Noordam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

It's been a few weeks since we disembarked from the Noordam, but it feels like yesterday. My first cruise ever and it was exceptional. From the food to entertainment, the entire staff was totally impressive. I actually miss the wait staff from our evenings at dinner. They were the most friendly and positive people I have had the pleasure of meeting. The food, phenomenal, I could not get enough! The entertainment on board was great, especially the BB Kings show. Our cruise director, Johann(sp?), Was hilarious and entertaining. The captain was knowledgeable and informative. I will go on this cruise again someday, hopefully sooner than later. Thank you so much Holland America, Noordam, and Alaska.

HAL is a logistics expert, and every location and activity transition went very well. Food at buffet was sub - par in my opinion. Sit down and specialty meals were very good to excellent. Neptune Suite benefits include sit down breakfast in restaurant, which was lovely. Many vegetarian options and staff considerate of food sensitivities. Suite was elegant and view from patio was phenomenal. Demographic was old and overwhelmingly white. Most guests were in their seventies, eighties, and more, mostly from North Carolina, Texas, Minnesota, California. Very few families, hardly any children. Entertainers were very talented. but Intellectual activities limited, in my opinion. For instance, EXC talk was a nice lady reading from a PowerPoint. Professional narration of Glacier Bay was extraordinary and inspiring. Classical concerts daily, and extraordinary. Additional excursions purchased through HAL were good, but more expensive and limited than through Viator. Our services were absolutely to notch. On board, HAL pushes sales of alcohol, photography, tchotchkes, jewelry, art, gambling. They will also aggressively promote shopping at their own HAL-owned businesses in Port towns, such are NOT superior to locally owned shops, so be aware. Shop could use refurbishing, in my opinion, but all was clean and in working order.

The hospitality of the crew member with MS Noordam were exceptional. The crew member were very friendly, courteous, hard working, knowledgeable, and professional.

We liked the HAL Noordam cruise better than our last few cruises, which were on Royal Caribbean. If we were to cruise again, we'd probably pick HAL.

Overall the best cruise we have been on. Can't say enough about the great staff and activities available. Would go again

The land portion of our trip was wonderful with great views of Denali and wildlife. We couldn't ask for better weather with light rain only in Fairbanks and Ketchikan. Friendly people and good service throughout our land/sea tour. I recommend trying various food venues onboard the ship as the buffet tends to be similar in choices throughout the trip. Definitely eat in port when you can. We had great halibut and chips in Juneau and fabulous clam chowder in Ketchikan.

Ship looks tired but our room is big (ocean view). Food not good in buffet, go here if u wanna lose weight. Dining room has better food. The workers are very friendly, polite and work very hard to please everyone. Love the outdoor adult pool, hot tubs need to be bigger.

Very enjoyable cruise, two enjoyable tours (Helicopter and Dogsled) Alaska was great

Took Noordam from Vancouver to Seward then glass dome scenic trains to Anchorage and again for two nights at Denali,lastly a bus to Fairbanks. The weather while raining in Ketchikan got better each day and the land portion was sunny, cool, and clear, with Mt. Denali fully visible to those on the Park tour and partially seen from the dome train on the way in.We were just a step ahead of mosquitoes getting bad. The scenery from the mountain railroad in Skagway excursion, and in Glacier Bay, and from the dome train, and in the Park was spectacular! The included riverboat cruise and lunch in Fairbanks was surprisingly good and informative. Our accessible balcony room 6001 had lots of room, and was clean, comfortable, quite, and in good working order. Our cabin steward was attentive to the point of daily cleaning the glass doors. A balcony is so worth it as the windows all over the ship are not kept clean like this. We had done a HAL Glacier Bay Cruise 10 years ago with a window only room and this was so much better. We ate in the main dining room mostly and thought the food was good and the service wonderful. We loved breakfast there with the views and soft classical music. Their fruit plates were great as were the Swedish pancakes, salsa egg skillet, and they will customize. All salmon and other fish as well as beef, and rack of lamb, was delicious. Dinner fillet @ Pinnacle Grill was excellent but we happen this time to have a poor or perhaps distracted waiter who influenced our experience. Canaletto by comparison had wonderful service and very average food. Really enjoyed two musical groups: the young Lincoln Center piano string group is marvelous as is the consistent B.B. Kings. The only issues we had were with the land portion of our cruise tour. The early start times were ridiculous (5:30 AM tour, etc) and only at Denali we’re we placed in an accessible room, which was problematic.

Our first HAL was truly a disappointment! We have cruise before but not in HAL! From day 1 our toilet didn't work for 3 1/2 days. For all those days they said it was a section problem for several decks! Had to use else where on the ship before going to our cabin or going to Deck 3 by gift shop to use the toilet. Then on 4th day green smelly stuff came up from drain between the toilet and bathtub after a bath! Guest Service was no help and their words and actions were insulative! No response from the Guest Survey as of yet, so disappointed! Other things happened during the cruise also but the disappointment is so overwhelming!

Disembarkation was also delayed. But overall I would recommend. Service was great!

Vancouver is worth staying a few days. We stayed in North Vancouver and it's much cheaper than downtown. We rented a car from Hertz to see Vancouver and gas is $4.61 per gallon when you convert the money to U.S dollars. The rate was $1.25 U.S to Canadian dollar. Take to time to see the Aquarium in Stanley Park in Vancouver. This is a must see at any age and well worth the money. Juneau was fun and Tracy's Crab Shack is a must try. I bought my girlfriend a 3 carat diamond ring while in Juneau at Diamonds R Us and they had the best prices of all the jewelry stores. Ketchikan is an old fishing village that they turned into a tourist trap! The trip down the inland passage was wonderful. We saw sea otters and seals and a wolf on shore and 1 whale close to the ship. You don't need to take a whale watching tour in either city you will see enough whales during your cruise. We wish we would have taken a cruise in June instead of May. We were really looking forward to going fishing for Halibut but it was too early in the season.

We had a wonderful cruise! The staff was amazing and the food, was awesome. The Main Stage Entertainment was great. The BB King All Stars were phenomenal.

The ship was lovely, fellow passengers considerate, the seas calm, the service good, the food delicious. What could be better than that?

HAL appears to be cutting back on everything. The many corporate partnerships obviously limits the cost to and responsibility of the line . HAL provides the space, and the corporation provides the personnel and program. The cutbacks are pretty obvious to any long-time cruiser. It's not that the partnerships are bad: Microsoft, Lincoln Center, America's Test Kitchen, etc., but along with these, HAL needs to step up with the parts for which it is responsible, mainly evening entertainment. Would not be my first choice cruise line. Product is okay, but it could be better.

Very enjoyable and relaxing cruise which is common on most crossings as you get lots of sea days to do some serious relaxing. Ship is a bit outdated with some much needed improvements pending soon. I hope. Food is up to expected quality and entertainment has improved over the years and is much better than it was a few years ago.

We have travelled on many Cruises and were pleased with Holland America and would certainly travel with them again if the right destinations came up.

Captain was wonderful and all of the staff very friendly. Enjoyed Test Kitchen and many events on the ship

Great cruise except weather ruined visit to Auckland and bay of islands ship had to re route to avoid cyclone. Wanted a cruise with an average age group of about 50ish however the average age on this ship would be in the 70s. Can’t see why there would be a night club or basketball ball court when so many elderly cruise with this company. Was told the ship is very similar to celebrity ships. Afraid not even close. Still an enjoyable cruise but the pace was a bit too slow for me.

For our first cruise it has made us want to do many more. Well done to all on the Noordam in achieving this. Keep up the great work.