Holland America Cruises: 12 Things You Need to Know Before Booking

Holland America has a reputation as a more traditional and premium mainstream cruise line, but what is it really like?

My parents have just returned from a bargain, last-minute cruise on Nieuw Statendam. It was their first Holland America cruise – a two-week British Isles, Ireland and Netherlands itinerary from Dover.

Before you spend your money booking a Holland America cruise, there are a few things to consider:

#1. Holland America Is More Traditional Than Some Mainstream Cruise Lines

Holland America has a reputation for being a more formal cruise line that appeals to older cruisers.

When they first boarded the ship, they were struck by how new she felt. She didn’t feel old-fashioned or stuffy at all, the decor felt very neutral and tasteful.

There were none of the bright, garish colours you could find on Carnival, Costa or maybe an older Norwegian Ship.

(My parents last sailed on Norwegian Epic – and this felt nothing like that in terms of decor!)

The ship was launched in 2018, so by cruise-ship standards, she isn’t an old ship by any means.

Their initial impressions of the ship were very good. She was decorated in neutral colours, with interesting artwork on the walls and in the lift/elevator lobbies.

The age demographic did feel older than that on Norwegian, but they felt they fitted in just fine!

There were a few families with children that seemed to be on multigenerational family trips, but children were definitely few and far between.

#2. The Ship You Choose Makes a Big Difference

Holland America has ships of different ages and sizes. The oldest, Voldendam was launched in 1999, the youngest, Rotterdam, was launched in 2021.

Nieuw Statendam is the line’s second-youngest ship. She is a Pinnacle Class ship – and she reminded them very much of Cunard’s Queen Anne.

Queen Anne is also a Pinnacle Class ship, and both Cunard and Holland America are owned by the same parent company, Carnival.

(However, Queen Anne has been made longer – she is longer and accommodates around 500 more passengers.)

Nieuw Statendam holds between 2,650 and 2,694 guests at a time, is 983 feet (299.75 metres) long, and has a gross tonnage of 99,902.

There are 12 passenger decks onboard.

The oldest ships are R Class ( Volendam, Zaandam), which have a passenger Capacity of around 1,432. R Class ships are around 781 feet (238 metres) long and have a Gross Tonnage of 61,200 to 61,400 tons.

Volendam was built in 1999, which makes her quite old by cruise ship standards. A cruise on her would feel very different to a cruise on their newest ship, Rotterdam, launched in 2021.

Find out more about how long cruise ships stay in service here:

What Age Is A Cruise Ship Considered Old? (It’s Younger Than You Might Think)

#3. Holland America Has “Dressy Nights”

Most evenings onboard are “smart casual”, so you could easily get away with a collared polo shirt and smart jeans – although some people did seem to wear whatever they wanted.

In reality, Mum mostly wore dresses to dinner (as that was easy), and Dad wore a polo shirt with jeans or chinos.

Many women wore Trousers and a top or Skirts and blouses. Men wore nice jeans and shirts / collared T-shirts or a jumper/sweater.

They did see plenty of people in trainers, and some in shorts or T-shirts with slogans on – they never personally saw any dress codes being enforced.

Holland America also has “dressy nights”, which is what Holland America calls its more dressed-up evenings.

The official suggestions include dresses, skirts, blouses, slacks (trousers), collared shirts and jackets.

A tuxedo is not required for men on dressy nights. Holland America specifically states this, and they use the term “Dressy” rather than “Formal” to avoid giving that impression

They saw plenty of ladies in beautiful cocktail dresses, and a few in long gowns.

Men mostly wore suits or jackets and trousers. Many didn’t wear ties – and that was absolutely fine.

Plenty of others chose not to dress up, and in the buffet or around other parts of the ship, many were still dressed very casually.

A lady in a simple dress or trousers and blouse or a man in trousers and a shirt would be perfectly acceptable.

If you dislike formal nights, they are easy to avoid. Dress codes only apply in the dining rooms, and there are plenty of other more casual places to get food that don’ t involve dressing up.

#4. Dining Is a Big Part of the Experience

Main Dining Room Experience

Holland America do have a reputation for serving very good food – but this was one aspect of the cruise my parents felt a little disappointed with.

The food in the main restaurant was nice, the portions were quite small, and they kept seeing the same options – like French onion soup and Chunky Lasagne – coming round again and again.

They did enjoy trying some of the Dutch food items on the menu, this made things more unusual and interesting.

Holland America hold an Orange Night. This celebrates the company’s Dutch roots and the Netherlands’ national holiday, King’s Day.

Guests are invited to wear orange; there are orange napkins on the tables, and a variety of Dutch dishes are served.

They felt the quality of the food and the service was generally good, though. The portions were quite small, compared to other cruise lines, and they felt there were fewer vegetables than they were used to.

A top recommendation would be to order a side of vegetables when ordering your main in the restaurant, that’s always an option.

Holland America offered fixed and flexible dining onboard. My parents had the flexible option. Only once did they have to wait to be seated – they were given a buzzer and returned to the restaurant when their table was ready.

It wasn’t a long wait – around ten minutes. Like me, they do tend to eat between five and six, and then they always got seated straight away.

If you chose to eat at 8pm every night, you might have had to wait to be seated more often.

The Buffet

The buffet was mainly served by the crew, with a few things at the front of the display that you could get yourself.

The food in the buffet was mostly the same as the food they had seen in the restaurants.

They always had very good ice cream with alternating flavours – and waffle cones. Unfortunately, they ran out of cones towards the end of the week – they were obviously popular!

There were two sinks and sanitiser stations at the entrance to the buffet, and sometimes crew members were there to encourage handwashing.

This wasn’t consistent, though, and they were stuck with how many people just walked by without washing or sanitising their hands.

The buffet did get busy at peak times, but you could normally get a seat out at the back of the ship, or near the covered pool in the middle.

Speciality Restaurants

There were a number of speciality restaurants onboard, but my parents didn’t try any of them.

If they had had any free onboard credit they may have tried them, but they weren’t cheap, and there was plenty of free food on offer.

Other Casual Eating Venues

There was an interesting range of Dutch food available at the Dutch Cafe, along with teas, coffees, soft and alcoholic drinks.

This did stop serving all food at around 8pm in the evening, though.

The poolside burger and hotdog bar was also very good – but shut at 6 pm in the evening.

The New York Pizza & Deli served pizzas all day and into the evenings.

#5. Not Everything Is Included in the Cruise Fare

As with most mainstream cruise lines, not everything is included in the basic cruise fare.

Expect to pay extra for:

• Drinks – drink packages are available
• Wi-Fi – they didn’t buy the Wi-Fi; they used mobile data in ports, and it was sometimes available as they sailed along the coast
• Speciality dining – again, they didn’t try any speciality dining.
• Excursions – they did their own thing in the ports, using public transport or walking.
• Service Charges – $18 a day per person – $20 for suite guests.
• Laundry services – there are no self-service laundries on Holland America ships.

#6. The”Have It All’ Package

When booking, you’ll probably be offered the ‘Have It All’ Package.

The name could make you literally think that everything onboard is included – of course it isn’t!

Have It All packages combine a drinks package, Wi-Fi, speciality dining and shore excursion credit. The amount of dining/excursion credit varies with cruise length.

The cost of the Have It All package varies, but is usually between $60 to $70 per person, per day, depending on whether you booked it onboard or in advance. (Of course, all prices are subject to change.)

My parents didn’t buy the “Have it all” package. It would have cost $1680/£1240 for them both, and they didn’t think they would get $1680 worth of value out of it.

They don’t think they would ever consider buying it. They don’t drink much, don’t need the WiFi, aren’t worried about speciality dining – and rarely take cruiseline excursions.

For some people it would absolutely be worth the money – but not for them.

# 7 Don’t Forget About “Crew Appreciation”

Holland America calls its daily gratuities/service charges “Crew Appreciation”.

Currently, it is automatically added at $18 per person per day for non-suite cabins and $20 per person per day for suites, although rates may change.

If you don’t buy the “have it all” package, service charges apply on certain onboard purchases too

• 20% on all drinks – alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, sodas and speciality coffees
• 20% on speciality restaurant cover charges
• 18% on Spa and Salon services.

This is fairly typical of American cruise lines, but could come as a shock to British guests.

Many lines like P&O, Marella and MSC (when booked from the UK) include service charges in the basic fare.

This can really make a big difference to the cost of that “bargain” cruise you thought you had booked.

My parents were aware from the start that these crew appreciation charges would be added – but it wasn’t mentioned when they booked, so it could come as a surprise to many.

#8 The Entertainment Isn’t Trying to Be Royal Caribbean

My parents enjoyed the guest entertainers who came on board, but were very disappointed by the show’s cast shows.

There wasn’t much in the way of colourful costumes or sets – one show seemed to consist mostly of the show cast dancing around with office chairs or large gym balls!

They had expected more from Holland America.

The live music in bars and lounges was always very good.

The port talks were interesting (although the pronunciation of some British place names made them wince, but they doubtless couldn’t pronounce many American place names!).

There was also an interesting talk on the history of Holland America, which few people attended.

They commented they had never seen an autoqueue being used by a cruise director before – and cruise directors on MSC cruises are able to speak to the audience in up to five languages without any prompting!

There were movie nights by the pool in the evenings.

There didn’t seem to be much going on during sea days apart from port talks, but they were expecting a quiet, relaxed cruise and took plenty of reading material.

#9. Holland America Has a Strong Focus on Destinations

Holland America has a strong focus on destinations, and my parents have two other Holland America cruises booked for this reason.

They had long days in port, which allowed them to go off on the train without worrying about getting back to the ship on time.

The port talks did mention some public transport options, but focused mostly, as you would expect on cruise line excursions.

When they reached Belfast, they had put their names on the waiting list for the hop-on hop-off bus tour, thinking it would pick them up from the port. (Belfast cruise port is a few miles outside the city.)

When the excursions team rang and said there were spaces available, they explained that they would be expected to pay $20 per person for the shuttle bus into Belfast city centre, plus $28 for the hop-on hop-off bus. (More than buying a ticket directly from the bus company in Belfast.)

Needless to say, they didn’t do that.

At the port talk, they were told it was at least an hour’s boring walk from the cruise port to the city – but no mention was made of the local bus that stopped right outside the port gates.

In Belfast, my parents bought a £5/$6.70 bus ticket each, which allowed them to travel on the city’s buses all day long. The bus stop is just outside the cruise port gates.

#10. Inside Cabins Are Often Far Cheaper

On my parents’ sailing, the ocean view or balcony cabins were FAR more expensive – double or three times as much – as inside cabins.

It seems that Holland America guests have more disposable income and are more willing to spend extra on the best cabins onboard.

Find out all about their cabin, and the bargain price they got it for, here:

Holland America’s Cheapest Cabin: Was It Worth It? (Under £100 Per Night!)

#11. The Onboard Atmosphere Won’t Suit Everybody

The ship definitely did have an older passenger demographic, and they have never seen so many mobility aids onboard. (Not that they saw that as a bad thing.)

There were some multigenerational families on board, and groups of friends and families with matching family trip hoodies!

The live bands onboard were always great, and the bars were always full, so it was sometimes hard to get a seat.

Music trivia was particularly well attended, and you had to get there very early if you wanted to take part.

The pool in the centre of the ship was always popular, and the roof was opened in good weather.

Often it was hard to get a seat here on sea days or during the day. It was quieter in the evenings.

There was another pool outside at the back of the ship, and this was often quieter, and it was an adults-only area.

There were around 1500 American citizens on board, 500 Canadians, a range of other nationalities (including quite a few Dutch, as many boarded in Rotterdam), and only 47 British guests.

Everyone was very friendly and happy to chat, but they certainly felt like they were in the minority.

I was onboard Virgin Voyages Valient Lady at the same time, and the two cruisers seem at totally different ends of the scale.

I was sending them pictures of wonderful food options, pajama parties and weird entertainment – they were sending me pictures of people playing card games and reading by the pool.

If you want endless parties, a waterslide and endless attractions, you will doubtless be disappointed.

#12. Who Should Actually Book Holland America?

Holland America are a good choice for: people who value destinations, live music, a calmer ship, and a slightly more traditional cruise experience.

Possibly not for: people whose priority is waterslides, thrill attractions, nightclub-style nightlife or a very casual “anything-goes” atmosphere.

My parents certainly enjoyed the UK, Netherlands and Ireland cruise they took. Their cruise was two weeks long, but the cruise before them had been a 28-day sailing.

Holland America offer many of these longer sailings, so it makes sense that they would have an older passenger demographic of retired guests who don’t have to worry about work commitments.

That is one of the reasons I haven’t yet sailed with them. I struggle to find a sailing of only a week that fits in with my calendar. As I am running a business, I can’t be away from home for too long.

My parents have two other sailings with Holland America booked. They booked a long way in advance, and they were able to secure balcony cabins at a reasonable cost.

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

My parents had the cheapest inside cabin, but didn’t spend much time in it. Find out who is likely to spend more time in their cabins here:

5 People Who Will Spend More Time in Their Cruise Cabin Than Most

Have a look at everything I ate on my Queen Mary 2 cruise. I particularly liked the pub food – there is no pub on Holland America ships:

Everything I Ate on a Cunard Cruise (Pub, Dining Rooms and More)