Warning, if you are one of the “IheartHAL” clan and constantly excusing any service issues to protect your diminishing loyalty benefits , please don't read on. You wont like it!
Like to share a recent experience on HAL Koningsdam. For balance we are in our early sixties, well travelled and cruised ( 30 plus sailings) but first time on HAL.
We wanted to visit South Pacific and unlike most ...
This 35 day Hawaii/French Polynesia cruise was our longest ever and our 19th cruise overall on many different lines (Carnival, Celebrity, Cunard, NCL, Princess and Royal Caribbean).
We flew from Ontario to San Diego 3 days before the cruise and stayed at the Old Town Inn which was a great location to tour the city. We walked to historic Old Town and took the trolly tour to all the popular ...
This was a fantastic 35 day cruise. Everything was not perfect but nothing in life ever is.
We flew into San Diego a day early and stayed at the Wyndham Bayside hotel that is right across the street from the pier.
The next morning we went right across the street to board the cruise. They were calling 4 and 5 star mariners first. Since we were 4 star we went right in. We had to wait ...
My wife and I try to take a “find the Sun” activity around February to get away from the Northwest Indiana winter. This year it was the 18 day Hawaii from San Diego back to San Diego. This was also our fourth HAL cruise in five months. With over 50 cruises under our collective belts, this one goes down toward the bottom of the list.
HAL cannot be held accountable for the weather and I do not ...
We were in a mid-ship Neptune Suite across from the Neptune Lounge. We are both in our mid-to-late 70’s and are 4-star Mariners with Holland American. This was our 8th HAL cruise, all of which have been in Neptune Suites. We left San Diego on January 27, 2024 for an 18-day round-trip cruise to Hawaii.
If this had been our very first cruise, I might have rated this a bit higher. But when ...
This was a fabulous cruise. The ship was clean, comfortable and most importantly the food was outstanding! The staff were all helpful and friendly and no matter how stressed they were happy ( and sometimes singing)! It was about 5 days out and 5 days back strictly at sea. We found it relaxing but not seeing land or another ship that entire time could be somewhat daunting. The life boats were state ...
This was our 69th cruise but only second on Holland America.
The ship was nice but not as elegant or as well laid out as Celebrity Solstice and Edge class ships - which we love. We picked this cruise for the itinerary and the time of the year it was sailing.
Our most enjoyable meal was in the Pinnacle which we ate at twice. The service in there was top notch too. The dining room food was ...
We wanted to do a Holiday Cruise and since we are avid cruisers and really enjoy Holland America ships this cruise fit the bill. We have enjoyed all our previous Holland cruises very much. Holland has been our primary cruise line for almost 30 years. Past service and food quality has always been impeccable. We have enjoyed the ships and always look forward to cruising with Holland. We have ...
After 5 days at sea to reach Hawaii we were disappointed to hear that bad weather forced a cancellation of our visit to Maui. The remaining shore excursions were good but our Maui excursion was the one we'd looked forward too the most.
Then of course there's the additional 5 days at sea for our return journey. We love shipboard life but this was too much in one stretch. The majority of the time ...
Hawaii was on our bucket list and we had the time for 16 days. HAL made it seem longer! This was cruise 17 for us. Third on HAL. No rookies here! On all the best lines e.g. Viking. HAL has cut back too far. Loss of Lincoln Center is a good example. $4 extra charge for orange juice is another. Cruise featured chaos at embarkcation and 3 1/2 hour delay in leaving SAN. During cruise ship had ...