Living in Florida, we cruise a lot. And mostly on the mass market lines. For this cruise, we decided to return to Holland America after a number of years. We've always appreciated their low key atmosphere, gracious service and better cuisine. Based on our expectations, we were disappointed with this cruise.
EMBARKATION
The ship was coming off of one week in the yard. When we arrived at the terminal, we were given notice that embarkation would not begin until 2 PM. The notice said we were told about this in an e-mail over a month prior to sailing. This was news to us. Having several hours to kill, and living nearby, we went home. I went on the web and looked. What we had received was a notice of unspecified change referencing a web link. Going to the web link, one had to look long and hard to find the reference to delayed embarkation. To me, better customer service would have been to send a simple e-mail - and a reminder closer to sailing.
Convenient location. Great balcony. Tired interior furnishings.