Is Holland America Line's Have It All package worth it?

Is Holland America Have It All Worth It? Your Guide to Nearly All-Inclusive Cruising

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Is Holland America Have It All worth it? This premium package from Holland America makes for nearly All-Inclusive cruising and can be worth it for the right passengers.

Is Holland America Have It All Worth It?

This premium package is among the best deals in cruising for the right guest, but it’s not for everyone. I’ve spent a lot of time on Holland America Line – sailed on every class of ship they have, tried many a drink and most of their specialty restaurants. Having the Have It All package can really make sense depending on what you would already spend your money on.

If you are someone that likes to have the occasional drink, check your email, enjoy a specialty meal, and were already planning on going on a shore excursion, the Have It All package from Holland America is probably going to be worth it for you.

Finding out if Holland America’s Have It All premium nearly all-inclusive package is worth it for you comes down to two elements – whether or not it will save you money overall and also whether or not the peace of mind and “all-inclusive” feel that it can give your cruise experience is worth it.

What does Have It All include on Holland America?

To figure out if this package makes sense for you we need to dive into what is included in this premium package.

“Have It All” is a package available on most Holland America Line Voyages that are longer than 6 nights and includes a shore excursion credit, some specialty dining, a beverage package, and a Wi-Fi plan for the first and second guests in the cabin.

The exact amount of each of these depends on the length of your voyage and whether or not you book early enough to get the Have It All Early Booking Bonus.

Each Have It All package includes:

  • 📶 “Surf” Wi-Fi plan
    • ✅ This Wi-Fi plan allows you to do basic internet surfing, social media, email, and messaging.
    • ❌ Does not include making audio or video calls through messaging services
  • 🍷 Signature Beverage Package
    • ✅ This beverage package includes wine by the glass, beer, cocktails, and spirits up to $11 a glass and includes the gratuities (not all lines do this). If you’d like a more expensive drink, only pay the difference.
    • ✅ Enjoy the beverages from their “Quench plan” – such as sodas, specialty coffees, and bottled water.
    • ✅ 15 drink daily limit for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages
    • ✅ This includes drinks at restaurants. For instance, if you are in the dining room or Pinnacle Grill you could use this beverage package to cover your glass of wine or cocktail.
    • ❌ It does not include the mini-bar in your room
    • ❌ It does not include fresh squeezed orange juice or milkshakes
    • ❌ It also does not apply to drinks consumed at Holland America’s private island Half Moon Cay
  • 🐳 Shore Excursion Credit
    • ✅ The shore excursion credit is applicable for the stateroom and is dependent on the length of the voyages.
      • For cruises 6-9 nights it is a $100 credit
      • For cruises 10-20 nights it is a $200 credit
      • For cruises 21+ days in length (excluding Grand Voyages) it is a $300 credit
  • 🍝 Specialty Dining
    • ✅ Included specialty dining is dependent on the length of the cruise and can be used at Pinnacle Grill, Canaletto, or Tamarind
      • For cruises 6-9 nights it includes one night of specialty dining
      • For cruises 10-20 nights it includes two nights of specialty dining
      • For cruises 21+ days in length (excluding Grand Voyages) it includes three nights of specialty dining
Enjoying a Cosmopolitan

Does Holland America Have It All included crew appreciation?

Have It All does not include crew appreciation (gratuities). Crew appreciation on Holland America costs $17.00 per person per day for non-suite guests and $19.00 per person per day for those guests staying in suites.

However, if you book early on certain eligible voyages you may be able to book the Have It All Early Booking Bonus which does include crew appreciation.

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Cruises now through Summer 2025 – Up to 25% off cruise fares. Plus Free Prepaid Crew Appreciation, $99 Deposit, and Free Fares for Guests 3 & 4.

Does Have It All Include Room Service?

Holland America Line is one of the few non-luxury cruise lines that still includes most food items from room service in your cruise fare. There is a breakfast menu, then a lunch/dinner menu, a late night menu, and during dinner time you can get items from the dining room menu brought to your cabin. There is an extra charge if you would like specialty items brought, like from Pinnacle Grill or the Dive In burger bar.

Should you want alcoholic beverages or sodas brought to your cabin, those would not be covered by the Have It All drinks package. Nor are the mini-bar drinks included.

What is the Holland America Line Have It All Early Booking Bonus?

Then there is the Have It All Early Booking Bonus. This “early booking bonus” aspect of the Have It All package is a promotion to encourage guests to book early with extras and upgrades included in the Have It All package.

The Early Booking Bonus has all of the same features of the Have It All package including a shore excursion credit, some specialty dining, a beverage package, and a Wi-Fi plan. However, with the Early Booking Bonus you also get pre-paid crew appreciation, and upgrades on both the beverage package and Wi-Fi plan. We go into price a bit more down below, but the Have It All Early Booking Bonus is actually about $10 a day more than the regular Have It All package. What extra is included?

The Have It All Early Booking Bonus includes:

  • ⭐ 📶 Premium Wi-Fi plan – upgraded from the regular Have It All
    • ✅ This Wi-Fi plan allows you to do basic internet surfing, social media, email, and messaging
    • ✅ On this plan you can also make audio/video calls (depending on apps, phone type, carrier, etc)
  • ⭐🍷 Elite Beverage Package – upgraded from the regular Have It All
    • ✅ This beverage package includes wine by the glass, beer, cocktails, and spirits up to $15 a glass and includes the gratuities (not all lines do this). If you’d like a more expensive drink, only pay the difference.
    • ✅ Enjoy the beverages from their “Quench plan” – such as sodas, specialty coffees, and bottled water.
    • ✅ 15 drink daily limit for alcoholic beverages
    • ✅ no daily limit for non-alcoholic beverages
    • ✅ You can also get fresh squeezed orange juice with this plan
    • ❌ remember, this does not include the mini-bar in your room
  • ⭐💵 Pre-paid crew appreciation
    • ✅ A value of between $16.00 and $19.00 per person/ per day
  • 🐳 Shore Excursion Credit – same as the regular Have It All package
  • 🍝 Specialty Dining – same as the regular Have It All package

If you have sailed with Holland America Line before and are part of their Mariner society, you may be eligible for up to $400 onboard credit if you book early. This onboard credit could make the Early Booking Bonus Have It All package less enticing for you – that $400 could go a long way towards drinks if you are going to Happy Hour!

Holland America has quite a few ways to get onboard credit for your cruise, you can learn about the different ways to get extra onboard credit here.

Seared scallop special at canaletto
Seared scallop special at Canaletto

Holland America Have It All Package Cost

The Have It All package from Holland America Line costs $55 per person per day. This price has changed a bit since Holland America introduced the Have It All program. At one point it was $99, then listed for $110, and now sitting at $55 per person per day. It seems to be holding steady at the $55 per person per day.

The Have It All Early Booking Bonus currently costs $65 per person per day.

How Many Drinks Does it Take to Make Have It All a Good Deal?

Now it’s time to do the math of it. Let’s take a look at the regular Have It All package first. Down below we’ll go through some more specific of the different packages and you’ll see that for certain elements of the package if you are a Holland America loyalty program member that has reached certain levels you get discounts on various things.

For the sake of this we’ll assume you are either new to Holland America or haven’t reached a high enough loyalty status for these discounts yet.

Let’s take a look at it for a weeklong cruise, Have It All would be $55×7= $385 per person. Let’s see what you get with that money.

🍝 Specialty Dining Meal – We’ll assume you go to Pinnacle Grill to get the most bang for your buck, it would be $39 each. Now we are down to $346.

🐳 Shore Excursion Credit – This only has value if you were planning on going on a shore excursion and in fact could end up costing you money if the excursion you book is more expensive than $50 per person. We’ll go ahead and figure you were going to go anyways. $346-$50 = $296

📶 Wi-Fi Plan – This one is hard to exactly quantify because the Surf internet package is only available as part of the Have It All. The next level of Wi-Fi package starts at $34.99 per day. For the sake of figuring, let’s call the “Surf” plan a value of $25 per person per day. This would then be a $175 value. It’s worth noting though if you were to buy this a la carte though the least expensive option would be the $34.99 per day. Now we’re down to $121.

For the week it would then be $121/7 = $17.29 per day on drinks. $17.29 per day would be two to three alcoholic drinks or a combination of alcoholic drinks, sodas, and coffees.

Now let’s take a look at it with the Have It All Early Booking Bonus. This is $65 per person per day but the big difference is that it also includes crew appreciation which is $17 per person per day for non-suite guests.

For a weeklong cruise the Have It All Early Booking Bonus is $455.

💵 Crew appreciation is $17×7 = $119. Let’s see if the remaining $336 is worth it!
🐳 Shore Excursion Credit – worth $50 per person for two people in a cabin = $286 left
🍝 Specialty Dining Credit – $39 value at Pinnacle = $247 left
📶 Premium Wi-Fi package of $34.99/day = $244.93.

What drinks are free on Holland America?

Part of the value of the Have It All package is the drinks package that’s included. But, without the package is there enough included to enjoy?

There are a number of drinks that are included onboard – namely tea, coffee, iced tea, lemonade, and water that can be found in the Lido buffet area 24 hours a day. There is also a selection of juices and milks in the morning at breakfast. If you were to go to one of the restaurants a similar selection would be included for free.

Drinks included in the Have It All promotion include alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages up to $11. This includes a selection of cocktails, mocktails, wine by the glass, beer, and spirits.

It does not include fresh squeezed orange juice.

Are there restrictions to the Have It All Package?

The Have It All package is only for the first and second passengers in a cabin. So, if you were to have 4 people in your cabin you will need to purchase/pay for the amenities separately for the third and fourth passengers.

Holland America’s Have It All nearly all-inclusive cruise package is also not available for voyages less than 6 nights. For those voyages you would have the option to purchase each part of the package a la carte.

There are specific restrictions to the drinks package in particular – including not being able to use the drinks package on your mini-bar, at the private island Half Moon Cay, or on room service drinks.

Exploration's Cafe (specialty coffee shop) drink prices  on Holland America (2024)
Exploration’s Cafe (specialty coffee shop) drink prices (2024)

Holland America Drink Packages

This is where the Have It All package can really add up and become a great value. Holland America offers two different alcoholic drink packages – the Signature Drink Package and the Elite Drink Package.

The Signature Drink package is the lower level option and can be purchased on it’s own but is included in the Have It All premium cruise package if you decide to purchase that when booking your cruise.

The Signature package includes up to 15 alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages each day up to a cost of $11 per drink. This doesn’t count non-alcoholic beverages that are free in places like the Lido buffet, but rather includes things like sodas, specialty coffees, and mocktails.

This is $54.95 per person per day and must be purchased by all adults of legal drinking age in the cabin. None of the drinks packages can be used on the mini-bar, ashore at Half Moon Cay, or for room service drinks.

If you are interested in a beverage package during your cruise this alone would make the Have It All package worth it – as the base alcoholic drinks package is $54.95/day and the Have It All package – which includes this Signature drinks package – is $55/day.

The Elite beverage package will give you up to 15 alcoholic beverages a day with no limit on non-alcoholic beverages – so enjoy those latte’s to your hearts content. The drink price maximum also increases to $15 a day. This is $59.99 per person per day and must be purchased by all adults of legal drinking age in the cabin.

There are also some benefits included for those that have sailed with Holland America before and are 4 star Mariners and above including 50% off certain wine packages and the in-room mini-bar.

It’s worth familiarizing yourself with Holland America’s alcohol policy if you have someone in the 18-20 range as for most voyages they will be unable to drink alcoholic beverages which may make the Have-It-All package less of a value depending on who is sailing with you.

holland america ship volendam

Holland America Specialty Dining Cost

Holland America has several specialty restaurants depending on which class of ship you sail on. Pretty much the bigger the ship the more options there will be. While the specialty dining perk in itself isn’t a huge cost in the Have It All package compared to things like the internet package and drinks package, it does help make your cruise feel more all-inclusive and does give you the opportunity to try one of the fantastic specialty dining options on Holland America Line.

Their current specialty dining restaurants include Canaletto, Pinnacle Grill, Tamarind, Nami Sushi, and Rudi’s Sel de Mer. There are also included dining options onboard such as the Lido Market, Dive In pool-side burger bar, New York Pizza, Grand Dutch Cafe, Room Service (most items), Explorations Cafe (light snacks), and for an additional charge Gelato.

It’s important to note that not all specialty restaurants are available on every Holland America ship. If you are interested in trying out all of the specialty options you should look at the Pinnacle class ships from Holland America, the Rotterdam, Nieuw Statendam, and Koningsdam.

Dessert at Pinnacle Grill lunch onboard Holland America
A berry delicious dessert option at Pinnacle Grill lunch

The specialty dining cost of Holland America are:

  • Canaletto – $25 per person (dinner only)
  • Pinnacle Grill – $39 per person for dinner (kids can eat half price off the Pinnacle menu or free off of a kids menu), or $15 for lunch (the lunch is an incredible value, but only offered on sea days)
  • Tamarind – $35 per person
  • Rudi’s Sel de Mer – $55 per person (not included in the options for Have It All specialty dining)
  • Nami Sushi – a la carte pricing (not included in the options for Have It All specialty dining)

If you have sailed with Holland America before and have reached the 4 star level or above then you can enjoy 50% off the surcharge for specialty dining restaurants.

🎄☃️ Shop the Black Friday Sale 11/21 – 12/1.
Cruises now through Summer 2025 – Up to 25% off cruise fares. Plus Free Prepaid Crew Appreciation, $99 Deposit, and Free Fares for Guests 3 & 4.

Holland America Wi-Fi Packages

There are three levels to the Wi-Fi packages offered by Holland America Line.

The first package, the “Surf” package is only available as part of the Have It All package. This lets you do basic web searching, messaging, social media, and email.

The next level up, the “Premium” Wi-Fi package allows you to do everything in the Surf package, but also have the option for voice and video calls. This can be purchased for $34.99 per day.

The top level that is offered is the “Stream” option, this internet option will also allow you to, as the name suggests, stream video content including services such as Netflix. This can be purchased for $45.99 per day.

It should be noted that Holland America is undergoing having all of their ships upgraded with Starlink internet service which has definitely improved the quality and reliability of the internet onboard.

How Does the Holland America Have It All Package Stack Up Against Other Cruise Lines?

I recently was looking at a Royal Caribbean cruise trying to figure out how much their drinks packages were. They range from $84-$110 per day! That doesn’t include crew appreciation, specialty dining, shore excursions or Wi-Fi. That’s just the drinks package. When I see prices like that floating around it reminds me what a great deal the Have It All package is for someone in particular that would like a drinks package on a cruise.

Royal Caribbean is just one example, if we compare to Celebrity we see they also have an “All-Included” plan (though slightly less is included) that is $77 per person/per day for a drinks package and Wi-Fi.

When you start looking at other cruise lines it becomes clear that Holland America Have It All can certainly be worth it if you are looking for an nearly all-inclusive option and is a good value compared to what is on the market if you would like a drinks package included in your cruise.

When does the Have It All package not make sense?

There are plenty of times that the Have It All package is worth it – if you were already going to get a drinks package it is an absolute no-brainer. But, when would it not make sense to get this nearly all-inclusive premium cruise package?

It wouldn’t make sense to purchase the regular Have It All package if you are someone that wouldn’t use more than $7 a day in beverages. Why $7 a day and not $17? Because we had factored in a lower rate for the Wi-Fi plan to better equate to the value it is. However, if you were to buy all the other elements of the package aside from beverages a la carte you would need to get the Signature beverage package.

It also wouldn’t make sense to purchase this package if you had no interest in Shore Excursions or Specialty Dining or if you were someone that didn’t want to go online at all.

The Early Booking Bonus option though is enticing because it adds in that extra bonus of the crew appreciation which certainly adds up quickly at either $17 or $19 per person per day (depending on if you are in a non-suite or suite respectively).

It may also not be worth it if you are someone that gets various discounts and perks on drinks, specialty restaurants, and that early booking onboard credit bonus for being a Holland America Line Mariner.

Conclusion: Is Holland America Have It All Worth It?

When you add up everything that is included the Have It All package is a good value if you were planning on buying or using those things anyways – especially the drinks package. And, if you are offered the Have It All Early Booking Bonus option you are getting an even greater value with the crew appreciation included in the fare!

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