Ports and Views Great, Cruiseline Not.

Item: Noordam
Rating: 3
Author: es31415

Noordam Cruise Review to Alaska - Gulf of Alaska

es31415

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 12

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Glacier Discovery Northbound (Vancouver To Anchorage)

Sail date: September 04, 2016

Ship: Noordam

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 5016

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

This cruise route is one that everyone should experience but during better weather and on a better cruise line. We have been on several cruises to various locations on other lines and found Holland American service inferior and the food very lacking in variety and quality. We found the services of our cruise agent () to be excellent.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Children's Programs

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ship tip

The "formal" dining room had only average service and below average food. The steaks were like shoe leather.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia

5 out of 5

Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska

5 out of 5

Ketchikan, Alaska

5 out of 5

Juneau, Alaska

5 out of 5

Skagway, Alaska

5 out of 5

Cruise Glacier Bay

5 out of 5

Seward (Anchorage), Alaska

5 out of 5

9 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

Thumbs Up 0

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JusMe 8 years ago

People........... this is the opinion of the OP it is her review...... NOT Yours.....why argue, you were not on that ship in that cabin and that MDR table on the same cruise.

I agree with the OP that food on HAL not as good as other lines. I thought the food was set for the older demographics of the line, nothing to spicy or to fancy.... kind of just bland.

I have been on a cruise I thought was great, a friend had a cabin with lots of issues and bad cabin steward, I would give it 5 stars, they would only give 2 stars.... we were both correct for each of our experiences.

Thumbs Up 1

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Gmatthews 8 years ago

I am 3 star mariner and coming up to my 5th trip I cannot understand that you have these issues. Things go wrong and they fix them like lightning. Be tolerant & patient All the staff are doing a fantastic job 3 star mariners from AUS

Thumbs Up 1

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rgbenning 8 years ago

I am surprised by the original post. I have had very good luck with HAL. Too each his own.

Thumbs Up 1

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plid 8 years ago

I agree you should for minor problems, but guest services can't change the general quality of the food or selection. That kind of thing is changed through comment surveys and threads like this one. This is how I answered the survey also.

Thumbs Up 0

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Callierose 8 years ago

I've sailed on 3 Holland America ships including the Noordam. I found the food & service on all 3 to be very good. If you have a problem with any cruise line you should let the company know. I personally love Holland America!

Thumbs Up 3

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plid 8 years ago

Same experience with us. After several other cruises on RCCl and Princess and celebrity and even Carnival, we found HAL to be generally good food and service, but no where near what we had heard or what we had thought it would be. The main dining room service wasexcellent, as well as housekeeping, however the quality and selection of food not as good, and generally the ship and accommodation not as good as the other lines, even Carnival.

Thumbs Up 3

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SvetlanaS 8 years ago

Better weather? How you can choose weather ? Alaska end of the season?

Thumbs Up 1

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banaford 8 years ago

Curious who else you cruised with. HA is supposed to be top notch.

Thumbs Up 0

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Other reviews of this sailing

Time for this ship to be refurbished

Alaska-land and sea