I have been on one previous Alaska cruise (a different cruise line) and one previous HAL cruise, on the Veendam. The Oosterdam seemed like a training ship for staff and crew not ready to actually serve clients.

My experience with the bad HAL website put me on notice to be sure to verify, verify, every arrangement. My friends and I booked spa appointments and excursions on line, as HAL encourages its passengers to do, but the repeated requirements to log in, log in again, and inability to toggle from one page to another, was silly. When I spoke to HAL representatives on the telephone, asking my specific questions, I seemed to stymie the telephone agents every time. They put me on hold, they’d inquire, and their answers seemed tentative and unreliable. I’d call back again the next day, go through the same routine, and sometimes was given different answers.

Back to the Oosterdam: The hard sell on everything from wine to spa appointment was obvious and annoying.Our so-called wine steward at dinner, was there to sell, not to advise. She had no expertise on wines other than what the packages cost. She overfilled our wine glasses too much and too frequently, even when we asked her not to, obviously so that she could sell more wine. In the pool area, within five minutes at least 3 waiters would come by and interrupt, asking if we wanted to order more drinks (our glasses were still almost full). This was not being attentive; this was relentless selling. Read more