Hub and I booked a balcony cabin rather last-minute -- back surgery on his part necessitated us letting go a steal of a deal on Empress of the Seas and rebooking a different trip. We were looking forward to sailing on HAL again, as we appreciate the relative calm on board (we drop the average cruiser age by 20 years when we embark) and had not been on a Dam ship in four years.
(As background: ...
We've cruised with Holland America at least 4 times and chose them because of their excellent service. This cruise stopped at their private island first, then Grand Turks, Amber Cove and Key West. The service was excellent, as usual, and the food was good. The entertainment, however, was sorely lacking. The first night, there was no show in the main stage area. For 6 nights, the main entertainment ...
Had an awesome cruise, 7 day Caribbean.
ship is from 2002 but renovated in 2017/18
My wife and I have sailed primarily Royal, Celebrity, Princess, NCL, Carnival and my wife Cunard in the past, over 40 cruises.
1900 passengers and 9 decks with lots of elevators.
many were on 2, 3 and 4 week back to back cruises
we are 65 and 68 so almost felt young!!
An older mix, say average age ...
I am missing a single day to become a *** three star mariner with HAL. I crossed the Atlantic twice: once on the Noordam and once on the Koningsdam from and to Civitavecchia, plus three weeks on the New Amsterdam (which is still my favorite vessel in terms of decor and style). Firstly, the ship voyage was often unexplainably rocky - even when there was not particularly rough seas. This made me ...
We chose the Zuiderdam for a romantic, relaxing cruise. We were very disappointed with many things about the Zuiderdam and Holland America as a company. First, let me start by saying the Holland America has some serious operational and procedural issues which need an outside consultant to fix.
Embarkation: You know you are in trouble when getting on the ship is the best thing you can say about ...
We've cruised Royal Carib, Princess, Norwegian, and Carnival in the past. I would put say that the Zuiderdam was better than Carnival and Norwegian, the same as Royal Caribbean, but not quite as nice as princess. We were a party of 6 with 2 rooms. 8111 and 1035. 3 middle aged adults and 3 in their 20s.
The good: The ports were excellent. Not overcrowded and full days at each port. We didn't ...
We did two seven day cruises back to back on the Zuiderdam, coming back to Fort Lauderdale in between. We like Holland America because of the extra large verandas and the fact that their ships aren’t overwhelming. Big enough to offer enough to do but not so big we feel lost in crowds.
We also signed on with Holland America in part because of their offering for America’s Test Kitchen. We ...
Just finishing up our holiday cruise. First time on HAL but have cruised most lines.
The good: room stewards were very good and so was the food.
The Bad: We had a balcony room which was pretty small, buckets around ship to catch leaks, lack of activities on at sea days, nightly entertainment horrendous, sewage smell in a few corridors.
The Ugly: It was our Anniversary, which was noted ...
Hi there. It’s January, and I’m back home in Michigan. We are all snowed in today so I’m finally going back to submit my review for my holiday cruise. Most of which I typed while I was on the ship, and some I filled in just now. (So please excuse my mixed tenses!) Here it is:
ROOMS:
It’s 4:24 a.m. and I'm on the ship, on Christmas Eve morning, actually. I’ve been thinking about it ...
The cruise to the Western Caribbean was great. We were on board for Christmas and New Years. We paid in full for this cruise in Early September but did not get a room assignment until a week before we embarked. We signed up for Club Orange with the promise of a room upgrade (instead of a ocean view room we got an obstructed view room), I would not recommend spending the extra money ...