My first HAL cruise, but 20th overall cruise (I'm 32) My mom and aunt's 2nd with HAL (60's and 70's age ranges).

We stayed at Holland America's appointed hotel the night before our cruise, which sailed from Athens on Nov. 10-30 (Volos, Istanbul, Dikili, Kusadasi, Maramaris, Alanya, Antalya, Rhodes, Crete, Cyprus, Ashdod, Haifa...if you are looking for any reviews on the ports, let me know) Our HAL arranged transportation from the hotel to port was fine. Checking out of the hotel was awful. It was a Marriot or something like that. Needing a lot of work inside and not worth the money.We left our room an hour prior to the bus leaving and I waited in line that whole time, having to just leave the room keys at the desk due to our bus leaving. There was no line for checking out, with the two hotel workers trying to check-in a bus load of new customers. I recommend you book your own hotel well in advance, and not use HAL. Save yourself the trouble.

Check-in on the Rotterdam was no problem. Our obstructed view room was suitable for 3. The couch bed for the 3rd person, me, was awful to sleep on. Quite hard and a thin "mattress". But i can sleep anywhere and it worked for 20 nights. Read more