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Rome (Civitavecchia)

We choose this cruise due to the ports and sites it covered. We were not disappointed! Although a couple of the ports we wanted to sail to were exchanged, we were not unhappy with the changes. The boarding and disembarkation were perfect. We learnt a lot from excellent conferences. The food and entertainment were par for what we xpected from this great cruise line. Our cabin stewards cabin 2572 were excellent. We noticed less staff around the dining area and at the Lido, but the service provided and the attitude of the staff was commendable. I got infected with Covid in the middle of the 71 day cruise, luckily the ports I missed were some of the ones we had visited in one of our world cruises. Still, not a great experience. The room service staff was great during that 7 day stretch. My only complain was that after taking so many precautions I still got infected, and after the first half I noticed how so many passengers preferred not to wear masks and many disregarded washing their hands when going to dinner or at the Lido. As a physician and after getting Covid being older and diabetic,  that was not acceptable to me. Since most followed and took precautions during the first half, maybe the new arrivals after South Africa were not as strict, and yes, the cruise atmosphere seem less formal in that second half. Anyway, we enjoyed our cruise immensely.

Interesting ports, great service, good entertainment, outstanding conference.

Ilulissat

This was our fifth sailing with Holland America line and, until this cruise, we always found the ships to be above par with excellent service and food.  Granted it has been two years since our last Holland America sailing...but the decline was extremely evident.  

We boarded the ship and were allowed to immediately go to our stateroom.  The non smoking room reeked so of cigarette smoke we could barely call the front desk without coughing.  We were informed that a "deep cleaning" would be performed and left the room.  Two hours later, the room was in the same condition and we again called the front desk - within 10 minutes an ozone generator was at the door and we again had to leave our room for two hours.  When we returned, the room smelled of ozone but the smoke smell was gone...BTW, the window of our room did not open so we could not dispel the ozone smell.  The front desk did send us a small plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a note for the inconvenience...and this was the only time we received a towel sculpture the entire trip. 

As we unpacked, we noted the overall cleanliness of the room...or lack of it.  Dust was accumulated on most flat surfaces and the cleaning crew had left several long black hairs in the tub.  We would later find one of our blankets was stained with some white bodily discharge - enough said about that.  

Our room steward was a pleasant person who was managing 27 rooms - they used to manage 12.  It was a wonder that our room was serviced every day with that amount of work.  We tipped generously every day and always received a smile and a thank you.  

The overall condition of this ship was quite poor.  As other reviewers have noted, the carpet and some of the furnishing are old and have not been well maintained.  We noted a significant problem with the plumbing as several public restrooms were "Out of Service" for most of the trip.  One night, only one of the three ladies rooms near the main restaurant was available and by the third day, out cabin was unavailable for several hours as a plumbing issue in the room below ours was serviced.

The food and service in the main dining room was sporadic.  The first night service was a little slow but the food was delightful.  Night two it took about 30 minutes to order and about 30 minutes between each of the three courses.  Most of the food was cool to cold by the time it reached us.  This continued throughout the trip - delightful to terrible service...wonderful to inedible food.  One night we went down to the Lido Deck buffet after dinner as most of the food in the main restaurant was sent back after one taste.  We are not "foodies" but when a brisket is not cut cross grain - it becomes extremely tough and simply cannot be chewed...and baked alaskan with raw meringue is not acceptable.

Enough said...Holland America will not be seeing us for a while.  We will wait until conditions have improved and will, in the meantime, move on to another cruise line.

Zaandam Depressing...

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