Excellent itinerary, disappointing HAL

Noordam Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 17
Helpful Votes: 303

Overall rating:

3.5 out of 5
Noordam

7 Night Glacier Discovery Northbound (Vancouver To Whittier)

Sail date: May 28, 2023

Ship: Noordam

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 4179

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

We’ve been very disappointed in HAL since the pandemic. We only continue to cruise them because we are 4-star Mariners and therefore get extra amenities…but even those amenities are gradually being taken away. They used to have a Mariner’s lunch in the dining room on embarkation day (so we didn’t have to fight the crowds in the buffet), but they didn’t provide that on this cruise. They also used to host a Mariner’s “thank you for your loyalty” lunch at the end of the cruise, an event also absent on this cruise. So they offer very little to encourage people to be loyal.

Embarkation

1 out of 5
Always choose Seattle versus Vancouver if you can! The checkin process at Vancouver port is awful….they had three different ships checking in at the same time through the same lines! Thousands of people going through the same line! It took over three hours at the port.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5
Mediocre, at best. Inedible ribeye steak in the Pinnacle Grill, buffet was redundant every day (lack of selections), and main dining room was acceptable but nothing exceptional.

Pinnacle Grill

1 out of 5

Terrible! Don’t waste your money! They are now charging an extra $7 if you want an extra appetizer….and salads and soup are listed with the appetizers! So if you want a salad, crab cakes, and an entree, it will cost you an extra $7. And don’t get me wrong, I can certainly afford $7, but it’s the principle of up charging in a restaurant that is already an up-charge! Better to increase the “entry fee” than to “nickel & dime” me once I’m there! But that’s not even the worst! The ribeye steak was inedible! And when we complained, the Matre’d agreed the meat quality was poor but blamed it on supply chain issues! My point is, if he already knew it was bad, they shouldn’t have served it! There was no pride in the quality….and sadly the Matre’d and Chef made an “apology” tour throughout the restaurant the night we were there. Very disappointing!

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
Not too bad….there could have been more, but trivia and bingo were fun. But that’s so dependent on the host and Marco was great!

Entertainment

1 out of 5
Terrible! One guest entertainer (comedian), but after seeing his second show, his material was exhausted….yet, he was scheduled two other times! And I don’t consider six dancers performing to canned music and video backgrounds to be a “production show”. But the house band in the Rolling Stone Lounge was good! And we were disappointed that Lincoln Center Stage was not being used….no classical performances. The venue was stocked with art from the onboard art gallery.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5
Service was great….except in the Ocean Bar. Not enough servers.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
The Noordam is looking “tired”. It needs a fresh coat of paint (figuratively). The railings were chipped and unvarnished and our toilet started flushing slowly near the end of the cruise. A pipe burst in the stairwell and water saturated the carpets!

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Excellent rear facing balcony! Perfect for an Alaskan cruise. It is very deep, so plenty of room, and it protects from the wind.

Ship tip

Choose for itinerary and/or good pricing, but if you have a choice, choose another cruise line.

Ports of call

Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia

1 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

Cruise College Fjord, Alaska

5 out of 5

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Good instruction on how to transfer to the land tour.
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8 Comments

Cruisers4Lyfe     4 months ago

Thanks for sharing

majmom96    1 year ago

I appreciate that some think this degradation in HAL is due to changes created because of COVID, but we’ve cruised on Princess, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean since COVID, and all three are superior to HAL in food quality and entertainment, so I guess I’m saying that it’s time for companies to stop using COVID as an excuse for poor service and poor quality. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Itspeace4me    1 year ago

Thank you for your review.

Gwbigdog    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

cruising2004    1 year ago

Thank you for sharing your cruising experience.

Shh813    1 year ago

Everyone should expect many changes in cruising since Covid. Who knows when , and or if it will ever get back to how it used to be. Still the best vacation ever though!!!

AuntPinkie    1 year ago

Appreciate your details. Glad you enjoyed Alaska. Sorry you were disappointed in HAL.

javawoody    1 year ago

Thanks for the review