We were looking forward to our first cruise with Holland America. We sailed on the Noordam in January of 2010. Although not the fault of the cruise line, the weather was quite cool for the first few days, and our stop at Half Moon Cay was not as enjoyable as it could have been. Very rough seas the day we stopped there.

The cleanliness of the ship was terrible! The carpets were stained, especially in the elevator areas. Again, no fault of the cruise line, but we had the Norwalk virus while we were onboard. We were in 'code red' for 9 of the 10 days. Also, I've never encountered things on a ship like I did on this one...someone vomited in the sink in a public washroom and I believe that was the start of the Norwalk virus. I was sick by that evening - not pleasant. They did do reat job of containing spread of the illness. The other thing I could not believe was some older woman washing her underwear in the public washroom beside the pool, especially since the Norwalk virus was on board. Unreal!

Overall, the food was substandard for any cruise line I've been on - the room attendants were adequate, but again, not what we were used to. They allowed smoking practically anywhere on the ship, which is not pleasant for non-smokers with no way to get away from it. The entertainment left much to be desired. Read more