We had never been on a Panama Canal cruise even after having sailed on more than 50 cruises. Our cabin was a balcony and was very nice. This cabin was smaller than some we have enjoyed but was still fine. The fact it had a tub/shower was nice. The beds were comfortable with very nice pillows. The fact there was no turndown service was disappointing. This is the first time we have encountered this, ...
I have wanted to see the Panama Canal for longer than I want to talk about! Had an offer which made the two week cruise reasonable enough to pull the trigger, and had a great time!
I saw a previous review that said this was the worst ship ever, I just don't see that. Is it older? Yes. But it is aging pretty well. The carpets, furniture, and other fittings have clearly been kept up. The ...
We started in San Diego and ended up in our home state, which made this a fun trip! We had several family tragedies the months leading up to the trip and it was nice to get away, just the two of us.
We have been in the canal before but never end to end. The history and discussion the cruise director did really brought the history of the canal to life.
The stop in Guatemala we so ...
My wife and I just returned from a 10-day Panama Canal Cruise from HAL Eurodam.
We flew down to FLL on Friday March 24. It’s the tail end of Spring Break and every hotel near the airport was $300 per night or more. I booked a room using Marriott Bonvoy points at Towneplace Suites Ft Lauderdale West. It’s a 25-minute drive from the airport, but even if we had booked a hotel near the ...
We had a Signature Suite, therefore, we embarked first and had to go to the 9th floor deck for lunch buffet. You are not allowed to select your own foods,you are served by the personal. The buffet had a lot of choices; including ice cream and desserts.
The Erodam is a circle public area which you have to walk/elevator to each floor.
The best entertainment was a live band each night at ...
We chose this cruise because we wanted a January getaway to warmer climes than included the Caribbean with a focus on the Panama Canal. We booked early when this cruise was thinly booked and received a good price and a upper floor veranda upgrade in the process.
We have travel with HAL in Alaska on a slightly smaller but similar ship and were very familiar with the ship's layout.
The Good: ...
We decided to try two things we have not yet done before, and that is a Panama itinerary and sail on Holland America. We are in our late 60's and have cruised on Carnival, RCCL, Celebrity & NCL. We have heard HAL caters to the more senior cruisers (like us). That is evident in their not including a lot of the activities such as water slides, rock climbing, laser tag, etc. I think most people ...
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 ...
My wife wanted to go to the Panama Canal so we booked what we thought would fit us best. Check In was great. Cabin was nice except we where on deck 8 aft under the Lido deck aft pool area. Everytime someone moved a deck chair or lounger you heard it. Our room stewards were great. The food at the Lido Market which was the buffet was disappointing. Probably the worst cruise buffets we've ever had. ...
We choose this cruise for the itinerary. We had previously been on the Oosterdam and like this size ship. One thing to know about South America, is that most of the ports are industrial ports and require a shuttle to the cruise port entrance for any independent tours and in Buenos Aires, all passengers including those on Holland America Tours. Just keep this in mind when choosing the starting ...