Holland America provided the very worst guest experience of any cruise line we have sailed with (Carnival, Celebrity and Princess). There is something strange going on with the Eurodam's management. We can't quite put our fingers on it, but the onboard staff are indifferent and disconnected. They are mostly flat and expressionless. With rare exception (the lovely married couple on the Ocean level), the Eurodam team appears to be largely unconcerned for guest comfort and satisfaction. Why is this not PRIORITY #1? And why are the staff so miserable?? Many told us they couldn't wait to get off the ship! We realize the ship is older and doesn't have all the bells and whistles that more modern ships have. However, we feel this can be overcome with creative programming and bright smiles. The Bon Voyage party, for example, was nothing more than a fruity drink. No live music, no streamers, no attempt to excite and impress incoming guests. Our first dinner took almost 3-hours. Breakfast in the dining room was blah and the service veeerrry slow. Eventually, we gave up on the dining room and opted for the Lido buffet but the offerings were repetitive and predictable with no pride in presentation or service. The seared Ahi salad was especially awful, bits of fishy, over-cooked, cold, brown chunks of chewy yuckiness. But most importantly, where are the smiles Eurodam?? We learned that the front desk and room service phones are automatically routed to an answering system/recording. Many times we were on hold for ages or received no answer at all. Requests for ice service in the cabin went unaswered multiple times. A quesadilla and chicken soup arrived cold, greasy and over salted to the point of being inedible. Similarly, we sat on the Lido Deck one afternoon for over an hour before anyone approached us to ask if we needed anything. And we gave plenty of indication that we DID want assistance - by making eye contact, waving a hand in the air, etc. Disembarkation was terribly disappointing. How about a thank you? A kind word or gesture? You know a vacation has been a total failure when you can't wait for it to be over. Instead of dying to travel with Holland America again, we feel ripped off, used and in need of a true getaway experience. The guests are so bored out of their minds with nothing to do for 3-days at sea besides drink and gamble. This makes for a rather poor cruise. Get creative with programming - poolside games, guest competitions, more interactive education programming that's not a constant pounding of buy this. And buy this. And buy this too. Same goes for the daily publications. They read more like an obituary than a daily schedule of offerings. But with no fun going on, lack of creativity and failure to focus on THE GUEST EXPERIENCE, it is hard to make the onslaught of sales flyers exciting too. Will not return. And we got overcharged for several items that we now get to spend the next few days on the phone correcting. Extremely unhappy are we! We have already shared our experience with our travel agent and fully intend to post these same comments across multiple online media outlets. Yes, that's how strongly we feel about the whole Holland America cruise experience. Very, very bad indeed. Read Less

I only chose this cruise because it left from my home town so no planes or hotels required. It was something I wanted to try ever since we moved to San Diego in 2015. Husband didn't want to go so a friend went instead. I had been on one HAL cruise a few years ago, and several other cruises before that over the years. My mom had cruised extensively and was a 4 star Mariner. I went on her last cruise on the Noordam five years ago and she would have been appalled at the decline on this line. Service appeared to be at classic cruise levels, but much of that was just on the surface. Almost all the staff were polite and responsive, but there were definite comprehension problems. If your request or question was anything outside the norm, staff often seemed confused. The room was cleaned every day but dirty dishes were not removed if not on a room service tray. Wine glasses were not replaced towards the end of the week. The chef parade at the end of the second gala night was really a joke. We went to tea - the little sandwiches and pastries were good. I don't really drink tea but if I was a serious tea drinker, might not have liked the one kind of tea being poured from a pitcher rather than brewed to order. The other food experience I did enjoy was the Chocolate Surprise, as it was described in the program. It was on formal night and turned out to be waiters ranging all over deck two starting at 9:45 pm with mini chocolate desserts. I guess this replaced any kind of midnight buffet or the dessert buffet we had on the Noordam several years ago. Food in the dining room ranged from decent to mediocre to sometimes inedible. Service was slow. The food on the second gala night was so bad that my friend agreed to go to Tamarind on the last night. That was an excellent meal and a lovely venue (but also somewhat slow service). Lido food was OK and we did not have much trouble with lines, and also were able to find a table. Dessert selections sometimes ran low toward the end of lunch service. At one point I waited with a woman who had asked a staff member to check for something that was out; we both gave up after waiting 10 minutes when no one cake back. Mario the cruise director was the least dynamic cruise director I've ever seen. He certainly didn't drum up any excitement! The main stage entertainment was very dated and could have been performed 30 years ago. The Music Walk was great. Loved the piano bar duo Jonathan and Damien, and my friend was very impressed with the BB King group. Other than that, onboard activities were -as I noted - underwhelming. I went to the flower arranging and even the guy doing it didn't seem too interested. I did very much enjoy the art tours given by Claudia, the assistant art director. They no longer have the self guided iPod tours available, but she was very informative. I only wish more of the art could have been included. The shops were uninteresting. We went on three shore excursions which were pretty much fun. We did the Catamaran Sail and Snorkel in Cabo, the Salsa & Salsa in Mazatlan (best of the three), and Las Caletas day trip in Puerto Vallarta. We were very unhappy at the end of Las Caletas where we were returned to an area that wasn't where we were picked up and then basically sped out of the way with no explanation of how to get back to the ship. Other than the taxis waiting to do it for $5. Turned out to be a 20 minute walk on the hot, very busy street. When we went to the EXC desk to discuss, we were essentially dismissed without any feeling that she had any empathy or sympathy. The public spaces were all attractive. The Tamarind Bar was the most elegant but never had much business, possibly because it was so out of the way. I may or may not cruise again, but never on HAL. Nothing really went wrong, but there was nothing to recommend a repeat. Read Less

This was my first time on the Eurodam but I am a veteran 3 star HAL cruiser. I liked the additional amenities available especially the Tamarind restaurant. I ate there two nights as well as once at the Canaletto and one dinner and two lunches at the Pinnacle Grill. The main dining room service was slow and uneven, especially at breakfast. the Lido food is good but I don't like the crowds and waiting in line. The DiveIn hotdog and hamburger place has good food, especially the seasoned fries. I tried the pizza place once and did not care for it, thin crust with thinner toppings. I enjoyed the MainStage entertainment but as always the room is cold and the amplification is too high for my taste. I like the singing and dancing shows as the kids have a lot of talent and work hard. I never go to the comedians. I attended the Billboard two piano bar for the Beatles night, BB King Blues two nights and the Lincoln Center Stage three times. I love classical music and the players were OK. I don't take excursions so I cannot comment on those. As usual disembarkation is the most difficult and needs the most work. Trying to funnel 2000 people through one door with two security card machines is difficult. Each time it seems HAL gets better at managing the lines but what a pain. I wait in my cabin until my color/number is called then wait a bit more hoping the line will get down but somehow it never does. I don't have an answer for this problem except to use more personnel and a second exit which may not be possible. Read Less

We love going to the Mexican Riviera and when we found we would be in Pasadena for our son's show there (we live in Northern California), we asked our travel agent to find us a cruise leaving out of a port down there on a Sunday to the Mexican Riviera. (We love the shopping in Mazatlan!). So, we booked a cruise on the Eurodam starting October 21 out of San Diego. We even booked a San Diego hotel for the return so we could do some sight seeing there. Well, we found out as we were getting our sea cards in the terminal that there had been a "significant change in itinerary" and they gave us a form that told us we would instead be going to San Francisco for an overnight (we had been there 2 wks prior and are going in another 2 wks, plus I was born and raised there, didn't get off ship), then to San Pedro (really? Only good for the Battleship Iowa, I walked over there to get photos, that's it), Avalon/Santa Catalina (been there done that) and, finally, Ensenada (hadn't been by choice for 20 years, got off and got back to ship in an hour). The ship was fine, the food was delicious, but we lost out on two sea days (so did the ship - think about it, drinks, gambling, shopping, none of that), we love eating lunch in the dining room, but that was only for Sunday and Monday, that was it. Great storage in our Balcony ("Verandah") stateroom. Bring a flashlight if you want to put clothes on the shelves, it's very dark there! Or use the drawers under the bed, we found those WAY too late! Food was delicious, service in the dining room AND the Lido was impeccable. I liked the way they served the food at the buffet, very little was self service, servers served most all the food. Billboard was fun, BB King's had a dance night that was fun. America's Test Kitchen was informative, learned a lot. The Digital Workshops were WONDERFUL! Can't wait to try everything we learned there now that we are home! Yes, we WILL go again, we are looking at the end of January hoping we will be out of hurricane season then! We hadn't booked any excursions in Mexico, since we'd done all we wanted on prior cruises, and we didn't book any new ones in the "new" ports. One thing that we did find out from Canadians who had sailed from Vancouver, they were told Saturday night about the change in itinerary -- why didn't HAL tell all the guests coming on Sunday about it? Probably for fear they'd cancel and want refunds - and rightfully so -- but, still. We didn't like the change in itinerary at all, period. We know weather was the factor, and we realize HAL couldn't do anything about that, but to save the information when it's literally too late, that wasn't quite ethical, we thought. Also, watch out for the Photography folks. We wanted to find out when and where the formal photos would be taken on the first photo night. Instead, the photographer suggested we try a black and white photo. What he didn't tell us was that it was a 15 minute session with a professional that produced nearly $2000 in photos! We ended up paying $450 for three photos. We were not happy we were upsold in such a distasteful way. We have told HAL this in our review, too. Read Less

This cruise was a big let down in almost every area. The food in the lido cafeteria was extremely poor. The food was tasteless and always cold. The service was slow with long lines. The dining room was just as bad. It took us 2 hours for a simple meal and dessert. We ordered wine and an appetizer and never received the wine until the dessert arrived. There was not much variety of entertainment on the ship or in the lounges. BB Kings and the piano bar were ok but it was the same for 11 nights (never changed). The long lines and waits for food shows what the service was like. The ship was clean and public areas were well maintained. Our cabin was what we expected and service was good. Our itinerary was changed due to weather so we visited ports we had already been to so we didn’t do many shore excursions. Of all the lines we have cruised with, HAL has been the worst. I would not recommend this line as one to use. Many others give you more for your vacation dollar. This was our second cruise with HAL but the last for sure! Read Less

My wife and I have been HAL mariners for 9 years, taking an average of two cruises per year. For the last 3 years we have noticed a steep decline in overall service and are seriously considering cutting all ties with HAL. Our last cruise to Hawaii on the Eurodam, was a final confirmation of declining service. The entertainment such as the country kitchen, had only a half dozen new shows for a sixteen day cruise and most of those days were at sea. This means repeating the same shows multiple times. The food in the Lido was boring and repetitive with few quality dishes being served, while the stations serving pasta and breakfast specialties were manned by improperly trained staff and resulted in long lines and waiting times. The majority of the staff continue to be friendly and helpful, but it is apparent that they are understaffed and overworked. I have never questioned the daily gratuities until now. I now believe that the gratuities are too high for the services rendered. I have contacted HAL after each cruise and shared my concerns but they do not respond in any way. They seem to be pinching pennies by reducing the quality of the service provided to their customers and hiring fewer staff. Their idea of improving your experience is to hire Oprah Winfrey and cut incentives such as payed gratuities. This is a corporate move because we have been on multiple ships and our experience was the same on each ship. I will no longer recommend HAL to anyone and have already canceled our cruise that we had booked for February 2019. Even our relationship with our booking agent at HAL, who we have dealt with since day one and consider a friend, has suffered. Read Less

When I was 17 I did a road trip from British Columbia to Southern Alaska. It was the best trip I had ever been on. The scenery, the wildlife, and the splendor of it all took my breath away. I did not think anything could top that experience. Then I booked with Holland America and the adventure was better than I remembered. Embarkation. You are given an assigned time to arrive at the port in Seattle. Ours was 1pm so like all good travelers we arrived at 11:45. I did think it would take us longer to get there but this was fine. Having cruised four previous times I knew what to expect. Hurry and wait to drop off luggage, hurry up to wait in line to pass through security, hurry up to get in line to check in, wait for a few hours in a waiting room. Take the eternal walk to get on board, go to Lido deck and eat for four hours and then go to room to wait for your luggage. Yeah, I have played this game before and this time...was an exception. We dropped off our luggage straight away, no line at all. Then we went to security and... no line at all, got in line to check in and get our key. That took forever at about 3 to 5 minutes to get up there and 3 to 5 minutes to get processed. The they gave us free cookies and water which I had to eat while walking on to the ship. Wait did I skip the waiting room part? Oh, wait there was none, we got our key and went on board. 20 minutes after getting out of the Uber we were on the ship. On the ship an elevator was standing by and we were directed to the buff... wait not the buffet but our stateroom. It was 1215 and we were walking to our ready stateroom. We met our cabin steward and sat down wondering...what do we do now. Well first we unpack. Our luggage arrived 5 minutes after we did. Then we went to the buffet to eat some of the best meals at sea. The Cabin Standard industry sized veranda with a 45-inch TV. So, we could watch it and enjoy it. It was loaded with some great new and a little older movies and live TV. The bed was firm and comfortable. There was a bathtub but for a 6'2" guy it was a bit tight and smaller than what is at home. The linens and fluffy stuff was soft and nice. There were plenty of outlets and enough closet space for our clothes, shoes and Jacket. On our way up the weather was rocky but we love that because it helps us sleep. The rocking was gentle and not jolting at all. The veranda came with the usual appointments and was the same size as other ships. The Food The food was a cut above. There was a unique combination of standard fair, fancy, and really fancy. It was all well prepared and very good. Even the Buffet which can many times get stale and feel second rate was fresh and changing. The pizza was worth the wait and was delicious. Tea time at 3pm was amazing with many pastry's and other delicious snacks. Also, the chocolate event on deck two was a blast. Entertainment Was sparse. Almost every day we were in some port or some location so the need to entertain people on board with exciting activities was less. Not to mention it is a senor crowd and that limits the options available of activities to do. The activities there are, are very enriching, fun, and amazing. I was never bored but very relaxed. The wine tasting, bar hop, mixology class, etc were fantastic. The jewel of the trip was the orchestra that played classical music every night and the jazz club that got people dancing and singing till late in the night. The piano bars were very nice as well and a lot of fun to be in. Glacier Bay The benefit of a veranda, when it is 45 F outside is that between great shots and scenery is you watch movies in you cabin. The balcony offered timeless views and warmth. Whale watching, glacier and wilderness tour in Juneau This was a great investment. We had the wonderful captain Buck who found us orcas and humpbacks. Also provided insight into the local history along the way. The Glacier was amazing and awe inspiring to look at. We saw other amazing scenery of the area and it was a wonderful day. The Towns All the towns had the requisite tourist shops that you see on any other cruise ever. Juneau being the capital had interesting history and nature, especially the mines. Sitka had an old Russian Church and stores. Kechihan was the most interesting town with Creek St houses (brothels) being a very interesting history, as well as the totem poles and other sights to see. At the port BE ON TIME. They tell you be back at 12:30 PM. They must leave at that time to make it to Victoria on time. We saw 5 people get to the dock after the gang plank was removed and we were sailing away. A missed boat can cost you between $1,500 to $2,000 in extra costs. Did not get off at Victoria. just not enough time and you arrive at 7PM leave at 11:30 PM. The Ship The ship with its covered pool, fantastic fitness room, great food, and super staff was the best I had ever been on. I do look forward to going back, maybe to the Mexican Riviera. Tip: If you go on a cruise at the end of the season, the clearance sails are superb. I got a very nice coat for $15, and other items were 75%$ off. Jewelry related to Alaska was also super discounted (This was true onshore as well). Disembarkation Was as fast as embarkation, we left at 8:50 AM and was in the Uber at 9:10 AM Read Less

His was our fifth Cruise. We have been on large ships. Eurodam was the best. The food was incredible and the size of the ship made it relaxing and it wasn't crazy with a bunch of drinking or too many little children running around. We had 10 people in our group ranging from age 24 to 81. I highly recommend the Eurodam. Of all the cruises I've been on they had the highest quality of food. What a wonderful time. I would definitely go on the Eurodam again! The entire experience was so fantastic! Holland America is such a relaxing cruise line. I am 64. Loved Alaska cruise. Did a zipline on shore 100 feet plus above ground. Fun!!! Being up on the deck for 5 hours while the cruise ship was in one spot slowly turning around giving us a panoramic view of the glaciers. I really recommend Holland America and the Eurodam. Read Less

I really enjoyed the musical entertainment on board; also enjoyed cooking classes, lectures, library, swimming pools and hot tubs. The food was pretty good especially the dining room where you dress up to go to dinner. The lido deck diner was convenient but often the food was cold so it was only good for a sandwhich, cold cereal, or dessert. I found the staff to be very friendly and personable; especially the guys who cleaned our cabin. We were in room 5013 and the guys were so good to remember our names and bring anything we needed. Some of the things I didn't like was how tiny and cramped our room was. I traveled with my mom and brother so we shared a state room. It said online that a state room can comfortably hold 3 adults but that wasn't true. The room had 2 twin beds and then a flimsy hide-away bed in the couch. The hide-away bed wan't very comfortable but the twin beds were good. Overall my experience was a positive one and I will sail with Eurodam again if given the opportunity. Read Less

Dining - Lido is standard buffet style, always good, sometimes great. Loved the fact that they handle most of the food for you. Embarkation - Very easy, we were in our room within 30 minutes of starting the process. Music - the piano players were pretty good, it was always packed when we were down there. BB King club was a little past my bedtime, so we ended up walking by it on the way to bed, but what we heard was good. Loved the Lincoln Center musicians. Excursions - we only did one, in Juneau. We did the Mendenhall River Float, and it was amazing. We had Carolina as our guide, and she was extremely knowledgeable about the area, and kept a smile on her face the whole time she was rowing. The river float does go past some houses, but it didn't detract at all from the experience, as the guide was able to pass along information about the housing, and how development has impacted the river, and how the river is taking it back a little at a time. Cabin - We were in 6053, and it was a great location. The cabin was clean, well set up, and our stewards were on the spot. Thermal suite pass - worth EVERY penny. One time there were 3 other people in it with us, otherwise it was just the 2 of us. We were able to relax and recharge, use the ceramic heated loungers, and could have spent the whole cruise in there. Disembarkation - worst part of the cruise. It was slow, and I don't stand in lines well. Thank goodness my luggage is bright orange, as we were able to pick it out easily once in the terminal. Read Less