Noordam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Great cruise, nice excursions in ports. But better take some good books when doing this cruise on the Noordam. They will not be able to entertain you on board for a week.

We loved the Cruise locations. Alaska and the inside passage are beautiful! We were at the end of the cruise lines time in Alaska and you could feel the fatigue of the crew.

Enjoyed the 20 day cruise and Denali Yukon trip every thing was so organized from start to finish and Crystal our tour guid was amazing . Even the flights from Fairbanks and from Whitehorse to Vancouver so organized and even the Fairmont hotel in Vancouver we were able to have our rooms from when we arrived ,lovely rooms Thank you Holland America for making our 51 st wedding anniversary special.

Absolutely beautiful and breathtaking sights, especially Glacier Bay and the lovely port Haines. It‘s a cruise to enjoy the impressive nature.

The Noordam and the crew were wonderful. I only have very good things to say about the trip. I would love to visit Alaska again and Holland America would be my first choice.

Although I don't really have anything to compare it to (except a quick little carnival booze cruise), I was so happy and impressed on the Noordam. The ship size was nice & never felt crowded. The staff were so amazing & kind. I have never seen people smile so much. We really enjoyed the food. We enjoyed the made to order omelettes most mornings. We had room service once for breakfast but we enjoyed those omelettes more. I enjoyed the made to order lunch chicken salads also. But the dinners were decedent & we enjoyed our early seating arrangements. I spent a little extra and got an aft balcony cabin on the Rotterdam deck. As thrifty as I am I can honestly say it was worth every cent. My husband stated that I made a good choice in getting cabin 7143. It was a wise decision because there are cabins above and below so it was not noisy. The aft balcony seemed so much grander to me. At the back of the ship we could just see so much from the left and to the right. We saw the wake of the ship. And on the TV, was a WebCam to the front of the ship. It was all so cool. It was fun to keep up with the vacation countdown with this ap. I enjoyed "studying" the ship layout & reading the reviews. This Alaska cruise tour surpassed my expectations & I'm so thankful for this trip.

Fantastic trip with unbelievably breathtaking views! We loved every minute of the Cruise. If we cruise in the future we will look at Holland America Cruis Line first before any others! There was just one very minor thing we think they could improve on and that is their bed pillows. The longer one was wadded on both ends and there was a spot in the middle for your head and I ended up using it for a body pillow. The other was a feather pillow that went flat when you used it.

Enjoy the captain, very interactive. Staff all had very good comments about him also. Staff on ship very friendly and enjoy their jobs. Very clean and well kept ship

Everything wonderful except for disembarkation. Would do it all again so would be able to see all we didn't get to because of time. I would stay 3 days in Denali next time

We liked the tour very much and would take it again. The friendliness and helpfulness of everyone on the ship was outstanding . The pursers office was very helpful since my suitcase did not catch up with us,' Mostly the fault of United Airlines but it seems to me that the land agent in Vancouver could have been swifter. It also helped that we had very good weather.

I have to mention the staff on our cruise were phenomenal! They were always smiling, and happy to help, throughout the entire ship. Our cabin attendant knew our names and welcomed us at first sight - he knew who we were before we'd even gotten to our room! The dining staff were always attentive.

Favorite part of the cruise was the shore excursion in Juneau - dog sledding on the Mendenhall Glacier. Very handicapped accessible. Took great care of us. Next would be the suggestion of our agent for a suite. Very very nice and worth the money. Views from our Verandah were wonderful as well. Nice location of room too - quiet but accessible.

I enjoyed the cruise portion.  The land excursion was great for Fairbanks and the railroad and bus trip to Seward.  The trip to Denali was a disappointment as we did not go all the way into the park.  I know there is no control of the weather but our trip was in the morning and they knew that the trip was not go in the morning.  However the trip went in the afternoon.  We are suppose to get a refund for the trip but no response as of yet so I am assuming we will get nothing.  I went to Alaska to see wildlife and was very disappointed and I will never go again.  Prices were higher than New York city or San Francisco.  On the cruise we were suppose to get a dinner at the Pinnacle Grill which we did not get.  However we did get a voucher but I wanted to eat at the Pinnacle Grill.

We had an OK experience in the Noordam, graet time and we enjoyed our vacations very much. Possitive things: -The service was very good. -It is very clean. -The food is OK. -The Alaska itinerary was graet, and HAL are expert in the área. Negative Things: -The Ship now it looks old and outdated, it would be good that HAL remodelate the whole ship. -There aré very few things to do for kids, and nothing to do for under 3 years old. -There are few activities in the ship. In general I recomend this ship if its the only option.

It was a nice clean ship, a little outdated and very quiet. The first two days I thought I was the youngest person on board. Had I known the majority of passengers are in their late 60s, I wouldn't do this cruise. Entertainment catered toward elderly people so there was not much to do for people in their 30s and 40s. We felt we were on the wrong ship. On the other side older people had a blast.

We have just completed another 23 day cruise from Sydney to Vancouver with Holland America the trip was absolutely fantastic it's number six for us and we will keep going on and on and on Thank you HAL

We were on the NZ 14 night cruise in March and very happy with the whole cruise. Our only 2 issues on the down side was the access to gluten free in Lido. Whilst an attendant was excellent in making up GF food the variety could be improved. The 2nd point was the ship currency in US$ for Aust / NZ cruises. This meant an extra 25-30% extra for the Australians on board

The whole ship was In need of a major overhaul. Balcony Cabin was very tired looking, basic and small. Service, dining and entertainment was all good.

Our cabin steward was amazing but that's the only positive.

I upgraded to a suite and paid over $6,000 for it, when I get to the room its a regular room with a small table and a couch pushed up against the wall.  I was ripped off, didn't get any of the amenities AA promised I would and I am unsatisfied at the highest level.  The cruise was pitched to me in such a positive fashion but I was truly ripped off.

This was very misrepresented in the website and available information from the cruise line.  It was only "back to back cruises"  not a separate all in one cruise.  entertainment and activities were mostly repeated the second two weeks (which were slim pickings even the first two weeks).  Everyone had to disembark in Sydney and could not get back on the boat until time for new passengers to board.  Would have been good to understand all of this before deciding to book this cruise.

Destination was unbelievable!  Did almost all private prearranged tours and really saw New Zealand.  10 days of port calls there!  First time on Holland America.  Best a embarkment, allowed on early and went straight to rooms! Excellent disembarkment also.  Very nice staff.  Staterooms have a lot of storage space.  Beds and linen amazingly comfortable.  Free room service wonderful, but could have had increased selection of items.  Buffet eating with staff serving made utilizing this area much nicer and safer (decreased germs from passengers!), so much more comfortable utilizing this option than on many other cruise lines.  Loved Explorers' Lounge area, except puzzles and may items were old and missing pieces.  All need to be thrown out and new ones bought.  Excellent Microsoft classes and teacher!  Added more new computers after trip completed, but not enough and not enough space for these popular classes.  Culinary Center was beautiful, but most times was empty and not well utilized.  Salad bar and pasta bar were excellent, but terrible pizza and premade Italian dishes.  Many of foods in buffet area were not warm when served.  Salmon was always great, as well as shrimp.

Ship is old and staterooms not completely updated and our balcony had several large rusty holes in it that were not even covered with rugs to protect us (we had to ask for this).  Pictures very old and not worth looking in stateroom area and halls.

Entertainment was very poor.  I love entertainment on cruises and not much by cruises' performance staff and only one act that was great one night.  Only showed movies in theater during port days while docked!  Stateroom TV's and system were antique and very poor reception on top of that.  Menu was also antique and slowly scrolled three hr span, but you had to watch time spans already completed and next day before getting to your time, then info screen then start all over and you were so bored you blinked and missed the time you were looking for!  This was really disappointing.

Activity choices were slim pickings!  Except for the occasional item in the Culinary Arts Center, local related program and Microsoft classes there was nothing much going on activity wise on the ship!  Most of my time spent walking on the outside walking deck (did help me eat too much and keep the same weight though!).

Vegetarian menu was nice to order from.  Should have had menus more easily available, as well as ordering options improved for days did not eat the night before in the dinning room.  Also, "Dive in" eating area by pool should have other vegetarian choice such as regular vegetable burger, not just mushroom burger and grilled cheese would be nice. 

Signature Suites were very misrepresented online.  Often read about "Suites" and thought this referred to all suites, but only was for non-Signature suites.  Extra space and separate tub & shower were great.  No concierge ,no pillow menu or choices and not much else.

Food and choices were very nice the first few days, but declined as cruise continued.  Much smaller portions and presented as two course meals, though you can order a three course meal or whatever you want.  Quantity was good for me, but many who have more of appetites or binge on cruises will be surprised compared to other cruise lines.  Not many standard choice that are available every day.  Thank goodness the salmon was good and I could eat it. One of the few entrees available most days, but on gala nights/ special occasion nights, the menu was had even less choices and the daily items were not available. Invited to many special occasion lunches/ meals but expected to eat provided meal, even if on a special diet.  No one cared to even try to eat dietary needs these days.  Many days after the first week, I was tired of the vegetarian choices and had nothing I could eat on the regular menu and they did not care enough to fix something for me as always do on other cruise lines.  Desert choices were slim, especially on gala nights (which is good for the waistline, but not what I expect on a cruise.  Only once got a real piece of regular cheesecake which is so unusual and most of their ice cream is not worth the calories to me with most days having only vanilla, chocolate and strawberry plus sometimes one other choice.  ( which is very unusual from what I am used to when sailing!).  Not many vegetables served and in the dining room it was only like a garnishment (except potatoes & rice were always available). 

Never had so many of the staff being fairly close to the start of their contract.  Tried to be helpful, but not aware of many things when asked.  Always nice, but just did not display that "at your service/ cruise ship" attitude I am used to..