Noordam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

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..

Our favorite part of the cruise were the excursions we did: Glacier Point Wilderness Safari by boat, Eagle Preserve float In Haines; the captain and crew of the Noordam had a commitment to provide the best experience possible for the passengers, the captain especially eager for us to see all the wildlife possible.

The food was not as good as expected, except for our dinners in the Canneletto and Pinnacle restaurants - food in the Lido was not very hot & cold air in the room quickly cooled the food.

The air was very dry and may well have increased the rate of flu and colds among the passengers. 

However, overall it was a good 1st time cruise.

Loved everything about this ship and would love to go back !!! The food was wonderful, the staff was superb, everybody seemed to sincerely wish to do anything they could to make your cruise your best experience ever.

Favorite part of the cruise was the combination of land excursions and cruising activities. Service was outstanding, food was excellent except for steaks which were fair. Be sure to take advantage of open Lido deck while underway to see whales and other wildlife. 

The cruise was amazing. The staff was very friendly, and the food was great, for the most part. Dining The food was very good at the specialty dining restaurants, but the main restaurant (don’t remember what it was called) was not good. The buffet was very good, but for breakfast, they didn’t have good choices if you didn’t want to have too many eggs. Stateroom Very nice Large Clean WiFi The WiFi was pay by the minute, and you could buy the minutes in bulk. They do have a few free websites, like The NY Times, and a few other sites. My family purchased the 1000 minute plan, and I believe it was $59.99 (not 100% sure). We needed a lot of WiFi, because there were 4 of us that needed to use the internet - I needed it to check work emails, and my two teenagers wanted to watch Netflix/ Hulu, and they were able to stream HD video most of the time. Service and staff The staff was very friendly. With my room, I got access to a lounge called the Neptune lounge, and the people there were very friendly, and they were kind of like private concierges. I would very much recommend getting a room with access to this lounge, because they also have food for most of the day there.

Overall lots of fun. HAL wasn't really our cup of tea and that's ok. Would sail them again for the right itinerary. Had lots of fun in Alaska, definitely a memorable cruise

It was awesome surprise for all of us to discover BBC on board. Real treat to see all master classes, films and even day activities with BBC themes. HAL service was top noch as usually. I gave a week pass to the the thermal suite as a b-day gift to my sister and one for myself - that made our trip extra special. Heat treatments on Alaska , nothing can beat it. :)

The ship was wonderful In all respects. The country of New Zealand captured my heart. Our shore excursions from sheep farms to Kiwi vineyards and Maori experiences were well worth the extra expense. I would highly recommend this trip.

No Famous Holland American Bread Pudding except at lunch... Why???  This has always been a favorite...  Please Change!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It really is an elegant ship. Nice artistic deco all over the public areas, plus lively fresh flowers. Lots of viewings spots for sail by attractions. Foods were great. Service staff were always friendly and very professional. Had a balcony cabin and it’s very spacious.

My niece and I cruised from Ft. Lauderdale, Panama Canal all the way to Vancouver, BC.  Although the ship was ok, the food was not in both the M.D.R. and Buffet.  Breakfast was the only meal we enjoyed, however, who "deep fries bacon"?  Did not enjoy their selection of food.  We avoided going to the M.D.R. a few evenings and just had soup and sandwiches in the buffet.  They mixed up our orders a number of times, so while the rest of us dined the other had to wait for their dinner.

Our cabin was adequate but very small.  Upon arrival we found hair on the bathroom foor and the rugs looked like they were in need of a good sampoo.  The last two days of our trip the cabin seward didn't even bother to straighten out our towels, just left them as is.

We had the most enjoyable time at pool side.

A couple of years back we went on Celebrity Eclipse and everything was "Excellent"

I do not think we will travel Holland America Noordam again.

we have sailed on this ship before and have enjoyed it both times.

Not what we expected for new years's eve. The music was bad, no places to go, all the bars were closed you could only go outside and stand up since there were too many people and few tables.  The food was not good. The Pinnacle service was awful and the food was not good either.

The dining room experience left a lot to be desired.  The selection of menu items was limited; the descriptions of the food was not accurate; the service was exceedingly slow.

The ship was fine and our cabin was spacious, but the quality of the dining room experience made the cruise less than pleasurable.

At the time of our cruise, this ship needed serious renovation. Hopefully it has since been updated. The carpet and wallpaper was peeling in our balcony room. The food seemed almost never available for buffet times, and when it was it was not great. MDR was the only good option so if it wasn't a main meal time the food situation was disappointing. Staff was amazing! So nice and fun. The spa was a very nice experience as well.

Our balcony had black soot from diesel coming down. This made most of balcony unusable. The glass on the balcony was filthy. Had to ask this to be cleaned so that we could see out of it.

This was a \"smaller\" ship, just less than 2000 passengers. Very efficient and organized embarkation/de-embarkation procedures. Fitness and SPA facilities were excellent. Good variety of ports of call (6) with 3 total sea days. Ship never seemed crowded despite being at full capacity, plenty of areas for activities or quiet space either with or without other passengers.

Ship was impeccable, and the staff, was to a person, friendly and helpful. Size is great, one is not swamped by 4000+ passengers almost everyone on the cruise were senior citizens, almost no kids.

ship was well appointed and easy to get around

We liked that almost all passengers were active 60 something, and there were not a lot of children running around. It was a smooth sailing; the Captain kept us informed and did his best to steer us around instead of going head-on into bad weather. The cabin crew and room service people were friendly and efficient. The spa was good but too pricy; attendants must not try to make patrons feel like they need to compete with their 30 something. The gym was nice, but exercise should not be by youngsters showing off. Instead of aggressive yoga, a mild yoga and tai chi midmorning would have been better. Arts and crafts were like for a convalescent home. Scrap the dance contest or make it age appropriate. The BB King band was good, but the room too small. It would be great to have a writing group in the library. Most of the crew was friendly and efficient; however, the medical staff could have been more helpful and appointments more than for during a couple of hours a day. I got sick on the ship and reported it to the nurse and was not offered to see a doctor; we are now on antibiotics.