Holland America Line Eastern Caribbean Cruise Reviews

This was the first time I have travelled with Holland America Line, I had booked a South Pacific cruise, but due to constant changes to both the itinerary and ship I requested a cancelation and refund. I was unable to cancel and get a refund but was offered a change to booking. I changed the booking to a 21 day Caribbean cruise on HAL Rotterdam. This turned out to be a B2B of two cruises. The ...

I usually cruise luxury lines, however all but one have been disappointing me since Covid. I was thus absolutely delighted to have a wonderful 10-day Caribbean experience on HAL's new Rotterdam, with an old friend. I booked everything online, without a TA, and never had to speak with anyone at HAL pre-cruise. We stayed in the 1200 square feet beautiful Pinnacle suite on the 7th deck (Schubert) ...

We last sailed with HAL from 1993 to 2004. Since then it's been mainly Cunard's Queen Mary 2 and a couple of other lines of no particular import. The Rotterdam itself is a beautiful vessel. The decor is mid-century modern, and also has a significant musical theme, too. I have an interest in MCM, so photographing the interior of this ship was very enjoyable. Our cabin was much smaller than ...

I have purposely allowed some time to pass before writing this review. THE SHIP AND STAFF The review really concerns an apparently struggling cruise line, an aged ship, and a wonderful itinerary. The captain jokingly said it best when after it was mentioned the ship was 23 years old, a passenger asked him what was the effective service age of such a ship. He replied 22 years. The ship ...

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 ...

After enduring HA’s Rotterdam on one of its last voyages in late 2019, we eagerly booked a 10-day southern Caribbean trip for this December on its namesake successor. I’ve seen lots of reviews of the ship that you can access on these boards, and won’t bore you with redundant insights here. Will, however, say that the almost-new Rotterdam is an enormous upgrade — sleek, understated, and truly a ...

From the moment we entered the boat, we noticed that it was not the usual environment as in other lines, but a little more sober, something that I liked because I am a lover of differences. Everything was top notch, I just want to comment that several people of Dutch origin sailed on that cruise, a group that believed they were the owners of the ship and shouted, jumped into the pool and broke ...

This was my tenth cruise (previously on Carnival, Royal, and 5 on Princess) and my wife's first. I chose Holland, and this ship in particular due to it's size, and while onboard, I definitely noticed it was smaller than any of the Princess ships I had been on in 2008-2010 (3500 pax vs 2600 on HAL). There were more kids than normal due to the holiday (Thanksgiving), but they were not an issue at ...

We did a back to back on the Nieuw Amsterdam using covid future cruise credits. We took the offer to upgrade to a sky suite & it was well worth it. Except for the internet... Slow, unreliable & a headache.. Room attendant, Meals, bar-staff & ship were excellent! Because were were on the 2nd week we didn't have to go thru the cattle call embarkation with no room to sit the week ...

This is my 5th MSM cruise, I go for the chance to see the great ones... Dion (headlining), Righteous Bros, Frankie Avalon & Brooklyn Bridge. Then come these groups on the Lido or Ocean decks, Crow's Nest etc, not mainstage, & wow! Sounds of the Street, December '63 & those Elvis tribute artists (aka Elvi), are just superb. Just love being able to talk to them, get a pic w/Bill Medley again, etc. ...