A New, Hip Holland America

PHOTO: Holland America's Westerdam at sea

It's not your grandfather’s Holland America Line any more.

Often saddled with an undeserved reputation as a cruise line for the elderly, Holland America has freshened up its onboard offerings with lively — dare we say, hip? — innovations in both its programming and its cuisine.

And younger travelers are responding, based on my early December Eastern Caribbean voyage on board the Westerdam.

The 1,900-passenger ship was at capacity for the “Dancing with the Stars: At Sea” championship, featuring 15 travelers representing each of the vessels in the Holland America fleet. The finalists were all ages and at different levels of dance experience, but no matter. The audience applauded each one enthusiastically during the competitions held in the Vista Lounge — which seats about 800-900 people and was standing-room-only during the dance shows.

“There’s definitely a difference in energy,” Cruise Director Jonathan Rogers said during the cruise. “People are very keen and excited about the show.”

The “DWTS: At Sea” mimics the popular ABC and BBC television show, with three or four judges evaluating dancers as they perform with a dance professional from the ship. The competition even uses the catchy, recognizable theme music from the TV show and awards an identical mirror ball trophy to the winner.

PHOTO: Brenton Mitchell, an amateur ballroom dancer from Halifax, Nova Scotia, took home the “DWTS: At Sea” mirrorball trophy.

Former cruise director Jason Venner, who serves as producer and the quick-on-his-feet master of ceremonies for the DWTS competition, interviewed each of the finalists during the several rounds held during the week. As the rest of the ship got to know them, the dance competitors become onboard celebrities as passengers sought them out and bought them drinks in the bars.

Standing Room Only

The 15 finalists were narrowed down until there were just three for the final. Guests began lining up for seats more than an hour before the show began, and the ship set up a large-screen television in the Queen’s Lounge so the overflow crowd could watch.

The mirrorball trophy went to Brenton Mitchell, an amateur ballroom dancer from Halifax, Nova Scotia, who regularly enthralled the crowd with his lively performances.

His winning performance in the finals was judged by professional dancers who appear on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” — two-time champion Kym Johnson, Sharna Burgess and Artem Chigvintsev. Also appearing throughout the week were two celebrities who had previously competed on the TV show — actress Sabrina Bryan, a former “Cheetah Girl,” and hilarious television personality Carson Kressley, perhaps best known for “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.”

Holland America Line is continuing its partnership with “DWTS” into 2016. Every voyage this year will feature “DWTS” events, including dance lessons and a competition. Following preliminary rounds on each cruise, finalists are paired with a Holland America dance professional to perform in the main show lounge. A judging panel — ship officers, shipboard professional dancers and other cruise staff — will score participants’ performances and combine those scores with audience appreciation scores for a total tally to determine the winning guest. Winners of the guest competitions with the highest scores from each ship will win a free ocean-view stateroom for two on the champions cruise.

Also scheduled are six special “DWTS” theme cruises that feature the dance pros and celebrities from the TV show. Two took place in January but the rest are June 6, seven-day Bermuda cruise aboard Veendam roundtrip from Boston; June 13, seven-day Canada/New England cruise on Veendam from Boston to Montreal; Jan. 3, 2016, seven-day Eastern Caribbean cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale; and the Champions Cruise, Jan. 10, 2016, a seven-day Western Caribbean cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam from Fort Lauderdale.

The “DWTS” theme cruises also include a fashion show featuring the glamorous show costumes and a chance to meet the dance pros and celebrities, ask questions and take photos with them.

While the “DWTS” livens up the ship, Holland America Line has made other changes onboard that also appeal to today’s cruisers.

New Casual Eatery

Many of the dining venues on board are upscale, steered by a Culinary Council that includes renowned international chefs such as David Burke, Jacques Torres and Elizabeth Falkner.

But one new addition is on the casual side, a burger joint called Dive-In at the Terrace Grill. This outdoor grill by the Lido Pool, added to ships starting in early 2014, serves up 650 to 700 delicious signature burgers, hot dogs and fries to order a day.

The beef patties are hand-formed of beef ground on the ship with a secret mix that includes chuck and sirloin tips. Burgers are served on toasted brioche buns with a secret sauces, lettuce and tomato.

Burgers include the Gainer, which is served with a mound of crispy frizzled onions, and the Cannonball, dressed with Gouda cheese, applewood-smoked bacon and sweet caramelized onions. The Back Flip chicken breast sandwich is topped with guacamole, while vegetarians can try out the Freestyle, a vegetarian choice of grilled portabella mushroom topped with melting Gouda and cheddar cheeses, avocado and sauce.

Nathan’s Famous all-beef hot dogs are served in a poppy-seed bun. The Dive-In Dog is topped with American-style mustard and a mound of crispy frizzled onions; The Dog Paddle is topped with sauerkraut, bacon bits and German mustard; while The Dunkin’ Dog is topped with melted cheese sauce, pickled jalapenos and chopped red onions.

“We definitely kicked it up a notch with this one,” says Hotel Director Jason Hale. “It’s all 100 percent homemade. The only thing that comes out of the bag are the French fries.” But the fries are great, served very crispy alone or smothered in Dive-In sauce or melted cheese sauce.

Next to the Dive-In grill is a taco bar with handmade tortillas and hard taco shells and a selection of condiments and fillings, including chicken, beef and pork.

Specialty Dining Options

PHOTO: The Pinnacle Grill specialty restaurant serves great steaks and, one night, turned into New York’s legendary Le Cirque.

The Westerdam offers two traditional dinner sittings at 5:45 and 8 p.m. as well as open seating between 5:15 and 9 p.m.

The optional Italian restaurant, Canaletto, occupies a corner of the Lido Restaurant and serves trendy small plates as well as pasta and entrees that appeal to more sophisticated palates — think salumi, seared beef carpaccio, potato gnocchi with braised beef short rib, and grilled lemon-thyme sea bass. Cover charge is $10.

The ship also boasts the Pinnacle Grill, the high-end Pacific Northwest steak and seafood restaurant ($29 cover charge for Double R Ranch steaks, double-cut Kurobuta pork chop, grilled lamb chops and all the sides). But once during the cruise, the Pinnacle Grill is transformed into Le Cirque, the legendary New York City restaurant. The menu is inspired by Le Cirque — lobster salad, rack of lamb and chateaubriand — while the wine selections and whimsical monkey dishes are the same. Cover charge is $49 per person, $69 with a wine pairing.

Getting the Blues

PHOTO: The B.B. King’s Blues Club live show was wildly popular on the Westerdam.

Another great entertainment addition is the B.B. King’s Blues Club, available at certain times on five ships, including the Westerdam. The musicians, direct from the original club on Beale Street in Memphis, perform five nights a week in the Queen’s Lounge and once on the main stage in the Show Lounge. Every performance is packed. How many other places can you listen to an authentic eight-piece blues band with two vocalists backed by a drummer, bassist, guitarist, sax player, trumpeter and organist?

Other onboard offerings are geared toward a younger — or a more young at heart — traveler. There are mixology classes, martini tastings, cooking classes in the Culinary Arts Center, an Indonesia tea ceremony and even a pub crawl ($25)! But never fear, Holland America continues to appeal to its long-time and very devoted fans by continuing to offer several different versions of trivia, bingo, the marriage game and crafting classes such as that teach how to make place cards.

Far from being stuffy or boring, Holland America Line has quietly injected fun into its premium experience while maintaining the level of quality its fans have always appreciated.