The good - Our room stewards, our waiter and wine steward and most of the folks in the Lido especially Jen and "the Sandman." The cleanest of all 4 ships we have sailed on with HAL -and the crew was the fussiest about it especially in the LIDO.
The best - cruise director Bruce, the Captain, Luisa in Guest services. Jim and Charles were 2 of the best lecturers we have encountered cruising ...
That was our second cruise with Holland America, out of tens of cruises with 10+ cruise companies over the last 20 years or so. First Holland America cruise was aboard the Maasdam, years ago, and it was a pleasant experience. We choosed this second one based upon our prior experience and because we wanted a cruise back home, from US, along South America's Pacific coast - the 34-day San Diego to ...
This cruise offered me an opportunity to explore some locations that I would not be able to travel to on my own.
I hear that this ship is going in to dry dock to have an update. It is a good thing because it coud use a little face lift.
My cabin was fine but the heat did not work as well as other boats I have been in, the sink kept dripping but all in all they kept the cabin ...
i needed a short dcruise to be able to go to a family wedding, this was the winner. i did the full 37 day cruise last year and didn't mind the 22 day shorter segment.i am a loyal mariner and find a lack of respect by HAL for these people. for the past few years there has never been a mariners cocktail party to meet the crew and captain.i can buy my own drink it's just the thought that they care ...
I liked this itinerary and that's why I chose this cruise. The crew was excellent, as usual, but the HAL ships are falling behind the marketplace. Last year I took six cruise lines in 12 months to check out the state of the art in the industry. Lines cruised were HAL, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Disney, and Carnival. I have also recently cruised on Celebrity. Holland America appeals ...
I had not sailed this portion of coast north of Valpraiso. This trip from San Diego to Valpraiso was changed or diverted from Valprqiso to San Antonio two weeks before us all being willing to npay for decent food by going to a sailing. Many of us had prepaid car and hotel reservations in or near Valpraiso that were non refundable. We spent $150 USD getting backce t way.o our hotel and rental car ...
Hadn't cruised since last fall and the So. American ports was something new and the e-mailed price was very good.
Much of the HAL experience is excellent as always. Dining Room, Cabin Stewards and Bar staff do a great job.
Am a 4 star mariner with HAL and have witnessed a continual reduction of standards. Evening dinning menu choices were just OK. Number of options have been reduced a good ...
We chose this ship because of the smaller size and weren’t disappointed. Superior service from all departments, everyone was so friendly. Great food! We took advantage of all the dining venues on offer and enjoyed the variety, we found the dining staff always ready and able to accommodate special requests. Room service was speedy and accurate. Love the lemonade in the buffet. Balcony cabin ...
The Zaandam lived up to our four star mariner expectations clean, we'll run, great food, no sickness in 38 days, much better entertainment than in the past, the best staff in the world from captain to cabin boy. Good itinery of places that are hard to get to except at great expense making this very good value for money. Sea day activities were lacking especially to those who are regular holland ...
60++ cruises so I have been there done that to include many Holland America Cruises.
I found this Zaandam experience to be perhaps the worst of all my Holland America cruises. It simply is not up to par. There are no huge differences but multiple small things that overall add up to a lot of disappointments. Sadly many of the small shortcomings could seemingly be fixed at little or no cost but ...