The Top 6 Things We Like & 3 Things We'd Change on Holland America

We have returned from our sixth Holland America Cruise and have now done 42 days of cruising four different Holland America ships. We want to let you know what impressed us and things that were odd. We issued a similar video in 2022, but there are some changes to the likes and dislikes.

▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
0:00 - Our Holland America experiences
1:19 - The Ship
3:08 - Staterooms
5:45 - Food
7:55 - The Price
9:53 - Staff & Service
11:24 - Fleet & Destinations
13:17 - World Stage Theatre Shows
15:18 - Venue Layout & Use
18:18 - Children
20:21 - We Love HAL
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Hi, we are Jill and Jerry, and we invite you to subscribe to our channel.
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[gisellemeneses]

You’ve given given very useful information that other YouTube cruise channels haven’t, such as not having enough seats at the music venues, HAL doesn’t have “shows” in the main theatre, and no adult area/pool. Thank you so much!!

[johnnolan]

Please Holland America! Stay a more focused adult oriented cruise line! I want a quiet swim, a relaxing hot tub retreat, a children-free environment. Sorry if that offends people, but it's why I choose this line in the first place. There is nothing wrong with having a cruise line dedicated to adults. And I love those chocolate eclairs!

[GregClementi]

It’s so refreshing to see a cruise staff that is so friendly and helpful. Such a departure from what we experience at home in our everyday lives.

[chadandmatthewcruise]

In our short cruising career, HAL has quickly become our favorite for all the reasons you mention! Even doing the Have It All package and adding Club Orange, we feel like the value on HAL is still far beyond what we find on other lines. We hesitate to say that too loudly, though, because we don’t want to see a rush on HAL cruises! We love how generally calm they are.

I guess we know we’ve found our cruise line, because we really love what they do on the World Stage, too. We’re personally not too big on cruise line production shows, and we really enjoy the EXC talks, the BBC Planet Earth show, and the dance company. So it works for us, but we can see where if you like the big shows it might not have as much appeal.

Enjoyed hearing your perspectives!

[firesunearthmoon]

The big ships= lines, noise & rude passengers for me. I’m gladly researching HAL for our next voyage! Thanks for sharing!

[PupsMom]

We found the bed in our balcony cabin was a bit too hard for us. When leaving our cabin for breakfast on day 2, we didn't see our cabin stewards, but we saw one halfway down the hallway. We asked if he could ask our stewards to put a topper on our mattress and were happily surprised later when we realized it had been done! The service on board was excellent, so we tipped extra to the stewards and bar crew.😊

[dougkeirnes]

My wife and I are 4-star on HAL and I agree with everything you said. Good job

[tedmeberg]

Really looking forward to the Lincoln Center. Please bring back a Classical Music option.

[LoriLopes-rn]

Very helpful I’m actually glad in a way they don’t cater to children it’s nice to have a cruise line without a million children in a pool and not getting out to use the restroom, working adults need a stress free vacation this is a big yes for me I will definitely book with this cruise line THANK YOU

[jackredmond]

Good job on the analysis and the pros and cons. Here are two more things we wish HAL would consider changing… 1) They include water bottles in their count toward max beverages for their drink package. That doesn’t work for my wife - she would hit the max with water and not have any left for a glass of wine in the evening. 2) They don’t honor the beverage package on their private island - not a problem cruising to Alaska, but kind of an issue when cruising to the Caribbean and you pay per day for the package and really miss most of the day when visiting their private island. All of this is kind of petty, but we prefer Princess and these are just two of the reasons. Thanks again for sharing your HAL Alaska experience - we really enjoyed it.

[mthelouvre]

Thank you for your time in letting us know more about this line!!

[d.matthews]

I travelled once with Holland America on the Alaska 7 Day cruise which I really enjoyed. I’m not completely sure of the name of the ship but I think it was the Amsterdam. My friend and I were really impressed with the size and layout of the stateroom, which was not a more upscale stateroom, but did have a large porthole. What we both loved was the extra sitting area, the good sized bathroom with a tub/shower combination (really perfect for us), the plentiful storage, and the fact that we could move around the stateroom without bumping in to each other. We never felt cramped in our cabin. Also, our travel agent had advised us to get a stateroom situated amidships and on a lower deck, a very wise and quieter choice for us as first time cruisers. I enjoyed the food, the movies, the shows and the afternoon presentations. Compare this experience to Princess where another friend (who always cruised with this line) and I ended up in a very small, cramped, inside cabin, with an extremely small bathroom, no tub just a shower, the minimum of storage. Oh man, such a disappointment. Also my fault to a degree because I left the stateroom choice up to her. Big mistake. When I told about how spacious our stateroom on Holland America was, she was disbelieving until I showed her some photos from their website, then she was shocked. On Princess, the food was fine, the entertainment was very enjoyable, the trips were okay. My next cruise will definitely be Holland America because I also don’t like being on massive ships like the Princess ship we were on and I felt that Holland America, like you stated, is a little classier, a little more elegant, and I felt more comfortable on that cruise. It’s so nice to hear information and perspectives from my fellow Canadians! Thank you! 🇨🇦🥰👍🏻

[alanjames]

My first impression of Eurodam was sailing away from Seattle and the aft pool area was labeled as adults only. The hottubs were full of children eating pizza. I spoke to a crewman and got a shoulder shrug. This is obviously a problem HAL needs to address as I’m thinking they just gave up trying. I always say it’s not the children I have a problem with, it’s their parents!

[LindaRUDYK]

Great review. We would agree with your comments. Both positive and other.
4 star Hal mariners.

[tomhart]

Thank you for the review. My wife and I are going to create a drinking game for each time you say for sure.

Enjoy your blogs as Holland America is our preferred cruise line, having done 4 cruises(our 5th cancelled through Covid). We are an Australian couple, Sailing to Alaska on Koningsdam in April and found your opinions very informative. Think HAL dropping many features that made it memorable. Hope they listen to your very valid opinions.

[JandB-TCB]

We just got off the Koningsdam September 2 2023. Our favorite cruise line is Celebrity but thought it has been awhile since we cruised on HAL and we thoroughly loved it. Your comments were spot on. We also enjoyed the presentations by the cruise director and the naturalist onboard regarding Alaska and HAL. Have to disagree with you about having an inside cabin though, especially for first time Alaska cruisers. Waking up in the morning and seeing your first iceberg or just waking up to the magnificent scenery is worth the price of a balcony; the sunrises can be spectacular too. Great for watching the Glaciers in Glacier Bay without the crowds (just remember to go on deck for the pea soup and the Alaskan Gluhwein at the Crows Nest).

[beachbasket]

There are plenty of cruise lines that offer the amusement park and water park atmospheres. We’ve actually asked several
couples with children how they decided on Holland America. Many want their children to learn to relax and still have fun on a cruise vacation. They also, mentioned that they want their children close by and not running around the ship unattended. Some have mentioned that they want their children to spend time with them creating family memories, playing board games and having meals together in the atmosphere of a “nice restaurant.” Some have been on other cruise lines with the things you have mentioned and said they felt like it was a hectic, a non relaxing atmosphere.

[mimikarenbryant]

We agree with your thoughts on HAL! The first thing I think about is they should choose a larger space for the Orange Party. HAL has been offering incentives for 3rd and 4th person in room for more than 15 years. We took our teen son as 3rd person in room which at that time was $99 at the time. He was not bored but he was good at entertaining himself, like reading. On our 9 HAL cruises with Hal, there were 20 youth at the most. I agree a designated space for kids/teens would be beneficial, especially now that more families are choosing to cruise with HAL. Also, as with other ships having issues with the adult only pools being invaded by kids, it should NOT be tolerated!

[susandelay]

Thank you for your helpful video. I just booked my first HAL cruise and can't wait. I've cruise Princess, RCCL and Carnival and all were good, but HAL seems to align with me and my lifestyle. Would love to know about their fitness center and spa!