What My FREE Holland America Cruise Was Really Like (and how I spent ONLY $89/day for this 22 day vacation through the pricey Nordics)
As if getting comp cruises through my Casino Status Match Jackpot wasn’t enough – I decided to really stretch the value by booking two European cruises nearly back to back as things seemed to be falling perfectly into place with the comp cruise offers. Typically, the two biggest expenses for a trip are flights, especially if they are international and lodging so this plan would save on having to fly across the Atlantic multiple times and the comp cruises would take care of accommodations for a more than half the nights whilst traveling to some very pricey locales. First up in this month-long adventure is my Holland America Iceland & Greenland Passage cruise!
Want to learn more about how to travel for cheaper, better and/or more often?: Intro to Travel Hacking and my 8 Top Tips For Travel Hacking
Before I dive in, here’s some related HAL Nieuw Statendam posts. Note: that post is a work in progress as I write up about the trip. This is an anchor post that will cover the itinerary with links to any related posts ie port stops/flight/hotel reviews.
- Wanna learn more about how I got this comp cruise in the first place? Read about my casino status match jackpot here and here’s where you’ll find my haul. For how I specifically obtained this Holland America comp cruise
- Since there’s always a debate about if this type of travel is really “free”, read what my free HAL comp cruise cost to see what my true costs of this comp cruises was
- HAL Nieuw Statendam trip report covers what I spent (cash, miles and points) and additional savings (beyond the flight/hotel savings from using miles/points)
- Upcoming posts: HAL Nieuw Statendam ship review and my thoughts on Holland America
Welp I had chosen this cruise specifically for the itinerary and the chance to explore Greenland…but some pesky icebergs in the water lead to the (very prudent) but disappointing decision that the ship could not safely travel there. Luckily Holland America made the necessary arrangements to alter our itinerary significantly rather than keeping the itinerary and hoping that conditions would improve as that course of action would have resulted only in more sea days!
The old Itinerary for the cruise is displayed first with changed port information following as applicable.
Days 1-2: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
DEN-BOS (United Airlines Economy)
Spend: $2.13 / Savings from United(UA) travel bank IYKYK.
Hyatt Place HP Boston/Seaport
Spend: $173.67 (including $10 Housekeeping tip) / Savings: $50 WoH Business Credit card credit & balance on gifted GC & from upgraded room type (also included in other sections for savings:complimentary breakfast including day of check-in!)
Beautiful tip ~ consider flying out of another city to open up award availability AKA repositioning.
BUT you must build in a time buffer since your flights are not on the same itinerary (ie as opposed to one booking, the second airline has no obligation to get you on a different flight if your repositioning flight is delayed).
With travel being so chaotic now, I personally opt to fly in the night before. Because of that, I use these repositioning flights as a chance to visit friends or a new city. To further maximize my time, I will fly in as early and then fly out as late as possible.
BOS-ZRH (SWISS Business) + ZRH-CPH (SAS Business)
Spend: 70K AC miles + $73.53 (101.30 CAD) / Savings: technically I only used 58,333 Chase UR points as I took advantage of Chase's 20% transfer bonus to Air Canada
Day 3: Zürich, Switzerland (then late flight to CPH)
Beautiful tip: flexibility + urgency are needed when booking award flights.
Case in point: I couldn’t decide on which flight to take to maximize my time in Zürich and lost out on the chance to fly directly from Denver!
Taking all these cruises has warmed me up to the idea of taking long layovers and checking out another city. Some things to look at when considering this: what leaving the airport entails, luggage storage options (especially if you’re also #teamcarryon), distance/time/ease of getting from airport to city, what can you realistically see/do when you get to city and don’t forget time needed to go through airport security again.
Days 3-6: Malmö, Sweden
Story Hotel Studio Malmö
Spend 15K points + $18* (Housekeeping tip) / Savings from upgraded room type (also included in other sections for savings:complimentary breakfast + free drink vouchers)
Day 7: Copenhagen, Denmark
Residence Inn Copenhagen
Spend 42K points + $8* (Housekeeping tip) / Savings: (was not honored at check-in but given on 6/29) and late check-outno upgraded room type (also included in other sections for savings:complimentary breakfast)
Day 8: Copenhagen, Denmark: Embark HAL Nieuw Statendam
Beautiful tip: Using Viator is a pro move – here’s why I use it to book shore excursions whenever possible.
Day 9: at Sea
Day 10: Ålesund, Norway
Day 11: at Sea
Day 12: Husavik, Iceland -> Runavik, Faroe Islands
Day 13: Ísafjörður, Iceland -> at Sea
Day 14: at Sea -> Djúpivogur, Iceland
Day 15: Nanortalik, Greenland -> Akureyri, Iceland
Day 16: Qaqortoq, Greenland -> Akureyri, Iceland
Day 17: at Sea -> Ísafjörður, Iceland
Day 18: at Sea -> Reykjavík, Iceland
Day 19: Reykjavík, Iceland: Disembark HAL Nieuw Statendam
Days 20-21: Reykjavík, Iceland
Hilton Reykjavík Nordica
Spend 120K points + $209.08 ($26* Housekeeping tip) / Savings from upgraded room type: Exec level ocean-view & $60 AMEX Hilton Business quarterly credit (also included in other sections for savings:complimentary breakfast & executive lounge access & comp spa access)
Days 20-21: Reykjavík, Iceland / Travel Day to Athens for my Virgin Comped Cruise
Beautiful tip: my award bookings allow me to save money especially as I am so apt to change travel plans
This trip illustrates my impulsive nature and why award bookings save me so much money in so many ways – especially with changing my flight to Athens three times!
