I have been on HAL ships 4 or 5 times before including in family groups but have not sailed with HAL in3 or 4 years. Was surprised at the dramatic decline in quality control in all areas - late night snack buffet menu listing two items not actually available, 3 carvery items in dinner buffet repeated twice in a 1 week cruise, one random chair in dining room without arms when all neighbouring ...
Holland America Line (HAL) prides itself of being a "signature of excellence". That is far from being true in our experience. If I had to grade them, a "C" would be a fair grade.
Certainly, you will find high quality food and an attractive international atmosphere, but there're aspects where HAL needs clear improvements, especially during Summer cruises. If you're travelling with children, ...
So happy to be back on board one of HAL's ships and the newest of the fleet but very quickly disappointment took over. We were allocated our Spa Stateroom which we felt was more like a Best Western Hotel room with a view/balcony. The decor was drab with the most hideous lighting which you could not make intimate or cosy and the carpet was dreadful. It was brown and dirty.
The lack of ...
Having been with Celebrity twice and Royal Caribbean I chose a 7 day cruise with Holland America having been told of their five star standards we didn't particularly get off to a good start as we had an overnight at Barcelona and was left waiting for our shuttle bus (Aero City Shuttle) which was not only late but uncomfortably hot (air-con not working) not any fault of HAL as we booked as a ...
My wife and I were on the July 15 sailing from Barcelona. The pick up from the airport was normal with no issues. After that it was up and down. As stated in other reviews the serving size in the buffet was small, however the staff freely added more when requested. In fact there was one young lady at breakfast that just put extra on after the first couple of days of seeing me.
I was ...
The time we were in ports and excursions,we didn't seem to mind that this ship is small to our liking.But as time went on,specially on the Transatlantic crossing,did we notice that this ship didn't have that wow factor.Code Red was in effect for many of the remaining days that we were on ship.We were afraid to touch anything,and so it was to our utmost surprise,while we were having dinner in the ...
We arrived in Barcelona 3 days earlier as we like to have the opportunity to get a more in-depth perspective of our port of embarkation and to give us the adequate time to rest up prior to the cruise. We stayed in the ME Barcelona a Melia 5* property located in the financial district. I cannot say enough about the staff, service & food quality. I highly recommend signing up for the chain's loyalty ...
We flew over from West Palm Beach to Barcelona and just missed a hurricane enroute. Luckily we got the to board the ship on the first day of 2 days in the port. I really like it when a cruise starts with 2 days in a port to make up for travel problems.
The ship itself is very plain and very basic. Holland is not sparing any money on glitz, but they keep adding cabins to the same size series ...