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A relaxing B2B

Itinerary- Africa at the top of my bucket list. Most ports were readily available to walk through. Ship tours ranged in price- from inexpensive to YIKES! Even though I now travel solo, I was comfortable and at ease. Staff on board exceptional- always willing to answer questions, give directions when we got lost or needed more information. Cabin stewards were always going the extra mile to make sure everything was clean, needs taken care of, and with smiles. Wait staff in Lido and main dining room made sure any food restrictions/ dietary requirements were met- without any complaints. I also enjoyed that I could exchange the mini bar set up for bottles of wine- especially since I didn’t buy the drink package. Captain’s announcements at noon kept us informed about the situation in the Middle East- especially for transit through the Suez Canal, going to Jordan and along Africa. I’m more than willing to go on another Holland America cruise.

More than met my expectations 

Kelang (Kuala Lumpur)

Zuiderdam       Boston to Quebec City b2b Quebec City to Boston 8/26/2023-9/92023

My wife and I have over fifty cruises and our favorite cruise lines are, in no particular order, Holland America, Princess and Celebrity.  We would not turn down a Royal Caribbean or Carnival if the timing and itinerary were to our liking.  We chose the b2b Boston-Quebec-Boston for a two week get away aboard Holland America’s Zuiderdam.

The Ship

We had never been on the Zuiderdam before and knew it to be one of the lines older ships.  Having said that, the ship is in excellent condition.  Although some of the decor is to the era that the ship was built, the ship is clean and, except for a couple of minor issues, looks well maintained.  

Because it is one of the older ships it does not have many of the amenities that the newer ships have but they try to provide for them and that is, in my opinion, somewhat troubling.  Since space for these is not available, they have tried to put them into areas that are not designed for them.  A prime example is the Crows Nest bar on deck 10 at the front of the ship.

If you are a seasoned traveler on ships you know the area.  A panoramic view of the bow where you can have a cocktail and conversation with friends.  That is difficult on the Zuiderdam.  The Crows Nest, in addition to the bar,  acts as the Excursion desk, the coffee bar and, most annoying, the game room.  Being a smaller ship, this area is not that large.  Tables and chairs are at a premium especially since many are taken up by games and jig saw puzzles.  Game competition adds to the noise level and makes for a crowded, unpleasant environment if your goal is to have a quiet cocktail with friends as you enjoy the view.

Entertainment

We found the entertainment in the theater to be excellent.  Much better then many cruise lines offer.  The entertainment on our two cruises featured a comedian who did shows on two or three evenings, an outstanding dance company, a vocalist, and a concert pianist.  All were worth attending.

There were two individuals who played pianos and sang pop and contemporary songs at Billboard Onboard.  Frankly, my opinion only, they were not that good.  

Food

My wife and I are foodies.  The dinning room on Zuiderdam provides a extensive menu nightly.  We found the food very good.  The food in the Lido Market is tasty and the offerings extensive.  I did find in the  that some of the offerings, especially the breakfast Burrito were not hot.  You may want to stick to a having an omelette made for you if you run into this issue. 

We went to the Pinnacle Grill twice and both were a great experience.  

Staff

I did get the impression that staffing is still an issue, especially with the bar service.  I am sure that Holland America continues to work that problem.  

Our cabin steward was great and although we had a few problems with plumbing, I told Customer Service and the maintenance people were there in short order.  One had to have a more extensive repair and they told us they would have it repaired when we returned from our excursion and they did.

Debarkation 

Between Halifax and Bar Harbor we were informed that we would have to clear immigration in Bar Harbor.  Immigration would come on the ship and we would have to present our passports for inspection.  I though to myself, “oh, this will be fun”.  When Immigration was prepared we would go to the dinning room by floors.  I could only imagine how long this would take.  I was pleasantly surprised.  When our floor was called we went to the dining room.  It was so organized I don’t think it took ten minutes.

First we presented our cruise card to a HAL person who scanned it, then formed two lines that went quick, fast and in a hurry to one of two Immigration agents who looked at your passport as you walked by, then to another HAL employee who put a sticker on the back of your cruise card.  Done.

When we got into Boston when our luggage tags were called we were off the ship in five minutes, took a couple of minutes to find our luggage and out the door.  

Helpful hint.  Get a porter for your luggage.  He put the bags on his cart and said to stay with him.  Got outside and the taxi line was very long.  Our porter said we aren’t waiting in that line.  He made a turn away from the line with us, put his hand up and there was a taxi for us.  From the time we carded off the ship, getting luggage and in the taxi on our way to the airport was less then 10 minutes.  Best $10 bucks I ever spent.

All in all a very restful cruise.

Raiatea

We were excited to be on Zuiderdam on Aug 26, from Boston up to Quebec city.   While the ship was nice and in good shape for being a few years old, it was the service and our cabin that disappointed us.   

Pros: 

- ship was in good shape.  

- Our inside cabin was roomy for 4. 

- good communication and service once we got quarantined in our inside cabin half way through the cruise (not fun with an 8 and 9 year old).  

- cabin steward was amazing

- crew, while many horribly trained, all seemed to be doing their best with a smile on their face

- good service and food in Lido buffet

- Eastern Canada is amazing, as was Bar Harbor.   Highly recommend this area of the world for some great scenery.

Cons:

-  has anyone else had issues with the anytime dining?  It was a complete mess every time we went.  Long waits to get a table, and terrible service once you do get a table.  On the days we went to the dining room, we never got to see a show because dinner would take from 7pm till 9:30pm.   It really seems like the anytime dining people are a complete afterthought.  My 8 year old had to watch everyone else eat and then got his main course literally a half hour after everyone else did on one occasion.  It was terrible service each night. 

- cabin:  we were in the dreaded inside cabins under the nightclub.  The walls literally shook until about 11:30pm each night.  Luckily we read previous reviews and took earplugs even for the kids, but there really should be a warning on these inside cabins under the nightclub, especially if someone with young kids books them.  

-  food availability - after terrible dining room meals, we wanted snacks from the Lido buffet, which always seemed to be closed from 9:30-10:30 pm.   While I understand the need to clean, maybe they could consider keeping at least a snack area open for cookies or something. 

- Covid:  We rescheduled this cruise 4 times, delaying it until we felt safe again post-Covid.  Ironically, three of the four of us got Covid and got quarantined to our room.  Surprisingly this is when we got our best service.  Guest services went and got games for my kids, we got to order food off the dining room menu for room service, and they crew were in constant touch with us, making sure we were ok.  Movies on HAL are free, which came in very handy.  

I don’t think we will sail with HAL again.   It was a ok cruise (until we got Covid) but it just didn’t have any of that “being looked after well” feeling that we have experienced on Celebrity for example.  While I know staff is hard to get, the lack of training, mostly in the dining room, really did affect our cruise experience.

Just ok on Zuiderdam.  Beware anytime dining

This was only our second cruise so we let our travel companions pick the cruise since they have much more cruise experience. The Zuiderdam is an older cruise liner as were the patrons so we felt right at home. The amenities on the ship were perfect and we enjoyed room service breakfast every morning and the food was fantastic. In the evening we enjoyed the main dining room and serving us at table 78 was Anam our server and Ana his assistant, both were very personable and were excellent at their jobs (sweetness says high). We also enjoyed the Pinnacle Grill and the Canaletto restaurants. Our cabins were on the 7th floor and Komang and Dowe cleaned our room at least twice a day and they kept our room spotless and they greeted us every time we saw them in our hallway. I can't say enough good thing about the staff on the ship. They made our holiday a fantastic experience.

One week being pampered in Atlantic Canada

Belfast

We had a great cabin - aft, veranda - that we loved. No diesel, smoke/ash and little noise from Lido above. Great views, tiny sitting area.

We chose to take meclizine, starting the night before our cruise. This was the most sea we've seen on any cruise (still topped out at 2+ meters - 7-8 foot swells) and were both fine. I had anxiety but no actual motion sickness. There was an outbreak of respiratory illness during our cruise - you could hear a lot of coughing from the time we boarded. My husband got a pretty mild cold and I was fine. Plenty of hand sanitizer and during the "outbreak" more reminders to use it or the hand wash stations available at the Lido deck.

The crew were all 100% professional, kind and friendly. Can't say enough about them. Loved our captain (Bart), cruise director (Tjalling!), many wait staff, and our steward team. There was good information daily about weather, seas, arrival and departure into ports, and a full narration in the Sound. The bar and wait staff were so attentive. They were almost always right there to offer a drink in every venue, even after they knew who was on the bar package.

The app was easy to use, once you got on the internet (a constant process of reconnecting that was tedious) - and useful. You could build your itinerary, it had your excursion tix, you could order food at their pop-up, book excursions and dinner reservations. All to the good. 

Food was all over the place. MDR had some of the best fish and shrimp I've had anywhere. Solid filet mignon. Yet also a horrible "tomato risotto," with peanuts (wth?) and a cassoulet served with a hotdog. It was often closed for bfast and lunch so we ended up doing many meals in the Lido. Lido had outstanding breakfast - variety of cold and hot items, fish and meats, eggs many ways cooked to order, breads, pastries, and batter items (pancakes, waffles and crepes) AND no long lines, hard to do. Lunch there was solid. Lots of mysterious salads (with and without mayo), cold cuts, hot American and Asian food (solid), "Italian" pizza and pasta (mediocre), and sushi and sashimi (very good).  Dinner was same but minus the Asian station. The hot dog/burger stand (Dive In) was great - you order in the app so your food was fresh and hot! We actually looked forward to dinner there. Lido desserts were more miss than hit - lots of them were weirdly tasteless - ice cream was the cheap grocery variety. Canaletto was on a par with MDR (and cooked at one of the Lido stations), with far better desserts. Pinnacle was outstanding across the board. What you wish cruise food could be. Dietary is hit or miss - more miss. They want you to order ahead in MDR for gluten free, but then what you get is awful. In Lido, they cram all dietary into one item - so the gf choice might also be vegan and sugar-free! So you're on your own if you want to enjoy what you eat - there are many items w/o gluten (or sugar, or dairy) but you have to rely on your best guess. Dive In was weirdly the best option. Cocktails were excellent all over the ship - and each bar had its own specials and specialties. 

Problems were few - toilet issues twice, caused by problems in the line above/below. Solved quickly. A couple of account errors (small ones) that are still getting ironed out. Credits missing. The immigration line to leave the ship was awful, partly due to lack of timely instructions, partly due to people not reading the written instructions well and following them. But it resolved. Otherwise, we rarely saw lines for anything, even the tender service, except once in Reykjavik. 

We used the laundry service on board to cut down on luggage. We paid $140 for four loads (about one load every three days - took 24-56 h to return). We were able to do self-assist on departure which is very convenient - no putting bags out the night before, or waiting to collect them in port. NO issues with elevators at departure, which shocked us!

Entertainment was different than other cruises we've been on. It's not just an older crowd, it's an old crowd (70-75 and up). We were considered youngsters at 58. So we had classical and jazz musicians, lecturers, movies, a comic who said he was a "chick magnet for 80 yo women," a Europop singing group that were like an off brand Pentatonix ("Cantare") and a couple who are mentalists. AND a band and a piano duo in the later evenings. Some of this was excellent - the classical musicians were young up and comers who played an amazing repertoire of chamber music for us, jazz trio and piano duo were great, movies were themed to the cruise (for the most part) and enjoyable (with popcorn). The band had a too-small venue and had a good sense of humor about rocking out for an elder group of line "dancers." The lectures were appreciated, but the lecturers could have been better. One, who focused on history, was adequate - good delivery and information, though focused more on arctic and Americas exploration than Vikings. The other couple, who focused on geology and a little history of the ports, were just lacking in organization and delivery. They aren't experts or scholars in any field - it was the kind of self-organized talk you'd find in my father's philosophy club of retirees where they take turns picking a topic and putting together a Power Point about it. And no Viking connection. They'd do better to follow the mold of their musicians and get some grad students or junior faculty on board.

Many people entertained themselves with cards or social gatherings - most of the guests were aboard for the full 35 day cruise and spend a lot of time on cruises and have many future cruises already booked! This was also very different from other cruises I've been on. So they're an interesting bunch with past lives to discuss, and past cruises, and pastimes (I joined the knitting group - very fun!). 

Shopping was lovely with something for everyone - a lot of real estate for fine jewelry and watches (just weird in this day and age), but many choices otherwise across the price spectrum including snacks and necessities. The library is also great - not just a sharing library but a collection with enough copies for folks to form book groups and read the latest best sellers or classics. Reading is a big past-time among this group of cruisers - we saw readers at the pool, while waiting for entertainment to start, and at all the bars. 

I didn't make use of the fitness center, but stopped in to look and it seemed fine - walking on the Promenade deck was popular. Most group exercise was before 10 am - too early for me on days I didn't have to be up early for an excursion. Tai chi, stretch, walking and conditioning were free, but yoga and Pilates had an extra charge. The pools (one outdoors) were not too crowded and there were five hot tubs (two outdoors). The casino was mostly empty but not surprisingly, given the crowd, the poker table and roulette were popular. I had a great haircut in the spa salon - booked ahead on a port day and paid less than I do at home!

Shore excursions were very pricey and generally good. It was hard to book ahead - first there were no excursions, then our ports got swapped several times so excursions cancelled and added. Some excursions sold out months in advance, so you'd be waitlisted and in limbo. We ended up getting all the excursions we wanted (one well in advance of departure, and one after we boarded!), and adding some while on the ship, but it wasn't a great process. The excursion descriptions weren't great - and some (run by local agencies - so only partly under Holland America control) had more bus time than time at the sites. We had two days in Reykjavik, and the excursion we picked for the second day, that was described very differently than the one on the first day, ended up being heavily overlapping. Plus, most of the excursions, and several of the ports, had nothing to do with Vikings at all! It would be better to change the name of this cruise so it isn't so misleading. No Norway, and the two Irish ports (Cork and Belfast) that are known for other things but not for Vikings. But we did enjoy the excursions we went on - the Ards peninsula, Icelandic pony demonstration, and L'anse aux Meadows (amazing young local guide) were all great. The power plant is incredible - we had two short visits there and still could have used more time! Stornoway, Djupivogur, and Qaqortoq were all beautiful. The tours were mostly appropriate for those with mild mobility impairment - the hardest part was getting on and off of the buses. Efforts were made to include stops that had bathroom facilities and water and coffee or snacks to purchase.

In several ports we were thwarted from berthing at the port by other cruise ships. There is big competition for the berths right now and Holland America is losing out to lines with more passengers. It's frustrating to be out at anchor - and tendering a group of mobility-impaired seniors is tougher and slower than normal tendering, which is bad enough - with other ships at port. However, very few lines go to Greenland. We could have paid half as much on NCL for a better itinerary (Norway and Scotland) and berth priority. However, we would have missed Greenland. Sailing towards it, and seeing the endless rocky, icy coastline, the mountains and glaciers, emerging from the mist and fog was incredible. And seeing how people make a living in these places that are largely cold and somewhat inhospitable is impressive. Well worth it.

We purchased airfare and transfers through Holland America and didn't have any problems with either one. The airfare was a competitive price. There was a little confusion at Schiphol finding the transfer, but we eventually connected well in advance of the bus leaving - a little more wandering than I would have liked. 

Not sure that Holland America is my cup of tea, and my fellow travelers were a lot more experienced than me, but it was a great time and a very unique vacation. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to see this part of the world with most of the difficulty of planning and executing such a trip handled by someone else!

Minus one star because: not enough Vikings!

As one of Holland America’s Legendary Cruises (and also as one of the most expensive), the Voyage of the Vikings on the Zuiderdam, which sailed July 22-August 26, 2023, should have been nothing short of epic. It fell short of that goal, but was still very good and certainly worthwhile. 

This review will cover the good things we experienced, as well as the not-so-good things.  

THE GOOD THINGS

1. Service: I have come to expect excellent service from Holland America and the crew on the Zuiderdam did not disappoint.  Our room stewards and waiters in the main dining room were fantastic and went above and beyond to give us personal attention on a daily basis. Elsewhere on the ship (bars, Lido, Canaletto and Pinnacle Grill), we experienced a high level of service, worthy of a 5-star hotel anywhere in the world, and always given with a smile. 

2. Visible Management: Unlike many of the other ships we have sailed on, including Holland America ships, management was very visible on this ship. The hotel manager, Sommelier, Beverage managers, maître ds in the dining room, etc., were often walking around checking to make sure that we, along with other passengers, had everything we needed. The Captains (we had two, as there were personnel changes in Rotterdam from Captain Friso to Captain Bart) were often seen around the ship and occasionally on shore checking up on the shore excursion operations and making sure they were going smoothly. Both captains kept us apprized of where the ship was, what weather we could expect, when he anticipated having us in port, as well as other pertinent information. And both had a good sense of humor.

3. Food:  Overall, Holland America has the best breakfast buffet we have experienced on a cruise; lots of selection and cooked to order items are widely available. Dine-In has wonderful burgers and French fries. I was pleased to see that, at least on this ship, the set lunch menu for sea days has been abandoned in favor of a rotating menu, which offers more choices over a longer sailing. The Pinnacle Grill is outstanding. The food in the main dining room is consistently good. The ability to pay only the price differential in a glass of wine from the allotted amount on a beverage package is a nice idea of which we approve.

4. The Ports:

With one exception (listed under the not-so-good) the ports were interesting and fitting to the cruise. It was nice to be able to visit some “off the beaten path” ports such as Lerwick and Stornoway, which would otherwise be difficult and expensive to get to. All Icelandic ports were fabulous.

5. Scenic Cruising in Prince Christian Sound

We had two beautiful days of sailing through Prince Christian Sound and both Captain Friso and Captain Bart got us close to some amazing sights. With respect to scenery, this was the highlight of the trip. 

6. The Ship in General 

The Zuiderdam is 20+ years old and, like anything that age (house, apartment, vehicle) it is showing some wear and tear. However, the staff kept the ship immaculate and it was clear from carpets being replaced on the staircases that renovations are on-going. Certainly the Zuiderdam is worth the expense of a remodel.

7. Bringing Back some of the traditions we love about Holland America:

Lunch in the Main Dining Room on embarkation day, the Captain’s Brunch for 4- and 5-star Mariners, (with the traditional “dam ships” toast and tiles), chocolates at night and towel critters at least on gala nights. It felt a lot like the old Holland America. The addition of the Block Party, For Cake’s Sake, the Wine and Cheese around the pool were all welcome additions.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD

1. Itinerary Changes: When we book a cruise, we book a specific itinerary. And when a cruise line sets an itinerary and releases it for booking, we expect that cruise line to deliver that itinerary or to offer a very, very good and specifically communicated reason for the change, particularly when those changes occur following the deadline for final payment.
There were four changes to the itinerary before we even got on the ship! This played havoc in several ports.

a. Our order of calls to Nanortalik, Greenland and Qaqortoq, Greenland were reversed, then reversed again. That in and of itself was not a big deal, but it resulted in no tour operators being available for us, so there were no shore excursions available. It did not escape our attention, or that of our fellow Zuiderdam passengers, that the passengers from the Island Princess had plenty of tours available to them…Perhaps someone at the home office should have checked on that before switching the ports!

b. Our scheduled ports of call to Bergen and Dublin were dropped.  This resulted in there being no ports of call in Norway for the entire cruise. Who ever heard of a Viking themed voyage that did not call in Norway? Just about every passenger was very disappointed. In our opinion, there is absolutely no excuse for this omission.

c. Just days before the ship left, we were informed that, instead of being docked, we would tender in Reykjavik, Iceland. This resulted in more delays in getting passengers on shore. And, since we were there overnight, limited everyone’s desire to go out and enjoy the night life in Reykjavik. Holland America blamed this on the harbor master, but none of the passengers were convinced. 

d. We do feel that Holland America should be transparent in their dealings with passengers. We were given explanations such as “operational considerations” and “operational reasons.” These are not, in fact, adequate explanations; those terms are a corporate evasion which is an insult to the passengers. Holland America should tell your passengers what is going on. 

2. Failure to Warn About Insects

One of the shore excursions we book in Akureyri sated as follows: “Small black flies (midges or no-see-ems) populate the Lake Myvatn area. Although they don't bite, they can be quite annoying. Wear insect repellent and bring a light scarf or net to cover your face and/or mouth.” It was the only excursion we booked which carried this caveat. Well, it was not just at the lake. Theses pests were all over us in Paamiut, Nanotalik, all stops on our tour from Akureyri, our excursion in Isafjordur, and, to a lesser extent, Qaqortoq. We understand if we had been on the excursion in St. Anthony’s to L'Anse aux Meadows, we would also have needed the coverings. It would have been helpful if we had been given advanced warning so that we could have gone adequately prepared. It would also have been great if the gift shop had carried the face nets for purchase. 

3. Paamiut, Greenland

This is quite possibly one of the worst ports I have ever visited anywhere in the world! There is absolutely nothing to see except a quaint church, which consumes all of 5 minutes. The surrounding area is not beautiful (certainly not as compared to Nanotalik and Qaqortoq). Our guides on the walking tour were totally disorganized and did not speak English at all; the tour completely disintegrated within 10 minutes.  The tender port was chaos: a long wait to get off the ship into town and a long wait to rejoin the tender. We were dive bombed by insects every minute we were on shore. Holland America should drop this port.

Not Quite Epic, But Worthwhile

We were on this boat and the main reasons were to visit greenland and island. At first the good: the food we compare with celebrity and princess, hal is a little bit better. The speciality restaurants are not much better. The service in the pinnacle grill is arrogant and the maitre too and not friendly. The food was OK , there is the murano celebrity much better. Very good was the fitness trainer and the courses.

Good was the cabin service.

Now the bad things: 

- overall coast cutting

- no sommelier in the dinning rooms

-evening shocolate only at dressy nights

-the cruise director did a bad job,no visible, 

Boring daily programm, the captain did his job, he was very informative

-there was no health care and sanitise protocol, no one washed the hands or sanitise frequently, be aware this ship is good candidate for norovirus and covid, especially the vulnerable old people, on last days were coughing.

-air condition is also an issue, sometimes too cold , too hot, always in the air was a mould  smell.

Grand mothers cruise ship

We chose this cruise for the itinerary, especially Iceland and Greenland and because we have had 3 very good cruises with HAL in the past. There were many good features. Most of the ship has been beautifully refurbished, the food was good, staff very helpful and it seems a happy ship. Great itinerary, Iceland was brilliant, sunny and fantastic scenery. The sun really does shine at midnight in the north. Really enjoyed scenic cruising in Greenland. Pretty towns in Nova Scotia. Portland was a disaster because immigration wanted face to face interviews with everyone including fingerprints. We didn't get off the ship until 3:00 and we weren't the last! Boston great place to finish, we stayed a few days.

The evening shows were of a better standard than we expected from previous HAL cruises. The One Step dance company were excellent. I rate them in the top 5 of any shows I have seen on many cruises.

The library is excellent, very well done!

Unfortunately the negatives outweighed the positives.

From previous experience I was looking forward to great music on the ship but was disappointed. HAL has really cut down on musicians, no brass section. We remembered dancing until late in the Oceans Bar but on this cruise the Oceans Bar only played three 45 minute sets a night and nothing late evening. As with the other musicians they didn't play every night.

No Lincoln Centre

The Rolling stones band were not to my taste and I thought the two pianists were terrible. Just shouting at each other.

On other HAL ships the crows nest was a sophisticated lounge to sit in during the evening. On this ship the crows nest had the ambiance of an old peoples home with half  dedicated to tables for games and jigsaws.  Quite nice during the day but not so pleasant at night. During the day I found it very noisy with the coffee machine going all the time and the piped music just loud enough to be annoying.

The buffet had very restricted hours. Lunch 12:00 -14:00, then restricted menu until 16:00. Nothing from 16:00 - 17:30. Very strange when all aboard time was often mid afternoon. Also nothing after 23:30.

Tea and coffee was available by the buffet all the time but no cake or cookies to go with it.

Many good points but too many negatives

This was a 35 days cruise and sure enough I got Covid after about day 25. It was well handled, but what surprised me was that there were no announcements each day at noon as to how many people were in quarantine. It was a big secret. Without transparency on this, it makes you reluctant to travel again.

I also got a fungal infection on my toe, which makes me wonder about the hygiene standards when cleaning cabins between guests, departing, and arriving

The check-in app said that I had completed everything but on arrival, I still had to fill out for the second time the emergency contact and give in credit card references, which I had already completed on the app.

I was on the Westerdam in January 2024 where the noise levels were very good indeed, and I thoroughly enjoyed the Rolling Stones and the Billboard Lounges. I went to the Rollingstone Lounge on the Zuiderdam and listened to the music, but it was so loud. I actually measured it on my phone at 94 dB’s, where anything over 80 dB requires hearing protection in any industrial site. Many people were complaining. The Billboard lounge was not as bad as the Rollingstone lounge, but still too loud, and I could only listen to it by sitting right at the back of the room. On the Westerdam, at Billboard I used to sit on the bar right next to the piano and enjoy it very much indeed. This was no longer possible.Surely Holland America has uniform standards for the noise levels in all of its entertainment venues. 

The Pinnacle Grill was a great disappointment. The food and Service were not good, and we decided that we were getting better food and service in the main dining room, which is ridiculous as we were quite happy to pay the money, provided we got better food and service.

The lunch menu in the dining room is particularly limited and uninspiring

Whenever we ordered a steak on board at either the dining room, or the pinnacle grill, it was always overcooked, and so instead of ordering medium rare, we always ordered rare, and it would usually arrive medium. For whatever reason, the chefs did not know how to cook steak correctly. By contrast, the lamb was usually very good. 

Passport control in the UK was unnecessarily slow because Holland America didn’t provide enough of its own staff. The bottleneck was the Holland America staff before and after customs, the customs people were fine

The unloading in Dublin and also South Queensferry both had unexpected tender problem, but my point is that when this was obvious, they should’ve sent everyone back to their cabins and just announced the tender numbers, so people could hear it over the loudspeaker and just turn up at the right time, rather than making them having to sit in the lounge for 90 minutes, which was ridiculous

Great itinerary, but the operation of the ship needs some improvement

We are 3 star, almost 4 star mariners. We like Holland America for its itineraries and its staff. Let me be clear: for the most part we enjoyed our cruise. Our cabin was very comfortable and spotless. Our stewards were very customer oriented. Our excursions were great fun. However, from the beginning things were not as good as they used to be. Embarkation with Orange Status should have been smooth. It wasn't. By the way, we discovered that the additional "benefits" of being Orange guests were virtually useless. Getting a table in the main dining room the first couple nights, when Orange guests had a special line, was a madhouse. It took four nights before we reliably had a table. Don't pay extra for these benefits. It's not worth it. Might be different on a ship with a designated restaurant.

The food in the dining room was good for the most part, although my husband twice sent back beef entrees because the meat was inedible. Oh, Orange meal benefits mean you get one more entrée choice, which the staff doesn't even present unless you ask, and it's nothing special. The food on the Lido Deck was mediocre at best, but the people working there were wonderfully considerate and helpful.

The entertainment was mediocre. We enjoyed the band in the Rolling Stones Stage, but the duel piano players became stale very quickly. The entertainment in the theater was fair. We  did appreciate the scientist who offered lectures on sea days. He was informative and pleasant. It was also nice to have a group to play Mahjong, although until we protested (and we were a good sized group), we were in a lounge where we competed with very loud trivia and the shore excursion crew.

Bar service was poor. There were not enough servers. It was worse in the restaurants, including the specialty ones. There was no sommelier, the wine list was poor, and one night three of us waited 35 minutes for our wine.

It was the end that soured the trip for us. My husband needed a wheelchair for debarkation, as did a lot of others. When we arrived at the appointed place there were many wheel chairs but no one to push them because the ship was offering breakfast service in the dining room for those staying on and the staff was apparently there. Each group of departing passengers was at least 1/2 hour late getting off. Buses were not identified so things were chaotic. The buses were double decker and some of the passengers who needed assistance couldn't go upstairs. Passengers had to sort that out ourselves. The bus driver, who apparently spoke no English, essentially dropped us on a strip of concrete between two roads outside Schipel Airport. There was no one to help with luggage or tell us how to get help or wheelchair assistance. I found luggage carts a good distance from where we had been dropped. There were no wheelchairs, although one lady couldn't even walk the distance to the airport. My husband and I were fortunate to be helped by two kind people inside the airport. Nevertheless, he struggled for close to half a mile with his walker before a KLM attendant spotted him and called for a wheelchair. 

Essentially, we were abandoned at  a huge airport without any advice on how to navigate it. 

We were scheduled to take another European tour with Holland America in August. However, after our debarkation experience we cancelled it. I told our cruise consultant what had happened when we cancelled. She seemed disturbed. I put the information on our Holland America review and sent a letter to the vice president in charge of customer service. We have heard nothing. I didn't ask for anything. I just want them to acknowledge that they have a problem and fix it.

After many years of cruising with Holland America I don't know that we'll travel with them again. That makes me sad, as we have many good memories of former cruises.

Not what it used to be - being handicapped is a problem

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