My wife & I returned a few weeks ago from an excellent 11 night cruise on the Noordam. Normally I wouldn't submit reviews, but after reading a few of the other Noordam reviews on Cruise Critic I feel I have to add my opinion as I cannot believe that some of the recent reviews are genuine.

We have no other ship to compare the Noordam against being first-timers, but we were blown away by practically everything we experienced on the cruise.

The crew - everybody we dealt with were very pleasant and couldn't do enough to make our trip enjoyable. This includes the cabin attendants(?), our waiter(s) for our fixed seating in the MDR, and also the various bar staff many who became good friends by the end of the second day. A recent reviewer complained about the 'compulsory' tip that is added to your bill saying that they weren't aware that this would be charged, I find this hard to believe as it is made very clear on the Holland America website and also on my documentation. Also made clear is the option to remove/reduce this element from your invoice right up until the last night - so what's the problem. Read more