Holland America's Navigator is a poor Joke. HAL internet is like dial-up on a party line. Painfully slow, many sites won't load, not talking YouTube or games, you can barely get basic emails. If there's an attachment forget it. I wasn't even able to view my home wifi thermostat on board. Yet on shore literally just walking thru Visitors Center using free wifi I could view and adjust my temperature ...
After a very rocky embarkment in Buenos Aires, our cruise around South America on the Oosterdam was excellent. The principal reason for this was the extraordinary service provided by the Oosterdam crew and service personnel. Our every need was attended to and in many ways above and beyond all expectations. One of us was traveling with a mobility scooter rented from Holland America's vendor, ...
We went on this cruise as part of a charter
The staff was delightful, and our cabin certainly fine, except for the last night when we were flooded by water from overhead
The aspect of this cruise we did not care for was that there were so many extra charges. All alcohol was an extra charge drinking water was an extra charge. The food was lovely in the dining room, but the dining room was ...
We have only cruised 3 times with HAL, however each was 14+ days. We were on the last Asia cruise before Covid, and the 1st one since Covid (ports in Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan). Both on Westerdam. However HAL is down trending for us.
Preface: Let me just say that running a cruise is a very difficult thing. Nearly every guest on board has a unique need or request. Staffing turn over ...
This cruise was wonderful.
Embarkation was horrible. No order. It was simply a free for all. No one followed what order there was.
Our dining room waiters were great and we never had a bad meal. These waiters would stand on their heads if you asked them to. Our room stewards were wonderful. Kept our cabin very clean. We made our own bed. Anything to make their job easier.
The ...
We are New Zealanders and chose this cruise as it left from Auckland and we had cruise credits to utilise. We have travelled on several cruise lines and this was our first Holland America cruise and our last.
Embarkation was at 2.40 pm and with the Verifly app was very quick we were on the ship in 15 minutes. A Negative Pre boarding COVID test was a requirement.
Our first impressions of ...
A great deal on a two week cruise around NZ came up at a good time so I jumped at it. My first time as solo traveller because my partner couldn't come due to a new job.
I had no expectations about NZ's weather as it is not called the land of the long white (and often raining) cloud for nothing. But the weather and the Noordam turned out to be an absolute delight. Spectacular even. The ship is ...
We were scheduled to cruise Singapore to Tokyo on the Westerdam, but were concerned with Japan travel restrictions so decided to switch cruises. So glad we did. We had the aft corner Neptune suite, which gives a balcony on two sides of the stateroom. That was ideal for cruising Fjordlands National Park. When the attraction was on the other side of the ship, we went to the back. Unfortunately, ...
Embarkation
We cruised from Valparaiso, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina on Feb 24-Mar 10 2023 on the Oosterdam (I renamed it the Disasterdam!). On the cruise there was an interesting talk to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Holland America Line on HAL’s history. One segment was about the line transporting immigrants from Europe to the US in the late 1800’s-early 1900’s. They decided to ...
We chose this cruise, and ship, because we wanted to visit South America and the itinerary was just what we wanted. Never having sailed with HAL before, we were encouraged by remarks that they are 'just like Cunard', our favourite line. Sadly this proved to be, most definitely, not the case.
The embarkation, at Valparaiso, was the most shambolic we have ever encountered in 20+ cruises. There ...