MS Noordam

Reviewer Ratings

5/5

Reviewer Scorecard

Staff Dining Entertainment Activities Cabins/Staterooms Itinerary/Ports Value

Wonderful Midsize Ship

South East Asia - 3/2013

Pros: Itinerary, cuisine, staff

Cons: None

Reviewer Recommended? y

Reviewer Ratings

5/5

Reviewer Scorecard

Staff Dining Entertainment Activities Cabins/Staterooms Itinerary/Ports Value

World Cruise Segment One - Ft Lauderdale- Auckland

Grand World Voyage - 1/2013

Pros: The service level and attentivness of the officers and ALL crew members cannot be matched anywhere in my opinion

Cons: I think that the entertainment on a World Voyage should be of a higher level (as is Cunard's entertainment), There were some definitely highlights, but was not overly impressed by the quality of most of the entertainment in the show room.Cruise director is WONDERFUL though and knows every passenger.

Reviewer Recommended? y

Reviewer Ratings

5/5

Reviewer Scorecard

Staff Dining Entertainment Activities Cabins/Staterooms Itinerary/Ports Value

A Most Enjoyable Cruise aboard Holland America's ms Noordam

Western Mediterranean - 9/2012

A great itinerary on a lovely ship with exemplary crew!

The epitome of "ship shape," the ms Noordam is the perfect size ship to cruise the Mediterranean. She's well maintained, her decor is subtly pleasing, and the staff and crew run like a well-oiled machine. Mid-size in comparison to many of the other ships sailing similar itineraries in the area, you don't get the feeling that the ports visited are overwhelmed by either the size of the ship or the number of passengers. As a smart, precautionary move against norovirus, the crew serves the guests in the buffet areas for the first 3 days, then allows them to serve themselves after. Additionally, crew is stationed at the entrances to the dining venues and gangways dispensing hand-sanitizers. The staff and crew truly make an effort to make guests feel welcomed in an unobtrusive fashion, always acknowledging you even in passing in the hallways, and always greeting guests to dining and entertainment venues and thanking them on the way out. Our waiters thoughtfully brought remedies and offered advice when a couple at our dinner table were seasick one evening. The staff's conscientiousness was particularly evident when one of our party suffered a medical emergency and had to be disembarked early off the ship; the staff readily made themselves available to assist the cabinmate who remained onboard. The dining room and the Lido Buffet offer very good menus, room service was prompt and efficient, but our favorite venue was the Pinnacle Grill specialty restaurant where we dined twice. The restaurant staff offered superb service and the menu choices were excellent. As specialty restaurants go, Pinnacle Grill is definitely a cut above those found on many other similarly-classed cruise lines. The Mediterranean itineraries are always very port intensive, and ours only had one sea day to enjoy the ship. We wished we had at least one more day, because we so enjoyed the planned activities (especially the daily trivia contests) and entertainment. Our cruise director was very entertaining and quickwitted. With so many different ports to enjoy, we appreciated the port talks and the excellent maps, but would've loved listening to a historian or someone offering more in-depth insights into some of the lesser-known ports (e.g. Tunis, Palma de Mallorca for us). Nevertheless, we chose and loved this itinerary as it was different from the usual Western Mediterranean ports. If you're looking for fresh bragging rights as far as ports visited, you cannot go wrong with Holland America's 10-night Mediterranean Enchantment!

Pros: Wrap-around teak decks, user-friendly ship layout, perfect size ship for the itinerary, excellent port maps, exceptionally friendly yet unobstrusive service, few overhead announcements.

Cons: Inadequate WIFI; fitness area should have longer hours; would love to see more in-depth port talks (beyond shore excursion descriptions) which could also be rerun on the ship's TV in our cabins.

Reviewer Recommended? y

Reviewer Ratings

5/5

Reviewer Scorecard

Staff Dining Entertainment Activities Cabins/Staterooms Itinerary/Ports Value

Fantastic Alaska on the Volendam

Alaska 7 night from Vancouver - 7/2012

Pros: Wonderful staff.

Cons: Can't think of a thing.

Reviewer Recommended? y

Reviewer Ratings

3/5

Reviewer Scorecard

Staff Dining Entertainment Activities Cabins/Staterooms Itinerary/Ports Value

Holland America's Rotterdam Holiday Sailing roundtrip Hawaii

Hawaii - 1/2012

The Rotterdam has some very good attractions. This cruiseship offers a very solid Premium Cruise experience. 

My opinion of HAL's Rotterdam is that it offers a very solid premium cruise experience.

The positives: The public areas of the ship are very attractive. The bars and lounges offer very good lounge style entertainment. The staterooms are comfortable and have ample space. They are not luxurious but they are comfortable. The food in the dining room was good if you know how to order. Keep it simple and choose things that require braising or slow cooking.The wine offerings were good although expensive.

The negatives: The service is lax and random. Some of the crew tries hard but the service is very inconsistent and lacks management. They have good ideas but they are not implemented (managed) properly.  

Pros: Public areas, lounge entertainment, cabins, dining room

Cons: lacks management, random and inconsistent service.

Reviewer Recommended? y

Reviewer Ratings

5/5

Reviewer Scorecard

Staff Dining Entertainment Activities Cabins/Staterooms Itinerary/Ports Value

Christmas Cruise

Mexico - 12/2011

What a great way to spend the Holiday!

24Dec11 - Holland America "Oosterdam" 7day Mexico Cruise

The cruise departed out of San Diego for a 7 day Mexican Riviera Cruise.  The embarkation process was very organized and easy, we were onboard in no time.  Our cabins were ready as soon as we boarded.  We took a quick look around the ship and when we returned to our cabins our luggage had already arrived.  The ship was all decorated for Christmas and quite festive.  Even though the ship was 100% full, it didn't seem crowded.  We made a visit to the Spa and scheduled our spa treatments for the week right away.  The Spa is really nice and all of our treatments in the coming week were enjoyable.

The food in the Lido dining room, was only average, but the Dining Room was excellent.  The Pinnacle Grill was beyond excellent.  Also room service was very good. 

I was very impressed by the beds and the bedding in my cabin.  My bed was one of the most comfortable and cozy of any ship that I have ever sailed on, and I'm pretty picky about my bed.  Also my cabin was very quiet.

Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas were our port visits.  The weather this time of year is perfect, not too hot, and not humid at all, about 75 to 80 degrees. Coming and going from the ship in both ports were also very organized and easy. 

The Casino and the Bars were all hopping every night, so it was a very festive atmosphere.  But not so crowded that you couldn't find a place to sit and enjoy yourself.

Holland America really knows what they are doing.  Departing the ship was also a breeze.  They are just so organized about everything!

All in all, a Holiday cruise with friends or family is a great option if you want to travel that time of the year.  I would definitely go again!

Pros: Well run ship!

Cons: Lido Restaurant

Reviewer Recommended? y

Ratings

3/5

Reviewer Scorecard

Staff Dining Entertainment Activities Cabins/Staterooms Itinerary/Ports Value

Miss the 'Olde' Days

Caribbean - 12/2011

Pros: Activities;Cabin;Clean;Entertain;Food;Staff;

Cons: Activities;Entertain;

Reviewer Recommended? N

Ratings

1/5

Reviewer Scorecard

Staff Dining Entertainment Activities Cabins/Staterooms Itinerary/Ports Value

Great Ship Except for Smell

Eastern Caribbean - 9/2011

On the first day we felt like we had found our ideal cruise line. Then we began to notice an odor in the room. We complained twice without relief. That odor cured me from ever wanting to use Holland America again.

Pros: Spacious, good food, friendly staff.

Cons: Sewage smell in room.

Reviewer Recommended? N