Noordam Review
Would I sail on Holland America again? NOT NO.... HAL NO
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Let me begin by saying that by no means are we rookie cruisers and we are both over the age of 60. We have cruised on Regent Seven Seas, Celebrity, RCI, Carnival, and NCL but never cruised on HAL. I have been wanting to do this particular cruise for the last 3 years because we hadn't been to several of the ports on this itinerary. I had also been told that the food and service was better on HAL and also that it was a little more upscale than some of the other lines. So finally my husband agreed to go and we were off on what we hoped was a fun and exciting vacation.
Embarkation went smoothly, until we boarded the ship, I was disappointed that we didn't get a glass of champagne like we typically get on Celebrity. That always made me feel just a bit special and welcome.
Instead, it felt more like a cattle drive heading everyone into the chutes. We located our room and it was an aft facing balcony. Nice big balcony, with a great view. I loved the room. Only issue was that it was hot in there. We located the cabin attendant and ask him if there was a problem with the A/C and he said it should get better after we were sailing and told us to keep the curtains closed....WHAT??? If I wanted to keep the curtains closed I could have gotten in interior room for 399.00 plus port charges. I also noticed the blanket on the bed in between the sheets, it was disgusting. Dirty and full of hair. That was changed immediately. (Not sure if this is true or not but was told that they have 24 cabins to keep up after, that's almost impossible to do.) We headed down to the embarkation lunch at the main dining room only to be told that it was full and to go to the Lido. We got to the Lido and it seemed very disorganized. No one seemed to know where the line began and ended. People cutting in line like the hadn't eaten in days. No place to sit. When you found a table that had been vacated it was another story trying to get the tables cleared. I chalked it up to the 1st day chaos. But after the 2nd day it was evident that they had cut the help in the Lido. Also rather annoying was the fact that people would just go there not to eat, but to grab the tables by the windows to play cards or just sit there. If you aren't eating be considerate enough to go to the lounges to sit.