Anyone ever tried Holland America?

[Presto2]

Just curious how Holland America compares to P&O. Hadn't really thought of looking at their cruises much recently but have read that their prices are not too bad.

Have just had a look at a clip on YouTube about the cruise line and in some ways lots of elements of it seem to suit us.

Just wondering

 

Have just posted this on the Celebrity site too as a comparison with both would be helpful.

 

(P.S. we have to sail in the school holidays so that will make a difference to the overall cruise experience !)

 

Thanks

Edited February 23, 2019 by Presto2

[I_r_a]

Hi P,

 

My wife and I have travelled on The Oosterdam, The Rotterdam and The Westerdam.

 

We shall be on The Noordam in April.

 

We were recently on The Aurora.

 

The food is better on HAL.

 

The drinks are better on P&O.

 

Everything else is a tie.

 

Enjoy your adventure.

 

Ira

 

 

[2aran]

We have cruised on P&O Aurora and Britannia - two very different ships in that Aurora is quite old with Britannia being the newer much bigger ship. Enjoyed both with the convenience of boarding in Southampton for a repositioning cruise to the Caribbean on the Britannia.

In comparison our last cruises have been on HAL Koningsdam twice which is a fairly new ship and we are just back from cruising on an older ship - the  Maasdam which is favoured by an older generation of cruisers. We have had to fly to join the HAL ships at various destinations since they rarely Visit U.K. ports. THe Koningsdam is a beautiful new ship and the food on all HAL ships is excellent. We particularly enjoyed a cruise around the Dalmatian Coast and Greek Islands boarding the Koningsdam at Civitavecchia, the port for Rome.

If you choose to cross the Atlantic then most Caribbean HAL cruises leave from Fort Lauderdale. I feel this is a bit too far north for us Brits as it takes 2 sea days to reach your first island then 2 sea days to get back there for your flight home.  Also we had to fly Manchester via Philadelphia to get to F.L. We shall not do that again. We boarded the Maasdam in Singapore this January for an in-depth EXC cruise to some new destinations in Malaysia, Sri Lanka and two islands in the Maldives.

We have found the staff helpful and courteous with particular attention to diet requirements at all the eateries on board. Happy sailing. 

[Bedruthen]

We have been on Niuew Amsterdam, round trip from Venice. We would choose HAL over P&O any day if they sailed from Southampton. We found the food to be much better and the service on board was outstanding. The age profile was more Oriana than Briattania. We had a problem with our cabin onboard, which was sorted to our satisfaction and were surprised to then see that our onboard account had been credited with $300 for the inconvenience,  which we hadn’t requested or expected. Later in the cruise we bumped in to the hotel manager, who insisted on taking us for a drink and asking us if everything was satisfactory, which it was. When you receive outstanding customer service, it does stay with you.

[jimgri]

My wife and I have sailed on both lines. Generally speaking, I think HAL is superior to P&O as a cruise line. Food is much better (although this is always a matter of personal taste) but service is about the same. Some of the older ships, eg Amsterdam, are a bit shabby with somewhat gaudy decor. Koningsdam is one of the nicest ships we have sailed on and more like Celebrity style-wise. I assume Nieuw Statendam will be very similar.

[Presto2]

Many thanks for the info so fare everyone. I think it is definitely something that we would like to review as an option.

We are happy to go on a quieter ship as it tends to be the itinerary that draws us, good food, lots of places for a quiet drink and no flow riders, climbing walls etc etc etc. We also like a nice prom. deck and the occasional formal night.