My rating is really based on Holland America Line in general.. This review of Noordam just confirms past experiences. My choice of HAL was based on convenience rather than comfort. All onboard services have degraded to poor. The focus of HAL is generating onboard revenue, not guest quality. Meals in Vista dining room are poorly prepared, I expect due to reduced meal budgets from corporate. Menu has been significantly reduced with few options which were plentiful in past years. The only meal with reasonable quality was in Pinnacle Grill always at increased cost. I object to new tipping policy which is automatically added to folio without prior notification. I recommend always to request modification of gratuity as soon as you board. HAL has gone from tippng not required to virually mandatatory tipping policy. This is how HAL increases revenue at the expense of reduced labor cost by pushing the labor cost to already paid passengers. This is unfair to passengers and service personnel onboard the ships.
Any other cruise line will be better than HAL
nice size cabin, albeit short on amenities.