Review: What Makes Holland America Different and How That Sets Them Apart

I hadn’t thought much of it when people warned me that it would matter which line I chose to cruise with – how different can they really be? Very. Maybe it is more apparent with cruise lines due to the amount of time that you are on the ship so what makes each line unique is a lot more noticeable than say with an airline or even a hotel. Here being a captive audience showcases the good and bad of each cruise line as there are many times literally stuck on a boat in the middle of an ocean.

Here’s what Holland America did well on my Nordics cruise aboard the Nieuw Statendam – really they exceed my expectations in so many ways!

ITINERARY CHANGES

There are many times that a cruise line will have to change the itinerary which is understandable considering that weather/safety are paramount. As with many things, how a cruise line or specific ship decides to deal with the change determines how others will react to the situation. For most on this particular sailing, the main if not the only draw was Greenland so it was very disappointing, even if completely understandable, why the ship would not be sailing there.

I have been on other ships where the only information given was the initial announcement/letter about the itinerary change – case in point when we sailed aboard the NCL Prima and Ísafjörður was cancelled – Norwegian Cruise Line never stated why and did not let us know until we were onboard but no sailings before or after us had made it to this port but other cruises lines did dock…it along with a number of other issues, did not leave a good impression of NCL for me.

What Holland America did really well was by not just cancelling the two Greenland ports but also by completely revamping the itinerary. I am very appreciative of this fact especially after learning of how another line had a similar itinerary to ours and they kept to the original itinerary and were not able to get to Greenland so instead of 5 sea days on an 11 day cruise, it was 7 sea days! So while we were not able to make it to Greenland, we did have the pleasure of docking in Runavik and visiting the Faroe Islands. This was one of the coolest things I have seen with almost the entire town coming out to greet and help the ship!

Cruise and Travel Director – Clare

This is a position that is unique to Holland America (at least amongst mainstream cruise lines) where this person is not running the entertainment aspect of the cruise but rather partners up with the captain and helps shape the itinerary + sailings. This shows in a lot of ways but none moreso than how the revamped itinerary for our sailing benefited from that team approach as Clare was proactive in shaping how our visit to the Faroe Islands would be (look how much information was given to passengers from HAL in coordination with Runavik in the middle and right photos!) and also was a wealth of knowledge for the port stops.

Which leads into a perfect seque for the next thing that I really appreciated:

PORT OVERVIEWS Plus Q&A SESSIONS (With Cruise and Travel Director)

There are many people that plan out their vacations the minute that they book but if you are not like this or when there’s big itinerary changes – these port overviews are so helpful. Information that was given included where the ship would dock and where that was in relation to the town. Highlights on history, what to see and do as well as how to do it on your own – I really loved how these were not conducted as sales pitches for HAL excursions

Case in point for how informative the sessions were is not only were maps shown which I loved but that so much was highlighted for our Ísafjörður port stop. For example, at the bottom left you see how the ship is circled indicating where the Nieuw Statendam would be docked and then places of interest are also boxed and labeled!

SCENIC SAILINGS

This was as we were approaching Akureyri sailing through the Eyjafjörður Fjord, we were treated to commentary from the Icelandic expert on board as well as from Clare – and the ship also had the commentary broadcast on some of the outdoor decks vs limiting it only to the Crow’s nest which was very crowded.

Another time that Clare’s position was really highlighted was the scenic sailing after we left Ísafjörður. As we sailed through the fjord, Clare went through the history and geology of the area

COMMEMORATIVE ITEMS

Arctic Circle Crossing

I have seen that this milestone definitely varies between cruise lines – NCL did not give us certificates and Princess not only gave certificates but later had a blue nose ceremony. There are many that like these mementos for places or things they have done.

HOLLAND AMERICA JOURNEY

Speaking of which, this is a cute idea with a passport like book for HAL sailings that have been completed

EDUCATION / INFO ON DESTINATIONS

I really loved this aspect of sailing with Holland America as they had a guest lecturer, Jon Sigurdsson – an Icelandic expert, who gave many interesting talks on Iceland. These gave you a chance to dive into knowing more about the places we were going to!

DESTINATION INSPO – MENU

That the Executive Chef would go out and buy Salmon while at Port – that was really cool!

WAYS TO ENTERTAIN YOURSELF

There a lot more about this aspect that you can read about here – including how HAL has a library onboard for many of the ships including the Nieuw Statendam!

I thought these were wonderful additions for my cruise – do you find them to be as great? In fact, these are what makes HAL my second favorite cruise line! Are you as surprised by that fact as I am?!