Wanted a dependably pleasant Caribbean cruise and selected Holland American based on prior good experiences and our multi star status. We’ve been sailing HAL for over 50 years.
The ship is newer, but we found a major change in the HAL experience. It has gone to a lower level of service and overall quality with many extra charges for what has been included in the past. For example, if one ...
We had done over 20 Cruises on Princess and wanted to try Holland America for their food.
The food in the main dining room was quite good. It excelled in 2 of the speciality restaurants. Our major complaint about the cruise that could be easily corrected was that in several bar venues and the Crow’s nest, jars of peanuts were served. My wife has a severe potentially life threatening peanut ...
We chose this cruise because it visited San Juan and we had not been there before.
The food in the dining room was very good. We had anytime dining, but never had to wait for a table.
Contrary to what other reviewers have said, we never had a problem ordering a drink. There were always waiters by the pool and even in the show room.
We had room service for breakfast several times and it ...
I just got off the Nieuw Statentdam (aka Hospice of the seas). I've been on dozens of cruises, and this was by far the worst.
The ship had far fewer common areas than any other ship I've been on. It's not an old ship, so why was it designed so poorly? I don't need water slides and go-carts, but at least a few places to sit. They shoved in as many cabins as they could with little thought to ...
Launched in 2018 but dry docked during the Pandemic, the Nieuw Statendam boasts beautiful lines and well designed public spaces. I was told that this 10-night holiday cruise was the most full the ship has been since 2020, and the ship was understaffed. Neverthless, the crew did a great job trying to satisfy demanding passengers. Service was slow in the main dining room, and at times one had to ...
We needed a winter getaway, that fit our time frame.
Service in dining room was off for the first 3 days, then they seemed to find a rhythm.
You need to request butter and jam with your toast, you need to request artificial sugar.
They used to come around with tray of danish for breakfast, you have to ask for it now.
The pinnacle dining experience on day 7 was so slow, and the food ...
This cruise was a disaster from start to finish…but the worst part of it was the food and the rude waitstaff/bartenders….I was genuinely shocked at how horrible the food was- at least 75% of what we got was inedible…baked goods were dry and tasteless and the items that should’ve been hot were consistently COLD ….i even saw flies on the baked goods…rotten fruit etc…I actually ended up losing ...
We have 145 nights sailing on HAL but this cruise line has changed a lot and this will be our last cruise on them. First the PROS: the food is still very good; staff works hard to take care of the passengers; balcony cabins were adequate; embarking and disembarking went smoothly; our wine package was good; room service was very good THE CONS: the staff overall seems understaffed & overworked; ...
Chose this cruise for the itinerary. Good combination of port stops and days at sea. First night started out rough in the dining room. Table for two basically on top of another table for two. Waited almost 15 minutes before the waiter acknowledged us and finally took a drink order. Waiter delivered wrong apps, wrong meal and the wrong dessert. Food on first night was ehhhh. Stay away form ...
This was our first cruise on HAL. We had always understood HAL to be a superior line for service and food, although otherwise quite low key when compared to the other popular lines. To say we were disappointed would be an understatement.
Embarkation in Ft. Lauderdale was quick and efficient with no long lines and waits. It was odd that we were informed that the boarding passes we printed at ...