History: We are a family of four. Our children are ages 8 and 5. This our 3rd cruise with our children. DH and myself have been on a total of 7 cruises together. We have been on NCL, Carnival and Princess. This was our first Holland America cruise.

Embarkation: We arrived around 11:30am, received our number and sat in the waiting area approximately 15 min. The Express check-in line moved at the same pace as the non-express line. Total embarkation process took under 1 hour. Upon entering the Noordam, our key cards were scanned, our children were given child size life jackets, and then we were prompted to a waiting elevator that would take us to the Lido Buffet.

Stateroom: We had an OV Quad (Rm1087) on Main Deck Midship. The accommodations were adequate. The fruit basket and robes were a nice touch. We thought that storage space was adequate as well. The refrigerator was fully stocked with a pay as you consume plan. We opted to have the contents removed as we had our own beverages to fill the refrigerator with. Although our room steward was pleasant, he was unfortunately not as efficient. We typically have a predictable schedule - out of the stateroom by 9am back to change for pool by 10:30am and again around 2pm to prepare for the evening. Our stateroom was seldom cleaned until 2pm and we frequently interrupted our Room Steward during the evening because he seldom had the room finished before 8:30pm. We had first seating and would return to the room to obtain items for our kids to entertain themselves prior to the show. The only irritant with regards to the room was a mysterious noise that occurred almost every evening. We would call the Front Desk to see if they could remedy the situation. Once the calls were made each evening, the noise would stop within an hour or so. Read more