I went on a Holland America 15 day cruise in March/April around New Zealand and Australia. Admittedly, it was not school holidays in Australia or New Zealand. But EVERYONE on that cruise was 70 plus. They were young at heart, civilized, well to do, wealthy retirees.
We have cruised 18 times in the past nine years. 10 times with NCL, 3 times with Celebrity, 3 times with RCCL and 2 times with Holland America and enjoyed every single cruise and have a late May 11 day Norwegian Fjords on the Nieuw Statendam. We are firm believers in the “you make your own fun” club and we usually travel with other friends and family. Don’t listen to the BS and go discover for yourself how enjoyable a HAL cruise can be.
We're with you on that. You have as good a time as you create. Having said that, there are certain things that can make an experience even more enjoyable and we think HAL does a pretty good job with food, music, and the crew! We'll be on the Nieuw Statendam for the month of July. You're hitting the fjords early!
I WANT to be the youngest person on the ship. I want to be called "kid" all week! 😄 HAL is the best if you like a relaxing, traditional kind of cruise experience.
My husband and I LOVE HAL! We are addicted to the Neptune Suite and benefits that come with it. We went on a cruise in Feb 2023 and already have another booked!
One of the things I love most about HAL is the classic exterior design of their ships. Love your channel! Would like to see a segment on Wi-Fi comparisons especially ship Wi-Fi vs. cellular company service.
Thanks Craig! We must say that this spring break season has been rough on the two different Wi-Fi’s onboard our past few cruise ships. Even Starlink failed this past week onboard RCCL 😅
Ever since we discovered the Neptune suite, we have booked it ever since. The perks are good and access to the Neptune lounge and Pinnacle Grill for breakfast is awesome. Thanks for sharing.
OMG thank you for the tip about the app on apple devices. It’s been driving me nuts. I even called HAL for support. Just did an uninstall/reinstall and it works. Thank you!
We've traveled HAL many times & our 1st choice of ships. I believe free drinks in the casino are at the discretion of the manager I didn't gamble 3k at the slots & did receive free drinks. I also do know while at the tables drinks were not always comp & believe it was due to the behavior of a particular guest, once he left drinks complimentary. I was given a bottle of champagne for my B-day at the table from the pit-boss.
Thanks for the app advice. I just booked on MSC yesterday and had the same issue. After watching this video I deleted it and downloaded it again and it worked!! I was stressed and this really helped. Thank you so much.
Good points, especially about the app. Looking forward to our first HAL cruise in late May through the fjords. (Interestingly, our travel agent is a former HAL cruise director.)
Have sailed over 90 cruises all over the word on most lines. I find the crew on there ships the most friendly and helpful of any line. Have done 6 long cruises with them in the last 2 years. I Like the ships are smaller and not thousands and thousands of other passengers.
I cruised last year on Koningsdam, and between the Rolling Stones Rock room and the BB Kings Blues club, the entertainment was better than most of the other cruise lines. I've cruised plenty in the past 20 years with different cruise lines, and I don't have a bad word to say about any of them.
We're so grateful to have found your channel and your reviews. Thank you! Found you after having already booked HAL for Fjords in the Neptune for August. Celebrating our honeymoon 31 years later. :)
Excellent. Holland America is my favorite cruise line. I am older, and do appreciate a quieter, less crowded ship, with good food, service and staterooms. And I do avoid their biggest ships and times when kids are out of school. My favorite cabin is a Signature Suite, which is only slightly smaller than a Neptune Suite, but is big and comfortable. I also love not waiting in lines, which has been my experience over many cruises. For years I drug alone formal attire, then a suite and tie, but finally decided I didn't want to cope with all the luggage. Ten years ago I got a peevish look from the maître d' at dinner on formal nights, but now people wear what they want. I have never had a problem with their app on my iPhone or iPad, but will certainly remember your advice to delete it and redownload if I do. I think your review was very accurate.
My wife and I cruise mostly with RCL/Celebrity but have cruised 4 or 5 times with Holland America and found HAL's cruising style very similar to both Royal and Celebrity. Of course we are fairly easy to please as we don't drink, gamble, or use the spas. So bottom line, if you like Royal and Celebrity you should like HAL. Also, if you haven't cruised before I would definitely recommend HAL for your first time.
Heading out on Saturday for another 2 weeks in the Caribbean on Nieuw Amsterdam. Neptune suite my favorite home away from home. Love HAL! Thanks for showing the positive side of this line so other folks may want to try it.
Thank you for all the good tips. Excited to be going on HAL:s newest ship Rotterdam next month. I had no problem with the HAL app on my (slightly older) IPhone. Also, regarding cost -- my veranda cabin was about $4 more than an oceanview cabin on Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas, similar Norwegian fjords itinerary. Surprising, so always compare.
My wife and I cruised to Alaska on the MS Westerdam four months ago, and we found that the bedsheets were beyond dirty. They were discolored to a light brownish, gray color, indicating to me the sheets had not been changed for several months. Tip to the wise: Immediately check your pillows and bedsheets. We had our room attendant, replace the dirty sheets with new pillowcases, sheets, and comforter.
We just got off our cruise on the Nieuw Statendam and we had a great time! It was our 3rd cruise with HAL and booked a Mediterranean cruise in 2025 while on board. I saw Jose in this video and have to say he was the most entertaining part of the cruise. We went to music trivia almost every night and Game Night is a blast. We had lots of fun all over the ship. The lido was the worst though. We were disappointed every day with the options and quality of the food. Definitely take advantage of the main dining room and the specialty restaurants on board. The food is exceptional in those venues. The ports were fantastic as well. Looking forward to our next cruise with HAL. ❤ 🛳
So happy to hear about your positive experience on Nieuw Statendam! Last summer we booked that ship, our first experience of Holland Amerika. We really loved it all. We never found the sauna though. So we must go one more time🙂. The age of passengers is also depending on the itenary i think. We went from Denmark to Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Canada and USA. I did not see any children on that trip!
My wife and I have 15 HAL cruises under our belt and 8 on Celebrity and P&O. We enjoy the more refined atmosphere of the older ships. Prior to Covid and while still in the Navy I would wear my mess dress (Naval Officers tuxedo for those who do not know) on formal nights and since retirement always take a tuxedo. It is a nice feeling to dress for supper on the rare occasion we get to do so. I believe that the dress code for gala nights should have at minimum dress slacks and dress shirts for men, jeans can be worn in the Lido or working in your yard at home, but do not belong in a more formal setting. Just my two cents worth or two pence worth for our British cousins.
Thank you for sharing we booked our first Holland America cruise for December and my husband is teasing me constantly about the "demographic". It's nice to hear that a 7 day Caribbean cruise is going to be a larger demographic. Thanks again for the tips!
New subscribers here. I think you’re right, the demographic changes on HAL depending on length of cruise and destination. Cunard is definitely the more formal cruise line.
@@JJCruise Cunard is just so very British - but that's part of its appeal. We really like HAL, but we're also thinking about experimenting with some of the expedition ships in SilverSeea, Hurtigruten and Viking. We hope you'll check out our channel where we mostly cover ports rather than ships.
Weird that Apple device doesn't work right. Oh well. What did you think about the new Have It All package? It seems if you like higher end wine, for instance, you may have to add another package? Curious how it works.
Going on a trip soon, the ship is beautiful but HAL call center has dropped my calls when they don't have a solution or else put you on hold and forget about you. Very disappointed that they believe how their guests should be treated. Also notice their website is not particularly helpful. Also the Navigator app does work on some android phones.🤷🏽♀️
Dress codes barely exist anymore in the industry - Most require some kind of slacks - ie Dockers and a Polo even on 'formal' nights - no shorts/jeans nor T-shirts.
Great video. We have never cruised HAL and have one booked for next year. There is some confusion for us regarding carrying on a limited amount of soda like other lines allow. 1. Do you know if they allow this? 2. Do you know if you can pre order soda to have in your stateroom? Thank you for your video!
I am a budget cruiser who aims for less then $100 pppd (fares+ fees+grats-obc). I have done that on the Konigsdam, the Eurodam, and the Nieuw Amsterdam over the past two years. I find it far more reasonable than RCCL and Celebrity and a little pricier than Princess As for age, there were more walkers on the Celebrity Millennium than the HAL ships I have been on. i think that wvery comedian on Celebrity is required under contract to joke about HAL ships.
Our very first cruise was on HAL. The bars closed at 10pm. There were no activities to do. We were so disappointed. But the service was impeccable, and after all was said and done, we became "avid" cruisers. Would you say that things close relatively later now? Would you say they have more activities for cruisers, especially during the evening and sea days? I would love to know. We would love to try them again.
We definitely saw bars and venues staying open later than 10 pm on our cruise. Now this may change on longer voyages as we’ve seen venues close earlier on repositioning cruises as well as trans ocean cruises to give the crew a longer break given the many back-to-back sea days. Overall, we wouldn’t recommend Holland if you are looking for best nightlife, but if it’s just a portion of what you are looking for and the rest fit Holland, then we would say go for it! 🥳
If you get the drink package make sure you really have your 15 drinks, they could Not provide us with all the rcpts but charged us on 3 different occasions they did take 2 of the charges off, but a 25.00 dollar bar bill stilll remains as we were ordering 2 drinks at a time. We just got back from our cruise March 4th to to March 18th on th Zaandam , as I have read by others and feel the same about this cruise things were not up to Holland America standards.
Sorry to hear this Carrie! We hope your next cruise is better. We did find printing receipts for signing after every beverage to be quite confusing when having a drink package. 😅
I cruised with them twice - i prefer Celebrity. The passengers are very nice, but i am in my mid 60's and most passengers appear much older - at least much older than Celebrity.
No worries, there are still paper daily schedules available as well as other ways to book onboard. The App is just preferred and easier to do on the go. ☺️
I’ve just booked through a travel agent to have a person I can reach, not just a call centre. Doesn’t cost more, got good advice and everything looked after that was important to me. I’d never book without a trustworthy agent again. Don’t book through the internet though. Really negative experiences there. Find an agency close to you on the internet and talk to them.
My multigenerational family cruised on HAL forThanksgiving& Christmas cruises for almost 15 years. My grandson was 7 years old to start and he loved the kids club which was busy during the holidays. We all love the outstanding food and service. The internet service was not good most of the time. We are so happy to learn they are bringing back the library. For avid readers, it is great and a fav spot on sea days. We recently took a Celebrity cruise and thought their entertainment was better than HAL. Food and service similar. One big difference was the shops. HAL shops would get a lot of purchases from us, not so on Celebrity. Celebrity used their shop area for high $ ticket items. I Ought Chicos clothing on HAL for example, but no $$$ designer bags or watches on Celebrity.
Thanks Mercy! We definitely wanted to try HAL out for ourselves and see if some of the preconceived notions of HAL were correct and were happy to find many were not! 🥳
We had similar thoughts. From those onboard our HAL cruise, we didn’t feel a stuffy vibe. That said, itinerary does matter. We love Celebrity Cruises and have cruises a lot of Celebrity but our Canada, Greenland and Iceland cruise had some of the worst cruisers we’ve ever met onboard. Wasn’t Celebrity as a brand that brought those cruisers together, it was the special itinerary and rather high-priced average room cost. There are plenty of premium cruise lines that aren’t stuffy outside of the mainstream Carnival or Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. We are happy to say that our HAL experience would also be one of them. ☺️
Like your posts, but do not exaggerate too much. A non working app might ruine your Cruise in advance? Come on! Besides the Navigator app worked fine on my iPhone.
Yet another sensationalist headline…. Strictly to build up interest and views in our Tic Toc world. Because I am sailing on the Nieuw Statendam in two weeks I’m curious to see what you have to say. Hopefully your review isnt ageist or hetero-phobic. We strive to recognize the value of a diverse experience in all walks of life. I can’t wait to find out for myself in two weeks, but look forward to what you both experienced.
IMHO, men dressing in jeans and polo on formal night is just plain ignorant, disrespecting yourselves as well as all other guests. Not necessarily suit & tux, but at least shirt, pants & jacket.
HAL cruises before covid had a slightly more dressed up vibe for gala nights especially at the later seatings. One cruise there was a group of Japanese women wearing beautiful kimono. You would see the older couples in tuxes and formal dresses. It was great to see but at the same time you didn’t feel uncomfortable when you weren’t as dressed up! I love HAL!
We love Holland America for the itineraries and the quiet. We often are joking congratulated for being the youngest couple on the ship. Our only issue with HAL is sometimes a certain age demographic acts extraordinarily entitled and often complains about things that should be taken in stride but meh, it’s a small irritant. Otherwise, HAL for the itinerary win.
I had the same concerns and we went on the Koningsdam in 2016 with our son and were pleasantly surprised. I never understood why their price point is less than most of the others. The other thing I noticed is the specialty dining is less in price with quality much better than Royal Cariibean and NCL. We enjoyed it so that we are booked on the Rotterdam this June and happy to see the standards have remained.
We cruised through the North Sea on the Rotterdam last fall and loved it. We spent every evening at the BB King’s Jazz Club. Fabulous! Also the food and service were excellent as is always true on Holland America.
Now almost only go on HAL. Love them the best by far. They have “tea time” free every afternoon and the Orange party they have is awesome! Hope you went
I booked a HAL cruisetour of Alaska for 2024 and I can not wait! Could not resist that Have It All - Early Booking promotion during shoulder season ;) I'm excited for the Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali National Park my buddy is amped to see College Fjord in Prince William Sound. And we're both amp'd over experiencing TWO National Parks in one trip, Glacier Bay National Park and Denali National Park. Here's hoping we come back with two thumbs up.
We've done the HAL Alaska cruisetour, it is our favorite of 20 cruises. The land portion is a busy pace, but seeing the interior of Alaska was so worth the early morning wake ups.
Yep, and the pricing beat out Princess, RC, NCL , DCL and even Carnival( which we didn't really want but compared) for Alaska! All we've heard is how there's no activities and no families etc and so on. It was more affordable and offered covered swimming which actually was a want list for our group. The ports were top selection too.
We did the Alaska cruisetour several years ago - our first cruise. In addition to flying over Denali, our ferry cruise across Prince William Sound from Valdez to Whittier was our favorite part of the land tour. Then we boarded the Nieuw Amsterdam in Whittier for the inside passage to Vancouver and we were hooked on crusing and hooked on Holland America. In less than 2 weeks, we will board the Rotterdam for the Panama Canal - our 4th Holland America cruise. We love HAL & you will too!
The deck plans for any of the HAL ships do not show the men's and women's saunas, but they all have them nearby the spa. Only the Pinnacle class ships have the windows in the sauna however. There is also a relaxation room just down the hall with loungers and teas, juices, etc. Also don't forget to ask for the bread pudding with warm vanilla sauce at the dessert station in the buffet. So yummy. Newbies might not know that they have it since it is behind the server.
We just got off a 35 day cruise with HAL to Tahiti on board the Koningsdam. Great trip, but a lot of sea days. Agree about the Navigator App. One of the best finds is the fries from the Dive In Burger bar, which is located by the main pool. They have a coating that makes them crisp.
My husband will hate those fries. We will be doing our first with HAL this fall in the Med. we chose it for the itinerary and the fact that most cruise reviews were positive. I unfortunately have an Apple phone
Hello, my wife and I are loyal to Holland America Cruise Line. We have 20 cruises with them and are very close to becoming 5 star Mariners with them. We have done 10 Transatlantic crosses and 2 Transpacific crosses. We always try to only sail on the ships that have the B.B. King All Star Band be cause we are couple dancers. We enjoy the fitness area. The service on Holland America has always been supreme for us. The ages of cruisers does vary depending on where and how long the cruise. I heard the saying once that " The longer the Cruise the older the passenger" and makes sense, who else can cruise on long sailings. And the dress code has relax a lot. We like to dress stylish and usually better than most other cruisers but that's just us. I enjoyed this blog and agree with every thing that was said. Keep up the great work !
Jared, my 1st cruise was on HAL, and we love it. Another tip on the app, once on board you might need to redo the app to get the messaging to work, so make sure you know that password!!
I have cruised many times but only once with HAL for 5 days and thought it was great. I am looking at the 21 day Panama Canal cruise next year. Only hesitant as it is a long time and would be going solo. Anyone done something similar and would there be an extra charge for solo? Yvonne
We were on the Niuew Statendam the week after you for our first Holland America cruise. We weren't sure what to expect but really loved it. The food was very good and we thought our cabin was great too. The bed was more comfortable than most and the shower is large with great water pressure. The music venues are wonderful! We enjoyed the exc talks they do also. There was a wide variety of ages on our cruise. Their head entertainment person was a lot of fun! Really the only negative we had was the size of the hot tubs. Most only hold 2 people comfortably so it can be difficult to get one.
8we have travelled many lines Royal, Celebrity, Princess and HAL. We find that the Holland ships are just as exciting as the others. The only negative is that some of the entertainment post covid is not as good or not as often. We loved the BB King, and the Hall of Fame music areas we love the crew and if we were to not use a line again, it might beRoyal which is way to crowded.
The only way to beat the cruise ship is to use it for what it is! A hotel room with free food and juice Prepay the tips! Leave nothing as a tip, because guess what the crew gets a small per average of the paid tips! Give the tip to the individual !!!
GHASTLY commentary! So much gush and waffle! Even by American standards. I have not learned a single useful thing from this video. Except perhaps about the app problem. Please look at the videos made by Gary Bembridge. Such admirably restrained presentation yet full of useful cruising information.
Casino perk programs are a joke. Doesn’t matter which casino or type of casino that are all a ripoff. 3000 bucks in a machine to get a few free drinks. Not really much of an incentive is it?
We will be sailing for the first time on HAL Eurodam next April (2024) with Gary B. and the members' cruise. Being Disney Platinum (12 cruises), I was surprised at how "remarkably low" the cost was compared to DCL. When we received the quote from the TA at $3470, I thought that was the same as DCL per person 7-night verandah But, oh no, that was for both of us! Thanks for the tips.
@@JJCruise We could have a signature suite on HAL for the price we pay for family verandah on DCL. Pinnacle suite is cheaper than the Walt Disney suite on Dream. Crazy! QUESTION: is there a blog site for HAL like DISboards has for DCL?
We have been cruising with HAL since 2004 and we love it! We started in our 40’s and have watched HAL evolve. We have sailed with other cruise lines but keep coming back to them because of the overall experience has always been positive.
Late to the video, but thank you Jared. There was good information here I haven't gotten from other RU-vidrs. We are actually some of those older foolk that will be cruising on HAL to New England/Canada. We've been through the party years, and are now looking for a more relaxing cruise. But, I'm gald to hear there are activities for the younger cruisers as I want them to have the fun we had when we were their age.
Looking forward to my first cruise ever and we booked HAL for Alaska this year. I am a little nervous about it but I am feeling even more confident that we will enjoy it after watching your video. My 25yr old nephew thinks we need something like NCL or Celebrity, that I'm not old like other older people and we will be bored. lol! He's the sweetest. :) but he's never been on HAL. I told him that Glacier Bay is a must and HAL does it, so HAL to Alaska it is. My husband will love finding the dry sauna! That's a great tip! Also, there is 24 hour room service and that sounds lovely. Did you take advantage of the room service?
Hi Darlene! We did not do room service but we did enjoy the Main Dining Room food a lot! Celebrity would be a younger demographic, but you are correct in noting that Glacier Bay is only available through certain cruise lines (not including Celebrity). You will have a wonderful time in Alaska! Enjoy!
TIP 1:: book your cruise excursions early because they all sell out. TIP 2: You can step outside the ship and there are a multitude of places waiting for you to book an excursion with them on the spot and they are less than half the price of booking through the cruise line.
@@carolinebrown208 Yes, please learn from my ignorance. 1. It was my first cruise at 64. We went to Sydney Australia and one of the biggest icons is the Sydney opera house. One of the excursions was a tour of the Sydney Opera House. I knew nothing about shore excursions. About day 10 I remembered that I saw a big counter with shore excursions written above it. So, I went to enquire what this was all about. Then I tried to book myself and my travelling companion on a tour of the Opera house. And it had booked out right at the beginning of the cruise with 200 people on the waiting list. And I was on the Holland America cruise line which only had around 2000 people on it. So I went to Sydney, Australia and never saw the Opera House. And I'll probably never go again. Similarly, we travelled to Hobart Australia. The most famous thing about Hobart is this prison where 37 people were shot dead quite a few years ago. It had similarly booked out. So no shore excursion. 2. Toward the end of the cruise when I was a bit more educated, I stepped outside the ship, and this time I took notice of the line of men standing outside the ship, with their big boards, offering excursions for the day, and listing all the tourist places they will take you to. They have their mini buses there ready to go. I chose one and waiting 20 minutes until he had collected 12 people or whatever who had also walked off the cruise and filled up his bus, then off we went. They know when the cruise ship leaves so they make sure they get you back on time. It cost $80 for a 4 hour tour. By contrast, having missed out on the opera house tour, I booked an alternative CRUISE SHIP excursion. It was also 4 hours. A train trip to some country town. We got off and could look at a cafe, some art shop and something else that I dont remember. Then get back on the train and drive back. We were each given a sandwich and piece of fruit on the train. Like I said, it was also a 4 hour trip, but this SHORE EXCURSION cost $200. Moral of the story - if its something you really want to see that you dont think will be offered by a mini bus outside the ship, then book the cruise ship excursion early. If its general tourist attractions you want to see - then you can potentially get it a whole lot cheaper by choosing one on offer outside the ship when it docks. Plus I thought it was nicer travelling with a small group. There was a whole line of them lined up outside the ship at each port we stopped at. One last thing - bring some string or a portable clothes line and a bit of washing powder/liquid. There are no washing machines on a cruise ship. Instead we were given a tiny laundry bag that you put outside your door. And the BEST laundry deal was to pay $230 for a week's washing to be done. This is extra - not included in the price of the cruise. I would hang underwear on my make-shift clothes line and hang dresses on a coat hanger and hang it on hooks - there is probably at least one in your cabin. 4. Also, something I didnt know as a first timer, is that you will be billed around $15 per day extra for tips to the staff (its called gratuities). Its also not included in the price of the cruise. You suddenly just find its been taken out of your bank account. 5. If you get covid on board the ship (and cruise ships are a petri dish for covid, get to the doctor straight away. My partner got covid. They give you anti virals that will make you feel better very quickly, but you will be forced to isolate for 5 days. My partner then got 5 days credit off his next trip. And I was offered a separate cabin free of charge so I didnt catch his covid. I never got it. Better still, I had a covid shot about 12 days before sailing. Although I was in the room with him coughing all over me for a good 3 days before he went to the doctor, I never got it. A doctors visit, interestingly, isnt hugely over-inflated. I think my partner paid $70. 6. Oh, one more thing, I treated myself to a facial which cost more than if I wasnt on a cruise ship. $140. Then unexpectedly found there was a 20% sur charge that I never knew about. Also, I thought I would take advantage of a special offer that I found left on my bed. Then after I had the facial, I found out that the special offer only existed on port days (days where everyone is off the ship). 7. And one last thing - there will be lots of people wanting to take your photo. DONT LET THEM. You get charged just for letting them take your photo as you exit the ship to explore the port. You will also find this fee suddenly deducted from your credit card as well. So that was my education on cruising which, unfortunately, I learnt form all the mistakes I made.
Thank you! We will be on HAL in July doing Norway, looking very much forward to it. We are in our late 60's, travelling with our mid 30aged daughter and her partner.
Appreciate the insights Jared! All booked for our first cruise ever this July on Nieuw Statendam. Some of the tips you provided are definitely not promoted by the line and knowing them can only help us out. Thanks!
I went on holland America last November and was so disappointed. There was not entertainment, never a steak at dinner. At regular lunch and dinner you had to pay extra for several entrees. I hVE DONE MAMY MANY Cruises and never experienced this. Covid was just over but still. This was intolerable.
We are frequent cruisers and have just booked our first Holland America trip on the Rotterdam 12-Day Panama Canal Sunfarer for 25th of February 2024 sailing.
We never recommend gambling for free drinks, but if you are already gambling and reach that point level - it’s important you know what you get. (Also, playing through $3k doesn’t mean you lose $3k… some people may be down, some may be up and others will be close to even) ☺️
