Holland America for a couple in their mid 30s

[BeachMartini]

Hi All,

 

Seasoned NCL and RC cruiser here. My husband and I want to cruise to Bermuda again this summer. We live in Boston and have already taken the NCL Dawn a few years ago. I've been wanting to try the Breakaway from NYC but the reviews are less than stellar. We are considering the Veendam for several reasons, including the extra day in port and docking in Hamilton.

 

I've read that the crowd on Holland America tends to skew older. We are not looking to party all night but we do enjoy a nice dinner, cocktails and some entertainment/shows/nightlife. We are typically up early and in bed before midnight on vacation.

 

Do you think we'd enjoy Holland America? Can anyone comment on the activities and other passengers? What about the Veendam, I understand it's an older ship?

 

How is the food in comparison to NCL? I feel we only get a good meal on NCL when we pay for a specialty restaurant.

 

Thanks very much in advance.

[kazu]

Hi All,

 

Seasoned NCL and RC cruiser here. My husband and I want to cruise to Bermuda again this summer. We live in Boston and have already taken the NCL Dawn a few years ago. I've been wanting to try the Breakaway from NYC but the reviews are less than stellar. We are considering the Veendam for several reasons, including the extra day in port and docking in Hamilton.

 

I've read that the crowd on Holland America tends to skew older. We are not looking to party all night but we do enjoy a nice dinner, cocktails and some entertainment/shows/nightlife. We are typically up early and in bed before midnight on vacation.

 

Do you think we'd enjoy Holland America? Can anyone comment on the activities and other passengers? What about the Veendam, I understand it's an older ship?

 

How is the food in comparison to NCL? I feel we only get a good meal on NCL when we pay for a specialty restaurant.

 

Thanks very much in advance.

 

I started cruising on HAL when I was in my mid 30's, tried a few other cruise lines and found myself coming back. Passengers' ages depend upon the sailing.

 

Most of the 'older' passengers are young at heart, good travellers, many well travelled and entertaining dinner companions. I don't think you need fear anything.

 

to me, the MDR is better on HAL than on NCL (and we sailed NCL a lot) but food is subjective.

 

If you would like to get a look at some of the activities on board, go to HALFacts.com and click on the General Info tab. Scroll down and you will see the On Locations (which is HAL's daily programme) for many itineraries. You will also find menus and a lot of other stuff on that page.

 

To see some pics of cabins on the Veendam just click on the class of the ship and the menu of all of the cabins appear. Don't worry if it is not Veendam as the sister ships are similar.

 

The link to halfacts.com is in my signature. It's a website created by Cruise Critic members with contributions by Cruise Critic members that have been on the ships. it's still young and always growing so worth going back to check now and then.

 

hope this helps:D

[B Russo]

I think you will enjoy HAL.:):)

[peaches from georgia]

We have cruised to Bermuda 3 times on different lines, all on ships small enough to dock in Hamilton. To me cruising to Bermuda is all about docking in Hamilton and only secondarily about the ship. Your ship is hardly more than a place to sleep. We spend most of our time off the ship enjoying Hamilton and St. George, touring the island, shopping, and most often eating off the ship, too. The people are wonderful, the sites interesting and the beaches great. I would only cruise there though if we docked in Hamilton; the Dockyard is way too far away from the rest of Bermuda. Otherwise we would fly over and stay in a hotel. We've been on the Veendam and it is okay.

Edited January 14, 2015 by peaches from georgia

[RuthC]

Remember, if you sail the Veendam, you will have several overnights in Hamilton, so activity on the ship those nights will be minimal. But you will also have the freedom to come and go as you wish, and enjoy the nightlife in town.

The sail down to, and back from, Bermuda can be sunny and fun, or one bumpy ride. Either way, you should find it interesting during the day, with a show at night. The lounges are open, with music, until midnight.

[snapdragon7]

We are 30 and have been sailing on HAL for a few years now. Our usual go-to line is Princess, but we do enjoy HAL. There's not much of a wild nightclub scene, but there are always people out enjoying drinks, music, and dancing in the late evening. We always end up joking that we're embarrassed about turning in when some people old enough to be our parents (or grandparents) are still out dancing!

 

I've never tried NCL, but I've heard nothing good about their food. I believe HAL, Princess, Celebrity, and Carnival are generally reputed to have better food than NCL and RCL.

Edited January 14, 2015 by snapdragon7

[MYMOTHERSCHILD]

Hi All,

Do you think we'd enjoy Holland America? Can anyone comment on the activities and other passengers? What about the Veendam, I understand it's an older ship?}

I'm one of the "older" but my grandson, now 32, sailed with me a few times on the smaller HAL ships and had a great time. What happens is that the younger set tend to gravitate towards one another, hang out on board, and plan port excursions together. You could find that you make more friends than you might where there are hundreds of couples in your age group.

MMC

[PathfinderEss]

Sounds like you will fit perfectly on Hal. Hope you do try it and in my opinion the food will be better than NCL. Yes the Veendam is an older ship but very well maintained and I think you'll like her size.

[sammiedawg]

Hi All,

Do you think we'd enjoy Holland America? Can anyone comment on the activities and other passengers? What about the Veendam, I understand it's an older ship

 

To be perfectly frank, the Veendam is not a beloved ship within the fleet. We've sailed it twice, most recently three years ago when it was in bad shape. Older mechanicals, AC and plumbing issues were commonplace. My understanding is that some monies have been spent to fix it up but it is still an old ship. It is up for sale per insiders who post here.

[BeachMartini]

Very much appreciate the feedback everyone.

 

We love Bermuda and that's the main attraction for us, I just wanted to make sure we'd have plenty to keep us entertained on the sea days. The Breakaway is appealing because they have so much to do, but there are 3 sea days, so I think it's more important for that itinerary. But Veendam leaves from my backyard, stays longer, docking in Hamilton. Have to weigh the options with my husband.

 

Regarding the rocking and rolling down to Bermuda - we did sail the NCL Majesty before she was sold, think it was 2007 - I think she was the same size as the Veendam. That was a WILD ride - my husband wound up getting ill. We were in an interior cabin and it felt like we were inside of a washing machine laying in bed!

[George C]

We did Veendam from NYC to Bermuda a couple of years ago, no live entertainment past 11:30. Food is par with RCCL, they have a excellent pay restaurant the Pinnacle. Ship was in good shape but as you said it small several people were sea sick on the way there. My main complaint on ship is it has just 1 real pool and that was filled with screaming children, just for that reason I would not take that ship again.

[Swice]

My standard reply:

 

The passenger mix will vary depending on the calendar. When school is out, you'll see younger families and children. When school is in session, it will be an older crowd. It's that simple.

 

With that said, HAL does not attract passengers who spend the cruise drinking 20-hours out of the day. You'll also see fewer tattoos ;-)