I chose this cruise to visit the ports (Cartagena, Malaga, Cadiz in Spain and Lisbon and Funchal in Portugal). Unfortunately due to weather and a pilot boat strike in Portugal the only port I visited was Malaga. We then went to the Canary Islands as a contingency plan for two ports (one was five hours long and the other was 12 hours). These ports were not interesting to me.
The ship itself was ...
We chose this cruise because a Transatlantic cruise has been on our bucket list, we liked the itinerary, and we had two previous enjoyable cruises on HAL (one on Oosterdam and one on Zaandam). We have been fortunate that all three HAL cruises have been in a Neptune Suite, which is a special experience.
This cruise didn't go as planned, because a large storm caused an itinerary change. We had ...
We enjoy spending time in Europe in the fall and then sailing home on a trans-Atlantic with our preferred lines - Holland America and Cunard. We appreciated the itinerary as it was full of ports we enjoyed . We also greatly enjoy the ambience on HAL ships. We boarded without issue at Barcelona , concluding ten wonderful days in Spain. The ship was spotless and remained so through our 15 days ...
We just returned from a 26-day TA from Athens to Fort Lauderdale; actually a 12-day Mediterranean to Barcelona and a 14-day transatlantic crossing to FL. HAL sold it as a single 26-day cruise but the second 14-day leg was much cheaper so many got on in Barcelona for TA. Unfortunately the weather prompted the captain to cancel Cadiz and Portugal. We had also lost 2 ports on the 12day segment but, ...
As one of Holland America’s Legendary Cruises (and also as one of the most expensive), the Voyage of the Vikings on the Zuiderdam, which sailed July 22-August 26, 2023, should have been nothing short of epic. It fell short of that goal, but was still very good and certainly worthwhile.
This review will cover the good things we experienced, as well as the not-so-good things.
THE GOOD ...
We chose this cruise for the itinerary, especially Iceland and Greenland and because we have had 3 very good cruises with HAL in the past. There were many good features. Most of the ship has been beautifully refurbished, the food was good, staff very helpful and it seems a happy ship. Great itinerary, Iceland was brilliant, sunny and fantastic scenery. The sun really does shine at midnight in the ...
We were on this boat and the main reasons were to visit greenland and island. At first the good: the food we compare with celebrity and princess, hal is a little bit better. The speciality restaurants are not much better. The service in the pinnacle grill is arrogant and the maitre too and not friendly. The food was OK , there is the murano celebrity much better. Very good was the fitness trainer ...
This is our first HAL Cruise, and I’m sold. My wife and I have been on just about every cruise line, but finally we have found our niche. Holland offers everything I want. The ship is spotless, the crew most hospitable and professional. The services on the ship from dining to cabin service top notch. For those who are concerned, there are multiple closets and under-bed drawers that are very large. ...
We were so disappointed with HAL, that we will not sail with them again. It was a 30 day cruise (the 16 Day Cruise listed here plus a 14 day cruise attached). This was our 4th cruise with them and prior to this, we couldn't say enough good things about them. This time, it was awful. There were many issues with the food, the entertainment, issues with our stateroom, rude behavior by staff (not the ...
This was our 6th HAL cruise. Our interest in this crossing was sparked by the interesting ports (Cork, Waterford, Torquay, and Dover) in Ireland and the UK. Our cabin stewards (Rio and Ewan) were phenomenal and kept the cabin in perfect shape. They are assigned approximately 35 cabins to take care of by HAL which is an unreasonable workload. We had great dinner and lunch in the Pinnacle Grill with ...