This was our first time on a Holland America Ship. We have done many cruises with Princess, Norwegian, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean and wanted to try Holland.
The Westerdam is a nice ship. It is kept clean and neat except for perhaps the windows. I never saw any being cleaned. Our mini-suite was clean and neat and kept that way. The Room steward was invisible. We really only saw him once. The ...
Right up front - the best part of this cruise was the crew members we met. Each was pleasant, accommodating and prepared to find a way to say yes. Several greeted us by name. One in particular, a young woman from whom I got coffee each morning, delighted in guessing what I would order each day. The standard answer to our "How are you" seemed to be "Excellent," which may or may not have been true. ...
We live near Vancouver, BC so enjoy the coastal repo cruises. After several on Princess, we tried HAL on a 3-night from Vancouver to San Francisco. Our timing was poor! A record-breaking early fall storm produced tropical-storm force winds and 25 foot seas. Here are grades and explanations for what we experienced on the m.s.Zuiderdam:
SHIP: B+. This is a beautiful, elegant ship with fascinating ...
There were four of us traveling on this 4 day trip from Vancouver BC to San Diego aboard the Zaandam. Not really a reposition cruise, but more a filler for a longer cruise to Hawaii. I had read the reviews prior regarding all the problems coming from Mexico and hoped all was done by the time we set sail. For the most part it was. They replaced our curtains and bedding while we were out so no ...
We were part of a 70-person group who were celebrating a member's 80th Birthday, and came up by bus from Seattle to Vancouver to do the Westerdam quickie 1-nighter from Vancouver back to Seattle (on it's last leg of a re-positioning Panama Canal cruise), with the knowledge that this would be just a very brief experience. Unfortunately, the ship's arrival in Vancouver was delayed by about 11 ...
Left Over cruising means you get a great deal because you are joining in on the last sector or more than one sector of a continuation of a cruise.
800 passengers left the Zuiderdam in San Diego on May 8th. Those that boarded there, I felt like, we intruded on their last leg of their cruise. Many Canadians and British were on board and settled into their daily routine of onboard life when in ...
This 4-day reposition down the Western US coast was the least satisfying HAL cruise we've ever taken.
The atmosphere aboard was truly uninspired. In fact, it seemed as if this short sailing was a Blow Off. The entire crew seemed distracted and disengaged, unlike most crews we've had on other HAL ships. Were they exhausted from the just-finished Alaska season? Were they focused on making the ...
This repositioning cruise from Vancouver to San Diego was the first cruise after the Oosterdam was in drydock during the last week of September. We flew into Seattle the day before and took the Amtrak Cascades train to Vancouver, rode the public transportation Skytrain from the train station to the pier, all of which worked great and I would highly recommend. We even walked a couple of blocks ...
I have not sailed on Holland America before. It is a much larger ship than I am used to, but quite manageable in a short period of time.
I will not discuss the port cities in this review, although they were wonderful. I will save those comments for individual reviews.
We had three nights in Quebec City at the Auberge St. Antoine which was a delight. We took the 2 and 1/2 hour carriage ...
We recently booked a cruise aboard the Oosterdam traveling from Vancouver to San Diego - a 4 day re-positioning cruise. It was our first cruise celebrating our anniversary. From the moment we boarded the Oosterdam to the time we departed in San Diego we met with the friendliest, hospitable, dynamic and outgoing staff who gave 100% to making sure we were comfortable and well looked after. It ...