Truly enjoyed our cruise. The good outweighed the bad. Will definitely cruise with Holland again.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Super easy. Our boarding time was 1:30 boarded at noon.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Main dining - just okay nothing fabulous. Expected better.
Pinnacle Grill- outstanding ambience, had to send my steak back as it didn’t meet my desired cooking temperature. Still extremely tasty. A must do.
Canaletto- skip it! Does not qualify as specialty dining. Food mediocre at best worse location on the Lido buffet.
Dive in- fantastic eat there!
Pizza - New York style - no sauce - thin crust just ok
Ice Cream- sweet spot was spot on
Lido Buffet- lots to choose from. Sometimes wait at breakfast could be very long. Skip the scrabbled eggs and omelette station. They use eggs from a carton for both. Yuck!!
Canaletto Restaurant
2 out of 5
Bad location and food was just okay. Thankfully it was a complementary meal from our TA.
Pinnacle Grill
4 out of 5
Beautiful restaurant. We went on gala night and was hoping for a little extra attention but didn’t receive anything above and beyond. I’m almost positive they only had 1 server and he seemed overwhelmed. It was difficult to get refills on water and my steak was cooked med rare instead of med well took a while for them to bring me a new steak. It was still very delicious and I’d go back.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Very laid back cruise. Not really anything going on during sea days. Would be great to have more things happening. We kept to the Lido pool.
Lido Cabana
5 out of 5
Love love love! If you can do a cabana it’s a must! Joseph was amazing! We can’t wait to go back.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Shows are top notch! Magician and Comedian great shows! ( main theater seats have very high arm rests which make sitting a little uncomfortable) Piano bar and BB King great venues and music!
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
Our son loved Club HAL. He never wanted to leave. Well done!
Club HAL
4 out of 5
Our 9 yr old son absolutely loved Club HAL. Each time we came to pick him up he didn’t want to leave! Staff was helpful and took very good care of the children. Only note would be that they provide water for the kids, we had to bring water each time & we would forget often & have to go back, and maybe a trip to the sweet spot.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Got everything we asked for and then some. All staff were attentive, professional and polite.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Beautiful ship. Easy to navigate. . Surprised at the amount of rust in common areas for a ship that was recently redone, however we found the common areas very clean. Some broken bathrooms and call buttons on Lido deck.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Rooms a good size however the placement of the fold out couch in front of the balcony door and fridge made it interesting to get around. Loved that the veranda rooms had a tub since we were traveling with our son. Balcony was perfect. Tons of storage including under the bed and cabinets.
Ship tip
Get the cabana for the week. Completely worth the money!
Not our favorite port to visit. Nice coming in but shipping yard and construction made it difficult to leave the area. Turtle rescue was informative and the resort lovely but our bus was in needed of desperate repair and I was very concerned it was going to leave us stranded. Thankfully it did not. That bus should be taken out of service.
Easy to get off ship and locate luggage. Customs was a breeze. Unfortunately it took 45 minutes for us to board our shuttle back to our car. The line was confusing and there was no one directing people to the appropriate line.
Great review! I love Holland America and the NA, sorry for your few issues, but appreciate your well balanced review. Happy that you would consider HAL again.
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