Enjoyed the ports, but would never cruise HAL again
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Food was quite good. Dining room service on late sitting was excellent.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
Nothing much other than ports of call talks. They were well done, as well as the Cooking classes, but nothing else cultural. Any activities either had a charge or you were solicited to purchase something. I would have been even happy with napkin folding. Couldn’t sit at pool because no seats in shade and if you didn’t gamble, sea days became quite boring.
Entertainment
2 out of 5
The ship singers and dancers were talented and their revue shows entertaining. Other performers (magician, contortionist, comedian) in the Main theater.....not so much. The classical Music performance in the small theater venue were excellent.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Our dining staff and room stewards were wonderful. I had several issues with the ship excursion staff not providing complete and accurate information which inevitably ruined my excursion to Bangkok. I am not afraid to ask questions and depending on who you talk to, you get differing responses.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Ship is a wonderful size with under 2000 passengers. Common areas were well maintained.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Our cabin was very nice; spacious and comfortable. We did have a problem with the thermostat. It would change from freezing cold to heat on its own. We requested service twice, and while a technician came, it was never fixed. Another design flaw is having the flat screen TV on the same wall as the sofa. The only place to watch the TV is sitting on a desk chair or in bed.
Ship tip
Do not book a cruise early with Holland America. I thought I had gotten a good price for this 28 day cruise and booked it 10 months prior to sailing date. I was requested to pay in full and informed it was non refundable. I subsequently saw prices drop $450. per person or $900. for the cabin. I notified my travel agent and subsequently informed that Holland America would neither match the reduced rate or provide any concessions- no shipboard credit; nothing toward gratuities; no wine or dinners in gourmet restaurants; no excursions- absolutely not one cent. I have taken 44 previous cruises on various cruise lines, and never treated so despicably unfair. I met another woman on board who booked 6 weeks before the sailing and had a higher class suite than I had for 1/2 of what I paid. They had my money for 10 months and would not refund a cent. .
We did an overnight excursion from the ship, as Bangkok is quite a distance with many things to see very spread out around the city. We didn’t want to be in a bus for 3 hrs a day for 2 days with so much to see.
Since we had been here before, we decided to go to Disney Shanghai. Don’t do it! Not worth the long cab ride. Not one Disney character walking around. All signage in Chinese.
Maybe my “title” label of “crooks was a bit over the top. Apparently I am unable to make changes to the review once it posted. A better title might have been...”HAL- don’t do it”
This also happened on this cruise. Booked all day excursion to Hanoi. A woman got hurt (broke her ankle) while walking through streets of the “Old Quarter.” I won’t even get into the dangerous environment we were subjected to from the motor scooters. We got her back to the bus via taxi and we got her ice as we all made our way back to the bus. When we heard the tour guide announce we would get her more ice “when we get to the restaurant” we all started to buzz among ourselves. Finally someone spoke up about taking a vote to go directly back to the ship and get her the medical attention she required. This was a unanimous vote. We were made to sign an “agreement” to return early. This was fine until my husband was told by the tour guide that the tour operator required this in order to negotiate the contract with HAL because they didn’t provide dinner to the group. We each paid $249. For this excursion. I waited several days to see whether some credit would show up in our shipboard account. I finally went to guest services and nicely explained the situation, asking whether the passengers would be receiving a small refund. I was informed that because we signed that form, agreeing to return early, no refund would be provided. So basically, HAL would have preferred we leave her on the bus in pain and we should have gone to dinner? Why should HAL retain the money we all paid for something (per our contract of what was to be provided on this excursion) we did not get? Very bad practice for them to do this. Another reason why I would not sail with them again.
We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam in March of 2018 and loved it . Not a lot to do on the ship during the day but that's what the ports are for. And we brought our Phase 10 card game and played often with brother and sister in law. The ship was beautiful. The food was absolutely delicious, especially in the MDR The staff in the buffet were the friendliest most smiling we've ever seen. Our cabin steward always greeted us by name when he saw us and asked how our day was at the different ports. He was fantastic. Cabin always spotless and never had to ask for anything. It was so relaxing at the pool area with no DJ or loud band music. Nice piped in music. The hamburgers at the Dive-In were the best we've ever had. They also have hotdogs and fries there. At the Pizza place, the pizza is made to order and you get the whole pie not just a slice. They also have delicious Caesar salad. We had a great time. We will be on the Zuiderdam this coming March and hope we love it also. We know now what to expect on the ship during the day., or should I say what not to expect!
Good lesson. Buying early is not always the best deal. However, you get better choice of cabins, etc. Did you purchase a non-refundable cabin? Those are the cheapest. Non-refundable means non-refundable so don't expect any compensation for those prices. If the price seemed fair to you at the time and you happily payed it then no fair getting upset with a deal others got later. Would you have demanded to pay more if the price went up? Best if you just don't look again after you pick a non-refundable fare.
Terrible. We had the same with our NCL Alaska sailing...booked early and could only have a non refundable deposit...prices were so different closer to our sailing date that we canceled, lost our deposit, booked an ocean view (instead of our previous inside) and payed 450 usd less...NCL refused compensation...now we never book early with NCL.
Sorry they wouldn’t provide any compensation. Some lines do and some don’t. We have been on 2 HAL cruises and were not impressed with the food or entertainment. We would only cruise with them again if we could not find a similar itinerary on another line.
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