They stop at 4 ports. Jamaica was scary. People stalk you there. Cayman is nice and quiet. Cozumel has a lot of shopping.
I will not cruise with this line again because it is just too boring. When I cruise I need a balance of quiet but also entertainment and fun!!
Embarkation
1 out of 5
Horrible embarkation. I had to join the line on board three times because they didn’t take my picture, lost my card info and my room was dirty upon arrival. The only thing these people can say is “sorry”. They don’t do anything to rectify their errors. Each time it was a 30 minute wait in line. That is no way to spend my time on a cruise.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
Horrible. They literally served the same food every single day. Absolutely no creativity in variety. If you are pescatarian or vegetarian, get ready for shrimp the size of fish bait and salmon everyday.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
Fitness center was ok. Typical as in other ships. I suppose the highlight was when they added coloring for adults. You literally get a picture to color with crayons. There is an activity station with board games and books you can borrow and some other misc things like ping pong, but the activities were very boring.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The first comedian was so boring people walked out… including me. The second one was good. He did a combo of magic plus comedy. The dance performance was good. Creative. Unique.
Children's Programs
I did not travel with kids.
Service and Staff
1 out of 5
The staff in general is not very friendly. On the Lido deck dining it is touch and go. One day you get someone decent and another totally ignored so get up and get your own drinks. You have to wait in lines for them to serve the food so some lines are a long wait depending on the time of day and what you’re getting. I basically ate the same food everyday because I only eat fish. It was either fish and chips or salmon every time.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship was clean. No complaints there.
Cabin / Stateroom
2 out of 5
It was
Not clean upon arrival. After that it was fine.
Ship tip
If you want to sleep all day with barely anything interesting to do then this ship is for you! If you want fun entertaining activities and lively entertainment then check out MSC Magnifico. They literally had a live band playing to welcome back their guests from the Cozumel excursion. They played music for three hours. I literally stayed outside and danced to the music from the MSC Magnifico ship. If they do that just to welcome back their guests, I can only imagine what it is like on board.
Was never stalked at Ocho Rios 2 years ago, as a matter of fact, the port was fenced and you couldn’t leave it unless you were getting on an excursion. We went on a fabulous HAL excursion to a nearby resort at the top of a mountain.
Wow, don’t understand your ratings. Even Half Moon Cay was awful for you! Sorry your cruise did not meet your expectations. For the rest of us, we think HAL is a superb cruise line.
I agree 100% with lawn boy, 1956. My wife and I had been on 20+ cruises just about to turn diamond on carnival. And we experienced our first Holland Cruise on the Rotterdam, and it was amazing! Since then we predominantly only cruise with Holland. The service is pretty good on any of the cruise lines, but I still think Holland is the best for that too. As for food, absolutely they have the best food in the Lido or main dining room then any other cruise line we’ve been on.
I’m sorry, I don’t buy this review at all. I have been on Rotterdam twice in the last year and a half and will be on her again at the end of this month. The food is very good. The food choice is very good on this ship. As for the staff, it’s the best I’ve ever encountered on my 20+ cruises. I think this is a situation of sour grapes, because no research was done and you chose the wrong cruise line for what you wanted.
If you were expecting a party cruise, you picked the wrong cruise line. A quick Google search will tell you HAL is geared toward an older demographic and tends to have fewer activities onboard.
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