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We were in a veranda stateroom on deck 5, and our cabin steward could not do enough for us. The dining room servers were top notch as well - always calling us by name, knowing what our choices would be, and so on. 

The entertainment, however, was mediocre. The ship's dancers were just OK, and the singers fell flat. The Cruise Director (Kearan) was great but there were, including himself, only 3 on the staff - Arias, the DJ, just came aboard the same day we did, and Samantha, the culinary specialist, was just leaving at the end of our cruise. There was just not much in the way of audience participation in activities - only one evening they had a "Liar's Club" or "Balderdash" type of activity. The dance venues were small, and when the 3 couples from Montreal did their never ending line dancing, there was not enough room to dance. The BB King Blues Band was so loud it was unbearable.

The stage production designer - specifically the lighting - and I have seen this on several cruises of late - apparently thinks having spotlights and strobes shining into the audience creates "ambiance," and I was told this by Margot the program coordinator. The problem with this is that much of the audience cannot see what is happening on the stage. This definitely should be minimized or eliminated.

Good On Services, Poor on Entertainment

We love Holland. It's the most relaxing vacation ever! The crew, the food, the comfortable staterooms.... the feeling that our ship is on top of safety and we will be taken care of. It's all lovely.  The Noordam has the same outstanding crew as the other Holland ships. Our stateroom is always perfect, and the cabin guys check in with us every day to make sure everything is fine.  Food is wonderful. Entertainment used to be kind of dull but now with the BB King Blues lounge it is really fun.  Liquor is fairly priced, and the upscale dining venues are a deal.  We always get a balcony and love seeing the world go by from it...flying fish, whales, dolphins, or just other ships and sunsets.  The only thing I think is kind of a rip off is the price of shore excursions. So we just do our own. Anytime we've had any sort of minor problem Holland was quick to fix it.  Love this cruise line!  Can't wait for our next cruise!

A great ship and a terrific cruise line.

Sailed on 20 March.  First time with Holland America.  Had high expectations, was let down. Ship felt dated. The  ship did not appear to be maintained as a once beautiful ship built in Italy in 2006.   Sound system around the pool cracked and spit many times making it hard to enjoy music. The overhead retractable ceiling  on the Lido deck leaks all over the lounge chairs when it rains.  Pool just plain ugly.  Painting around the outline of the pool white with black smears, not attractive.!  Great crew, worked really hard to help everywhere.  Loved the fruit options in the cabins, the orchids in the Lido buffet.  The fresh flower arrangements  were  beautiful. Cabin staff kept rooms perfect.  Problem with balcony door when wind picked up, whistled like three tea kettles going off at the same time different pitches. This sound was heard repeatedly on many decks as other rooms seemed to have the same problem with door seals. Reported to front desk multiple times and the solution was ear plugs. Don't think so.   Need Plexiglas around outside railings of ship to  keep small one from falling to their death. " Front office" name needs to be changed to Guest Services, reminded me of school days.  Some staff in" front office" need retraining on problem resolution techniques.  Loved the fresh squeezed orange juice included.  First dinning felt rushed and hectic, kitchen could not keep up, making the dinning servers look bad.  Too much paper used for adds daily, switch to digital and put it on the TV.  Great safety presentation, well done.  Deck chairs on Deck three need some attention and a little varnish. Cushions on Deck 3 no longer cushion.  Food was good, but did not impress, except on last night.  It was totally a 10.  Serve food like that nightly and you will always have a full ship.  Entertainment very good.  Beautiful theater.  Do not take the Curacao Trolley Train Tour over priced for what you get and not worth it. The other excursions from the cruise line in Bonaire was one of the best ever.  The ship excursion in Aruba good too.  The comment heard most often on the ship was "Well it's going into dry dock when it gets back"  Most people were commenting on the great need for a facelift.  The food served on the Lido deck at the food buffet outside by the pool  was at deck temperature.  Cold should be cold, and hot, hot.  This was not.!!  Chicken and beef at deck temp. for extended periods is not a good thing.  Crew amazing.  Always so helpful thank you. Would like to see the dinning room open daily for sit down service even if it is only one hour.  It was not.  The afternoon tea was delightful, great idea.  The coupon for 1 hr free hydrotherapy pool was most appreciated while in Port.  Thank you. If you paid the last minute price you would not be disappointed in this cruise, however, if you paid the price from two months earlier, think again. Curacao and Bonaire and Aruba great destinations.  They were so different from the typical Easter/Western run.  Must see. The library area is a nice change from the rest of the ship with books to read, magazines and games, comfortable seating.  The coffee shop in the library area serves good coffee, maybe offer a reward card.  Child care was wonderful, they took great care of the kids and offered a myriad of options.  Confused when in port till 11pm, however child care area closed at 4pm.(unless on a ship excursion) I was told.  No other cruise line shortens the child care available while in port whether you are on a ship excursion or not.  Thank you to Katie and Katy for a great job.

Budget Ship Noordam

This was our first cruise on Holland America. We have been on Celebrity and Princess enough to earn top status. The cabins stewards, waiters and all the crew were excellent. Overall we felt the food was good in both the dining room and the buffet. We had no complaints. Some reviews indicated the entertainment was not up to par but we felt that the entertainment was on a par with other cruise lines. However, as we have recently seen with other cruise lines the performances are just too loud to the point that a couple of times we had to leave as did others. BB King band was a highlight of the Noordam, unfortunately we were unable to stay longer than a few minutes.
Both embarkation and debarkation were handled better that on many other cruise lines we have been on. It was nice that they had both Catholic and Protestant services available.
The library was the best we have ever seen and the internet speed was also the fastest we have ever experienced.
It is time for some refurbishment. Some of the chairs in the Atrium were thread bare however the ship was very clean and well maintained outside of a few areas.
We will look at Holland again for future cruises.

First Time on Holland

We had a lovely relaxing cruise on the Noordam to St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados, Martinique, Antigua (which we missed due to windy weather) St. Thomas and Half Moon Cay.
We are 59 and 64 and were with friends roughly the same age. We were in Balcony cabins 4026 and 4028. Our cabin stewards, Gaga and Musali, were great, our cabin was always made up while we were away and any requests were completed immediately. The balcony dividers were opened so was nice to spend time together enjoying our sea views.
Food was good, I am not picky, I like most anything. I like the new menus as I try to order only a 3 course or sometimes 2 course meal. My husband loves the Caesar salad and always orders double. Personally, I never order it, but to each his own. I enjoyed the fish selections, weiner schnitzel, and vegetables.
Breakfast on the Lido was great. "Yum Yum " Bacon, one of the servers in the bacon and eggs sections, was a hoot! Selection was great, I had omelettes only when there was no line up, which happened three times. Usually there were less than 5 people in line, but I am impatient! No mango this year, missed that.
Lunch at Lido was fun. I had the buttermilk chicken the first day (and only time it is there), it is amazing, melt in your mouth great. Don't miss it by thinking you will be able to try it later in the cruise. Lots of choices-salads, sandwiches, hot entries, pizza, and tried the burgers one day at the pool. Was good, but takes too long for me. I did enjoy the nachos and fruit salsa near the burger joint.
We enjoyed the aft pool and hot tub on sea days. We choose HAL because we aren't interested in rock climbing walls, rinks, etc. We tend to book port intensive cruises so lots of activities aren't needed.
The Noordam was very clean, but as others have said, I missed the "Days of the Week" carpets in the elevators. I really looked for the thread bare carpet, but couldn't find it. Where different carpets met in front of the elevator on deck 2 there was some threads beginning to unravel, but that was being very picky on my part and wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been looking.
We chose Anytime dining. After seeing the lineups to be seated in the early seating, I am glad we did. We usually chose a time between 5:30 and 6:00 pm and didn't have to wait for a table. We enjoyed Dottie's section and asked for him each night. We found we had the best of both worlds, we ate when we wanted and had the same waiter who gave us great and personable service. Was the service slower, some nights, but I think part of it was not ordering 2 appetizers as we have in the past. One little negative comment, is the butter is slabs rather than the rosettes from the past.
We booked three shore excursions with HAL, two were excellent, one disappointing. "Art Around the Island "in St. Maarten-great tour, visiting the homes/gallery of 5 artists. Doris, our guide, was excellent pointing our points of interest and answering questions on our tour. I bought a small piece as a momento of our tour. Our second tour was the Segways on Barbados. Again combined a tour of the island and an one and a half hour tour on the Segways. Great time! St. Thomas tour was very disappointing. Safari bus loaded 5 per row and tour guide going through the motions. Last year we had taken a tour that we picked up at the cruise port, not as crowded and our guide was so proud of his island and our 3 hour tour was over 4 hours, dropped off downtown and picked up later, free of charge.
On St. Lucia, we picked up a tour at the cruise port. Great choice, included a eco tour spot that was very informative and included tasting of fruit, island fare and history.
Entertainment was good. Especially enjoyed the pianist in the theatre, comedian and magician. Spent some time in the piano bar, wish they would make it larger or better configure, bench seating in front of the piano very uncomfortable.
Lovely cruise, would recommend the itinerary and Noordam.

Enjoyable Experience

Embarkation, information about the new Muster Drill requirements, service throughout the ship, food served in the Lido Restaurant as well as the Dining Room, and most of the entertainment available was excellent. Hot soups served in the Dining Room often were steaming and were delicious.
My Wine Steward was Anthony: a more joyfull and knowledgable one I have ever had.
Good Cabin Stewards and an excellent Dining Room team: Rudi and Ari.
Entertainment was mostly good. The BB Kings Group did not have a wider range of music that I have experienced on other ships. On this cruise, the music was LOUD. The cast show Droom is not to be missed. The Adagio Strings duo were excellent and packed the Explorer's Lounge. No entertainment in the Crow's Nest.
Happy Hour was only accommodating early sitting diners. Hot appetizers were not available until after Happy Hour was over. Even then, they had to be requested.
There were so many 4 Star Mariners and above, we 4 Star folk were not invited to functions where we should have been. I do not think that the current ship's management is as guest friendly as it ought to be, particularly compared with my past HAL voyages.
Shore Excursions that I booked were well run and worth the money.
I booked The Master Chef's Table. Well worth while, but, oh, so much food and wine. A good experience, if one is so interested.
This was a b2b, so we had to disembark the ship in Port Port Evergades for about 40 minutes. No place to sit while waiting to re-embark. Silliness in my opinion. Such does not need to be done in European ports. Why could this not be done aboard the vessel if it is really needed?

A Good Cruise, but disappointing in some aspects

I traveled alone for this cruise and it was my first one.  I enjoyed every minute of my time in the Caribbean, so much so that I am traveling with my boyfriend in January on the Koningsdam to the Caribbean.  Looking forward to the new ship and am sure that we won't be disappointed!  I had a balcony cabin and have one booked for this trip as well.  The extra that is does cost is more than worth that bit of privacy that a balcony affords you.  Starting the day off and finishing it at the end of the day is a perfect way to have it.  Enjoy your coffee as the sun comes up!  I enjoyed a zip line ride in San Juan and have never spent Christmas Day like that before!   I won't travel at Christmas again, but leaving right after New Year's Day in January will be a perfect way to start the year off!!  The food was out of this world and every meal was scrumptious!  I also appreciate that Holland America does tend to cater to the older crowd so it is nice to walk about the ship without having to worry about a ton of kids running around.

First time in paradise

We have cruised HAL many times. After this cruise we both noted that service and shipboard life have slipped.
Embarkation was good....lines moved, on board and into our balcony cabin in no time. We had been on the Noordam once before and she is in good shape. Learned that she is going into drydock in February for an update...wish i checked on that prior to booking. But the ship was clean. Things that broke were quickly fixed (dvd player in cabin, shower in cabin).
Our cabin steward was attentive but we noticed that he had a lot of cabins to service....he looked exhausted but very friendly each time we met.
Food on board was good. The variety in the main dining room was OK, wait staff seemed to have many tables and the service suffered. We had "as you wish" dining and as we expected, it took several days for us to get a time and table that was suitable. We like a table for two for many reasons....and after 4 days we selected a good time and were seated with reservations. Service is much better with smaller tables. After our first night at a table for 10 and a 2.5 hr meal we ate in the Lido as the maitre'd said we could not reserve a table for 2 at a specific time. Dinner in the lido has changed ! They close one side at 7:30 and then announce on the other side that at 8 they will also close. Lido was packed the times we ate there ! Lido staff in am and lunch were mixed...50% helpful and 50% not. Lido staff stood in front of beverage dispensers not helping passengers, almost surly when asked to clean tables. A change for us !
HAL has cheaped out with rewarding past mariners...they now have a lunch...which i attended....after 1.5 hrs our table never got food ! They send out RSVPs .... both floors on the dining room were almost full ...one would think they could have planned for the numbers coming ! I left. That was disappointing!
Entertainment was interesting. Same production (usually expected) numbers (different costumes and singers but same frantic dancing and head shaking)....one evening it was passengers in the marriage game, another it was a blues group (they also had a nightly venue on the ship). The comedian was OK but the piano player was fabulous. Both entertainers were on board the entire 11 days, but only performed one night each. Using passengers for main entertainment is a...cheap-out ! IMO.
Daily activities were lame....ex: bird watchers meet, aviators meet, etc really???....no crafts, captains talk, local info (except for shopping). Other topics were sales pitches for the spa etc. The best was the tech time...I took advantage of many classes on Windows 8.1 and they were great ! Only 12 computers in the "lab" and almost each session was full. Perhaps more computers or more interesting sea day activities??
The culinary events were good. The movies selections (during the day showings) were awful ! No one kept track of the quality and in one showing I went to the front desk to complain the sounds was too low ....guess other passengers would just sit there and lip read ! I was thanked when i got back to my seat.
We enjoyed the intense port schedule....hitting 2 we had never been to before...St. Kitts and Martinique. We took 2 ship tours...one snorkel at the private island and a train ride in St. Kitts. Both were good but the organization on shore...awful !
I don't think we will be sailing HAL again.

Noordam Dec 4, 2014

We are a retired couple in our 60’s who took this cruise to escape the wretched winter weather that we were experiencing in the Northeast USA. This was our sixth cruise with Holland and our second on the Noordam.
This was one of Holland’s Collectors Voyages, which is a fancy way of saying that it combined two cruises back-to-back: a 10-night Southern Caribbean cruise with an 11-night Eastern Caribbean cruise for a 21-night cruise that started and ended in Fort Lauderdale.
Some observations:
Itinerary:
This cruise took us to Half Moon Cay (HAL’s private island in the Bahamas), the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Dominican Republic, Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba, Sint Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados, Martinique, Dominica, and St. Thomas.
Half Moon Cay has some of the most stunningly beautiful water we have seen, but the beach was awfully crowded. Those who did one of the excursions (such as snorkeling) probably had a more positive experience than we did.
We took HAL tours at several of the islands and were generally pleased. “Cultural Highlights of Samana” in the Dominican Republic was wonderful – mainly because of a great guide on the bus and a visit to a museum of pre-Columbian culture that included dioramas that traced the heartbreaking history of these indigenous peoples whose lives and culture were destroyed by their European conquerors. “Barbados In-Focus: A Photographic Expedition “ and “Panoramic Martinique” were the most visually stunning. The former is conducted by Ronnie Carrington, who is a native of Barbados and a photographer. It was superb.
Stateroom:
We were in a Neptune Suite, which had lots of storage space, and a bathroom with a tub and separate shower and double sinks. The weather was sunny and warm nearly every day. As a result, we spent lots of time on our veranda, and even took some breakfasts and a lunch there. The staff were unfailingly friendly and eager to please. Kudos especially to Eric, Gabriel, and Charlene in the Neptune Lounge and to our room stewards, Eko and Wayan – they were all exceptionally friendly and helpful.
Dining:
We chose As You Like Dining, and that worked well for us. We took all of our dinners in the Main Dining Room (the Vista) except for one night when we dined at the Pinnacle. We discovered a table that we liked and met another couple at the table next to us whom we also liked. Since we ate at pretty much the same time each night, we were able to get that table throughout the cruise.
Because we were doing two cruises back-to-back, our dining crew changed mid-cruise. But it didn’t seem to make any difference in the service, which was generally speedy and attentive. Deddy, Bagus, Soleh were fun to have as servers, and BJ and Ricardo, our wine stewards were wonderful, as well. They caught on to our routine and preferences very quickly. We also want to thank the Oka and Tri, the two Dining Room hosts: they managed to get us the table we wanted each night, and greeted us by name every time we came in.
As for the food: this is probably the most subjective part of any cruise – as anyone who reads cruise reviews can readily see. What we liked was that the menus had a good mix of choices that ranged from comfort food to gourmet dishes prepared with culinary creativity and imagination. The food is not what a foodie would find in a 5-star restaurant in New York, but it did have flavors and presentations that most foodies would still find interesting. We especially liked the soups – the chilled fruit soups were terrific, and the hot soups benefitted from a full-bodied stock that tasted home-made. While their beef, chicken, pork, and veal dishes were good, many of their fish dishes were exceptional.
Our dinner at the Pinnacle Grill (HAL’s specialty steakhouse restaurant – we had bone-in ribeye and a petite fillet mignon) was, as expected, extremely good. HAL has changed the Pinnacle menu, and it is an improvement over what was already a strong menu. HAL also changed the Canaletto menu. That’s their Italian specialty restaurant. We haven’t eaten there for the last few cruises, but the new menu really didn’t tempt us.
Public Areas:
The ship is kept immaculately clean. In fact, they seem to be constantly cleaning it. One feature I like is that everyone – even those crew members who clean the bannisters or wipe off the tables in the Explorations Café – always greeted us with a warm hello.
The artwork throughout the ship is a delight. As we noted in a previous HAL review, you keep “discovering” things throughout the cruise.
The library (aka “Explorations Café) was well-stocked, as usual.
Entertainment:
The HAL singers and dancers were better than they were on previous cruises. We were disappointed, however, in the Adagio Duo. They still perform in the Explorations Lounge, and there are still chocolates available (though not as good a selection as there used to be) for those who like listening to classical music as they sip a cognac or liqueur. But the group used to be the Adagio Strings, and part of the fun was seeing the personalities and the musical interactions among the four members of the quartet. Now, the quartet has been reduced to a duo (piano and violin), neither of whom seemed to make any effort to connect with the audience. What’s more, their repertoire was limited with works repeatedly played night after night. The last time we were on the Noordam (fall of 2012), they had a quartet from Moldova whose leader was so personable and such a skillful showman that audiences kept growing each night. They even put on special performances in the Queens Lounge. We missed them.
Weather:
The weather was warm and mostly sunny for the entire cruise, and the ocean was as smooth as we have ever seen it. We spent some time at the pool that was in the stern of the ship (adults only), and it was comfortable. We didn’t have a problem finding pool chairs. What a break from the foul weather we have been having this winter in the Northeast!
Cost Cutting and Bean Counting:
Other reviewers of HAL cruises have noted evidence of cost-cutting and penny-pinching, and we, too, saw some of that. The change from Adagio Strings to Adagio Duo is one example of that.
But it was evident in other ways. For years, HAL has had a special promotion for folks who book their next cruise online. That still exists, but in the past it included a guarantee that if at any time before final payment the price of cruise went down, you’d be charged the lower price. Now, they no longer make that promise. The old policy made a strong statement about how much HAL valued its repeat customers; their current policy sounds like something concocted by a bean-counter.
Similarly, on previous cruises each day’s bulletin (I think they call it “Today On Ship”) had a well-done piece on the port we were visiting that day that contained a lot of cultural and historical background, a decent map, and some useful advice. Now, the bulletin is still published daily, but they have left off the information about the ports. It is included, instead, in a booklet called “Explorer,” and while we don’t object to saving paper in this way, there is far less information about each port than we were used to. And what they do include provides precious little in the way of historical or cultural background.
Finally, previous HAL cruises brought interesting speakers on board who lectured on the history and culture of the ports and peoples we were visiting. Since their passengers are mostly retired and well-educated, it is surprising that HAL included none of this on this cruise. That, too, was a disappointment.
General Observations:
That said, the pluses certainly outweighed the minuses.
As other reviewers have noted, HAL is not the kind of cruise line where you go for wild parties and late night adventures (although we are in our 60’s, we still lowered the median age of the passengers). Rather, HAL is what one could call a “civilizing experience.” It will please you if you’re seeking good conversation with retired people who for the most part have lived interesting lives, don’t require entertainment that tries hard to be flashy, and want to experience the relaxation of being on a well-appointed ship with an attentive and cheerful crew.
While Americans dominated the passenger list, we liked the fact that there was a significant number of passengers from foreign countries. Another virtue, at least for cruisers like us, is that the ship does not bombard you with constant announcements and sales pitches (the one exception to the sales pitches is the Spa, but that seems to be a problem that is common everywhere).
We were sorry to see the cruise end. By the way, we took advantage of HAL’s “Luggage Direct” program. For $20 per person, your luggage is picked up at your stateroom, delivered directly to your airline, and you don’t see it again until you arrive at your destination airport. They print out the airline luggage tags and boarding passes for you, and it does make the trip home significantly easier.
About the only drawback is that U.S. Customs insists that if you are participating in the program, you must leave the ship between 7:30 – 8:00 a.m. (They say that’s so that you are available in case your luggage is chosen for inspection.) But the early start also means that the lines at customs are very short. It worked perfectly for us: we left the suitcases outside our stateroom the night before, and we didn’t see them again until we landed at our home airport.
One last note (a fervent wish, actually): while HAL bans smoking in the staterooms and in most public places, it is still allowed on verandas, the casino, and in a section of the aft deck where the adult pool is located. We wish that HAL would go with the times and start banning smoking from the verandas.

21-Day Collectors Voyage to Southern and Eastern Caribbean

Taxi from Riverside hotel was about 10-15 minutes ($20). The Riverside Hotel is in Los Olsos and was a fun place to stay for a couple of days prior to departure. There is many restaurants close by. The room we had was 12th floor new building on the corner with a large wrap around balcony and huge bathroom with jacuzzi tub. On traveling to port the dropping off luggage with porters was immediate/efficeint. Embarkation was efficient. Stateroom available immediately. We arrived about 12 ish.
Room steward introduced himself & his assistant to both DH and I and asked if we needed anything. Our balcony was above the canister life rafts and the cabin 4025 is recessed back on the ship. this means that the cabins that protrude to the right and left that are on higher decks can seeing into your balcony somewhat. I thought this would be an inconvenience but unfortunately what was worse was the continuous smell of cigarette smoke. It made the balcony unusable and a complete waste of money. I wanted to dine on the balcony, but I would of been miserable. The cabin has white pipes below the balcony and you can see the life boats to the right and left. there is no clear view straight down from the balcony. The cabin has a door connected to the room 4027 if needed. the door needed to be locked when we arrived, my DH opened the door on the neighbors. yikes. I will not sail with HAL again due to their smoking policy.
The food was acceptable in the MDR. My favorite dishes were found on Lido (Indian and taco salad bar- I need some flavor). My favorite dessert was in the Lido desk too pineapple upside down cake. In the MDR, I find that the waiters have so many tables and they work so hard to be efficient yet cannot interact much with the guest. They remember your names which is amazing, They remember your after dinner drink, I don't know how they do this.
The ports were interesting. Not many excursions to take that varied from island to island. No scuba diving excursion on island of Curacao-arranged own excursion for scuba.
Arrange own excursion on Dominican Republic and on Bonaire and on Grand Turk.
The cruise as a whole was good and relaxing.

Noordam-Cabin 4025

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