My parents recently took a Holland America cruise and they didn’t pay extra for any speciality food. In this post, we’ll look at what is included in the cruise fare and how they found the trip. Overall, they were pretty disappointed with the reality of the food compared to the advertising. I asked them to help me put together this post since I haven’t yet cruised with Holland America.
For a bit of context, my parents certainly don’t have unrealistically high expectations when it comes to food, they’ve enjoyed many cruises with MSC, NCL, P&O, Costa and many other lines. As they were on a British Isles cruise they often went to Wetherspoons (a budget pub chain) when in port so certainly aren’t too fussy.
Dining options may vary slightly across the fleet, but many share the same dining venues onboard.
Holland America Line is widely considered to have some of the best food among cruise lines in the premium end of the mainstream cruise market. (Cunard, Princess, Celebrity, etc.)
So this article may be a little controversial – my parents weren’t overly impressed with the food, particularly in the main dining room.
In this article, we look at the free dining options available on Nieuw Statendam.
The Main Dining Room Is Included
The main dining room is open for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea on selected days, and for dinner every night.
Holland America currently offers both traditional pre-set dining and flexible open dining.
The restaurant is set over two floors – deck three ( the upper level) was for those with set dining times, and the lower level was for those who had flexible dining.
That said, it wasn’t unusual for them to arrive at the deck two entrance, only to be led up the stairs in the restaurant itself to sit on the upper level.
Only once did they have to wait for a table. They usually eat early, but on this occasion, they arrived at about 7.30 pm.
They were given a buzzer and only had to wait about 10 minutes for a table to be ready.
The staff always asked them if they wanted to share, or would rather have a table for two.
They chose the table for two, but many others enjoyed sharing.
Find out how to avoid table sharing if you don’t want to here:
Table Sharing on Cruises, An Outdated Inconvenience? – Here’s How I Avoid It!
Breakfast
They never had breakfast in the main dining room, as it was only open for a short window of time, and they always missed it!
Breakfast finished at 9am on port days, and 9.30am on sea days. My parents ate breakfast in the buffet most days, as it was open until 10.30am.
Lunch
They did have one lunch at the restaurant on a sea day, but preferred to skip lunch and wait for afternoon tea instead!
Afternoon Tea
Holland America held afternoon teas a number of times – Dutch afternoon teas, English afternoon teas – and Indonesian afternoon teas ( which they had never seen before, but were very similar to the other two)
My parents regularly have afternoon tea on land and at sea, but felt that the Holland America ones were disappointing, to say the least.
You rarely got more than one cup of tea – and plenty of tea they consider essential!
They were sat at a table, and the tiered cake stand with food was already on the table waiting. You couldn’t choose what you had, which was a shame.
The sandwiches were dry and crunchy, and they could see, when walking around the promenade deck that looped around the restaurant, that the food was laid out well over an hour before the dining room opened to guests.
It was nothing like a Cunard afternoon tea, where sandwiches and cakes are brought out directly from the galley. You are served by waiters in white gloves, and you can choose what you want.
Afternoon tea was a very casual affair, no one dressed up. Tables were usually full, and the crew were keen for guests to table share on larger tables.
My parents always asked for a table for two – which might explain why they were often forgotten when it came to top-ups with the tea!
Dinner
They went to the restaurant for dinner around half of the evenings.
The variety of food wasn’t as good as they had been led to believe, although they did say there was often fish or seafood on the menu. They don’t eat that, so they had fewer options.
Portions were reasonable, not large by any means, and they sometimes felt they lacked enough vegetables.
The service was good – not fast by any means, but they were in no rush. The waiters were all very pleasant.
Certain things seemed to be always on the menu – like French onion soup and Chunky Lasagne.
They were on a two-week cruise, though, I would imagine if you were on a 28-day trip (Holland America specialises in longer, destination-focused voyages), there would be even more repetition.
I was on Virgin Voyages Valiant Lady at the same time they were on Nieuw Statendam. I was sending them pictures of the food I was having on Virgin – and they said that it looked so much better than the food on Holland America!
Lido Market (Buffet)
The Lido Market had plenty of choice, and food was mostly served by the crew (which they liked).
There were some items at the front of the display area that you could take yourself, as there was no Perspex on the bottom layer of the screens.
That said, you did have to have very long arms – if you wanted to reach the food further back, you had to lean in, then try to keep the food item on the spoon long enough to reach your plate – which was quite a task!
They often gave up and asked the staff for things they couldn’t reach.
An example of this would be breakfast, where you could help yourself to yoghurt, then there were bowls of fruits and nuts to add — but unless you had very long arms, you could reach only half of the selection.
At peak times, they struggled to get a seat but would take their food either to the adult-only area at the back of the buffet, or to the covered pool area in the middle of the deck.
The opening times they found a little irritating. The buffet was shut between 8.30pm and 10 pm in the evenings.
There were the odd occasions where they had been out for the day, so didn’t have dinner early. They went to the show at 7.30pm, and then had to sprint up seven flights of stairs when the show finished at 8.10pm to try and get some food before it shut!
The selection of food left by then was a little disappointing, and the buffet shut as soon as they had chosen their food. It was then shut until 10 pm.
(The Dutch cafe that served good food finished serving at 8 pm., so that wasn’t an option, and the poolside burger and hotdog venue closed at 6 pm.)
They did serve very nice ice cream in waffle cones in the buffet, and they regularly stopped by to pick up one of those.
Their favourite flavours were coconut and rum and raisin, but they chose different flavours every day.
They also serve ice cream by the pool, but this is chargeable. They would highly recommend the buffet ice cream – you can always take it out and sit by the pool with it.
The only other food option in the evening was pizza from the New York Deli and Pizza on the upper pool deck. Mum isn’t keen on pizza though…
Dive In (Poolside Grill)
The food at “Dive In” was very nice, and the fries/chips were especially good!
They were open every day from noon until 6 pm, and you could order food via the app if you would prefer.
It would have been nice if the venue had stayed open a little later. My parents chose to eat there for an early dinner on occasion.
The burgers were far better than those served in the poolside grills on P&O or Costa, for example – but not as good as the wonderful Patio grill you find on Azamara ships!
Have a look at our favourite poolside grill at sea here:
Azamara’s “The Patio”. The Best Poolside Grill At Sea? Real Photos & Menus.
Food was always served piping hot and promptly – the average wait being around ten minutes from when you put your order in.
Guests were given a buzzer and returned to collect their food once the food was ready – unless it was ordered on the app, when you would be notified on that.
It was a great option if you just wanted a grab-and-go meal – as long as you were there at the right time.
New York Deli & Pizza
New York Deli & Pizza is available on Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam.
Pizza is included on Nieuw Statendam, but it may vary depending on the ship you are sailing on.
New York Pizza (without the deli options) are currently on the ships Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam.
You could decide on your own toppings or order a standard pizza at the counter or via the app.
Daily Hours may vary by ship. Nieuw Statendam were as follows:
- Breakfast: 7:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Build-your-own bagel or English muffin sandwiches with eggs, bacon, sausage, and cheese.Bagels & Spreads:
- Freshly toasted bagels served with cream cheese, lox (smoked salmon), capers, and onions.
- Lunch: 11:30 AM – 5:00 PM. Pizzas, deli sandwiches, and salads.
- Made-to-order chopped salads or Caesar salads with your choice of toppings and dressings
- Dinner & Late Night: 5:00 PM – 11:30 PM. Build your own pizzas and they also had popcorn to help yourself to on movie nights.
Room Service Is Included 24 Hours a Day
Holland America currently offers complimentary 24-hour in-room dining, although some individual menu items cost extra.
This is lovely, as so many other mainstream cruise lines have done away with free room service – including Cunard, who always prided themselves on being more at the luxury end of the mainstream cruise market:
Find out about the costs Cunard have introduced here:
Cunard Now Charges For Room Service After Breakfast – Price Lists & More
My parents never used this, because they were staying in the cheapest, inside cabin.
If they have a balcony cabin, they often opt for room service breakfast, but in a small, enclosed interior cabin, room service doesn’t seem as appealing!
The Dutch Cafe
The Dutch Cafe, as well as serving hot drinks, serves a variety of Dutch meals and snacks.
They felt this was a really good find – there were cakes and treats for you to choose at the counter, or if you chose something that needed cooking, they gave you a number on a stick, and served it to you at your table when it was ready.
Because of this, the cooked food was always hot and fresh.
Mum certainly felt that the delicious Dutch pancakes she had were far nicer than the ones she had ordered in the main dining room.
Some of the Dutch menu items seemed a little quirky to British tastes – but it was lovely to try something different.
Sometimes they had a snack here instead of going to dinner – but again, all food stopped at 8pm, so you had to make sure you didn’t arrive too late.
Which Restaurants Cost Extra?
There were many speciality restaurants with cover charges onboard, but my parents would only have considered them if they had onboard credit to use. They didn’t.
- Pinnacle Grill – $52 for dinner / $25 for lunch. Holland America Steakhouses serve premium steaks (such as Tomahawk and filet mignon), lamb chops, and seafood.
- Certain ultra-premium items, such as caviar, incur an additional surcharge.
- Canaletto – $25 for dinner. This is located in an enclosed section of the buffet, an Italian restaurant that features a multi-course menu meant for sharing, including fresh pastas and Italian classics.
- Tamarind -$35 to $40 for dinner. This Pan-Asian venue serves Southeast Asian, Chinese, and Japanese dishes with the added bonus of panoramic ocean views.
- Morimoto By Sea – $55 for dinner. This venue features custom Asian-fusion dishes, fresh seafood, and distinct flavour pairings.
- Rudi’s Sel de Mer – $55 for dinner. A premium French seafood brasserie offering dishes like whole Dover sole, oysters, and seafood bouillabaisse.
All prices shown are to give you an idea of costs – prices are subject to change. I would recommend checking the price once onboard, either in the daily schedule or in the Navigator app.
You could happily take a Holland America cruise without ever spending extra money on speciality restaurants – and my parents did just that.
Vegetarian, Vegan and Dietary Requirements
The waiters always asked if they had any allergies or dietary requirements when they went to the main dining room.
Dining room menus were all marked with symbols to indicate vegetarian/gluten free/ non dairy and no-added-sugar options.
Additional Charges to Look Out For:
- Some items on the main dining room menu come at an additional charge and are marked as such.
- Certain room service items cost extra.
- Speciality coffees costs extra in the main dining room – unless you have a drinks package that includes them.
- Normal coffee is free.
- Gelato and milkshakes by the pool (you can get free ice cream at the buffet)
- Drinks or snacks left in the cabin or mini bar.
Standard brewed coffee, decaf, hot tea, iced tea, lemonade, and juices are available free of charge during breakfast.
Speciality coffees (like espresso, cappuccino, lattes, or speciality brews) cost extra unless you have bought a beverage package or the “Have It All” plan.
Their Overall Verdict
My parents have sailed on Princess and Cunard and think that the Holland America experience was most similar to these cruise lines.
There were also similarities to Celebrity’s older ships, but it was nothing like sailing on a newer Edge-class ship.
They very much enjoyed the itinerary, and the inside cabin was lovely, considering it was the cheapest on the whole ship!
The onboard service was good, but they were a little disappointed with the theatre entertainment and the food.
Holland America have a reputation of being a cut above many others for food – and although the food was fine, the portion sizes and the variety weren’t as good as they were led to believe.
Before You Go
Have a look at the cheapest guaranteed cabin my parents booked on Nieuw Statendam below. They were very impressed:
Holland America’s Cheapest Cabin: Was It Worth It? (Under £100 Per Night!)
My parents had one port stop cancelled long before they boarded. If they had had it cancelled during the cruise, they may have been able to claim on their travel insurance. Find out more about that here:
My Cruise Port Was Cancelled. This Is The One Thing I Needed
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