We were in a mid-ship Neptune Suite across from the Neptune Lounge. We are both in our mid-to-late 70’s and are 4-star Mariners with Holland American. This was our 8th HAL cruise, all of which have been in Neptune Suites. We left San Diego on January 27, 2024 for an 18-day round-trip cruise to Hawaii.
If this had been our very first cruise, I might have rated this a bit higher. But when ...
My wife and I try to take a “find the Sun” activity around February to get away from the Northwest Indiana winter. This year it was the 18 day Hawaii from San Diego back to San Diego. This was also our fourth HAL cruise in five months. With over 50 cruises under our collective belts, this one goes down toward the bottom of the list.
HAL cannot be held accountable for the weather and I do not ...
This was our 69th cruise but only second on Holland America.
The ship was nice but not as elegant or as well laid out as Celebrity Solstice and Edge class ships - which we love. We picked this cruise for the itinerary and the time of the year it was sailing.
Our most enjoyable meal was in the Pinnacle which we ate at twice. The service in there was top notch too. The dining room food was ...
This was a fabulous cruise. The ship was clean, comfortable and most importantly the food was outstanding! The staff were all helpful and friendly and no matter how stressed they were happy ( and sometimes singing)! It was about 5 days out and 5 days back strictly at sea. We found it relaxing but not seeing land or another ship that entire time could be somewhat daunting. The life boats were state ...
The good... the food and the wonderful staff at the restaurants and Lido. The room is nice and the room stewards are amazing. The boat was generally pretty clean for as many sneezing, coughing, and dirty people there were. The hot tubs were clean. Laundry service is well worth the cost. The bartenders and wait staff around the outdoor pool area are the hardest working people I've seen on the boat. ...
We chose this cruise because we've enjoyed Holland America cruises in the past, and because the itinerary was what we were looking for.
Sadly, Holland America has declined sharply in recent years. This cruise was like staying in a second-rate Las Vegas hotel:
*smokey casino, with smoke drifting into other areas of the ship
*deafening music in all the music venues
*no classical music ...
We wanted to do a Holiday Cruise and since we are avid cruisers and really enjoy Holland America ships this cruise fit the bill. We have enjoyed all our previous Holland cruises very much. Holland has been our primary cruise line for almost 30 years. Past service and food quality has always been impeccable. We have enjoyed the ships and always look forward to cruising with Holland. We have ...
After 5 days at sea to reach Hawaii we were disappointed to hear that bad weather forced a cancellation of our visit to Maui. The remaining shore excursions were good but our Maui excursion was the one we'd looked forward too the most.
Then of course there's the additional 5 days at sea for our return journey. We love shipboard life but this was too much in one stretch. The majority of the time ...
Hawaii was on our bucket list and we had the time for 16 days. HAL made it seem longer! This was cruise 17 for us. Third on HAL. No rookies here! On all the best lines e.g. Viking. HAL has cut back too far. Loss of Lincoln Center is a good example. $4 extra charge for orange juice is another. Cruise featured chaos at embarkcation and 3 1/2 hour delay in leaving SAN. During cruise ship had ...
Spending Christmas and New Year's at sea in Hawaii is a dream come true. It's a long trip from San Diego to Hawaii but it's worth it. The seas are rough for the first few days and the last couple days heading back but in between is fabulous.
No whales were sighted but we saw dolphins near Ensenada. There were many awesome sunrises and sunsets as we expected and were not disappointed. We had ...