I travel extensively and this was the most expensive and one of the worst trips I’ve ever taken. We upgraded to a suite and executive lounge. The lounge service was good but the food stale, pedestrian and you had to pay for liquor. Dining Room and Lido deck food lacked quality, taste and freshness. We ate burgers and hotdogs because they cooked to order. The only free beverage was lemonade and tea. A coke was $2.50, latte $3.50 + tax, tip. We brought 2 bottles of wine and they charge $18 corkage fee at the restaurant! After spending $7000 (2 people) for this 7 day trip Holland America Eurodam continued to have unexpected costs. The better restaurants cost more to get in and if your wanted a good steak there was an up-charge! The excursions on average cost $150 a person. $30 per person to play Bingo. I’ve been to many around the world the cost for what you did was exorbitant. Also frustrating was the daily schedule was placed in your room the night before. They constantly changed the restaurant open and closed times. We missed breakfast because they close at 8:30am. This was confusing for many people. The most frustrating was the big day to see the Glaciers. They limited the amount of chairs on the top deck, did not offer to set out more and left many of us standing for hours or had to sit inside and only have partial views. The Ranger talk was at 7:30am. We missed it. The day was so unproductive and unorganized because we did not have a central place for the family to enjoy this spectacular event. I was beyond disappointed! I would not recommend this for big family groups or handicapped person. It was difficult to keep organized, most tables only had 2-4 tops that you can’t move. Limited seats for the classical music nights, shows were set at 7:30 or 9:30 which were on top of dinner timelines. Not much activity during the day unless you want spa and workout time. Overall, not worth the money and I would highly recommend NOT using Holland America Eurodam to see Alaska. Read Less

My husband and I are semi retired and enjoy traveling. This cruise was advertised with a local tour group and Alaska had always been on our list for travel. We booked the Veranda for the balcony. This was an older ship. The cabins were not very clean. I had spilled some ice on the carpet and in retrieving it, brought up a glob of someone else's hair! The dinners were just ok. We spent an hour and a half waiting on courses to be served, and the coffee came 10 minutes after our dessert. We paid to eat in another dining room. Having been on other cruises that offered beautiful food sculptures and chocolate fountains this was a "nothing special cruise". The entertainment was trivia in the bar, or two guys singing at a piano. We could have gone to the digital workshop?#* What! I'm on vacation. I went to the spa/salon to have my hair done for a gala evening. I don't think these people ever worked in a real salon. They washed my hair, blow dried it and tried to sell me products. The positives of this trip were the staff, Alaska and the shore excursions. We went fishing and were fortunate to catch some and have it sent home. We also went to the dog mushing camp. If you like dogs, this is it! In spite of the bad, we did enjoy ourselves and made the best of it. My husband and I are not rich, and felt that we had "splurged" going on this trip. Read Less

terrible experience nothing to do on this ship they were horrible with my disabled wife even canceled excursions that we booked for handicap accessible people never ever again all the activities on the boat close at 10 at night the last lounge is only open at 10:30 casino was very small as maybe three or four tables to play on nothing for the kids to do just terrible absolutely terrible they messed up my room keys my arm board acount the money I put in my account disappeared five separate trips the customer service in two days and we still didn't get the shore excursion I would never recommend anybody use Holland America when we got back to shore and I contacted them about all the problems I had the only thing they had to say was I apologize didn't even attempt to make it right or make it up to making my disabled wife feel like she was an inconvenience these people Read Less

The stateroom was perfect aside from the air not working. It was clean and roomy for the two of us. We had great shows to watch and cozy veranda. There was plenty of storage room, and we even had numerous USB ports. Standard plugin was limited, but we were prepared for that. There was no outlet near the bed. My husband has a cpap and they brought a power trip to help it reach. Our air didn’t work the entire trip so thank goodness we had the veranda to leave open all day. They called everyday to check on it but didn’t do anything about it. Dining room Awful experience. The back of the ship was so loud and shaking you had to talk quite loudly to have a conversation. Therefore, everyone around you talked loudly as well. We ordered the Spinach and artichoke dip with bread which came with two breadsticks from Nutella. While we were eating, the captain came on to talk about the evening festivities, weather, location and more. We could not make out but a couple words that he said something about Glacier Bay and the spa. You can never hear any of the announcements because they only are in the hallways and stairwells. My husband ordered a New York strip steak medium and I ordered one done. Besides the fact that there were flank steak and not NY strip wasn’t the worst part. I received his steak and he received mine. The asparagus and carrots were saturated in butter. The pecan pie was stale and about two bites worth of pie. The NY cheesecake was not your typical cheesecake. It had more of a cake texture than a cream cheese texture. There is only food available during certain times so it throws off the eastern time zone people. Then when it’s time to eat, there are 1000 people in line waiting for two people to serve you food. The food is not buffet style or self serve. If you want a piece of pizza, it can be an hour wait. There are 30 people selling beer and two people serving food and clearing tables. You have to clear off your own table because there aren’t enough outside. If you want a waffle for breakfast, it can be up to a 7 minute wait. The food isn’t even all that tasty. Most of the choices are the same every day. The ranch for salads is watered down, scrambled eggs are runny and bacon is transparent. The chicken Caesar salad was divine. The omlet station was really good too but there again one person making omelets for 40 people. I’m sure like every other cruise line it’s all about tourism. I paid $4000 to see Alaska. Not buy $3000 jewelry made in China worth $10. I want genuine jewels and custom made things. I want to support Alaska while supporting Holland America. The only activities on the ship were targeted towards women. Jason paid $120 to just play Texas holdem for a bit. We did not know that it was a Chuck Swindoll cruise - that would have been nice to know because most of the rooms and events were for those people. They took the main stage most days so the shows weren’t till 8 and 10:00 at night. That’s 2:00 in the morning for Easterners. I spoke with an employee who said they had most of the ship most of the day. Our travel agent was incredible and really help tailor our trip ideas to our desires. When we went to the excursion desk, she told us that our travel agent booked us for all the old people tours and obviously didn’t know what she was talking about because there was no way we could get a cap for $70 an hour in Juneau. When we arrived in Juneau the taxis said right on the doors, $70 an hour! Felt like we were lied to from most of the cruise line employees. Alaska was breathtaking and so glad we went to Sitka. I had no idea Juneau was as commercialized as it was. I wouldn’t ever have to go back there. It was totally not what we were expecting. Even our family members who go on cruises to and three times a year it said it was unlike anything they had ever experienced I would not be traveling Holland America again. Read Less

We selected the Seattle to Alaska cruise for a special birthday. Four of us traveled together -- my husband and I and my parents. Holland America was not the cheapest, but had reasonably good reviews and a great route -- Sitka, Juneau, Ketchikan, Victoria. We arrived late in the boarding window, so embarkation was easy. But, that's where the positive part of the experience ended. Our room was a nightmare. Although we paid a substantial amount to upgrade our room (to veranda, high floor, quiet location), our room was directly below the buffet. We had a ridiculous and stressful amount of noise -- pounding, rolling carts, etc -- from 6 am to midnight. We were finally moved after FOUR nights into a beautiful suite room but the thermostat was broken and we had cold air blowing on the bed for two nights. My parents' room was adjacent to another room where they were doing construction. The buffet food was mediocre. The dining room food was worse -- so bad that we stopped eating in there after two nights. We purchased one excursion but it was incredibly overpriced for the experience. We worked with the guest services staff during and after our stay. They were impatient, rude (and maybe overwhelmed since there seemed to be many unhappy customers on board) and clearly not interested in working to make us want to ever try Holland America again. For 6 really bad nights in our room, we received a $300 credit, and nothing more. My parents also received a credit but should have been offered a new cruise. We don't recommend Holland America and will not sail with any ship under the Carnival Cruise Lines umbrella. Read Less

we choose this cruse as an upgrade to the other lines available. paid more but got way less than expected. the rooms were much smaller than described the full size tub was anything but and the ADA equipment that I requested and was assured would be available, wasn't. of course we were not informed of this till we were outside the 12 mile boundary of the USA. the air conditioning system never worked the entire trip and they continued to do dry dock repairs while at sea. the anytime dinning for the few times we tried it was always substandard while if you were willing to pay the upcharge the food was excellent. the all inclusive drink package had limits not divulged prior to purchase. during repairs of the interior pool the passengers were exposed to toxic paint of some type which my wife has final recovered from but with my COPD I have not and the Captain, to this date refuses to describe what the exposure was. the crew / service personnel were great, the views were great, and we did not have a tour that was not outstanding the biggest issue is that with the line flying a non US flag you as an individual have no recourse against them and they can deny all written comments sent while at sea and ignore you arrive back in the US Read Less

My Mother bought us a family cruise for all of us for our Birthdays. We were very excited. The whole trip was a disaster on the Ansterdam. 1st day they gave my brother’s in laws a 2 bed bedroom and my other brother and his daughter a one bed bedroom. They would of switched rooms but my brother’s room had no hot water the whole 7 days of the trip. They wouldn’t switch the room for him or the in laws. So he and my niece had too shower in my Moms room and they would only give her a $200 credit. The toilets did work for a couple of hours 3 times and we didn’t have water from 12 midnight till 5 am and it still didn’t really fix the problem. The DVD player in my room didn’t work, TV was fuzzy the safe locked me out. The movie they played in the so called movie theater was the same movies they played on the 2 TV movie channels. Their nature experts couldn’t answer simple question like does Alaska have Racoons. She said they didn’t but we asked a excursion guide and he said of course we do. The food was not soso the service was poor. I could go on and on. My brother summed it up the cruise was a floating Motel 6 with Denny’s food. Alaska was beautiful! It was just a awful ship. Read Less

I had high hopes, after cruising on the Holland America "Amsterdam" for a 2-week cruise to Alaska on June 19th thru July 3rd this year. THAT cruise was absolutely wonderful!!! Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that Holland America is very consistent. Previously, I was on the 33-Day cruise in March this year, on the ms Maasdam. And, while there were many issues (it is a VERY old ship), I was very impressed with how the captain handled the huge amounts of complaints. It really felt like he cared about what we complained about. He responded quickly and appropriately to everything. I was so impressed, despite the many issues (poor vent/AC system, horrific tendering, etc...) because while there may have been problems, they were addressed, the captain apologized, AND he took action to try to keep us all happy, for a very extended amount of time. It convinced me to cruise on Holland. And, I did - on the Amsterdam to Alaska for two-weeks. It was absolutely wonderful. But, this last cruise, just makes me shy away from cruising on Holland again. I didn't bother to complain while on this ship, after my initial letter to them, on the first day, to let them know how unhappy I was. It was clear to me, that Holland's ms Eurodam couldn't and wouldn't live up to the great Amsterdam experience. First of all, windows were regularly blocked with closed curtains. Does the ship NOT understand that the view is the MOST important aspect of an Alaska cruise? I had mentioned it several times, to employees/staff, but they never did anything about it. I would get smart alick answers like "the weather is bad". Second, in the diningroom I felt that every table was pushed together closer than ever and each one was set with two extra place settings - enough to cause a full table to feel knees and elbows and having the inability to pull out a chair without hitting a person next to you. It was near impossible to walk freely. Conversations were impossible as well, as the diningroom was so crowded, you couldn't hear a person sitting next to you! I was constantly struggling to hear anything being said. Also, the staff were so extremely busy, with what appeared to us all, was extra duties, while trying to perform diningroom duties, that they didn't have time to ask us if we wanted anything, if our meal was satisfactory, or if we would like tea or coffee with our dessert. Orders were taken quickly, food was thrown at us, like being on an assembly line and I was even told repeatedly, that I could NOT have a tea pot, when I asked for tea. I actually had to argue with diningroom staff, to let them know that I CAN have a pot for hot water and I do NOT have to settle for a cup of hot water. It was impossible to get Earl Gray tea or Jasmine tea. I would get it from the Lido/buffet line and bring it to dinner with me. The first three days I couldn't even get any lemons for my water. One table even commented to me on the last night for dinner that it seemed like a real struggle when I was trying to ask for a tea pot for hot water. The waiter had tried insisting that we ONLY get those for "room service". I had to inform him that I have been cruising for the last couple years, just about once per month and this was the ONLY ship that refused to give me hot water in a pot. He then caved in and got me one. (Why did it take such an ordeal?) One of the best features of a Holland America cruise (for me) is the Tea Time. But, on this ship, it was also part of the assembly-line service. Instead of having a pleasant dining experience, being seated formally and treated with respect, we had to find a seat, at least a half an hour PRIOR to tea time and there was NO choice in the tea we were poured. The tiny bar tables were pre-set with small plates and tea cups that fit only 3 settings, but had four chairs. Needless to say, it was a very uncomfortable experience. I have no idea how the service was for anyone on the 1st tea day, because I was out of luck as to how to get a seat. The other two times that I managed to get a seat, it was rushed, hard to get re-fills of tea, and almost impossible to get a finger sandwich or sweet treat. Staff members were doing the best that they could, but also under staffed and not friendly or concerned with attention to our needs. It felt as though it was part of their forced routine that they were anxious to get over with. On the UP side, I absolutely LOVED my Ocean View!!! And, the band was outstanding. The comedian was great. The string quartet was remarkable. And, as always Metka was a pleasure to bump into and she remembered me from our first cruise in March. Room service was okay, except they found the need to repeatedly call to ask if I had everything (until asked them to STOP calling me, and let me enjoy my food.) And, as always, the room attendants were the best service of any service on the ship. I do not believe I will ever cruise on Holland America again, unless it is a deal that I cannot refuse. Read Less

It was an educational cruise to get ce credit for my dental license. THE SHIP WAS SMALL NOT MUCH TO DO ON THE CRUISE ( IT WAS TO ALASKA ) NO GOOD VENUES ON THE CRUISE WI FI EXPENSIVE AND SPOTTY IN ROOM TV AWFUL BAD BAD FOOD POISONING FROM THE BUFFET ON THE 2ND DAY I LEARNED ANY PACIFIC CRUISES ARE ALWAYS ROCKY ( LEARNED FROM OTHER CRUISERS ON THE SHIP ) I HAD CRUISED TO BERMUDA AND CARIB ONLY IN THE PAST NEVER AGAIN HAL NEVER AGAIN PACIFIC CRUISES ALWAYS DO MUCH MORE RESEARCH ON THE SHIP ( I DIDNT DO THAT ) I WROTE THEM AND THEY OFFERED 300 OFF ANOTHER CRUISE I WILL NEVER SAIL ON HAL AGAIN Be warned the cruise was at the end of august and it was very cold, grey and rainy.....terrible time in so so many ways...also off ship excursions were terribly expensive!!! Read Less

Our intent on this trip was to have a relaxing time on board ship while seeing Alaska. We had been told that Holland America is a notch above the competition, but found that it didn't come close to other cruise lines. We actually had a horrible experience. There was a major problem with the heating and cooling unit in our cabin. They tried 3 times to adjust the temperature, but our room remained hot, making sleep difficult. We would wake up sweating. We asked for a fan, but they said none were available. We repeatedly asked that they fix it but the gal at the desk continued to blow us off, saying they were already in there several times to fix it, as if it was our problem. Finally, with 2 nights left we were both sick, and I insisted we have a fan. Finally our dear housekeeper brought us one which was taken out of an office. Two and a half weeks later we are still sick with a respiratory virus. Also, my husband uses a Cpap machine which has a filter. After 2 weeks on the ship the filter was black. At home he changes it once a month and it's always light gray. That says something about the ventilator. We will never go on Holland America again. Our once in a lifetime trip to Alaska was ruined. We always look forward to the food on a cruise, but we found the dining room meals to be very salty and underwhelming. However, a need for a medically necessary gluten free diet was met by the very conscientious staff. The staff in the dining areas were wonderful. Most of the entertainment we saw was excellent, but there were a couple performers who were crude and disrespectful. If I was grading this cruise experience I would have to give it an F. The positive features couldn't compensate for our horrible cabin experience and our lengthy illness from it. Read Less

I wanted to have an experience of a life time. I did not however. The food was not worthy of a cruise, the entertainment was nill to say the least. the dining room was very dull and not a great place to be. The Lido deck was very uncomfortable, and not open long enough. There was no food for mid nite snacks. Who does an art auction on a cruise? The selection of food was in bad taste. The ship was cold all the time, no heat even in cabins. Although I have to say the staff was very professional. The Hotel (Four Points) was located in the middle of nowhere. No restaurants, no eateries, no shopping, nothing to do in the town.The plane arrangements were in poor taste, I will not ever use this cruise line again. The travel agency or the agent again. I have never had an experience so bad in my life. Read Less

This is my first cruise with HAL, heard some much on their food and services that tempted me to book this cruise. However, this cruise turned out to be a total disappointing experience. The Eurodam, for her age, outward looking good, but the interior as you board doesn't give a feel of you being in the right place for a great holiday. The biggest disappointment come in the main dining room. The first diner menu seems fairly good with wide choices but without the supporting software, ie. soft skill. Also very hard sell on their specialty coffee at the start of the dinner (before taking order or starters) Why do I said so? In all my other cruise experiences, the waiter would come round offering grind pepper with your main course. However with HAL Eurodam, they just leave the main course in front of you and left. Is this being practice across HAL fleetwide? Again on the first night of dinning, with your desert the waiting staff doesn't offer or border to offer the complimentary coffee or tea service. I had to make my way to the Lido to make my tea which is free. This happen again on the second dinner until I had to ask for my after dinner tea from the waiting staff. Breakfast at the dinning room is another experience exposing HAL slacking product and services. Had Soy milk with cereal, however it was insufficient, ask for more from another waiting staff who happen to be passing by. Got a shocking reply, "No, we do not have soy milk" When show the waiting staff the soy milk with the cereal, then was given an answer " will check". On lunch at MDR, one of the menu given as like I was in the economy class of flight it was "either, or" their were 6 people sharing, 4 walk away after looking through the menu. Ending at the Lido which offer more choices. This not what I expected from HAL level of services through their promise seen on advertisement and friends feedback. Activities: - Digital Workshop was totalling non-existence. Throughout the 7 days the place never opened and no activities listed in their daily "Where & When". One area that worth commenting is the cabin stewards, they work so hard to ensure our cabin is clean and tidy daily and always with a big smile. Therefore, if you want a total cruise experience stay away from HAL, as cruising is not only about cabin. Read Less

We chose this cruise to see several ports we had not visited before. Kodiak, Homer and Sitka. My husband was looking forward to fishing for Halibut for 6 hours in Homer. We had a private tour in Kodiak. It was a dream cruise. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and a storm apparently "suddenly" appeared and we did not make port in Homer, Kodiak, Sitka nor did we cruise the Hubbard Glacier. We were told about the storm after we asked a security person when we were getting on board after an excursion in Anchorage. We asked because we had heard another guest talking on her cell about the itinerary being changed. There was no mention of an itinerary change before we left the ship for our day in Anchorage. The ports of Homer, Kodiak, Sitka and cruising the Hubbard Glacier were eliminated . We had two extra days at sea trying to get away from the storm. We never did have noticeable impact from the storm, just some rain. So we ended up in Skagway for a day. Then "cruised the inside passage" for another day. Then stopped in Victoria B.C. from 8 am to 11:30 pm on our last day with no new excursions added just excursion time changes (much too much time in Victoria). I appreciate the "fact" that the Captain was getting the ship out of harm's way but cannot believe he knew nothing of this storm before this and believe we should have been told earlier that there may be a storm coming in and our itinerary might have to be changed. (We did hear rumors of a possible storm from shop keepers in Gridwood and even in Icy Strait several days before Anchorage!) I did see that some ports and cities in Alaska did have high winds and power outages, but do not know the extent of the storm at sea. Did they really have 25ft waves at sea? Our compensation for this cruise was a $50 per person credit to our account and "Future cruise Credit equal to 10% of the base fare paid for this 14-day voyage" to be used within one year. The condition of the poor Maasdam was not good. Several leaks in the Lido and Crow's nest when it rained. Cracked window in the Lido. Other minor issues noted. Several elevators out of service for days. I know she is being sold and therefore it seemed she was not being maintained very well. At least the staff were excellent whether in the dining areas, rooms and front office. Read Less

I purchased jewellery on board, and was given a certificate for 2 years, and it was dated 2015 instead of 2016. I sent it back to be corrected and have had no reply. When I got the jewelry valued in my country there was a huge gap and I had paid much more than would be reasonable. No one from that company will reply to my emails or letters. The jewellry on shore was much more affordable, should have purchased it there. I am taking my concerns to Consumer Affairs now as no-one from Holland America will answer me. The ship is in need of refurbishment, and the entertainment was average. The italian restaurant had great food, but it was a weird venue, just blocked off by some barriers to the noisy main buffet. The cabin crew were amazing. I would not recommend this cruise line to any of my friends, as they are not customer responsive after you have spent your time on their boat. Read Less

Without going into horrible detail, it was the worst ship, accommodations and food I have ever experienced on a cruise. However, the itinerary was wonderful, most of the crew was very good except, they continually spoke to one another in their native language in the dining room and buffet so you never knew if they were laughing/talking about you or their night last night. They did have Windows 10 classes that I attended and very much enjoyed PLUS, the Alaskan talks were wonderful. The cabin was pathetic! NO refrigerator, NO drawers in the desk/makeup area, the carpet was VERY worn.A broken window in the dining room, chairs in the media center that were worn to the wood, curtains that looked like they had NEVER been replaced since 1993! The food was tasteless, a filet mignon that was as big and thick as a silver dollar, fish that was cooked and left in a warming oven for an hour at least, "fresh salsa" right out of the jar in the dinning room even though in the buffet it was always fresh made and on an Alaska cruise NO CRAB! ON and ON and ON. I will never sail on Holland American again. Read Less

They made a very convincing advertisement for their cruise ship. They said it would be relaxing, but it was not. We wanted to relax, so I purchased their Couple's Massage worth $295.00. I knew it was overpriced, but then, I thought it would be indeed relaxing. I was really expecting a really good, relaxing massage , but it turned out to be irritating instead, for all I got was an oil bath. The massager put so much oil, but she couldn't even put pressure on my body without slipping off . Good thing she didn't work on my gluts. ( you know what i mean) Another services I paid for is the Hydro SPA which was good the whole duration of the cruise. I considered the price was reasonable for a week service. But then i didn't get a week of spa. The Steam Room went down and the pool was drained a day before we got back to the last port in Victoria, BC. The worst thing on the cruise was we were not able to see our favorite port excursion in Victoria BC. Our whole life, I and my wife wanted to go and see the Butchart Garden and Butterfly Garden with 1200 butterflies. But the Ship Captain announced that it was too windy the night before. We were so dismayed. What has that have to do with the present time? I felt we were lied to. The Crown Princess was behind us on the whole cruise but was pointed inward, towards port as we bowed down to her, it speedily went by our ship and docked in minutes, Something else was going on. It was one of the most beautiful day. As an Ocean Fisherman in a 22-foot boat , I personally would have sailed out to our ship in a 10-foot aluminum boat. Why? Didn't they have proper paper works? no room to dock at the port? or something else besides weather? To make things worse there was nothing else to do on board but to eat. They added Trivia Activities but there were too many people that they could not all participate. There was nothing else to do and everyone was there! The trip ended up not being relaxing. It was actually stressful that they sure didn't know how to end a cruise.When the ship docked at Seattle,they didn't let us get off ship at 7:30 like i was told, we had relatives waiting for us for an hour..before they let us off and to top it off when i went down to get my new luggage the soot case wheels were torn off and bag was split open .also i went and talked to office about compensation the answer was not going to happen ,may people were very unhappy.So on monday i called guest relations to tell about my experience, they said they would get back to me asap ,nothing called again said they would take care of it still nothing its been a week i know one thing they had high ratings but didnt seem to matter on our cruise. GOOD LUCK Read Less

I have taken two cruises on the Holland America lines and I've come back with the same opinion on both. They sucked. The dinning was lousy, the food was bad and the service was lousy, especially on the Amsterdam. I took this same cruise 10 years ago to, again Alaska, it was the Oosterdam and it was almost as bad. ( My sister wanted to use this cruise line ). The rooms were lousy. They had tubes but the walls of the tubes are so high you really had to watch yourself getting out. The cruise director, this is the person that is supposed to walk around the ship on a daily bases and converse with the passengers to make sure their sailing experience is a good one and make sure there are enough fun activities to keep passengers busy and having fun, was never seen. The waiter at our formal dinning was a total loser. This was an Alaskan cruise so, as in other cruises, we expected Backed Alaska on the last formal dinning night. NOT going to happen. The cruise director usually comes out and introduces the head staff and tells a few funny stories. Nope. Fortunately the trip itself was really great despite the ships poor quality of service and atmosphere. I would suggest either Celebrity, Norwegian, Princess, Royal Caribbean or possibly some other cruise line. Read Less

My main complaints for the Holland America Westerdam to Alaska were: The food was awful and TERRIBLE for anyone who wants to eat healthily or who has food allergies. All the veggies had butter on them (you should use olive oil). The salad and pasta bar were cross-contaminated with cheese - little bits of cheese or dairy were in many items, making it impossible for anyone with dairy allergy. I had ordered several gluten free foods, which occaisionaly were out, but 80% of the time they had no gluten free options, after asking. Twice I ate in Lido, the fancy dining hall, but each time my food came with items I couldn’t eat, despite giving the ship a list of my allergies. The second time, I even said “can I give you my allergy list” and handed it to the waiter, but they didn’t want to see the list, said they had it. I guess they don’t read English. And to boot, very few of the food staff speaks English well enough to have any confidence they understand you. The soy and almond milk was gross as it was packed with sugar. There was also very little variety in the food. The same two cookies were served every night. The food was just a notch above that of a public high school from the 1970s. They used the same, dirty measuring vial for preparing liquors, for every drink - I watched, and they didn't clean it between uses/customers. So anyone with food allergies beware. My food suggestion would be to have one station at all meals that is gluten free, dairy free and vegan. Just have a pot of brown rice or quinoa or millet (NOT made with meat broth like it usually was). Several pots of separate, PLAIN steamed veggies. And several condiments/sauces to choose from. Problem solved for anyone with allergies or who wants to be healthy. In fairness, the staff was very nice and the ship was clean. The room maintenance was good. I would cut the entire entertainment (which was terrible except for the piano bar and violin which were good), and just have a movie night. Would be cheaper to run. The afternoon before, Holland America cancelled the main excursion we were looking forward to. The letter said it was due to a "mechanical" issue. But then the staff said it was because not enough people signed up. So someone from your staff was lying. To boot, the Internet was down that day so we couldn't research third party options. The excursions were a rip off, and WAY too short. Too little time at the ports. Compared to other cruises I have done with other lines, I was disappointed. We also got charged for 3+ items from the mini bar that we didn't use. We didn't use a single item from the mini bar. I guess they were hoping we wouldn't notice. Read Less

All of my friends told me the wonders of Holland America and how great they were...we were excited. Paid a lot of money for a room in the bowels of the ship, lots of noise from the engines but we figured, how much time do you spend in your room anyway? First of all, we paid extra for the thermal room. My neighbor told me it was the best money he ever spent. There was one Jacuzzi and I've been in larger Jacuzzi's in hotel rooms. Worse, the jets didn't have hardly any pressure, I used the room ONCE. Way too much money for that. The buffet was not a serve yourself buffet, it was more like a cafeteria and they were really small on the helpings and they ran out of food all the time. There were hardly any vegetables. They actually put bacon bits on my breakfast place more than once when I asked for bacon, there were no bacon strips only some crumbs left in the pan. The salad bar ran out of lettuce. We had the beverage packages. I was looking forward to starting every day with a mimosa but was not able to get one at breakfast once during the 2 week cruise. No bar beverage servers available. In fact, the only time we got alcoholic beverages in the buffet is when our evening wine steward was working there in the afternoon. The beverage package, even though they threw it in, was not worth the money. I was told about this wonderful midnight chocolate buffet....never happened. The movies they showed were old, some from the 70's. I realize this cruise caters to seniors but we do like seeing more modern movies. The best one they had was the new star wars movie and it was interrupted by the captain once and the cruise director once. No popcorn, after we were promised popcorn. You know, if you aren't going to have it, don't tell us you will. The overall appearance of the cruise was on the cheap. We ordered hamburgers at their hamburger restaurant and were told they were out of fries. This cruise was to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary and we feel a little disappointed. Read Less

I have cruised over 20 times and I chose this ship because it was smaller. I had booked in August, 2015 for my wife and I and she passed away shortly before the trip. I was told that I could not change the travel date but that I could change the passenger only one time complimentary. Shortly after that I called to change the name and was told that they had canceled my wife since she had passed and to add a new name would cost full fare. I argued that I had already paid the double occupancy rate and that this would amount to paying triple occupancy. I paid the fare and sent an email to customer service and received no response. For the cruise itself, very substandard. *The entertainment was like no other I have experienced. It was like watching high school performers. The few professionals that were there were good, the comedian and the magician. *The food was good but not plentiful. The buffets were limited to breakfast, lunch and dinner. There was a taco bar on the Lido deck and if you are used to the extravagant midnight buffet, it is not here. *24 hour room service menu consisted of a hamburger and a couple of other items, I think it was about five with the burger being the only meal. *Most bars were closed during the day unless you were on the Lido deck. *Entertainment during the day at sea was sparse, not like other ships I have been on. Read Less

Took this cruise to Alaska with my adult daughter. It started out bad with lost luggage, grease on my jacket from somewhere on the ship during the lifeboat drill and didn't get any better. It was suggested that I hunt down my own luggage at guest services which is where I found it missing BOTH identification tags. Those airline ID tags on the elastic are impossible to get off without scissors, yet it was gone. Found underwear under the bed that didn't belong to either one of us. We put it in the trash, went out and when we returned we found it folded up nice and neat on the desk. We tried to explain to the cabin steward that they didn't belong to us and to leave them in the trash. Somehow they assumed my daughters bathing suit was also an errant article of clothing. They took the bathing suit bottom but returned it the next day. Weird. As for everything else, mediocre is the only thing that comes to mind. There seemed to be an upcharge for everything. I was turned away from a happy hour in the Crows Nest on the final day because of a private party. The entertainment was underwhelming. The ship was showing its age. Oddly, when water is considered at premium, the gushing showerhead was delightful. Maybe it was because it was the last sailing to Alaska for the year that the crew wasn't that interested service; this made the mandatory daily service charge (per person) somewhat insulting. If it wasn't for the spectacular setting of Alaska I'd have considered this cruise a total bust. I've been on Royal Caribbean and Norwegian and would recommend either over Holland America. Read Less

Never Again on Holland America! My recent trip to Alaska from Seattle on Holland America’s Westerdam, in celebration of my grandson’s 10th birthday, was so disappointing that I will NEVER travel with this line again and I will advise my friends the same. I chose HA as I had traveled with the company before (I am a HAL "Mariner" and have been to Alaska and the Caribbean, albeit on other HA ships) and found both experiences very satisfying. Unfortunately, this was not the case this time! Here are the most glaring, and disappointing, examples of my displeasure with the cruise and the very poor customer service. Ship and Crew: The ship itself was worn and somewhat seedy in places. Our “large inside stateroom” (booked because my daughter gets very seasick and did not to be in an outside room from previous experiences) was small, with a tiny bathroom and peeling wallpaper. I was offered a veranda upgrade before we left, but when my agent went to book it, she was told “everything was gone”. I tried to upgrade on the ship, as I was advised to do, only to be told by a very rude and dismissive officer that they send out “email blasts” on these upgrades and, “sorry, Madam, you were too late”. (By the way, my agent said this had never happened to her as she has booked HA cruises and others before.) When I asked about a clock in the room, he told me to turn on the TV. He was so rude that the woman behind me even remarked on his behavior. The night before we docked in Ketchikan, we stopped by the Excursion Desk to inquire about an excursion for the following day, hoping that places had opened up on the one we wanted to take. When told no, we asked the agent what she might suggest as an alternative for my grandson. She shrugged her shoulders and said “she didn’t have any” and turned away. I think she needs a new position. By the way, we were able to take a tour from a dock-side vendor: $60 less than what HA charged for the same thing. Dining: Three days had gone by before we knew there was a children’s menu in the dining room. One evening, my daughter remarked that she was surprised there wasn’t one with so many children aboard. The waiter, in a dirty, food-stained uniform, said “Oh yes, we have one. You have to ask for it.” WHAT??? It should have been offered to us the first time we sat down! We moved our table to another area and the waiters there could not have been more accommodating; one of the very few nice aspects of the trip. In the Lido buffet, the lines were very LONG, especially at breakfast. My daughter waited nearly 40 minutes for an omelet one morning, prompting us to eat breakfast and dinner in the dining room for the rest of the trip. Wait times at lunch was nearly as bad although most of time we ate from the grill in the Lido. When I asked for coke one morning at breakfast (we had a beverage card), I was told, “sorry, the bar is closed”. The steward was but 5 feet from the door behind the bar; was it so difficult for him to go in and get one? By the way, no one else was there; it wasn’t like he was particularly busy. Ice on board is a precious commodity, apparently. Room stewards were nowhere to be found in the evening after they did their turn-downs. We finally found some, behind a door saying “crew only”. Embarkation: Unfortunately, we left an item in a cab after we left the ship. While admitting that this was clearly our mistake, we tried to contact the ship (we did call the port and the cab company as well ) when we realized the loss to see if by any chance, the item was returned to the port/ship. Yes, it was the weekend (and a holiday one at that) but there was NO ONE at HA to call; the web site advised us to send a fax, which we did and which was NEVER answered. On the Monday after our return, I was able to speak with someone after several transfers. Although she was initially helpful…she called back and said she contacted the port (to no avail) and was “trying to contact the ship”….we never heard anything else. I did purchase traveler’s insurance; hopefully, we will be able to recoup some of the loss. Several things you should know. I am a very seasoned traveler; I have been around the world; to 5 of the continents. I know what to expect from trips. I know “you get what you pay for”; this trip did not even meet the minimal standards of value for cost. Read Less

I've been on 12 HAL cruises. However, never on the Amsterdam. We were in a Neptune Suite #7016. Worst cabin I've ever had. I've been on 38 cruises, with various cruise lines so I know what should and shouldn't be. This cabin shook and the bed shook so bad it was hard to get to sleep. Even the head of guests services came up and agreed and she said it was the way the ship was made. Not only that we were under the pool area and chairs and tables scraped back and forth all day. All my neighbor's could not believe the most expensive had so much noise. Every morning they would wash the upper windows by the pool and all the water would puddle up on our balcony so we couldn't go outside till it dried 4 hours later. OK, so now the food, two words, bland and dry. The horizon court had the same thing everyday. Service was not up to the HAL standard. Needless to say I was very disappointed in this cruise and would never go on the Amsterdam again. Lucky we ate in port everytime. First time I lost weight on a cruise. So sad. Alaska was beautiful as always. Going on Celebrity next year. Read Less

I almost don't know where to start. I set up the cruise thru them directly and told them I would need a room for 4 adults over 65. we were assured the cabin would fit our needs. It did not! One of the beds pulls out of the ceiling over the head of the bed. None of us could manage that crawl in to the shelf. When I brought this to the attention of the front desk ( they have very narrow hours) I was told they were in a meeting and would get back to me. S 2 days into the trip they offered me sleeping accomadations in an unused cabin on the lowest deck for only $900.00 more. We waited 4 hours from our flight into Seattle until we boarded the ship. Most of that standing inline. When we got onboard at last , they closed the buffet and we had not eaten it was 2:30 and they didn't care. time for a lifeboat drill standing on deck in the sun huddled together. then it got worse. From a staff that was hard to find and slow to help, to a 30 minute wait to get a hotdog. The buffet line was not held at proper temp and if it was on land they would be closed down as unsafe. Soups barely warm and they delivered all baked potatoes so cold they would not melt butter. It was a complaint shared by many. This was my Seventh cruise and the first and last with Holland. Read Less

It started when we boarded the ship and lined up for the emergency drill. The Captain screamed for silence!! There was an older gentleman looking for his wife and they threatened to put him off the ship. The ship was old and in need of maintenance, everything had a worn feeling. The food was okay but they closed the buffets 1/2 hour early so if you missed out you only had the option of ordering from a small room service menu and waiting for up to an hour to receive your food. There was one comedian, his act was pretty good but the rest of the entertainment left a lot to be desired. The last day of the cruise my wallet including credit card and $540 was stolen from my state room. I've always wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise and was looking forward to dream vacation - very disappointing. I've been on Carnival Cruise lines and would highly recommend them over Holland America. Read Less