Noordam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The Noordam was a beautiful clean ship. Only 2 years old. The food was fabulous and we loved the activities and being well taken care of. Holland America knows how to keep their customer's coming back.

The cruise was superb from beginning to end. A lovely, spotless ship with the most outstanding crew. HAL crew and officers are totally devoted to high-levels of service with safety first. The ports of call, Bahamas, Domenica, Curacao, Aruba, and the USVI were all warm and wonderful with, for the most part, excellent shore excursions suited to a variety of tastes. Activities on board the ship were endless, the food was very tasty, and we enjoyed the onboard cooking classes and wine tasting events. The music was terrific with great jazz enjoyed while swimming in the pool on the stern. The spa was a treat for an afternoon at sea: soaking in the mineral pool and then lounging in the thermal room while watching the ocean outside. Our suite stateroom was large with a huge balcony and a superb staff who took very good care of us. Nothing is too much trouble for HAL crew who are always courteous and friendly no matter what! We highly recommend cruising on HAL ships since they are among the most beautiful with staff and crew second to none.

For the money the cruise ship is worthwhile. the ship is comfortable,reading and "relaxing" areas are commendable and pleasant.The entertainment in the evening is a couple of steps ahead of being amateurish, but the Filipino and Carribean band on board meets international standards---enjoyable and conducive to a relaxed evening of dancing. Drinks are a bit overpriced, the internet rates are exhorbitant, Wi Fi is not yet available in the many staterooms.On small matters the line tends to cut corners at times ( no tailor on board to do basic alterations, CNN is the only TV news source on board ( BBC is not available),sales events are presented as " seminars", promotional items are pushed nonstop) but the staff and crew are easily available, pleasant and forthcoming.

The Noordam was a beautiful ship and the service on Holland America is fantastic from the room stewards to the dining room stewards. The meals were excellent.

This was our sixth time on Holland America. Each time it seems to get better and better. The ship is two years old and in excellent condition - king size beds. We have never had beds so great. The crew has always been outstanding and this was true on this cruise as well. The food was excellent and plentiful. Went with two other couples that had never been on Holland America. I raved about the service and food. Believe me, they were not disappointed. Can't wait for our next HAL cruise.

THE SHIP,THE NOORDAM WAS JUST THE RIGHT SIZE. ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE(ITALIAN)RESTURANT ,MIGHT HAVE MADE IT EVEN BETTER. THE CREW AND SERVICE WERE SUPURB.

The lack of shows was a major disappointment, they had a group of dancers and singers that were just OK, but to have no show at all on some nights and what they had wouldn't make "America's got talent" The other disappointment was the open seating, people who liked their open seating the first night were somehow able to reserve it for the rest of the week, so when you went in for open seating you got the wait station or some other table just as bad.

The ship was great. It still looked new and the staff was the best. The food was average in both the dinning room and in the Pin. Grill.

i liked that one pool was designated to families only. the HAL club is a great. it was a nice ship but a bit too large for my taste. Be aware that service charges or tips are automatically deducted from your account at the end of the cruise. this adds up to 10usd per day per person. Be sure to make adjustment at the end of the cruise if you wish to choose your own tip and to whom it goes to. you need to request a form in the last 24 hours of the cruise only from the main desk.

Great! Thanks so much for the upgrade--the bedding and room was spacious and lovely.

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.

I would rank Holland America as Outstanding in all categories--this is a great cruise in every detail--they pay attention to all categories and to great detail. The Excursions were also very well organized. Holland America does it right

We wanted to take our children 19 & 20 years old on the vacation of a "lifetime". The Suite was to die for & the magic/dance show was beautiful. Dinner was a problem everynight. You waited forever on line to be seated & when you finally reached the reservation desk & handed them your reservation card, they reminded you that you were late after you started out on time but waited at least 15 minutes on line in front of the restaruant. The Captain spoke on the loud speaker the first day we set sail & asked everyone to be prompt returning to the ship after the various ports but, if you weren't, no one would be left behind. Guess what! We were left in Puerto Rico with the ship about 50 feet away. When the captain was phoned, he asked how many were left? When we quoted 4, he said "sorry we can't do anything for you." So there we stood in bathing suits & flip-flops left to fend for ourselves. Thank goodness we had a credit card & our passports & were able to book flights, hotels & purchase clothes to wear since everything we owned was on the ship. No one from Holland America ever even asked what our delay was nor did they care. Our taxi had a flat tire & we reached the port 10 minutes late. Before departing other ports, the ship left the terminal after waiting for at least 40 minutes past the desired departure time. The ship staff assumed we were on board but they didn't know for sure because their computer was down. So my advice would be to look into whatever line you are thinking of cruising with, don't believe the cruiselines hype research & study everything about it!!!

the ship was #1 as far as we were concern it was very clean and everyone that worked on board were polite and great,very helpful,very clean about them selfs,that is what was important too me,the food was GREAT I ate so much,and the servers were very good too

The ship is top of the line, very artistic and up to date. Food was great, but not outstanding. They do nickle dime you for soda. Spent another grand just for drinks and excurtions, I didn't drink much. Pools are small and crowded. Shows are good and of wide variety. Great selection of islands.

This was our first cruise and the experience has left us wanting more :-). The Noordam is a finely appointed ship laced with much old world charm. Wood accents, artwork ... there is no gaudiness here. Service was phenomenal. The staff went out of their way to please you and seem to take pride in their profession (a refreshing change of pace when service has gone downhill in so many other institutions). Our stateroom (with a veranda) was roomy and had plenty of storage room for our 11 day journey. Full length window/door leading out to the verandah was especially nice once we hit warmer weather ... even nicer was the complementary room service for breakfast on the verandah! The typical crowd on this ship was approximately 20 years older than we were ... but who cares? We still had a great time. There were plenty of places to find a quiet place to relax and you never felt as if there were 2000 people on board. The entertainment was okay .... the guitarist, Justin Miller, was exceptional ... a real treat. My husband and I are both culinary school trained and so we were curious as to how the food would be. We knew it would be plentiful but would it be good? It was top notch weather we opted to dine more formally in the Vista dining room or chose to be more casual in the Lido. We also dined at the Pinnacle Grill one evening ... top notch service and food there as well. This truly is a vacation where we walked away feeling pampered and refreshed. We liked the choices we had ... you could do nothing but read a book for 11 days or you could choose to engage in planned activities and excursions. Value for your vacation dollar .... you can't beat it. A hotel room in NYC costs more per night ... and that doesn't include wonderful food, entertainment, and a breathtaking view of the ocean. Try it, you'll like it :-)

The best line I've cruise to date. Service is amazing. The small courtesies and amenities won me over. Cuisine is 5-star Manhattan restaurant quality.

Beautiful, brand new ship. Impressive facilities, rides well in rough weather. Entertainment excellent, ports of call worth seeing. River tubing in Dominica poor due to low water levels during dry season. Should be made known to future passengers. Turtle snorkle in Barbados fun. ATV adventure in St Martin an absolute BLAST !!!!!

Our 10th cruise-first on this line---The ship was lovely. The staff and food were excellent. However,the entertainment fell short of expectations--we and others said that this ship lacked a party atmosphere. We found no dancing night after night on the ship. The Northern lights "small" lounge was in the walkway to the casino and was basically a DJ--very loud, no dancing, smokey from the casino. The piano player combined "old paint" with "les mis" in one rendition/smokey from the casino. The singers were shrill (quartet singing "doe a deer"?/Mary Poppins, "Rain drops on roses". Like we said, no Elton John/Celine Dion music with dancing/no party atmosphere. The classical guitarist Justin Miller was a great hit (and we think he was begged for more given the lack of other entertainment). 10 day cruise--not great entertainment. The Caribbean island stops were very good.

This was only the second cruise that we have been on. We could not get over how clean our stateroon steward kept our room. We showered twice aday and always had clean towels to use. No matter what you asked for, you received with a smile. No request was turned down. We were assigned to the new open seating plan and really enjoyed meeting so many different people.