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, ...
Background: Nov 2021 we went on our second HAL1 week Mexican Rivera cruise on the Koningsdam from San Diego. Fun, high energy good cruise. Would repeat.
In June 2015 we were on our first Holland America cruise on the Zuiderdam for 33 days: 29 ports, 13 countries from Barcelona to Rome. Inside cabin. We had a wonderful time with the ports, fellow cruisers, food, music etc. we would ...
Holland America Zuiderdam 27th February 2022
Reviews are tricky at the moment as the Covid story still affects everything and some criticisms are because of this but I have ignored all Covid excuses in the write up. The cruise was from San Diego to Hawaii then on to French Polynesia then San Diego; 35 days with about half at sea.
Being met at airport; getting into hotel; transfer to ship; ...
Wonderful cruise with full COVID protocols. The customer service was extraordinary. I believe there was one crew member for every passenger. The crew was so happy to have us on board, they went out of their way to meet our every need. Never waited in line or struggled to find a table in the Lido or a chair on the pool deck.
Testing in the terminal prior to embarkation went smoothly. We ...
We recieved the best service ever on a cruise. Everyone gave 100%. The food and entertainment was great also. We also enjoyed the complimentary robes in each cabins.
We had a slight issue with the heat in our cabin but that was rectified by moving us to another cabin. The shower faucets were different and a challenge to get the right temperature of water.
There was continuing cleaning ...
This was my retirement cruise, 14 day Panama Canal full transit Fort Lauderdale to San Diego, my 4th cruise on Holland America and 9th overall.
The crew were fantastic, constant cleaning going on, wait staff very friendly and attentive. Ship was in good shape, having retired from a engineering position, where I was involved with some equipment reviews I noticed a couple of items that needed ...
We chose this cruise for convenience. Direct flights from Vancouver, British Columbia, been to all the ports so not worried if ship was denied docking, familiar with Holland America historical “no touch” buffet. It ticked our boxes including vaccination requirements. We enjoyed our cruise but there is definitely a difference in what a British Columbian thinks are safe Covid protocols and what was ...
We took this holiday cruise with my elderly parents both of whom were using scooters while onboard. The crew was wonderful and can't say enough good things about our dinning room waiter and his assistant. We were disappointed in the lack of holiday festivities onboard during the cruise as there was 1 deck party during the entire cruise on New Years Eve but nothing on Christmas Eve. My biggest ...
We packed for the Mexican west coast destinations. I even checked the weather in each port beforehand.
What I didn't expect, nor was I advised by Holland America is their policy on the current Covid outbreak.
They did not test daily (as did Viking 2 months beforehand), but did require the negative Covid 48 hour testing before boarding.
Their idea was to keep public areas, hallways, ...
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 ...