Holland America Reviews

Had a wonderful 17 day Hawaii cruise. Sea was a little rough the first couple of days due to the storms hitting San Diego, but smoothed out and was good.

Holland America standards are high -- good facilities, good staff, good service, good food, good entertainment, good enrichment programs -- no exception on this voyage! Scenery on this trip was spectacular! Yes, we had to skip a port, and our captain backed us out of an area and detoured us on another occasion -- but all in the name of safety -- and appreciated! I'd do it again!

This trip was the best we could have imagined. Beyond expectations! Great Itinerary, great ship, great crew, great captain, great food, great lecturers', great ports. And scenery - icebergs and penguins- the best!

5 days by sea to Hawaii, the first 2 days very rough seas. The food was very good except for the prepackaged desserts. (not as good as Costco's) same thing every day, a chocolate cake, cheesecake or tart with an ice cream sundae added in the dining room. Ship was still in great shape, crew and service were excellent. One irritation, due to bad weather, our excursion on Kawaii was cancelled and HAL said they would refund to Stateroom account. 6 days after it still had not been refunded. When we inquired at the Excursion Desk, at first they said they had no record of the excursion. When I went to my phone to show the booking, they said it had been refunded. Five minutes prior when checking my stateroom account it wasn't there. Voila! magic. Cruise lines are getting very creative about holding on to your money. Unless you ask, they don't automatically refund, even though they say they do.

In the golden days of Matson’s luxury liners and, more recently, during the voyages of premium cruise lines, most of the Hawaiian islands’ piers they used were located in or near the center of each trading port. Visitors could thus easily stroll around the towns, shopping, dining and drinking in the exotic flavors and Aloha experiences of the paradisiacal islands without fuss or needless expense. My recent round-trip out of San Diego aboard the S.S. Humongous – AKA Holland America Line’s Koningsdam – marked a disappointing change to all that. The ship is too big to use the traditional docks and so in three ports HAL has elected to use container-ship yards outside the towns. HAL sells excursions but otherwise offered no shuttle busses to marooned guests such as myself. Taxis were scarce. The pleasures on board are many of course. Mine included tea and juice brought to the cabin every morning; an excellent dinner in Tamarind, HAL’s Asian specialty restaurant; a very professional pedicure in the spa; the company of like-minded travelers during each evening’s LGBT cocktail hour; and the use of the men’s sauna, which is part of the extensive spa operation but for which there is no extra charge. A separate sauna for women is also offered. All in all, this was a pleasant trip but it sadly lacked the wide-screen, Technicolor, board-riding punch that previous trips to the fabled paradise of the Pacific always delivered.

Great time going to Hawaii with family

Ship is pretty new and is in great shape. Crew was friendly and the meals were good. Entertainment was not as good as other ships, though the Runaround Kids were great.

The itinerary was great ? We totally enjoyed the Panama Canal and other ports. With that being said only rated 3 star as it was a full ship and the crew was undermanned and definitely over worked. You seen the same workers at 7 AM and at the end of day with only 30 minute breaks. Holland should not sail at full capacity if it does not have the man power. Out of 10 nights was only able to do MDR once as the wait times where over an hour long we even tried going at 8 or 8:30 and still a long wait. The menu at lunch was repetitive same every day. We went to specialty restaurants thank heavens for on board credits or did pizza. The crew was amazing and very friendly and accommodating despite the under staffing. We canceled a 51 day cruise as we can not take a chance on the same thing happening on this cruise. We like Holland but we are taking a break till the service is back to where it should be for a high end cruise ship.

The ship is new and in good condition, but it was a bit disappointing to see Holland American sliding down hill in terms of food quality, service, and entertainment. There were a surprising number of upcharges for food and drinks that were included just a year or two ago. The dining room was understaffed and food was served warm instead of hot. With the exception of the next to last dinner, the meats were of mediocre quality. Reserved tables in the dining room were given away on ‘dressy’ night the dining room managers were arrogant and inconsiderate about it. The bars were also understaffed with resultant long waits for service and the signature system was tedious and caused more delays. Entertainment was more in line with Norwegian or Carnival than HAL standards. I got the impression that the line may be in financial distress and struggling to keep an image they can’t afford.

The cutbacks by Holland America on the new Statendam in the Caribbean were extreme. The main dining room menus all had financial add-ons for menu items that had always been on their menus in years past without a surcharge. They had combined positions that have always had two individuals in charge: cruise, Director, and future cruise sign up person. I really couldn’t believe it and I am probably leaving out so many more areas where their cutbacks have caused us to no longer cruise with Holland America.

Nieuw Amsterdam is a great ship. The food and specialty restaurants rock. Service is excellent. The dance show is over the top!

Food, side trips, ambiance met all expectations. We missed the grandeur of broadway quality entertainment that cruising provided up to several years ago.

Nice, relaxing cruise to get ready for 2023. Good way to recharge the batteries.

Staff & crew were excellent. Passengers were often rude .

Beautiful ship outstanding criuse line and beautiful weather!

Smooth voyage; great crew service and excursions! Couldn’t ask for more!

The cruise line should have more space for sunbathing, and the lack of good nightly entertainment was a big disappointment when at sea.

For dinner we requested early seating, a special group seating and we got it! Holland America is always great.