Pearl DCL cruiser tries another line for the first time: Holland America Line

[Chipmunkmaniac]

I ve been cruising Disney since 2007 and in October/November Ill be doing my 28th and 29th Disney cruise. I often cruise alone or with another adult friend no kids. Im a Disney geek that loves mainly the travel destinations and had been to all the parks around the world (except Shanghai for political readons) MULTIPLE times. I got hooked to cruising in 2007 but seem to cruise in cycles. Cruise a lot for a few years, get disappointed in DCL for taling tings away/downhill service, go back after a few year and cruise again several years.

Now I did Iceland on the Magic two years agao and absolutely loved that cruise. A friend of mine wanted to visit Iceland too and we were supposed to take the Dream thos Summer who only had two Iceland stops: Reykjavick and Isafjordr. A friend who has stepped away told me I was crazing we would be willing to pay 10k in an inside for basically two stops in Iceland… a bit later she sent me a beautiful itinerary on Holland America for two full weeks. Leaving from Amsterdam meant we could catch a train versus flying. We hit Norwegian gjords for a bit, three Scottish destinations and a full circle around Iceland with stops in Heimaey, Isofjordr, Reykjavick, Akureyri and Djupivogr (this is how the cruise was sold but more on that later)
Now the price was 4.5k for an inside so less than half of Disney.

Im gonna cover different aspects of our cruise in seperate posts but Ill start off with the summary: we LOVED it! We sailed on the Nieuw Statendam which is one of their newer and bigger ships (bigger though means simil r to the Magic/Wonder)
The cruise was sold out, we had 1600 Dutch people onboard, for HAL standards a lot of families with kids because school vacations are in full swing in Holland but we never had the feeling of a crowded ship! On DCL I like to sail transatlantics and less busier times and I had less issues finding seats and tables on HAL then on a transatlantic with Disney.
The food was at least as good as DCl, but several aspects even better. The room was slightly smaller in square meters but very nice and efficient (with an actual tv vs a stamp with tons of free movies on demand including quite a bit of Disneys)
Service and kindness of staff was definetely at least as good as DCL and even fell more sincere and genuine many times. They seem to treat their crew very well and the atmosphere is more laidback for them which makes them more relaxed without loosing service level.

HAL is very efficient and so many rhings that are a pain at dcl just ran seemless. Our disembark morning this morning was just as relaxing and smooth as our cruise itself.
They are very destination oriented and want you to know where you are going and get the most out of your time there. They are big on scenic cruising (cruising close to land so you can see things) and at helping you spot wildlife.

Ill go more into depth in seperate posts per item but thats it for now. I did a lot of research to get on the ship with the right expectations bit it def exceeded them in so many way!

 

[CamColt]

Thanks for the review! We too are Pearl and are considering going to another line. It's nice to hear a positive review of going that route.

 

[disney2you]

For me Disney Cruises are about the ship and if I actually care about ports and visiting them, I travel there on my own (non-cruise trip). It is all about the ship for me (dining, characters, theming) and the ports are just a nice bonus on the trip. So I can definitely see the advantages of a cruise line that is focused on ports if that is what you are looking for.

 

[SleepyDeb]

Sound like a nice cruise

 

[auntlynne]

Nice to hear of a good cruise experience, no matter the cruise line. But the cost savings are like icing on the cake.

I am a port person. And am looking forward to hearing about your various adventures. Throw in some photos, please, if you are able.

I also started cruising (DCL) in 2007. But I have thrown in multiple cruises (13) on five other lines to get variety.

HAL and Celebrity are high in my list of “to try” cruises. It’s hard to justify Disney prices, even more so when a lot of time is spent off ship doing excursions.

 

[AttheParks]

Thank you so much for posting your experience with HAL. I am considering an Alaska cruise next summer or Summer '26 on HAL. Would be interested in reading more of about your experiences.

 

[Travel60]

We cruise DCL first for the kids (and now grands) and second for the itinerary. We cruise other lines for the itinerary. We,'ve done a few Ponant (mostly excursion type), a two-week HAL around Norway, and a couple of one-times on other lines. Disney does Disney better than anyone (characters, entertainment) but the others often top Disney in service level and dining. But, it's a different clientele too.

 

[Mom2Anna&Elsa]

My first cruise ever was on Holland America Line way back in 1991. Loved it.

I would absolutely consider sailing with them again once my girls get older.

Glad you had a fantastic cruise!

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

Food: everyone is lyrical about the food on HAL so I had very high expectations and may be they were too high.
Hal only has one dining room and you choose early/late seating with the same servers and table mates or free dining. Free dining tou show up at whatever time you like or you can make a reservation to ensure minimal wait. You can do that on the app on a day by day basis.

The menus at the dining room were def not exceptional, and more expensive dishes such as a lobster tail came at an extra charge (lobster tail was 20 dollars) bear in mind the fare is way cheaper than DCL. We only used the dining room twice for breakfast, once for lunch and once for the free high tea. High tea is served every seaday and they have different themes (dutch, victorian, scandinavian were the ones on our cruise) we were not super impressed by their tea times but overall I think DCL does better when it comes to desserts.

Room service is free: breakfast also has american breakfast available. Then there are items available every day and everything from the dining room can be ordered via room service

Poolside dining: it is cooked to order. You can order via the app or at the pick up place with a pager. They have lots of burgers and dogs but you can add/remove ingrediënts as you like. Quality was very good; like a decent burgerrestaurant at home. Pizzas were the same system. They also had nachos, chicken wings etc and then some additional free items on movie nights such as popcorn.

Lido market: pretty much all day buffet. Buffet is being served and drinks are serviced at your table. Soooo many options and very good quality. They do breakfast, lunch, late lunch with more limited choices, dinner til 8.30pm and then a late night buffet from 10.30 til 11.30
A lot of items were covered or cooked to order so we checked on the app which station was supposed to have what cause otherwise we d miss a bunch! They have a fresh bakery onboard, not the frozen junk of dcl. Tons of bread and rolls options, fresh pastries etc. At lunch they had pre made baguettes but there were also lots of charcuterie ooties so you could do your own. The Asian station had daily sushi… DECENT sushi, not the crap of dcl and every day they had different types. I love asian food and they had so many options every day but also all the regular stuff like different meats and fries etc. They often had more caloriefriendly options like boiled potatoes or potatoe in the skin. Everything was always nice and warm, service was friendly and they had the same crew working at each station every day so you could still build up a personal interaction.
They had a cook to order crepe station at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lunch and dinner always had icecream (both softserve) and scoopsx de heir other desserts were allright but not mindblowing imo
They do a thing called port to plate. I thought it was like a salesthing but no the executive chef goes out in port and brings back local foods with his team such as fish and cheese. Towards the end of the cruise we had a few times this whole secrion of Dutch, Norwegian, Iceland and Scottish cheese. We had dcottish mussels, salmon has beén norwegian and scottish salmon etc.
On the last time they had a thing which was called cale me away with tons of cakes. Once again tou were being served so no messy buffet issues

Some of the ships have a place called Dutch cafe with Dutch food items. We loved that place.

Specialty dining was very easy to reserve and cheap 25-55 dollars. We loved Tamarind, a pan asian restaurant the other places were good but not Remy good

 

[ladyofthetramp]

This is a great review. We had been eyeing the iceland cruise with DCL. The two Iceland stops was a deal breaker and then they are not even offering it in 2025-so far. We are considering a land based trip, but this sounds like a nice alternative. Thanks for the review!

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

This is a great review. We had been eyeing the iceland cruise with DCL. The two Iceland stops was a deal breaker and then they are not even offering it in 2025-so far. We are considering a land based trip, but this sounds like a nice alternative. Thanks for the review!

The intresting thing is that DCL cancelled for the third year in a row Isafjordr saying they are having port contruction work going on and DCL cant go… well for this year that is def nonsense. We docked there and they have SIX spots: 2 tender, 3 at the new dock and one at the old dock. The 3 spots at the new dock have been ready since last year and our tourguid said so far they ve nzver had 6 ships at the same time in there. It was actually our favorite stop! We did a boatride to an abandoned island. The island was goegeous and there were seals… but the boatride was amazing too cause we saw hundreds of puffins, one orca, several humpbackwhales and several dolphins!

 

[ladyofthetramp]

The intresting thing is that DCL cancelled for the third year in a row Isafjordr saying they are having port contruction work going on and DCL cant go… well for this year that is def nonsense. We docked there and they have SIX spots: 2 tender, 3 at the new dock and one at the old dock. The 3 spots at the new dock have been ready since last year and our tourguid said so far they ve nzver had 6 ships at the same time in there. It was actually our favorite stop! We did a boatride to an abandoned island. The island was goegeous and there were seals… but the boatride was amazing too cause we saw hundreds of puffins, one orca, several humpbackwhales and several dolphins!

Wow!! What an amazing experience that must have been. Sounds like something I would enjoy.

 

[pachy25]

We are pearl also, sounds like we will check out HAL and say goodby to the Rat.

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

We are pearl also, sounds like we will check out HAL and say goodby to the Rat.

Im not saying goodbye to the rat (yet) I love the Disney cruises with many seadays because I love meeting characters. HAL was great but I cant picture myself on a cruise with tons of consecutive seadays unless I load up my ipad and bring books but I can do that at home as well. But yes definetely worth a try to see if HAL is a fit for you!!!

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

Pools. The ship we were on had two decent sized pools and 5 jacuzzis. With decent size I mean of actuall depth and big enough for people to start their day doing some laps. Jacuzzis were never overly crowded… may be you think oh but the weather was cold… well we only had a few really colder days and now comes the best part: on HAL the middle section of the outdoor deck has a glass dome they can open and close or have partially open depening on the weather. Also at night they d always have it closed and it meant that on windy chilli seadays people were still enjoying the pools and loungechairs etc

Kids clubs: I didnt sail with kids but from what I understood it is a lot lf crafts and teaching rhem stuff about animals/ports etc. They were not open all day and night (they d close over lunch and dinner
The teenclub looked not superattractive for teens. They had some arcade and fun games and videogames… the good thing after 6pm these games were open to all and FREE to play! I talked to the counsellors and they said the teenspace is little used unless they put on like a mario cart tournament etc but that the first night they all show up to choose their little gang and that sometimes they also use that space to meet eachother before they take off elsewhere on the ship

 

[Hubie]

Well, we are now Platinum with DCL and are returning to do the 7-day Eastern Carribean on the Treasure with our entire family in November 2025. But after having a bad experience (absolutely terrible servers/tons of noisy little kids) on the 7-day Eastern Carribean Fantasy Pixar Cruise last January, DW and I decided to branch out and try an expedition cruise. We chose to sail on Swan Hellenic's Circumnavigation of Iceland Cruise this past June. We were on the SH Diana, which holds 192 passengers and a crew of 142. But there were only 82 passengers, and we were treated like royalty!
View attachment 880445
Yes, the cruise was expensive. But DW sailed for 50% off and we got a $1600 upgrade from our Travel Advisor to a balcony stateroom. And the cost of the cruise included staying our first night at the Courtyard by Marriot just down the road from the Reykjavik Airport. We were also met at the airport, shuttled to the hotel, and provided a free huge-buffet breakfast when we arrived there at 7:30 in the morning. Afterwards a free bus was provided to take you to the city for the day and then back to the hotel. The following morning after another free buffet breakfast a bus shuttled us to the ship. Once aboard, all alcohol drinks (almost anything you could want including some craft beers), lattes, cappuccinos and expressos were included. When we boarded, we were given a welcoming glass of champagne and all of the ship's officer's and expedition staff were introduced. Our balcony stateroom with a faux fireplace contained a refrigerator stocked with bottled water and a selection of canned soda, beer, and a bottle of champagne. We had free 24-hr. room service but never used it or touched the selection in the refrigerator because we were hardly in the room except to sleep. A free excursion is offered every day, and the main lounge was so beautiful that we spent a lot of time in it with other guests when not eating or listening to the daily lectures. The food was spectacular! A 5-star chef treated us to a meal from a different area of the world each night and we had two opportunities to catch a wonderful buffet for breakfast where you could get anything you desired -- including made to order eggs, pancakes, French toast, and even eggs benedict. Made to order hamburgers, chicken and fish sandwiches etc. were also provided at lunch if you wanted any of those, but the buffet included a huge selection of make your own salads and some great prepared entrees.

The ship also contains a well-stocked library, and a number of jig-saw puzzles in the very comfortable and huge, main lounge/bar area. Lots of free movies are available to watch on the flat screen TV in your stateroom but we never had the time to do so. The DCL Treasure cruise next Fall may be our last cruise on such a large ship. We can't wait to book another expedition cruise with Swan Hellenic. Did I mention that Swan Hellenic also provides each guest with a free waterproof backpack and a $300 parka? Oh, and we also were provided free bus transport to a Reykjavik hotel or back to the airport at the end of the cruise. the airport is a 1-hour drive from the city.

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

Room: though the room was slightly smaller than what dcl gives you (they have bigger but we ooted for the cheapest option which is a room that just sleeps 2 ppl) there was more storage than what we get on DCL!
The beds can be split if you want to but we kept them as one to not loose more space.
The TV was huge compared to DCL: flatscreen of decent quality (also decent sound) mounted to the wall behind the bed. We never watch TV on DCL but now we did. They had several news channels, some sportschan’els and tons of free movies on demand. They also had portvideos of 8 min about each port we visited.
The bathroom is not split but we had a walk in shower with a nice glass door which covered the whole depth of the bathroom.
Amenities are the same as DCL, some cabins come with robes. The fridge was stocked as a mini bar but upon simple request they empty it for you. Beds and bedding were very comfy, similar to DCL.
The stateroom hosts work in pairs. They were lovely. There is morning service and turndown service. Hal does not give a chocolate or towel animal daily. I think we had tO or three towel animals and 4 chocolates. They are fancy chocolates though.
We had a sideway room on deck 5 forward right next to a crew door but we didnt hear any noise from neighbours or crew or decks below/on top.

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

Booking excursions and onboard excursions: now this is the weird thing to seasoned DCL cruisers I guess. There are no booking windows defined. You book your cruise and a bunch of excursions are available. You need to pay them when you book so this avoids funshopping and can cancel til two days before the excursion. When excursions are full you can waitlist. Sometimes they ll add busses or they ll move you up if people cancel. Waitlist comes without a charge so you can book your second choice and waitlist for your first choice. We also noticed some excursions were added as we got withon the last 5 months to our cruise. They do very well on accessible excursions.
The only thing to bear in mind when combining plans for the same port days. They list their excursions by departure time, meeting time is half an hour earlier! They dont guide you from the meeting spot to the bus. They ll anounce your tourgroup and then have someone with the sign of your number near the bus or at the gangway if your bus is not near the gangway.
So meeting time would be 30min ahead, heading to the bus about 15min and excursions would leave punctual. If an excursion was mentionned as 4h it meant you were on your way for 4h instead of the dcl 3.5h
Onboard experiences just randomly ooened in the months before the cruise. I believe the first specialty dining opened about 5 months ahead and then another one a bit later etc. They were super easy to get and even onboard, even plenty of same day availability

 

[mousefan73]

My mom and I have been taking a look at HAL for Alaska... I believe mainly as they have the best berthing spots too. We are a bit concerned on if it's too oldy stuffy.... which is funny as I am 50 and my mom is 74.. This is why we loved Virgin and its diverse age and entertainment. We may be old but dont want piano rock classics in the lobby at night.

But we have been looking at HAL.

We just did the Dream, was a good trip ( it's DCL so it cant be bad) but it had to have been one of more disappointing cruises. out of control kids and teens ( complaints all over our FB group on this) and so many commented the MDR dining staff and service was subpar.. was really bad ( our assistant server was barely there, never refills had to hunt him down to ask, waiting 30 min to start an order) . and Afternoons if one wants real food between 2:30 and 6pm is actually sad once you sail other lines... Fast food at the pool or room service ( also basically fast food/ sandwiches) are your only options

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

My mom and I have been taking a look at HAL for Alaska... I believe mainly as they have the best berthing spots too. We are a bit concerned on if it's too oldy stuffy.... which is funny as I am 50 and my mom is 74.. This is why we loved Virgin and its diverse age and entertainment. We may be old but dont want piano rock classics in the lobby at night.

But we have been looking at HAL.

We just did the Dream, was a good trip ( it's DCL so it cant be bad) but it had to have been one of more disappointing cruises. out of control kids and teens ( complaints all over our FB group on this) and so many commented the MDR dining staff and service was subpar.. was really bad ( our assistant server was barely there, never refills had to hunt him down to ask, waiting 30 min to start an order) . and Afternoons if one wants real food between 2:30 and 6pm is actually sad once you sail other lines... Fast food at the pool or room service ( also basically fast food/ sandwiches) are your only options

I was worried about that too. Im 42 and my friend 48 but def wasnt the case on our cruise. Fair znough that was the middle of Summer