I am on Niew Statendam now. We hung out with 2 sisters on deck. One of the sister had a ruptured colon. Doctor onboard was able to stabilize her and she was airlifted when we reach the next port. The other sister had to stay behind to take care of her brother in law (hubby of the sick sister) and her son. They were able to leave soon after too. This is important to note as they have 2 doctors and several medical personnel on board.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience! That had to be awful for the family. I met one of the doctors when on Eurodam and he told us that he was one of two doctors on board. I found that so beneficial. He confirmed that after COVID, most all lines added medical staff to the ships full time. We have seen medical evacuations many times before on our travels and having more medical staff and capabilities onboard is big step forward!
As someone who must consider the cost of cruising, I would prefer that large sections of the ship not be reserved for suite passengers only. A lounge or restaurant is fine, but the whole “ship within a ship” concept feels like too much real estate is being dedicated to the exclusive use of the “first class” passengers. They are paying for the larger suites and concierge service. As a second class cruiser, I would prefer that the deck space be open to all. Celebrity prices have been considerably higher than HALs “Have it All” all-inclusive fares. I think they are pricing themselves up into the luxury price range, and keep using the word “luxury” in their recent marketing materials. Thank you for the comparison video.
I completely agree. We really enjoyed the Retreat on the Edge class but have the same impression as you. This class separation is reminiscent to Cunard. Many of the lines are moving there and I don't necessarily think it is a good thing. HAL is a better value hands down everything being equal. The Retreat experience on the Solstice class is much different with only Michael's Club lounge and a Retreat sun deck on the seldom used top Solstice deck. Though only a couple of the Solstice class actually have converted the Solstice deck into the Retreat. Thanks so much for watching!
I can see you point on the retreat but separate fine dining at luminare can easily justify the suite charge HAL needs a separate restaurant for suite guests
Great video and comparison! We like both, but Holland really checks all of the boxes for us. Aside from the Have It All package, Holland also has an all inclusive laundry package that is very inexpensive and they do a great job! My wife and I did it on a 14-night cruise and it was $79 for the entire cruise for our cabin. We sent laundry out almost every day. It limits what you need to bring on the cruise, and you are able to go home with your bags full of clean clothes at a very reasonable price. 🍹🎉🥳. Thanks for the information! 🙏
The laundry perk is a huge benefit for sure. Celebrity gives you free pressing of shirt or jacket on Evening Chic nights but laundry is expensive. Higher loyalty members get discounts though. Having the ability to not pack so much is also a big help. We are doing a 10-night coming up in March on HAL Eurodam. We received the Have it All promo and have already taken advantage of the specialty dining reservations and the excursion credits. Thanks so much for watching and commenting! Look for the Eurodam reviews in early April.
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Thanks, and I hope y’all enjoy your cruise! We have an 11-night on the Rotterdam next month and have opted for the laundry and Have It All packages again. This time, we are also going to have a cabana for the entirety of the cruise. It will be our first time doing a cabana, and have heard great things about them. Another one of the many things HAL does right and at a very reasonable price. Thanks again. 🙏
@@doughooks7411 We had Rotterdam booked last year but had to cancel due to a conflict. Those cabanas look very nice but we don't do the pool that much so not sure we would get the most out of them but the service offerings look great. We did do the Half Moon Cay cabanas twice and we found that to be totally worth it. This time, we are just going to wing it at HMC. Hopefully we will get on Rotterdam in the near future! Have a great trip!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Thanks, and will do. Agree with you on the pool thing, and we don’t much care for the pool deck area atmosphere. Some ships have cabanas by the pool, but the cabanas on the Rotterdam are in the Retreat area, which is off of the Spa and a deck above the pool. Only the people who have one of the 21 cabanas are allowed in that area. The Retreat also has two dedicated hot tubs and its own washrooms. Well off of the beaten path and quite secluded.
Great comparison video! HAL is more our speed because we cruise to unwind; we like the smaller ship size and traditional ship design, and we also like their itineraries. I've been on many HAL ships and they DO have thermal suites (with beautiful turquoise tiles). They also have comedians on every cruise I've been on - maybe that has changed since my last cruise in 2019?
HAL is a great line for being able to unwind and just relax. I do think that HAL has a better thermal suite and they also have the spa pool which Celebrity does not. On our most recent HAL (Eurodam Panama Canal) they had comedians in BB Kings which were pretty good. They did get rid of Lincoln Center Stage which was really disappointing. We are on Rotterdam in December so I am looking forward to the Pinnacle Class. Thanks for watching!
Great comparison! Agree wholeheartedly. Absolutely love Celebrity. Have been sailing with Holland because of their casino offers and love them too. Have been on Rotterdam for 21 nights last December and went for seven on her in March. Have two more 11 night cruises booked November and March. This is my favorite ship ever and have been on 100+ cruises. If anyone is a reader...their library blows me away every time! Cannot go wrong with booking either line!!!
WOW Donna! Thank you so much for watching and so glad you liked it. We really wanted to do Rotterdam last year and it did not work out. That is why we are doing Eurodam in March for the Panama Canal. I have Rotterdam on my radar and love that we have similar tastes in cruising! Enjoy you upcoming sailings and again, thanks for watching!
There is no library on the Edge class ships and the Solstice class offers views of glass elevators and doesn't seem to have many books. HAL wins here. I agree booking either line is good but choose the class of ship that suits you best for both.
Great video of the similarities + djfferences. You covered it all. Our first cruise ever was celebrity infinity but since then we've fallen in love with HAL after doing A 28day Hawaii Tahiti cruise on Eurodam. So next is N Amsterdam in May. Thanks again from Canada's west coast.
Thank you so much! Ironically, our first HAL was N Amsterdam and we just booked Eurodam for the Panama Canal. I can't imagine 28 days around Hawaii & Tahiti! That had to have been great. Thanks so much for watching!
Great job. I'm glad you covered the Solstice class vs. the Edge as the Edge is, well, has some aspects of it that turn off long-term Celebrity cruisers. Yes, Celebrity is going to separating classes on ships with their Retreat class and the Edge takes away prime real estate from non-suite passengers including the upper deck observation lounge. My overall opinion of Edge class is people are enamored with newer and don't see some glaring shortcomings in the ship design and spaces offered. I cruised HAL's 1959 Rotterdam and also the Statendam class ships. I feel the newer HAL ships expand on the Statendam class ships. Celebrity's best ships, IMO, were the Century class but the Solstice class ships have something of the Century class feel to them. I describe Celebrity's decor up to the Edge class as retro-modern as some of the spaces are modern recreations of 1920-s to 1960s clubs/hotels. Take for instance the style of the Martini Bar in the Solstice class ships. One could play big-band jazz or Little Richard in those spaces and feel right at home. HAL is more ship style, club like in almost all the areas except for the grand dining rooms which are the aft 2-deck type. Celebrity at one time focused on dinner presentation of food and were leaders but I feel with their emphasis on specialty dining they've slipped in the MDRs and that's a shame. I do love Celebrity, but I love the Celebrity of the mid 1990s and the Century ships more than their current product. HAL has remained more consistent IMO. Celebrity is modern in the sense of art and incorporating tech into their spaces but HAL is beginning to use tech too but for a specific purpose. I want to hit on the different premium types of cruisers. Some are foodies and spend a lot of time dining. Some are mingle types that want to go to either a deck space or indoor area to mingle and that could be bars, cafe spaces, any type of themed area like a sports bar to a club; lounge types that love to dance; spa types that want to chill in a covered pool area and soothe their bodies; and activity types that love karaoke and trivia and doing whatever activities there are offered. There are also stateroom types that need a balcony or a very expansive stateroom. And of course combinations of the above. I'm a lounge type and enjoy at least places where people are dancing. On HAL it is offered on all their ships. It's a big part of their ships. On Celebrity, it used to be a pretty big part of their ships but on Edge, they deleted lounges and made multi-purpose open area spaces with one nightclub. That for me is a major failing of the Edge class. I find them incomplete as ships and they deleted the library and card room and a quiet space to relax called the Hideaway on Solstice ships. I don't like the Edge class of ships and being "beautiful" is not enough. Being new is almost a non-factor and the industry focusing so much on "new" as in "newer is better" is unfortunate. Ships should be in service for 50 years and some are now being scrapped after 25-30 years in service. Where will all of these new ships go in 30 years? I think Celebrity is at a crossroads and they can either dance with the one that brought you by bringing back some of the goodness in their line. And that would include great food and presentation in the MDRs, music lounges of various types, not giving away valuable real estate to Retreat passengers and finding a way to give perks without creating classes. With HAL, they can maybe expand the Music walk areas as I hear they get crowded and getting seats is sometimes a problem. They're delivering with food and I think their product should remain as is. They're dancing with the one that brought them while expanding to accommodate more contemporary cruisers.
Excellent comparison of Solstice/Edge of Celebrity & HAL. I am on HAL Rotterdam currently & Celebrity Apex was beside us last night in San Juan. I could not help but start with the comparisons. HAL’s entertainment has been mediocre at best with only the music walk and that’s it. The theater has very limited productions and are only recorded tracks with lighting and a dance company. Celebrity has live orchestras with production shows with live ensembles, aerialists etc. Yes, the Edge Class has abandoned the intimate small group music venues in place of the more flashy techno forward elements. HAL has been very good on THIS sailing for MDR and specialty dining but I still think Celebrity does a better job at the buffet & presentation even with some of their cutbacks. The Retreat from Celebrity is unfortunate when you’re not a part of it. When you are, it’s pretty amazing but at an exorbitant price point which is beyond what you’ll find on other premium lines. Thanks so much for sharing & for watching!!
Have committed to HAL after trying most. Love, love them. Great food, great cabins and excellent service. Haven’t tried Celebrity but like HAL small ships best.
We have sailed Celebrity much more than HAL but I find them to be very similar in food and service. We are back on HAL next month sailing a half transit Panama Canal. Should be an exciting trip and good video! Thanks for watching!
Wow... great work. Thank you. Definitely worth hitting the subscribe button. My wife and I have only been on one MSC cruise which was nice, but we're considering a Holland America repositioning cruise which is what brought me here.
I am so glad that you like the video! Repositioning cruises can be a bit tricky. Many (especially transatlantic) have many sea days and few ports. If you enjoy the ocean views and a good book, then you will love it. Also many of the smaller, older HAL ships can lack activities so be aware of that. We just sailed on the Eurodam and were disappointed. I have a video review on the channel. In contrast, I am on the Celebrity Equinox currently and the service and food are fantastic. I would recommend the larger, newer HAL ships for a repositioning cruise. Thanks for watching and subscribing!
I'm a loyal HAL cruiser with 10 cruises and have also done 8 Carnival. Have one each RC and NCL booked. Great comparison reviews. Love how you highlighted all the positives. Hope to try X one day, especially the Expedition cruise to Galapagos!
I think that you would most likely enjoy Celebrity as well but their Edge Class ships are different from the other two. I am right there with you on having those Galapagos expedition ships on our bucket list! Thanks for watching Karen!
Great comparison video. Thank you! These 2 were our final choices that offered round trip Vancouver to Alaska so that we can avoid flying. We will choose HAL bc the entertainment seems more enriching, and the classical orchestra will suit my mother in law. Cheers!!
Thank you very much Reiss! We just finished a 10 Night cruise on the HAL Eurodam with very mixed reviews. My video series will begin very soon with a full review and Ship's Score but I wanted to jump in and advise you regarding the entertainment. Lincoln Center Stage (classical orchestra) is being discontinued throughout the fleet and will move to a rotating ensemble from ship to ship. They have already removed it from the Eurodam and did not replace it with another venue. I have seen some videos coming in from other ships where they are still playing however. The full removal and change to the rotating ensemble is expected by early summer. If you are on one of the larger Pinnacle Class HAL ships, there still should be plenty to do but we felt there was a lack of activities and varied entertainment on our sailing. I also thought that the food was much better on our past Celebrity sailings that what we just experienced on the Eurodam, especially in the buffet. I certainly do not want to talk you out of any decision that you have made but wanted to be proactive based upon my upcoming review. I will say that the HAL older demographic may have had an impact in the entertainment that they provided. We just did not find that it targeted our interests. I would also state that HAL does a better Alaska experience than most other lines. Thanks for watching and look for my Eurodam series beginning soon!
I was so happy to find this video… We have completed eight celebrity cruises and have another one booked for August to celebrate our 50th anniversary but just yesterday we have decided to try Holland America Koningsdam for the first time for our Hawaii cruise in 2025 so this was a very very timely video to watch. I appreciate it very much and I have just subscribed.
I am so glad that you found it helpful! Some things have changed since this recording like Lincoln Center Stage has been discontinued on almost all ships. We had a disappointing cruise on Eurodam recently and immediately booked the Celebrity Equinox to recover LOL. We are doing the Rotterdam in December and like Koningsdam, it is a larger Pinnacle Class so there are many updated venues to experience. I am sure that you will have a great time! Thanks so much for watching and subscribing!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 thank you so much for responding… I have heard that the best experience on Holland is on the larger pinnacle class ships… I think we will have a wonderful time… We have not booked it yet… Still watching videos… We love the equinox, and have completed five cruises on her, and will be doing a back to back in August on the equinox… She is one of our favorite ships.... we are looking forward to a new and different experience… A bit concerned about the weather in January, and how rough the Pacific will be from San Diego to Hawaii… we have never sailed the Pacific before… Have a great evening🚢
Great comparison and very positive with both cruise lines! I am new to cruising and have only enjoyed Holland America so far. I hope to experience Celebrity one day soon. The loyalty programs make it a little difficult to have the roaming eye! :)
Nora A, I used to feel the same way, until recently I researched the loyalty-programmes for several major cruise-lines including Carnival, Holland America, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean. I quickly saw that it is much easier to get benefits, even from the lowest levels, with Royal Caribbean, including double points for passengers travelling solo (not with Holland America, however!). Royal Caribbean also allows you to progress much faster through the first 4 levels than you would find with Holland America.....indeed, you could reach the 5th level with Royal Caribbean well before reaching Four-Star Mariner with Holland America....at the end, there is the prospect of a lifetime of complimentary milestone cruises with Royal Caribbean, whilst that is not even a one-time benefit for 4-Star or 5-Star Mariners....Massive difference! The good news is that, once you achieve any status with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity cruiseline will give you equivalent status. So those two cruiselines are like a two-for-one bargain.
@@brentshuffler1234Excellent comment! I found out the same thing. I am Diamond Plus on Royal Caribbean, which my young adult children absolutely love. We each get FIVE free drinks per day, as a D+ benefit, so for port intensive cruises, that is more than plenty, saving us the cost of a beverage package. I am also Elite Plus on Celebrity and mostly book Aqua class, with Always Included, so the free laundry is the best loyalty benefit. My in-laws only sailed on HAL so we joined them on several cruises, but not enough to achieve any loyalty status level with any worthwhile benefits. We also get the balcony discount on Royal, which on our last cruise, the balcony cost was LESS than an inside cabin. Hard to walk away from Celebrity & Royal at this point.
Love Celebrity, love HAL. Solstice class and the specialty restaurants (with the exception of Le Petite - tried it twice, nevermore) are great. The food on HAL especially the specialty restaurants are great. Post shut down Celebrity has downgraded liquor, for example, no longer serving Zacapa rum. HAL’s drink package much better! IMHO HAL is edging out Celebrity. I sailed The Edge but will stick with Solstice class as dining complementary and specialty restaurants are better on Solstice class. The Spa much better on HAL. I will sail both lines, they are great cruiselines
We are really looking forward to getting back on HAL. The last couple Solstice class sailings were very good but I noticed some cutbacks as well. The HAL promotion at the time of our booking gave us the drink package, 2 specialty dining, WiFi, gratuities and excursion credits. I also want to check out the Spa on HAL. Thanks so much for watching!
Thank you so much for this detailed comparison. We are booked on HAL this August and will be taking advantage of all they are offering, which is right up our alley.
Glad it was helpful! A side note, Lincoln Center Stage has been taken off most ships and will be converted into a traveling performance group. We experienced this recently on the Eurodam. I am sure you will have a great cruise! Thanks for watching!
Just took my first cruise on Holland and it will be my last. Celebrity is better in everyway. It's not even close. I would highly recommended changing before august. Holland is way outdated and way overpriced. It's not a nice ship at all.
@@seemoreseascruises3791 new Amsterdam; I don't mean to be rude but I feel completely ripped off. The staff and the people are very vice, A+ on that. The rest was low quality or ok at best. edit: the jazz club was really good, but very small and you had to get there at least 15 minutes before the show because their space is radically small! (Who designed this boat? Very poor decisions made all around!)
Thank for the review and comparison. We have a cruise with Holland America scheduled for next year and are very interested in booking one with Celebrity as well.
I'm glad that you liked it. We have a cruise in March on the HAL Eurodam so I'll have a detailed review with various tours available in April. HAL seems to be the better value at the moment since Celebrity's prices seem to be moving up. We are true Celebrity fans but see HAL as a close competitor in many areas. Thanks so much for watching and look for those reviews of our HAL experience.
I appreciate your VS guide as I have sailed HAL 2017,18,19& to do 2022 Dec. They have had features you mention all along& I love all especially tea, crows nest destinations area etc. I haven't sailed celebrity so I learned more from u than Gary or other hosts. Thank you 😊 great voice for morning listening!!
Thank you so much! I feel that both lines are very similar with Celebrity marketing to a slightly younger crowd but HAL has better music entertainment with Celebrity just edging out HAL on cuisine. Thanks so much for watching!
I really enjoyed the comparisons! I have a Celebrity cruise in late January, and a HAL cruise in February...so I am now ready for both of them. Thanks so much...great job!
How exciting for you! That's awesome. I am so glad that you enjoyed the comparison. We have a HAL cruise planned in March. Have great cruises and thanks for watching!
Thanks for the suggestion! That would have been a good idea however the prices change so much and very different for types of cruises. Overall though, a cruise on Holland America is most likely going to be significantly less expensive than Celebrity. Celebrity has many more upgraded cabin options than HAL and the Celebrity specialty dining is more expensive than HAL. I am not a spa person but you can probably expect the same. We cruise on HAL in a couple of weeks so I will make sure to include some of that in my various reviews of the Panama Canal sailing on the Eurodam. Thanks so much for watching!
Thanks for the comparison. Never cruised either line, but we have a Celebrity Reflection cruise booked. I would love to try Holland America, and the music walk sounds awesome!
So glad you got something out of it! I’m on Holland America now and our recent Reflection sailing was far better. I’ll have a review out in a couple of weeks. You’ll love Celebrity Reflection! Thanks for watching, Brian!
Good job. Clearly explained with appropriate graphics. As an elder and lover of classical music, I would prefer H-A, especially since I see they have a voyage that includes Honolulu (where my children live) and Vietnam.
We are both also lovers of classical music so unfortunately Holland America has removed Lincoln Center Stage ensemble from it's ships as a standard offering. There is supposed to be a traveling ensemble that plays on the main stage but I have not heard any reports of such. On our last two HAL sailings there was no classical music and little live music in the main theater. They rely solely on the music walk for music entertainment now. It is a huge mistake in my opinion. Cruises to Hawaii are great. There are a few ships that are dedicated to serving Hawaii out of CA year round. Thanks so much for watching and I hope you consider getting back on board again soon!
Many thanks! I'll be doing a more in depth of HAL in April. We leave on the Eurodam for 10 days at the end of this month. It will obviously have more video. Thanks for watching!
Thanksor all this information. I have never cruised and trying hard to convince my husband to take a cruise next year. I have been thinking about Celebrity a lot. I will need to take a look at Holland America too.
John, that is so great! We started cruising in 2010 and have never looked back! It has the wine classes and the fantastic cuisine of which I love and it also has what my husband loves with the music and the destinations. We love the main dining room and specialty dining as well. If you both like to travel, this is unpack once and get 7 difference experiences each day with 24 hour entertainment and visual enjoyment from your balcony. I've traveled for 40 years and cruise travel has been the highlight! Cheers! You can not go wrong with either line, but as a first timer go with Celebrity Solstice Class or Signature / Pinnacle class with HAL. If you have ANY other questions while planning, please reach out to me.
Thanks for covering two cruise-lines of comparable value and price-points. I was wondering which Holland America ship(s) you experienced? The newest ship in the fleet, Rotterdam, is a magnificent leap forward for Holland America: it has every one of the features that you highlighted in this video. The decor is amazing even in the Main Dining Room. The spa-services have expanded to include wellness-experiences such as reflexology, acupuncture, and cupping....and not just a therapist, but a qualified doctor. The BBC Earth presentations were a unique combination of music and documentary. The walls in the main showroom become enormous surround-sound screens, serving from entertainment in the evenings, to education during lectures, destination-talks, and BBC Earth documentaries. The innovation of a deck that is dedicated to music and entertainment is very welcome: this is where Holland America can claim that it truly caters to every age-group and every genre....rock and roll, Classical, orchestral, vocalists, bands, DJs, instrumentalists, dance, classes, et cetera. As you have hinted, Celebrity is more expensive . . . and becoming more so year by year . . . This makes Holland America, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean much better value for money overall for the majority of travellers.
Thanks Brent! We have only been on the Nieuw Amsterdam and will be sailing on the Eurodam on Saturday for 10 days. Both are the Signature Class ships which are the predecessor to the newer, bigger Pinnacle Class. The Rotterdam looks fantastic and I love the updated color schemes that HAL has implemented. Music walk is enhanced on Rotterdam (and her sister ships) which brings HAL into a younger demographic for sure. There are changes coming to the entertainment with the live orchestra being discontinued. HAL's partnership with Lincoln Center Stage is shifting to be a traveling, rotating performance cast only on a couple of ships at a time. I have heard from posts on the Eurodam that this has already occurred however this was directly after a two week dry dock so maybe the cast just was not onboard. I truly hope we will see Lincoln Center Stage on our sailing! I also hope that HAL stays in the Premium segment with cuisine and service. Royal Carnival and NCL are more mass market with HAL providing a more upgraded experience for a great price. They are showing signs of cut backs so I'll make sure to review that upon our return from this sailing. Thanks so much for commenting and watching! Stay tuned!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Yes, I can confirm that there were some notable changes: in particular, although the dining remains excellent, from the buffet-deck to the Main Dining Room and beyond, the post-pandemic cruises are revealing surcharges for some things that used to be complimentary. E.g., there was no complimentary lobster in the Main Dining Room. It was the first cruise in my life that did not have that highlight. Lobster was available (every evening) but for a surcharge. What was more surprising was that even the specialty restaurants, which have a surcharge, also had some menu-items that were an extra surcharge. For me, that did not make sense any more. If I went to such restaurants at all, I certainly would not be paying extra for anything on the menu, having already paid a surcharge to dine there.
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Footnote: on the other hand, the new Have It All package is excellent value for money: for less than what many other cruise-ships charge for a drinks-package alone, Holland America now offers a package that includes [1] internet service, [2] shore-excursions, [2] specialty dining, and [4] up to 15 drinks per day. At retail prices, the drinks alone would be worth up to U.S.$200 per day if bought separately (up to U.S.$11.00 each plus the 18% service-charge).
@@brentshuffler1234 I'm seeing the lobster issue more and more from many other lines unfortunately. We did book under the Have it All so we took full advantage of 2 specialty dining and excursion credits. I was also glad to see that you can redeem and reserve the dining and excursions online before the sailing. We hope to upgrade the internet to streaming onboard using onboard credit we have. With the other included items, this is a fantastic value.
We sail in the retreat on the Apex in November and can’t wait! Looking at Holland American for Alaska for June 2024. I think where the ship goes is important too, I hear HAL is good for Alaska.
You are going to love the Retreat! Luminae is great and well as the Retreat Lounge. If we had to do it all again, we might have chosen HAL for AK. They have been there the longest and have the best glacier itineraries. I'd look at the bigger ships from HAL for that area - Pinnacle Class or Signature Class with a full music walk. Thanks so much for watching!
Great review and comparison! We cruise mostly Disney and love it, and just tried our first Holland America cruise. We liked it but really didn't enjoy the food. The Dutch Cafe and Pinnacle Grill were definitely the highlights, but the dining room and buffet were pretty terrible. Our fellow cruises agreed and most were diehard HAL cruisers.
That is very surprising from HAL. The food is normally very good. We like Pinnacle Grill as well. I have it booked twice on our upcoming Panama Canal cruise. Thanks for watching!
Great video! Well done! I've cruised on Celebrity 4-5 times and just completed my first Holland America cruise. Just a few positives and negatives from my perspective on HA. We absolutely loved the "Billboard Onboard" and you were spot on! Fantastic shows! HA also has a large modern library with new recently released books. Celebrity's library is shameful compared to this gem! On HA the ability to walk around the entire ship outside was so nice, where on Celebrity one must traverse decks to even come close to this. The negatives are what will probably have this being our first and last HA cruise. I'm used to Celebrity where I buy a drink package and don't have to worry about my drinks. I may have 10 drinks a day or I may have 20....who knows. HA limited the number of drinks for our package to 15...and that included waters. You can fill up a water bottle in the buffet for free, but I'm used to drinking 6-7 cans of water a day...so was always counting my drinks which took away from the experience. The other big negative for us is we primarily stick with the main dining room and if no good desserts offered will go to the buffet to get something different. We noticed that the main dining room fare for the evening is almost exactly what is being offered in the buffet. It was a few nights before we caught on, but for the last 5 night a significant number of the entrees and all the desserts were the same. The final negative is we found the age of most of the HA passengers were a little higher than the figure you gave (we saw mostly 60/65+), but maybe it was the time of year?
I am very glad you liked the video. You pointed out some very good observations for sure! The style of a HAL ship is very different from Celebrity and I agree that the outside promenade is a great feature from HAL. Note that the Rotterdam and the other Pinnacle Class do not have the wide open promenade. We have found that even on Celebrity you will find similar entrees in the buffet that are similar to what is offered in the MDR. I do think that Celebrity normally has a wider selection though. The drink packages are a big difference. I always grab water when going back to my stateroom on Celebrity and never have to worry about meeting that 15 drink limit. I do think of it when I sail HAL. I don't think it is enforced that strongly but never the less, it is a big difference. Depending on the sailing HAL will almost always be an older demographic in my opinion. Celebrity has been marketing to a younger demographic for a few years now. HAL with it's updated music is trying to catch up. Thanks for watching!
Thank you so much! I am very happy that you got a lot out of it. We are going on HAL next month too! We are doing a half transit of the Panama Canal on Eurodam. Have a great cruise! I highly recommend the Pinnacle Grill if you want to treat yourself to an excellent dinner experience. Thanks for watching!
Great video! You presented a VERY fair and amazing comparison between the 2 cruise lines. We have been committed Celebrity cruisers and we found, since 2019 and COVID, the dining experiences have been mediocre. We did B2B Norwegian Fjords/Scandinavian cruises last year on the Silhouette and was very disappointed with the dining. We then did a Pacific Coastal in September, 2022 onboard the Solstice, to find the same. So, being tired of the S-Class ships, we have now booked a 35-day South Pacific cruise with HAL on the Koningsdam in February/24. We're excited about the Music Walk and definitely looking forward to the dining experiences. You have presented such a fair comparison and I look forward to our HAL cruise, which will give us, hopefully, a pleasant change.
It is always disappointing when the dining is not up to expectations. We found that on Solstice during our Alaskan cruise but was blow away recently on the Equinox. I think after COVID, they had some issues with their restart. On that note, we did a 10 Night on HAL Eurodam and had some dining fails there too. I will update the comparison and state that the Lincoln Center Stage component of the Music Walk has been discontinued on most ships without a named replacement. Lincoln Center will be a traveling attraction and not available on all ships. This was a big disappointment for us on Eurodam. The Koningsdam is a larger ship and will have the Rolling Stone Rock Room which seems to be a very fun addition. 35 days on a HAL Pinnacle Class ship sounds amazing and I wish you an excellent cruise! We are doing 7 days on the Rotterdam in December so watch for that review before you sail! Thanks so much for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Thank you for the update. I'm hoping by the time of our cruise, there will have a replacement for the Lincoln Center Stage but if not, c'est la vie. I'll look forward to your Rotterdam review since it is in the Pinnacle Class, as is the Koningsdam. We have the Have It All package with The Pinnacle Grill, Canaletto and Tamarind Grill included in the package. Would you recommend that we also book Rudi's Sel de Mer?
@@kathyslocombe1182 Great choices for dining! Canaletto has updated their menu recently so it is a more desirable option. Being part of the buffet on most ships, it can be underwhelming. You can not go wrong with Pinnacle or Tamarind! I have tried Rudi's on the Nieuw Amsterdam as a pop up inside Pinnacle. It was really fantastic and I have it booked on the Rotterdam. I would recommend booking it. You can always cancel before you cruise.
I agree with most of what you have to say, but suites are not apples to apples. Just looking at transatlantic cruises this Spring, suites on Celebrity start at $4,500 - $7,000 depending on the sailing, where Holland starts at $1,400 - $2,000. Even if Celebrity's prices are all inclusive, an extra $800 onto the HAL price still makes them significantly cheaper. We're sailing to Japan next Fall in a Signature Suite, no way would I want to pay double for X's suite perks.
I have stayed in Sky Suites on Celebrity and Signature Suites on HAL. The perks are better on Celebrity as you stated but the staterooms are about the same size. I completely agree that the pricing on Celebrity has become out of reach for most. The difference in price allows you to still do the HAL "Have it All" and come in substantially less than Celebrity. The private dining in Luminae is nice but not worth the price difference. I just priced a Sky Suite for a possible May sailing and one date was around $8k and another was over $12K. The two lines are still a very different vibe but if you are looking for a suite, I think (at least in price) HAL wins hands down. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
We have done Holland America Cruise Lines for years that we are a Four Star Mariner that we get many free extras. We are very active and very healthy 70 year olds that hike our mountain trails around our Lake Tahoe area. Last year we did a cruise on Celebrity Edge and it was good but not great as service was wonderful but excursions were wanting. There were a few other points that we missed that HAL has. Last September we went on the Flora for a seven day cruise doing the Galápagos Islands. It was wonderful with Naturalist with us on every Island tour. What was missing was the great food we were expecting? The steaks were tough and the vegetables were wanting in flavor. We kept with fish dishes after that. It was all inclusive which was great and our cruise was one to remember yet in our opinion, Celebrity is not Holland America! We have done several Viking and Norwegian cruises in the past as well but always return to Holland America. 0:070:07
Thank you so much for sharing! Full disclosure, I am 2 Star with HAL and Elite with Celebrity. We just finished a 10-Night on Eurodam that was disappointing especially in food. I have a two part review on my channel. We normally love the service and food on both lines and that is why I feel they are very evenly paired. So glad that you have found the line that fits YOU. That is what I think is the most important and feel that there is one that fits NOW and that can change due to the variety of choices. Viking is on my radar and the Galapagos on Flora is on my bucket list. Thanks so much for supporting the channel by commenting and watching! Let's get Cruising!
This was very informative! I am taking my first cruise with a church group this September. I had no say in which cruise line, and I’m booked on the Celebrity Infinity. I am looking forward to the La Petite experience. I’m very interested in taking a cruise to Alaska next year and would like to try the HAL!
They picked a good ship. The Infinity is a smaller ship from Celebrity but you will get the same great service and comfort as the rest of the fleet. It is a great ship for a first cruise. You may want to check out my "Celebrity Exposed & Explained" video. ua-cam.com/video/QyAvPOmsHqY/v-deo.html Holland America Line is a great choice for Alaska. They have been there the longest and will have the most assets deployed. I'm dropping a new video on Friday comparing Seattle and Vancouver as embarkation ports and discussing the differences in itineraries from each! When you are ready to start planning I'd be honored to assist and find you the best rate. Thanks so much for sharing and for watching!
The standout restaurant on Solstice class ships is Murano. Hands down. I also wish you had talked more about the Edge class ships dining options of 4 different “main” dining rooms.
We love Murano! We have dined there many times, however lately we have enjoy Tuscan Grill a bit more actually. Your point regarding the 4 distinct dining rooms on Edge class is well taken. Thanks for watching!
Sailing in Feb 2023 on Zaandam for full transit through the Panama Canal from Fl to San Diego. Just hope we like the older smaller ship. Thanks for sharing.
J better on smaller ship to go through original canal, I heard on other video hosts. I hope to book 2023 transit as well I has to cancel the 2020 of course. U enjoy. I sail nieuw Amsterdam dec2022 Caribbean aruba& Curacao
We love HAL! We are music lovers 🎶. The Nieuw Statendam is ours in a week! Love your description and comparison of HAL and Celebrity. We will be on the Brand new Celebrity ship in 2025.
How wonderful for you! Pinnacle Class and so you will have it all! We are on Eurodam next month so excited as well! Thanks so much for watching! You will love Celebrity Edge Class and the new ship! I am envious!
That's not the right ship to take if you are a music lover. Celebrity just scatters music about on the Edge ships and there aren't dedicated lounges for it like there was on older Celebrity classes. The Edge ships are very much about restaurants and that's where they will shine when the food is executed well.They also have very fancy drinks. I'm a music lover as well and a musician. I prefer jazz/big band, standards but I know ships have to cater to all tastes and I can enjoy other types of music as well. I also love Classical music.
@benjaminsmith2287 we have not yet been on a Celebrity ship. We do like to try different types of cruises. We also booked an MSC cruise. But, we have a 12 day HAL Rotterdam cruise in a couple months!!!
Nice video Doug very detailed.....don't forget to tell everyone the beds were like sleeping on a rock ...lol way too hard for us........unlike RCL there were no extra padding available.
Just came back from a Holland Nieuw Statendam transatlantic cruise... the Lincoln Center Stage is the most "changed".You mentioned that the "performers were from Lincon Center"... not any more, the musicians come to Lincoln Center to be auditioned, They used to be 5 musicians, we have been told that they will be having 2 musicians (like ALL other cruise ships have). When I listened to them last, they were in the evening schedule (ie. 5:30pm 6:30pm and 8pm. Now they are more in the afternoon schedule ie. 2:30pm, 5:15pm and 6:15pm which take away my reading/ hot tubing at that time. You mentioned "culinary classes", there was NONE (although this I couldn't care about). The "frequent cruising" levels, with Celebrity, one gets F-A-R more than Holland (I'm Celebrities' Eloite Plus and I'm 4 Star with Holland) AND Holland has taken away an "officer's lunchen" that we used to get.... I opt for Celebrity now...
I recently just finished a 10-Night on Eurodam and Lincoln Center Stage was completely removed. There was a decent trio at the Ocean Bar but nothing like they had before. The America's test kitchen was also not replaced with any similar activity as they are no longer a HAL partner. We were in a Signature Suite due to the 10-Night, we wanted more space. This gave us nothing extra other than the space and bigger bathroom. If you watch that 2 part review, you'll probably relate to what you recently experienced. We are booked with Celebrity for next month - I too, am going back to Celebrity. Thanks for sharing and for pointing out these big changes at HAL!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Thank YOU for replying! At the end of one of the Lincoln Center Stage shows, I stood up, and LOUDLY mentioned the changes to LCS, just so that people will be aware and hopefully let Holland know how we feel, Let's just say that my "briefing" wasn't well received by all! BUT with your comment, I see that my comment paled as to what is truly happening. GRACIAS
The lack of entertainment is shocking compared to Celebrities! I have no idea why anyone would go to Holland American after being on a Celebrities ship. I went on one Holland American cruise for 7 days and I will never waste money like that again! (The boat needed seven new windows on the eagles nest, and one of the top glasses broke off completely, the boat is in bad condition!) I feel so ripped off.
I did a solo run last year on the Koningsdam to Alaska. I have many nice things to say about Koningsdam. The only thing that I _didn't_ like was the drinks package. I'm a big boy. 6'2" and 240 pounds and although I go many months between drinks, I can easily put away 20-30 drinks over 16 hours and never feel or appear inebriated. A 15 drink limit just won't do. I have since been on the Edge for a transit Rome to Ft. Lauderdale. Celebrity's unlimited drinks including soft drinks and premium coffee package was much more to my liking.
I agree with you. When you add in the bottled waters, specialty coffees or soft drinks in that 15 limit, it can go pretty quickly. Celebrity's policy is so much better. My experience is that HAL does not strictly enforce it when adding in the bottled waters to the overall count. Many times they did not even record the transaction. I am sure they probably would with sodas and specialty coffees though.
@@fluffytail6355 Nah. I hardly ever drink. I can't really get drunk, so what would be the point? On a cruise it's different because with a package I can pound them back and get a little buzzed sometimes. I can get blotto, but it takes a solid effort and I don't really want to be that drunk anyway.
My two favorite cruise lines. One big difference for me between the lines is Celebrity doesn't have thermal hot tubs in their spas and Holland America does, yet Celebrity charges slightly more for the spa packages.
This is very true. We have only experienced the thermal suite on Celebrity Edge class and thought it was just OK. HAL does have that large spa hot tubs which look very nice. Hard to go wrong but each line has it's strengths.
Ok, My last 10 cruises has been between Celebrity and Holland Am. They both stay similar on everything but the main theater entertainment. Celebrity is miles ahead on this. Their traditional entertainment is excellent. However, where Holland went wrong is when they went to a circular seating around multiple screens backing the stage. The screens are basically a light show backing mediocre entertainment in front of them. The first time seeing this is mildly amusing afterwards "Boring". The best I can figure is that Holland saved their budget on the main theater by putting their money behind the "Music Walk". Finally, I will say Holland moves years ahead of Celebrity in their "Ship Band"-- BB Kings All Star Band. This is an 8-member band which is terrific. Yes great. You can spend the whole night after dinner dancing to classic Blues, Soul and Mo Town. No other cruise line band compares!
I have to agree with you 100%. Celebrity blew me away on the Edge Class with their take on the LED paneled stage as well as the entertainment options between the theater and The Club. Solstice Class ships also have extremely good entertainment in the main theater. Between the HAL ship band and the members of Lincoln Center Stage, the level of live entertainment is outstanding on HAL. Thanks for watching!
A few things have changed from when I first recorded this but I still stand by most of the comments. There have been long time Celebrity fans that have said that Celebrity dining has taken a southern turn and is not as good and I have determined that I am not that big of a fan of the Music Walk for an entire 7 - Night sailing. It does get a bit repetitive and boring after a while since the HAL main theater shows have been drastically reduced. What I do love is that there is something out there for everyone and if you enjoy either of theses lines, you can't go wrong unless you are looking for a family cruise. If that is the case, we need to talk! contact@seemoresea.com
I sailed both lines Holland 3 times, Celebrity over 25 times...IMHO I think Celebrity is ahead in service, entertainment and cuisine. The Edge Class dining is the best at sea...4 unique main dining complimentary restaurants...Then you have Eden, AMAZING...Actually the age of Passengers have a lot to do where the ship is sailing. I did a Eastern Med cruise to Italy and Greece, The age of passengers were in the 40s-50s range with many older. Also, not a fair comparison...If you are going g to do a true comparison, you must use all ship class including Edge Class.
We have sailed Celebrity much more than HAL as well. We loved the Edge and started in a Sky Suite and ate in Luminae. I really like to the 4 dining room concept and heard that the food was outstanding. I also thought Eden was pretty fantastic as well. I find the Celebrity entertainment more relaxed and classic than HAL but Music Walk is very good. We fell in love with Lincoln Center Stage. Good point regarding age ranges! Thanks so much for watching!
The Dining Rooms are unique and not carbon copies of each other. I think the menus are the same except for a small amount of unique dishes particular to each restaurant. The themes are Greek (Cypurs), Italian (Tuscany), French (Normandie) and American (Cosmopolitan). Agree about age and where the ship is sailing. And sometimes when. Unfortunately, and I'm a Celebrity fan since the Zenith/Horizon days, the Edge class ships aren't for me. They left out too much from the Solstice class and that Retreat area placement just doesn't sit right with me (I don't do upper level staterooms, inside or outside only, not even veranda). My favorite class was the Century class. The three Century ships were not a carbon copy of each other and all had mostly unique public areas spaces to each ship. Specialty dining wasn't really needed when they served their best food. And they had far more variety of indoor/lounge mingle areas and dance areas than does Edge. Also, they started the wild art and tech art style of Celebrity. Millennium class introduced the specialty dining. They also had thellasotherapy pools and fairly extensive spa services for their era. Solstice class brought in more specialty venues. Edge class ups the entertianment/theater venues but goes in the way of Retreat class privilege as well as losing treasured areas of previous Celebrity ships. So, they give some yet take much away.
Has Holland America restored that Exploration Center? It was completely gone (the high tech/ and the resource people totally not there 🙁 ) when we went to Alaska in August 2021 shortly after reopening after Covid. It was just a lovely viewing, coffee, library area. We were disappointed! Still loved the Crows nest though. 👍🏻
Great question! I am working on my review of my most recent sailing on the Eurodam. The technology of the touch screens and interactive tables were all gone. The EXC desk was there but their hours were very limited. We had a swap of ports with drastic time changes so I needed to speak to a human regarding if they would adjust our excursions. The day before the swapped port, their hours were 3:00 to 5:00 pm. They could not tell me what was going to happen but the team did finally adjust both of our excursions by canceling the booked day and then rebooking on the new day and new time (morning changed to afternoon, etc.). The crow's nest is still a great spot, though crowded on our sailing with puzzles, card and board games. Best coffee ($$) onboard! Thanks for watching and part 1 of my review of our 10 Night on the Eurodam will be coming in the next few days!
Having just been on Noordam after a cruise on Eclipse before Christmas, I have to agree with much you say, but comparing the HAL cafe with the wonderful Cafe Al Bacio on Celebrity is unfortunate. Al Bacio not only has a full menu of coffees and delicious teas, they also have a large range of liqueur flavoured specialty coffees and martini’s. add to this, the cosy decor and magnificent range of free sweet delicacies offered, and you have an area of the ship which encourages you to sit, relax, and enjoy the ambience using proper glasses and crockery., unlike the small number of very ordinary versions of coffee and teas, often automatically served in environmentally unfriendly takeaway cups. Also, the food offered to accompany that less pleasant coffee is nowhere near the quality or quantity. As an Australian from Melbourne, we take our lattes seriously (for a laugh at us, take a look at Jimmy Rees’s “Meanwhile in Australia” channel 😅) However, except for the lack of music around the ship, HAL’s Music Walk was fabulous! The friendliness of the captain and officers on Celebrity is another difference we noticed, although the friendliness and helpfulness of the crew on both is outstanding. We’re devoted Celebrity cruisers, but we are disappointed with the increased emphasis on taking over full use areas for Suite guests, and after this we’ll be happy to cruise with HAL when the price and itinerary is right. Thankyou for an excellent video.
Thanks for the excellent response! I have to admit that I am not that big of a specialty coffee drinker and go to Café A Bacio only for the cookies! Good to know that there are some major differences. We too are devoted Celebrity cruisers but will be sailing HAL Eurodam to the Panama Canal in March. We have stayed in a suite on Celebrity three times (once on the Edge) and I get your disappointment with increasing the suite only areas. What I like about the Edge class is that the Retreat is at the very top and front of the ship and the Luminae dining room and Retreat Lounge are tucked out of the way on an upper deck surrounded by cabins. Taking away the Solstice Deck on the Solstice class is a very obvious, in your face, separation of suite and non-suite guests. It's nice that HAL has not fully gone in that direction but on their ships they now do have Club Orange dedicated venues and priority services. Thanks so much for watching, Sally!
We’re soon taking our first cruise on HAL from Athens to Athens. We did upgrade to Club Orange. We usually sail on Oceania or Viking. We picked this trip because of the itinerary. Hope we love it!
Regarding Celebrity, I am as well. And it's a lot worse on the Edge ships than on Solstice ships. On Solstice class, Michael's Club is gone to Retreat guests and I like it use as a piano bar. But I don't mind a few restaurants going to Suite guests as they're plentiful on Solstice. On Edge, the whole Sky Lounge is deleted and deck space right at the fore top decks of the ship.
We did the exact same thing. We sat front row in each performance and really loved it. I had never been that close to such talented musicians. Thanks for watching!
Thumbs-up for a great comparison. if it is ok for me to ask : how are the buffet dining options for a clean-keto, especially steamed green veggies ? does HAL also have the "free from" labels we saw at the Celebrity buffet ?
That is great question. I can absolutely say, being clean keto each, that Celebrity does a much better job at having clean uncured meats and a lot more cheeses than HAL. They will also provide a cleaner offering when it comes to meats. You can request preparation from the steak area and the carvery is so much better on Celebrity. HAL did not have any clean labeled food items on the buffet and it was much less impressive than Celebrity on the Nieuw Amsterdam, Eurodam and Rotterdam - Celebrity buffet out performed HAL on all three cruises with clean offerings and selection. Clean vegetable choices were also more plentiful in the Oceanview Cafe buffet on Celebrity. HAL had very little steamed vegetable options.
Thank you so much for answering😁, I really appreciate it. I have been on a low-glycemic / keto and IF for the past 18 years, and I don't deviate from that no matter what (and also fast for multiple days sometimes). Both my partner and I love cruising and it can be difficult to find out what lines / ships would best accommodate our feed-regime. Again - thanks 😊
Thanks for a great comparison. I have cruised Celebrity for the past many years but am booked on two HCL ships this year. Are you from Indiana? I live in Indianapolis. thanks again
Good for you! We did the same thing with our several Celebrity sailings when we switched to Holland America Line. There are some major demographic differences and the entertainment is very different on HAL. I'd love to hear from you when you compare your experiences. HAL has recently committed to upgrading their main theater shows so I'm anxious to hear from you. Thanks for watching!
LOL. I know that they do! When on a cruise, many people know me because of the shirts. I do need to go shopping for sure. Many new videos have my new See More Seas branded shirts. Thanks for watching!
What ship are you on? If it is a Signature or Pinnacle Class you will love Music Walk. The food and service is as good or better than Celebrity! The current promotions include all the goodies with drinks, wifi, gratuities, two specialty dining and on board credit! If you didn't get that, contact your travel agent and see if they can reprice and book you! I'm excited for you! I love going on a new ship and exploring. Have a great cruise and thanks so much for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 we’re on the Nieuw Statendam. I booked specifically because I wanted to check out the music walk just like you mentioned in the video. I haven’t found a good TA yet, any recommendations?
@@blisteringherb good for you, that should be amazing for you! Music Walk on the Pinnacle Class is much larger than Signature. BB Kings and Lincoln Center Stage are in the same venue but acoustically designed for both. Try Pinnacle Grill if you have the specialty dining perk. Also you have to do the afternoon tea just to giggle and enjoy the experience. I have a wonderful travel advisor who I always like to recommend in Debra @ dlieberman@expediacruises.com. She handles all of my reservations and all of my check again requests when I see a new promotion! LOL normally, she got me the best deal on round 1.
Hi and thanks for posting. There are my 2 favorite lines. Cruising to the Panama Canal on HAL Eurodam in about 2 weeks. (As an aside, I don’t know if you can edit a video once posted but there seems to be a problem with the capacity numbers on the Celebrity chart for Celebrity’s largest class…. Just thought you would want to know.)
We are doing the Panama Canal on Eurodam in March! We are doing the half transit and really looking forward to it. I just posted a preview and would love to hear about your experience! I checked on a few sites and even Celebrity has the Beyond with capacity at 3,260 and Edge / Apex at 2,918. The Beyond and the Ascent are larger. Was that the number you were referring to? Thanks for letting me know and thanks so much for watching!
When discussing dining options on HAL, although you included pictures, (which were shown while you discussed Canaletto) you didn’t mention Tamarind/Nami Sushi, the excellent pan Asian specialty restaurant. In addition, Holland America has (unfortunately IMHO) terminated their partnership with America’s Test Kitchen and no longer has culinary demos.
No, I didn't mention Tamarind. We both were highly disappointed in Tamarind and could have gone into that further. Good point. I did see that on most ships that the Test Kitchen has been terminated however, like you, I really did enjoy it. On our upcoming HAL cruise there are some culinary items listed but not Test Kitchen. Thanks for correcting me, I really appreciate it.
Give Tamarind another chance…..it’s awesome! We had the same experience with Canaletto on Nieuw Statendam, but hope to give it another chance on our next HAL cruise in September!
@@pennyhebert5436 I already have it booked for our upcoming Panama Canal cruise. I have twice at Pinnacle and once in Tamarind. I'm hoping that it is better this time!
Curious if you have ever booked with Costco Travel. Costco has both Holland America and Celebrity but, I called to ask questions one day and I didn't find the agent helpful. It seems like they want you to stick to doing everything online. It did seem like some of the perks would good though.
I looked into Costco several years ago when we started cruising and I did not move forward. I have gone online a few times to just check and it does not seem that they have the same options as the direct or a travel advisor site. I just started my travel advisor company and I see many more options so I'd try it out but think about a travel advisor if you don't see the same final cost on Costco as you do on the direct cruise line site. I hope that helps and thanks so much for watching!
Question about Celebrity: I'm an early riser and usually want that first cup of coffee around 5 AM. I was unhappy on our last Celebrity cruise (Silhouette 2018) that I could not get coffee before 6 AM. Is this the case fleet-wide? Is it still the case? We're considering a Celebrity cruise for next year on the Equinox, but this could be a deal-breaker.
That is a great question. John is also an early riser and would search out coffee before 6:00am as well. I checked daily planners from two recent Celebrity sailings and Cafe' al Bacio does open at 6:00am however the Oceanview Cafe (buffet) has coffee, Tea and Juices available 24 hours. I have also noticed that the library on Solstice class normally has a self serve coffee urn available. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching!
I don’t understand why people wouldn’t like the balcony with the window that slides up and down. Seems like a good option to me! Anyone been in a room of this type with insights?
I have clients on the Celebrity Edge right now and can't wait to hear how they liked the infinite veranda in Alaska. I think that would be a great stateroom for viewing the coast line and Fjords in Alaska. Some complain that the room gets hot when the window is down in the Caribbean. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
We did the HAL Konigsdam in December 2022 and the Celebrity Millennium in February 2023. I would say that Celebrity had better quality food in the MDR and the buffet than HAL. However, both were the best that I have had in six cruises on six lines. Celebrity seemed to be fully staffed and the service was nearly perfect. HAL seemed really understaffed in the MDR. I thought that the entertainment was great on both lines. However, the Music Walk really stepped things up a level. They were first rate entertainment and readily available. The Millenium entertainment was top rate BUT the sound and lighting in the main theatre was mediocre. It really needed to be upgraded. I heard so much about culinary programs and computer centers on HAL but saw no evidence of it on board. Ditto on the interactive excursion planning in the crows nest. I saw evidence that there were special areas for premium customers on BOTH ships. However, it did not really affect our experience. The Dutch Cafe was a real letdown as they did not have a lot of the "specialties" advertised to to "supply chain issues" (although I could get those same items at IKEA or ALDI the week before). I like having the ability to walk around the ship on HAL as it lets me get my steps in. What was disappointing on Celebrity was the inability to walk to the very front of the ship like you can on many Royal Caribbean ships as it is a great place to get away from the crowds As for demographics, I saw little difference between the two lines. The average age was about 55-60 and on both cruises, there were under 25 people under 18. However, comedians on BOTH lines like to make wheelchair references about the other line. My preference would be Celebrity due to the food and the service levels. My wife prefers HAL for the entertainment.
Great information - thank you! The culinary experiences were also missing on our recent HAL sailing as was Lincoln Center Stage. The buffet on HAL (Eurodam) was also below average. I noticed the same service issues on that HAL sailing as well with the MDR service being very disappointing. We booked a Celebrity Equinox cruise after getting back to compare and that sailing was very good and showed the service and food differences in a major way. We are going to try Rotterdam in Dec and have hopes that HAL will redeem themselves. Thanks so much for your comment and for watching!
Thank you it was a great comparison. Does Rotterdam have formal nights? Does my husband need to bring a suit? Or can he wear a collared shirt with dress pants or jeans?
On a 7 day on HAL Rotterdam, you should have two formal nights. He does not need a suit or even a sport coat. Dress pants and a nice collared shirt will be fine. Jeans would probably pass but I'd go with the dress pants. We sail on Rotterdam in December. Enjoy your cruise! Thanks so much for watching!
Of all of the different channels i have seen about cruising i like yours the best. One complaint, I have hearing comprehension problems and the slight echo makes it even harder for me to understand what you are saying. Some cloth wall hangings, rugs, ect. would help.
We’ve been a big fan of HAL & enjoy smaller ships. Thanks for your info. First time viewer. We just got off of a cruise 2 wks ago. Big disappointment but figured it might be. (Long story why we were on Carnival). Planning on a cruise to Alaska now & thinking of HAL again. Also Princess has been suggested. What’s your insight on Princess? Thanks for all your tips & your video!
If you are a fan of HAL, they do Alaska almost as well as anyone. Princess would be a close second IMO. Their ships will be a bit bigger and probably more modern depending on which HAL ship you choose. Can’t go wrong with either line. We are on the Eurodam at the moment so I’ll have some quick videos out this week on our experience so far. Thanks for watching!
@@patti-bell Thank you so much for subscribing, Patti! We are on a 10-night Partial Transit of the Panama Canal. We are in Half Moon Cay today and then head to Aruba, Curacao, Panama Canal, Costa Rica then a couple sea days back to FLL. I'll have a review out in April on the Eurodam - Caribbean and not Alaska so different cruise and different vibe.
We are not cruise vets with only 7 under our belt. Our second big cruise was on HAL But we haven't done Celebrity yet. It was THE best of the lot. For various reasons, we never got back to HAL. We are about to do HAL again soon and are at that point where we are looking for our 'Forever Line'. SO your positive comments re HAL's ships is very promising! I hope I'm not setting myself up for disappointment - especially since it appears that you haven't DONE the HAL cruise yet but I AM looking forward to the Music Walk Dueling Pianos. Spouse will LOVE the Lincoln Center part. Only 'In and Out' P Canal? You cheated yourself. Our next HAL is THROUGH - SAN - MIA.
Sorry for the delayed response! HAL is a great cruise line but there are some improvements needed. We have, in fact, sailed with HAL 4 times, most recently on the flagship, Rotterdam. I feel that the Pinnacle Class ships are much better than the next size down, the Signature Class (Eurodam & Nieuw Amsterdam). The larger music walk on the Pinnacle Class is a big improvement over the other ships. Unfortunately, HAL has removed Lincoln Center Stage earlier this year. They say that it will be a traveling main theater show but there is little evidence to support that. The lack of live music in the main theater with no orchestra has been a huge disappointment. They have relied on the Step One Dance company with recorded music as the main theater shows. These seem to get very redundant as does Music Walk after a few nights. HALL has announced that over the last several. months they have brought back song and dance main theater shows, so I am confident this will improve the entertainment. If you have a chance and the budget allows, try upgrading your dining to Club Orange so that you have an upgraded dining room. All reports are that is is worth it. Also check out my most recent HAL Ship Review where I detail our experience on the Rotterdam. I wish you a fantastic HAL experience and look forward to hearing all about it!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 We are Signature this time because it was the destination - P CANAL! Thanks for the positive input. As I get more and more I fear I'm gonna be disappointed. But then I expected a better experience on the last one on NCL.
@@nascarmadman since you are on a Signature Class you should be using the old locks which is a much better experience than the new wider ones. That is a big benefit. If you want to check out our Eurodam Panama canal review you can see that here: ua-cam.com/video/xarSLb0OUj4/v-deo.html there is a link to part 2 as well as the time lapse 1/2 transit. You'll have a great time with the newer entertainment.
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Again thanks. I did a term paper on the Canal when I was a freshman in high school in 1976. I had no idea there were ' new locks'. Guessing after Panama took over. I thought that was a mistake, but my reasons for that haven't materialized...yet!
We are trying to plan our first cruise ever and we’re looking at Hal, celebrity , Oceania , etc… We have been strongly considering a Mediterranean cruise on oosterdam but then we started seeing some Avery reviews such as bad food , recurrent issues with toilets and a/c, sparse entertainment even in music row venues , ship shows it’s age even despite Reno …… anyone else recently travel oosterdam or could give us some advice ???
If you are reviewing something for the Med, I would highly recommend Celebrity Edge Class ships especially since this is your first cruise. It will have all the activities and entertainment you will need and the high levels of service and food. The Oosterdam is a much older ship and I would be concerned about the ship condition and the amenities. Oceania is going to be very port driven but the food and service will be extremely high level. Oceania will be more expensive most likely. Check out my 4 market segments of cruise lines video discussing the various levels of cruise lines. Also search for specific oosterdam ship tour videos before you book. Celebrity Edge Class consists of the Edge, Apex, Beyond and the Ascent. Good luck with you search and let me know if I can assist further.
@@seemoreseascruises3791 My caveat about the Edge ships is don't expect anything like Music Walk in them. Those ships are far more designed around a large amount of restaurants but music lounge/club venues are few and far between. As far a ship showing its age, I think there is this mentality among some cruisers that if it isn't new and if it shows any wear then it's not worth their while. HAL does a good job taking care of their ships as does Celebrity. There are plenty amenities in all HAL or Celebrity ships but of course the tech isn't as up to date on the older ones as the newer ones. But the newer ones will become older ones when the next class of ships come out.
We went to the Pinnacle Grill and nice jeans and a collared shirt should be fine. We did slacks and a collards shirts another night and did a suit at Tamarind but it was not necessary at all. We no longer take suits or sport coats on any of our cruises. I would not wear shorts but everything else should be fine.
thinking about a 16 day cruise on the Eurodam with HAL, San Diego/Panama Canal/Fort Lauderdale. If given a choice of deck 6 or 8, port or starboard, is one better than the other?
We actually sailed Eurodam through the half transit panama canal and I have very strong feelings about selecting a cabin on the port side. Since the Eurodam fits in the old locks, you will be able to see both sides from your balcony if you are on the port side. I also recommend that you pick deck 6 over deck 8 since the pool decks and buffet is above you on deck 9. Never select a stateroom under a pool deck or public area. Eurodam Panama Canal part 1 = ua-cam.com/video/xarSLb0OUj4/v-deo.html Panama Canal part 2 = ua-cam.com/video/jKJSQ7LfRSE/v-deo.html There is actually yet another of the half transit that you will want to see since it shows you the views from the port side of the ship = ua-cam.com/video/jOsdAp059gg/v-deo.html
Celebrity messed up the booking of my flight and caused my luggage to be lost. They agreed they made a mistake but said it was my problem, no help and No apologies. I’ll stick with HAL and Princess from now on. Celebrity is dead to me.
Oh that really sucks! Luckily we drive to the ports most of the time and don't have to fly. When we did Alaska, we flew in 2 days before because I was so worried of that exact problem. Sorry that your cruise started out with such a huge problem. Your travel insurance should at least compensate you for any replacement items that you hopefully had time to get. HAL and Princess are both great so keep cruising! Thanks for watching.
@@seemoreseascruises3791 absolutely, did a HAL California wine cruise and a Princess New England last month. Doing the transatlantic on Princess next March. Both very good(honestly Celebrity ship and crew were nice too). HAL Rotterdam class ships are my favorite.
@@Andy-hg8dv We have only been on the Signature class with HAL. We have to check out the larger Pinnacle class soon. A Princess transatlantic sounds fantastic. Enjoy!
Celebrity has been raising prices over the last few years. The ships are mostly more modern, the food is slightly better on most sailings. I can say the buffet is much better. Service levels are very similar. I am on the HAL Rotterdam as I write this response. The food has been great but the entertainment & vibe is not the same as celebrity which I feel is just a step above. Celebrity charges higher rates because people are paying those rates and they are also deploying a marketing strategy to lift the brand to the top of the premium category. They are attempting to differentiate themselves from Holland America & Princess. You can find Celebrity Solstice class sailings without the All Included package for similar rates as HAL & Princess. I hope that helps. I’m glad to discuss it further. Email me at contact@seemoresea.com. Thanks for sharing & for watching!
HAL's MDR has been better than Celebrity over the last couple of years but I think the buffet in slightly better (design and selection) on Celebrity. HAL is hands down better in Alaska and Celebrity always has received high marks for it's Med itineraries and experiences. Thanks so much for sharing and for watching!
Gratuities are not included in any package from Celebrity any longer. You still have to prepay or pay daily onboard for crew gratuities with All Included or even in a suite. Thanks for asking and for watching!
You make an amazing point. It can depend on the ship and even the sailing. Our Rotterdam recent sailing was so much better than our Eurodam which sucked. The recent Equinox was amazing but others have stated they had disappointing experiences in the MDR on each. It is just great to know that we are on the ocean and not at home. The food is better at sea than at home!
Celebrity does now have Pickleball on almost all of it's ships. It does not show the Edge or Silhouette but I'm sure it is coming soon. We just spent 10 days on the HAL Eurodam and they had Pickleball almost every morning with beginners lessons then a pickup game around 10:00 am. I'm pretty confident that most of the HAL fleet either has it or it will be coming soon. I hope that helps!
Exploration Central was closed on the Neiu Stattendamn, quality of entertainment on the Dueling Pianos and Dance Company was poor, great concept limited talent. The bars were closed after 10, as was the Lido buffet limiting options after 10pm.
We are currently sailing on Celebrity Equinox and the difference is like night & day. Our recent 10 day on Eurodam was very disappointing. The food, entertainment & service are excellent so far. HAL needs to step up their game! Thanks for watching!
HAL is a good choice - as a first time cruiser, you will love it! We are booked on the Rotterdam (Pinnacle Class) and are looking forward to the more modern decor and amenities. We were recently on the Celebrity Equinox and had a great cruise. I'd love to hear how your experience was! Check out my Eurodam Panama Canal review! Thanks so much for watching!
They are both great lines, however I will be having a mixed review coming very soon on our most recent cruise on HAL Eurodam where cutbacks were very visible. Thanks for watching!
We kept hearing how Princess, celebrity, and HAL, were on par with each other, so ee fid all 3 in a 6 month period. HAL was the best by far! Service, food, entertainment, ship amenities all better on HAL. Food and service HAL won by a lot. Entertainment HAL was more our taste, we met several people who prefer Celebrity and I understand why but the Celebrity entertainment is not our taste, and there was virtually no TV available in the cabin. Princess entertainment wasn't really our taste but the selection available on cabin TV was so amazing, so i didn't care! Shore excursions on HAL are also far better and a better value the other two.
@@fluffytail6355 such as? A typical day at sea on HAL pinnacle class for me, breakfast in bed, use the exercise machines on the top deck, walk a couple of miles on the track, swim laps, eat pizza from NYDeli, go in jacuzi, read on balcony watching sea birds, get a drink on deck, shower, go to dinner, go to music walk, watch tv in bed for a few minutes.
Turning 35 and about to go on my first cruise on HAL with my bf and his parents. Age demographics 50+? 🤣 Really? However its an Alaskan cruise so Im expecting a mixed midlle -older crew
HAL is an older demographic than many other lines however depending on the ship there are many very youthful activities and the service levels are extremely high. You will have an amazing time. If you are on a Signature Class ship (Nieuw Amsterdam or Eurodam) or one of the three Pinnacle Class (Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam or Rotterdam) you will have Music Walk with great Jazz in BB Kings Memphis Jazz room, Billbord Onboard dueling pianos, Rolling Stone Rock Room and great options for specialty dining. This is a GREAT choice for a multi generational group and Holland America has been in Alaska longer than any other major cruise line. They do it right! Relax and enjoy - there will be older folks on board, but don't count them out! I will have a review of the Eurodam out in early April so check it out - we board for Panama Canal next weekend. Thanks for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Oh I am still very much excited! we chose based on itinerary and HAL was one of the top for Alaska. We will be on koningsdam and Im looking forward to that said Jazz bar and the BBC show! thanks for the informative video!
Many thanks to the interesting comparison. Never gone myself on both X an HAL, but... me thinks they're sort of different strokes for different individuals. If I wanted to make a more fair comparison; I'd be with Celebrity (X) and Princess (P). While in average, P ships are becoming larger than both X and HAL, there might to be a larger similarity in the product range. HAL seems for-me a step above both X/P, even though perhaps a so subtle difference that one day Carnival Group may be tempted to just make a P/HAL fusion of some sort, lowering both fleets operational costs at a certain extent. Both X and P are quietly and solidly running towards the current 40-70 age group; whose kids are already doing their independent life and whom no longer appreciate the young families mainstream megaships activities; where a good part of the money is about, while, on the other hand, HAL seems undecided over continuing their mid-to-big ship premium offering, jumping suit to become another Oceania/Viking/Explora Journeys challenger, or simply let Carnival Group to merge both companies. As someone has said: Average age passengers may depend on where and when your sailing is about. All 3 companies target to mature experienced travelers and cruisers, on what I can call the upper-mainstream market.
Well said! I do think that all three lines are close competitors going after the experienced traveler, empty nester. With X and HAL having slightly smaller ships than P but providing a similar product. With P launching much larger ships I think they are having a bit of an identity crisis. Many reviews show them still a strong product but quality has suffered with much larger ships. You can say the same thing about X with the Edge Class ships. Edge class provides a very different experience than the Solstice or Millennium class. I don't see a fusion of P/HAL and I agree with you and believe the plan is to push HAL towards the luxury segment (as X is doing with Edge) and having P provide premium services on a large ship platform segmenting their brands within the category. So many ways to look at it. Destination and the length of the itinerary do have such a huge impact on the age demographic so it will be interesting to see how things progress over the next few years. Thanks so much for your comment and for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 You're welcome, thanks!... Actually the difference with X Beyond and P newest builds is on the ~500 passengers like. Not that big of a deal. Full fleet X and P average passenger count is definitely bigger than HAL ones, and HAL's newer builds don't follow X and P development. Yeah: HAL is running to the mid luxury quarter of the pond on the likes of Oceania/Viking/Explora likes. They'll need smaller ships if that is the way Carnival group envisions it. P will be the Carnival's upper mainstream product. I think we all agree on that. My merging/fusion statement is driven by the long term Covid and war in Europe negative impacts might to have in the whole cruise market. If strong; I believe Carnival Group may find a way forward to merge P and HAL. P survives over HAL on that scenario.
@@nunagoras Very interesting perspectives here. It will be very interesting to see how that plays out. As I read your reply, I immediately thought of what Carnival is doing with Costa. We will have a few Costa ships (unlike the Luminosa) which will be Costa by Carnival with the Carnival logo on the side. They are positioning these ships as a Carnival cruise but with the Italian influence. It would be interesting if they extend that concept with P and HAL. Great comments!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Costa is another subject. I can see Costa as an Italian Carnival. No need for 2 brands providing generally same product. Europe is heading economically down, far more than the US, so no surprise to see them interchanging ships. Different story for AIDA which is a German club holiday partnering with Carnival. By the way: They'll to play by the market moves.
I am on Niew Statendam now. We hung out with 2 sisters on deck. One of the sister had a ruptured colon. Doctor onboard was able to stabilize her and she was airlifted when we reach the next port. The other sister had to stay behind to take care of her brother in law (hubby of the sick sister) and her son. They were able to leave soon after too. This is important to note as they have 2 doctors and several medical personnel on board.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience! That had to be awful for the family. I met one of the doctors when on Eurodam and he told us that he was one of two doctors on board. I found that so beneficial. He confirmed that after COVID, most all lines added medical staff to the ships full time. We have seen medical evacuations many times before on our travels and having more medical staff and capabilities onboard is big step forward!
As someone who must consider the cost of cruising, I would prefer that large sections of the ship not be reserved for suite passengers only. A lounge or restaurant is fine, but the whole “ship within a ship” concept feels like too much real estate is being dedicated to the exclusive use of the “first class” passengers. They are paying for the larger suites and concierge service. As a second class cruiser, I would prefer that the deck space be open to all.
Celebrity prices have been considerably higher than HALs “Have it All” all-inclusive fares. I think they are pricing themselves up into the luxury price range, and keep using the word “luxury” in their recent marketing materials. Thank you for the comparison video.
I completely agree. We really enjoyed the Retreat on the Edge class but have the same impression as you. This class separation is reminiscent to Cunard. Many of the lines are moving there and I don't necessarily think it is a good thing. HAL is a better value hands down everything being equal. The Retreat experience on the Solstice class is much different with only Michael's Club lounge and a Retreat sun deck on the seldom used top Solstice deck. Though only a couple of the Solstice class actually have converted the Solstice deck into the Retreat. Thanks so much for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Celebrity does not offer First Class dining any more!
I can see you point on the retreat but separate fine dining at luminare can easily justify the suite charge HAL needs a separate restaurant for suite guests
@@Tigers529 I thought that "Club Orange," was like Princess's "Club Dining?"
@@bodyloverz30 not sure about princess. Club orange anybe can buy it. Luminaire only for suite guests
Great video and comparison! We like both, but Holland really checks all of the boxes for us. Aside from the Have It All package, Holland also has an all inclusive laundry package that is very inexpensive and they do a great job! My wife and I did it on a 14-night cruise and it was $79 for the entire cruise for our cabin. We sent laundry out almost every day. It limits what you need to bring on the cruise, and you are able to go home with your bags full of clean clothes at a very reasonable price. 🍹🎉🥳. Thanks for the information! 🙏
The laundry perk is a huge benefit for sure. Celebrity gives you free pressing of shirt or jacket on Evening Chic nights but laundry is expensive. Higher loyalty members get discounts though. Having the ability to not pack so much is also a big help. We are doing a 10-night coming up in March on HAL Eurodam. We received the Have it All promo and have already taken advantage of the specialty dining reservations and the excursion credits. Thanks so much for watching and commenting! Look for the Eurodam reviews in early April.
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Thanks, and I hope y’all enjoy your cruise! We have an 11-night on the Rotterdam next month and have opted for the laundry and Have It All packages again. This time, we are also going to have a cabana for the entirety of the cruise. It will be our first time doing a cabana, and have heard great things about them. Another one of the many things HAL does right and at a very reasonable price. Thanks again. 🙏
@@doughooks7411 We had Rotterdam booked last year but had to cancel due to a conflict. Those cabanas look very nice but we don't do the pool that much so not sure we would get the most out of them but the service offerings look great. We did do the Half Moon Cay cabanas twice and we found that to be totally worth it. This time, we are just going to wing it at HMC. Hopefully we will get on Rotterdam in the near future! Have a great trip!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Thanks, and will do. Agree with you on the pool thing, and we don’t much care for the pool deck area atmosphere. Some ships have cabanas by the pool, but the cabanas on the Rotterdam are in the Retreat area, which is off of the Spa and a deck above the pool. Only the people who have one of the 21 cabanas are allowed in that area. The Retreat also has two dedicated hot tubs and its own washrooms. Well off of the beaten path and quite secluded.
The one with fewest kids is the best one for me!
HAL is normally going to have the least kids compared to Celebrity.
Great comparison video! HAL is more our speed because we cruise to unwind; we like the smaller ship size and traditional ship design, and we also like their itineraries. I've been on many HAL ships and they DO have thermal suites (with beautiful turquoise tiles). They also have comedians on every cruise I've been on - maybe that has changed since my last cruise in 2019?
HAL is a great line for being able to unwind and just relax. I do think that HAL has a better thermal suite and they also have the spa pool which Celebrity does not. On our most recent HAL (Eurodam Panama Canal) they had comedians in BB Kings which were pretty good. They did get rid of Lincoln Center Stage which was really disappointing. We are on Rotterdam in December so I am looking forward to the Pinnacle Class. Thanks for watching!
Great comparison! Agree wholeheartedly. Absolutely love Celebrity. Have been sailing with Holland because of their casino offers and love them too. Have been on Rotterdam for 21 nights last December and went for seven on her in March. Have two more 11 night cruises booked November and March. This is my favorite ship ever and have been on 100+ cruises. If anyone is a reader...their library blows me away every time! Cannot go wrong with booking either line!!!
WOW Donna! Thank you so much for watching and so glad you liked it. We really wanted to do Rotterdam last year and it did not work out. That is why we are doing Eurodam in March for the Panama Canal. I have Rotterdam on my radar and love that we have similar tastes in cruising! Enjoy you upcoming sailings and again, thanks for watching!
There is no library on the Edge class ships and the Solstice class offers views of glass elevators and doesn't seem to have many books. HAL wins here. I agree booking either line is good but choose the class of ship that suits you best for both.
Great video of the similarities + djfferences. You covered it all. Our first cruise ever was celebrity infinity but since then we've fallen in love with HAL after doing A 28day Hawaii Tahiti cruise on Eurodam. So next is N Amsterdam in May. Thanks again from Canada's west coast.
Thank you so much! Ironically, our first HAL was N Amsterdam and we just booked Eurodam for the Panama Canal. I can't imagine 28 days around Hawaii & Tahiti! That had to have been great. Thanks so much for watching!
Great job. I'm glad you covered the Solstice class vs. the Edge as the Edge is, well, has some aspects of it that turn off long-term Celebrity cruisers. Yes, Celebrity is going to separating classes on ships with their Retreat class and the Edge takes away prime real estate from non-suite passengers including the upper deck observation lounge. My overall opinion of Edge class is people are enamored with newer and don't see some glaring shortcomings in the ship design and spaces offered.
I cruised HAL's 1959 Rotterdam and also the Statendam class ships. I feel the newer HAL ships expand on the Statendam class ships. Celebrity's best ships, IMO, were the Century class but the Solstice class ships have something of the Century class feel to them. I describe Celebrity's decor up to the Edge class as retro-modern as some of the spaces are modern recreations of 1920-s to 1960s clubs/hotels. Take for instance the style of the Martini Bar in the Solstice class ships. One could play big-band jazz or Little Richard in those spaces and feel right at home. HAL is more ship style, club like in almost all the areas except for the grand dining rooms which are the aft 2-deck type. Celebrity at one time focused on dinner presentation of food and were leaders but I feel with their emphasis on specialty dining they've slipped in the MDRs and that's a shame. I do love Celebrity, but I love the Celebrity of the mid 1990s and the Century ships more than their current product. HAL has remained more consistent IMO. Celebrity is modern in the sense of art and incorporating tech into their spaces but HAL is beginning to use tech too but for a specific purpose.
I want to hit on the different premium types of cruisers. Some are foodies and spend a lot of time dining. Some are mingle types that want to go to either a deck space or indoor area to mingle and that could be bars, cafe spaces, any type of themed area like a sports bar to a club; lounge types that love to dance; spa types that want to chill in a covered pool area and soothe their bodies; and activity types that love karaoke and trivia and doing whatever activities there are offered. There are also stateroom types that need a balcony or a very expansive stateroom. And of course combinations of the above. I'm a lounge type and enjoy at least places where people are dancing. On HAL it is offered on all their ships. It's a big part of their ships. On Celebrity, it used to be a pretty big part of their ships but on Edge, they deleted lounges and made multi-purpose open area spaces with one nightclub. That for me is a major failing of the Edge class. I find them incomplete as ships and they deleted the library and card room and a quiet space to relax called the Hideaway on Solstice ships. I don't like the Edge class of ships and being "beautiful" is not enough. Being new is almost a non-factor and the industry focusing so much on "new" as in "newer is better" is unfortunate. Ships should be in service for 50 years and some are now being scrapped after 25-30 years in service. Where will all of these new ships go in 30 years?
I think Celebrity is at a crossroads and they can either dance with the one that brought you by bringing back some of the goodness in their line. And that would include great food and presentation in the MDRs, music lounges of various types, not giving away valuable real estate to Retreat passengers and finding a way to give perks without creating classes. With HAL, they can maybe expand the Music walk areas as I hear they get crowded and getting seats is sometimes a problem. They're delivering with food and I think their product should remain as is. They're dancing with the one that brought them while expanding to accommodate more contemporary cruisers.
Excellent comparison of Solstice/Edge of Celebrity & HAL. I am on HAL Rotterdam currently & Celebrity Apex was beside us last night in San Juan. I could not help but start with the comparisons. HAL’s entertainment has been mediocre at best with only the music walk and that’s it. The theater has very limited productions and are only recorded tracks with lighting and a dance company. Celebrity has live orchestras with production shows with live ensembles, aerialists etc. Yes, the Edge Class has abandoned the intimate small group music venues in place of the more flashy techno forward elements. HAL has been very good on THIS sailing for MDR and specialty dining but I still think Celebrity does a better job at the buffet & presentation even with some of their cutbacks. The Retreat from Celebrity is unfortunate when you’re not a part of it. When you are, it’s pretty amazing but at an exorbitant price point which is beyond what you’ll find on other premium lines. Thanks so much for sharing & for watching!!
Have committed to HAL after trying most. Love, love them. Great food, great cabins and excellent service. Haven’t tried Celebrity but like HAL small ships best.
We have sailed Celebrity much more than HAL but I find them to be very similar in food and service. We are back on HAL next month sailing a half transit Panama Canal. Should be an exciting trip and good video! Thanks for watching!
Wow... great work. Thank you. Definitely worth hitting the subscribe button.
My wife and I have only been on one MSC cruise which was nice, but we're considering a Holland America repositioning cruise which is what brought me here.
I am so glad that you like the video! Repositioning cruises can be a bit tricky. Many (especially transatlantic) have many sea days and few ports. If you enjoy the ocean views and a good book, then you will love it. Also many of the smaller, older HAL ships can lack activities so be aware of that. We just sailed on the Eurodam and were disappointed. I have a video review on the channel. In contrast, I am on the Celebrity Equinox currently and the service and food are fantastic. I would recommend the larger, newer HAL ships for a repositioning cruise. Thanks for watching and subscribing!
I'm a loyal HAL cruiser with 10 cruises and have also done 8 Carnival. Have one each RC and NCL booked. Great comparison reviews. Love how you highlighted all the positives. Hope to try X one day, especially the Expedition cruise to Galapagos!
I think that you would most likely enjoy Celebrity as well but their Edge Class ships are different from the other two. I am right there with you on having those Galapagos expedition ships on our bucket list! Thanks for watching Karen!
Just took my first cruise on Holland and it will be my last. Celebrity is better in everyway. It's not even close.
Great comparison video. Thank you! These 2 were our final choices that offered round trip Vancouver to Alaska so that we can avoid flying. We will choose HAL bc the entertainment seems more enriching, and the classical orchestra will suit my mother in law. Cheers!!
Thank you very much Reiss! We just finished a 10 Night cruise on the HAL Eurodam with very mixed reviews. My video series will begin very soon with a full review and Ship's Score but I wanted to jump in and advise you regarding the entertainment. Lincoln Center Stage (classical orchestra) is being discontinued throughout the fleet and will move to a rotating ensemble from ship to ship. They have already removed it from the Eurodam and did not replace it with another venue. I have seen some videos coming in from other ships where they are still playing however. The full removal and change to the rotating ensemble is expected by early summer. If you are on one of the larger Pinnacle Class HAL ships, there still should be plenty to do but we felt there was a lack of activities and varied entertainment on our sailing. I also thought that the food was much better on our past Celebrity sailings that what we just experienced on the Eurodam, especially in the buffet. I certainly do not want to talk you out of any decision that you have made but wanted to be proactive based upon my upcoming review. I will say that the HAL older demographic may have had an impact in the entertainment that they provided. We just did not find that it targeted our interests. I would also state that HAL does a better Alaska experience than most other lines. Thanks for watching and look for my Eurodam series beginning soon!
I was so happy to find this video… We have completed eight celebrity cruises and have another one booked for August to celebrate our 50th anniversary but just yesterday we have decided to try Holland America Koningsdam for the first time for our Hawaii cruise in 2025 so this was a very very timely video to watch. I appreciate it very much and I have just subscribed.
I am so glad that you found it helpful! Some things have changed since this recording like Lincoln Center Stage has been discontinued on almost all ships. We had a disappointing cruise on Eurodam recently and immediately booked the Celebrity Equinox to recover LOL. We are doing the Rotterdam in December and like Koningsdam, it is a larger Pinnacle Class so there are many updated venues to experience. I am sure that you will have a great time! Thanks so much for watching and subscribing!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 thank you so much for responding… I have heard that the best experience on Holland is on the larger pinnacle class ships… I think we will have a wonderful time… We have not booked it yet… Still watching videos… We love the equinox, and have completed five cruises on her, and will be doing a back to back in August on the equinox… She is one of our favorite ships.... we are looking forward to a new and different experience… A bit concerned about the weather in January, and how rough the Pacific will be from San Diego to Hawaii… we have never sailed the Pacific before… Have a great evening🚢
Great comparison and very positive with both cruise lines! I am new to cruising and have only enjoyed Holland America so far. I hope to experience Celebrity one day soon. The loyalty programs make it a little difficult to have the roaming eye! :)
The lines are very similar but it is always nice to change it up now and then. Thanks for watching!
Nora A, I used to feel the same way, until recently I researched the loyalty-programmes for several major cruise-lines including Carnival, Holland America, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean. I quickly saw that it is much easier to get benefits, even from the lowest levels, with Royal Caribbean, including double points for passengers travelling solo (not with Holland America, however!). Royal Caribbean also allows you to progress much faster through the first 4 levels than you would find with Holland America.....indeed, you could reach the 5th level with Royal Caribbean well before reaching Four-Star Mariner with Holland America....at the end, there is the prospect of a lifetime of complimentary milestone cruises with Royal Caribbean, whilst that is not even a one-time benefit for 4-Star or 5-Star Mariners....Massive difference! The good news is that, once you achieve any status with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity cruiseline will give you equivalent status. So those two cruiselines are like a two-for-one bargain.
@@brentshuffler1234Excellent comment! I found out the same thing. I am Diamond Plus on Royal Caribbean, which my young adult children absolutely love. We each get FIVE free drinks per day, as a D+ benefit, so for port intensive cruises, that is more than plenty, saving us the cost of a beverage package. I am also Elite Plus on Celebrity and mostly book Aqua class, with Always Included, so the free laundry is the best loyalty benefit. My in-laws only sailed on HAL so we joined them on several cruises, but not enough to achieve any loyalty status level with any worthwhile benefits. We also get the balcony discount on Royal, which on our last cruise, the balcony cost was LESS than an inside cabin. Hard to walk away from Celebrity & Royal at this point.
Love Celebrity, love HAL. Solstice class and the specialty restaurants (with the exception of Le Petite - tried it twice, nevermore) are great. The food on HAL especially the specialty restaurants are great. Post shut down Celebrity has downgraded liquor, for example, no longer serving Zacapa rum. HAL’s drink package much better! IMHO HAL is edging out Celebrity. I sailed The Edge but will stick with Solstice class as dining complementary and specialty restaurants are better on Solstice class. The Spa much better on HAL. I will sail both lines, they are great cruiselines
We are really looking forward to getting back on HAL. The last couple Solstice class sailings were very good but I noticed some cutbacks as well. The HAL promotion at the time of our booking gave us the drink package, 2 specialty dining, WiFi, gratuities and excursion credits. I also want to check out the Spa on HAL. Thanks so much for watching!
We are doing HAL for Christmas, very excited and thank you for sharing your information.
That should be an amazing trip. HAL does such a great job during the Holidays. Enjoy and thanks for watching.
Thanks for the comprehensive comparison.
I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!
Thank you so much for this detailed comparison. We are booked on HAL this August and will be taking advantage of all they are offering, which is right up our alley.
Glad it was helpful! A side note, Lincoln Center Stage has been taken off most ships and will be converted into a traveling performance group. We experienced this recently on the Eurodam. I am sure you will have a great cruise! Thanks for watching!
Just took my first cruise on Holland and it will be my last. Celebrity is better in everyway. It's not even close.
I would highly recommended changing before august. Holland is way outdated and way overpriced. It's not a nice ship at all.
@@truthseeker3909 thanks for sharing! What HAL Ship?
@@seemoreseascruises3791 new Amsterdam; I don't mean to be rude but I feel completely ripped off. The staff and the people are very vice, A+ on that. The rest was low quality or ok at best.
edit: the jazz club was really good, but very small and you had to get there at least 15 minutes before the show because their space is radically small! (Who designed this boat? Very poor decisions made all around!)
Thank for the review and comparison. We have a cruise with Holland America scheduled for next year and are very interested in booking one with Celebrity as well.
I'm glad that you liked it. We have a cruise in March on the HAL Eurodam so I'll have a detailed review with various tours available in April. HAL seems to be the better value at the moment since Celebrity's prices seem to be moving up. We are true Celebrity fans but see HAL as a close competitor in many areas. Thanks so much for watching and look for those reviews of our HAL experience.
Amazing video. Gave me great insight into our options. Thank you so much
So glad you enjoyed the video! Good luck with your planning and let me know if you have questions or if I can assist. Thanks for watching!
I appreciate your VS guide as I have sailed HAL 2017,18,19& to do 2022 Dec. They have had features you mention all along& I love all especially tea, crows nest destinations area etc. I haven't sailed celebrity so I learned more from u than Gary or other hosts. Thank you 😊 great voice for morning listening!!
Thank you so much! I feel that both lines are very similar with Celebrity marketing to a slightly younger crowd but HAL has better music entertainment with Celebrity just edging out HAL on cuisine. Thanks so much for watching!
I really enjoyed the comparisons! I have a Celebrity cruise in late January, and a HAL cruise in February...so I am now ready for both of them. Thanks so much...great job!
How exciting for you! That's awesome. I am so glad that you enjoyed the comparison. We have a HAL cruise planned in March. Have great cruises and thanks for watching!
Nice comparisons. Wish you had included prices (cabins, spa, specialty dining, etc.) so we could compare the actual values. Thanks.
Thanks for the suggestion! That would have been a good idea however the prices change so much and very different for types of cruises. Overall though, a cruise on Holland America is most likely going to be significantly less expensive than Celebrity. Celebrity has many more upgraded cabin options than HAL and the Celebrity specialty dining is more expensive than HAL. I am not a spa person but you can probably expect the same. We cruise on HAL in a couple of weeks so I will make sure to include some of that in my various reviews of the Panama Canal sailing on the Eurodam. Thanks so much for watching!
Thanks for the comparison. Never cruised either line, but we have a Celebrity Reflection cruise booked. I would love to try Holland America, and the music walk sounds awesome!
So glad you got something out of it! I’m on Holland America now and our recent Reflection sailing was far better. I’ll have a review out in a couple of weeks. You’ll love Celebrity Reflection! Thanks for watching, Brian!
This was so thorough and informative. Thank you.
I’m so glad that you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!
Good job. Clearly explained with appropriate graphics. As an elder and lover of classical music, I would prefer H-A, especially since I see they have a voyage that includes Honolulu (where my children live) and Vietnam.
Just adding that I have been on three cruises but the last one was in 1962.
We are both also lovers of classical music so unfortunately Holland America has removed Lincoln Center Stage ensemble from it's ships as a standard offering. There is supposed to be a traveling ensemble that plays on the main stage but I have not heard any reports of such. On our last two HAL sailings there was no classical music and little live music in the main theater. They rely solely on the music walk for music entertainment now. It is a huge mistake in my opinion. Cruises to Hawaii are great. There are a few ships that are dedicated to serving Hawaii out of CA year round. Thanks so much for watching and I hope you consider getting back on board again soon!
Excellent video, well explained with the accompanied photos.
Many thanks! I'll be doing a more in depth of HAL in April. We leave on the Eurodam for 10 days at the end of this month. It will obviously have more video. Thanks for watching!
Thanksor all this information. I have never cruised and trying hard to convince my husband to take a cruise next year. I have been thinking about Celebrity a lot. I will need to take a look at Holland America too.
John, that is so great! We started cruising in 2010 and have never looked back! It has the wine classes and the fantastic cuisine of which I love and it also has what my husband loves with the music and the destinations. We love the main dining room and specialty dining as well. If you both like to travel, this is unpack once and get 7 difference experiences each day with 24 hour entertainment and visual enjoyment from your balcony. I've traveled for 40 years and cruise travel has been the highlight! Cheers! You can not go wrong with either line, but as a first timer go with Celebrity Solstice Class or Signature / Pinnacle class with HAL. If you have ANY other questions while planning, please reach out to me.
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Thank you, will definitely take a look. I do enjoy your videos! Thanks!
Check out my Celebrity Cruises video - it is our go to cruise line. ua-cam.com/video/QyAvPOmsHqY/v-deo.html
Thanks for covering two cruise-lines of comparable value and price-points. I was wondering which Holland America ship(s) you experienced? The newest ship in the fleet, Rotterdam, is a magnificent leap forward for Holland America: it has every one of the features that you highlighted in this video. The decor is amazing even in the Main Dining Room. The spa-services have expanded to include wellness-experiences such as reflexology, acupuncture, and cupping....and not just a therapist, but a qualified doctor. The BBC Earth presentations were a unique combination of music and documentary. The walls in the main showroom become enormous surround-sound screens, serving from entertainment in the evenings, to education during lectures, destination-talks, and BBC Earth documentaries. The innovation of a deck that is dedicated to music and entertainment is very welcome: this is where Holland America can claim that it truly caters to every age-group and every genre....rock and roll, Classical, orchestral, vocalists, bands, DJs, instrumentalists, dance, classes, et cetera. As you have hinted, Celebrity is more expensive . . . and becoming more so year by year . . . This makes Holland America, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean much better value for money overall for the majority of travellers.
Thanks Brent! We have only been on the Nieuw Amsterdam and will be sailing on the Eurodam on Saturday for 10 days. Both are the Signature Class ships which are the predecessor to the newer, bigger Pinnacle Class. The Rotterdam looks fantastic and I love the updated color schemes that HAL has implemented. Music walk is enhanced on Rotterdam (and her sister ships) which brings HAL into a younger demographic for sure. There are changes coming to the entertainment with the live orchestra being discontinued. HAL's partnership with Lincoln Center Stage is shifting to be a traveling, rotating performance cast only on a couple of ships at a time. I have heard from posts on the Eurodam that this has already occurred however this was directly after a two week dry dock so maybe the cast just was not onboard. I truly hope we will see Lincoln Center Stage on our sailing! I also hope that HAL stays in the Premium segment with cuisine and service. Royal Carnival and NCL are more mass market with HAL providing a more upgraded experience for a great price. They are showing signs of cut backs so I'll make sure to review that upon our return from this sailing. Thanks so much for commenting and watching! Stay tuned!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Yes, I can confirm that there were some notable changes: in particular, although the dining remains excellent, from the buffet-deck to the Main Dining Room and beyond, the post-pandemic cruises are revealing surcharges for some things that used to be complimentary. E.g., there was no complimentary lobster in the Main Dining Room. It was the first cruise in my life that did not have that highlight. Lobster was available (every evening) but for a surcharge. What was more surprising was that even the specialty restaurants, which have a surcharge, also had some menu-items that were an extra surcharge. For me, that did not make sense any more. If I went to such restaurants at all, I certainly would not be paying extra for anything on the menu, having already paid a surcharge to dine there.
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Footnote: on the other hand, the new Have It All package is excellent value for money: for less than what many other cruise-ships charge for a drinks-package alone, Holland America now offers a package that includes [1] internet service, [2] shore-excursions, [2] specialty dining, and [4] up to 15 drinks per day. At retail prices, the drinks alone would be worth up to U.S.$200 per day if bought separately (up to U.S.$11.00 each plus the 18% service-charge).
@@brentshuffler1234 I'm seeing the lobster issue more and more from many other lines unfortunately. We did book under the Have it All so we took full advantage of 2 specialty dining and excursion credits. I was also glad to see that you can redeem and reserve the dining and excursions online before the sailing. We hope to upgrade the internet to streaming onboard using onboard credit we have. With the other included items, this is a fantastic value.
We sail in the retreat on the Apex in November and can’t wait! Looking at Holland American for Alaska for June 2024. I think where the ship goes is important too, I hear HAL is good for Alaska.
You are going to love the Retreat! Luminae is great and well as the Retreat Lounge. If we had to do it all again, we might have chosen HAL for AK. They have been there the longest and have the best glacier itineraries. I'd look at the bigger ships from HAL for that area - Pinnacle Class or Signature Class with a full music walk. Thanks so much for watching!
Great review and comparison! We cruise mostly Disney and love it, and just tried our first Holland America cruise. We liked it but really didn't enjoy the food. The Dutch Cafe and Pinnacle Grill were definitely the highlights, but the dining room and buffet were pretty terrible. Our fellow cruises agreed and most were diehard HAL cruisers.
That is very surprising from HAL. The food is normally very good. We like Pinnacle Grill as well. I have it booked twice on our upcoming Panama Canal cruise. Thanks for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Enjoy!
Great video! Well done! I've cruised on Celebrity 4-5 times and just completed my first Holland America cruise.
Just a few positives and negatives from my perspective on HA. We absolutely loved the "Billboard Onboard" and you were spot on! Fantastic shows! HA also has a large modern library with new recently released books. Celebrity's library is shameful compared to this gem! On HA the ability to walk around the entire ship outside was so nice, where on Celebrity one must traverse decks to even come close to this.
The negatives are what will probably have this being our first and last HA cruise. I'm used to Celebrity where I buy a drink package and don't have to worry about my drinks. I may have 10 drinks a day or I may have 20....who knows. HA limited the number of drinks for our package to 15...and that included waters. You can fill up a water bottle in the buffet for free, but I'm used to drinking 6-7 cans of water a day...so was always counting my drinks which took away from the experience. The other big negative for us is we primarily stick with the main dining room and if no good desserts offered will go to the buffet to get something different. We noticed that the main dining room fare for the evening is almost exactly what is being offered in the buffet. It was a few nights before we caught on, but for the last 5 night a significant number of the entrees and all the desserts were the same. The final negative is we found the age of most of the HA passengers were a little higher than the figure you gave (we saw mostly 60/65+), but maybe it was the time of year?
I am very glad you liked the video. You pointed out some very good observations for sure! The style of a HAL ship is very different from Celebrity and I agree that the outside promenade is a great feature from HAL. Note that the Rotterdam and the other Pinnacle Class do not have the wide open promenade. We have found that even on Celebrity you will find similar entrees in the buffet that are similar to what is offered in the MDR. I do think that Celebrity normally has a wider selection though.
The drink packages are a big difference. I always grab water when going back to my stateroom on Celebrity and never have to worry about meeting that 15 drink limit. I do think of it when I sail HAL. I don't think it is enforced that strongly but never the less, it is a big difference. Depending on the sailing HAL will almost always be an older demographic in my opinion. Celebrity has been marketing to a younger demographic for a few years now. HAL with it's updated music is trying to catch up. Thanks for watching!
Awesome video! Going on my first Holland America cruise next month. Your video gave me an awesome overview.
Thank you so much! I am very happy that you got a lot out of it. We are going on HAL next month too! We are doing a half transit of the Panama Canal on Eurodam. Have a great cruise! I highly recommend the Pinnacle Grill if you want to treat yourself to an excellent dinner experience. Thanks for watching!
Great information! We have been impressed with HAL but still keep an ear open to what others have to say, thus great information!
Thank you so much Gary! Can't believe I just checked in for our HAL Panama Canal cruise in March! Thanks for watching!
Great video! You presented a VERY fair and amazing comparison between the 2 cruise lines. We have been committed Celebrity cruisers and we found, since 2019 and COVID, the dining experiences have been mediocre. We did B2B Norwegian Fjords/Scandinavian cruises last year on the Silhouette and was very disappointed with the dining. We then did a Pacific Coastal in September, 2022 onboard the Solstice, to find the same. So, being tired of the S-Class ships, we have now booked a 35-day South Pacific cruise with HAL on the Koningsdam in February/24. We're excited about the Music Walk and definitely looking forward to the dining experiences. You have presented such a fair comparison and I look forward to our HAL cruise, which will give us, hopefully, a pleasant change.
It is always disappointing when the dining is not up to expectations. We found that on Solstice during our Alaskan cruise but was blow away recently on the Equinox. I think after COVID, they had some issues with their restart. On that note, we did a 10 Night on HAL Eurodam and had some dining fails there too. I will update the comparison and state that the Lincoln Center Stage component of the Music Walk has been discontinued on most ships without a named replacement. Lincoln Center will be a traveling attraction and not available on all ships. This was a big disappointment for us on Eurodam. The Koningsdam is a larger ship and will have the Rolling Stone Rock Room which seems to be a very fun addition. 35 days on a HAL Pinnacle Class ship sounds amazing and I wish you an excellent cruise! We are doing 7 days on the Rotterdam in December so watch for that review before you sail! Thanks so much for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Thank you for the update. I'm hoping by the time of our cruise, there will have a replacement for the Lincoln Center Stage but if not, c'est la vie. I'll look forward to your Rotterdam review since it is in the Pinnacle Class, as is the Koningsdam. We have the Have It All package with The Pinnacle Grill, Canaletto and Tamarind Grill included in the package. Would you recommend that we also book Rudi's Sel de Mer?
@@kathyslocombe1182 Great choices for dining! Canaletto has updated their menu recently so it is a more desirable option. Being part of the buffet on most ships, it can be underwhelming. You can not go wrong with Pinnacle or Tamarind! I have tried Rudi's on the Nieuw Amsterdam as a pop up inside Pinnacle. It was really fantastic and I have it booked on the Rotterdam. I would recommend booking it. You can always cancel before you cruise.
@@seemoreseascruises3791 We will do that, thank you.
I agree with most of what you have to say, but suites are not apples to apples. Just looking at transatlantic cruises this Spring, suites on Celebrity start at $4,500 - $7,000 depending on the sailing, where Holland starts at $1,400 - $2,000. Even if Celebrity's prices are all inclusive, an extra $800 onto the HAL price still makes them significantly cheaper. We're sailing to Japan next Fall in a Signature Suite, no way would I want to pay double for X's suite perks.
I have stayed in Sky Suites on Celebrity and Signature Suites on HAL. The perks are better on Celebrity as you stated but the staterooms are about the same size. I completely agree that the pricing on Celebrity has become out of reach for most. The difference in price allows you to still do the HAL "Have it All" and come in substantially less than Celebrity. The private dining in Luminae is nice but not worth the price difference. I just priced a Sky Suite for a possible May sailing and one date was around $8k and another was over $12K. The two lines are still a very different vibe but if you are looking for a suite, I think (at least in price) HAL wins hands down. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
We have done Holland America Cruise Lines for years that we are a Four Star Mariner that we get many free extras. We are very active and very healthy 70 year olds that hike our mountain trails around our Lake Tahoe area. Last year we did a cruise on Celebrity Edge and it was good but not great as service was wonderful but excursions were wanting. There were a few other points that we missed that HAL has. Last September we went on the Flora for a seven day cruise doing the Galápagos Islands. It was wonderful with Naturalist with us on every Island tour. What was missing was the great food we were expecting? The steaks were tough and the vegetables were wanting in flavor. We kept with fish dishes after that. It was all inclusive which was great and our cruise was one to remember yet in our opinion, Celebrity is not Holland America! We have done several Viking and Norwegian cruises in the past as well but always return to Holland America. 0:07 0:07
Thank you so much for sharing! Full disclosure, I am 2 Star with HAL and Elite with Celebrity. We just finished a 10-Night on Eurodam that was disappointing especially in food. I have a two part review on my channel. We normally love the service and food on both lines and that is why I feel they are very evenly paired. So glad that you have found the line that fits YOU. That is what I think is the most important and feel that there is one that fits NOW and that can change due to the variety of choices. Viking is on my radar and the Galapagos on Flora is on my bucket list. Thanks so much for supporting the channel by commenting and watching! Let's get Cruising!
Try Oceania! Too
Very good comparison.
Thanks so much! I am glad that you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!
This was very informative! I am taking my first cruise with a church group this September. I had no say in which cruise line, and I’m booked on the Celebrity Infinity. I am looking forward to the La Petite experience. I’m very interested in taking a cruise to Alaska next year and would like to try the HAL!
They picked a good ship. The Infinity is a smaller ship from Celebrity but you will get the same great service and comfort as the rest of the fleet. It is a great ship for a first cruise. You may want to check out my "Celebrity Exposed & Explained" video. ua-cam.com/video/QyAvPOmsHqY/v-deo.html
Holland America Line is a great choice for Alaska. They have been there the longest and will have the most assets deployed. I'm dropping a new video on Friday comparing Seattle and Vancouver as embarkation ports and discussing the differences in itineraries from each! When you are ready to start planning I'd be honored to assist and find you the best rate. Thanks so much for sharing and for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Thanks! I will give you a ring when I find out if my sister can go!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 have you been on Infinity? I have never been on a cruise ship!
Excellent, Excellent, Excellent review! 👍🏼
Thank you so much - I am very glad that you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!
The standout restaurant on Solstice class ships is Murano. Hands down. I also wish you had talked more about the Edge class ships dining options of 4 different “main” dining rooms.
We love Murano! We have dined there many times, however lately we have enjoy Tuscan Grill a bit more actually. Your point regarding the 4 distinct dining rooms on Edge class is well taken. Thanks for watching!
Sailing in Feb 2023 on Zaandam for full transit through the Panama Canal from Fl to San Diego. Just hope we like the older smaller ship. Thanks for sharing.
The full transit is going to be awesome! I have no doubt the Zaandam will be great for that itinerary. Thanks for watching!
J better on smaller ship to go through original canal, I heard on other video hosts. I hope to book 2023 transit as well I has to cancel the 2020 of course. U enjoy. I sail nieuw Amsterdam dec2022 Caribbean aruba& Curacao
@@marilynnkadan7948 thanks
You will not be impressed with the tiny television in your room.
We love HAL! We are music lovers 🎶. The Nieuw Statendam is ours in a week! Love your description and comparison of HAL and Celebrity. We will be on the Brand new Celebrity ship in 2025.
How wonderful for you! Pinnacle Class and so you will have it all! We are on Eurodam next month so excited as well! Thanks so much for watching! You will love Celebrity Edge Class and the new ship! I am envious!
That's not the right ship to take if you are a music lover. Celebrity just scatters music about on the Edge ships and there aren't dedicated lounges for it like there was on older Celebrity classes. The Edge ships are very much about restaurants and that's where they will shine when the food is executed well.They also have very fancy drinks. I'm a music lover as well and a musician. I prefer jazz/big band, standards but I know ships have to cater to all tastes and I can enjoy other types of music as well. I also love Classical music.
@benjaminsmith2287 we have not yet been on a Celebrity ship. We do like to try different types of cruises. We also booked an MSC cruise. But, we have a 12 day HAL Rotterdam cruise in a couple months!!!
Love HAL. ❤️
So do we! You might like my preview of our HAL Panama Canal cruise coming out today! Check it out and thanks for watching!
Nice video Doug very detailed.....don't forget to tell everyone the beds were like sleeping on a rock ...lol way too hard for us........unlike RCL there were no extra padding available.
Thanks! I didn't notice too much about the hard beds on either line. Guess I was really tired! LOL
Just came back from a Holland Nieuw Statendam transatlantic cruise... the Lincoln Center Stage is the most "changed".You mentioned that the "performers were from Lincon Center"... not any more, the musicians come to Lincoln Center to be auditioned, They used to be 5 musicians, we have been told that they will be having 2 musicians (like ALL other cruise ships have). When I listened to them last, they were in the evening schedule (ie. 5:30pm 6:30pm and 8pm. Now they are more in the afternoon schedule ie. 2:30pm, 5:15pm and 6:15pm which take away my reading/ hot tubing at that time. You mentioned "culinary classes", there was NONE (although this I couldn't care about). The "frequent cruising" levels, with Celebrity, one gets F-A-R more than Holland (I'm Celebrities' Eloite Plus and I'm 4 Star with Holland) AND Holland has taken away an "officer's lunchen" that we used to get.... I opt for Celebrity now...
I recently just finished a 10-Night on Eurodam and Lincoln Center Stage was completely removed. There was a decent trio at the Ocean Bar but nothing like they had before. The America's test kitchen was also not replaced with any similar activity as they are no longer a HAL partner. We were in a Signature Suite due to the 10-Night, we wanted more space. This gave us nothing extra other than the space and bigger bathroom. If you watch that 2 part review, you'll probably relate to what you recently experienced. We are booked with Celebrity for next month - I too, am going back to Celebrity. Thanks for sharing and for pointing out these big changes at HAL!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Thank YOU for replying! At the end of one of the Lincoln Center Stage shows, I stood up, and LOUDLY mentioned the changes to LCS, just so that people will be aware and hopefully let Holland know how we feel, Let's just say that my "briefing" wasn't well received by all! BUT with your comment, I see that my comment paled as to what is truly happening. GRACIAS
The lack of entertainment is shocking compared to Celebrities! I have no idea why anyone would go to Holland American after being on a Celebrities ship. I went on one Holland American cruise for 7 days and I will never waste money like that again! (The boat needed seven new windows on the eagles nest, and one of the top glasses broke off completely, the boat is in bad condition!) I feel so ripped off.
I did a solo run last year on the Koningsdam to Alaska. I have many nice things to say about Koningsdam. The only thing that I _didn't_ like was the drinks package. I'm a big boy. 6'2" and 240 pounds and although I go many months between drinks, I can easily put away 20-30 drinks over 16 hours and never feel or appear inebriated. A 15 drink limit just won't do. I have since been on the Edge for a transit Rome to Ft. Lauderdale. Celebrity's unlimited drinks including soft drinks and premium coffee package was much more to my liking.
I agree with you. When you add in the bottled waters, specialty coffees or soft drinks in that 15 limit, it can go pretty quickly. Celebrity's policy is so much better. My experience is that HAL does not strictly enforce it when adding in the bottled waters to the overall count. Many times they did not even record the transaction. I am sure they probably would with sodas and specialty coffees though.
Geezus! You don’t need a cruise. You need a trip to AA
@@fluffytail6355 Nah. I hardly ever drink. I can't really get drunk, so what would be the point? On a cruise it's different because with a package I can pound them back and get a little buzzed sometimes. I can get blotto, but it takes a solid effort and I don't really want to be that drunk anyway.
Great video. Very informative and well done. You’ve got a new subscriber in me
Thanks so much and welcome!
My two favorite cruise lines. One big difference for me between the lines is Celebrity doesn't have thermal hot tubs in their spas and Holland America does, yet Celebrity charges slightly more for the spa packages.
This is very true. We have only experienced the thermal suite on Celebrity Edge class and thought it was just OK. HAL does have that large spa hot tubs which look very nice. Hard to go wrong but each line has it's strengths.
Ok, My last 10 cruises has been between Celebrity and Holland Am. They both stay similar on everything but the main theater entertainment. Celebrity is miles ahead on this. Their traditional entertainment is excellent. However, where Holland went wrong is when they went to a circular seating around multiple screens backing the stage. The screens are basically a light show backing mediocre entertainment in front of them. The first time seeing this is mildly amusing afterwards "Boring". The best I can figure is that Holland saved their budget on the main theater by putting their money behind the "Music Walk". Finally, I will say Holland moves years ahead of Celebrity in their "Ship Band"-- BB Kings All Star Band. This is an 8-member band which is terrific. Yes great. You can spend the whole night after dinner dancing to classic Blues, Soul and Mo Town. No other cruise line band compares!
I have to agree with you 100%. Celebrity blew me away on the Edge Class with their take on the LED paneled stage as well as the entertainment options between the theater and The Club. Solstice Class ships also have extremely good entertainment in the main theater. Between the HAL ship band and the members of Lincoln Center Stage, the level of live entertainment is outstanding on HAL. Thanks for watching!
Thank you for this in depth comparison
A few things have changed from when I first recorded this but I still stand by most of the comments. There have been long time Celebrity fans that have said that Celebrity dining has taken a southern turn and is not as good and I have determined that I am not that big of a fan of the Music Walk for an entire 7 - Night sailing. It does get a bit repetitive and boring after a while since the HAL main theater shows have been drastically reduced. What I do love is that there is something out there for everyone and if you enjoy either of theses lines, you can't go wrong unless you are looking for a family cruise. If that is the case, we need to talk! contact@seemoresea.com
I sailed both lines Holland 3 times, Celebrity over 25 times...IMHO I think Celebrity is ahead in service, entertainment and cuisine. The Edge Class dining is the best at sea...4 unique main dining complimentary restaurants...Then you have Eden, AMAZING...Actually the age of Passengers have a lot to do where the ship is sailing. I did a Eastern Med cruise to Italy and Greece, The age of passengers were in the 40s-50s range with many older.
Also, not a fair comparison...If you are going g to do a true comparison, you must use all ship class including Edge Class.
We have sailed Celebrity much more than HAL as well. We loved the Edge and started in a Sky Suite and ate in Luminae. I really like to the 4 dining room concept and heard that the food was outstanding. I also thought Eden was pretty fantastic as well. I find the Celebrity entertainment more relaxed and classic than HAL but Music Walk is very good. We fell in love with Lincoln Center Stage. Good point regarding age ranges! Thanks so much for watching!
The Dining Rooms are unique and not carbon copies of each other. I think the menus are the same except for a small amount of unique dishes particular to each restaurant. The themes are Greek (Cypurs), Italian (Tuscany), French (Normandie) and American (Cosmopolitan). Agree about age and where the ship is sailing. And sometimes when.
Unfortunately, and I'm a Celebrity fan since the Zenith/Horizon days, the Edge class ships aren't for me. They left out too much from the Solstice class and that Retreat area placement just doesn't sit right with me (I don't do upper level staterooms, inside or outside only, not even veranda). My favorite class was the Century class. The three Century ships were not a carbon copy of each other and all had mostly unique public areas spaces to each ship. Specialty dining wasn't really needed when they served their best food. And they had far more variety of indoor/lounge mingle areas and dance areas than does Edge. Also, they started the wild art and tech art style of Celebrity. Millennium class introduced the specialty dining. They also had thellasotherapy pools and fairly extensive spa services for their era. Solstice class brought in more specialty venues. Edge class ups the entertianment/theater venues but goes in the way of Retreat class privilege as well as losing treasured areas of previous Celebrity ships. So, they give some yet take much away.
This was great!!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate you watching!
Has Holland America restored that Exploration Center? It was completely gone (the high tech/ and the resource people totally not there 🙁 ) when we went to Alaska in August 2021 shortly after reopening after Covid. It was just a lovely viewing, coffee, library area. We were disappointed! Still loved the Crows nest though. 👍🏻
Great question! I am working on my review of my most recent sailing on the Eurodam. The technology of the touch screens and interactive tables were all gone. The EXC desk was there but their hours were very limited. We had a swap of ports with drastic time changes so I needed to speak to a human regarding if they would adjust our excursions. The day before the swapped port, their hours were 3:00 to 5:00 pm. They could not tell me what was going to happen but the team did finally adjust both of our excursions by canceling the booked day and then rebooking on the new day and new time (morning changed to afternoon, etc.). The crow's nest is still a great spot, though crowded on our sailing with puzzles, card and board games. Best coffee ($$) onboard! Thanks for watching and part 1 of my review of our 10 Night on the Eurodam will be coming in the next few days!
Having just been on Noordam after a cruise on Eclipse before Christmas, I have to agree with much you say, but comparing the HAL cafe with the wonderful Cafe Al Bacio on Celebrity is unfortunate.
Al Bacio not only has a full menu of coffees and delicious teas, they also have a large range of liqueur flavoured specialty coffees and martini’s. add to this, the cosy decor and magnificent range of free sweet delicacies offered, and you have an area of the ship which encourages you to sit, relax, and enjoy the ambience using proper glasses and crockery., unlike the small number of very ordinary versions of coffee and teas, often automatically served in environmentally unfriendly takeaway cups. Also, the food offered to accompany that less pleasant coffee is nowhere near the quality or quantity.
As an Australian from Melbourne, we take our lattes seriously (for a laugh at us, take a look at Jimmy Rees’s “Meanwhile in Australia” channel 😅)
However, except for the lack of music around the ship, HAL’s Music Walk was fabulous!
The friendliness of the captain and officers on Celebrity is another difference we noticed, although the friendliness and helpfulness of the crew on both is outstanding.
We’re devoted Celebrity cruisers, but we are disappointed with the increased emphasis on taking over full use areas for Suite guests, and after this we’ll be happy to cruise with HAL when the price and itinerary is right.
Thankyou for an excellent video.
Thanks for the excellent response! I have to admit that I am not that big of a specialty coffee drinker and go to Café A Bacio only for the cookies! Good to know that there are some major differences. We too are devoted Celebrity cruisers but will be sailing HAL Eurodam to the Panama Canal in March. We have stayed in a suite on Celebrity three times (once on the Edge) and I get your disappointment with increasing the suite only areas. What I like about the Edge class is that the Retreat is at the very top and front of the ship and the Luminae dining room and Retreat Lounge are tucked out of the way on an upper deck surrounded by cabins. Taking away the Solstice Deck on the Solstice class is a very obvious, in your face, separation of suite and non-suite guests. It's nice that HAL has not fully gone in that direction but on their ships they now do have Club Orange dedicated venues and priority services. Thanks so much for watching, Sally!
We’re soon taking our first cruise on HAL from Athens to Athens. We did upgrade to Club Orange. We usually sail on Oceania or Viking. We picked this trip because of the itinerary. Hope we love it!
Regarding Celebrity, I am as well. And it's a lot worse on the Edge ships than on Solstice ships. On Solstice class, Michael's Club is gone to Retreat guests and I like it use as a piano bar. But I don't mind a few restaurants going to Suite guests as they're plentiful on Solstice. On Edge, the whole Sky Lounge is deleted and deck space right at the fore top decks of the ship.
I love Lincoln Center Stage … we attended nearly every show.
We did the exact same thing. We sat front row in each performance and really loved it. I had never been that close to such talented musicians. Thanks for watching!
HAL is doing away with shower curtains, but wish they would convert to sliding glass doors for the balcony.
That is great to hear! I agree that sliders would be much better than those heavy doors. Thanks for watching!
Thumbs-up for a great comparison. if it is ok for me to ask : how are the buffet dining options for a clean-keto, especially steamed green veggies ? does HAL also have the "free from" labels we saw at the Celebrity buffet ?
That is great question. I can absolutely say, being clean keto each, that Celebrity does a much better job at having clean uncured meats and a lot more cheeses than HAL. They will also provide a cleaner offering when it comes to meats. You can request preparation from the steak area and the carvery is so much better on Celebrity. HAL did not have any clean labeled food items on the buffet and it was much less impressive than Celebrity on the Nieuw Amsterdam, Eurodam and Rotterdam - Celebrity buffet out performed HAL on all three cruises with clean offerings and selection. Clean vegetable choices were also more plentiful in the Oceanview Cafe buffet on Celebrity. HAL had very little steamed vegetable options.
Thank you so much for answering😁, I really appreciate it. I have been on a low-glycemic / keto and IF for the past 18 years, and I don't deviate from that no matter what (and also fast for multiple days sometimes). Both my partner and I love cruising and it can be difficult to find out what lines / ships would best accommodate our feed-regime. Again - thanks 😊
Thanks for a great comparison. I have cruised Celebrity for the past many years but am booked on two HCL ships this year. Are you from Indiana? I live in Indianapolis. thanks again
Good for you! We did the same thing with our several Celebrity sailings when we switched to Holland America Line. There are some major demographic differences and the entertainment is very different on HAL. I'd love to hear from you when you compare your experiences. HAL has recently committed to upgrading their main theater shows so I'm anxious to hear from you. Thanks for watching!
Excellent review! Cute couple too! ;)
Thanks so much guys! Glad you liked it and thanks for watching!
I’m sure Ralph Lauren has larger polo horse emblems you could wear
LOL. I know that they do! When on a cruise, many people know me because of the shirts. I do need to go shopping for sure. Many new videos have my new See More Seas branded shirts. Thanks for watching!
We love Celebrity and we’re trying HAL for the first time for our xmas cruise this year. Thanks for the comparison. I’m looking forward to trying HAL.
What ship are you on? If it is a Signature or Pinnacle Class you will love Music Walk. The food and service is as good or better than Celebrity! The current promotions include all the goodies with drinks, wifi, gratuities, two specialty dining and on board credit! If you didn't get that, contact your travel agent and see if they can reprice and book you! I'm excited for you! I love going on a new ship and exploring. Have a great cruise and thanks so much for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 we’re on the Nieuw Statendam. I booked specifically because I wanted to check out the music walk just like you mentioned in the video. I haven’t found a good TA yet, any recommendations?
@@blisteringherb good for you, that should be amazing for you! Music Walk on the Pinnacle Class is much larger than Signature. BB Kings and Lincoln Center Stage are in the same venue but acoustically designed for both. Try Pinnacle Grill if you have the specialty dining perk. Also you have to do the afternoon tea just to giggle and enjoy the experience. I have a wonderful travel advisor who I always like to recommend in Debra @ dlieberman@expediacruises.com. She handles all of my reservations and all of my check again requests when I see a new promotion! LOL normally, she got me the best deal on round 1.
A great video thank you!
Thank you Victoria! Thanks for watching!
Hi and thanks for posting. There are my 2 favorite lines. Cruising to the Panama Canal on HAL Eurodam in about 2 weeks. (As an aside, I don’t know if you can edit a video once posted but there seems to be a problem with the capacity numbers on the Celebrity chart for Celebrity’s largest class…. Just thought you would want to know.)
We are doing the Panama Canal on Eurodam in March! We are doing the half transit and really looking forward to it. I just posted a preview and would love to hear about your experience! I checked on a few sites and even Celebrity has the Beyond with capacity at 3,260 and Edge / Apex at 2,918. The Beyond and the Ascent are larger. Was that the number you were referring to? Thanks for letting me know and thanks so much for watching!
Hey again … at about the 1:33 mark the chart for the Expedition class capacity is listed as 48, 16, 100. 😊
@@djba Got it - Thanks Bill! Those are the smaller expedition ships in the Galapagos and they are in the wrong order.
Holland America have Elemis bath products which is appreciated by us ladies.
That's a great point! Thanks for watching!
Well done
Thank you very much!
2018 on HAL full transit FT to SD. I enjoyed, but agree 16 nights is a bit too long for me. Could have skipped a few of the ports.
16 nights sounds like a great time to me! Thanks for watching!
When discussing dining options on HAL, although you included pictures, (which were shown while you discussed Canaletto) you didn’t mention Tamarind/Nami Sushi, the excellent pan Asian specialty restaurant. In addition, Holland America has (unfortunately IMHO) terminated their partnership with America’s Test Kitchen and no longer has culinary demos.
No, I didn't mention Tamarind. We both were highly disappointed in Tamarind and could have gone into that further. Good point. I did see that on most ships that the Test Kitchen has been terminated however, like you, I really did enjoy it. On our upcoming HAL cruise there are some culinary items listed but not Test Kitchen. Thanks for correcting me, I really appreciate it.
Give Tamarind another chance…..it’s awesome! We had the same experience with Canaletto on Nieuw Statendam, but hope to give it another chance on our next HAL cruise in September!
@@pennyhebert5436 I already have it booked for our upcoming Panama Canal cruise. I have twice at Pinnacle and once in Tamarind. I'm hoping that it is better this time!
Curious if you have ever booked with Costco Travel. Costco has both Holland America and Celebrity but, I called to ask questions one day and I didn't find the agent helpful. It seems like they want you to stick to doing everything online. It did seem like some of the perks would good though.
I looked into Costco several years ago when we started cruising and I did not move forward. I have gone online a few times to just check and it does not seem that they have the same options as the direct or a travel advisor site. I just started my travel advisor company and I see many more options so I'd try it out but think about a travel advisor if you don't see the same final cost on Costco as you do on the direct cruise line site. I hope that helps and thanks so much for watching!
Thank you for not having background music.
You are welcomed! Thanks for watching!
Question about Celebrity: I'm an early riser and usually want that first cup of coffee around 5 AM. I was unhappy on our last Celebrity cruise (Silhouette 2018) that I could not get coffee before 6 AM. Is this the case fleet-wide? Is it still the case? We're considering a Celebrity cruise for next year on the Equinox, but this could be a deal-breaker.
That is a great question. John is also an early riser and would search out coffee before 6:00am as well. I checked daily planners from two recent Celebrity sailings and Cafe' al Bacio does open at 6:00am however the Oceanview Cafe (buffet) has coffee, Tea and Juices available 24 hours. I have also noticed that the library on Solstice class normally has a self serve coffee urn available. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching!
Thanks!
Thank you so much!
❤
I don’t understand why people wouldn’t like the balcony with the window that slides up and down. Seems like a good option to me! Anyone been in a room of this type with insights?
I have clients on the Celebrity Edge right now and can't wait to hear how they liked the infinite veranda in Alaska. I think that would be a great stateroom for viewing the coast line and Fjords in Alaska. Some complain that the room gets hot when the window is down in the Caribbean. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
We did the HAL Konigsdam in December 2022 and the Celebrity Millennium in February 2023. I would say that Celebrity had better quality food in the MDR and the buffet than HAL. However, both were the best that I have had in six cruises on six lines. Celebrity seemed to be fully staffed and the service was nearly perfect. HAL seemed really understaffed in the MDR. I thought that the entertainment was great on both lines. However, the Music Walk really stepped things up a level. They were first rate entertainment and readily available. The Millenium entertainment was top rate BUT the sound and lighting in the main theatre was mediocre. It really needed to be upgraded. I heard so much about culinary programs and computer centers on HAL but saw no evidence of it on board. Ditto on the interactive excursion planning in the crows nest. I saw evidence that there were special areas for premium customers on BOTH ships. However, it did not really affect our experience. The Dutch Cafe was a real letdown as they did not have a lot of the "specialties" advertised to to "supply chain issues" (although I could get those same items at IKEA or ALDI the week before). I like having the ability to walk around the ship on HAL as it lets me get my steps in. What was disappointing on Celebrity was the inability to walk to the very front of the ship like you can on many Royal Caribbean ships as it is a great place to get away from the crowds
As for demographics, I saw little difference between the two lines. The average age was about 55-60 and on both cruises, there were under 25 people under 18. However, comedians on BOTH lines like to make wheelchair references about the other line.
My preference would be Celebrity due to the food and the service levels. My wife prefers HAL for the entertainment.
Great information - thank you! The culinary experiences were also missing on our recent HAL sailing as was Lincoln Center Stage. The buffet on HAL (Eurodam) was also below average. I noticed the same service issues on that HAL sailing as well with the MDR service being very disappointing. We booked a Celebrity Equinox cruise after getting back to compare and that sailing was very good and showed the service and food differences in a major way. We are going to try Rotterdam in Dec and have hopes that HAL will redeem themselves. Thanks so much for your comment and for watching!
Thank you it was a great comparison. Does Rotterdam have formal nights? Does my husband need to bring a suit? Or can he wear a collared shirt with dress pants or jeans?
On a 7 day on HAL Rotterdam, you should have two formal nights. He does not need a suit or even a sport coat. Dress pants and a nice collared shirt will be fine. Jeans would probably pass but I'd go with the dress pants. We sail on Rotterdam in December. Enjoy your cruise! Thanks so much for watching!
Wonderful
Thank you! Thanks so much for watching!
Of all of the different channels i have seen about cruising i like yours the best. One complaint, I have hearing comprehension problems and the slight echo makes it even harder for me to understand what you are saying. Some cloth wall hangings, rugs, ect. would help.
That is a huge compliment - thank you! I will work on that sound for sure. I appreciate the feedback! Thanks for watching!
We’ve been a big fan of HAL & enjoy smaller ships. Thanks for your info. First time viewer. We just got off of a cruise 2 wks ago. Big disappointment but figured it might be. (Long story why we were on Carnival). Planning on a cruise to Alaska now & thinking of HAL again. Also Princess has been suggested. What’s your insight on Princess? Thanks for all your tips & your video!
If you are a fan of HAL, they do Alaska almost as well as anyone. Princess would be a close second IMO. Their ships will be a bit bigger and probably more modern depending on which HAL ship you choose. Can’t go wrong with either line. We are on the Eurodam at the moment so I’ll have some quick videos out this week on our experience so far. Thanks for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 thank you for replying! I will subscribe to your channel. Have fun on your cruise. Where are you headed?
@@patti-bell Thank you so much for subscribing, Patti! We are on a 10-night Partial Transit of the Panama Canal. We are in Half Moon Cay today and then head to Aruba, Curacao, Panama Canal, Costa Rica then a couple sea days back to FLL. I'll have a review out in April on the Eurodam - Caribbean and not Alaska so different cruise and different vibe.
@@seemoreseascruises3791 have a wonderful time! I’ll check out your videos. 😊
We are not cruise vets with only 7 under our belt. Our second big cruise was on HAL But we haven't done Celebrity yet. It was THE best of the lot. For various reasons, we never got back to HAL. We are about to do HAL again soon and are at that point where we are looking for our 'Forever Line'. SO your positive comments re HAL's ships is very promising! I hope I'm not setting myself up for disappointment - especially since it appears that you haven't DONE the HAL cruise yet but I AM looking forward to the Music Walk Dueling Pianos. Spouse will LOVE the Lincoln Center part.
Only 'In and Out' P Canal? You cheated yourself. Our next HAL is THROUGH - SAN - MIA.
Sorry for the delayed response! HAL is a great cruise line but there are some improvements needed. We have, in fact, sailed with HAL 4 times, most recently on the flagship, Rotterdam. I feel that the Pinnacle Class ships are much better than the next size down, the Signature Class (Eurodam & Nieuw Amsterdam). The larger music walk on the Pinnacle Class is a big improvement over the other ships. Unfortunately, HAL has removed Lincoln Center Stage earlier this year. They say that it will be a traveling main theater show but there is little evidence to support that. The lack of live music in the main theater with no orchestra has been a huge disappointment. They have relied on the Step One Dance company with recorded music as the main theater shows. These seem to get very redundant as does Music Walk after a few nights. HALL has announced that over the last several. months they have brought back song and dance main theater shows, so I am confident this will improve the entertainment. If you have a chance and the budget allows, try upgrading your dining to Club Orange so that you have an upgraded dining room. All reports are that is is worth it. Also check out my most recent HAL Ship Review where I detail our experience on the Rotterdam. I wish you a fantastic HAL experience and look forward to hearing all about it!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 We are Signature this time because it was the destination - P CANAL! Thanks for the positive input. As I get more and more I fear I'm gonna be disappointed. But then I expected a better experience on the last one on NCL.
@@nascarmadman since you are on a Signature Class you should be using the old locks which is a much better experience than the new wider ones. That is a big benefit. If you want to check out our Eurodam Panama canal review you can see that here: ua-cam.com/video/xarSLb0OUj4/v-deo.html there is a link to part 2 as well as the time lapse 1/2 transit. You'll have a great time with the newer entertainment.
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Again thanks. I did a term paper on the Canal when I was a freshman in high school in 1976. I had no idea there were ' new locks'. Guessing after Panama took over. I thought that was a mistake, but my reasons for that haven't materialized...yet!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Thanks for the input!
Which is better??? That is like asking a chocolate lover which type they like best. Never sailed Celebrity, but really like HAL.
That's a great way to say it! You would probably enjoy Celebrity. We can't wait to get back on HAL. Thanks for watching!
We are trying to plan our first cruise ever and we’re looking at Hal, celebrity , Oceania , etc… We have been strongly considering a Mediterranean cruise on oosterdam but then we started seeing some Avery reviews such as bad food , recurrent issues with toilets and a/c, sparse entertainment even in music row venues , ship shows it’s age even despite Reno …… anyone else recently travel oosterdam or could give us some advice ???
If you are reviewing something for the Med, I would highly recommend Celebrity Edge Class ships especially since this is your first cruise. It will have all the activities and entertainment you will need and the high levels of service and food. The Oosterdam is a much older ship and I would be concerned about the ship condition and the amenities. Oceania is going to be very port driven but the food and service will be extremely high level. Oceania will be more expensive most likely. Check out my 4 market segments of cruise lines video discussing the various levels of cruise lines. Also search for specific oosterdam ship tour videos before you book. Celebrity Edge Class consists of the Edge, Apex, Beyond and the Ascent. Good luck with you search and let me know if I can assist further.
@@seemoreseascruises3791 My caveat about the Edge ships is don't expect anything like Music Walk in them. Those ships are far more designed around a large amount of restaurants but music lounge/club venues are few and far between. As far a ship showing its age, I think there is this mentality among some cruisers that if it isn't new and if it shows any wear then it's not worth their while. HAL does a good job taking care of their ships as does Celebrity. There are plenty amenities in all HAL or Celebrity ships but of course the tech isn't as up to date on the older ones as the newer ones. But the newer ones will become older ones when the next class of ships come out.
Question I’m going on Holland konighdam November 12 Mexico Rivera is the dress code relaxed in the specialty restaurant.
We went to the Pinnacle Grill and nice jeans and a collared shirt should be fine. We did slacks and a collards shirts another night and did a suit at Tamarind but it was not necessary at all. We no longer take suits or sport coats on any of our cruises. I would not wear shorts but everything else should be fine.
thinking about a 16 day cruise on the Eurodam with HAL, San Diego/Panama Canal/Fort Lauderdale. If given a choice of deck 6 or 8, port or starboard, is one better than the other?
We actually sailed Eurodam through the half transit panama canal and I have very strong feelings about selecting a cabin on the port side. Since the Eurodam fits in the old locks, you will be able to see both sides from your balcony if you are on the port side. I also recommend that you pick deck 6 over deck 8 since the pool decks and buffet is above you on deck 9. Never select a stateroom under a pool deck or public area. Eurodam Panama Canal part 1 = ua-cam.com/video/xarSLb0OUj4/v-deo.html Panama Canal part 2 = ua-cam.com/video/jKJSQ7LfRSE/v-deo.html There is actually yet another of the half transit that you will want to see since it shows you the views from the port side of the ship = ua-cam.com/video/jOsdAp059gg/v-deo.html
Celebrity messed up the booking of my flight and caused my luggage to be lost. They agreed they made a mistake but said it was my problem, no help and No apologies. I’ll stick with HAL and Princess from now on. Celebrity is dead to me.
Oh that really sucks! Luckily we drive to the ports most of the time and don't have to fly. When we did Alaska, we flew in 2 days before because I was so worried of that exact problem. Sorry that your cruise started out with such a huge problem. Your travel insurance should at least compensate you for any replacement items that you hopefully had time to get. HAL and Princess are both great so keep cruising! Thanks for watching.
@@seemoreseascruises3791 absolutely, did a HAL California wine cruise and a Princess New England last month. Doing the transatlantic on Princess next March. Both very good(honestly Celebrity ship and crew were nice too). HAL Rotterdam class ships are my favorite.
@@Andy-hg8dv We have only been on the Signature class with HAL. We have to check out the larger Pinnacle class soon. A Princess transatlantic sounds fantastic. Enjoy!
That type of response is enough to make me never travel with Celebrity, thanks for passing along your experience.
Maybe they are similar but Celebrity is 3 times more expensive. Can you tell me why?
Celebrity has been raising prices over the last few years. The ships are mostly more modern, the food is slightly better on most sailings. I can say the buffet is much better. Service levels are very similar. I am on the HAL Rotterdam as I write this response. The food has been great but the entertainment & vibe is not the same as celebrity which I feel is just a step above. Celebrity charges higher rates because people are paying those rates and they are also deploying a marketing strategy to lift the brand to the top of the premium category. They are attempting to differentiate themselves from Holland America & Princess. You can find Celebrity Solstice class sailings without the All Included package for similar rates as HAL & Princess. I hope that helps. I’m glad to discuss it further. Email me at contact@seemoresea.com. Thanks for sharing & for watching!
subscribed!
Thank you so much! Enjoy the channel!
I find Hal has better food but not as much variety as celebrity. For Alaska Hal was the best but celb was much better in European cruis
HAL's MDR has been better than Celebrity over the last couple of years but I think the buffet in slightly better (design and selection) on Celebrity. HAL is hands down better in Alaska and Celebrity always has received high marks for it's Med itineraries and experiences. Thanks so much for sharing and for watching!
Do you know if gratuities are included in the all inclusive Celebrity fares? It says drinks and WiFi but doesn’t mention gratuities.
Gratuities are not included in any package from Celebrity any longer. You still have to prepay or pay daily onboard for crew gratuities with All Included or even in a suite. Thanks for asking and for watching!
Done both it really depends on the ship. Celebrity apex fantastic, eclipse not so much. On HAL koningsdam great westerdam just average
You make an amazing point. It can depend on the ship and even the sailing. Our Rotterdam recent sailing was so much better than our Eurodam which sucked. The recent Equinox was amazing but others have stated they had disappointing experiences in the MDR on each. It is just great to know that we are on the ocean and not at home. The food is better at sea than at home!
Can you speak to the lack of Pickleball on Celebrity? And does HAL have pickleball?
Celebrity does now have Pickleball on almost all of it's ships. It does not show the Edge or Silhouette but I'm sure it is coming soon. We just spent 10 days on the HAL Eurodam and they had Pickleball almost every morning with beginners lessons then a pickup game around 10:00 am. I'm pretty confident that most of the HAL fleet either has it or it will be coming soon. I hope that helps!
Exploration Central was closed on the Neiu Stattendamn, quality of entertainment on the Dueling Pianos and Dance Company was poor, great concept limited talent. The bars were closed after 10, as was the Lido buffet limiting options after 10pm.
We are currently sailing on Celebrity Equinox and the difference is like night & day. Our recent 10 day on Eurodam was very disappointing. The food, entertainment & service are excellent so far. HAL needs to step up their game! Thanks for watching!
I am team Celebrity!🎉❤🎉
I’m on Holland America right now and I’m still team Celebrity too! Review coming in a couple of weeks! Thanks for watching, Steven!
Am new to cruising. Prefer to try all type of ships. In the end I booked HAL twice within a year.
HAL is a good choice - as a first time cruiser, you will love it! We are booked on the Rotterdam (Pinnacle Class) and are looking forward to the more modern decor and amenities. We were recently on the Celebrity Equinox and had a great cruise. I'd love to hear how your experience was! Check out my Eurodam Panama Canal review! Thanks so much for watching!
I understand Lincoln Center went alway! Sad😢
Yes. It was missing on our last two HAL sailings. It was a very noticeable hole in their entertainment offering.
Both equally ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
They are both great lines, however I will be having a mixed review coming very soon on our most recent cruise on HAL Eurodam where cutbacks were very visible. Thanks for watching!
We kept hearing how Princess, celebrity, and HAL, were on par with each other, so ee fid all 3 in a 6 month period. HAL was the best by far! Service, food, entertainment, ship amenities all better on HAL. Food and service HAL won by a lot. Entertainment HAL was more our taste, we met several people who prefer Celebrity and I understand why but the Celebrity entertainment is not our taste, and there was virtually no TV available in the cabin. Princess entertainment wasn't really our taste but the selection available on cabin TV was so amazing, so i didn't care! Shore excursions on HAL are also far better and a better value the other two.
Awesome information! Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and for watching!
Princess has more stuff to do on board as far as activities
@@fluffytail6355 such as? A typical day at sea on HAL pinnacle class for me, breakfast in bed, use the exercise machines on the top deck, walk a couple of miles on the track, swim laps, eat pizza from NYDeli, go in jacuzi, read on balcony watching sea birds, get a drink on deck, shower, go to dinner, go to music walk, watch tv in bed for a few minutes.
Turning 35 and about to go on my first cruise on HAL with my bf and his parents. Age demographics 50+? 🤣 Really? However its an Alaskan cruise so Im expecting a mixed midlle -older crew
HAL is an older demographic than many other lines however depending on the ship there are many very youthful activities and the service levels are extremely high. You will have an amazing time. If you are on a Signature Class ship (Nieuw Amsterdam or Eurodam) or one of the three Pinnacle Class (Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam or Rotterdam) you will have Music Walk with great Jazz in BB Kings Memphis Jazz room, Billbord Onboard dueling pianos, Rolling Stone Rock Room and great options for specialty dining. This is a GREAT choice for a multi generational group and Holland America has been in Alaska longer than any other major cruise line. They do it right! Relax and enjoy - there will be older folks on board, but don't count them out! I will have a review of the Eurodam out in early April so check it out - we board for Panama Canal next weekend. Thanks for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Oh I am still very much excited! we chose based on itinerary and HAL was one of the top for Alaska. We will be on koningsdam and Im looking forward to that said Jazz bar and the BBC show! thanks for the informative video!
Does Celebrity have a casino onboard.
Yes they do. The casino on all Celebrity ships is also non-smoking. Thanks for watching!
Many thanks to the interesting comparison.
Never gone myself on both X an HAL, but... me thinks they're sort of different strokes for different individuals. If I wanted to make a more fair comparison; I'd be with Celebrity (X) and Princess (P). While in average, P ships are becoming larger than both X and HAL, there might to be a larger similarity in the product range. HAL seems for-me a step above both X/P, even though perhaps a so subtle difference that one day Carnival Group may be tempted to just make a P/HAL fusion of some sort, lowering both fleets operational costs at a certain extent. Both X and P are quietly and solidly running towards the current 40-70 age group; whose kids are already doing their independent life and whom no longer appreciate the young families mainstream megaships activities; where a good part of the money is about, while, on the other hand, HAL seems undecided over continuing their mid-to-big ship premium offering, jumping suit to become another Oceania/Viking/Explora Journeys challenger, or simply let Carnival Group to merge both companies.
As someone has said: Average age passengers may depend on where and when your sailing is about. All 3 companies target to mature experienced travelers and cruisers, on what I can call the upper-mainstream market.
Well said! I do think that all three lines are close competitors going after the experienced traveler, empty nester. With X and HAL having slightly smaller ships than P but providing a similar product. With P launching much larger ships I think they are having a bit of an identity crisis. Many reviews show them still a strong product but quality has suffered with much larger ships. You can say the same thing about X with the Edge Class ships. Edge class provides a very different experience than the Solstice or Millennium class. I don't see a fusion of P/HAL and I agree with you and believe the plan is to push HAL towards the luxury segment (as X is doing with Edge) and having P provide premium services on a large ship platform segmenting their brands within the category. So many ways to look at it.
Destination and the length of the itinerary do have such a huge impact on the age demographic so it will be interesting to see how things progress over the next few years. Thanks so much for your comment and for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 You're welcome, thanks!... Actually the difference with X Beyond and P newest builds is on the ~500 passengers like. Not that big of a deal. Full fleet X and P average passenger count is definitely bigger than HAL ones, and HAL's newer builds don't follow X and P development. Yeah: HAL is running to the mid luxury quarter of the pond on the likes of Oceania/Viking/Explora likes. They'll need smaller ships if that is the way Carnival group envisions it. P will be the Carnival's upper mainstream product. I think we all agree on that. My merging/fusion statement is driven by the long term Covid and war in Europe negative impacts might to have in the whole cruise market. If strong; I believe Carnival Group may find a way forward to merge P and HAL. P survives over HAL on that scenario.
@@nunagoras Very interesting perspectives here. It will be very interesting to see how that plays out. As I read your reply, I immediately thought of what Carnival is doing with Costa. We will have a few Costa ships (unlike the Luminosa) which will be Costa by Carnival with the Carnival logo on the side. They are positioning these ships as a Carnival cruise but with the Italian influence. It would be interesting if they extend that concept with P and HAL. Great comments!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Costa is another subject. I can see Costa as an Italian Carnival. No need for 2 brands providing generally same product. Europe is heading economically down, far more than the US, so no surprise to see them interchanging ships. Different story for AIDA which is a German club holiday partnering with Carnival. By the way: They'll to play by the market moves.
All 3 are on the same level AFAIC. None are a step above the other overall.