My wife and I are frequent cruisers. This was our 7th cruise this year. But our first, ever, with Holland America. It may be our last. We understand that Covid has affected the travel industry in major ways. Other cruise lines are far ahead of Holland in bringing back the magic. If you are seeking a retirement village on the water, complete with bad food, cranky passengers, poor service from overworked staff, and sub-par entertainment, this might be for you. Our trip was Mexican Riviera, so we expected the pool cover to be open most of the time. It was closed and stuffy most of the time.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Very easy and streamlined. Slow boarding with so many passengers with mobility issues. Just be patient.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
The Lido Buffet food and service was the worst we've experienced in several dozen cruises (7 this year!)
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
Mainly limited to retrirement community-activities. If you love bingo and majong, maybe this is for you.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
Out of all the main stage shows, only one was worth seeing (Humanity.) Blues Club played no blues at all. Piano Bar was the worst we've ever experienced. People laughed at less than 20 of the comedian's jokes.
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
Dining staff was so overworked that they could not do their job well. Certanly not happily. Room steward was fine. Entertainment Director not suited for the role.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Ship is beautifully adorned. But it is mostly not designed for the big electric scooters that crash into people and furniture everywhere.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Very clean and nice. Smaller than we are accustomed to for an upgraded (Spa) Veranda room.
Ship tip
Best for elderly guests not looking for activities or flavorful food.
The only way to visit the port is in the rocking lifeboats. Elderly people with mobility issues do not do well. Once we saw how poorly this was managed, we just stayed on the boat for the day. They need separate ferries for antone with even the slightes mobilty challenges.
We took the challenge of walking across from the port and catching a city bus from the shopping center to the Malecon and Old Town. Lovely way to see the place!
A little research before you booked this cruise would have gone a long way…. Side note … one day you will be elderly and have the same issues …. Just pray your at least still mobile enough to still enjoy cruising .
Sorry you had a bad experience on the Koningsdam. We went on a 2 week cruise on the Koningsdam to Hawaii this past October to Hawaii. The food and service were great.
There were more and varied activities on it than any one of the 6 other cruises we went on since the start-up after covid. Though the entertainment was subpar.
You certainly didn’t do research on Holland or you would have seen that most passengers are retirement age. We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam before Covid and we loved it. Didn’t care much for the entertainment but the food was absolutely delicious, the staff were the friendliest and the ports were fantastic.
I was on that voyage on those dates, I agree the service wasn't up to par but I still thought it was great! Wasn't that horrible. Maybe because it was our first cruise.
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