Worth the Extra Cash? | Holland America Koningsdam Vista Suite Cabin Tour

In May 2023, we set sail on Holland America Line’s Pinnacle Class ship the Koningsdam for a 7-night cruise of Alaska's Inside Passage. We were booked into an aft-view Vista Suite, which provided us with gorgeous views of the stunning Alaskan scenery. But is the Vista Suite worth the extra money over a standard Verandah balcony cabin?
For this tour, we’ll take you around the cabin, including the bathroom and aft-facing balcony. And we'll highlight the impressive storage options this cabin has to offer. The Vista Suites are very similar to Holland America's Verandah Staterooms, though they will cost on average $400 more for a 7-night cruise. Is this "suite" worth the extra cost? Watch to find out!
If you're interested in seeing the tour of our Verandah Stateroom on the Nieuw Amsterdam that's referenced multiple times in this video, you can watch it here: • Why You Should Choose ...
And for more Holland America content:
Our Nieuw Amsterdam Embarkation Day: • We Boarded a Cruise to...
Our "bar crawl" review of all the bars and lounges aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam: • Ranking All the Bars o...
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Music by Blue Dot Sessions.
#cruise #cruisetravel #hollandamerica #hollandamerica150

[@NayaWrap]

I don’t think a vista is that great. Neptune or veranda

[@heatherlarsen9252]

On the website for Holland America it says 4 people can stay in a Vista suite. How?!?

[@callingallports]

I could not imagine four adults fitting in that cabin comfortably, but I think two adults and two small kids would have plenty of room.

[@ellenathomas986]

Any idea where my 2 kids would sleep in the room? does the couch pull out or do you think they fold out from the wall like disney? thanks for any info!

[@callingallports]

Thanks for watching and your comment. Our stateroom was not considered a family suite, so we did not see any features like pulldown beds or fold out couches. I think @harrtravel has a few videos on HAL family cabins. Sorry, we cannot provide more information on those types of cabins.

[@dandeely1000]

Us CPAP users really appreciate outlets by the bed. I don't understand why more cruise lines don't do this.

[@callingallports]

Really good point. Outlets are more than charging devices, they’re life-saving ones.

[@dandeely1000]

It could certainly be life saving for me if my snoring kept my wife up all night :)@@callingallports

[@callingallports]

@@dandeely1000 😂

[@wayneout]

I have a chance to get an upgrade for my wife and I for 49 dollars each for an Alaska cruise. On the aft view, how was it to see the glaciers and the other scenic views? Right now, we have the balcony rooms.

[@callingallports]

We loved the aft because you get to see what both sides of the ship experience. We also love looking at the wake. Regardless of what you choose, you’ll get fantastic views either way. Make sure to go out on the bow for Glacier Bay day though.

[@wayneout]

@@callingallports I got the vista suite but all that they had left was one on the port side. So I figured what we missed going, we could see returning. Thanks for the tip about Glacier Bay day. We are arriving a day early and staying at the St. Regis. I hear you can just walk to the port, but not sure about that. The only thing that concerns me is that we have a flight out on the day we arrive back at 1:15pm. I hope that is enough time because I hear that it is hard to get to the airport. Thanks for the reply

[@callingallports]

@@wayneout I think you’ll have plenty of time with a 1:15 flight. Disembarkation requires less patience than embarkation.l and you should be off the ship with more than enough time. We had a port cabin on our last voyage and l saw tons of whales from our balcony. You’ll have a great trip!

[@dougfine4475]

A small correction - you showed the bar and twice called it a "wet bar." It is only a wet bar if it has a sink. So bar yes, wet bar no. BTW, we were on the Splendor over the holidays with you. Was surprised you didn't make any comparisons with RSSC on this video. Anyway, keep posting the videos, we try to watch them all.

[@callingallports]

Thanks and you’re absolutely right. Andrew realized he misspoke after the video was out there. Brilliant that you were also on Splendor. What did you think of it? We’ll be making a comparison video to Regent in the upcoming weeks, especially when we cover our Oceania cruise. For now, we wanted these other videos to stand alone. But there are some things that Holland America did that rivaled Regent - and we will certainly be talking about those things in a future video. Thanks for watching!

[@Vanhockeymom]

We had a spa veranda cabin in April on that ship. The layout was a bit different, the desk and couch were beside the veranda. We had our beds separated and found the room to be on the small side, especially for a 22 day solar eclipse cruise. The Neiw Amsterdam was much more roomie when we sailed on her in April 2017 thru the Panama Canal. We didn’t have a veranda h on that sailing but our room felt so much larger.

[@callingallports]

We agree about the Nieuw Amsterdam cabins. Our aft balcony was massive for the category, our Koningsdam average size. Sometimes we wish they would combine the features of those ships for a new class, we would love it. Other than the space, how did you feel about the spa veranda category?

[@Vanhockeymom]

@@callingallportsthe location is good but we, my travel mate and I, are two larger ladies and found the cabin to be quite small. It would be a great cabin for one person or a couple with the beds together maybe. I likely wouldn’t sail on the Koningsdam again. I wasn’t really impressed with musical room set up on deck 3. Having to switch back and forth between the piano bar and the rolling stone lounge was a pain. The bb king lounge was smaller than on the niew Amsterdam and further back. The musicians on that space were the best but usually played to an empty room because it was too far from the others I think. The band there started later so most people walking by an empty room at 7 didn’t think to go back at 9. The band in the RS lounge could be heard in the BB King lounge. Someone wasn’t thinking when they planned this ship’s layout

[@juliedahl507]

Well scripted and delivery. Good luck with your channel.

[@callingallports]

Thank you so much! Thanks for watching!

[@warrenwolf4690]

One question. HAL or Regent?

[@callingallports]

That is still such a tough question! Certainly, Regent is tops for elegance, the cabins are second to none, the food is divine, and the all-inclusiveness cannot be beat. With that said, Holland America is fantastic for a classic cruising experience. The ships, with the black hull, are beautiful - and we love a classic wraparound promenade. The food, overall, is quite good - excellent, at times. But the entertainment on Holland America, specifically the Music Walk, really can't be beat. And Holland America edges ahead of Regent with daily activities, especially their cruise line-focused enrichment talks. And we loved sailing on Holland America in Alaska this past May. They did a wonderful job having a ship's naturalist on board. And being able to go out on the hull to witness Margerie Glacier was really quite spectacular. So, we do not have a definitive answer quite yet. We have two more HAL sailings booked in the next two years, but we also have our eyes on a couple of Regent sailings. We think both lines are excellent at what they do. We certainly will continue to sail on both lines in the future, though - itinerary-dependent, of course.

[@warrenwolf4690]

@@callingallports thanks for your honest and thoughtful reply