Cruising experience with Holland America seemed to have declined comparing to their own prior set standards
Westerdam Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage
7 Night Alaskan Explorer With Glacier Bay (Seattle Roundtrip)
Sail date: July 20, 2013
Ship: Westerdam
Cabin type: Balcony
Traveled as: Family (young children)
Reviewed: 11 years ago
Review summary
This was my 3rd cruise with Holland America. I took it, obviously based on my prior positive experiences with the company.This time I noted a sharp decline in their overall services & standards.The brighter points were the Kid's club,which seemed to be an improvement compared with my prior 2 experiences.The employees at the signature shops & the photo studio were awesome & went out of their ways to help customers.The Front Desk employees were friendly as usual.However the entertainment segments on the ship in the Vista lounge were slashed down in terms of time,with the magic show lasting for about 45 minutes only.The port excursions staff experience was unacceptable as they were not available to talk in person or over the phone at decent desired times.The GYM had 4 machines not working from the beginning of the cruise itself.They could have been replaced or fixed at the port of embarkation which was Seattle,a big city in itself.Other passengers seemd to use the GYM equipments more than 30 minutes of requested time & there was no GYM personnel to help waiting members like me to get to use the exercise equipments.Overall I felt that Holland America has decided to slash down on overall services,compared to their own previous standards.Based on my current cruising experience with them,I'll never cruise with Holland America again.There are other cruiselines available with much better reviews by fellow travellers.Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
The staff of Indonesian-Phillipino origin seemed hardworking and nice as ever.