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Is Holland America a good choice for your Caribbean cruise vacation? I explore the pros and cons of cruising on a Holland America Line ship in the Caribbean. Holland America has been sailing for well over 140 years, but are they a good cruise line for the Caribbean? I look at the good and less good aspects to help you decide if a Holland America Caribbean cruise is right for you.
Note: I travelled as a guest of the Holland America before making this video. I cruised on a 10-night Caribbean Panama Canal cruise on the Zuiderdam.
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Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 77 cruises at time of making this video.
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what are the reasons for and against
0:03
choosing Holland America for a Caribbean
0:06
cruise
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I'm Gary Babbage this is another of my
0:09
cruising tips of travelers I would look
0:11
at a couple reasons for at a couple
0:13
reasons against choosing hollow America
0:15
for your next Caribbean cruise let's
0:18
start by taking a look at the reasons
0:19
for choosing color America for your
0:21
Caribbean cruise
0:23
first of all Holland America will
0:25
provide a very classic very traditional
0:27
cruising experience so if you're looking
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for something that is perhaps a little
0:31
bit more traditional in a cruising
0:33
experience you don't want big resort
0:34
ships you don't want all the bells and
0:36
whistles that come with those big mega
0:38
ships taking a look at whole America is
0:41
a really good idea so their ships from a
0:43
design and decor perspective do have
0:45
nice strong links I think to the
0:47
traditions of maritime in HoN America is
0:49
a hundred and forty year old cruise
0:52
lines and lots of tradition they do have
0:54
a wide range of ships as well
0:56
onboard you're gonna fight all the
0:57
traditional things that you'd expect so
0:59
you have lots of lounges bars
1:00
restaurants swimming pools all those
1:03
kind of facilities you're not gonna have
1:04
all the bells and whistles that you
1:05
might have on the more resort ships so
1:07
in terms of entertainment what goes on
1:09
you'll find pretty traditional programs
1:12
quizzes lots of enrichment activities so
1:15
you'll have cooking demonstrations
1:17
you'll have digital classes talks so a
1:22
very good traditional experience so if
1:24
you're looking for a more traditional
1:25
cruising experience Holland America
1:26
around the Caribbean is a great idea
1:28
it's not a party ship it's a little bit
1:30
more sedate a little bit karma and if
1:33
that's what you're looking for
1:33
definitely it's a great choice another
1:35
good reason for choosing Holland America
1:37
for your cruise in the Caribbean is that
1:39
she offer you lots of different options
1:40
of cruisers and they last anything from
1:43
about seven days to 14 days so lots lots
1:46
of choice so like most cruise lines
1:48
they'll cover the Eastern Caribbean so
1:50
they'll go to places like San Thomas
1:51
since Juan Grand Turk they'll also cover
1:54
the Western Caribbean itineraries so
1:56
you'll go to places like Grand Cayman
1:58
Cozumel or Cho Rios they also go to the
2:03
Southern Caribbean so you can go to
2:04
places like Sint Maartens Barbados and
2:06
Lucia then they also do which is one of
2:09
the most recent cruises I did on whole
2:10
America they do a combination Carib
2:13
park transit of the Panama Canal and
2:15
this is great because you go to place
2:16
like a rubber carousel your part Transat
2:20
the Panama Canal you go to Costa Rica
2:22
so lots and lots of choice and options
2:24
of cruises that you can go to the
2:26
Caribbean on Holland America so that's a
2:28
good reason a really good reason for
2:30
choosing on America is there private
2:31
island Half Moon key now Hoffman Key has
2:35
won so many awards for private islands
2:37
lots of the cruise lines own private
2:39
islands in the sort of Bahamas area of
2:41
the Caribbean and Half Moon key is the
2:44
one that wins the most awards so
2:45
definitely this is a great experience
2:47
they it's a very big island extra for a
2:49
private island lots going on everything
2:51
from a psychological slime by the pool
2:53
water sports you can even go riding on
2:56
horses through the surf so that's
2:59
another good reason for choosing them
3:00
there private island the fourth good
3:03
reason for choosing them is their focus
3:05
on excursions now of course all Cruise
3:06
Lines will offer you excursions in the
3:07
Caribbean but Holland America have made
3:09
excursions really sort of fundamental to
3:11
what they do so for example they
3:13
converted the crow's nest bar area in
3:16
their ships into EXE exploration central
3:19
and up here you have lots and lots of
3:20
facilities obviously have the shore
3:22
excursions desk
3:23
you also have interactive desks where
3:25
you can look at your itinerary
3:27
highlights of the destination the
3:29
different options you have a library up
3:31
here you have two so much focus on
3:34
excursions they have on the television
3:36
they have an HD channel they give XC
3:39
talks they have some ex heats up around
3:41
photography for example to help you
3:43
improve your photography when you're out
3:44
and about of course they have a wide
3:45
range of excursions of all different
3:48
types for all different fitness levels
3:50
so I would say they have a really really
3:53
strong focus on excursions and if you're
3:54
going to the Caribbean you know often in
3:56
the islands you can go to will have very
3:57
similar excursions and I found that
3:59
whole America did have quite a diversity
4:01
and range of different excursions that
4:02
you can do so I think definitely the
4:04
excursion focus is a good reason strong
4:06
plan something a little bit different
4:07
when you go to the Caribbean another
4:09
good reason for choosing whole America
4:12
to do the Caribbean and probably eat
4:13
anywhere in the world is their music war
4:16
now this is an innovation they've been
4:17
introducing and rolling out across their
4:19
ships now depends on which ship you're
4:21
on how many of the music walk features
4:23
they have so let me give you the clubs
4:25
that they have in the music
4:27
so these or a whole series of different
4:28
music venues sort of themed and focusing
4:30
on different music types so you have BB
4:33
Kings Blues Club this is really really
4:35
popular they have an 8 piece band here
4:37
they play a couple of times a night and
4:39
really great funky blues music and of
4:42
course linked and curated by the famous
4:44
musician billboard onboard is another
4:47
venue this is a hugely popular one it's
4:49
two pianists facing each other there's a
4:51
little bit of dueling pianos and they
4:53
have different themes during the night
4:54
with our play you know beauties you
4:56
invasion they might play one-hit wonders
4:58
music in the 60s and 70s the eighties
5:00
and nineties
5:00
whatever so they'll have great great
5:02
sessions and these are really popular
5:03
people crowd around the pianos have a
5:05
drink and it's really really popular if
5:07
you're looking for something a little
5:08
bit more highbrow they have Lincoln
5:10
Center stage which is a partnership with
5:13
the famous Cultural Center in New York
5:16
and here's where you will hear more
5:18
classical music on the bigger ships the
5:21
newer ships they also have the Rolling
5:24
Stone Rock Room which as the name
5:25
suggests is rock music so if you're into
5:28
rock music they also have that so
5:30
there's a huge big focus on music on
5:33
board the ships and it's great when
5:34
you're cruising the Caribbean and come
5:35
back from a day out at the beach
5:36
whatever and you can basically rotate
5:38
around those different venues listen to
5:40
all different types of music I think
5:42
it's a really big plus for choosing on
5:44
America in the Caribbean another thing
5:46
of course they do have in addition to
5:48
those music venues they have the world
5:49
stage which is where you will also have
5:51
your production shows your review shows
5:53
your special gets another thing they do
5:55
have is a partnership with the BBC
5:57
Planet Earth and they will have some
5:59
live concerts where they themed around
6:01
different of the planet Earth shows so
6:03
you see beautiful Y Drive scenery and a
6:05
live orchestra playing there and I was a
6:08
bit skeptical actually of that as in a
6:09
concept went to it and was like wow it
6:11
really was a pretty impressive thing so
6:13
there is a whole bunch of reasons for
6:15
choosing on America for the Caribbean so
6:17
one of the things against choosing
6:19
Holland America for your Caribbean
6:20
cruise let's take a look at those
6:22
probably the first reason for not
6:25
choosing honor America is around the
6:27
fairs now the fairs are pretty
6:28
consistent with other lines that they
6:30
compete with so they compete reading the
6:32
sort of premium category so you talking
6:33
like celebrity princess probably you
6:36
could even argue not some of the UK
6:38
lines like piano when they're in there
6:40
region but one of the key things with
6:41
honor America fairs like those are the
6:43
cruise lines is they're not
6:44
all-inclusive so when you go on a
6:45
Caribbean cruise you do need to bear in
6:47
mind there are going to be quite a few
6:48
on costs so what's included in the fair
6:50
is your accommodation obviously lots of
6:52
dining options are included so the main
6:53
dining room the buffet dining 24-hour
6:55
room service the informal dining whether
6:59
that's the dive Inn which is the burger
7:01
place or slice pizza if it's on your
7:03
board your ship and afternoon tea so
7:06
lots of lots of food is included access
7:08
to pretty much all of the facilities
7:09
were the exception really of the cabanas
7:11
which are the little private area you
7:13
you pay for where you have little
7:15
cabanas as the name suggests where you
7:17
can sort of it's bit quieter than being
7:19
in the main swimming pool area you have
7:22
access to most of the facilities like
7:23
the fitness center all that kind of
7:26
stuff and all your key entertainment is
7:27
included in that and all your
7:29
enrichments included what's not included
7:31
though that you do have to budget for is
7:33
gratuities which are also added if you
7:35
haven't prepaid those and that could be
7:37
anything up to about $14 per person per
7:39
day depending on the grade of cabin
7:41
you're in you also will have to pay for
7:43
Wi-Fi you can buy packages for that you
7:45
have to buy drinks which you have to pay
7:47
for there are some basic you know you
7:50
know standard teas coffees tap water
7:53
iced tea lemonade that is included in
7:56
the restaurants at meal times but your
7:58
specialty coffees teas I'll call it
8:00
drinks excursions of course you have to
8:02
pay for the cabanas I've already
8:03
mentioned of course then all they had
8:05
hope things you might decide to do
8:06
shopping or if you need to use the
8:08
medical center or whatever so the key
8:09
thing is it's not all-inclusive so
8:11
compared to some of the other lines
8:13
which are all-inclusive it's not
8:16
all-inclusive that is pretty consistent
8:17
though for the category that they're in
8:19
but Judeans bear in mind that is a
8:20
factor second reason that some people
8:22
cite for not choosing on America when
8:25
they go to Caribbean is that dress codes
8:26
are a little bit more strict than on
8:29
some of the more informal lines
8:31
personally speaking I think it's not
8:33
that strict actually for a cruise in the
8:36
Caribbean so they have Garlin i'ts for
8:38
example Carla nights gentlemen are asked
8:40
to wear sort of collared long-sleeve
8:42
shirts
8:42
smart sacks you can really get away
8:44
probably with smart jeans but I've got a
8:46
nice else to wear smart slacks you do
8:49
you have to pack some that if you want
8:50
to of course you can wear suits and
8:51
jackets other cruise lines if you take
8:53
for example you would have to wear
8:55
tuxedos and jackets and that kind of
8:57
stuff so although people say they find
8:59
that on in America you know on the
9:01
strict aside it's not massively strict
9:03
and of course what you could do is on
9:05
Garlin nights you could actually just
9:07
eat in the Lido restaurant you know the
9:09
buffet restaurants so that would be a
9:11
little bit more informal you don't have
9:12
to get dressed up quite as smartly so
9:14
there is a slightly more strict dress
9:15
code versus perhaps some of the other
9:17
options or the more mass-market more
9:19
value kind of priced lines for example
9:22
where you can have a more informal dress
9:24
code one of the reasons that you might
9:26
decide that ha America isn't for you for
9:28
the Caribbean is almost the flipside of
9:30
the classic cruising experience and
9:33
classic ships so you're not going to
9:34
find if you do have sea days or you want
9:37
to stay onboard in port you're not gonna
9:38
find lots of resort activities because
9:39
they don't have them on board on sea
9:42
days for example it's really focused
9:43
around hanging around the swimming pool
9:45
perhaps playing some of the sports on
9:46
the sports deck and you know dipping
9:48
into the day program they might have
9:51
cooking demonstrations or talks or
9:52
whatever so you're not gonna have lots
9:54
of added features and benefits and
9:56
things that you can do to keep you busy
9:57
on sea days so if you're really that
9:59
sort of person who wants that on tap
10:01
entertainment horan America is probably
10:03
not ideal for you they will have a full
10:04
daily program but it's very much more
10:06
focused around hanging by the pool and
10:09
dipping into things on the daily program
10:11
rather than being able to go ice skating
10:12
or rock climbing or water slides or
10:14
whatever that is because it's not a
10:15
resort ship so if that's something that
10:18
you really like to have on a sea day
10:19
then hull America is probably not for
10:21
you another reason that you may want to
10:24
think about on America if you go into
10:26
the Caribbean is if you're traveling as
10:28
a solo traveler because most their ships
10:30
don't have solar cabins it's not to
10:32
introduce a couple on some of the ships
10:33
but largely speaking if you're going as
10:35
a solo traveler which for example I was
10:37
on my last cruise you will pay a premium
10:39
to have occupancy of basically twin
10:42
berth cabin so you're not going to find
10:44
very specific solo cabins so you do need
10:47
to if you want to go on home America as
10:48
a solo traveler
10:49
kind of plan ahead they do have lots of
10:51
programs once you're on board for solo
10:52
travelers but you need to really look
10:53
out for perhaps times when prices are
10:56
sharper because for example it's some of
10:58
the sort of shoulder seasons when it's
11:01
not as busy or you need to look out for
11:03
when they're doing deals for solo
11:05
travelers if you're traveling as a
11:06
family
11:07
thing I would add is they don't have
11:08
family cabins as such but you can get
11:11
into connecting cabins there are some of
11:12
those on board and of course if you're
11:14
traveling as a family they do have Club
11:15
Hal which is included in the fare which
11:18
is the kids program which was some
11:20
pretty young right through to teenagers
11:22
but again it's not massively catering
11:24
for families but you will find in the
11:25
Caribbean at the peak holiday seasons
11:27
you will find more families on board so
11:30
it's definitely something not to exclude
11:31
as a family if you are thinking at those
11:33
peak times because there will be more
11:35
kids on board on America for your
11:37
Caribbean cruise is definitely something
11:39
to consider those are things that I
11:40
consider for and against going to the
11:43
Caribbean and whole America I love my
11:45
time when I've been to the Caribbean on
11:48
Holland America hope you found that
11:50
helpful
11:50
I've loads loads more videos about
11:52
Holland America about Carribean cruising
11:54
and about cruising in general so why
11:56
don't you watch another one of those
11:57
right now
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