Recently I asked viewers like you of the channel what they thought of Holland America, and
I was surprised at the strength of the negative views that came back, so I decided that I
should explore the three biggest and consistent criticisms of Holland America to see if they
were valid.
I’ve been on a number of Holland America trips but to see if and how things had changed,
I booked myself on a 11-night Nieuw Statendam cruise to specifically explore those three
pressing issues.
I was surprised by what I found, as things had changed in ways I had not expected.
And, as you’ll discover there was an unexpected fall out from my trip.
If you're new here, welcome aboard.
I'm Gary Bembridge, and it's my goal to make it fun and easy to discover, plan and enjoy
unforgettable cruise vacations.
The first key criticism, or observation, that people had about Holland America was that
it's for old people.
Now of course what is old depends on your definition of what is old, and that is changing.
I'm 62 years old.
I don't see myself as old and I like popular music, technology, and am active and adventurous.
I read an article in a newspaper the other day that noted that in the 1980s Golden Girls
TV show, they were in their 50s.
Compare that to the reboot of Sex in the City, where those women are also in their 50s.
The definition and behaviors of so-called old people has changed a lot.
However, there is a reality about Holland America that needs to be considered.
Holland America is definitely a classic and traditional cruise line.
They don't have resort ships with waterparks, rock climbing walls, ice rinks and video game
arcades.
They have more sober style cruise ships with familiar and long-standing cruise ship features
and facilities like restaurants, bars, theatre, spa, and pools.
The daily program probably hasn't changed that much over the last couple of decades.
It's structured around enrichment, quizzes, dancing, live music, dining, bingo, and production
shows.
Their focus is on a more, I guess genteel and sophisticated, rather than party schedule.
Holland America is a mid- to large-ship premium line, which means it competes with lines like
Celebrity, Cunard, and Princess in terms of pricing.
It’s not as inexpensive overall as a resort lines like Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian
and MSC Cruises.
Nor is it as costly as ultra-luxury lines like Seabourn, Silversea and Regent Seven
Sea.
It also is less expensive than the smaller ship premium to luxury lines like Windstar,
Azamara and Oceania.
So that combination of ship style, daily program and pricing is going to attract a certain
type of cruiser.
Holland America therefor attracts people who like classic, traditional, and laid-back type
of cruising, and want to avoid a more energetic party resort atmosphere.
Another thing that's important to note is Holland America itineraries, in my view, also
strongly affects the kind of people travelling on Holland America.
While they cover crowd-pleasing and popular sun and sea regions like the Caribbean and
the Mediterranean, they focus more on destinations that are high on unique landscapes, culture,
history, art and culture and appeal to travellers looking for more of a destination experience.
For example, they are the longest operating cruise line in Alaska.
They've been there for over 75 years.
Even when they go to the Mediterranean, they tend to focus a lot on ports that have cultural,
historic connections and their excursions reflect that.
They cover the Baltics, South America, and skirt Antarctica.
They also do world voyages, taking travellers to exotic parts of the world.
The bulk of their destination itineraries are going to appeal to travellers interested
very much in the destination, the places that it's going and what they can do their rather
than the ship and resort experience.
It's about going places.
So, in my view, the reality is they are going to attract that type of cruiser.
That group tend to be a bit more, shall we say, mature.
A combination of wanting those itineraries, with that sort of pricing, and a more laid-back
rather than party and resort onboard experience.
Though, the reality is that things are on board and changing.
For example, on their newer Pinnacle Class ships, which includes the Koningsdam, Nieuw
Statendam and the Rotterdam, they have, as they do on all their ships, the “Club HAL”
kids clubs, but these are ramped up and much bigger, catering for kids from very early
ages through to teens.
They also now have family rooms on board these new ships.
They cater more for families, particularly for destinations like the Caribbean and the
Mediterranean during school holiday time.
This means more multi-generational groups and families are starting to appear on board
at these times.
They're also focused more than ever on solo travellers.
Although they have limited amounts of solo cabins on the newer ships, they do cater across
all ships with programs for solo travellers.
Those solo travellers are tending to be a little bit mature, due to the Holland America
mix.
Despite these moves, Holland America does still offer travellers cruises where they
can be fairly sure there will be no or relatively few kids on board most of the time.
Harping back to my point about people demographically being more mature or on the older side, they
do act and behave very differently, and that's changing fast over the last few years comparing
my experiences on board.
To cruise on Holland America, you need to be pretty sharp with technology.
The Navigator smartphone app has become fundamental to the cruise.
You use it to check in, it has the daily program on, you book and manage shore excursions,
dining reservations, review statement and so on.
You can manage without it, but most used it.
I had many people coming to say they watch my YouTube videos.
Showing people coming on board Holland America are tech savvy and confident.
So, it's definitely evolving.
Holland America is I could argue for people who are a little bit on the older side, but
I think it’s more about what they offer and that appeals to anyone who seeks what
they offer.
But does that mean it's fuddy-duddy and boring, as that was the second big criticism that
people had.
Is that true?
I have seen some significant changes over the last couple of years on Holland America
and certainly on the Pinnacle Class ships more so.
Let me talk about some of those.
First of all, probably the biggest change is the Music Walk.
This is a big innovation and changed this on board a lot.
The Music Walk consists of a series of themed and partnership music venues close to each
other on one deck, which is Deck 2 on the Pinnacle Class ships.
There is Lincoln Centre Stage, offering live classical music, in partnership with the Lincoln
Centre New York.
There’s Billboard on Board, with two pianists playing themed dueling piano sets, in partnership
with Billboard.
Then there is the Rolling Stone Rock Room on the Pinnacle Class ships, with partnership
with the magazine, again playing rock music.
Probably the most popular is B.B.
King's Blues Club, again in partnership with the famous B.B.
King's organization with an eight-piece band.
Finally, there is the now high-tech World Stage, which is the main theatre, which focuses
on music and dance.
If you are into music Holland America definitely isn't boring as there's a constant and diverse
range of live music right throughout the evening.
The other thing that I think has shifted to become trendier is the decor.
While the decor is still fairly classic, many people called out and remarked that the artwork
has changed significantly on Holland America.
It's now quirkier and more unusual.
For example, on Nieuw Statendam it's music themed, with some pretty innovative, unusual,
and definitely not boring and stuffy artwork.
They're also reinventing some of the classic parts of the program.
For example, their “Port to Table” cooking demonstrations, are now a multimedia experience
instead of just a chef basically standing in front of you chatting away, which you see
on other cruise lines.
The Enrichment talks have also gone that way with big screens and multimedia.
Although the program is traditional, it is shifting and becoming far from boring and
standard.
And probably most important of all though, it's not boring because of the destinations.
If you're going on board Holland America, you're going to pretty interesting and exciting
destinations with excursions which tend to explore culture, history, and cuisine, as
I already mentioned.
That definitely is not boring.
However, there was another big criticism that is fundamental to a cruise that people did
criticise Holland America about.
I've spoken to many people on the cruise about it, and they agree with me this is one key
area that has changed.
Past travellers told me that while Holland America had great food some years back, in
recent years they felt it had really become weaker and versus some of the other lines
was not as good.
On the trip, all the travellers I spoke to spontaneously commented on was the food too.
They all noticed things had changed.
But how?
First let me tell you what I experienced and then why this happened.
Let’s take a look at what I experienced, starting with one of the areas that can be
pretty average on many ships, and that's the buffet, the Lido Market on Holland America.
They have changed the Lido significant.
The big plus on Holland America is even pre-pandemic they had largely served all dishes and now
it's entirely served by crew.
But even more significantly is they've done a revamp, and they now have specific and themed
stations.
They have a series of nine different stations, which include “Distant Lands” (dishes
from regions of the world like Asia), “Roasting Pan” (classic cuts of meat like beef joints),
“Wild Harvest” (salad bar), “Sweet Spot” (deserts and other sweet treats), “Breadboard”
(sandwiches) and “Rise” (the baked goods).
The latter I saw a dramatic change in the range and quality of their pastries.
I ate in the Lido much more than usual, especially compared to their closest premium competitors
as think this area is much improved.
The main dining room they've revamped design wise, and it looks pretty impressive.
Again, although possibly the menu is slightly smaller, the quality has definitely improved.
An area they have ramped up a lot is specialty dining.
There is Pinnacle Grill, their steakhouse, which is probably their most famous one.
It's not my particular favourite but most people seem to love it.
My favourite is Tamarind, which is their Asian fusion restaurant, which I think is pretty
unique.
The food there is outstanding.
They also have the Nami sushi restaurant, which is within Tamarind.
This is excellent.
They have also spun out Rudi's Sel de Mer on the Pinnacle Class ships.
Rudi's Sel de Mer is named after the celebrity chef Rudi Sodamin who designed the menu.
On the older ships it runs as one night within Pinnacle Grill, but on the newer ships it
is a standalone restaurant.
It has incredible seafood.
Canaletto is their Italian restaurant, which from a venue perspective it's not great because
it's within the Lido Market restaurant in a dedicated area, but the food is outstanding.
Then of course you have some of the other included informal dining, like their New York
Deli and Pizza and the very popular Dive-In Burger, which is a big hit.
The other key thing they do, is something I'm so obsessed with, is afternoon tea.
On Holland America it is definitely one of the better afternoon teas at sea, and I would
rate it as one of the highest up there with things like Viking and Cunard.
Everyone I spoke to agreed that the quality of food has improved.
But how and why?
They formed a 7-person Culinary Council of famous chefs who own leading restaurants,
which is chaired by Rudi Sodamin, and they have reviewed, designed, and monitor the menus
and dishes across the fleet.
In my view, this has definitely made a difference.
I was so impressed with my Holland America trip and the changes that whilst on board
I convinced my partner, who had been on Holland America previously and had been ambivalent,
that he should give them another chance.
So, whilst on board I booked a Koningsdam Mexican Riviera cruise, as I want my partner
to experience the improved Holland America.
It's not old, it's not boring, and doesn't have lousy food.
If you want to know a little bit more about Holland America and the ship I cruised, watch
this video where I tour and review the ship, including some other changes that may surprise
you that I did not mention here