In Jan we took a 7 day Carib on Century. In Feb 14 day on Noordam. The Celeb was better as the ship is much newer and the Noordam is the oldest HAL ship I believe. It was our 5th on HAL and !st on Celeb. The food,stateroom,amenities were far superior on Celeb. We really liked the service on both ships but if this had been our first HAL cruise don't know if we'd go again.
Celeb was great absolutely no complaints. Enjoy
Sorry, but I have to disagree with Edy. HA delivers what Celebrity only promises. Try the Zaandam as an example of a newer HA ship. If Celebrity only managed to be half as good as their ads, they'd rule the cruise world! Check the discounting. When you can get a Celebrity 14 day cruise for $700 or $800 less than an HA cruise with a comparable itinerary, it should put up a warning flag that something is wrong.
No offence...what age person are you........Holland attracts a much "older crowd" and Celebrity is younger and more active bunch.....( i'll take Celebrity evey time, my age is mid 40's)
No offense taken. I'm probably 15 years older than you, and I agree that HA DOES attract a younger crowd. However, comparing "apples for apples", I've still found HA to be better.
Meals: Both are good; probably a "Wash", but for all the publicity given concerning Michael Roux, Celeb should be sensational. They're not.
Shows: HA, by a wide margin. The last trip I took on the Mercury had the worst shows that I've seen on a major cruise line.
Ship worthiness: Small edge to Celebrity.
Waiters, Cabin attendants, etc.: Edge to HA, and NONE of the "hard sell" on tipping!
Active entertainment (Discos, late night buffets, etc.) Significant edge to Celebrity.
Organization: Loading, Disembarkation, etc. HA by a mile
Cost per cruising day: Celebrity by a mile.
By the way, I enjoy RCI, the parent co. of Celebrity very much. In my opinion, though, Celebrity hasn't reached their level. In fairness, however, Carnival hasn't approached the level of HA, and Costa, now in the same company, hasn't approached the level of the Titanic!
I agree all that Holland is a very good cruise line, but recent comments by some of my older friends that sail Holland 2-3 times a year have indicated the product is not up to par and indicate a desire to stay off Holland until staffing and service are up to "traditional Holland standards."(ofcourse all cruise lines have cut back)
On last years cruise to Alaska I was amazed at the senior citizens 75 years old plus that were being wheeled off Holland ships.(yes, i know ak attract older folks)
I guess when I retire Holland may be my cruise line, but not yet( and pricing)(value for $ is MUCH better on Celebrity especially with families going).
Cruised on Celebrity's Mercury last June in Alaska and had a fabulous time. Cruised on HAL's Veendam in the southern Caribbean in January 2001. Preferred the Veendam to the Mercury. We had a balcony cabin on both, found the food very good on both, but preferred the decor and service of the Veendam over the Mercury. Especially the service of the crew- - - -they were much more friendly!!
We have gone on both within the past year. Celebrity is glitzier in decor, Holland America is classier. Both have great food (Holland America is slighly better), the service on Celebrity seemed to be slightly better, but similar. Both have large cabins and similar shows. The biggest difference is the age of the passengers. Holland America passengers are very old. On our last cruise, at least 85% of the passengers were over 75. Celebrity seems to attract younger sailers, with lots of couples in the 30-60 age range.
Most cruisers, of any age, have good attitudes and lots of the seniors sure know to have fun, but I have to say, the biggest difference between the two lines is passenger age.
I completely agree with sail7seas. I was on the Horizon and have sailed twice on HAL -- both times on the Westerdam, not one of the newer ships. I just think HAL has it all over Celebrity on food, service and cleanliness. I have never noticed an overwhelmingly older crown on HAL, but I always travel during school breaks, so I guess that's why. We had much more to do in the way of fun on HAL than on the Celebrity cruise. I do have to say though that HAL's shows are stinko -- but I'm not much into that sort of thing, anyways.
Just a few comments...just returned from lst cruise on Celebrity on their NEW Millenium with mixed feelings...food was NOT any better than HA, showtheatre (on this new ship) was state of the art in lighting, stage and sound and shows were good but have always liked HA shows...main drawback is that Celebrity really falls behind on their customer relation...they don't seem to care about the average passenger and won't go out of their way to help you or make it better...really gouged us on their air arrangements, made us stay extra day on the end at OUR expense and charged US an air deviation to boot...wouldn't adjust any of it! this new ship was MODERN art and everywhere were pictures etc that any 3rd grade student could do and NO fresh flowers anywhere...just ugly plastic and silk....guess I'm bias because I've been a florist...but just the same....
My wife and I just cruised the western caribbean on the Maasdam. Last year we cruised the southern caribbean on the Galaxy. I liked the Maasdam. My wife preferred the Galaxy.
Dinner in the dining room, desserts and high tea were better on the Galaxy. Lido cafe, midnight buffets and the BBQ's (aboard and on Half Moon Cay) were superior aboard the Maasdam.
We agreed that the service aboard the Galaxy was better. The promenade deck with shuffleboard courts were nicer on the Galaxy.
The Galaxy was a more stable vessel.
The Maasdam had coffee available at all times. The Java Cafe was a nice touch, but the coffee available at 10:00pm in the Lido was pretty good. The aft pool on the navigator deck was home on the Maasdam. And we both love the private islands.
Its a really close call. My advice; take a cruise on each and make up your own mind!
The Question for me: I'm an ICE CREAM Addict and my husband perfers Hot Fresh POPCORN. I 'll give up all desserts and have the homemade Ice Cream oh HAL. My husband likes to get the popcorn at the Movie Theather in the evening. Does Celebrity offer the Ice Cream and Popcorn? MSEm
Celebrity vs Holland
Linear Mode
