Hi! I’m Dara and I’m addicted to all things travel, nature, wildlife, scuba diving and - of course - adventure! I’ll be featuring videos from my hikes, dives, wanderings and explorations from around the globe, both on the land and under the sea. Looking forward to having you join along with me for my future adventures. Follow me on Instagram (@daradventures) and TikTok (@daradventures) for more fun content as well. Welcome to the channel, and hope you enjoy!
Agree with most everything. However, wear what you like. Most tourists are in shorts, t shirts, dresses, shirts short, long it does not matter except in mosques and holy places
yes, you can certainly wear what you like. There’s no dress code, and locals are obviously used to seeing tons of tourists who dress all sorts of ways. But as a woman who did wander around a fair bit solo, I think I would have been uncomfortable and gotten a fair bit more unwanted attention had I not chosen to dress a bit more conservatively. if you’re staying in a group and not straying from the main tourist sites, then you can wear what you are comfortable in. I just prefer to dress more conservatively in Muslim countries. But if you do choose to show some skin, don’t forget your sunscreen 😎
I know, it looks incredible. Whenever I do make it back to Colombia to dedicate a full trip to exploring, I will absolutely spend some time in Tayrona!!
Great video! Very well-thought-out and accurate. You had me on the floor with your gold bar comment! 🤣🤣🤣 Pro tip for sailing around the holidays: To avoid the kids during the day, book a private cabana in The Retreat. It’s peaceful and relaxing and they don’t allow small children there.
Thank you for the compliment! That’s excellent advice for the private cabana. It didn’t have a separate pool, but it did have its own hot tub and peace and quiet, which definitely would have been appreciated during some of those louder moments at the Lido pool. Thanks for commenting!
Yes! Walking around the area and the cattle drive viewing is free, the activities like the pony or horse rides or the maze or mechanical bull have an extra charge.
@DarAdventures, thanks so much for this video! It seemed to address so many questions I had. We are in the same age range as you and yours, so it was the perfect fit. I'm excited to check out the tour after seeing this one.
I'm glad it was helpful to you! This was first time doing a "talking head" style video, but there wasn't much content out there about Holland America coming from people in my age demographic, so I'm really happy to hear people are finding it helpful when figuring out what will work best for their vacations. Thanks for the comment, and if you do sail with HAL I hope you have a great time :-)
We have done the Konigsdam and the Eurodam. We like the food, the great service, and the entertainment. Like Celebrity, staff ALWAYS greets you when you get on and off the ship and always has a cold beverage to greet you with. I think that the only thing that I do not like is that if you get seated with certain longtime HAL cruisers, you have to listen to the "nothing is like it was 30 years ago" lectures. The only thing we do not like about the ship is the pandemonium in the MDR on the first night on every cruise. We learned that the first night's menu is less impressive than the rest of the cruise so we head up to the buffet that night. Personally, the Dive In hamburgers are the best I have had on a cruise ship. Also, we like that the Promenade Deck allows you to walk around the entire ship somewhat covered from the elements. As for children, both of our cruises have been during school times (1st week of December, 1st week of January) and there have been 15-20 children on board and their presence was barely noticed. I do NOT like the served buffet as I like to try a very small quantity of many dishes. Instead, I would get full portions of small dishes which led to more waste (and more waist) Your video was quite good.
Thanks for the compliment and thoughtful comment! I haven't tried Celebrity yet, they are next on my list of new lines to try. I've heard really good and really bad things, but I think I'll enjoy their new ships so excited to sail with them when I can fit it into my schedule. Oh that's interesting feedback on the MDR for the first night... we usually end up at the buffet too, mostly just with all the travel and jet lag we often aren't in the mood to dress up and have a sit down meal. And YES on wrap around Promenade decks!!! A lot of newer ships don't have these, and I hate that they are falling out of favor. To me it's an essential classic feature, to be able to stroll around the ship. Yeah I'm the same with the buffet, I like being able to put like a tablespoon of 15 different things on my plate if I want to, but with this style of buffet that's really just not feasible. I imagine those 15-20 kids were probably quite bored :-/ Taking kids on HAL during the school year is probably not the best recipe to create lifelong fans of cruising.
@@daradventures If we weren't such budget travelers (our target is under $100 pppd fare+fees+grats-OBC), we would be on a Windstar for yacht with less than 300 people on a cruise with no sea days. However, instead we are doing b2b2b cruises looking for deals on the Vacations to Go website. If you liked HAL, you will probably like the M-class and S- class ships on Celebrity and Princess. They have more similarities than differences
Would suggest 45yrs old & up, the only problem I have personally had with HAL is it seems the alcohol beverages are very week & only like 4.2% beer. Get a drink package you are going to need it.
Great video! 🤩 One thing I will say about the music, though, is that my friend and I are young Gen Xers who sailed on board Holland America’s Koningsdam this past November, and the musicians at B.B. King’s Blues Club performed both Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me One Reason” (1995) and Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” (2013) (with “radio edit” lyrics, LOL). So, we definitely heard some more recent hit songs than it seems you did during your experience. 🎶🛳️🎶
Ah that’s good to hear! Hopefully they are starting to branch out a bit into more recent decades, of course it is possible that I randomly missed the more modern songs on my sailing too 🙃. Thanks for watching the video, glad you liked it!
Seemed a very fair and even-handed review. Very informative. First HAL cruise in two weeks. Very young 67yo's. Hope they listened to your music concerns.
I hope you have a great time! The music really is very enjoyable, just wished for the variety, but I also understand they are going to cater to their primary demographic. Happy cruising and thanks for watching the video!
Enjoyed this! I cruised with HAL recently (as a 32 year old) and was really impressed. I was also onboard Rotterdam, and found her to be absolutely beautiful! The average age was MUCH higher than the cruises I'm used to, but I also genuinely believe that age is just a number - it really didn't bother me in the slightest!
Glad you enjoyed the video and had a great experience with the Rotterdam too! She is a beautiful ship, and I really do appreciate all the history that HAL has behind it. And agreed, age is indeed just a number 😊. HAL is for specific type of cruiser, but I do believe that if you like what the line offers than go for it regardless of your age!
We're loyal Holland America cruisers. My husband and I are GenXers. This seems to be the demographic they are trying to entice right now because the boomers are getting older. I've noticed more people in our generation love HAL. We're not partiers and want a quiet vacation. We also came of age in the 80s so music is important to us. We're taking our millennial daughter on soon, so we'll see if she likes it. Also, you can update the beverage package to the elite package and it covers more if you want the more expensive beverages. Beverages that are fully covered don't show up on your bill.
Yes, it makes sense that they would start trying to appeal to the Gen X demographic. We did consider upgrading the beverage package, just to eliminate the annoyance of all the tiny charges, but in the end it wasn’t anywhere near worth it for us, as we don’t order enough drinks per day to make up the cost difference. It is good to note that this is an option though! Curious how your millennial aged daughter will enjoy the experience - I hope your family has a lovely vacation!
We have sailed on a couple of HAL cruises and do like the line as a matter fact we’re going to be on the Rotterdam in September. I was born in the 1960s and even I think that the typical passenger skews much older than me. I do wish they would play some music genres not from so far in the past, that being said we really do like, HAL
The Rotterdam is lovely, you’ll have a nice experience. Yeah I’m curious to experience the line outside of school holiday time. I didn’t feel out of place on our sailing, but I’m curious of my opinion would change we had sailed at a different time of year.
Thanks for the information! Cruising 1st time on HA in 2025. We are in our 50s, but I know I would like some generational music variety as you mentioned.
exciting! I hope you have a great first sailing - what ship are you on? I think you’ll enjoy the music regardless, it may not skew much into the more recent decades but the musicians truly are top notch.
You nailed the today HAL experience. Back in the 90's they called it comfortable elegance, and for me the current HAL experience is a calm, comfortable and pleasant experience.
Calm, comfortable and pleasant. That’s exactly it. That’s why I liked it. I want to have fun on vacation of course, but I do like my fun a bit more calmer these days. 😊
Thank you! I hope your next trip is wonderful. Anything new for the next itinerary? I have a second trip in mind to do within the next couple of years… there were a ton of things I had to cut while I was in my original planning phase just for lack of time. I probably need another 3 weeks there to get to everything 😎
Ah interesting… wonder why they made the change. Must have had a reason for it. The lifeboats obviously obstruct the view, which stinks, but on the flip side I did like being able to see them up close.
Great video. Thanks. The footage of the docks at Cozumel seemed too familiar. Then I realized we were there the same day sailing on Sky Princess. While looking at the Rotterdam we both agreed what a pretty ship she is.
Small world! I too very much like the aesthetic of the Holland America ships…feels a bit like a step back in time. I haven’t tried Princess yet, they do sail out of my home port so hoping to give them a try at some point soon! Thanks for watching the video and glad you enjoyed!
The glassed of food in the buffet is not unique to Rotterdam, or a post pandemic thing on Holland America. They have has it on all of their ships from before that. It might take a little longer, but I think it is really a better way. Today is the first time I’ve came across your material. I really liked your summary of Holland. It’s pretty accurate. We’ve cruised them 14 times and really enjoy the quieter vibe. And the older music! 😂
Oh didn’t know that about the glass, thanks for the info! Since this was my first sailing I just made the assumption that the glass was pandemic related. Glad you liked the video! Yea I love the quieter vibe… sometimes the pool music on other lines is too loud for me to concentrate on my books. I love reading by the pool and Holland America actually makes that possible!
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Nice review, but let's be honest -- you are far more intelligent, and sophisticated than the typical ("me, me, me") Millennial. Well done. Honest, and very perceptive.
Truly enjoy HAL ships. Been on 5 so far and we found all great except 1. We did not care for the Zaandam. Did 14 days on her in Feb 2023. The ship is old, the mid ship organ did not work, very few,shops (singular), food was so-so, and entertainment was horrible. The only thing we did enjoy was the crew. Pinnacle Grill, Neptune Lounge and our room stewards were awesome. We did a midship Neptune Suite. Not enough USB and outlets. Tv stopped working every 4 days and had to have the system reset. Thanks for sharing and safe sailings
Oh that sounds frustrating. Unfortunately longer sailings tend to be on the older ships, which of course come with more problems. Surprised to hear the entertainment and food was subpar, would have thought that was something they’d keep consistent across the line. Glad to hear you’ve had mostly positive experiences though!
Just wanted to add that there is a good chance that you perished or were involved in some way with her in a past life. My transatlantic made some memories emerge, I wasn't. Lived in the era though.
Wonderful and thank you for taking the time to post this valuable video. Taking Independence over from Miami next April and this is where we dock at the end! What a dream it will be to see this in person. Just got off a transatlantic and it is the ONLY way to travel. Thanks again!
