I think "first time on this ship" exploring vlogs are my favourite. And an extra-long one too. Excellent!

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

We've been trying to repeat as few ships as possible the last couple of years, ha ha... we love new ships, new ports, and in this case a "new" cruise line for us. Woohoo!! :D

YEA!!! You’re finally on our most favored cruise lines…..followed closely by Celebrity! LOVE the little touches like hor d’ourves at sail away. Sail HAL to Alaska and you will NOT be disappointed!

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Nice! We're doing a deep dive into Alaska with HAL in September! It'll be our first visit to Kodiak and Valdez!! :D

Just completed our first HAL cruise on Eurod am and absolutely loved the ship, the food, the service and the entertainment. I did not miss the production shows at all.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Nice! Glad to hear you had a great time on HAL. We're definitely ready to book some more, ha ha!! :P

Love these videos of all the different ships and cruise lines. Thanks for all the entertainment!

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! We love exploring new and exciting things, ha ha. Glad to have you along for the craziness!! :P

We have graduated from Carnival and moved over to HAL and we couldn't be happier all the way around. Looking forward to following this series. So glad you FINALLY got to cruise HAL!

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

It's definitely a quieter overall vibe, but we don't mind that a bit. The food and music were pretty amazing across the board on this sailing!! :D

@susananderson618

Жыл бұрын

@@parodeejay absolutely we are now retired and have outgrown the party hardy atmosphere. We loved the food, and live music on HAL and great free in room movies if we wanted a quiet evening. I also like their spa facilities. We are cruising HAL for 18 days in January to Hawaii! I've been very anxious to wait for this series from you both!

Beautiful ship! Your video makes me want to sail on HAL. Thanks for your great content and enjoy your extended trip! 🎉

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

We thoroughly enjoyed our first foray into the HAL style. A bit of a learning curve, but we fell right into it and really enjoyed the food and music. Woohoo!! :D

Great video, cant wait for this series!!! Another cruise line I'll have to try!

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Thankee thankee! It's definitely a bit different than most lines we've tried, much more relaxed overall, but we didn't mind a bit, ha ha!! :P

Off on another wonderful adventure! Lovely ship to start on. Can’t wait to see all the places you are going to visit! Bon voyage! ❤

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Definitely a crazy adventure this time, but I think a nice new Holland America experience was a good way to get things started!! :P

Great video... Love all the food and music venues. Jay, your public bathroom review had me laughing out loud 😂. Can't wait to see the rest.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Thankee thankee! I was fascinated by rugs at the urinals, ha ha... don't believe I'd ever seen that before, but it makes a lot of sense!! P ~Jay

Everything about this ship looks amazing. Definitely at the top of my list to try

Looking forward to seeing your upcoming Nieuw Statendam videos; we are sailing on this ship in a few weeks ... Also our first sailing with Holland America. Love the detail you share in your videos!!!

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Woohoo, hope you have an amazing first cruise on HAL as well!! :D

booked our first HAL cruise for next year, your videos are perfectly timed. cant wait to see and hear your thoiughts and experiences

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

That's awesome! Hope you have an amazing cruise!! :D

Awesome. Happy you made it to Holland the food is the best.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Yesssss, the food and the music were our favorite things about this particular sailing. Huzzah!! :D

I'm ok with the staff service in the buffet. Thanks for the tour.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

I'm sure it makes things more sanitary overall. Having someone else make a salad proves to be a bit frustrating at times, ha ha... I like to control the amounts of certain ingredients there... but having them scoop regular food at the buffets has always been good with me!! :P ~Jay

House band in BB King's is awesome. Looking forward to more music.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

We appreciated all the styles of music, but BB King and the Rock Room seemed to draw us in more than anything, ha ha... :P

You guys are fun. I’ll be on the Nieuw Statendam next month. Lots of good info in this.

Never been on HAL. Looking forward to this series. Enjoying the music-themed art. Thanks for sharing.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

There was a bit of a learning curve in getting adjusted to the HAL style, but I think we got there quickly enough, ha ha. We were fascinated with all the music art around the ship!! :D

Wow never even heard of this cruiseline.. excited for this video!

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Funny, they've been around for 150 years (kinda) and we ended up making them the very last major US-based cruise line that we tried, not counting the smaller boutique lines. Oops! They don't tend to be the first cruise line a lot of folks think of, but we definitely enjoyed the food scene and the music scene onboard!! :D

@Pnut1998w

Жыл бұрын

I need to step my cruise game up! 😅 Seems like a great ship, I loved the food options you showed so far! Looking forward to this series and possibly sailing this cruise line😏

Took a hiatus from all things cruise after i completed my first. Now im excited to see your HAL series. I'm on a 12-night Panama Canal cruise on Rotterdam in February, so I appreciate the info you provide.

Looking forward to the additional episodes of your cruise. We have been on the Nieuw Statendam twice and enjoy the Pinnacle-class ships. Captain Neil O'Driscoll has a great sense of humor and is always very engaged with the passengers. We have sailed with him twice, the former Veendam and Nieuw Statedam.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

The captain was a hoot for sure! We enjoyed this first taste of HAL, and we'll definitely be lining up some more, ha ha... woohoo!! :D

I hope you enjoy the dancing type entertainment as much as we did. I know it's not your favorite type of entertainment but enjoy as something different as you will have many more of your traditional cruise entertainment days in the next 81 days. I loved them and the talks as well.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

We appreciated the dance shows, but felt the technology of the screens was interfering with our enjoyment of the shows at times, and overwhelmed what was happening onstage. For me personally, the simpler the screens were and the more the dancers didn't have to interact with them, the more I enjoyed the show!! :P ~Jay

I always used those double wide seats on our cruise. Loved them!

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Always great to see all sorts of seating options for sure! We ended up using the ones in the back row a good bit, and they were comfortable enough!! :D

Did my first cruise on holland 2 weeks ago. All I can say I loved it the best food an staff are awesome as n the musics top notch. Been on all other cruise this is my favourite can’t wait to go again.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Glad to hear you had an amazing first cruise with HAL!! :D

Thank you for the tour :-) ❤

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for coming along digitally on our crazy adventure, hah!! :D

This is fantastic, thank you! My 15yo and I are doing N Statendam next March. Our 1st solo Mother/Daughter (my mom usually goes to) and we are SO excited!

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Woohoo! Hope you have an amazing cruise!! :D

You guys are so funny. Happy sailing.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! Glad to have you along for our craziness!! :D

Nieuw Statendam was also my 1st cruise with HAL! Amazing experience!

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

That's awesome! We definitely enjoyed our first HAL and it shan't be our last, ha ha. Glad to hear you enjoyed yours!! :D

We get on this ship in July to Above the Arctic Circle from Copenhagen. It'll be our first HAL cruise. I am so excited to see this cruise series! And the 80ish days around the world seems interesting.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Ooooh, that's awesome! We still need to get some of the Baltic cruising in our lives, hah... hope you have an amazing time!! :D

Glad you finally got on HAL. Aren't the showers great? We have found the meals in MDR to be so good that the specialty restaurants are not worth the price. We have spent over 200 days on HAL. Looking forward to your experience on HAL.😮

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

We were so glad to have a proper shower, as we'd been told that some cabins had tubs. Those have proven to be trouble in the past for tall folks, ha ha. We really enjoyed our first foray into HAL!! :D

@cruisegal4991

Жыл бұрын

@ParoDeeJay Yes, the tub shower combo, about a 2 rating. The walk in shower, about a 9.5. If the snacks were provided on the shelves, then a 10.

Loved every minute of this VLOG guys!! ❤❤❤. Cheryl and I are planning HAL for September!

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Nice! The Pinnacle-class was fun to explore for sure. So much music, so much food, ha ha. We're doing an older HAL ship to Alaska for 14 days in September, so we'll see how that compares. Hope you have a great cruise!! :D

I have sailed on HAL more than anyone else so far and I do really like them. Definitely quieter during the day with less to do than other lines, however the night time entertainment is good. Blues Club is excellent, I usually end up in there for at least one performance every night. Billboard on board can be a lot of fun too. The shows are hit and miss but I feel thats the same on every cruise line.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

True! We found ourselves with a good bit of downtime during the day, but loved exploring all the music venues in the evening. Our dueling piano team was down to one member for half the cruise, and we never did get in there to see them duel properly once they were reunited. Dang!!

@davva360

Жыл бұрын

@@parodeejay that’s funny the same thing happened on our Thanksgiving cruise last year.

I really like your videos. Looks like a very nice ship.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! Glad to have you along for our craziness!! :D

Getting ready to board this ship with my Service Dog on 2/11/24! I adore Holland America Lines!

We were on the same cruise and loved the food and service.

Rudi restaurants are generally very good. I've been sailing HAL since 1988, food has always been superior to any other cruise line.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

We were so excited to try the "original" Rudi restaurant at sea, ha ha... we enjoyed the one on Mardi Gras, but this one was really something else!! :D

I've only sailed once on Holland America, but would love to sail again with them!

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

These new Pinnacle-class ships really seem to be creating some excitement for HAL. We're trying an older ship in September, and we're curious to see how it compares!! :D

@susandiekmann

Жыл бұрын

@@parodeejay The ship we sailed on was Oosterdam, and I guess that counts as one of the older ones. Didn't have the funky artwork as Nieuw Statendam (which I would have enjoyed!), but a very nice looking ship. It was our first trip to the Mediteranean, so we were less concerned about the ship than we were the ports, that's for sure!

Thank you

I will be taking Royal Caribbean cruise to Spain and France this July. So excited. First time going international. Love y’all videos.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

That's awesome! We're finally getting over to Europe this year and next year as well, after having our 2020 European plans canceled during the Coronial Times. Hope you have some awesome adventures!! :D

@keet3028

Жыл бұрын

@@parodeejay thank you. Same to you.

The pistachio has TURNED !

That seafood restaurant looked great . Did you say “full as a tick” one of my sayings 😂😂😂

We were on the Rotterdam last September to Norway and the salads at deli and Pizza were very good!

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Ooooh, nice! We only ended up at the deli a couple of times, mostly for late night snacks. We'll have to work in another HAL cruise so we can try everything else, ha ha!! :P

That’s cool you are sailing HAL

It's so convenient that the closet comes complete with a bacon rack. Now I know I don't have to pack mine. 😂🥓

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

I hate having to pack a bacon rack every cruise. What a great addition to the cabin!! :P

your videos are soooo good. Of all the ships you've been on, which cruise line is your favorite.

@parodeejay

9 ай бұрын

Probably Celebrity overall!! :D

Have sailed the Statendam a couple times… enjoyed every minute of it!!! Loved the food, however i prefer Ji Ji’s on Carnival over Tamarind on HA. Shows in the World Stage were amazing! We’ll book it again for Nov/Dec…❤

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

The dumplings and the crispy duck at Tamarind (coming in vlog part three) were fantastic though, ha ha!! :P

Just booked our first cruise with Holland America. Going on Statendam in Feb 15 2025 Cheers ~ Steve 🎉

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Woohoo! Hope you have an awesome time!! :D

12:20 😊 bonus!!!

Holland has the best salad bar of all the lines my family has sailed 👍

top line states FREE!!!!

! have only cruised on the Amsterdam and Zaandam. I would love to cruise on one if the bigger ships. I love watching your vlogs,, and especially seeing what you have for dinner, ect. How many days do you have left on your around the world cruise? Have fun!

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Nice! We're trying a smaller HAL ship in the fall to see how it compares. This cruise was 7 days, but this is the very start of the trip, so we have six cruises and various connected land trips still to come!! :P

About a month ago at a Harrisburg, PA thrift store, I found one of those famous Holland America blue delft plates made for the 1999 Inaugural of Volendam! $5! Went home with me.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Ooooh, good find!! :D

We'll be cruising with HAL for the first time in April 2024. Transatlantic from FLL to Rotterdam.

I am certain you will go back to the Grand Dutch cafe for the chocolate cream puffs. I usually have one every day I am on Holland America.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Those things are ginormous!! :D

@johnnolan5579

Жыл бұрын

@@parodeejay I know! And delicious! lol

Thanks for the tour! P.S. Editing Jay probably noticed, but there were some focus issues on your closing video. Focus swapped between you and Dee.

Thanks for showing the gluten free options.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

We always find it interesting and fantastic to see gluten free, vegan, etc. so readily available. Love that!! :D

@russellyeley2561

Жыл бұрын

@@parodeejay I was diagnosed with Celiac disease Last year, so cruising has been a little of a challenge. At least it waited until i was in my mid sixties.

Jay’s dessert was kind of off-brand for an upscale restaurant, no? It was such an elegant meal, and then you ended it with something that looks like it should come from IHOP! 😂

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Hah, that’s what Chef Rudi is known for, I suppose. Same with my playful key lime dessert from Rudi’s SeaGrill in our first Mardi Gras series!! :P ~Jay

How excited 81 days can't wait to share this adventure with you! But was wondering, What do you do with your Cats when you are cruising?

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

They've all passed away, but Mama Jay used to watch them for us!!

@msdove61

Жыл бұрын

@@parodeejay Sorry to hear that I didn't know, maybe because I started watching videos from the beginning to catch up. Just enjoy all your adventure and love learning about different ports not to mention ya'll are so fun. Love to hear you both sing.

Are your suitcases 24, 26, or 28 inches and do they fit under the beds? Please and thank you! Loving this series! Great start!

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

We both have 28" and they usually do fit under the beds. A couple of ships, they haven't fit, so we've stashed them in the closet. But they were fine on this ship!! :D

@travlndiva7809

Жыл бұрын

@@parodeejay Thank you!

I just subscribed recently and haven't been able to go through all your videos yet, but have you ever ordered room service on any of the cruises? What's the quality?

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

We have a few times, but not often. The quality varies by cruise line, but it's usually pretty basic stuff. We ordered a couple of breakfasts on this sailing and they were decent. Convenient when you have an early morning port!! :P

@radioactiveduck6

Жыл бұрын

@@parodeejay Thanks so much!

24:16 “It’s not Thursday, what’s going on?” It was April 1st, so clever April Fools joke?!!!😂

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Maybe! All the other elevators we saw had the correct day, but maybe one was left incorrect as a gag!! :P

81 one days on the high seas how lucky. How many ships involved during this grand voyage?

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Seven cruises overall on seven different ships!! :D

Dee is your big suitcase (the rose gold one) the 24 or the 28"?

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

It's a 28" from Ben Sherman, I believe!! :D

This is the first Holland video I am seeing and we are scheduled on Alaska next year. I do hope that I am not going to have to pay for every shake and every goody I want because that will absolutely be a deal-breaker. I'm happy to pay more money at the front end but I will not pay for every goody

We say stuffed as a tick.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

I figured it was at least a southern thing, since I hear it said within my family, ha ha... but wasn't sure how many places have stuffed ticks otherwise!! :P ~Jay

Did your Carnival status help any on Holland American?

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

No, they don't status match across brands at all that we could see.

did you just say 81 days???? holy cow ;-)

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Yesssss, this is the first of seven cruises and connected land trips that will take us to the Caribbean, Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, Iceland, British Isles, France, and Bermuda, all over the course of 81 days... whew!! :P

@Mrzizzy69

Жыл бұрын

@@parodeejay All I can say is WOW!!! I can't wait to follow along and live vicariously through you guys. It's going to be an EPIC journey...

Did you really do a 81 days on that cruise, wow and if so what does something like that cost, I may want to do that once I retire

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

No, we’re doing seven cruises on different ships, and some connecting land trips, for a grand total of 81 days of travel! This cruise was the first seven days of the trip!! :D

@valeriegriffith3415

Жыл бұрын

@@parodeejay oh OK

81 days of cruising?!? 😱🤯

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Including total travel days between cruises, yes indeed!! :D

@ProPhile

Жыл бұрын

@@parodeejay I just realized something… if your 1st day of your 81 day journey was April 1st and this video was posted yesterday that means you’re still traveling. How do you find time to edit your videos?!? 🤯

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Yes indeed! We’re currently in week three of the trip. It usually takes about 3-4 hours to make a half hour episode, plus processing and uploading time. So I just have to set aside a few hours a day to keep up the schedule!! :D ~Jay

What port did you sail out of please?

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Ah, I thought we said at the very beginning? Fort Lauderdale!! :D

@richrichard6520

Жыл бұрын

Sorry, I missed the first minute or so. Appreciate the speedy response !!

I love that they have a photo of Oprah on the ship for everyone to see.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

We didn't know that she was the godmother... how cool!! :D

@lizdyson3627

Жыл бұрын

@@parodeejay Yeah I know. I have been taking a real interest in Ships Godparents. It's a dream of mine. LOL Can I PM u.

Wow, Kiss's disco era music. How odd!

What no Australia /South Pacific 😮😮😮

@Dee-of-ParoDeeJay

Жыл бұрын

We will get there eventually.

You are sleepy... You going to hit like and subscribe.....

We loved holland some of the best food at sea. But yes the lightning in the rooms is terrible for filming intros and outros. Really a small specific issue but still annoying lol

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

We ended up finding some okay recording spots in the cabin, ha ha... the food was pretty awesome, and we loved exploring the Grand Dutch Cafe offerings!! :D

I thought they kept their Dee's under the bed !

The men’s club tour is a bit too much… The rest of this video was absolutely great. I’m so glad to see a HAL ship.

@parodeejay

Жыл бұрын

Thankee! Hah, that's the first time I've ever seen urinal rugs that I can recall, and it fascinated me enough to include it here!! :P ~Jay