Embarkation- The embarkation in New York was very smooth. The previous cruise got in late to New York due to bad weather and we still were able to board before 1:00.

Overall Experience- I am writing the review as a warning to others with children thinking of booking a Holland America Cruise - I would seriously reconsider. We were booked on a Easter Holiday cruise, where 450 kids were expected on board. The kids club was less then adequate for this number. They have a policy that children over 8 must be allowed to sign themselves out or they must be with the 5 -7 year olds. This allows for children to roam all over the ship while their parents think they are at the kids club. The ship was completely out of control, especially for the several at sea days. Our cruise experienced vandalism, fire alarms being pulled and general misbehavior of kids everywhere. My son is 11 and has been on 8 cruises and would not go to the kids club, due to the age inappropriate activities. They group ages 8-12 together and the activities are geared for 8 year olds. Families were thrown off the ship at ports after kids were caught misbehaving. The balance of the guests were seniors who have no patience for kids and were annoyed that they were on the ship. This causes additional issues. They sit and complain about the children everywhere and you feel very unwelcome. Our cruise also experienced 1 senior who needed to be helicoptered off the ship. This delayed up by 8 hours and caused us to miss the first port. They of course needed to do this, but they did not compensate in any way for this to the other passengers. We were given 1 hour extra in St Thomas, but all this did was delay us the next day and cause further problems.

Dining- The food was good, but the service was horrible. We were shocked since we expected service similar to Celebrity, but it would barely match a Carnival experience. Waiters were not friendly, helpful or attentive. This could be the result of the overbooking, but certainly not an excuse. They did not make us feel welcome or go out of the way ever. Pinnacle Grill was ok, we went twice. Menu is a bit odd. Filet is good, Rib Steak is terrible and had to be sent back. Service was very good. Dress code was not enforced this week for some reason and shorts were allowed at dinner and lunch. You could tell the staff just did not care anymore since this trip was a disaster. Read more