First time on HAL (primarily Celebrity cruiser). Ship was nice, but didn't have the "wow" factor. We liked the back of the ship adult pool area and Exploration Cafe Deck 12 was a favorite!
We (my friend and I in our mid 50s) enjoyed the Music Walk concept, but didn't like that you had to arrive very early and wait to have a seat. BB Kings talent was excellent and we enjoyed that standing ...
Just wanted to get away on our 17th cruise and thought why not try this new ship. Generally, we wait at least 6 months before attempting a cruise on a new ship. This worked pretty well. The food service staff seemed to need further training but I will give this a pass due to Covid hiring issues. Appreciated the service crew serving everyone and hope that HA will permanently continue this for ...
We were looking for a last minute getaway. We used Verifly and zipped online , bypassing the very long lines. We have sailed Rotterdam before (Christmas - New Year) and we jumped at the chance to get back onboard. We got a great deal on an aft facing Vista Suite (mini - suite) on deck 6 and we loved our room - beautiful decor, great bathroom, wonderful in cabin entertainment. We love the spa ...
Full Disclosure, this was only my second cruise (first was on the Carnival Elation in Jan 2020). That being said, here are some thoughts.
First, the service was fantastic! From the cabin steward(Dedi was awesome) to the wait staff and everyone in between, it was a great experience. Some of the bar and dinning room staff seemed a little green, but we all were new to our jobs at one time. ...
Beautiful new ship. Staff great. Dining room and Lido food good. No lobster, entres not as pricy but we all know why. Recommend trying some of their creative concoctions. I tried their beet, orange and goat cheese salad and scraped my plate! In-room dining good... menu is very limited now but kudos for them keeping it free. Enjoyed breakfast every day. Two main points....we got the "Have it all" ...
The ship was beautiful and spotless. Food in the buffet was outstanding (best buffet at sea in my opinion). Food was not as good in the main dining room except for the Culinary Council dinner midway through the cruise. Service in the main dining room was also not very good: The servers were rushed and harried and empty plates sat on tables. The stateroom was very attractive and well-appointed. ...
Our cabin steward was great and our dining room waiters are great but the pool attendants and buffet attendants left a lot to be desired.
The main problem that we encounter with Holland American is that there are pool chair hogs with chairs being blocked out and no attendant is interested in sorting this out.. On one afternoon I counted 222 chairs across from us that never had anyone in them ...
I am writing this from our cabin on our last day of this cruise. All ports were stopped at in the order on the schedule. Not one drop of rain while in port. Was told by the staff who stand and direct people to the ship that there were 936 passengers. It was so evident in no lines to check in, get on the ship, get off the ship at each port, RARELY shared an elevator with anyone even going ...
We are long time cruisers; many times with Celebrity. The idea of a music walk instead of the production shows enticed us to try our first Holland America cruise. We are happy that we did and will be returning. The ship is beautiful new, not too big and easy to get around.
Overall, the food was hit and miss. We tried three speciality restaurants; Calamita (Italian) was awful, but the Pinnacle ...
I love this cruise line. We come on this line to relax and enjoy our cabana for the week. We decided to take this trip because, due to the pandemic, we have been working very hard without a break. I made for an upgrade to a suite and bought the Club Orange package. Well, I am not getting what I paid for. First, even with my boarding pass stating priority boarding, since I am a 2 star Mariner ...