This is absolutely brilliant. I wish every UA-camr did something like this. And your ship tours and dining guides are second to none. Thank you so much for taking the time to make them. Truly appreciated.
Thank you SO MUCH for your kind and encouraging words. We do take more time than most to make sure each video is the best and most informative and helpful it can be. So glad they are hitting the mark. Have a lovely weekend. ☺️
I have a Facebook channel I started 11 months ago for the Noordam when I couldn't find one to participate in. We are approaching 5K now which is amazing in that amout of time. 99% of the people on there are so caring & helpful. I think this reflects the HAL cruiser in general. I've been all over the world on multiple HAL ships & several things remain constant. The staff onboard are always terrific, good food, great music & the people I meet are always interesting & kind. I travel solo, so I enjoy meeting & getting to know my fellow cruisers. I'm so glad you enjoyed the Noordam. I had a wonderful 2 weeks in Alaska last July/Aug on her. Next for me is 39 days in the Med. in October & November on the Nieuw Statendam. If you haven't tried a Pinnacle class ship, I highly recommend it!
We absolutely loved the Noordam and are looking forward to being on Eurodam soon. Working our way up to Pinnacle class 😂 Thanks for watching and commenting - we’ve joined the Facebook group out (btw please feel free to link to our videos if you think they would be helpful for people in the group 👍)
Thank you for the review. I'll be on the Noordam in Alaska for two weeks in September. Now I'm really glad we chose this ship. Our third HAL cruise in 12 months.
Our new favourite cruising channel! Love your constructive positives and not-so-positives and overall insights in your experience. I think we might have to head onboard to the Noordam in the very near future!
Lovely looking food. We did a similar cruise a few years ago on Celebrity Solstice. Syd-Melb-NZ. Lovely also seeing my home city on your video: Melbourne (yes on our cruise we arrived into our home city for the day) and the apartments along Port Melbourne promenade. On ours we had thick fog outside Melbourne. And one of the highlights was leaving The sounds in NZ and being guided out by the dolphins escorting the ship out.
Haha, yes we sailed into Melbourne on our Coral Princess cruise when there was thick fog in the bay. The sounds are amazing aren’t they? Thanks for watching 😊
I’m so pleased you enjoyed the Noordam! I’m a long time HAL lover and just off the Zuiderdam. Everything you said equals my experience as well. Love the crew and the quaintness of the ship. And so please you loved the food. You two are sooooo experienced with high end sailing. I hope HAL sees this review as they should be very proud. So am I.
We Tried HAL For The First Time After 23 Princess Cruises And Were Pleasantly Surprised. We Sailed On The Eurodam Out Of Seattle To Alaska For 7 Days Then Arrived In Seattle And Jumped On The Royal Princess For Back To Alaska For 7 More Days. I Do See More HAL Cruises In Our Future. Thank You For Sharing Your Cruises With Us.
Thanks for the video. I've been considering Holland America for a future Cruise and I think now I will book one. I never get to see your livestream, but I greatly appreciate your videos. 😀🚢
I love the quality and content of your videos. Keep up the good work. You guys just sold me on HAL. I've never understood people that go on Vacati😍n and nip pick the ship itself. People, these are metal ships sitting on salt water.
I did the reverse of that itinerary and we hit a huge storm crossing from the Sounds to Melbourne. We had waves splashing up the Main Dining room windows. As a sailor of a 40foot sailing boat - it was an amazing experience to be in a vessel that handled these incredibly bad conditions in the most magnificent manner. Yes it rolled a bit, it squelched through the waves. The Crows Nest was exhilarating. A great life time experience.
We will be embarking on our fifth Noordam cruise on 10 December and can't wait to be on board her again, this time a 10-day round cruise to NZ from Sydney. We really like the ship's size - not too small and not too big.
Glad you enjoyed my favorite cruise line. I am a 3 star mariner. I have been on other cruise lines but keep going back to HAL as great service at the price point. Did they replace the BB Kings Blue lounge with the Rolling Stone Rock room?
We loved Noordam and are looking forward to trying Eurodam next month too 😍 Yes, on the Noordam there is not BB Kings, just a Rolling Stones lounge. Think it’s the other way round on the Eurodam 👍
Wow. I kind of want to learn more about HAL’s history, realizing I don’t know much about it as it turns up. Talk about happy Titanic month! As much as I’ve been saturated with Titanic, there really is always something new to learn about her. You always make any and every destination appetizing. So now I HAVE to sail Australia. …AND check out that “Wasn’t Expecting THIS” video. I. Could. Not. With that! There’s dry British humoUr, and then there’s wow-that’s-a-really-good-cappuccino-from-London British humoUr.
Looks like an amazing experience! You should try the new Rotterdam - beautiful ship, excellent food, outstanding crew and loved BBKings and Lincoln Center stage.
We would love to try a pinnacle class ship. Going on the slightly beefed up Eurodam next month and hope to get on a pinnacle class ship some time soon 🤞
Hello.. been following you since the beginning! Since you are on Splendor, could you peek at cabin 903 which connects to Grand suite 901. Sailing her in August and concerned of the connecting door to grand suite. I've searched everywhere and nothin on the adjoining cabins of grand suite on deck 9 (903, 904). Often when optional rooms adjoin suites they can be different in decor and touches. Sometimes for better, or worst. Lovely if you can provide any real live experience insight!
Very nice review. You covered just about everything only wish you would have shown the staterooms. The pictures and videos off ship are so beautiful and clear, I assume not taken with phone camera ?? You are a beautiful couple, I wish you many more happy cruises.
Didn’t know the history of HAL-interesting. Have never sailed them before. I’ve been to Sydney, but we sailed into White Bay in the middle of the night. I think in the extreme heat, the kangaroos tend to just lie in the shade waiting for people to feed them. Terrible there was a cyclone! I really want to go to NZ. Two things they have Regent beat in - an app and good wi-fi.
??? Are you saying that in the main showroom there is now only dancing every night ? or do they still have other guest performers like they used to every night ??? . I hope so.
@@visitwithus OK thanks a lot. Im disappointed to see on UA-cam that they have removed the wonderful highback chairs from the Crows Nest and replaced them with low back chairs. Wont be able to rest my head and close my eyes. That was my favourite place to go on the ship. boo hoo.
I agree about the pools, food and staff. I was on the Noordam in April/May. Hopped on in Aukland. Sailed all the way down, then to Tasmania, Melbourne (Australia) and then got off in Sydney. I'm a big pool person but never once swam in the pool because it lookedrather unappealing. And in the whole 15 days I was there, I only saw 6 people swim in it, two of whom were children. However, the hot spas next to the pool were always well populated. The food was extremely good. I didnt get on the scales for 2 months after I got back because I was scared of how much weight I put on. And the staff were faultless. In fact they were so good that I thought I shouldnt try to go out to work because I could never live up to that sort of standard. The world stage was very impressive, but the shows were underwhelming. Lets see, there was the Chinese girl playing the accordion one night, another girl giving a talk about the history of playing cards on one of the nights, and the Captain giving a talk about the ship on another night. Describing thrusters etc. There was an environmental show about outback animals accompanied by an orchestra which was very good if you were into that sort of thing. And they had some very old movies on. Sort of a waste of such an impressive opulent theatre. The ship was beautiful, the medical service was very good, the gift shops were beautiful, everything was spotless, and they were very good in other ways. For example, my travelling partner got covid while on board and had to isolate. I was offered a separate cabin at no cost so that I wouldnt get sick - and I never did. And even when the staff were on their own time out at port, if they saw us they would really look after us making sure we knew how to use the public transport, educated us on the best places to explore etc - and that was their free time off.
That's very sad to hear that the entertainment in the main show room was still underwhelming. Years ago it used to be very good. Last couple cruises, not so good.
The usual great quality video. The food variety and quality you experienced is the best I've seen from any of the Holland America ship reviews. In other reviews like @andyandkirstie recently in Alaska the food has been a let down. Perhaps the smaller ship or the regional crew made the difference? It'll be fascinating to see what you think in Alaska as we are keen to try HA for the entertainment but have been put off by the reports of average food.
We went on the Westerdam in a Neptune suite a few years ago to Alaska. After 15 cruises on RCL, Celebrity and Norwegian, it was the worst food we ever experienced. Even in Pinnacle Grill, the quality and flavor wasn’t good at all. Other passengers that saw us in the restaurant stopped us in the hall and asked us if we had the same poor experience as they did. Maybe they just don’t spend at the same level for Alaska or they have really improved the last few years.
Yes, we’ve watched Andy and Kirstie’s videos and agree that their dining experience on Koningsdam sadly doesn’t seem quite up to the standard we experienced on Noordam. We’re on Eurodam soon so will be interesting to see what the food is like then. Honestly we couldn’t fault the food on Noordam 😋
You must have heard that the Lincoln Center Stage has been shuttered. HAL has stopped its partnership with them. Supposedly there will be some sort or classical music brought back in the future. To Be Announced!
I was wondering about that. They were not at my recent Norway cruise. They don't even mention it. Miss them. Better than the tiring YMCA sailing party 🙄
Enjoying your comments but one part just shocked me. You were able to film pieces of their dancing production. I just came back from a Norway cruise on Nieuw Statendam where they did not allow filming their dance company presentations in the theater. It was kind of disgusting how they refer to our "vacation videos" in a kind of derogatory way. This only happened with the dancing company, which is a great improvement for HAL's entertainment but still not that great, in my opinion. Otherwise, I do agree with you. It is a great cruise line to VACATION with.
Thank you 😊 We were given special permission to video the performances but are careful not to use the audio due to copyright issues, which is probably why they ask you not to record tbf.
We tried HAL for the first time this year. Our biggest negative was entertainment, and all appears to stop at 1045pm. No late evening live music. We realized we appreciated the larger shows and piano bar late evening style. Much more than expected.
Sometimes you don’t appreciate something until you no longer have it 😄👍 We are early risers so although we like evening entrainment we’re not too bothered if everything stops at 11pm’ish. But you make a good point for those that like more to do in the evenings - thank you 👍
Great video, as always. We love Holland America. We are almost four star Mariners. You would love to sail on the Pinnacle class ships. Most of your negative comments would vanish. Pouf! The casino is on another floor to the Music Walk. There are more Speciality eating venues, especially the fabulous Asian fusion Tamarind, that also includes a fine Sushi restaurant. The main entertainment venue has a 180 high-res screen that adds to the overall experience of the shows. Although, there is also a piano in a lounge that sits most of the time without a player… There is a separate Rock room and BB King blues room- and the Lincoln Centre folks play in the BB king blues room. 🍸Cheers! 👨🦳👩🦳
This is absolutely brilliant. I wish every UA-camr did something like this. And your ship tours and dining guides are second to none. Thank you so much for taking the time to make them. Truly appreciated.
Thank you SO MUCH for your kind and encouraging words. We do take more time than most to make sure each video is the best and most informative and helpful it can be. So glad they are hitting the mark. Have a lovely weekend. ☺️
The way Helen looks at Rich and the constant smiles to each other. Absolutely beautiful! Amazing review from the both of you.
Aww, thank you so much. We do actually like each other, which is nice. 😆☺️❤️
I have a Facebook channel I started 11 months ago for the Noordam when I couldn't find one to participate in. We are approaching 5K now which is amazing in that amout of time. 99% of the people on there are so caring & helpful. I think this reflects the HAL cruiser in general. I've been all over the world on multiple HAL ships & several things remain constant. The staff onboard are always terrific, good food, great music & the people I meet are always interesting & kind. I travel solo, so I enjoy meeting & getting to know my fellow cruisers. I'm so glad you enjoyed the Noordam. I had a wonderful 2 weeks in Alaska last July/Aug on her. Next for me is 39 days in the Med. in October & November on the Nieuw Statendam. If you haven't tried a Pinnacle class ship, I highly recommend it!
We absolutely loved the Noordam and are looking forward to being on Eurodam soon. Working our way up to Pinnacle class 😂
Thanks for watching and commenting - we’ve joined the Facebook group out (btw please feel free to link to our videos if you think they would be helpful for people in the group 👍)
Thank you for the video. I am going to be on the Noordam in September, my 12th Holland America cruise, the best line for me
Oh, we loved Noordam and hope we get to sail on her again some day. Have a great cruise. Thank you for watching 👍
Thank you for the review. I'll be on the Noordam in Alaska for two weeks in September. Now I'm really glad we chose this ship. Our third HAL cruise in 12 months.
You’ll love it 😍 We’re trying the Eurodam in Alaska 👍
Thanks for watching 😊
Our new favourite cruising channel! Love your constructive positives and not-so-positives and overall insights in your experience. I think we might have to head onboard to the Noordam in the very near future!
Thank you 😊
Lovely looking food. We did a similar cruise a few years ago on Celebrity Solstice. Syd-Melb-NZ. Lovely also seeing my home city on your video: Melbourne (yes on our cruise we arrived into our home city for the day) and the apartments along Port Melbourne promenade. On ours we had thick fog outside Melbourne. And one of the highlights was leaving The sounds in NZ and being guided out by the dolphins escorting the ship out.
Haha, yes we sailed into Melbourne on our Coral Princess cruise when there was thick fog in the bay. The sounds are amazing aren’t they?
Thanks for watching 😊
I’m so pleased you enjoyed the Noordam! I’m a long time HAL lover and just off the Zuiderdam. Everything you said equals my experience as well. Love the crew and the quaintness of the ship. And so please you loved the food. You two are sooooo experienced with high end sailing. I hope HAL sees this review as they should be very proud. So am I.
Thank you 😊
I love your review, thank you for your hard work. My husband and I are going on our first cruise next summer on Koningsdam to Alaska.
Thank you 😊
Have a great cruise 🚢 ❤️
We Tried HAL For The First Time After 23 Princess Cruises And Were Pleasantly Surprised. We Sailed On The Eurodam Out Of Seattle To Alaska For 7 Days Then Arrived In Seattle And Jumped On The Royal Princess For Back To Alaska For 7 More Days. I Do See More HAL Cruises In Our Future. Thank You For Sharing Your Cruises With Us.
Thank you for watching 😊
So glad you enjoyed HAL 😍
Thanks for the video. I've been considering Holland America for a future Cruise and I think now I will book one. I never get to see your livestream, but I greatly appreciate your videos. 😀🚢
Thank you 😊
I love the quality and content of your videos. Keep up the good work. You guys just sold me on HAL.
I've never understood people that go on Vacati😍n and nip pick the ship itself. People, these are metal ships sitting on salt water.
Thanks for watching. We’re so glad you enjoyed the video and found it helpful 👍
We always do 3 laps of promenade deck after each meal, to walk off the lovely food
Such a nice ways thing to do in the evening, especially if it’s sunset time 🧡
Thanks for watching 😊
Great review what a lovely couple you are.
Thank you so much! 😊
I did the reverse of that itinerary and we hit a huge storm crossing from the Sounds to Melbourne. We had waves splashing up the Main Dining room windows. As a sailor of a 40foot sailing boat - it was an amazing experience to be in a vessel that handled these incredibly bad conditions in the most magnificent manner. Yes it rolled a bit, it squelched through the waves. The Crows Nest was exhilarating. A great life time experience.
Wow, a complexity different experience of the Tasman sea than the one we had!
We will be embarking on our fifth Noordam cruise on 10 December and can't wait to be on board her again, this time a 10-day round cruise to NZ from Sydney. We really like the ship's size - not too small and not too big.
We loved our Sydney to Auckland cruise on Noordam ❤️
Hope you have a great cruise 👍
Another informative and enjoyable video. Thank you!
Thanks for watching Karen 😊
Glad you enjoyed my favorite cruise line. I am a 3 star mariner. I have been on other cruise lines but keep going back to HAL as great service at the price point.
Did they replace the BB Kings Blue lounge with the Rolling Stone Rock room?
We loved Noordam and are looking forward to trying Eurodam next month too 😍
Yes, on the Noordam there is not BB Kings, just a Rolling Stones lounge. Think it’s the other way round on the Eurodam 👍
Wow. I kind of want to learn more about HAL’s history, realizing I don’t know much about it as it turns up. Talk about happy Titanic month! As much as I’ve been saturated with Titanic, there really is always something new to learn about her.
You always make any and every destination appetizing. So now I HAVE to sail Australia. …AND check out that “Wasn’t Expecting THIS” video. I. Could. Not. With that! There’s dry British humoUr, and then there’s wow-that’s-a-really-good-cappuccino-from-London British humoUr.
Haha, thank you ☺️
Looks like an amazing experience! You should try the new Rotterdam - beautiful ship, excellent food, outstanding crew and loved BBKings and Lincoln Center stage.
We would love to try a pinnacle class ship. Going on the slightly beefed up Eurodam next month and hope to get on a pinnacle class ship some time soon 🤞
Hello.. been following you since the beginning!
Since you are on Splendor, could you peek at cabin 903 which connects to Grand suite 901.
Sailing her in August and concerned of the connecting door to grand suite.
I've searched everywhere and nothin on the adjoining cabins of grand suite on deck 9 (903, 904).
Often when optional rooms adjoin suites they can be different in decor and touches. Sometimes for better, or worst.
Lovely if you can provide any real live experience insight!
Sorry we did it manage to get in any other suites, the ship was sailing almost full.
Thanks for watching and following along 😊
I agree. They are beautiful ships to look at. All of them.
We absolutely loved Noordam and can’t wait to sail on her again 👍
Fantastic review. Thank you.
Thank you 😊
HAL sounds Heavenly !
We enjoyed it very much 😊
Thanks for watching 👍
Thank you so much! Love HAL.
Us too, especially Noordam 💙
Thanks for watching 👍
Thanks. Great review.
Thanks for watching! :D
Very nice review. You covered just about everything only wish you would have shown the staterooms. The pictures and videos off ship are so beautiful and clear, I assume not taken with phone camera ?? You are a beautiful couple, I wish you many more happy cruises.
Thank you for your kind words Bonnie. I’m afraid we couldn’t film the staterooms as the ship was almost full. sorry. ❤️
Regarding camera, we rarely use our phones. We use a beautiful (and expensive) digital SLR from Sony. 😊
Thank you for such a quality review
Glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching 👍
Didn’t know the history of HAL-interesting. Have never sailed them before. I’ve been to Sydney, but we sailed into White Bay in the middle of the night. I think in the extreme heat, the kangaroos tend to just lie in the shade waiting for people to feed them. Terrible there was a cyclone! I really want to go to NZ. Two things they have Regent beat in - an app and good wi-fi.
Yes the Wi-Fi was very good indeed and like you say not one of Regents best points
Some male kangaroos can be aggressive but generally speaking they’re pretty placid. Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you 😊
??? Are you saying that in the main showroom there is now only dancing every night ? or do they still have other guest performers like they used to every night ??? . I hope so.
Oh no, there is other entertainment but we particularly enjoyed the dance focused shows. Sorry for the confusion. Thanks for watching 👍
@@visitwithus OK thanks a lot. Im disappointed to see on UA-cam that they have removed the wonderful highback chairs from the Crows Nest and replaced them with low back chairs. Wont be able to rest my head and close my eyes. That was my favourite place to go on the ship. boo hoo.
great review u two are just easy to listern too...
Thank you ☺️
I agree about the pools, food and staff. I was on the Noordam in April/May. Hopped on in Aukland. Sailed all the way down, then to Tasmania, Melbourne (Australia) and then got off in Sydney. I'm a big pool person but never once swam in the pool because it lookedrather unappealing. And in the whole 15 days I was there, I only saw 6 people swim in it, two of whom were children. However, the hot spas next to the pool were always well populated. The food was extremely good. I didnt get on the scales for 2 months after I got back because I was scared of how much weight I put on. And the staff were faultless. In fact they were so good that I thought I shouldnt try to go out to work because I could never live up to that sort of standard. The world stage was very impressive, but the shows were underwhelming. Lets see, there was the Chinese girl playing the accordion one night, another girl giving a talk about the history of playing cards on one of the nights, and the Captain giving a talk about the ship on another night. Describing thrusters etc. There was an environmental show about outback animals accompanied by an orchestra which was very good if you were into that sort of thing. And they had some very old movies on. Sort of a waste of such an impressive opulent theatre. The ship was beautiful, the medical service was very good, the gift shops were beautiful, everything was spotless, and they were very good in other ways. For example, my travelling partner got covid while on board and had to isolate. I was offered a separate cabin at no cost so that I wouldnt get sick - and I never did. And even when the staff were on their own time out at port, if they saw us they would really look after us making sure we knew how to use the public transport, educated us on the best places to explore etc - and that was their free time off.
Thank you for watching and for your detailed comment 👍
That's very sad to hear that the entertainment in the main show room was still underwhelming. Years ago it used to be very good. Last couple cruises, not so good.
The usual great quality video. The food variety and quality you experienced is the best I've seen from any of the Holland America ship reviews. In other reviews like @andyandkirstie recently in Alaska the food has been a let down. Perhaps the smaller ship or the regional crew made the difference? It'll be fascinating to see what you think in Alaska as we are keen to try HA for the entertainment but have been put off by the reports of average food.
We went on the Westerdam in a Neptune suite a few years ago to Alaska. After 15 cruises on RCL, Celebrity and Norwegian, it was the worst food we ever experienced. Even in Pinnacle Grill, the quality and flavor wasn’t good at all. Other passengers that saw us in the restaurant stopped us in the hall and asked us if we had the same poor experience as they did. Maybe they just don’t spend at the same level for Alaska or they have really improved the last few years.
Yes, we’ve watched Andy and Kirstie’s videos and agree that their dining experience on Koningsdam sadly doesn’t seem quite up to the standard we experienced on Noordam. We’re on Eurodam soon so will be interesting to see what the food is like then. Honestly we couldn’t fault the food on Noordam 😋
Lol! That thumbnail, though at 17:29 😂
😂😂😂
Thanks for watching 😊
In Tauranga😊
Does Noordam have Marine Starlink?
Really not sure, sorry.
Thanks for watching 👍
You must have heard that the Lincoln Center Stage has been shuttered. HAL has stopped its partnership with them. Supposedly there will be some sort or classical music brought back in the future. To Be Announced!
I was wondering about that. They were not at my recent Norway cruise. They don't even mention it. Miss them. Better than the tiring YMCA sailing party 🙄
We had heard differently but if true it will be sad to see the end of this partnership which we really enjoyed 😞
Enjoying your comments but one part just shocked me. You were able to film pieces of their dancing production. I just came back from a Norway cruise on Nieuw Statendam where they did not allow filming their dance company presentations in the theater. It was kind of disgusting how they refer to our "vacation videos" in a kind of derogatory way. This only happened with the dancing company, which is a great improvement for HAL's entertainment but still not that great, in my opinion.
Otherwise, I do agree with you. It is a great cruise line to VACATION with.
Thank you 😊
We were given special permission to video the performances but are careful not to use the audio due to copyright issues, which is probably why they ask you not to record tbf.
We tried HAL for the first time this year. Our biggest negative was entertainment, and all appears to stop at 1045pm. No late evening live music.
We realized we appreciated the larger shows and piano bar late evening style. Much more than expected.
Sometimes you don’t appreciate something until you no longer have it 😄👍
We are early risers so although we like evening entrainment we’re not too bothered if everything stops at 11pm’ish. But you make a good point for those that like more to do in the evenings - thank you 👍
Too bad LCS is now gone!
Indeed! Thanks for watching 👍
We went to the Wildlife zoo. And petted yes petted the lions. Unbelievable. Would not happen in the USA. Would not pass OSHA😊
😱😱😱
Skol
Thanks for joining us 😊
Can't understand her
Oh dear. Sorry about that.
Great video, as always. We love Holland America. We are almost four star Mariners. You would love to sail on the Pinnacle class ships. Most of your negative comments would vanish. Pouf! The casino is on another floor to the Music Walk. There are more Speciality eating venues, especially the fabulous Asian fusion Tamarind, that also includes a fine Sushi restaurant. The main entertainment venue has a 180 high-res screen that adds to the overall experience of the shows. Although, there is also a piano in a lounge that sits most of the time without a player… There is a separate Rock room and BB King blues room- and the Lincoln Centre folks play in the BB king blues room. 🍸Cheers! 👨🦳👩🦳
Thank you 😊
Yes we’d love to try pinnacle class and can’t wait to see BB Kings on our Eurodam cruise later this year 👍
Skol
Thanks for joining us Cheri 😊