We loved visiting Alaska. We will not ever choose Holland America again - we enjoy actually having things to do on a cruise. The at sea days were incredibly boring. Victoria BC was a waste. We would have saved $32 and stayed on board if we had known it was that boring. Nothing to do or see without an excursion. The rating listed below of 2.4/4 is inaccurate to describe our feelings about this cruise. A great portion of your cruise experience takes place on board. I don’t know how 2.4 is calculated, but it’s definitely higher than I would have rated it.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Typical
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
One of the specialty restaurants was created by sectioning off part of the lido cafe. Very cheap. Buffets served same selection of food every day. No variety. Our waiter in main dining seemed bothered by our attendance.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
If you are in need of pain management and wrinkle reduction seminars, followed by shuffleboard and ballroom dancing, this is the cruise for you. If not, choose another line.
Entertainment
2 out of 5
Minimal performances. There was only comedy two nights. Movies shown in the main stage were available in the room.
Children's Programs
I didn’t bring children.
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
Room staff was phenomenal. Wait staff was horrible. We had to clean our own tables in the lido cafe. Staff was slow in serving at the buffet. We often had to wait while they attended to other activities rather than serving us - which made lines long.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
It was ok. Not much available. The shopping was minimal and it didn’t seem they wanted us to buy much - very sparse selection.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Perfect
Ship tip
If you don’t have an AARP card, choose another cruise line.
No excursion. Beautiful. I wish there was a way to tune into the discussions about the bay while in your room. We chose to view from our balcony but couldn’t hear the presentation.
Ok. We arrived early. Many shops were not open. We did a pub crawl tour. It was ok. We didn’t expect to have to purchase drinks though. We expected that to be included.
Horrible. You have to pay $16 each to get to the town - or walk 45 minutes. There was nothing to do in this port if you didn’t purchase an excursion. We also got to port late so many excisions had to be reduced in time.
I just returned from an Alaskan cruise with HAL and was absolutely blown away by the food, service and the vast amount of activities on board. It was relaxing, and relaxing is what a cruise should be. I found it easy to kick back and enjoy all the amenities and was never bored. If a person is continually on the go in their life and then the brakes are abruptly applied when cruising some may get bored but most just relax and enjoy the blessings around them. Otherwise, an outback trek to Australia or Africa may be more appropriate. I'm in my late 20's and I was never bored even for a moment. A vacation is what you make it not what others do.
I have cruised HAL twice and will only cruise them again if the itinerary is fantastic and cannot be found anywhere else. My issues were the same as yours - food choices and quality below what I experienced on Carnival and Royal Caribbean and the entertainment very poor or nonexistent. I don’t need constant entertainment, but something besides board games, cards or a cooking demonstration would be nice.
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