Thread: Celebrity or Holland?

I am trying to plan a 7 day cruise for this winter and am trying to decide between Celebrity and Holland and haven't been on either line since 2005.

To let you know about my general preferences, I have little interest in onboard activities (casino, bingo, trivia, fun by the pool, children's programs, spa etc) since I will be off the boat when in port and spending a lot of time reading on my balcony when at sea. Instead, I care deeply about the quality of the food in the dining room (I'm not big into the buffets), condition of the ship itself and service. For whatever it's worth, I couldn't care less about the demographics of the other passengers, though I could do without bucket of beer thing.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I recommend either!

Both are very fine cruise lines, more upscale than RCCL and Princess, much better food, wonderful ships, and great service. Both cater to an older crowd and have the latest pillow-top mattresses. If you want a really nice experience, try their newest ships.

My personal choice? It would be a very difficult decision between the brand new Holland America Eurodam, that just came out this month, and the brand new Celebrity Solstice, which is coming out in November. From what I hear, both of these are absolutely beautiful ships and not to be missed. I would love to be able to go on both of them and compare the two - I have no doubt neither of them would disappoint.

If price is an issue, the Eurodam will provide you a better deal.

Pete

Thanks for that very speedy reply.

I have actually taken a hard look at the promo materials for Solstace and may have some philosophical problems with the ship that go beyond the hefty price tag. I don't lreally love the class thing. I have no issue with the CC since it only has to do with the stateroom service, but I don't like the aqua class idea since there seems to be a special restaurant for that class of cabins. I know Holland has the special lounge for suite quests, but that seems somehow different. I also don't think the boat looks particularly beautiful. The decor reminds me of the hip boutique hotels in New York that never turn out to be as comfortable as traditional hotels. I don't know if you are familiar with the New York hotel scene, but I'm talking about the difference between say the Soho Grand and the Gramercy Park Hotel... or the W
and the Intercontinental. I realize I could be wrong about this with regard to Solstace, but I think I'm going to wait and hear from people who have actually been on it. I mean, grass on the deck???? Isn't that sort of contrary to the whole boat/water goal?

Eurodam, on the other hand, looks absolutely splendid to me.


One more question... if you don't mind now that I've bashed a ship that I'm sure you(and everyone else on this forum) are looking forward to trying.


Do you think the food is comparable on the two lines and does it vary much from ship to ship?

We've been on a few Celebrity cruises and several more Holland cruises and our personal favorite is Holland America for some of the reasons you mentioned. So,
I hear what you're saying about the two ships. The one good thing about cruising, is that there's something out there for everyone and the fun part is trying them all until you find one that fits you the best. And what one person loves, another will hate. So always go with what strikes your fancy the most.

As for food, this is another personal thing - what you love, I may hate and vice versa. But personally, I think the food on both Celebrity and Holland is very good! So, I don't think you'd be disappointed with either when it comes to their culinary talents.

Pete

Gosh .... not lots of help! We really like the food better on Celebrity than HAL ... but we are happy with the food on HAL!

We've been on both four times each (not tons of times) but still feel HAL and Celebrity are much more alike than they are are different. For a really laid back port intensive cruise we like HAL. Just an opinion ....

Please let us know which you decide!

Noticed that you mentioned that you haven't sailed on either cruise line since 2005.

Could you be a little bit more specific? What ships were you on?

That may help us give you a better picture of what you might like to cruise on.

HAL, definitely HAL. Two cruises with Celebrity were a bummer. Beyond multiple service failures, the food wasn't varied at all. One lunch on Celebrity, I walked out because everything on the menu was marinated! Like thee meats, but all with the same sauce. We LOVE HAL.....

Celebrity, definitely Celebrity.

Nothing else comes close.

I've never had a bad meal or bad service on any of my Celebrity cruises.

Reggie