New to Holland America but not new to cruising

[RedSox5]

We (my boyfriend and I, ages 27 and 28) are considering the Veendam to Bermuda April 22. I have cruised numerous times (see my signature below) and my boyfriend has cruised 3 times before. We like the level of personal service on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, and thought Norwegian was good, but not great.

 

We are very fun-loving, easy going people, and are of the mindset that if you don't enjoy yourself on vacation there is something wrong with YOU, not the vacation! :cool:

 

Having never sailed Holland America before, what can we expect? Has anyone sailed HA and either Celebrity/Royal/Norwegian and can make some comparisons for us? I have heard that it tends to be an older crowd, and I believe the ships are smaller. Aside from that, we're not sure what to expect.

 

As a side note, I have food allergies so if anyone can specifically speak to the way allergies are handled on HA, that'd be even better!

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide. :)

[RedSox5]

Anyone?? :confused:

 

Or, point me in the direction of a similar thread if one exists- thanks.

[KirkNC]

We have sailed HAL a lot and X once. We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise on Solstice, a beautiful ship, more modern while HAL is more distinguished. The activities on HAL are more low key, still lots to do but no glass blowers or anything. A little less nightlife. Be prepared for a more sedate crowd. Given the same itinerary and price we would pick HAL due to level of service, food (subjective) and we just know our way around their ships.

[RedSox5]

Thanks for your input!

[DFD1]

HAL is traditional, but not dull. Elegant, but no glitz and glitter. Speaks of quality, not noise. Smaller ship, better service.

 

One important advantage of the Veendam is that she will dock right on Front Street, downtown Hamilton, and not way, way down at the Royal Dockyard. This alone would be more than enough to make me pick her for a Bermuda cruise.

 

Just step off the gangway and you're in the center of town. Perfect.

[SwissMyst]

There will not be a large number of people in your age demographics, if this matters. I do think HAL ships are a lot more low-key than what I hear about the others.

 

They are more itinerary driven and don't have all the dazzle some of the other lines specialize in. But they are very ,very comfortable ships with larger well-laid out cabins, extremely comfortable beds, very nice staff and sufficient variety of activities and venues you will always have something to keep you occupied.

 

However, let's just say this is a fabulous library, curl up with a good book sort of crowd than maybe what you might want or have been used to. HAL ships libraries are their signature feature - much larger and well-stocked than what I see in the deck plans on other ships. HAL lectures tend to be more scholarly, than shopping or destination type talks. I always come back having seen new places and learned a lot of new things when I get back from a HAL ship. But I don't come back having had a "novelty" experience.

[cruz chic]

Be sure to join our roll call if you book:).

[SRH]

My fiancee and I took the Veendam to Bermuda in 2010 and 2011 at ages 26/28 and 27/29, respectively. We never had a dull moment and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly on both trips. Even taking the same cruise twice, a year apart, we kept busy and had a lot of fun.

 

We are easy going people who believe in making our own fun and we succeeded in that goal. We're going to Alaska this year for some variety, but I have no doubt that going to Bermuda again would be highly enjoyable.

 

I can't speak on your food issue since neither of us have allergies, but we're both foodies and found the offerings and service very pleasing. Based on how things went with us on a culinary front, I think they would be able to address your issues or you would have enough options to not run into trouble. I suppose your mileage may vary on that, though.

[RedSox5]

There will not be a large number of people in your age demographics, if this matters.

 

We're fine with that! :)

[RedSox5]

My fiancee and I took the Veendam to Bermuda in 2010 and 2011 at ages 26/28 and 27/29, respectively. We never had a dull moment and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly on both trips. Even taking the same cruise twice, a year apart, we kept busy and had a lot of fun.

 

We are easy going people who believe in making our own fun and we succeeded in that goal. We're going to Alaska this year for some variety, but I have no doubt that going to Bermuda again would be highly enjoyable.

 

I can't speak on your food issue since neither of us have allergies, but we're both foodies and found the offerings and service very pleasing. Based on how things went with us on a culinary front, I think they would be able to address your issues or you would have enough options to not run into trouble. I suppose your mileage may vary on that, though.

 

Good to hear- thanks! Sound like the two of you have very similar attitudes about vacationing as we do :)

[V'sGirl]

We have sailed both Royal Caribbean and HAL, and obviously, if you look at our signature, we have come to love HAL. We had fun on RC, and think fondly of those cruises, but there is no comparison to the service and comfort of HAL. The cruise to Bermuda last summer was relaxing and fun, and the convenience of docking right on Front Street in Hamilton can't be beat. I would go on that cruise again anytime. We have met the most interesting people of all ages on HAL, and have kept in touch for years. I think maybe the larger ships have a more diversified choice of activites during the evening. We joined in on a pub crawl on the Eurodam that included twenty-somethings to seventy-somethings and was an absolute hoot. By the end, most of us could barely walk, but we were buddies for life. We don't do the disco, but the bars and bartenders are great, and the musicians we dance to after dinner are wonderful. The karaoke contest on the Zuiderdam lasted for three nights, and was standing-room only on the night of the finals (my DH and two of our tablemates were a team that competed).

All-in-all, I would say that HAL is a good choice for most, unless you are looking for the wet-t-shirt contest kind of crowd. I have faith that HAL will have no problem taking care of any food allergy concerns.

[RedSox5]

Thank you- very helpful! No, although we are relatively young, we are not looking for the 'wet t-shirt contest type of crowd' ;)... of course we don't want to feel like we're on a floating retirement home either. It sounds like HAL will be a good fit for us- thank you!:D

[RMLincoln]

We took a teenage granddaughter with very complex food allergies and she did ok. The system didn't work the way we had hoped but it worked ok.

 

First we asked for the Lido buffet chef. He took our long list of unsafe foods and walked us around the Lido and showed us what was safe and what was not safe. He said he was there whenever the Lido was open and if we had any questions to ask for him and he'd help us. He was wonderful to us.

 

In the MDR the first night was difficult and we had to just order her the most conservative approach. But after the first dinner they brought us copies of tomorrow nights dinner menu and she could take it back to the room and figure out what she wanted, circle those items, write notes like, no sauce, no dressing, etc, and bring her menu to the dining room any time before noon, I think, and they would have her dinner selections served to here no matter where in the dining room we sat (we were on open dining). Once when we had questions they brought out a conntainer so we could read the ingredients. They were very cooperative and concerned.

 

The pool hamburger grill cook would go get a clean skillet to cook up her turkey burgers. The french fries were all cooked in pure canola oil so they were safe for her.

 

Her allergies/sensitivities were: deadly to peanuts/peanut oil/peanut derivatives; tree nuts; wheat; soy; legumes; eggs; dairy; all meats and fish other than poultry. She did fine on fruits and vegetables and poultry, potatoes and rice.

 

We brought on board special foods such as rice milk, rice protein powder, safe bread, safe salad dressing, safe liquid margarine to squeeze onto potatoes or veggies. We ordered a refrigerator for the room at $2 per day for her foods and she had a small tote bag to carry her special foods to the MDR unobtrusively.

 

The best thing she brought on board was a great attitude and she knew if she had to eat Rice krispies and Corn flakes all week she'd have a great time anyway... but of course they fed her very well.

 

We sent her safe/unsafe list ahead through the TA to ships services and I had many copies of it with us but it really didn't help much except that HAL sent back a letter that said, yes they could deal with her issues ok, and I carried that on board with us too.

 

If you have more questions I'll try to check back tomorrow and try to answer what I can. m--

[kazu]

HAL is very good at handling food issues - whether it be gluten free, allergies, etc. When you book, make sure you indicate your allergies as they will take note.

 

I would also discuss with the dining room manager and your waiter. If you are doing fixed dining it is much easier as you have the same waiters every night. Or if you are doing anytime/open/whatever you want to call it, you can try to get the same waiters each night too (especially if you have one that you like).

 

They are very accomodating.

 

Comparing to the other ships you have sailed on - we have been on all of them but RCCL - we prefer HAL hands down - but that's just us;)

[Dulciana8]

My husband and I are 29 and 31, and loved our HAL cruise in November. We've sailed RCI several times before, and in comparing the two, I agree with the remarks above, that HAL is more understated elegance, less glitz, better food and if possible (and I love the service on RCI), better service? I think you will enjoy comparing the different lines and appreciate each cruise and ship for its own style.

 

Regarding food allergies, my husband is allergic to eggs and nuts. In past cruises, we've mentioned these to our travel agents, but my husband hates being singled out at the dining room table by the head waiter to go over the menu, and so instead, on our recent HAL cruise, he opted to simply speak with our waiter and the head waiter at the first dinner. His allergies are relatively easy to deal with, so this plan worked fine for us, as both were very knowledgable about food contents and for my husband's sake, didn't make a big deal out of pointing out potential allergens.

[RedSox5]

We brought on board special foods such as rice milk, rice protein powder, safe bread, safe salad dressing, safe liquid margarine to squeeze onto potatoes or veggies. We ordered a refrigerator for the room at $2 per day for her foods and she had a small tote bag to carry her special foods to the MDR unobtrusively.

 

The best thing she brought on board was a great attitude and she knew if she had to eat Rice krispies and Corn flakes all week she'd have a great time anyway... but of course they fed her very well.

 

 

Sounds great- thank you so much for your reply! I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to bring my own items on board (mainly just hamburger buns and hot dog buns)- is that allowed, or would I have to 'sneak' them on?

 

I too have a great attitude- I figure that if I go hungry on a cruise ship-- food allergy or not-- there's something wrong with ME! ;)

[RedSox5]

 

I would also discuss with the dining room manager and your waiter. If you are doing fixed dining it is much easier as you have the same waiters every night. Or if you are doing anytime/open/whatever you want to call it, you can try to get the same waiters each night too (especially if you have one that you like).

 

They are very accomodating.

 

Comparing to the other ships you have sailed on - we have been on all of them but RCCL - we prefer HAL hands down - but that's just us;)

 

Thanks- we will be doing the fixed dining because we too believe it will be easier and I'll be more successful with navigating the GF options. Since I was diagnosed with Celiac's, we have sailed on Celebrity (same waiter each night) and Norwegian (different waiter each meal) and Norwegian totally bombed, Celebrity was wonderful- hoping for the same on HAL :)

[RedSox5]

 

Regarding food allergies, my husband is allergic to eggs and nuts. In past cruises, we've mentioned these to our travel agents, but my husband hates being singled out at the dining room table by the head waiter to go over the menu, and so instead, on our recent HAL cruise, he opted to simply speak with our waiter and the head waiter at the first dinner. His allergies are relatively easy to deal with, so this plan worked fine for us, as both were very knowledgable about food contents and for my husband's sake, didn't make a big deal out of pointing out potential allergens.

 

Thank you- I am the same way. That's actually what I didn't like about Norwegian. With the open seating, I felt like every single day at every meal I had to be the 'odd ball' and explain my name, cabin number, allergy, etc. so the waiter could go get the matr'd. Then, explain it all again and go from there- too much hassle and I felt way to singled out to be doing that 3 times a day. I wouldn't mind if it was 'worth it', but at just about each meal they acted like they had never had anyone with Celiac's on board before. I'm very hopeful that this will be a very different experience :)

[RedSox5]

We're officially booked!!!!

[DFD1]

CONGRATULATIONS! I hope you have a great time.

 

The main dining room on NCL, by the way, should be banned from the sea. IMO. It's the worst!

[RMLincoln]

Congratulations on your booking.

 

Yes you may bring on baord your GF items. It's possible they will store them for you if you don't have a refrigerator.

 

I recall that they offered GF pastas if you'd be interested in that; and GF bread too.

 

If you don't get fixed dining you can make arrangments to be at the same table or with the same servers in open dining.

 

Have a great cruise! m--

[RedSox5]

CONGRATULATIONS! I hope you have a great time.

 

The main dining room on NCL, by the way, should be banned from the sea. IMO. It's the worst!

 

It was def. the worst experience we've had (and it was my 9th cruise at the time).

[Viesczy]

 

The main dining room on NCL, by the way, should be banned from the sea. IMO. It's the worst!

 

 

Not to derail the thread, but WHAT?

 

MDRs are MDRs; some plates good and some plates are excrement. I've never gotten off a boat lighter than when I got on... and judging by the other passengers I've seen on all boats, they too weren't Treblinka survivors after the cruise.

 

As far as service, you make your orde and they bring you the food. It can be fast and great, slow and great, fast and poor or slow and poor. Have you read the 2 hours + times in the MDR recent threads on HAL?

 

Derek

[gelo7]

I think that you will love HAL.

[Laszlo]

There will not be a large number of people in your age demographics, if this matters. I do think HAL ships are a lot more low-key than what I hear about the others.

 

You can say that again. It looked liked a retirement village invaded the Veendam on our 3 days in Bermuda last June. We took the Gem and our friends who are in their mid forties to HAL. When we hit shore and met up with them they told us how disappointed they were. Dated and very traditional are fine if you like it I guess.