Holland America Cruising Experience

[NewPennCruiser]

Me and my partner are regulars on Princess and we’re considering a cruise on the Zuiderdam next year and we were curious as to what some of you think about the Holland America experience vs other lines.

There is a certain reputation that follows Holland America and while we aren’t youngsters (46 and 61 respectively) and we aren’t out partying until all hours of the night, we do enjoy diverse entertainment and being around a mixed group of people. Holland America seems to be doing what it can to appeal to a wider and younger demographic and they certainly aren’t shy about chartering their ships to RSVP, Olivia, etc. for gay cruises. However I’m just really curious to hear from any others out there that have recently cruised on one of their ships for a mainstream cruise; what was it like?

We really like the itinerary of their Panama Canal trip better then what Princess offers in a 10 day round trip and we’ve often thought we would enjoy Holland America despite its reputation. We’re also excited to see they have opened up and broadened their dining options, getting away from the “traditional dining” experience that we really aren’t fans of. Princess itself tends to have a reputation of appealing to an older crowd (vs Carnival) and we can attest to the fact that the reputation is often justified, but not always. Our recent cruise on the Emerald was a lot younger then we have seen on past cruises, yet the relaxed and comfortable feel that we always seem to get from Princess was still there. Also, as a gay couple, we have always felt comfortable on Princess and have always been treated well. From the way they hold frequent GLBT meetings to the way they treat you as any other couple for pictures, etc. I would expect the same from Holland America, at least from what I have read in the past.

Anyway, we haven’t made a final decision yet and are looking at various options so I thought I would throw this out there and see what feedback you might have.

Thanks.

Dave

[Harry Cane]

We've been on HAL twice and both times we've had an excellent experience. In fact, prior to my just completed Solstice cruise, I would have said they eked out first place in our experiences.

 

Yes, they do have a reputation for attracting an older crowd, and maybe that's true. But you do see a pretty varied demographic. As luck would have it, both times we had excellent dinner table companions. On one, we even hung out together on ports, even though my partner and I were the only gay couple.

 

One other thing, the HAL private island, Half Moon Cay, is my favorite. I always look forward to that day. The best beaches of any of the private stops.

 

As I recall, they were also pretty gay-friendly, with FODs a regular event.

[Darrell6t]

The 10 day cruises attract an older crowd than the 7 day cruises. And if the cruise is not during any holiday, even moreso. My partner & I are a wee bit older than either of you and we really like HAL for the friendliness and the food and the size of the cabins. But the passengers tend towards the older crowd, for sure, on many of their itineraries. We have friends who just came back from that cruise and remarked about the infirm and the obese passengers. And they are older than we are. But they loved the itinerary.

[NewPennCruiser]

I certainly agree that length of cruise, time of year and itinerary can make a big difference with the passenger demographic on all cruise lines. We did the Princess 12 day New Zealand/Aus cruise a while back and I threw off the age curve tremendously. :) Then again on a recent southern Carribean cruise on the Emerald, it was a much younger crowd. Not a lot of kids but a lot of 30somethings and around that age. A lot more lively then the usual Princess demographic. Thanks for your comments and feedback and it certainly reaffirms our thoughts toward trying Holland America. We've heard great things about the service, food and rooms so it's something we'll probably try out... especially for the right itinerary.

 

Dave

[HALFans]

We just got off the Ryndam 10 Day Sea of Cortez the day before yesterday.

 

There were 2 FOD gatherings - 1 the first Sea Day attended only by my partner and myself.

 

The 2nd was the last Sea Day, and there were a grand total of 5 attendees.

 

The As You Wish dining was a bust for us, because by the time the Daily Listings came out to plan our day, the only times available for a table for 2 (our preference) were 5:00 and 5:15. Showtimes are at 7 and 9. We're not ready for bed at 8:00 just yet!

 

We've been treated by the crew (with the exception of one bad Cruise Director), staff and other passengers very well and have no complaints there.

 

In addition to the great staff/crew etc. the Holland America ships are very nice. The staterooms are comfortable and well appointed. Pre-dinner appetizers in public lounges are an elegant touch.

 

That being said, this was our 7th consecutive Holland America cruise and we're ready to try a new cruise line for several reasons:

 

1) As You Wish Dining/Show Times combination doesn't work for us.

2) Dismal GLBT attendance at the FOD gatherings

3) Entertainment so-so quality

4) Limited shipboard activities of interest to us (when they're not all scheduled at the same time :eek:)

5) Exterior windows on the Crow's Nest and Lido areas are filthy. (Last 2 cruises - 25 days)

 

Over all, this last cruise just wasn't what we've come to expect from Holland America. Tiny little 'picky things' like no more Logo chocolates, swizzle sticks, no more dinner chimes, etc. in addition to the above list made it all just too much for us. :(

[nckvilledudes]

Hi,

We did our first HAL cruise last Nov. on the Eurodam. It was wonderful. From the start to the finish every thing was topnotch. We are in our mid 50's btw. If we cruise again this year it will be on Holland America. The service, the food and the cabin won us over. We were kinda worried about the posts of older on HAL but that will never be a factor in our future bookings with them. The service and the little touches of the friendly staff meant the most to us and made our vacation a wonderful time. Go and enjoy. We may try other lines but HAL will be our first choice.

Dan and Miguel

[Cornus]

Just FYI...the Veendam will be sailing to Bermuda out of NYC from April thru Oct. in 2010. We've never been on an HAL cruise either and hope to take one of these next year. This is really convenient for us since we live less than an hour from the pier.

[Darrell6t]

On the RSVP cruise on the Eurodam we had dinner chimes, HAL chocolates on the bed each evening and swizzle sticks. And I have never been on any cruise with 5:00 dinner times. I am really surprised to read all that.

[NewPennCruiser]

Interesting that the Bermuda cruise was brought up because we were also considering that out of New York on the Veendam in 2010 as well. Our only consideration on that was that the ship is older and we were wondering if the Vista ships were any different on service or activities that are offered. Maybe we'll just have to try out both. :)

[HALFans]

Interesting that the Bermuda cruise was brought up because we were also considering that out of New York on the Veendam in 2010 as well. Our only consideration on that was that the ship is older and we were wondering if the Vista ships were any different on service or activities that are offered. Maybe we'll just have to try out both. :)

 

The Veendam will be fresh out of an extensive dry dock this year. As part of the dry dock all staterooms will be fitted with new 'soft goods' (curtains, carpets, upholstery, etc.). The bathrooms will have major remodeling so should look close to new.

 

The larger Vista ships offer more entertainment venues and attract a younger crowd.

 

By all means, do try both if you can!

[faymuiheng]

I do have to admit, that there is an elegance to HAL that we don't see on the Princess or NCL. This goes from the atmosphere in the regular dining room to the way they do their afternoon teas, to even their use of china in the diningrooms.

 

We're quiet people, and the quieter the crowd , the better.....:p

[Gator83]

I have been on both Princess and HAL and if you like Princess I think you will definitely like HAL. There are a few things that I actually like better on HAL: fresh OJ in the morning, the staff on the one HAL cruise I went on was much friendlier than on my Princess cruises, I love the freshly made sandwiches at the buffert for lunch, chocolate candies in the one of the lounges after dinner, etc.

 

If you like the HAL Panama Canal trip better than Princess' I would definitely say go with HAL. I will continue to use both cruiselines in the future.

[BHMike]

That being said, this was our 7th consecutive Holland America cruise and we're ready to try a new cruise line for several reasons:

 

1) As You Wish Dining/Show Times combination doesn't work for us.

2) Dismal GLBT attendance at the FOD gatherings

3) Entertainment so-so quality

4) Limited shipboard activities of interest to us (when they're not all scheduled at the same time :eek:)

5) Exterior windows on the Crow's Nest and Lido areas are filthy. (Last 2 cruises - 25 days)

 

Over all, this last cruise just wasn't what we've come to expect from Holland America. Tiny little 'picky things' like no more Logo chocolates, swizzle sticks, no more dinner chimes, etc. in addition to the above list made it all just too much for us. :(

 

Will you be changing your screen name? ;)

[HALFans]

Will you be changing your screen name? ;)

 

hehehe. I'm still a fan of HAL, just somewhat disenchanted with the current HAL experience.

 

They still offer a very nice experience at a terrific value - it's just not what it was a year ago. :(

 

When/if Holland America polishes off the tarnish, I'll be back to admire the bright & shiny experience once again! :D

[RoninBear]

My partner and I are very, very long time fans of cruising HAL ships.

If you are interested we sail several times a year, depending on his work schedule and $$ of course. Would love to meet everyone and get a group together. Sorry to hear your experience on you HAL cruise was dismal, but you know, it could have been on any ship, we know. Nothing but a fine experience for us. We try various cruise lines, but keep coming back to HAL for some reason.

 

Best to all,

 

Ron:D

[winemama]

my partner (wife) and i have cruised with HAL 4 times working on our 5th and have never had a problem with anyone...everyone was nice..we have always found 2-3 other gay couples on the ship (gaydar works no matter how old you are) and had some nice evenings...i am to the point in my life where i don't care what other people think...we don't do PDA except hold hands...in fact on all our cruises we have never had a problem..

[HALFans]

My partner and I are very, very long time fans of cruising HAL ships.

If you are interested we sail several times a year, depending on his work schedule and $$ of course. Would love to meet everyone and get a group together.

 

We can do another 7 day this year - thinking Alaska in late Aug/Sep when it's 110+ daily here. But that's not set in stone! ;)

 

Next year isn't even in the 'dreaming' stage for us yet... would love to do a Trans-Atlantic.

[JessWright]

I am a devoted fan of the Holland America Line. I sail about twice a year and usually as a single. I enjoyed both my trip to Alaska last Spring and the 10-day cruise in December to the Caribbean that included the Panama Canal. I am looking forward to my 9th cruise with Hal in about 3 weeks. It is the 10-day Mexican Riviera cruise that includes the Sea of Cortez. I have taken that route about 3 times before, love it, and hope to see whales on this trip and other marine life on this cruise. Upon my return, I hope to join friends on a 7-day cruise back to the Caribbean in Nov. which includes Key West and Guatemala. Just being at sea is primary; ports are secondary, and I invariable meet fun people. Sometimes I join others for dinner in the dinning room, otherwise I have dinner in the Lido. The Lido staff has been fun and very accommodating. I never feel alone. Plus, I have learned not to carry as much clothing as I used to and I don't worry about a suit if I eat in the Lido on formal nights. Needless to say, I have the best time on all the ships, and urge you to give it a try. :)

[JaiOfChi]

Hi There,

 

My partner and I have sailed on the Zuiderdam and the Westerdam and both times we found a group of gay men to hang around with. We never felt uncomfortable anywhere on either ship. The crew were exceptionally courteous to us and the rest of the passengers were fine. We have a 10 night sailing on Celebrity's Equinox coming up in January and I'm looking forward to comparing Celebrity's level of gay-friendliness to HAL's. I highly recommend HAL for not only gay-friendly cruising, but for an overall excellent cruising experience. Have fun!

[beyerfred]

I've sailed HAL a couple times, once on the Zuiderdam, once on the Westerdam. The Zuiderdam tends to attract a younger crowd. There were a lot of gay guys on our Zuiderdam cruise, but very few on the Westerday. In fact, there was a huge Christian group on that cruise, very sedate, and boring. While we enjoyed both cruises on HAL, we prefer Celebrity which, in our opinion, seems more contemporary, younger crowd, crew from all of over the world, and has better food. Enjoy!

[PoseidonGodoftheSea]

Hi There,

 

My partner and I have sailed on the Zuiderdam and the Westerdam and both times we found a group of gay men to hang around with.

 

I wish I knew where it was that everybody hung out at. On my last HAL cruise to the Mexican Riviera on Oosterdam I watched from a distance to see if anyone showed up for the FOD meeting and there was one guy who seemed oblivious who I am sure did not read the program for the day or did and had no idea what FOD meant. When I did approach the bar, two women arrived at the same time asking if I was there for the FBW meeting, they were completely in the wrong bar. It was disappointing because I know there were other gay couples on the ship that I had seen in passing.

 

Did HAL really discontinue the logo chocolates? And what do they have in place? I know times are tuff, but it'd be pretty cheap of a premium cruise line to eliminate what has become a universal expectation with turndown service.

[tycruiser]

Last October my friend and I, both gay men in our 50s, did a Black Sea cruise on the Prinsendam out of Rome. It was the worse cruise I have ever been on in my 20 years of cruising. We tried to overlook some things but it was hard. My friend booked the trip with the open dining option, but, like the another post, we could never seem to get anything but 5 or 5:15 and found ourselves in an empty dining room. Later in the cruise I insisted on a 6:30 time and they gave it to me. The first 3 nights they gave us a pager and we waiting in the hall for 30-45 minutes. The food and dining room service was the poorest ever. About being gay...well.....we were not happy with the comedian and cruise director who repeatedly told crude homophobic jokes. I complained to both of them in person but they continued it at future shows. I wrote to HollAm but they blew me off with a $100 credit on my next cruise with them. We found the crew surly. Also at the FOD meeting 5 people showed up. There was a fire on board at 1:30 am and we ran to our muster station when the sounding went off. No crew showed...just a bunch of passengers and then a loud speaker notice telling us of a electrical fire in the kitchen and to return to our cabins. No crew ever showed up....(I approached the captain on this) All the pies and cakes were brought on board frozen. I could go on and on. I ended up befriending the male dancers who complained about their choreograhy that was a cross between vaudville and Lawrence Welk. At least I got to enjoy a gym usually all to myself and the ports on the Black Sea were wonderful. The average age on this cruise was mid 70s and two different people told me their children had them on back-to-back cruises on this ship for 6-8 months in lieu of placing them in nursing homes. No more Holland America for me.

[voyagerx]

My partner and I (both of us are retired) will pass 300 days on HAL this Fall during our 67 day cruise to Australia and New Zealand. Without question, HAL has the largest cabins in its class, which makes long cruises much more comfortable. This is especially true of the newer ships such as the compass- point ships, e.g. Noordam, and even more the case if one pays somewhat more for the superior balcony cabins. Unfortunately, these newer ships are not used for any of the Grand Voyages.

 

The food on HAL is as good as any we have had on the other 8 lines we have sailed.

 

We have never had a problem with being gay and, when you take long cruises, as we often do, even the dullest passengers tend to "figure it out." We are not flamers but, when asked what our relationship to one another is, which happens not infrequently, we simply say we are partners. It tends to intrigue rather than offend them. I think the public tends to think that all gays are hot, chic young things and never consider that we all age. When we tell them we have been together 41 years, it takes them awhile to process the fact.

 

On longer cruises it is definitely true the passengers are, on average, well above 60 and with a percentage of gays well below that of the population in general. On a shorter cruise out of NYC last year around XMAS there was a nice sized group of gays. We often ate together and entertained others for cocktails in our cabin.

[wesport]

Have sailed twice on HAL, and have had two great cruises with them. Latest was a 10 day Panama canal cruise. Met may gay men prior to the first FOD meeting. Crowd was a range of ages. Mingled with many of the younger straight coulples and had a great experience. Ric and Harry

[matpmod]

The 10 day cruises attract an older crowd than the 7 day cruises. And if the cruise is not during any holiday, even moreso. My partner & I are a wee bit older than either of you and we really like HAL for the friendliness and the food and the size of the cabins. But the passengers tend towards the older crowd, for sure, on many of their itineraries. We have friends who just came back from that cruise and remarked about the infirm and the obese passengers. And they are older than we are. But they loved the itinerary.

You should tell your 'friends' to be more open minded.......inferm and obese people have as much right to be there as they have!