Overall this was a very nice cruise with exceptional scenery. Will be sailing on HAL again.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Very smooth embarkation. We did not sign up for VeriFLY but had our paperwork ready to go and arrived at our designated time. There was hardly any wait and it was well organized with friendly staff.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The food was overall very good with the presentation and quality. We mostly ate in the MDR for dinner and lunch and the fish was delicious. The meat was more hit or miss but when it was good it was some of the best steaks we’ve had. We ate at the Tamarind restaurant for our last dinner and it was exceptional from the food to the waitstaff. I highly recommend it. Most the drinks were very good but they ran out of quite a few wines and liquor (kahlua, different vodkas, and whiskey) early on in the trip. We preferred the buffet for breakfast as the MDR was very slow when ordering omelettes. The waitstaff was friendly and knowledgeable. Our MDR waiter always steered us in the right direction on the menu and knew our names.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Entertainment
Did not attend any entertainment presentations
Children's Programs
Did not travel with children
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Overall the staff was very friendly and helpful. Our room steward assistant was excellent and efficient. We all experienced excellent customer service from the waitstaff and our happy hour waitresses knew our names and drinks after only a couple of days. The only negative experience was with one of the guest relations representatives. We encountered him a few times in person and on the phone and he was dismissive and didn’t listen to us. It typically took a few different angles to get to the bottom of the issue and find a resolution.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The decor was lovely and we enjoyed many parts of the ship. The layout was good and the ship was very clean.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Our cabin was comfortable and clean. We enjoyed having a balcony and used it quite a bit. I gave it a 4 star because it was right across from the dishwashing station and it was very noisy at times (moving dishes and talking loudly on the phone late at night).
Ship tip
Holland America is promoting their Navigator app heavily. More than half of the times it wasn’t working and some members of my family weren’t able to download it while on the phone due to technical issues. We booked a shore excursion on the ship and printed the receipt. The shore excursion never showed up on the navigator or at the place we had our excursion. Luckily we had the receipt with us so we were able to go on the excursion. I recommend printing out the excursion confirmation as the app wasn’t reliable.
It was raining very heavily so didn’t get to explore as much as we had wanted. All of our clothes and “water resistant” shoes were soaked through so we didn’t make it too far. There were quite a few gift shops with good prices and we had a nice time at the Red Dog Saloon.
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