There were no outstanding anything on this cruise, as a matter of fact, we have decided to avoid cruising with RCI in the future. Starting with embarkation when we arrived on assigned time and were standing in line for over an hour; getting to the room which was dirty, had no tv remote, no ice, no glasses, no menus, no toiletries, and was never vacuumed or cleaned properly. It took asking multiple times to get anything from the room attendant and the beds were only made twice in 4 days, she could not accommodate the times when we were out of the room to clean it, it has not been vacuumed in 4 days, we finally got glasses on day 3, and bed was terrible, the mattress was lumpy with a deep in the middle, balcony was dirty. The service was very lacking in every public area, except for drinks, you were asked multiple times if you want to purchase drinks. The food was mediocre, tasteless, limited selection in the MDR; there was no service whatsoever in Windjammer, one time during the four days one person asked if we wanted something to drink, the rest of the time we were completely ignored. All entertainment options were for sale only, free entertainment included DJ on promenade, 70th disco, Caribbean and Latin band, Grease musical, and few stand up comedians, disco floor was jammed packed, there was no standing room there, shops were half empty, lines everywhere, people everywhere, kids were everywhere, no room on pool decks. and at the end the total disaster of the disembarkation that took over an hour and a half standing in line just to get off the ship. Read Less

Wonderful ship that can handle the 1300 passengers well. Food was super and service staff is great. Ship is a little tired but well cared for. Only has one swimming pool that is quite small. Theatre is intimate and works for this ship. We were hoping for some test kitchen shows but apparently they are not doing those anymore. We booked guaranteed large inside cabin and got a dinky 130sf “spa inside” which was without doubt the worst cabin we have ever had. Front desk did not give two stumps about it. To add insult the cabin did not cool well so it was like sleeping in an easy bake oven each night. Again the front desk had no solution. We are unlikely to sail with HAL again soon. Highlight of the cruise was the pace and food. We especially enjoyed Half Moon Cay. It was a a beautiful day! Read Less

We renewed our vows...so touching. Regal Princess and two other Princess ships broke the Guinness Book of World Records on Feb 11, 2020. Loved the Cruise Director, Gary Golding. Special Valentine desserts were amazing. Loved our bed, our shower...had an inside room..very comfortable. We received perfect customer service from all crew members. The Regal Princess has it all. Never felt crowded anywhere. Pool was fun. I LOVED Movies Under the Stars...Fabulous. Pizza was delicious. Food in general was delicious. Medallion worked great. Embarkation and disembarkation went perfectly. All the shows were terrific. Very professional and loved the costumes. You would really have to go some to beat the Regal Princess..it is the perfect size ship. Cabin was always clean. Ship was immaculate. Loved the casino and shopping. Photographers did a super job..I love our pictures. Many people on our cruise were booking their next cruise on Princess while we were there. Loved very single minute. The only thing we would have liked better would have been a different itinerary. We had already been to Cayman Islands and Cozumel. We chose this cruise because of the vow renewal ceremony. Did not care for Ocho Rios. THANKS PRINCESS CRUISES. Read Less

This was a 6 night cruise which sailed from Ft. Lauderdale to half moon cay, Grand Turk and Amber Cove. This was our first carnival cruise only sailing with Norwegian previously. To start the first views of the ship from the outside compared to the others at the port was somewhat disappointing. It was absolutely the worst appearing cruise ship out of the other 4. Large amounts of rust was noted throughout the ship and below anchor. It did not have much of a wow factor. Cabin: We had a balcony room on the 9th floor. The room was nice, beds slept great. I appreciated the bathroom seemed a little larger than a previous cruise I had been on. I requested a fan and one was delivered to the room the first evening. Our stateroom steward was great. Overall we really enjoyed our cabin. Food & Drinks: Overall the food was great. The downside however pretty much any place you went had long lines. I had sailed on a Norwegian cruise before and enjoyed the several sit down dining options that came with your fare. I was unaware that carnival mainly has walk up dining. With the only sit down dining being the main dining rooms (2) I was really excited to eat at the Mongolian Wok thinking it was a sit down restaurant to only find it was a walk up place. Guys burger, guys pig and anchor, blue iguanna cantina, and the main dining rooms all had really great food. I however wasn't too impressed with the Lido marketplace. Food was bland and wasn't very many options compared to the buffet of a Norwegian cruise. We purchased the soda package but found it hard to get our moneys worth as you had to wait in the bar lines to get soda since there weren't any drink options at the walk up food places. So you would end up waiting in 2 separate lines for food and drinks. I also was somewhat surprised that our prepaid gratuities didn't go towards alcohol purchases. Ship Fun: The ship has 2 very very small pools under 5 feet deep. For a ship with a capacity of 3690 guests it was just inadequate. There are around 6-8 hot tubs throughout the ship which you could usually get space in. Numerous sun chairs throughout ship but it still was hard to find 2 together due to the amount of people the ship can hold. The 2 water slides, ropes course, and serenity deck (adults only) stayed closed for 4 out of 6 days of our cruise due to high winds. We finally made it up to the serenity deck on the last sea day of our cruise. It was a very nice change from the hustle and bustle of the Lido deck. Theres also a bar with little wait time. Movie night was probably our most favorite ship activity. We ended watching 3 movies on the lido deck. Good movie choices and they will provide you with blankets to use. Ports: 1. Half moon cay: was absolutely beautiful No dock, must water shuttle over. Water was crystal clear, white sand beach. Plenty of chairs and floating mats. Would recommend to anyone who is able to walk furthest down the beach you can and it will be much less crowded than where you get on the island. The island BBQ is free and the food provided was decent. We would absolutely go back to this port. 2. Grand Turk: Again crystal clear waters. There was another ship at dock when we arrived and between the two ships the cruise port was extremely crowded. Chairs are stacked one ontop of the other. The chairs and umbrellas are supposed to be free but locals will harass you to pay for them. We became frustrated and took our beach stuff back to the ship and opted to do a island tour instead. The island tour was 25 bucks a person and lasted about 90 mins. We enjoyed it. Went to a small market near the ocean and the island lighthouse. It was much slower pace and relaxed than the port. I will not visit this port again due to the crowded beach. 3. Amber cove: waters are not clear. There is no beach that we could find but has a very large pool. We purchases a shore excursion which took us 20 minutes up the mountain and we zip lined and rode horses. The zip lining was amazing, I believe it was 7 different ziplines with the last one being the longest in the Dominican Republic. The staff was very friendly and we had a blast. The horseback riding was fun as well. Most of us in the group was first time riders and all of the horses are extremely well behaved. Dominican Republic has a very jungle/ jurassic park feel. It was amazing and we would love to go back. Overall the ship is in much need of a renovation. The carpet is outdated, some hallways smell bad. Theres rust everywhere on the outside of the ship. Theres also rust lines on the big TV screen above the lido deck. The lights along the railings are unsightly with wires visible wires running the railings. I would think they could do something better to hide them or put decorative covers over the lights. This and the lines/crowdedness of the ship is the main reason I gave this cruise a lower score. Read Less

We chose this particular ship on this particular date as extended family were going and asked us to join them. We had a great time overall and are glad we went. Embarkation was seamless and speedy, we arrived at our chosen time, flew through the process, and we were in our cabin in less than 30 minutes of drop off. Dining was a pleasure even at the busiest times at the Oceanview Cafe, which was exceptionally good for a buffet. Loved Fine Cut and their ribeye and Dover Sole. Since it wasn’t a specific school vacation time we had a decidedly older population on the ship with maybe 10% of passengers using a cane, walker, wheelchair, or scooter, which made it a little tight in narrow hallways. My only negative is our cabin: while perfectly located it’s banging, clanging, and cracking noises marred our sleep. Most likely the cabin is on a construction seam and the blowing wind and waves caused the ship to rock unevenly. I did not complain as I didn’t want to change cabins. Read Less

First and foremost let me say that Carnival has a automatic 18% tipping system built in that you can dispute at guest services but is very hard to do. Here is the issue I have with it. I may be traditional but in my book tips are earned for starters and they belong to the employee who earned them. The next problem I have with the Carnival tip program is that a large part of it goes into a fund to pay for employee medical costs and other things like flights home etc... Thus the employee is maybe getting 10% of that 18% at best. The problem is that the average crew member earns ~$16,500 per year and the CEO earns ~$13.6M per year and you want the passengers tips to cover your employee medical costs!? Really! How about we reduce the CEO pay and put that towards the crew medical benefits? Carnival should be ashamed of themselves for paying such low wages and then pushing medical costs off onto the tips these hard workers earned. Where's my 1099 or receipt for my taxes if my tips are paying your medical benefits? I would rather pay more for a booking and tip in cash for better service and for the employees to have much better working conditions. The reason Carnival is "cheapest" with bookings is because they use cheap labor and earned a revenue of $20.8B in 2019. Let that sink in for a minute folks. RCI and NC pay on average $20,000 per employee (still not the world) and their CEOs earn less and they are still able to earn a nice profit. Why can't Carnival treat the employees better and not use passenger tips to offset employer costs? Frankly it's disgusting and amounts to slave labor if you ask me. Carnival is clearly going the way of airlines in so far as service and fees.Ok now let's get to the cruise. 1. We booked the “Island Hop” excursion in Grand Turk and the description states “Take this opportunity of a lifetime to explore three of the 23 islands that make up the Turks and Caicos Islands. We did NOT go to three or even two islands for that matter rather we went to ONE island only and stayed there for about 45 minutes. We spent 30 minutes snorkeling and we certainly did not relax on a “snowy white beach” dining on delicious foods and an included open Caribbean Bar. These are direct quotes from Carnival website regarding the excursion at $114.99 per person. Frankly the sub-contractor is ripping Carnival and the passengers off as the items advertised were NOT included nor did they ever take place. We paid $230 and basically felt that we had $230 stolen from us. 2. Our stateroom was dirty (we have photos). We immediately brought this to the crew’s attention and the reaction was “oh yeah it’s dirty” and we are “sorry”, but we just didn’t have time to clean but we will clean it when you are out of the room. They did spend 2 hours cleaning the room, but it never should have gotten to this point in the first place. 3. Steakhouse. Ruined our steaks twice because they didn’t know how to make a medium filet (have pictures) then the server and the chef start arguing with each other within ear shot of us on how to cook a medium steak to the point were I just asked if I needed to cook my own food?! The manager only charged us for one meal to their credit and provided a special desert. 4. Main dining room on 2/13/20. Hostess began to argue and raise her voice at us over a misunderstanding regarding the reservation and flat out stated “go eat somewhere else on the ship!” At this point a manager heard the commotion and stepped in to take charge and to his credit he got us a table for 6 and tried his best to make it up to us to. Kudos to him but it never should have happened in the first place either. If one of us would have had our phone with us it would have gone viral within minutes of us recording the crew members behavior. 5. Room service. We were given a muffin filled with raw bacon (have picture). 6. Then lastly, didn’t impact us directly but we were right behind the problem and cleaned it up for you as we were disembarking. Your crew did not know how to help a disabled person off the gangway with their wheelchair. My wife is a special education teacher with extensive training in this field and she stepped in to help the gentlemen and your crew. This should never happen – can you imagine if this was emergency evacuation? People would have panicked and trampled the passenger to death. We were speechless on how the situation was handled. On the positive side. This was our third cruise with Carnival, and we have our 4th one booked on the Breeze this summer but we are thinking about canceling due to this experience. We did enjoy Simone the cruise entertainment director (had him on the Dream and he is great). The majority of crew are always polite and work super hard to make it a fun and pleasant experience. The ship itself is overall a very nice vessel and except for the above we enjoyed ourselves and they could clean up the rust a bit better. The embarkation and debarkation were quick and smooth for us. The entertainment was very good, and the dance supervisor Simon was great and very friendly. The Cucina Del Capitano was great and the service was wonderful! Overall I would barely rate the Magic a 3 star experience and we tried to stay positive and make the best of it. Once of the ship at ports of call we went on land and enjoyed the local sights and had fun on our own. The people in these countries are just wonderful and they want you to visit and help them improve their economies and enjoy the culture. Side note - For some reason I can't get the photos to attach to this review. Read Less

The Southern Caribbean itinerary was very attractive, but we should have done more research on the ship, which was launched in 2006 and badly needs a complete overhaul and refurbishing. The engines are seriously in need of repair, as other reviewers have noted. The engines' poor performance slowed the ship so that one scheduled stop was cancelled, and we have been late in arriving at others, although the Captain prevaricates by repeatedly blaming the problems on the high winds and choppy seas, which really aren't bad at all. The water on our deck was shut off for 150 minutes one afternoon "due to urgent maintenance" that we were told about in a notice put in our stateroom the night before. The cabins are filthy in places (mold in the shower, soiled headboards above bed, stained sheets, etc.), and white paint splatters or bird poop cover both balcony chairs. We have taken more than 20 cruises and have sailed on Princess more than five times since 1996, but this is our worst cruise ever in terms of food and service. Many servers in the buffet are rude and unhelpful, cutting in front of passengers and saying nothing. Others working on the ship show very little concern for passengers and have no common courtesy. They need to be fired or retrained. For example, roughly one hundred passengers were kept standing outside the ship for 5-7 minutes in a sudden rainstorm as the crew blocked the entrance and fumbled around, doing nothing that we could observe before letting us board the ship and offering absolutely no apologies or excuses. The coin changer in the laundry room was out of order, forcing us to go to the Customer Service Desk, where some working there are ill-informed and have acted as if they didn't want to be disturbed. Read Less

The itinerary, 10 days southern Caribbean, but we had to skip one port of call, because of the generator the ship couldn't go full speed and two other port of calls the times where shortened. All in all it was a nice cruise, friendly staff, good food, the entertainment had a lot to be desired. The cruise Director was great. the pizza and ice cream were good. We were always able to find chairs at the pool. We really enjoyed the movies under the stars, except they played too many children movies and I bet there were 20 kids on the entire ship. We stopped at Curacco Bonaire Dominica Saint Thomas, Turks n Caicos all nice ports of call. Embarkation was easy, we just walked on. Getting off and going thru customs was a nightmare huge lines. The medallion was good, except ordering drinks it always said not available. We always enjoy the Caribbean but will cruise on a newer ship. Read Less

After cruising with many companies we have chosen Princess the last 4 times. Actually the Regal Princess the last two times. Embarking and Disembarking is seamless. Very impressed how they move so many people. On board you are treated like royalty. If you ever have a problem is is solved ASAP. We chose the Mini Suite Balcony this time over our regular choice of a balcony stateroom. For the little extra cost you have allot more comforts. don't miss making reservations at the Crown Grill. Service and atmosphere is perfect for a romantic evening. The food is to top shelf. Order the filet mignon or the Rib eye steak cooked medium. You can thank me later. We always request "Voice-law" as our waiter but all the waters are superb. Entertainment is always ( I mean always ) great. Best I have seen on any ship. Excursions for snorkeling are the only thing I can comment on, and they are always well run. Ask around however; we have found great snorkeling by word of mouth and going on our own, with a taxi. It is risky because the ship will leave without you. The spacious fitness area has all the latest equipment plus free weights.They just didn't plop a treadmill & bike in a spare room. Only thing they could possibly add to this complete gym would be an endless pool. Lastly my secret Tip. The room steward's on the ship are always great. Tip them well. When I start a cruise, I tip my room steward generously. Again; thank me later. Don't forget a couples message. When your wife feels pampered all week ( happy wife is a happy life ) Read Less

We were booked on a 14 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Caribbean Princess Feb 2, looking forward to a relaxing holiday visiting places we have never been to before. We flew to Fort Lauderdale from Victoria BC via Toronto. Due to an accident beneath the aircraft after the doors had been closed, we sat on the runway for 4 hours. As a result we arrived in Fort Lauderdale over an hour after the ship was to sail. There was said to be 130 cruisers booked on 4 different cruise ships on that flight, the same day as the Super Bowl in nearby Miami. Thank God we booked through EZAIR. As we banked to land in Fort Lauderdale a groan went up on the plane as we could see two Holland American ships had already put to sea and another Princess ship was gone. Only one ship stayed to get their passengers, the Caribbean Princess. What a relief as there was literally nowhere for passengers that were left behind (117) to stay in the area due to the super bowl. Exhausted we were quickly run through the safety briefing and off to eat and sleep. On the 4th day of the cruise my wife and more than a hundred others came down with the flu, later proven to be Norovirus. Ultimately the Captain reported there were over 300 sick and less than 20 crew. This was a bad one for her, violent vomiting and diarrhea. We were confined to quarters for 24 hours and the medical staff provided medicine and finally a shot that settled her down. Cost were minimal and there was no service fee for the medic to visit her in the cabin. At that point the ship invoked procedures that included crew serving of food, enforced hand washing at eating venues and sanitizing everywhere else along with constant disinfecting of surfaces throughout the ship. It was all hands on deck for the crew who when not doing their primary jobs were cleaning and serving. I even saw the performers cleaning and disinfecting bannisters, elevators surfaces etc. However the illness continued to spread and some people who were supposed to be quarantined were found in the eating areas and escorted out to the disgust of others. Oddly there were far fewer sick crew according to the Captain's regular updates. As for the cruise part, we visited St Maarten and St Thomas, were refused entry in St Kitts, got into Martinique and that was the last port we visited. We missed Barbados, Trinidad, Bonair and Aruba. On day 7 the Capain informed us that we were turning for home and would arrive 3 days early. Initially we were told the company would refund half the cruise cost, excluding taxes. Later we were told in addition to the refund the company would give us a credit equal to the other half of the cruise towards a future cruise that had to be completed within a year. Anecdotally I heard that people who changed their flight plans would be compensated for additional costs. We decided to stay and the company provided accommodation and transportation to a hotel. We ended up in the WR Marriot resort which was very close to 5 star accommodation. IMO this was very generous. I would have taken much less than this considering we were onboard for 10 of 14 days. All that aside (and it is a lot) we really enjoyed the ship. We love the Medallion system which made life easier in a lot of ways. Unfortunately the medallion system does not like really old phones and not every function worked well on my iphone 5s. The entertainment was the best I have seen at sea. Creative performances with lots of high tech included. The ship was full and their were small lineups often but no really long waits for anything, especially the elevators which were really fast and responsive. The cruise days were relaxing (funny how when it is a scheduled cruise day it is fine but when it is a forced cruise day you have a different outlook). We had an inside cabin, as usual, and were satisfied with the arrangement and the surprisingly big TV. Our cabin steward, Rodney, was outstanding and very flexible, especially when DW was sick. The crew worked tirelessly and I mean that literally. Most of them were pulling double shifts by this time. Their attitude was much more positive than the guests. Talking to a server I mentioned that they might get a day off in Fort Lauderdale he replied they would be disinfecting the ship top to bottom and probably not get ashore at all. In summary I tried to hate the cruise but in retrospect found much of it relaxing and enjoyable. The addition of another almost free cruise in the fall makes it more tolerable. The ship did not cause the illnesses and did everything possible to combat the illness and try to prevent its spread IMO. I will definitely cruise on Princess again. Read Less

From start to finish, this cruise was so much fun! Check-in was a breeze. Our luggage was delivered quickly. We went right to dinner. There was top-notch entertainment every night. If you were bored, it was your own fault. There is so much to do in this ship. The Crown Grill steakhouse was fabulous. The filet mignon, New York Strip steaks and Porterhouse steaks were the best we've ever had. All the food was delicious everywhere on the ship. The staff was super friendly and aimed to please. The entertainment was terrific! There are different shows every night of Broadway quality. The comedian was hysterical and gave a clean show. I had to buy his DVD. Lotus Spa and and it's Enclave were phenomenal. We had so much fun! I wish we could have stayed another week. They couldn't do enough to make us happy. I can't wait to cruise with Princess again. Read Less

To be honest we cruised princess once before and we’re not impressed. We only came a second time as it fit our plans and it really was just a rejuvenation week. First the good. Cabin was perfect (super comfy bed). The entertainment in the atrium in the last night was a special treat and made that last night memorable (unlike many cruises where they are not so). Food was decent, bar staff not the same friendly faces like on The other mainstream lines. Activities were old. Entertainment was not to the standards of the other lines. The embarkation however was one of the best we have done. If you want to see the show you have to arrive 45 mins early for a 45 min show to get a seat. For a headliner try an hour. Don’t try to use your soda package on princess cay. The ship is beautiful and elegant (not garish). In reality my wife and I would go again if it was less $ than others but couldn’t recommend it to friends. Read Less

Princess puts on one HELL of a show for an entire week. We cruised the Regal Princess, had 3 stops to Princess Cays, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Everything was top quality, from the service to the food (so much to eat!!) to the entertainment. The balcony stateroom was very clean, and the room attendant cleaned it twice a day. The Medallion is a great part of the cruise, no cash or credit card needed, makes checking in/out such a simple process, and even opens your cabin door (no key card needed). I would recommend to anyone who is looking to be pampered for a week, no worries about anything, and enjoy a huge selection of events throughout the week, from morning to late night. Watching full length movies at night "under the stars" on the theater-sized screen on the top deck was a delightful experience. The Staff (from the stateroom attendant to the waiters in dining room) is fantastic, always pleasant and making sure we were always comfortable and taken care of. If you get a chance to sail with Princess, I give it 2 HUGE thumbs up! The Regal is more of an older-crowd (seniors/retirees) and we are in our 40's, but didn't make a difference. We still met some younger and older couples and had a great time! Read Less

We chose this cruise for the value of the balcony cabin. It met and exceeded our expectations in every way! The food was amazing as was the service. Our steward was friendly, remembered our names and kept the cabin impeccably clean. The balcony made the room seem larger and was perfect for having our coffee in the mornings or cocktail in the evenings. The bed was very comfortable and there was more storage than other cruise ships we've been on. We had one issue with an excursion and reported it to the desk. We got apologies and a full refund! A very nice surprise indeed!! The entertainment was extraordinary! We looked forward to the next show each day. It was always a packed house! All of the wait staff was impeccable. The bartenders went above and beyond. The Ocean Now on the app was very useful. It was very nice to be able to sit where we were most comfortable to play cards and have cocktails delivered to us. I highly recommend Princess Cruises (The Love Boat) to anyone. We already have our next cruise booked on Princess and can't wait! Read Less

We chose this ship because it worked w/the time and places we wanted to go/visit. We’ve been on 10 cruises together/12 each. This has got to be my favorite one. Between the airports/airlines, port, ship, etc, we had a seamless trip. The crew was amazing, the excursions, everything. Monoj & Dion were such good waiters that we requested them every night. The funny thing is, that we weren’t the only ones. One night we waited 30+ minutes, voluntarily, to have a table w/them. We went to St Thomas, San Juan, PR, and CocoCay. They were all fabulous, but CocoCay was outstanding!!! Well worth it. In St. Thomas, we went to Magen’s Bay. We previously went in 2012. The beach was gorgeous, there were plenty of places for shade, even when it’s really busy. The food was well worth the money, and was a great deal too. I did not care for the workers in the gift shop there though. The workers followed me around so much that they were handing me things. The inventory was extremely overpriced. When I went to buy a postcard, the employees wouldn’t even look at me. I will never go in there again. When we stopped in San Juan, we didn’t take an excursion, but that’s because we’ve there many times before. Don Tako and Starbucks are great stops. Make sure you stop by the fort, it’s beautiful. CocoCay was phenomenal. I could probably spend days on the island and still want to go back. There are many things to do that don’t require spending more money. The complimentary grills have great food, but I did suggest to RCI that they include shredded cheese. I love that you don’t have to take excursions to have a good time, but that they have great choices if you do decide to take one. I felt very safe the whole time. Love RCI!! Make sure to complete your survey that’s emailed to you after your cruise. It’s vital to the cruise line. Read Less

We booked a Costco Kirkland Signature Culinary cruise on the Celebrity Edge. We booked in a year in advance after hearing about how wonderful the Edge was. The ship did not disappoint. Our cabin, with the innovative, balcony was the best cabin we have ever had (17 cruises total) and the bathroom was also the best/biggest. We loved the Infinite Balcony! The glass could go down; you could close it and still have a full floor to ceiling view; you could sit on balcony and watch tv; you could close window and pull shade down making it darker for sleeping; or you could close the opaque french doors...so many options and it will be tough to go back to a regular balcony on next cruise. Suggestion: check to ensure your mini-bar is correct when you board, our's was not. The bedding was so very comfortable! Try to get a cabin with the bed near the balcony. Side note, I think the Edge would be ideal for Alaska sailings. We were celebrating our anniversary and received a nice sign on the door and a heart shape and rose petals on our bed. Our steward, Mary, was outstanding! As usual, the service on Celebrity was top notch; no complaints or suggestions for improvement. The dining in the 4 main dining rooms was very good. However, the meals did not seem as good as when I sailed on Celebrity before, 6 years ago. They were able to accommodate my wife's dairy food allergy, but this is the first cruise that we have been on where there isn't a primary person assigned to take care of her meal orders and this was disappointing, but it was handled OK. We did not try the specialty restaurants that they push daily, because of the $55 pp cost. I was happy to see that they enforced the dress code and saw a guy turned away from b'fest in the MDR for wearing a tank top. The entertainment in the Theater was hit or miss....loved Vox Fortura and Hype, not impressed with Colours or Kalidescope (sp?) and the comedian was good. Live entertainment around the ship was good, but wished there were more and more at the Rooftop Garden area. The entertainment at Eden was just a waste of time. One night we waited 30 minutes for the acrobatic show, only to be told at 7:30pm that they had to cancel it because the ship was moving too much - - nice that they made us wait 30 minutes and then it was too late to get a seat in theater. ugh. Even though there are only 6 bars on board do not miss the nighly 'show' by the bartenders at the Martini bar!!! Speaking of drinks, the prem drink pkg allowed me to have Buffalo Trace, Woodford, and McCallum and my wife, Gray Goose. However, otherwise, they could improve on their selections of booze, especially rums. The Old Fashion from Eden was worst Old fashion I ever had. haha Boarding the ship took about 10 mins from curb to setting foot on the ship and we carried off our luggage at 7:30I This isn't a cruise for children IMHO, we saw maybe 10 kids on board. there were very few minorities but it seemed popular with LBQTQ. There were a lot of international cruisers. Love the gym being open 24 hrs. There is a very nice jogging/walking trail but guests use it for whatever and you have to dodge and avoid them. the jogging trail goes thru deck 16. One time while running on the trail, we had to dodge the cruise director as he was holding a dance class IN THE JOGGING LANE! The port I most wanted to visit was Costa Maya and we had to skip it because the wind wouldn't allow the ship to be docked safely. Shopping: too many high-end stores and the on-board duty free liquor shop was a joke. We visited with the Next Cruise staff and was unimpressed with what they offered and pretty much with the Next Cruise program. It is no where as good as NCL's program. Overall, loved the ship. However, this didn't crack my top 5 cruises ever (out of 17). Read Less

We chose this cruise because Holland American offered us an amazing, discounted price. The Veendam was by far the smallest ship we have been on so far, but because we have sailed Holland ships before, the general layout was similar. Really the only difference being that there were fewer ship levels and less length of the ship to walk. I did have to find the Explorations Cafe one morning, and it is on a different floor, which I knew from the signage by the elevators. What I didn't know, was that the floor was not contiguous. It took me a couple of tries to get to it, after going down to the level it was on and finding out that you couldn't get to it from the elevator lobby where I had descended to. So, then you have to walk up a level, walk over to the next set of stairs, and descend again back to level it is on. Not fun, when you are after your morning coffee. I really wish they would put this in a location on all ships more accessible. You have to pay for it, so why not promote it, where people can see it and opt up when they want? I was surprised with how great the limited entertainment was on The Veendam. We had two excellent, and very different comedians on this ship. I have usually been underwhelmed by the comedians on many different ships, but Brian Bradley and Mike Hamilton, delivered! I won't give away what they are good at ( you are welcome Mike), but believe me they are funny. Luckily for the cruisers, their approach to humor was radically different, which made both their shows special and unique. Get a good seat early for Mike's show. Just a head's up! And speaking of entertainment, I was so disappointed to find out on board that the B.B. King's Blues Club was not included on the ship, which I have thoroughly enjoyed on the others. I guess due to the smaller ship, there is not room. However, I discovered the piano singer, Stryker, who without a doubt, is the best piano singer/entertainer/comedian I have ever encountered on any ship (not just Holland ships). He truly can play that piano, sing, and work the crowd. I'm not really sure why he is on a cruise ship really with that talent, but I went to see him every night! I heard later that Holland is getting rid of the piano bars and putting in a rock and roll area to attract a younger demographic. I understand that, but I will definitely miss the sing alongs at the piano bar. And quite frankly, Stryker was so good, very few even wanted to sing along. He was that good! Most just wanted to listen and if you didn't get there early, you had to stand (which I did every night) gratefully! The accommodations were okay. The ship is older and in places looks like it, but as usual the staff made up for that. Our room was an ocean view and we opened up to a walking area on the deck with reserved chairs for us on the balcony. A nice perk when you have an ocean view. We usually have a balcony, so while it wasn't a private balcony it was right outside our sliding glass window. Actually, we loved it! The staff and crew of Veendam did not disappoint. Holland America's staff members are all well trained and friendly, courteous, many times funny, and are always what make the trip memorable for me. From our room steward, Sugi, to the Casino Host, Iggy, to the Beverage Host in Canaletto's, Noel (also our incredibly talented and funny Bar Crawl Host), to Henry and Rose, the servers at the Retreat Bar, they made the trip enjoyable, personable, and fun! Also ned to mention Rekki, the host at Canaletto's (which you have to try!) and Dewi and Phoebe, servers at Canaletto. They all went above and beyond for us, delivering our leftovers to the room for us on tow nights so we could get to the shows, and one night delivering an entire meal for us when my husband wasn't feeling well and we had to cancel our reservations. I didn't even ask. I was just walking down the lido Buffet alone, and it had closed, and Refki saw me, drew me in, and somehow managed to order me food from the Dining Room and get it it sent to my room! He was a hero that night because the time had changed and I was off an hour, salad had missed the Lido Hours! All in all, this cruise met our expectations. We had been to all the destinations before and were really just on a rest and relaxation cruise, both equipped with four books! I'm more of a night owl, so I did a lot of the entertainment on my own, which is one of the things i love about a cruise. As a woman, it's easy, safe, and no one looks at you like you are there for anything but the entertainment! The staff and meeting fellow cruisers has always been my favorite part of a cruise, and this cruise was the same. We had a fun, relaxing time, and applaud Holland for their incredible hardworking cruise staff. Read Less

Good price, with free daily lectures. Wanted to try HAL again after many years and many cruises on RCL and Princess. Service and crew where very happy, friendly and efficient. Food was tasty great with lots of choices in Lido every meal! Never ate in dining room. Won money in casino so that was great! Microsoft lectures where amazing from actual Microsoft employee and learned lots about many MS tools and apps. Photo shop provided "free photography lectures" from an actual National Geographic photographer -"Justin James" and learned many tips on improving my pictures! Really enjoyed all of the destinations especially Aruba because of the TukTuk Tour we took from a Expedia vendor. Wish HAL had large central public malls like RCL on some of their newer ships. Always enjoy sitting in a cafe and watch the people walk by. Eurodam just has a great VIB and loved this cruise. Would definitely go again. Highly recommend the Sting Ray swim excursion in Half Moon Cay. Read Less

Cruise fit our timeline and location. Very clean elegant ship . Mostly elderly passengers. Great food and entertainment. Beautiful ship to walk around on and admire. Cabins are very comfortable. Staff are friendly and attentive. Pool areas are well designed for swimming or sun bathing. There are lots of places to read or visit if you like. The world stage is incredible. Every seat is good. Easy to access for older people. The dining room was a relaxed pleasant experience with good selection . I can not think of any negatives for this ship. The outside walking track was great. Circle the ship three times and you will have walked a mile. I loved the aft pool area for happy hour. Nice shaded places to visit and have a few drinks. Ship seemed very stable in the waves so i did not worry about sea sickness. Over all i would recommend this ship. Read Less

HA is know for their service and excellent service is what we usually have experienced with HA. The Veendam wasn't bad, but felt disorganized, like perhaps half the staff were either new or burnt out. Our stewards were excellent attentive and friendly. Our room with just a window, midship, main deck was actually nice, well laid out and quite. However, we encountered many other aspects that were below HA standards: The meals in the main and Pinnacle dining rooms were nothing special - presentation, flavor (overcooked vegetables, etc.) and variety were lacking. The service in the Pinnacle was atrocious (basics like sitting 10+ minutes before wait staff said hi, water not being refilled, coffee never arriving with dessert). The main dining room service was hit and miss - some areas were well served, others slow and sloppy. The Cannaletto was good, slow but attentive. The Dive was improperly staffed - 35 minutes to get a burger when my ticket was only the 3rd in the que. The basketball court had useless basketballs (worn, ripped covers with the rubber sticking through) at the beginning and none once those were removed. Other than that, it was a nice cruise, just not to the usual HA standard. Read Less

This is our second 14 day B2B cruise on Princess in the past year. We chose this ship specifically because of the "adults only" space on Deck 17. This area makes you feel like you are on a cruise that costs twice as much. The Retreat Pool and Cabanas and the Sanctuary is the best space we have experienced on any of the 18 cruises we have taken. You feel like you are the only people on the ship. Alice and her service staff are amazing. This area fills up fast and you cannot make reservations until you get on the ship. So arrive early - 9-10 am get ready to board and once on board go DIRECTLY (Run not walk)to the Sanctuary Deck 17 forward. Look for the Sanctuary sign and go to the desk or stand in line - Chose Pool Cabanas for the Port Days - if you are staying on the ship- and book Sanctuary seating for Sea Days which tend to be more windy. The Pool Cabanas furthermost from the Bar are the shadiest. In the sanctuary the front row forward are the best. Price is $50 per 1/2 day for Cabana by the retreat pool or $20 pp per 1/2 day for the Sanctuary. The Lumiere Dinner is not to be missed. Again as soon as you get onboard - find a ship phone and use the dining line to book the dinner. Do not wait - it sells out quick. My husband raced up to the Sanctuary and I found a phone and in less than 30 minutes we had reserved everything and then ordered our first drink. I had 3 spa services - I highly recommend that you meet your service provider in advance before you book your treatment. I highly recommend Henja she is great. Book online before you go and save on port days. Medallion is great for overall on/off ship - but the "get a drink anywhere -and we will find you" does not work well. St Thomas was are favorite port -Stop by Frenchtown Brewery and eat dinner at Oceana Restaurant. Get the Lobster!! The Crown Grill was great - Za Za will take great care of you. Be sure to sign up for the Tuscan Wine Tasting! Great Value! The embarkation and disembarkation was quick, easy and drama free. Have booked the Sky Princess for Jan 2021! Read Less

 We are just two weeks off of Edge and there is a lot to like.  The embarkation process was about as close to perfect as possible.  Boarding is good but there is a pretty good hike up several levels on ramps.  The infinite veranda makes your entrance to the cabin dramatic with its outside view as large as the width and high the cabin.  Very attentive stateroom steward. The complimentary sparkling wine was good; the canapés were, generally, awful. Few people cruise to watch TV but the provided screen was deluxe and, perfectly, positioned to, comfortably, watch in bed. On arrival of our luggage there was no heavy duty mat to protect the bed from dirty luggage so we put the dirty luggage on the chaise style couch while emptying. We both use Cpap and the end tables were a bit small, especially, the one where the phone was placed. The bathroom is the best I’ve seen (never stayed in a suite). It is large and good shower. The closet is a little short of space for long hanging items. We were, initially, stuck with late dining but got switched to early and wait listed for select. There was no obvious indication on our documents or sea passes as to what our dining assignment was once on board. I spent a while getting confirmation that we had gotten select. We were never able to make reservation on the app. On about half of the dinners we had a ten to thirty minute wait. They could use some reconfiguring of the wait area with more seating. The nearest bar is pretty far away on one level. On the other dining level the customer relations area is the same distance for more seating. We spread out our dinners between the four dining rooms. The food was excellent. Some of the portions were, unusually, large. Service was very good. Some were excellent. Buffet was good for breakfast and lunch with a large selection. We aren’t big on entertainment but we saw Revelations so we could check out the Eden creatures. It was strange but entertaining. The seating for this presentation was awkward. (same for the Cirque like show in The Club). We didn’t dine in Eden so, we never saw the “creatures” anywhere else. Didn’t like the muster drill at all. Our station was in the hallway by the shops. There was very little seating and very disorganized. The ship was organized so we never were in a crowd. There were plenty of places to be alone. We didn’t spend much time on the magic carpet but it was kind of meh. Not bad but not that exciting. It can be very windy sometimes and very sunny as well. Captain Kate is a breath of fresh air. Not only the first female but also, my first American captain. She is very visible and even saw us off the ship appearing half way down the ramp on debarkation. Having her hairless cat onboard was strange but nothing wrong with that. I go onboard expecting to be pleased with the experience and was not disappointed. It is a beautiful and different sip and I recommend it. We were in cabin 12195 by the way. It was a good choices. Read Less

EMBARKATION ~ A total breeze. Two minutes to show paperwork, walk under a metal detector then straight onto the ship. Electronics have obviously sped up this process. During our first cruise in 2011, it took at least a half hour standing in line with crowds of people in a hot terminal before boarding. SHIP ~ Immediately impressed with the brand-new ship and innovative art. WELCOME ~ Staff holding trays of champagne and pink bubbly make an immediate good first impression and extend the welcome atmosphere to one of “vacation”. ROOM~ We were able to go directly to our room to drop off our carry-on bag. This is another new additional convenience from the past when people all wheeled their little bags around while they ate lunch after boarding the ship. We stayed in veranda stateroom # 7298. More details about this room further down under Cabin Review. NORMANDIE DINING ROOM ~ We chose Early Dining at 5:45 but we often didn’t get there until 6:00 because of changing attire after our excursions before dinner. We ate each night with one other couple who went on the cruise with us. We did not try the 3 other main dining rooms even though we knew we could. We enjoyed having the same waiter each night. We also did not try any of the upscale restaurants except for lunch on one sea day. (More about that later.) The food for the most part was excellent. Certainly no complaints. The only thing we noticed about the service was that even though it was impeccable and friendly, it was slow with the 3 courses in that it was hard to get to the theater in time to find a seat for the first show at 7:30. A couple of nights, we couldn’t find a seat going at the last minute so we waited for the 2nd show. This all being said, I would rather have a slow and relaxed pace of service in the dining room rather than rushed service. It’s just that I enjoy the evening entertainment in the theater, too. FOOD ~ My main course choices were as follows in the MDR ~ Sunday - SALMON which was excellent and mild and moist with no fishy taste. Monday - “SURF and TURF”. The “surf” was shrimp which were good but the “turf” was a thin steak which was not special at all. Tuesday ~ RACK OF LAMB which was phenomenal. Wednesday ~ SALMON - good but not as good as the Sunday salmon. Thursday ~ BEEF TENDERLOIN EN CROUTE which was absolutely delicious. Friday ~ LOBSTER tail, 2 of them which were good. Saturday ~ I chose BEEF TENDERLOIN EN CROUTE again which was just as good as the first time. An observation would be that the vegetables and potato or rice served with each main course was treated like more of a garnish on the plate rather than as a full serving. It was beautiful presentation but if I didn’t eat a roll with dinner, I would have felt like the main course didn’t give me enough to eat. RAW ON 5 ~ We ate lunch here on our second sea day. We had a great table beside a window looking out at the water. We both ordered an appetizer of a California roll which was good and a lobster roll for main course. It was only so-so, I’m sad to say. It was small and the lobster didn’t have a lot of flavor. OCEANVIEW CAFE ~ Good for a quick bite or for breakfast or lunch. We also used it for midnight pizza one night. I loved sitting outside on the deck there on the day of embarkation. Lots of choices of foods. They just tend to be a bit bland in my opinion. THEATER ~ Simply a beautiful, state of the art facility. The stage itself is almost in the round ~ although it’s more like a big “C” with seating all the way around the "C". There are HUGE video screens at the back of the stage, the lighting is incredible and there doesn’t seem to be a bad seat in the audience. Here are the shows and productions as I remember them ~ UPTOWN ~ 3 male vocalists who sang Motown hits such as Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson. Great vocals and good humor with involving the audience. In fact, everyone was on their feet at the end of the show even though most of us in the audience were elderly! They were so good that I went to both shows and bought their CD too! PRODUCTIONS called “Kaleidoscope” and “A Hot Summer Night’s Dream” ~ aerolists and singers and dancers. Enthusiastic and talented performers. There was at least one other evening show which I unfortunately missed due to dinner running overtime. RAEGAR ~ A country-rock duo, male and female who sang old classics of this genre. Great singers with engaging personalities. LOUIS RAMEY - comedian ~ Good timely comedy without being raunchy ~ except for the late night 10:30 pm adult show which was definitely raunchy but this one was INTENDED to be adult entertainment. OTHER ENTERTAINMENT ~ There is plenty of other live entertainment in various locations on the ship. We stopped by Eden one night for a drink and listened to a live rendition of Eagles songs. It was just one guy with a guitar but was entertaining. There were other things I would have liked to have attended ~ a group singing ABBA music, a tribute to Michael Jackson songs, Elvis Presley music and many others. They’re all listed on each day’s “Celebrity Today” newspaper left in each stateroom at night. THE MAGIC CARPET~ We sat here and had a drink when the ship was in port on embarkation day when exploring the ship. Lots of very comfortable seating here. This space can also be used when tendering which is supposed to make the process easier. It wasn’t used as such though when we were on the ship as it wasn't needed. One thought ~ It must have cost a FORTUNE to build such an innovative idea ~ an outside room that can move (though not with people on it) to other floors where it works as either a bar or a restaurant. Can’t imagine the cost and if Celebrity feels it was cost effective for kind of a gimmick. DISEMBARKATION ~ I was totally blown away that Captain Kate and Activities Director Guiseppe stood in the hallway gangway area shaking hands and smiling to all of the departing passengers! What a memorable final touch!! OVERALL EXPERIENCE ~ The overall experience was so good that I would have gladly stayed another week, and I would certainly like to book another cruise specifically on the Edge. I would particularly enjoy taking the Mediterranean cruise on the Edge even though we have already done 2 Med cruises. Next time on the Edge, I guess I would try a couple of the upscale restaurants for dinner, especially if I had some OBC to spend. PORT EXCURSIONS ~ KEY WEST ~ Overcast day in January but warm and breezy. Delightful with door open to balcony. We had planned to go on a glass bottomed boat excursion through the ship’s tours but we had to cancel at the last minute due to one of us experiencing back problems. This was disappointing and of course, we did not get reimbursed but at least part of the fees were paid for with our OBC. COSTA MAYA ~ We walked into the port town area and looked for a place to eat lunch and get a drink. The shops area was tremendously crowded the day we were there as there were several other ships in port. We found “Latina Catina” and had a good time there. I ordered tilapia which came served fried and whole on a stone plate. (See picture.) We also ordered pina colada drinks which came in huge, tall plastic souvenir glasses. (See picture.) While eating, a wrestling match broke out in the inside ring. Fascinating and funny to us. There was also a nearby kiosk that advertised selling US pharmaceuticals such as Viagra. (See picture.) COZUMEL ~ Again, our main objective was to simply walk around the tourist part of town. We ate lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp which was excellent. I had shrimp fettucine which rivaled every dinner I had on the ship. (See picture.) Not quite as crowded as Costa Maya so we did a little touristy shopping. GRAND CAYMAN ~ Once again, we went for lunch and a drink only in the main tourist area. We settled on “Casanova’s” Italian restaurant where we sat beside the oceanfront and had mango mojitos and margarita pizza. (See picture.) The idea of not venturing into the country of Mexico for us was deliberate. We are both in our mid 70’s and have limited stamina for a lot of walking anymore. We have traveled through Europe and would have been horribly disappointed to not venture further into those countries when we toured over there. However, at this time in our lives and with feeling like the country of Mexico is not the most reliable and friendly place anymore, this limited touring was right for us. If I were younger and more active, I would have wanted to see a Mayan ruin and gone to a beach. VOW RENEWAL CEREMONY If anyone is considering a vow renewal ceremony aboard the ship, I can highly recommend it. We scheduled one for our 25th wedding anniversary. I was initially afraid ahead of time that it might end up feeling cheesy but I didn’t feel that way about it at all afterward. There are 2 main vow renewal packages to choose from on the Celebrity Wedding Website. https://celebrityweddings.eweddingcalendar.com/calendar/weddingPackagesEdit/optId/753/ We chose the one with the ship’s captain officiating since we knew it was Captain Kate on our sailing. The ceremonies are only held on sea days which is perfect, of course. I elected to make a salon appointment for my hair earlier in the morning which I was glad I did. The wedding coordinator, Chloe Carmel, was extremely helpful in printing out our special vows for us in big, bold type so we could read them without our glasses. She also found 2 music pieces for us that were special to us. The ceremony itself was held in “Blu” which was a lovely background with the big white rose on the wall. The ship’s photographer took an enormous amount of pictures including spending an hour with us afterward walking around the ship to photogenic locations. We elected to buy a package of photos after viewing them a day later. I love having these pictures of our special occasion. Read Less

Our recent cruise on Sky Princess needs to be broken down into the three categories: Good, Bad and Ugly. Let’s start with the positive aspects (GOOD) of the ship: CABIN: We enjoyed our partially obstructed Ocean view with Veranda. These cabins are always a nice value as we seem to always get a very nice view (considering it is listed as obstructed). Nice space with plenty of closet space and hangers. This trip we hit our Elite recognition, so there were some nice perks in our cabin with that distinction. Our steward, Santhoush Thomas, was excellent. He accepted his daily chores with a grace and happiness that is very rare these days. We truly appreciated his service and smile. VINES LOUNGE: We enjoy this area of the ship (although we understand it will be disappearing on the Enchanted Princess). Our server, Dewa, always knew what we wanted each day and was always accommodating when we would order wines that were not on the Vines menu. INTERNET and OCEAN MEDALLION: As we had loyalty perk minutes, we used the internet frequently. Never had any problems with the service. This is our second time using the Ocean Medallion and we had no problems with it at all. It is a nice way to make payments and open the door to your cabin. SABATINI: We enjoyed the new menu in Sabatini. It is modern, fresh and very nice items on the menu. Not sure that it will be accepted as the standard items (such as Lobster), are gone. The dining room as always half empty every night of our cruise, so we shall see what happens here. CROWN GRILL: We enjoyed the quality of the food product in Crown Grill. It seems to have come up a notch since our last trips on Princess. The service was okay, but not as professional as we have had in our past visits on recent Princess ships. We observed the Maitre D’ absolutely rip an employee in the middle of the DR, which we found unacceptable. Great meal, but maybe a “c” on service. ALFREDO’S PIZZARIA: Beautiful new, modern touch to this Princess restaurant. Much bigger than on previous ships with same quality food served here. Princess still serves the best pizza at sea (including poolside). BISTRO SUR LA MER: A welcome addition to Princess. A taste of France, placed in the space where Crooner’s Lounge used to be. Menu, quality and presentations in this extra charge restaurant were excellent. Service was very nice, although again, we felt a little taken back by the service of the Eastern European staff (see BAD). EXCURSIONS: Two of our three excursions were wonderful. Our Belize City excursion to the Mayan temples was excellent (although there is no mention about an hour bus ride each way on this particular excursion). The boat ride to the site, as well as the Mayan guides were excellent. Also, the buffet for lunch was very nice, with very personable employees. Our second excursion was a Twister boat ride and beach day at Passion Island in Cozumel. Again, all aspects of this were great, LOVED the Twister jet boat! We were absolutely drenched and it was a blast! The beach was a very nice experience with all the food and drink you would want included in the excursion. Bummer for us as there were cooler temperatures that day, but still was great. Third Excursion was in Roatan, which will come under the UGLY category. MODERN AND NEW: The ship has been greatly modernized from the Royal and Regal class ships. This Vessel seems progressive and sleek, which we are sure some valued Princess guests will NOT care for. The Pools are much better (Thank God, they got rid of the fountains!) Many Hot tubs available on multiple decks. The showroom is a problem, that will be reviewed under the UGLY category. There will also be MANY complaints from previous Princess cruisers that the “Crooner’s Lounge” is gone. There are still a lot of lounges, but this place was valued by past guests. BAD CATEGORY: GENERAL FOODSERVICE ABOARD SHIP: The MDR foodservice continues to slide downhill in both quality and quantity of food. We don’t mind the smaller portions, but at least some starch other than rice would be nice. The potato seems to be a relic of the past! Service in the MDR is very haphazard. Seems the only training anymore is to get the food to your table as soon as possible and get you out. It’s the small things, such as serving women and children first, that just tick me off. Yes, everyone smiles and is trying hard, but it seems as they are always shorthanded (or the Corporate accountants have decided that this is the new normal). The BUFFET is always up and running on time, which is a very nice treat. Unfortunately, most hot foods are lukewarm at best (even when you stir the pans from the bottom). Fewer and fewer nice proteins (I know Chicken breasts are a thing of the past, but now no more thigh meat either; only legs and wings). No carvings are done to order; just sliced up and thrown into a pan. Yes, there is a great amount to choose from, but it’s just sad to see the quality levels continuing to drop. FOOD AND BEVERAGE SERVICE STAFF: We have not noticed this on any ships in the 71 cruises we have taken over the years. On this ship we found many, many Eastern Europeans with truly bad attitudes. They seem not to care about being on board. They go thru the motions but very few smiles or banter. We have not seen that with persons of other ethnic background on the ship, but this was truly disturbing. Particular areas were in the Coffee Bars and Dining Rooms. UGLY: Well, the main stay here is the new Showroom. We don’t know if a design flaw, fewer seats or what. We tried attending the first night of the Rock Opera production show and were turned away as all seats in the theater were FULL almost one hour before the show began. We had arrived 40 minutes before the show, and were just very surprised with no seating. We wised up and for the next several nights got to the theater ONE HOUR before the show. Many, many reserved seats by guests (who actually let out a loud roar of laughter when it was mentioned no reserving of seats!). The one production show we saw was a high tech, high energy show about gaming (like Nintendo). We enjoyed the show, but again, this show is directed to a millennial crowd and not the crowd that Princess currently has. Maybe Princess is telling all of us over 55 something about the future?? The MUPPET show in the Vista Lounge on the last night was cute, but again, fell flat with many guests. Seating here (although not crowded) is very limited, with a peculiar design. POOLS: Seemed on this vessel that the reserving of chairs at the pool was rampant! We always go up to the pool deck, check out what is reserved, go eat our breakfast and then go get our chairs. On this particular cruise, if you were looking for a chair after 8:30 a.m., you were out of luck. We observed many persons placing towels down to reserve their chairs and then disappearing for hours. The persons next to us put their towels down went to breakfast, then the culinary show, then bingo and came back around noon to say that they didn’t need the chairs and someone else could have them. I don’t see the cruise lines ever being able to have any kind of control over this, so I am only mentioning it to make sure future cruisers understand what their options are. EXCURSION IN ROATAN: We were booked for a Beach day in Roatan. This particular day, the ship docked and the skies opened up with a fury of a rain storm (not Princess’ fault!). We tried to cancel on board, but were told we would have to get off the ship and cancel on land. Really?? Okay, so we got off the ship (and we had umbrellas), but were totally drenched by the time we found where our excursion was meeting. At that time the persons running the excursion said that we could cancel, but we needed to cancel ONBOARD the ship! When we got back onboard, the excursion was cancelled with no problem. Yes, maybe this is petty, but we think it could have been handled better. SUMMARY: We DID enjoy our cruise. There are enough really good things about this ship that would bring us back on board again. In fact, we are already booked on the new Enchanted Princess. We do notice all of the continued cuts on board (as with many other cruise lines we enjoy). We also notice that on most ships these days that the extra charge restaurants are providing a very nice experience, but does not carry through to the other dining facilities. No matter what is said, we always feel a day cruising is better than a kick in the pants Read Less

We chose the Zuiderdam for a romantic, relaxing cruise. We were very disappointed with many things about the Zuiderdam and Holland America as a company. First, let me start by saying the Holland America has some serious operational and procedural issues which need an outside consultant to fix. Embarkation: You know you are in trouble when getting on the ship is the best thing you can say about the ship. Embarkation was quick and painless. Cabin: We chose an inside cabin for this cruise because we like to take a nap in the afternoon and there is nothing better than a cold, dark cabin after a hot shore day. The cabin was very dated. The shower floor was filthy. I mean black filth. When the shower is dirty you have to wonder what else is dirty that you are not seeing. It is like walking into a restaurant and looking up to see black vents and ceiling tiles. If they do not care enough to make sure the shower floor is clean then you can bet they are not making sure the things you cannot see are clean. The steward was fine and helpful. Restaurant: We ate dinner in the restaurant only one night because the first experience was that bad. First of all, they sat me a 6 foot 7 football player type of a guy in a booth with a table cloth that almost went to the floor. I spent the entire dinner feeling like I had a blanket covering my legs and when I got up I took the table cloth off the table with me. Second, we never saw the same person twice. It was ridiculous. There was not one person you could have called our waiter. Third, it was chaos in the restaurant and took a very long time for the food to arrive. There was way too much time between courses and when the food did arrive it was bland and just not very good. We skipped dessert because by the time we got around to being asked what we liked we just wanted out. We went one morning to eat breakfast in the restaurant at 9:05 am and were turned away because they said breakfast was over at 9. Now mind you, we are on vacation and 9 am is too early to stop serving breakfast to people who are sleeping in and trying to relax. Buffet: The biggest problem with the buffet is there are not enough places for people to sit and eat. There are two many large tables and not enough smaller tables. Lunch and breakfast can become very stressful affairs. I literally felt like dropping my plate and walking out on more than one occasion and I have never felt that way on a ship before. It was not just us you would see and hear people upset they could not find a place to sit. I have never experienced something quite like this on a ship before. Also the buffet stops serving dinner at 8 pm. This is way too early because people from the West Coast are not ready for dinner until 8 pm. The problem with the Zuiderdam is it wants to run on its time schedule and not on a realistic time schedule for all of their guests. One evening I actually saw them removing the food away from people trying to get something to eat. This is not an exaggeration. They actually removed the food away from them leaving them to stand there hungry. Bars: The bar service was fine and as a matter of fact our best overall service was from Ricky in the Ocean Bar. The drinks were always plentiful and good. At least the bar was good to keep the edge off of how awful everything else about the ship was. America's Test Kitchen: One of the reasons we booked this cruise was for America's Test Kitchen. It was advertised that it was on the Zuiderdam. Guess what? There was no America's Test Kitchen. I have to say it really felt like a bait and switch type tactic. If you are going to advertise something to a potential customer as a cruise company you had better make sure it is happening on the ship when they arrive. BB Kings: The best part of the Zuiderdam entertainment was the BB King lounge. The only problem was the first three nights it was not offered. We got half the product for the full price. See how this is going? Billboard Music: This was the most laughable and horrible entertainment I have seen in years. I am serious it is awful. The two guys behind the piano's are awful. Mainstage Theater: Dance Shows - They had three dance shows which were very good. The dancers were very well trained and their interaction with the LED screens was really amazing. They were the best part of our trip. English Comedian - First let me remind you that we are a gay male couple. The homophobic comedian was not funny and as a matter of fact he was offensive. He made several awful gay jokes which were insulting. My husband and I did not pay to be insulted and that is exactly what happened. If this were racial jokes the guy was making they would have fired him on the spot. What is the difference? You do not insult people who are paying for your service. We will not make this mistake with Holland America again. It was really that bad. Half Moon Cay: You would think since Holland America has had this island since the 1990's if would be an amazing place to be. Well it is not. The straw market was a joke. The food was a joke. Not being able to use your drink package on their island was a joke. The facilities are run down and they are dirty. Once again Holland America and dirty are in the same sentence. Not good. We took a shore excursion on Half Moon Cay. It was awful. It was not on the ocean but in a lagoon. We rode a small uncomfortable boat around a lagoon. Seriously it was like one of those bad amusement park boat rides with the cheesy narrator. It was truly that bad. Disembarkation: Was quick and easy. In closing, we were very disappointed in Holland America. The ship and cruise were overall depressing. Holland had better change their game because this was truly one of the worst cruise ships we ever sailed. We will not choose Holland America ever again. Read Less