Holland America Line - Who Is It For?

Holland America Line. Who it it for? Is Holland America Line just for old people? That seem's to be the most common question I have gotten after I cruised on the line. Old people do love Holland America Line and here are the reasons why.

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[jdjeep]

As an "old person" myself, I really like Holland America. when we do see kids, they tend to be very well behaved. Mostly, anyway. Holland America is a more traditional cruise experience. I like the size of the ships better than the floating resorts that some other cruise lines have. They are typically 1800-2800 ish passenger ships. They have great music, the itineraries are great, and they have presentations that very educational.

[infectdiseaseepidemiology]

I enjoy being on a *ship* (not a floating amusement park) with people who are genuinely interested in the destinations as well as the sea days.

[dalelobell]

As a Catholic, I appreciate Holland America because there is a priest on board and Mass is available every day. It's nice not to have to worry about finding a Church at an unfamiliar port. I also like the relaxed atmosphere, and no long waits for elevators. I've been on other cruise lines and I would put Holland in my top 2.

[dangerzone]

Quit telling everyone this, I don't want the secret to get out lol! We are among the youngest on HAL cruises but we love it. A calm, relaxed vibe and no issues and minimal kids. We don't need waterslides, go kart tracks, or rock walls. We just want to cruise and relax.

[brt]

I like "old people" cruises because I'm more interested in relaxing rather than sailing on an amusement park or with a "gone wild at Spring break" crowd. Haven't cruised with Holland America but I will be looking into booking with them.

[tiffanyi]

As a teenager I thought people in their 50’s and up were “old people”, but now that I’m 39 and my very youthful and handsome husband is 51, I can definitely say 50’s is not old Lol

[kryskay]

I can say ALL of this is totally on point! I'm in my mid 30's (hubs is in his early 40's) and can say HAL is our favorite cruise line thus far for all of these reasons, and more! I've cruised on Carnival, HAL, and just this month tried out MSC. I can say that HAL has given the BEST cruise experience and I would rather cruise HAL once a year than twice or more on MSC or Carnival. For context, our first HAL cruise was on the Eurodam in 2017 and it was just my husband and myself on a 7 day to Alaska and it was amazing. We loved it so much so we saved up and took my husbands parents to Alaska on the Oosterdam in 2019, along with our 11 month old son.

Here are the reasons we LOVE HAL, even in our 30's and 40's:

The food was amazing and the kitchen staff was very accommodating for requests. Even in the buffet there were wait staff walking around offering to refill drinks like tea, water, juice. On our second cruise we had our 11 month old and the staff noticed we liked to sit in a certain area of the buffet so they brought over a child seat to keep in 'our section' so it would be there for us when we needed it. Their welcome aboard lido lunch had prime rib and amazing food choices. Their complimentary make-to-order pizzas were amazing, and the make to order (or grab and go) salads were always fresh and perfect! The ice-cream and cookies were free flowing (major drawback on MSC was no complimentary ice cream or soft serve!!!). We could order main dining room food and have it delivered to our room, free of charge (at the time, could have changed?) My in-laws were able to eat their lobster and filet-mingon in their rooms, no questions asked. I wasn't a huge fan of the main dining set up, but one night I REALLY wanted that crème Brulé so we went to the dining room and just asked if we could have 2 and they brought them out to us on plates and let us take them to eat at the buffet lol

As for entertainment, I think this one is VERY much about personal preference. We are definitely more laid back, listen to music, and watch the beauty sail by kind of people. So for us HAL is the perfect fit! They have everything from rock, blues, dueling pianos, and my personal favorite was the Lincoln Center Stage String Quartet... The Quartet was doing modern covers, so it was like having Vitamin String Quartet concerts every day (IYKYK)! Their musicians are top tier, no doubt! We also enjoyed the cruise director talks about the ports we'd be seeing. If you love culture and history, you will LOVE this sort of thing! Plus the TV had great shows about the ports, along with NatGEO and stuff like that.

As for the kid-friendly vs kid-centric, you are 100% correct! We just did MSC with our 4 year old and while they had all the kid focused stuff, his favorite part of the cruise ship was dancing to the live music in the atrium LOL The performers love it because he love their set and gave a huge round of applause every song lol So I think if you're cruising as a family you have to know what your family likes. We did take our son one HAL when he was 11 months old, so he just hung out in the baby carrier the whole time BUT I will say the staff were amazing with him! They made sure we had everything we needed for him and were ALWAYS attentive to if we needed drink refills or anything so we wouldn't have to get him out of his chair and walk to the drink station at the buffet.

The HAL crew are probably the best crew I've ever had, and one of the kitchen staff on our 2019 cruise remembered us from our 2017 cruise! I can say, they made such an impression that I remember several of the staff names because they were that amazing!

Sorry for the long response, but I will shout from the rooftops about how amazing HAL is, all day every day!

[gdu]

When you yelled "Because they are about to die!" I spit out my coffee. Thank you Tony, I now have to clean my monitor....

[tobyhansen]

I’m that Grandma with a toy box. I love the fact that there aren’t a bunch of party animals, respectful people. I love how at night by the lido pool I’m the only one there with a drink watching the sun set. It’s so peaceful.

[Rohnski]

I'm 18. Family has taken us on many HAL cruises. Absolutely love them, always have. With HAL, it depends person to person, what do you want from your holiday? Everyone will answer different, which is completely ok. Lots of old people take HAL cruises but the kids facilities that I used when I still could were just as fun as the kids facilities I went to on Royal Caribbean ships or the like, just there were no waterslides to go to afterwards.

[neuronbob]

I started cruising HAL in my mid-40's. It's for people who like relaxation and education rather than constant partying.. Now I'im in my mid-50's and still cruising with them. HAL does longer itineraries and older people have time for those. I do their "shorter" (7 days) cruises, and have a 12-day Panama Canal cruise planned for next year.

[janicerae]

At 79 (49 with 30 yrs. experience), I've enjoyed many cruises on HAL ships, and excited for the next one next spring. All 5 of the reasons you discussed why "old people love HAL" could apply to why I've sailed exclusively with them. Thanks for another fun, but informative video, Tony! Happy cruising to you & Jenny!

[teams]

I think it all depends on the length of cruise. We are 71 and 62 and when we went on a 21 day cruise through the Panama Canal. We felt so much younger.

[jayhandson]

Your sense of humor definitely hits the sweet spot for me. I often genuinely lol during your videos. If laughter really is the best medicine than you are one of the best physicians on you tube!

[elainewickstead]

We have cruised Royal Caribbean, Princess, Norwegian and recently Holland America. For us HAL is definitely our favorite. Music Walk was fantastic and so was the whole cruise. Princess had far more old people on the sailing we did with them than our HAL cruise. Itinerary and length of cruise definitely affect the demographics on some cruises. Our experience on HAL was far superior to Princess and can’t wait to sail HAL again. Love your channel Tony!😊

[chrisscarfo]

Tony, this was a great video/ topic! I just turned 55 a couple days ago and I feel where you are coming from. I am not waiting around until I retire to see the world. I am starting now…actually June 9th to Alaska. My mom died when she was 54. She told me not to wait to do things..”Do things now” she said because I wasn’t able too. Also I think you are hysterical 😂

[barblynn]

My first cruise when I was 46 years old was on the Noordam in 1996. I took my teenage kids, age 12 and 15 on the Westerdam two years later for their first cruise. It was a wonderful experience and we all love cruising with Holland America.

[angelabrown]

Great review! The great thing is that a cruise is what you make it. Each person can choose the level of involvement that is comfortable for them. I'm an older adult but when I go on a cruise, I am all in. (My adult kids can't keep up.)🤣

[bvktwins]

Another reason is that you can count on the same wonderful service and familiar surroundings on any HAL ship, so you feel at home on any ship and we have sailed on many of their ships

[kaiyack]

I love HAL. Been with them since my parents took me aboard. All the older folks go to bed early and you get the whole ship to yourself. No crowds around the bars. Top decks deserted. As a kicker, HAL has 24/7 free room food service. Loyalty program has some great perks when you get up past level 2.