If I could give 0 stars I would..
Rotterdam Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
Contributor Level:
Deck Hand
Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 7
Review summary
HAL lost our luggage at the port, spent a week with one pair of clothing. I had to wear UGG slippers at the beach…Embarkation
Please save yourself and do not ever book with Holland America. This was my first ever cruise and they lost our luggage at the port. We left for our cruise Dec 23. We have nothing but the clothing we are wearing, and we had to cancel our excursions because we have no swimsuits, sandles for the beach, etc. We went to the shops and the swimsuits cost $70-100. We have been going on day 5 wearing the same clothing we left with. To say the least HAL has ruined our Christmas vacation. Not only did we have to wear the same clothes for a week straight, we were humiliated everytime we showed up to the dining room for not being dressed up. We had no other clothing, it was as if they expected us to hide the entire cruise in our room because of something we had no control over. We feel sick to our stomachs because we are worried we will never get our luggage back. We have tried coordinating with the crew on board with no success to find the luggage, and minimal compensation or sympathy for our experience. At this point we are doing our best to make the most out of our time with Holland America but has been SO disappointing. I just really would like help tracking our luggage down so I can have peace of mind I didn’t lose all of our belongings. We dropped our two suitcases off and put a Holland America luggage tag on both of them, and the staff took our bags away and we never saw them again. We were offered $250 for our lost baggage, and no explanation of what happened to it. Our bags were worth over 2k.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
It seemed with the dining they cheap out on everything. The food made us sick almost the entire trip. Even the drinks/alcohol seemed very watered down.
Onboard Activities
Pools were nice, but not much to do.
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Please save yourself and do not ever book with Holland America. This was my first ever cruise and they lost our luggage at the port. We left for our cruise Dec 23. We have nothing but the clothing we are wearing, and we had to cancel our excursions because we have no swimsuits, sandles for the beach, etc. We went to the shops and the swimsuits cost $70-100. We have been going on day 5 wearing the same clothing we left with. To say the least HAL has ruined our Christmas vacation. Not only did we have to wear the same clothes for a week straight, we were humiliated everytime we showed up to the dining room for not being dressed up. We had no other clothing, it was as if they expected us to hide the entire cruise in our room because of something we had no control over.
We feel sick to our stomachs because we are worried we will never get our luggage back. We have tried coordinating with the crew on board with no success to find the luggage, and minimal compensation or sympathy for our experience. At this point we are doing our best to make the most out of our time with Holland America but has been SO disappointing. I just really would like help tracking our luggage down so I can have peace of mind I didn’t lose all of our belongings.
We dropped our two suitcases off and put a Holland America luggage tag on both of them, and the staff took our bags away and we never saw them again. We were offered $250 for our lost baggage, and no explanation of what happened to it. Our bags were worth over 2k.
Ship Quality
I liked the room we were provided, and there was good room service. Beware they charge $16 a day in addition just to have your room cleaned!
Cabin / Stateroom
Ports of call
Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida
Lost our baggage
Thumbs Up
0
Disembarkation
19 Comments
Ladyjunecliff 11 months ago
Ladyjunecliff 11 months ago
OMG! I can’t imagine how awful that was. The ships stores don’t sell underwear. I spend a couple weeks packing and unpacking what I think I need. My husband worried when I handed off our luggage to the porter-along with a nice tip, of course. i always carry on one extra change of clothes, just in case. I see lots of folks carry on their own luggage. We always get trip insurance too. I hope you will cruise again.
ddme 11 months ago
Exactly 1 year ago, my wife and I were on a Viking 15 day cruise to Australia and New Zealand. Due to the Christmas Day Airline fiasco in Salt Lake City, our luggage took their own trip and we didn't get them back until 10 days after we got back home. I feel their pain! We decided not to let the lost luggage affect our much anticipated trip down under. Viking were so kind to us as they graciously did our laundry every day for us. They gave us a small on board credit to buy incidentals in their shop. They tried to get our airlines to ship pur luggage to several different ports. They allowed us in the resturants in what we were wearing without an issue. They checked with us everyday to see if there was anything we needed. On our fourth day while we were in Melbourne, we actually found a Salvation Army Thrift Store and was able to inexpensively get a couple of additional clothing. The point of all of this, it is important to make lemonade our of lemons. These cruises are not cheap, so it is important to try to make the best of it. Again, I feel for you in not having your baggage for your entire cruise. Been there, done that!
mckey70hotmailcom 11 months ago