A lot of people we know have raved about HAL....others have told me that Celebrity is better...your experiences or thoughts?

Hi hor,

Take a look at www.cruisecritic.com.

My Lady Wife prefers smaller ships - Prinsendam.

There is no one right answer to this query, Horatio. All three lines have their fans. Being a first time cruiser, you might want to decide based on the cruise itinerary. I suspect you will enjoy the cruise whatever line you choose. My wife and I prefer HAL over Princess, but that's just our opinion. Have never cruised on Celebrity.

We have never cruised HAL, but did Princess this April and there is no doubt that Celebrity wins hands up.. There are on the boards estreme staunch loyalists of especially Princess and Celebrity..www.cruisemates. com or www.cruisecritics.com Your decision must include the size of the ship and its destinations.. Princess drew us in with their itinerary, the Amazon and first timers price..Celebrity has the smaller ships which are Infinity, ,Celebrity and the Constellation.. Parrot Pop who never has much to say about a ship just felt we were being nickled and dimed on our Princess and really enjoyed the Celebrity ships, service and food much more

Just did the Eastern Mediterranean with Celebrity Solstice. A beautiful ship with good service. One of the nicest rooms I have ever had. I can't say the food was better than Hal or Princess which I also done. I base my cruise more on the ports and what I want to see and visit than I do the cruise line. Definitely not a nickel and dime ship which was very pleasant.

If you are choosing among the three, Celebrity wins. However, my best advice is to sail on one of the older ships vs a newer one because the cruise lines have all gone to shrinking the room sizes in the standard types of rooms such as inside cabins and oceanview cabins. The older the ship, the larger the cabin in those categories. I was on the Eurodam last Nov & found it to be just a mess. Much use of plastic and even public areas had shrunken compared to older HAL ships. The room was an ocean view but "bare bones" in its appearance and ammenities!

We have done three HA in the med and they were all terrific. We have been on the Princess and the food and service was far better on HA.

The room (veranda on the new Solstice) was not small. The bed and room were some of the best I have had on any ship. I have sailed on the Oosterdam, Hal and Caribbean Princess with a veranda room.

It all depends of your level of energy and what type of activties you enjoy. They try hard to be different but they are really very much alike.

There is always the stero typing that HAL is for older folks. Princess is for Romance and Celebrity is famous for their dining experience.

In my mind, if you have never cruise before, 45+ in age and energy level, you won't go wrong with anyone of the three.

My personal chocie: Princess, Celebrity and HAL in that order.

Here is my personal take:

Princess is good all around. Don't do anything particular well but don't do anything particular bad. Seldom disappoints and is always around above average. Some good innovation such as movie under the stars and revamped entertianment line up.

HAL's passengers are getting younger and so are their activities. People in walkers are wheel chair everywhere are myths. HAL's customers are loyal and many are repeat customers.

Celebrity's food is not as good as before but is still very good. However, they are no longer the top of the class. Cost cut back affected their food the most. Lobster night with only half a tail is not acceptable and is the sign of things to come. They have also started to sell liquor agreesively, which is new. When I see service staff walking around with a bottle of Bailey's to serve with morning coffee at 7 a.m. ... that tells a story. They have decent entertianment line up and friendly crew.

In my mind, the most important part of a cruise is the itenary. Once you decide where to go, then research who goes there and if the cost fits your budget.

You have all been so helpful thanks.Thinking about what you all have told me..itinerary...we have been to Cannes, Nice, Monaco, Costa del Sol...for that reason only we thought the Eastern Med would be best..Croatia,Greece, Istanbul, Ephesus but not Israel and Egypt...maybe starting from Venice...the nieuw Amsterdam has an 11 day itinerary that looked good but I could still be convinced otherwise. Thoughts on these ports?(I think the cruise is called Med Empire)...style of ship..we want good quality, comfortable..the thought of packing a suit is too stuffy for us..although if we have to, we have to. Dress casual is better for our style.I don't wear a ton of jewellery..don't like to flaunt the wardrobe and don't particularly want to be around people who do..I want a nice cruise, nice people...