4 at sea days with not much to do other than trivia, the pool and the spa. The spa took too much of “me time” to push their products. Never went back because of that. Shops on board were mediocre at best unless you were looking for a high end handbag. Effy totally dominated the 2nd deck shopping and way overpriced. I worked in the jewelry industry (not retail) so I know what items are worth. Sales personnel wouldn’t come anywhere near to the item’s value
Embarkation
1 out of 5
No lines. Stateroom was ready.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
Food in main dining room was “different” and if you wanted a regular standby there was a hefty surcharge. Service was SLOW. 2.5-3 hours for dinner meant a lot of waiting and missing scheduled entertainment. The buffet had a nice variety but it was always a zoo up there and sometimes difficult to get silverware, napkins, drinks, etc.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
Pools were small and crowded. Sometimes difficult to find two chaise lounges together. No other outside activities other than ping pong.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Repetitious. Little variety. One comedian was good but he was put into a venue too small to accommodate the crowds. Standing room only for 5 performances. You’d think they’d learn after 2 like that and put him into the theater. Dancers and string quartet had talent, but again, repetitive. Rock and roll bands were good but way too loud. Sometimes overshadowed other entertainment going on, like the comedian.
Children's Programs
No kids.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Room steward was excellent. Food service staff was poor in dining room and fair in buffet. Now if you wanted an alcoholic beverage at any time there was always someone making the rounds.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Beautiful ship and immaculate. Very long ship, especially if you had mobility issues and no electric scooter.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Comfy bed, very clean but smaller than other ships we’ve sailed. Too many decorative pillows. Always in the way and no place to put them.
Not at all attractive. Roads were horrible, making a tour tiresome. Nothing much of interest to see. Too much emphasis on the salt mines and how the slaves lived.
BEAUTIFUL!!! Cancelled the HAL $80.00/person tour and took a private operator tour for $20.00. Excellent tour, informative and took us to areas the big tour buses skipped. Afterwards the shopping was excellent, not just the cheesey T-shirt shops and junk jewelry. By far the best port.
I was on the same cruise and enjoyed it very much. I spent most of my evenings enjoying the different entertainment on Deck 2 and especially enjoyed the Jazz music at BB King. Our balcony cabin was 7156 on the port side of the ship and it was perfect for our cruise.
Thank you for sharing your cruise experience, I'm sorry it was not enjoyable for you. Holland America is more of a sit back and relax type of cruise company. Vacations are meant to relax and recharge you. We found the food very good on Holland America, not everything was spectacular but we were never left hungry. We were just on Rotterdam and were not charged for a second entree at any point of our 15 days. Dinner too is a sit and relax take it slow eating, I don't think on any cruise we have taken were we out of the dinning room in less then 2 hours, you need to enjoy the people around you and let your food digest. We always planned our seating time for dinner based on what entertainment we wanted to see. We also found the entertainment very good on the Rotterdam along the educational lectures they had during the day. The pools are no smaller then some other cruise lines with two being average for that size ship. The shops on any cruise ship are mistly about high end merchandise and jewelry with a scattering of ship souvenirs, cigarettes and alcohol. Maybe another cruise line would be better for you.
Holland America is not known for their entertainment or on board activities. Bonaire is an excellent port with some of the best snorkeling and diving in the world. The 27 Waterfalls tour at Amber Cove is one of the best we have done in over 30 years of cruising.
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