In the past 27 years, we’ve spent over 300 days on cruise ships, and this was definitely our worst experience. And that’s including a cruise to Alaska on the Radiance of the Seas when the entire crew had walked out two weeks before… If we had not previously sailed Holland America, there’s no way we ever would again.
We are low maintenance and have always enjoyed friendly relationships with ...
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 ...
This was our 6th cruise but first on HA. They had to be short-staffed or something. However, if it weren't for good experiences in port, it would have been a pretty miserable vacation. I am not looking forward to cruising again for a long time.
Our first port day we set the card out for breakfast in the room the night before. We've done this on 5 previous cruises and have had no issues. ...
We chose this ship because we wanted to go away for the Christmas Holiday.
Embarkation was easy for us. This was our 4th HAL cruise and the 2nd on this ship. We have also sailed Carnival, Princess, RCL, Celebrity and Azamara. We had always enjoyed HAL, but we won’t sail the Nieuw Amsterdam again.
Pros:
Band in BB King’s Blues club is fabulous! The live entertainment in all venues was ...
We had cruised 19 times before this cruise and chose HAL because we like their service and food on the other HAL ships. This being our first cruise since COVID started, we also wanted a smaller ship.
Both embarkation and disembarkation were very smooth and we received our luggage within 2 hours.
The ship was nicely decorated for the holidays and is still in fairly good condition, although ...
The mainstage performances were the worst that I had in my 10+ cruise experiences. There were all male performers for the entire trip with very low quality. Obviously, the ship chose to save the cost of using low profile performers. The cruise entertainment director did a very poor job. Also, my first time use luggage case was damaged in the transport from the room to the dock. The food ...
We have been on 18 cruises but this was our first with Holland America. We chose Holland America for the more quiet, relaxed atmosphere on the ship. We felt so good and recharged after the week long sail on Rotterdam 7. The holiday cruise exceeded our expectations. The ship was new and attractive, food selection good, staff was absolutely great, friendly and professional. The cabin was very ...
The loves lost on HAL.
Absolutely dissatisfied and disappointed with HALs commitment to running their operations aground.
Understaffed and overworked.
This ship was severely understaffed and as a result every aspect of operations was negatively affected. Im not sure if the excuses outnumbered the complaints but I did speak to a 4 star mariner who seriously considered disembarking mid ...
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 ...
I originally selected a Baltic cruise 2 1/2 years ago. Covid prevented us from taking it in 2021. So, I did some research and selected the 10-night Panama Canal cruise with the Volendam. I am so glad I did!
First of all, the Volendam was beautiful! It has had a very nice refresh. The new carpets in different venues were beautiful. Everyone was so friendly. It also seemed to have more ...