So we are on a California Coast cruise. Neptune Suite. Have not been on a HAL for 3 years. A lot has changed. New rooms and refreshed ship. That’s nice. No crowded on deck initial safety muster drill. Replaced by scanning your room card at your muster stations. Easier. If you do the Neptune Suite expecting the usual priority boarding, disembarkation, usual exclusive perks, full food selection of a ...
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 ...
The good parts The cabin and restaurants were excellent… food great in the restaurants ( but dont bother with buffet restaursnt its like a free for all at the ok coral) restaurant service superb… the speciality dining was also worth the extra. The food was outstanding. superb Cabin staff were also excellent and cleaned cabins to a very high standard every dsy. BUT The entertainment was appalling ...
cruise chosen because of Alaska Passage
entertainment - same company all week - no variety
activities during he day all promotional- trying to sell you something
Not much to do during the day.
no music by the pool
music venues same band every day
buffet- limited hours
soft serve ice cream was awful, could no tell it was ice cream
deserts in buffet very limited ...
As experienced cruisers on HAL and in Alaska, we looked forward to the 19-day land cruise starting in Vancouver on the Zuiderdam for three nights with 9 days crossing from Skagway through the Yukon to Denali and reboarding the Nieuw Amsterdam for a 7 day southbound cruiseincluding Glacier Bay. Seemed well designed . But HAL did not consider that most of the travelers were over 60 and expected ...
The cruise got off to a rocky start before we even embarked. Holland canceled the cruise we booked and put us on a different ship with a new departure date necessitating a change in our pre cruise stay and dining reservations.
Soon after departing Seattle at the start of the cruise a passenger had a medical emergency which delayed arrival at our first port of call which resulted in a lot of ...
Travelled to alaska on Holland America. First, this cruise line has zero entertainment during the day. With over 3 sea days, choose another ship with daily entertainment. Night time entertainment was limited. The comedian was on for half an hour. The Lincoln Center stage music happened maybe twice and lasted for half an hour. Went on the train trip in Skagway. 10 minutes into the trip, the engine ...
We chose this short cruise to discover if we liked the Pinnacle Suite before we booked a longer voyage. While spacious and well laid out, the hot tub and music system were broken and unusable. Our friends booked other staterooms and we planned on using the Pinnacle suite for hosting. It's a shame when paying a premium for accommodation that such key amenities are not functional.
The staff ...
Waited 2 years for return of 25% of monies taken by HAL on the same cruise that was cancelled before covid.
Embarkation was hectic as 3 ships were in port at San Diego, however the ship was very clean and the crew were excellent our balcony cabin was nice and stewards were very friendly.
We had anytime dining later in the evenings an had nice tables at the rear window the food was very good ...
I relied on HAL's reputation for excellent food and service and it's reputation for activities for adults and entertainment on previous very long cruises. This cruise was 35 days long, with many, many sea days. I was soon disillusioned.
The food was almost always served lukewarm and , for example, never was the toast at breakfast in the dining room served even remotely warm. Frequently, ...