3 Issues Driving Holland America Cruisers Crazy This Year

The loss of live classical music onboard is tragic. It seems like the move to larger ships would justify having more variety onboard, not less.

We sailed with Celebrity to Alaska the first week of September, 2 years ago and NEVER seen a single child. I think TIMING IS KEY. I am pretty sure this was because many schools had started by then.

My husband and I met on the Prinsendam and got married on her a few years later. We have over 700 days on board HAL and used to love it. Then they started with the changes. The dance hosts disappeared, the excellent dance bands in the Ocean Bar and the Crows Nest were discontinued. The theatre became a ghost town. The on deck barbecues were long gone, and the piano bar where you could hang out and sing along was replaced by the dueling pianos. The new music walk played music so loud that a friend’s hearing aid alerted him that he was damaging his ears. The serving staff seemed to be far fewer than they used to be so tables in the Lido were constantly dirty and there was nowhere to sit. Club Orange promises a lot but you still have to wait, sometimes up to half an hour, to be seated. They got rid of the wonderful cold soups in the dining room that everyone loved, among many other favorites. No more unlimited lobster on gala nights. It seems to be that everything used to be great and then they ruined it. It makes me sad. 15 years ago I said one day I would live full time on their ships when I retired. Now, nope. Such a shame.

I'm a 56 year old solo who went on my first HAL cruise in December and fell in love with this cruise line. One of the biggest draws for me was the Rolling Stone Lounge, BB King blues and Billboard Onboard. If there is no Rolling Stone, I would pick a different ship. I was completely comfortable with the demographics, there were all ages and some kids, but not a lot of kids. This was a 7 day Caribbean in December. I've learned to avoid cruising during spring break, especially a 7-day. Met many solos, some have become friends, and I've booked the same cruise for this December and planning to book a longer Christmas cruise for 2025. I wish HAL would come back to Tampa, that is my only complaint. ☺

Glad you raised these issues, Gary. I suppose that we had been happy enough with HAL until we booked our sixth cruise with them from San Diego to Hawaii just over a year ago. We previously made trips on their ships in the Caribbean, Europe and Australia-New Zealand, but the Konigsdam was seriously overcrowded and guest services seemed completely indifferent, or perhaps just overwhelmed. Port stays were cancelled or shortened in several cases making the seventeen day voyage seem even longer. Oh, and they took that time to announce cancellation of their Lincoln Center program. We haven't put HAL into any more of our plans.

Lincoln Center Stage was well-attended and a quality program. Eliminating that is a huge mistake. The main theater shows were lackluster, dancers interacting with a computer screen.

I can’t wait to see traditional HAL cruiser’s faces if they announce that Lincoln Center’s replacement is the Wiggles :)

One of my major reasons to sail HAL was Lincoln Center. It was such a nice thing to do during the afternoon on sea days. And, children on cruises aren't my favorite.

My wife and I are in our 60's, no kids, and HAL has been our favorite line for over 20 years. We have 3 HAL cruises booked over the next year and will continue to sail with HAL whenever possible. Gary is spot-on about the kid situation which is why we avoid cruising around/on major holidays and we avoid short (less than 10 day) cruises now. Well behaved kids are not an issue but, unfortunately, we are now living in the age of the out-of-control brat and the parents are 100% to blame for that.

You have presented a very fair analysis of HAL. We gave over 850 days on HAL and love them for the wonderful itineraries. However we have shifted our recent cruising experience to Princess and have thoroughly enjoyed two ships. We have two future bookings on both Hal and Princess and are onboard the Majestic Princess finishing a repositioning cruise from Australia to Seattle. The Eurodam joined us in Victoria last night along with the Bliss.

It used to be that based on our mood we could pick the line. Sometimes we wanted to do a "walker' laid back cruise we would do HAL. If we wanted better dining and quiet bars we would do Celebrity. And if we wanted good lounge entertainment we would do Princess (love Crooners). Now it seems like all the main cruise lines are trying to get full of kids. loud music. slower service and worse food.

My husband is gutted by the end of Lincoln Center. The venue was always packed, and I don't fully understand why HAL ditched them. Still, HAL is a better fit for us than Princess (where we started out) and we have two cruises booked for next year.

Hi 485 days HALcruiser here. I have to agree with your comments. A few things I don't like but broadly still a massive fan. Just did a 31 night South America cruise and saw maybe 4 kids. That is pretty much my experience on all our cruises... BUT we rarely cruise during school vacations. Love your videos by the way.

I stopped cruising with HAL when, about 15 years ago, our cabin lost air conditioning the second afternoon of a 7 day cruise in hot and humid Mexico. Allegedly there were no open cabins to move us to, and for our "inconvenience" we received a plate of snacks and a floor fan. Only after writing HAL post cruise, all they would do is give us a very limited 10% off a future non holiday cruise. Totally unacceptable so adios HAL!

There have been many changes, not for the better. The Eurodam has always been my favorite ship. I’ve sailed almost all the ships and so miss the Veendam which used to go to Bermuda. I’m not sure who decided to ditch the Lincoln Center. Not a good idea

We found nothing to do on Holland America during the day except trivia, bingo, and sales/marketing events.

The newer bigger ships on HAL don’t have a proper Promenade deck where you could always sit on deck chairs. What a shame - one of the favourite things we liked to do. Bad design decision.

HAL lost my business a few years ago. Kept giving them a second, third, and fourth try, and finally got fed up. The extra $7 charge for an appetizer along with a soup in the Pinnacle Grill did it for me.

We cruise HAL repositioning cruises, none shorter than 3 weeks. Very few kids, many sea days and far-flung port calls. The loss of Lincoln Center Stage saddens me. However the jazz/pop trio that plays most evenings in the Ocean bar meets our light entertainment needs.

We took a Trans Atlantic cruise on HAL Rotterdam a couple of years ago. I just saw one sweet toddler aboard (who made friends with everybody she met). The quiet was certainly enjoyable, but we’ve been on plenty of cruises that were more family-focused, and have never been “bothered” by little humans