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This was our first Holland America cruise and though it wasn't a poor experience, we'll definitely stick with other cruise lines in the near future. We were with a group of about 20 people ranging from teenagers to seniors. The cruise line is definitely focused on an older crowd therefore not too much going on that interested us - in terms of ship activities. The details that Holland America focuses on - fresh flowers, etc - definitely set a different atmosphere. Enjoyable. Just not things that make us go wow! But I'm sure many people appreciate this.
Embarkation was hit and miss. We arranged for the transfer through HAL from the airport to the ship. We waited at the airport for about 40 minutes before our bus arrived. This was a tad bit frustrating. We could have taken a taxi and avoided the wait and with two people the cost would have been equal. Fast forward to debarkation. Outstanding! I love that HAL assigns a time and you're off the ship quickly. Plus there weren't hundreds of people crowding the door to get off. There were a few people lingering but not like our past experiences on other cruise lines. Embarkation, the actual check-in process was great! With the debarkation, we used the express baggage service. Loved putting our luggage out for pick up and then not seeing it until we arrived at our home airport. I was a tiny bit nervous that it wasn't actually on the plane but that's just a sign of my failure to not be in control. Ha ha ha.
Let's see. What next. The food was quite good. Equal if not better than other cruise lines we have been on. The lido deck attendants were constantly offering extra attention - delivering plates to your table or getting drinks. The dining room was great as well. There were a few nights where I wasn't thrilled with the selection and I am far from picky. Maybe I wasn't hungry enough? The Pinnacle grill was outstanding!!! I had the lamb chops, my husband had the ribeye - both amazing. Do make the time and funds available to eat here. Make your reservations early! They are not joking that the restaurant gets booked up. Though somehow they booked us for two different days and three different times. Maybe this is why they were so booked? As a group, we ate in the Italian restaurant on the Lido deck one night. How nice! Probably my second favorite night of eating. You must try the tiramiso trio. I was tempted to sneak up there nightly for dessert. One of my favorite desserts. The lido deck also serves a bread pudding with vanilla sauce. Yummm.
Entertainment. We went to a few shows. I wasn't impressed. Actually I fell asleep. Not the fairest of reviews as we went to 2 shows, I believe.
Now what we throughly enjoyed was the piano bar. The pianist was Diane. Definitely our choice of a nightly hang out. She was great about requests. Plus the bartender that works with her, Ogie, was terrific!!! He even sings along. GREAT time!!!
A couple in our group decided to renew their vows while sailing. This was done very nicely. Everyone was served champagne and appetizers (there is a cost for the couple as well as all guests). Oh and cake! My favorite cake on the ship. The Captain handled the ceremony and it was very nicely done. Especially his toast! I need to take lessons on better toasts.
I'll review the ports in the port review section. Overall we enjoyed our ports. The weather wasn't perfect but it wasn't terrible either. The Hubbard Glacier was amazing. We found a table on the Lido deck and sat there the majority of the time. Then we went outside towards the end of the trip. Perfect as most guests had gone inside. It was chilly! Be sure to check my review on Victoria!
There were two ROUGH days at sea. I've decided this was a combination of two factors. The first being that the ship is quite small. Never have we experienced anything like it. The ship did a great job of trying to help those that were sick. Thankfully neither of us had a problem. You could never that by far the majority of the guests were not doing so well as the ship was like a ghost town. The other thought is that the rough seas were due to the change in seasons. Not sure. But had it have been my very first cruise, I probably would never cruise again!
The last night of the cruise was a little disappointing. I'm sure the cruise line has done their research but the ship was dead on the last night! The piano lounge didn't have a bar open - you had to head over to the Ocean bar. It was apparent that people get to their room a little early on the last night but this isn't quite our style. We were ready to celebrate the last night of our vacation - not get to bed early. We were pretty much forced to call it a night.
Overall we had a good time! Much lazier than our normal vacations. From this aspect, we were very relaxed when we got home!
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