Holland America Line

Happy New Year to Holland America Line who refused to give us even a full credit for our cancelled cruise several weeks prior to sailing. My pre-existing medical condition, which our travel insurance didn't cover, suddenly and unexpectedly deteriorated. I am terminally ill, and am about to start in clinical trials aimed at buying me time. Despite the letter from the haematologist stating that not receiving immediate medical intervention could result in my death, they refused to even give us a full credit for a future cruise, but offered a 50%...Read more

Recent Japanese cruise for ten days with eight family members on the ms Maasdam. Despite having upgraded to suites for all the family members as it was a very special event, almost everything was extra despite the premium charge for the cabins. If you wanted sparkling water at dinner, extra $6 per bottle. Even plain bottled water at dinner was extra. Lobster was extra. Half the restaurants i charged extra for dinner. There was a 15% surcharge to any drinks you order, supposedly as tips. Same goes in the spa. And then there is an extra $...Read more

We recently cruised on the Koningsdam for a 21day Mediterranean cruise in August 2022.
We couldn't fault the Amazing staff. The service, cleanliness and all food on board was impeccable!
We regularly used the Adults only pool area, at the back of the boat. Every sea day they hosted a music quizz. The music they played during that time was fantastic! It literally had everybody singing along. I don't understand why they wouldn't play music out there all day long. It would create so much more atmosphere.
Their night time entertainment left alot t...Read more

We booked a cruise 3weeks ago, after being convinced to go a atf suite as it was the most popular, we were told we need to put 460.00 deposit down. We were not informed the deposit was non refundable nor non transferable. We rang to transfer our deposit to a later date due to unforeseen circumstances, was told we can’t and they would need to listen to the phone call to see what was said at the time of booking. I rang them back and asked where does it say that the deposit is non transferable and when in the phone call did they say it was non tra...Read more

We were on the Asian cruise last month and the following were our comments:

Pros: 1. The staff at the front office were helpful;
2. Some wait persons at the Lido Buffet were quite polite and cheerful;
3. Our room steward had kept the room clean and inviting.

Cons: 1. Most of the staff who served food behind the counter at Lido were rude and miserable;
2. A few waiters at the main dining room were lazy and don't border to serve properly;
3. Old movies were shown all the time;
4. There were no performance on some nights;...Read more

It was the most terrible cruise I have been to. Their service was very poor.
1. we had to pay for everything in USD dollar and they didnt tell us while we were booking it. The ship wad almost like a retirement place .95 percent of people were 65+. No entertainment at all. Nothing to do in the cruise. Food was horrible and every day the same menu.
They drop us on shore every time we supposed to see different stop, without any transport option and we had to pay extra to get the taxi or any other transports options.
It was so noisy and we can...Read more

We generally enjoyed our cruise on Noordam, which concluded on Fri 5 Jan 18. Upon leaving the ship we realised that personal items had been left in the cabin's 'under bed drawer'. The items included high end gym gear, under wear and swim wear for my wife as well as $350 cash. We advised HAL same day and their response took until 10 Jan. The response was 'they would look and get back to us'. I followed up with three emails, their last response of 21 Feb advised: Regarding your lost & found inquiry, we have followed up with our shipboard staf...Read more

We have been on several cruise lines including the Oosterdam which was wonderful but the Nooradam has a lot to be desired. The dining room was always cold. They kept running out of Australian wines, even if it was the wine of the night. We paid for the spa package and they closed it on the last 2 sea days with no refund or compensation. The Wi-Fi was a joke. We were without it for 3 days and then it was so slow it just ate up the money. We had the drill for the crew full blast in our cabin twice and they said it was a microphone fault. The sho...Read more

We have had a lot of previous experience on Holland America line vessels and have 3 Star Mariner,s Status it was disappointing to find that the Noordam did not live up to previous voyages. We joined the ship on 5/10/17 in Honolulu Hawaii and sailed to Sydney Australia. Having booked late,we were only able to obtain a Oceanveiw cabin and ended up in 1092 on Main Deck, The cabin was fine with plenty of room and light from the big picture window, however, it is situated directly beneath the main kitchen on Deck 2 and the noise commences very early...Read more

I booked my first cruise ever on the Oosterdam from Auckland. If the city of Auckland appreciates the business cruise ships bring, they certainly don't show it. The port consists of an old warehouse with plastic chairs and a few tables. No amenities, like drinking water, whatsoever. The Holland America staff were not remotely welcoming, just bossy. In fact, no-one said a word of welcome. The room was OK, although the table that is supposed to raise and lower was broken. I travelled alone, so I paid a 100% markup for my fare, which in a balcony ...Read more

Boarding the boat took four hours in Auckland, far too long, once on board we noticed there were many people with colds, because of this most ended up with colds during the trip, hand sanitiser units were not manned during meal times which is unusual, left for you to decide.
We felt the boat was not up to the standard of Royal Carribean, perhaps more for the gloved people of yesteryear, the interior is not glamorous, very ordinary, swimming pools are mundane, little adornment to give them the wow factor, the dining rooms and meals served were...Read more

Back from NZ 30/03/14,
Mostly good as expected, food good, moved around the venues for extra variety.
Not show people but, shows were very good.
Drinks and other expenses not a surprise (factor it all in, or get a shock at the end)
Shore excursions were great.
Staff at all levels were mostly very good.
We got a paid upgrade to a suite, amazing.
2nd HAL (Oosterdam) cruise, will sail with them again.
You get what you put into a cruise, if parts of it annoy you, avoid those bits and have fun !
...Read more

After talking with many people during our 14 day cruise from Sydney to New Zealand we came to understand that cruises are as much about expectations as anything else.

We heard opinions that Holland America Lines (HAL) were as good as, less so, and more so than other cruise lines.

We expected to be able to choose and to be able to do nothing if that is what we chose and that was what we got. Several times during the cruise we chose to stay onboard and do nothing but read. If you are expecting to be entertained every minute of the day per...Read more