiful and about 12 or more terminals. Price for internet: $0.75 minute or $55 for 100 minutes or $100 for 250 minutes.

Getting on and off: Probably a notch up for HA but that can be very dependent on the port.

[C 2 C]

I had a similar experience last year. We got off a 14 day Veendam cruise out of Tampa and boarded Zenith for a 14 day cruise from JAX. We found that the older HAL ships were nicer than similarly aged Celebrity ships. The decor on HAL was more like Michael's club but expanded over the ship.... and the bedding on HAL!!. Celebrity is now upgrading their beds but there is no way the white formica-look of Zenith will ever compare (in my eyes) to the classy Michael's Club decor of HAL public areas.... However I'm still booking Celebrity...so there is some non-tangible aspect of Celebrity that I like..:confused: