Very clean, well appointed ship. Dining @Lido and Dining Room was usually top rate. Lots of variety, well presented, variety of options through the cruise. Staff, without exception, were terrific for the whole cruise - friendly, responsive and efficient. Cabin steward was very responsive and helpful - very knowledgeable. On board entertainment - numerous and varied - from magicians to dance, musicals and comedians. Other activities were directed at an older audience - Holland America seems to attract older demographic which is fine but maybe more active types of activities on board would be welcome. Charges of $15 for fitness classes seemed a bit excessive. Gym was outstanding!! Tours were generally very good - well organized and good guides. One tour occurred (Cartagena) in which the guide (limited English) took us to two different stores during a 3 hour shore tour. This ate up at least 45 minutes of our overall tour - was quite insistent, to the point of raising his voice, if we didn't stay in the store and look at the merchandise. He had little historical/cultural knowledge of the city. Read Less

This is our 4th cruise this year. First cruise with HAL. We were in a Neptune suite. I will start with the things that were nice - friendly people, efficient embarkation and disembarkation, the food in the Pinnacle (cost extra) restaurant was good. MY opinions: Food and dining: Overall choices timing and availability of food was poor. Whenever I went to the Lido Market they were closing. The food was not good there when we were able to there on time. The Dive In food was good but the timing of when it was open was horrible. Closed when we wanted a hot dog or burger. Dining room food was poor. Steak tasted like horse meat. Service: Overall service was poor. Everyone was friendly but we only saw our room steward four times. Putting out the "service please" card was useless. We cleaned our own room several times and just called to have dishes removed. Laundry lost a pair of my pants but found them eventually. Coffee maker did not work and after the 2nd day, it was replaced. Bad service. When we ordered room service it was often wrong. Activities: Not much to do IMHO. My wife went to the "Oprah" activities but no one was there. The big problem beyond lack of much to do was the gospel group who "kind of " chartered the boat took over venues and were rude. HAL should actually charter the boat one hundred percent if you have a charter. It was a mess. Amenities: The Neptune lounge is not good. Again, when I was showing up ...they were emptying the desert side not to be refilled.(like my experience at the lido Market). The hours of the Neptune lounge did not work very well. I am comparing it to our last NCL voyage of a few months ago and their Haven lounge. For a comparable cost...the Haven suite beat the Neptune in all areas. Ports and Shore excursions: We visited ports on our own. We did get a taxi in Cabo and had the driver take us shopping and site seeing. I recommend that way of getting around in port. Cabin: The Neptune Suite was just ok. Small compared to other comparable suites I have been in on other lines. I would not recommend Holland America to anyone. Read Less

I cruise on holland america because they are the line that Legendary Blues Cruise charters. I would NEVER pay to go on this line otherwise. This last trip, end of october 2019, was especially bad. The food, especially the desserts and baked goods, were a travesty! While there was occasionally a decent item- flourless choc. cake, the popover rolls on the salad bar, I found most items to range between bad and disgusting. As a pastry chef with experience working in large scale operations (caesars vegas) in addition to small, fine dining establishments, i can tell you there is no excuse for food this bad. The apple pie was like a block of rubber, the choc souffle was accompanied by a sauce of watery cocoa, the cupcakes were frosted with some unknown rubber substance, the cookies were bland and overbaked, the ice cream was the cheapest pre-purchased crap available, the breads, rolls, etc, were flavorless and stale, etc. The hot food in the dining room was okay, but quality has definitely slipped in the last year. The buffet food was mediocre to bad- the pasta tasted exactly like Spaghetti-O's. i paid full price for a veranda cabin at the back of the ship (room 8175) Nice room, but not sure if something is wrong with the engines or what, but the constant vibration make it look like a strobe light when the bedside gooseneck lamp was on. That would have been okay, except every 20-40 seconds, the ship would give a jolt that would physically move me in the bed. I will continue to sail on this line only because of the great music and passengers on the blues cruise, but if you are looking to cruise for pleasure, definitely look elsewhere! Read Less