Our cruise from Boston to Montreal was a very mixed experience. The ports were outstanding but the on-board experience was terrible. The predominantly Indonesian crew just did not have the English language skill or training where it counted. The young lady at the front desk was useless for any but ordinary tasks. Canned replies to problems. Frustrating every time. The final days were a constant barrage of "fill out the survey". Everyone from the cruise director to the cabin stewards to the servers in the restaurants. Enough already! Well, I did fill it out but they would have preferred I did not, I am sure.

The entertainment was also sub-par. With few exceptions the entertainers were fair to OK but never special. The nightly showroom entertainment was repetitive. Also repetitive was the cruise director giving praise to the entertainers, staff, and every other employee he could think of. I expect the staff to be excellent and to be "invisible". Do great work without fanfare. And certainly without the daily "thank the staff" and "fill out the survey". I didn't take a cruise to be required to give glowing employee evaluations.

This is likely be our last Holland America cruise. We need better service and a better overall on-board experience on our holidays.