The Crows Nest bar....the only place on the ship to sit quietly for a drink/specialty coffee and the only place to sit with a view forward....has been reserved (closed to the public) for a private Park West group (selling artwork). The Crows nest is one of the quiet venues for drinks and the specialty coffee area on the ship where you can sit and just look at the water or chat with folks.
We have cruised with groups on board many of our cruises on many cruise lines, but they haven't impacted us...their events are held in private areas or in a part of a larger area....in this case, HAL has blocked the entire room/area. This is a first...and unwelcome change. I think we all understand changes due to mechanical issues, weather, unreachable ports.....but this is just Holland America marketing prioritizing a group over their other 1800+ passengers and many many of us are 3,4,5 star frequent cruisers. Many passengers as well as the ship's officers and crew are unhappy about this new change and the officers are recommending that we voice our concerns to HAL HQ...because there's nothing they can do..it was a corporate decision.
Be very careful booking a Holland America cruise.....especially if you are going on a scenic cruise because you may find that the only place to view out the front of the ship is closed to you.
We have some future HAL cruises booked that include scenic cruising (Chilean fjords, etc) and we are thinking of moving those cruises to a different cruise line....due to this HQ decision to allow private groups to take over major areas during their peak use hours for the entire cruise.