We have been on many Holland America cruises, but this one by far was the absolute worst ever. Unbeknown to us, they had a large group on the ship, approximately 1000 people, that were catered to, given the prime dining time in the dining room, and left the rest of us to either dine at 5:30 or go to the Lido buffet. I do not eat at 5:30, and apparently a lot of the "special group" decided they did not want to eat at 8:00; therefore, leaving hoards of people trying to dine at the Lido buffet. It was absolutely ridiculous. When complaints were made, it was merely, "sorry, nothing we can do". Holland America never notified us of the large group, or the fact that we were no longer allowed open seating for the dining room.

The upper level staff were very blasé when questioned about anything. The room stewards, and the Lido staff were great. I can't tell you about the dining room staff, never saw any since we didn't ever go there! Again, don't eat at 5:30.

When complaining to the Neptune concierge, it appeared to fall on deaf ears since no response was ever made, even though we were told we would be contacted. Read more