I relied on HAL's reputation for excellent food and service and it's reputation for activities for adults and entertainment on previous very long cruises. This cruise was 35 days long, with many, many sea days. I was soon disillusioned.
The food was almost always served lukewarm and , for example, never was the toast at breakfast in the dining room served even remotely warm. Frequently, ...
First cruise on Holland America but 20th cruise overall. Wanted to see the Panama Canal and we selected Zuiderdam. I have avoided HAL for years and confirmed that this is not the cruise line for me.
Embarkation went very smoothly in Ft. Lauderdale. Ship is older and smaller than what we have sailed on recently but it is in very good condition. The ship has three sets of elevators where ...
We chose this ship because we are not into mega ships and had been wanting to do the Panama Canal. This delivered so much more than expected. The food was excellent, the service superb. Lectures were interesting and helpful, and entertainment was wonderful. Lincoln Center Stage was a highlight, BB Kings was fun, and I enjoyed watching a movie on the Mainstage.
The OV cabin was well ...
Panama Canal was the reason we chose this cruise....I found it very acceptable for an older ship....We stayed in an outside cabin...of course, smaller cabin but was sufficient...room stewards were very good as were our dining room waiters...Food was very good..the entertainment in BB Kings lounge and Billboard Lounge was absolutely wonderful...Now the negative .....we took a shore excursion in ...
My wife and I had been planning this cruise for several years to celebrate our 43rd wedding anniversary as well as her completing her PhD.
We had booked an ocean view cabin on Deck #1. We did not find out until out first night that we had a cabin under the B.B.King nightclub! Could someone please explain to me why a cruise line would put passengers in a cabin under a noisy night club!
We ...
We've been on about 5 cruises with HAL because we feel they offer good value for the price as well as good service, food and itineraries. This time we were very disappointed in our cabin which was supposed to be only partially obstructed but turned out to be fully obstructed by machinery and a tender boat. We were also very disappointed with the food quality which we would rate mediocre at best. ...
Sailing the Baltics was on my bucket list. The ports were what was expected. The meals onboard certainly was not. Have been on HAL before on an Alaska cruise 4 years ago.
Ship was docked quite far away from the city center in Helsinki and Stockholm. There was a free transfer to town in Stockholm but none in Helsinki.
Dining - We dined in the Main dining almost every night as we like to ...
This was our second cruise on the Zuiderdam. This ship introduced us to Holland America ten years ago and left us with a very favorable view of the cruise line. This was our fifth cruise on Holland America with the last one being three years ago on the Eurodam Baltic Sea St Petersburg itinerary. We selected this cruise due to its low price based on lowest category Interior Guaranteed rate. We ...
Purely for the ports...
If you are sailing out of Denmark, beware of the extremely high costs during high season in Copenhagen prior to sailing!!
Loved Scotland & Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Estonia and Finland.
Russia was good booking 2 HAL tours.
The easy 3 hour tour day two, was wonderful.
The 1 day tour with 5 hours on you own... a good way to experience the sights in your own as ...