Holland America is now mundane and bottom-line cheap.
Oosterdam Cruise Review to Hawaii
Contributor Level:
Deck Hand
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 37
Review summary
This was our 59th cruise. Holland America was the Grand Dame of cruise ships up until a new president was installed 3 years ago. They are now a cheap cruise with serious crew cutbacks and elimination of amenities. Obvious emphasis is on bottom-line profit and less on passenger comfort and attention to the little things. They were once our number one favorite because of their appeal to older passengers and sedate amenities. Today, in our minds, they rank fifth along with Carnival by trying to appeal across the board to everyone and in the process have lost their branding. All of this was confirmed with fellow passengers who said they were disgusted with the decline in the Grande Dame and their lack of attention to the small things.Embarkation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Lido buffet is uninspired cafeteria food.
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
When we checked in there was no Service/Don't Disturb sign for our cabin. We yelled for six days to give us some heat in the room. Guests Services said they would check it out and let us know the status, which they never did. They lied to us. Finally I demanded to speak to the captain and was turned down. I finally reached a Guest Services supervisor who took an engineer to our room and replaced the thermostat that helped a little. We gave up and endured the cold that still came at times. Guest Services is arrogant and cannot be trusted to check on something and let you know what is being done to fix a problem.
Ship tip
Don't sail on it. They are so cheap and don't do all the little things that make a cruise pleasant. We find the whole HAL experience on all their ships is also downgraded over the last three years. A young officer states that the bottom-line profit on each sailing is of number one importance because the Captain's bonus is based on the bottom-line; hence, the little things that used to matter are no longer important.
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