Mediocre Cruise

Noordam Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean

RichardW7

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 7

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

Verified Review

10 Night Roman Empire (Rome Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 15, 2008

Ship: Noordam

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 14 years ago

Review summary

Overall the crusie was nothing special. The Kid's Club is a wonderful concept for people travelling with children but the hours of operation make it difficult, if not impossible, to attend other functions such as featured lectures. The quality of the food was akin to a military mess hall, which is somewhat understandable for such a large ship but disappointing when you consider the money spent. The excursions offered were overpriced compared to the private bookings other guests arranged and did not provide what we were hoping for in particular places such as Ephesus in Turkey. The ship looked tired even though it had been refurbished in 2006 and general maintenance seemed less than good.

Ports of call

Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey

3 out of 5

Extremely interesting site but ship's excursion package only allowed 45 minutes in the site itself while allowing the same amount of time in the handicrafts shop near the port. We filed a complaint with Holland America but they said that they spoke to "other people" who liked the excursion. The probability is that these people did not know what the site was really like but having been there twice before we did and were extremely disappointed for our children who missed a wonderful opportunity.

Thumbs Up 0

Corfu, Greece

3 out of 5

Katakolon (Olympia), Greece

3 out of 5

Valletta, Malta

3 out of 5

Dubrovnik, Croatia

3 out of 5

Messina, Sicily

3 out of 5

Santorini, Greece