The ship was very nice. The crew was very nice and service was very good. The determining factor on this cruise was the weather; it started off bad and stayed bad. We had only 3 1/2 days of sunshine on the entire 17 day cruise. Don't do this cruise if you want to guarantee that you will see the Hawaii that you paid to see. Don't do this cruise if you don't care for at-sea days. If you are a young person, don't do this cruise as it is tailored to senior citizens. One item of note, we did get an on-board credit of $100 per person and a 15% credit of our base cruise price to be used towards a future cruise in 2019/2020. We also were credited for the missed excursions and ports but have not seen this credit show up on our charge yet and have not yet heard back from Holland America after an inquiry as to when this will happen.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Getting on the ship was a breeze. We stayed at a hotel across the street and walked to the cruiseport. Holland America was well organized. We were able to get into our rom immediately and had a nice lunch.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Overall, everything was very good. We enjoy how Holland America serves the food to you in the buffets. The dining room and room service were good. The alcohol drinks were pricey as usual but they did have several happy hours each day where you could get a second drink for $2.
Crow's Nest
4 out of 5
This are was always well attended, however the library there was insufficient. They could have used many more paperback books to read and share. There were probably less than 10.
Piano Bar
5 out of 5
The entertainers did a very good job and always had a good audience. They could have used some entertainers in some of the other bars.
Ocean Bar
4 out of 5
The bars were very nice, the service was good and they were very busy if they had a happy hour.
Explorer's Lounge
4 out of 5
A nice play to sit and enjoy the view.
Explorations Café
4 out of 5
A nice venue to enjoy the view from the front of ship.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
This cruise lacked in the activity area as the cruise was mainly senior citizens, The fitness center was good but did not have tv to watch on the machines. The ocean was so rough that the pool was closed most days. There was no climbing wall. The library was terrible; there were hardly any paper-back books to borrow.
Guest Services / Excursions
5 out of 5
The people at guest service were excellent. The kiosk would not print your statements but guest services would do it for you. They always had enough people on staff. They provided motion sickness pills, green apples and crackers.
Shopping Arcade
4 out of 5
The newly remodeled shopping area was closed for the first couple of days. It was nice but typical. Sales help was nice.
Casino
3 out of 5
The casino seemed somewhat small for the ship, however it was never very full. It did have numerous slots and several table games.
Outside Pool
2 out of 5
The outside pool had white caps on it due to the rough seas. I don't think I saw anyone in it on the whole trip.
Gymnasium
4 out of 5
The gym was good but could have used more excesie bikes and these bikes should have had tv's for viewing while riding.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Overall, the entertainment was good but that totally arranged entertainment to the senior citizen audience. This cruise lacked shows with great production value; there was only one dance routine. The cruise did have an outstanding clarinet player, an operatic tenor and guitar player. The comediennes were ok. Some of the acts were repeated over the 17 day cruise. The ship could have had more musicians playing in the other various lunges. The BB-King band was awesome and the Lincoln Center musicians were very good. Stone, the director was very good.
Atrium
3 out of 5
The atrium was not overly impressive as I have seen on some ships. It could have used a pianist or musician at times.
Art Gallery
3 out of 5
There was not much too it as it was not much more than a walk-through area on deck 3. There were no art auctions that I was aware of and I don't think I ever saw anyone at the desk.
Children's Programs
No children with us and hardly any on the ship.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Service in all areas was very good.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Everything about the ship was very good. The crew was constantly cleaning. The ship was very easy to maneuver.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
The room could have been a little bigger. This room does not have a bathtub which made getting in and out of the shower easy. The room was very quiet. The carpet did have some spots on it and the one chair in the room had the seat broken down (we did not ask for it to be replaced). This ship no longer has DVD players but instead had a good selection of free on demand movies. There are a couple of news channels to view but limited tv viewings. The tv screen is large. Our room had a mini-bar but we removed the product and used the fridge for our own items.
Ship tip
Do not book this ship to cruise over to Hawaii if there is a chance of bad weather. We rocked and rolled all the way over and back. We were only able to visit two ports in Hawaii due to the bad weather. This may have been because of the all of the senior citizens on board and the risk of liability due to potential injury. If you are flying in, I would suggest using Uber to get to your hotel as it is cheaper than the pre-arranged Holland America fare. Although, the Holland America people were everywhere to assist you at the airport.
We arrived a day early for our tour and were greeted by a terrible wind and rain storm the entire day. We did the hop-on, hop-off bus at $42 per person which did allow us to see some interesting parts of the city.
We spent the first day in Honolulu and took the tour to Pearl Harbor. The weather did not allow us to take the boat ride to the Arizona Memorial. We did tour the Missouri which was awesome. Our guide on the buss was very knowledgeable and friendly. We had a second day in Honolulu as we were not allowed to leave the port due to the weather. The ship did however move to a different dock. When we embarked on the second day there was very little assistance to help us find things to do and transportation to get there. We did catch the free Hilo Hattie shuttle to a large mall that was near a beach. After the first beach we caught a bus ($2 per person)that took us to Waikiki Beach (which I recommend). We took a different bus back to the mall and the free shuttle back to the ship. If you need stuff, Walmart has a FREE shuttle to their store; actually, this is a good place to buy your souvenirs and they have "Made in Hawaii" clothing at a very good price. Plus you will find your Kona coffee and macadamia nuts; our tour guide recommended this.
When we got off the ship there was lot of information on things to do. We did the excursion that took us to Rainbow Falls (which was so-so) and to the lava fields (3 of them; one would have been enough). We then went to the macadamia nut factory; we could have done without this. After arriving back, we took a taxi to the farmers market/downtown (cost about $11 each way). It was nice place to walk and visit shops. Note: the guides on our tour were very nice although the grandma driving the bus was a little scary at times and she gleefully reminded us at the end of the tour to not forget the tip.
Again, the captain and the weather did not allow this. However, the volcano had stopped erupting and there was no lava flow. By the way, we saw only one whale and one dolphin on the entire cruise.
We took the shuttle for $4 a person round-trip to downtown (but you could have walked). Downtown has all of the junky stores and hawkers but it was a good experience. We had beer and margaritas at one of the local places.
Getting off the ship and retrieving our luggage was easy. As well as the arranged Holland America bus. Again, you can save some money if you are going to the airport as you can get an Uber for about $12 plus tip.
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