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 ...
Context: I'm a 40-something gay man traveling with my husband and our 19 year old kid (first cruise for the kid). This was my first cruise on HAL, and his second. Other lines we've done: Celebrity (twice), RCCL (twice), Norwegian (twice), Princess (once). Our favorite lines are Celebrity and RCCL.
A little context to this review. Apparently, this was the first fully booked cruise on ...
Let me start by saying that I really wanted and was looking forward to a wonderful cruise. I heard nothing but great reviews (mostly). This whole trip started before the pandemic as my fiancé, and I purchased a 17-day Hawaiian island cruise( we were going to marry and the cruise was our honeymoon) that was cancelled due to the pandemic (No fault of Holland). Long story short after fighting with ...
We're past HA Cruisers. We have 15+ cruises that we've enjoyed. Everything was really good about his cruise except 3 things.
1. The boarding process was a cattle car. 1500 or so people stuck in a terminal in Ft. Lauderdale with room for 800 to sit. And it took forever to get all the groups aboard.
2. The internet speed.
3. The internet being down far too often.
This is 2023, not 1999. ...
Just returned last Sunday (NOV. 20th) from Caribbean cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam on 14 days of the worst HAL cruise that we ever experienced. With more than 400 days on HAL ships and having sailed on this ship twice before, we never experienced anything remotely like this. In fact it was one of the worst cruises ever on any line including Carnival which can be inconsistent at best. Apparently in an ...
This was our 20th anniversary cruise, and we did back-to-back 7 day cruises (western/eastern Caribbean).
We are 3-star Mariners on HAL, and this was our 3rd trip since Covid hit. Compared to the last two post-covid trips, this was a good improvement. We started getting towel animals again (a simple add but delightful), they had some fresh flowers on board (prior two cruises they were mostly ...
A cruise is usually fun and this was no exception BUT, Holland has changed and not for the better. We had 160 days on HAL prior to the pandemic so we were pretty familiar with the line and this ship.
The room was the room and it was fine as usual, it could use a little maintenance as things are starting to look a little tired but still a minor concern, the steward did a good job and the room ...
We've sailed on many HAL ships over the years and have to say we'll never sail again on the Konigsdam. Although the food was excellent, they've cut service to the point that hour waits for dinner were normal. Waiters and staff were obviously stressed and had too many tables to serve. I actually had to go to the assistant maître d' to get a coffee cup refilled at breakfast. No chocolates on the ...
We lost 2 cruises due to Covid and this was our choice to use our FFC.
Embarkation was a mess. We were delayed one hour in the sun, on the pier in San Diego, several passengers were affected by the heat and required the assistance of others in line, there was no Holland America presence to offer them assistance.
We found the crew to be pleasant and friendly.
Menu items in the main dining ...
I sailed on this ship with the same itinerary in November, 2021 and we loved it. So, we decided to do it again on the November 5, 2022 sailing. BIG MISTAKE! Embarkation on day 1 was one hour behind schedule. We had to wait in line in the very warm sun with no shade. We were supposed to depart San Diego at 4pm. We finally made it out of the harbor at 6:30pm. Again, I don't know why we were ...