Holland America

[mm4mm]

Has anyone ever used their point to go on a cruise with Holland America? If so, I would like to know about your experience. Thanks.

Melisa

 

[Merilyn]

We never used point but just got back from a cruise with Holland America. We were on the Zuirderdam. The cruise was great and the service wonderful. We will probably cruise with them again. I had forgotten we could use points with them. Wish I had remembered. It is a more adult cruise with not as many children. We went to Costa Maya, Mexico; Grand Cayman, and Key West. We also went to their private island which is shared with Carnival. I think you would enjoy it very much, but if you have children they may not. They do have a childrens area for intertainment, but I can't tell you anything about it. Email me if you want more information.
Merilyn

 

[Dean]

We haven't done it but have checked in to it. There are a couple on this board that have had the full experience. One thing to note is that you cannot directly combine the cruise with a land package. But you can schedule a land package through HAL travel division separately (or others) and accomplish almost the same thing. Expect a value of about $6-7 per point roughly if you use points for the HAL cruise. Check to see what the same experience would be on cash and compare that to how many points.

 

[joksten2000]

I Just Booked Through Disney The Alaska Cruise Out Of Seattle On The Ms Oosterdam, Upgrated To Verandah Rooms For 370 A Stateroom. I Fly Out Of Philly And Flights Back Are At 11:15 And 12:15 Or 6pm So I Decided To Stay Over At The Doubletree For $69 A Room. Saved Me A $1,000 In Air Fare Plus Holland Was Freaking Out At The Thought Of Getting Us To The Airport By 11:15. I Told Them Disney Can Do It.

 

[DisneyBill]

2006 7 Day DCL Eastern Cruise (Me & Wife)(04/15)
2006 7 Day Alaska July 1st (Family)
2006 7 Day DCL Oct 28th Cruise (Me & Wife)

Looks like you're going to have a great year in '06, cruising wise! So the 370 points was 2 people per cabin, with verandah?

 

[barkley]

we did the alaska cruise 8/04 (the only hal tradeout available to dvc members). we loved alaska, the inside passage is awesome (we did the vancouver to and from) but did not like hal. poor service ( alot of the guests on board were very unhappy), very unaccommodating. also if you have children-not a cruiseline i would reccommend.

i've read on other boards that the service on hal has gone down hill since thier automatic tipping policy kicked in (and boy if you try to opt out on it do they put you through the ringer).

i would look at renting points out and booking through another line (a friend did the same trip on rcl and adored it).

 

[icydog]

We used our points for a cabin for my husband and I in 1994. It was wonderful and we had a great time. Now the rate for the cruise is so high I wouldn't consider it. If I want to cruise to Alaska I would rent my points and buy the cruise with cash. The only reason to cruise with points is to use points you wouldn't be able to use at WDW,JMHO.
I wasn't aware HAL changed their tipping policy. We went on a 11 day HAL to Caribbean in 2004 and had no such policy in effect and the cruise was suberb.
I hope this is not the norm going forward, as no incentive to earn tips = poor service.