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Why Holland America May NOW Be The Cruise Line For You
8K views
Jan 28, 2025
I explore 8 things that Holland America Cruise line do now - some things are the same as always but many have changes - and ask why cruise passengers like you should care and know about. It is time to rethink Holland America as with recent changes they may now be a cruise line for you. I look at the pros and cons of cruising with Holland America Line. What the good and less good things about a Holland America cruise are. I explore things ranging from the type of cruise experience, entertainment, itineraries, range of ships, dress code, excursions, food, service, type of passenger Holland America is best suited for - and more. Discover that are the best and worst things about cruising with Holland America BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTs ————————————————- Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS ————————————————————— Become a Channel Member and get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=V9STJGYSEMGLJ Buy my book “Cruise Traveler’s Handbook: USA Amazon https://amzn.to/2YVFmG4 and https://amzn.to/3tzIxBn UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3oXbzYc and https://amzn.to/3qawqIQ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA ——————————————— TikTok: @garybembridge
View Video Transcript
0:00
i want to take a look at holland america
0:01
and look at the good and the bad the
0:02
best and the worst the pros and cons in
0:04
my view honda america
0:06
is perfect for people who like a
0:08
traditional cruising experience
0:10
and you're not going to find things like
0:11
rope courses and go-karts and all the
0:14
resort type features
0:15
you find on many of the big mega ships
0:18
you really focus on the dining
0:19
experience the bars the lounges
0:22
enrichment pools so it's pretty
0:25
traditional
0:26
in its offerings on board so if you want
0:28
a pretty classical cruise ship
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with classical type of features this is
0:32
perfect for you
0:33
it's not a party ship it's not a crazy
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ship it's relatively quiet and refined
0:36
so it's a pretty classical experience
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the entertainment on board
0:40
you're going to find again it's pretty
0:41
classic cruising fare you have quizzes
0:44
trivia
0:45
enrichment production shows you're able
0:47
to do
0:48
different things like go to learn how to
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use
0:52
technology so all in all a pretty
0:54
classical experience
0:56
another big plus of cruising with
0:58
holland america
0:59
is pretty much anywhere in the world you
1:01
want to go at some point of time
1:03
you'll find horror america goes there
1:05
during the course of the year they go
1:06
everywhere they have at the time
1:08
recording 14 ships they actually got
1:10
more ships on order but they go
1:12
all over the place so you can go to
1:14
places as far afield
1:16
as alaska which is where they are
1:19
incredibly well established asia
1:21
australasia
1:23
new zealand right around europe south
1:25
america the caribbean
1:26
the panama canal you can go on grand
1:28
voyages if there's someone you want to
1:30
go in the world you probably can go
1:31
there on holland america
1:33
for me i think one of the big pluses of
1:36
cruising holland america
1:37
is the thing they've created called the
1:39
music walk
1:40
now depending on what ship you're on
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they will either have all of the venues
1:43
or some of the venues so the
1:44
more recent the ship the more likely
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they are to have all of the venues
1:48
but the music walk is a series of
1:50
curated music experiences
1:52
that really kick off particularly on sea
1:53
days but in the evenings you're going to
1:55
have those
1:56
so you've got the lincoln center stage
1:58
this is
1:59
a partnership with the famous new york
2:01
venue and you'll have classical concerts
2:03
here you then have bb kings blues club
2:06
where they have an eight piece
2:08
band and singing incredible funky music
2:12
really really popular it's one of the
2:13
most popular of all
2:15
another one that's incredibly popular is
2:17
billboard
2:18
on board here you have two pianists they
2:20
face each other and they do different
2:21
sets during the evening
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which might focus on british invasion or
2:25
one-hit wonders
2:26
all sorts of different types of themes
2:29
and
2:30
it's incredibly popular you'll find
2:32
loads and loads of people crowding
2:33
around the piano whenever they're on
2:35
and it's really really good fun a lot of
2:37
the ships now particularly the new ships
2:39
also have another
2:40
great venue which is called the rolling
2:42
stone
2:43
rock room it's a partnership with the
2:45
rolling stone magazine and as the name
2:47
suggests
2:48
it's rock music and what normally
2:49
happens across these venues
2:51
is they are scheduled across the evening
2:53
with different slots so you can pretty
2:55
much go from venue to venue
2:56
and at the next time slot they'll be
2:58
kicking up with the next venue
3:00
so i do think that the music walk is a
3:03
big plus
3:04
another part of the music walk which
3:05
they include in the story
3:07
is the world stage and this is the main
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theater where they will have all sorts
3:12
of
3:12
production shows you know sort of las
3:14
vegas broadway
3:15
style review show guest artists that
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kind of thing
3:18
in recent years i think one of the real
3:20
big pluses that has happened on holo
3:22
america
3:23
is their approach and the way that they
3:25
look at the whole excursions area
3:27
what they did which was quite a bold
3:29
move at the time is the crow's nest
3:31
on their ships they convert it into
3:33
exploration central
3:34
or exc as it's known and in here you
3:37
have a whole bunch of things so this is
3:39
where they've put
3:40
the shore excursions team so you have
3:43
the exe guides which are the people that
3:44
can help you give you lots of advice
3:46
what they've also created are these
3:47
interactive tables
3:49
where you can go take a look at your
3:51
itinerary and port by port will give you
3:53
maps it'll tell you
3:54
about the port the main attractions and
3:56
the excursions that are available it's
3:58
really good fun sort of scrolling
3:59
through those
4:00
and exploring your whole trip they also
4:03
have this big interactive screen where
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you can go and they'll ask you different
4:05
questions
4:06
every day and build up a profile and you
4:08
can learn about your fellow
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travelers also in there there's normally
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some travel books sort of a library as
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well that you can
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go to also link to exe is another couple
4:17
of things which they've done so they put
4:18
a lot of
4:19
effort to this so they have the exe
4:21
channel
4:22
on your in-room television where you can
4:24
watch documentaries their partnership
4:25
with
4:26
afar the travel magazine where they
4:28
don't support guides
4:30
and so you can basically watch videos
4:32
around the whole port they have exe
4:34
talks
4:35
poor talks which are run very specific
4:38
to your cruise
4:39
which you obviously go and listen to
4:40
live they also record those and run
4:42
those
4:43
on the interactive television they then
4:45
have a whole bunch of other new things
4:47
which are relatively recent certainly at
4:48
the time of recording
4:49
they have like an exe kind of cultural
4:51
thing where they bring
4:52
depending on your crews they'll bring
4:53
local people on board if there's a way
4:56
to immerse you into the culture
4:57
they've also got exe port to table and
5:00
this
5:01
is their latest iteration of cooking
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demonstrations
5:04
where they will show you how to make
5:06
food from all around the world
5:08
telling you the story and the background
5:10
to the dishes so that's really
5:12
good fun as well they've also started to
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focus more on photography so
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many of the ships they may run exe
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photography which
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is helping you learn how to take great
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travel pictures when you're out and
5:23
about
5:23
and then of course link to some of the
5:25
excursions so what's
5:26
then are some of the cons the less good
5:29
things
5:30
about cruising with honda america now of
5:32
course for
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some people things that could be cons or
5:35
pros some sort of pros
5:37
or cons but this is just my version so
5:39
let's take a look at the four
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things that i think are more of the
5:42
downsides of cruising with holland
5:44
america
5:45
the first of these is true for all
5:47
cruise lines in sort of premium category
5:49
and that's the fact
5:50
that the fares aren't all inclusive and
5:52
you will find there are potentially
5:54
quite a lot of on costs once you get on
5:55
board the ship
5:56
so let's take a look first of all at
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what is included
5:59
in the fair first of all the fare will
6:01
include your accommodation obviously
6:03
secondly it would include your food now
6:04
you can eat pretty much 24 hours a day
6:07
including your fares so you'll find
6:09
there's the main dining room
6:10
and that will have breakfast lunch or
6:12
dinner most days and for dinner you can
6:14
have
6:14
an early seating or late seating or
6:16
anytime dining
6:18
there's also on the ships of buffet
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restaurant which is very nice about
6:21
federation actually with
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very high quality food you'll have a
6:25
couple of informal dining options which
6:26
are also included in the fair
6:27
so on the bigger ships you'll have
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diving which is sort of the burger
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place which give burgers hot dogs which
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is normally open at lunch time
6:35
and on some of the biggest chips you'll
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also have a pizza place
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slice a pizza as well then you have 24
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hour room service
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and afternoon tea so that's all the food
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that's included
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access to pretty much all the facilities
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with the exception of the cabanas which
6:50
is
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a little private quiet area that you can
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hire on sea days or in fact on port days
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which is where you can go and sort of
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relax a little quiet space
6:58
out in the sun and little cabanas away
7:00
from the main swimming pools but pretty
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much all the facilities
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you can go to and they are all included
7:06
all the entertainment is included so
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everything on the daily program
7:08
the production shows or the guest
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artists in the evening
7:11
the other thing that's included is the
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kids program so they have club hal
7:15
which caters for kids from relatively
7:18
young up to sort of
7:19
teenage age and that's all included
7:21
within the fair
7:23
the enrichment programs all the talks
7:25
that's all included within the fair
7:27
so as you can see there's quite a lot
7:28
included but what's not included these
7:29
can actually mount up
7:31
gratuities are not included and they're
7:32
normally auto added on if you haven't
7:34
pre-paid those
7:36
excursions are not included of course
7:38
they are extra costs of course
7:39
excursions can mount up quite a lot
7:41
drinks are not included you will get
7:42
some basic drinks
7:43
like some regular tea coffee water
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and things like iced tea perhaps
7:50
lemonade
7:50
in the buffet restaurant and the main
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dining room but actual
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main drinks sort of premium drinks
7:55
premium coffees alcoholic drinks are not
7:57
included you can buy various
7:58
drinks packages wi-fi is not included
8:00
and like on all cruise ships wi-fi
8:02
can actually mount up quite large again
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you can buy packages
8:05
specially dining is also not included
8:07
now on holland america
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there are four main especially dining
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venues you won't find all of them on all
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of the ships
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but you'll normally have pinnacle grill
8:15
which is their real sort of signature
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restaurant especially dining restaurant
8:20
and that's their steak restaurant you do
8:22
pay
8:22
to go to that you then have rudy
8:25
seldamaye which is their fish
8:26
evening which is a pop-up restaurant
8:28
held in the pinnacle grill
8:30
you then have on many of the ships
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tamarind which is
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my favorite of all of these restaurants
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which is like an asian fusion restaurant
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guinness and on all of the ships and
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then you also have
8:40
caneletto which is an italian restaurant
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and that uses part of the
8:43
lido restaurant the buffet restaurant in
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the evenings
8:47
then of course as you'd expect all the
8:48
discretionary stuff so if you use the
8:49
medical center the shops
8:51
gambling the casino all that kind of
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stuff is not included so there's a
8:54
downside it's not an all-inclusive fare
8:56
but again it is pretty consistent
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across all of the premium cruise lines
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the second downside for many people
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is the holier of dress code now actually
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the dress code on hello america
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in my view is pretty relaxed versus some
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lines
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so they do have garlic evenings where
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they do ask you to dress up but actually
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that's not that strict so you could
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actually
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on a garlic evening if you're a
9:17
gentleman actually go into the
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restaurant
9:19
with a long-sleeved you know collared
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shirt on smart slacks you don't have to
9:23
wear tuxedos and suits a lot of people
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do like to do
9:26
that but you don't have to so although
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there's a dress code it's not massively
9:29
strict you can actually on regular
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evenings wear smart
9:33
jeans you can't wear shorts and scruffy
9:35
jeans
9:36
and that kind of stuff into the
9:37
restaurant so although there's a dress
9:38
code it's not a massively
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strict dress code but it's not
9:42
completely and utterly
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anything goes so there is kind of a
9:46
dress code and depending on the cruise
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you're on
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people may adhere to it more or less so
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if you're in a hot climate
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pretty informal like the caribbean
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you'll find people perhaps
9:55
are on the lower end of the formality of
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dress code but there is
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a dress code that you do need to follow
10:00
and stick to
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but again it's not that strict now the
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fourth area that some people
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argue is a downside of honda america but
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i actually think
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in my view it's not a massive downside
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because it's really just related to who
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it appeals to
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but holland america is definitely a
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slightly older crowd
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so you talking early 50s 60s 70s kind of
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crowd it's
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very much couples it's quite an american
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spin although it
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has lots of brits lots of australians
10:26
and increasingly more nationalities
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on board but it is a more traditional
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kind of cruising because it is a
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traditional cruising experience
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so it attracts that kind of cruiser you
10:36
do find though increasingly particularly
10:38
in the summer periods
10:39
you'll find more and more families are
10:40
coming on board particularly
10:41
multi-generational
10:42
families and you they do cater for kids
10:44
as i mentioned because they do have the
10:46
whole
10:46
clubhou program and it's a pretty big
10:48
club for kids
10:49
and teenagers so certainly in those peak
10:52
holiday periods
10:53
it is a much more diverse crowd on board
10:56
but generally speaking
10:57
sort of out of those peak holiday times
10:59
it is a slightly older
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more traditional cruising crowd the
11:02
other thing that people would argue is
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that overall
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in terms of the quality the service it's
11:07
very similar to other premium lines
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so i think that's very true the food is
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very i think very high quality there's
11:12
lots of choice
11:13
but it is on the other premium lines
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service is good
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it's efficient staff's very friendly but
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that's true of other premium lines so i
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think in many ways
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it matches the other premium lines in
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that aspect
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however i think if you are looking for a
11:25
traditional cruising experience
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you're really into music and the music
11:29
walk really appeals to you a lot
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and you're very into destinations
11:33
learning about enrichment and that kind
11:35
of
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stuff then i think america you'll find
11:37
very appealing because they do have a
11:38
really big focus
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on making sure you're well-educated
11:41
about the destinations the excursion
11:43
options
11:43
and then they bundle around that whole
11:45
other kind of enrichment stuff so you've
11:47
got the microsoft
11:49
workshops and all sorts of other things
11:51
like that going on
11:52
right throughout the daily program where
11:54
you can learn and enrich yourself
11:56
as well so that i think are the great
11:58
things
11:59
and some could argue the less great
12:00
things as i mentioned some of those
12:02
things you will see as positive some of
12:04
the positives you may see as negatives
12:05
but that's trying to see the two sides
12:07
of the story hold america when i've
12:08
cruise on it i've had a great time i've
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had lots and lots of really great
12:11
trips on holo america and i'm looking
12:13
forward to going back on holland america
12:15
again i really do enjoy
12:16
my time on board i have loads more
12:18
videos about holland america and
12:19
cruising so why don't you watch
12:21
another one of those right now
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